Word: pongsudhirak
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...ranks from the very middle class and élite that supported the 1992 democracy movement, and has as its ultimate aim a so-called "New Politics," whose fuzzy, oft-shifting aims have included the undemocratic step of appointing parliamentarians. "We're looking at a dead end politically," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. "It's hard to understand how democracy in Thailand has come to this...
...flawed a manner, to allow voters to choose their leaders through the ballot box? Or will it return to a past where the upper class took it upon itself to decide what is best for Thailand? "This way of trying to overthrow the government will create turmoil," warns Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political-science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, of the opposition alliance's tactics. "If the PAD gets its way, it will do far-reaching damage to our democratic system...
...military, which went to the trouble of toppling him in 2006, surely is also irate over Thaksin's lingering shadow. (Thaksin himself has said he's done with politics, although his avowals have been rather less strenuous of late.) "It's a no-win situation for Samak," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. "If he stands for Thaksin, then he's seen as a stooge and that hurts his personal honor. If he distances himself, then he alienates Thaksin's support base, which is the reason he's in power in the first place...
...Here's another thing: the PPP's policies are strikingly similar to those of its archrival, the Democrat Party. "You'll notice that all the parties are populist these days," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. Those populist TRT policies won Thaksin two terms in office and raised the expectations of an entire electorate. "Thai Rak Thai has profoundly changed Thailand," says Thitinan. "People have discovered that they've been neglected. They want better lives. They have hopes and dreams." What he calls "the ghost of TRT" hovers over the polling booths...
...Legal activists condemned what they believe is deteriorating judicial freedom under the military leadership. And Buddhists, who are upset their faith was not designated as the national religion in the draft of the postcoup constitution, also marched en masse. "The anti-junta coalition has gathered critical mass," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. "This is a pent-up situation, and it's going to get worse...