Word: thailand
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Protests against Thailand's ruling junta spilled onto Bangkok streets over the weekend, with an estimated 13,000 demonstrators calling for the resignation of the military leaders who masterminded a bloodless coup against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last September. The marches were the largest show of dissatisfaction to date against coup architect Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin and junta-appointed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont. While the bulk of the protesters came from within Thaksin's followers, they also included a wide range of other interest groups, a worrisome sign for a government already under scrutiny from overseas investors and businessmen worried about...
...political situation was exacerbated late last month when a tribunal hand-picked by the junta dissolved Thailand's largest political party - Thai Rak Thai (TRT), which had been founded by billionaire Thaksin - as punishment for committing electoral fraud. Although the ruling generals have promised to hold elections by the end of this year, removing the nation's most popular party from contention threw Thailand's democratic future further into question. Indeed, during the weekend marches, emotions overflowed and a few demonstrators clashed with police, even beating up an ex-Senator who had been critical of Thaksin. On Sunday, the junta...
...rallies spanned a far wider spectrum than just Thaksin acolytes. Democracy advocates have taken to the streets to decry the use of army tanks over ballot boxes. Anti-poverty campaigners who claim the junta has not adequately addressed the plight of Thailand's rural poor have raised their voices, as have employees of community-radio stations banned from the airwaves by the junta. Legal activists, including a veteran former judge, have condemned what they believe is deteriorating judicial freedom under the military leadership. And Buddhists, who are upset that their faith was not designated as the national religion...
...generals gave for staging their putsch. (On Monday evening, a junta-appointed investigative committee announced it had ordered the freezing of Thaksin's domestic bank accounts, estimated at more than $1 billion.) More generally, many Thais blame the coup leaders for a series of economic missteps that dented Thailand's international reputation, as well as for scrapping the previous constitution and presenting a new draft that drew little from public consultation...
...crisis, because junta leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin is a Muslim. Since the putsch, violence has worsened. On June 4, insurgents were blamed for a train derailment that caused the entire railway network in the south to grind to a halt. With no end in sight to the conflict, Thailand's government will have to work even harder to keep the violence from distracting the tourist trade...