Word: thailand
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...quiet fishing village of Rusimalae in Thailand's embattled southern region, an army camp lies empty. Following a bomb on Aug. 2 that killed a soldier, the Thai military abandoned the improvised base, erected by sappers building a school nearby. The gates now stand wide open, and the silence of the camp speaks volumes about a nation that has lost its way, and a state that cannot exercise its authority fully, even inside its own territory...
...Since January 2004, more than 1,700 people have been killed in an increasingly deadly conflict in Thailand's south, which comprises three provinces where the populations are predominantly Malay and Muslim, not Thai and Buddhist. Most victims of the attacks?bombings, drive-by shootings, beheadings?are somehow tied to officialdom: soldiers, policemen, local politicians and teachers in government schools. But Muslims with links to the military have also been targeted. Enhanced security measures have failed to halt the violence, and the 20,000 troops now in the area are struggling just to protect themselves. It isn't clear...
...conflict in Thailand's south is primarily a political problem requiring a political solution. But Thaksin is preoccupied with his own survival?he risks facing crowds of hostile protesters if he visits any Bangkok shopping mall, let alone the alienated south. He has so little credibility in the capital that after an apparent car-bomb plot against him was revealed on Aug. 24, 49% of those interviewed for a Bangkok University survey believed the plot was a hoax...
...blurred line between his business interests and the national interest. Thaksin no longer commands much respect from the country's business, intellectual or social ?lites, nor from those close to the palace. Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanond has repeatedly made thinly veiled criticisms of Thaksin; Anand recently declared that Thailand could become "a failed state"; and social reformer Prawase Wasi produced a damning 10-point checklist of Thaksin's failings. Thaksin responded by complaining that his senior critics were "senile." Meanwhile, the dragged-out political crisis is hurting the economy: GDP growth in the second quarter of this year...
...deep south, the Thai state holds official control, yet in practice is unable to function normally. In both cases, the cause is the same: where office-holders lack legitimacy, they cannot exercise power effectively. Winning elections or occupying territory does not automatically mean you have respect and authority. Unless Thailand's next leader understands that distinction, the nation will remain in limbo and in crisis...