Word: thailand
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...provocative actions are alienating some Thais, even erstwhile supporters who fear that the ongoing crisis is derailing what once was one of the region's most promising economies. With foreign investors and tourists (who bring in some $16 billion a year) spooked by the political instability and Thailand's manufacturing base bracing itself for a drop in global export demand, national growth forecasts for 2009 hover at a bleak...
...also happens to be Thaksin's former brother-in-law. Since August, the PAD has besieged Somchai's offices, forcing him to set up a makeshift administration headquarters in the VIP lounge of Bangkok's old airfield. On Nov. 24, the PAD upped the ante, shutting down Thailand's parliament and later overwhelming the old air terminal. Somchai's spokespeople have assured the public that policy-making is going on from a "secret location...
...Mayhem is just what the opposition alliance craves. PAD leaders are hoping that the military, which has masterminded 18 coups since Thailand's absolute monarchy was abolished in 1932, will intervene again to contain anarchy and set up a new, Thaksin-free regime. But shortly after the air terminal takeover, the army publicly quashed putsch rumors and called for the PAD to leave the airport. (Army chief Anupong Paochinda did, however, urge Somchai to "return the power to the people" by calling fresh elections.) The military's reluctance to let tanks roll on the streets presumably derives from the fact...
...Thailand's economy aside, the PAD's fundamental flaw is that it wants to blow things up without having articulated how it will put things back together again. Opposition leaders promise to bring a so-called "new politics" to Thailand. But what that means isn't clear, apart from trying to circumvent the problem of rampant vote-buying by replacing the one-person-one-vote system with a largely appointed parliament. Doing so would ensure that the electorate's pesky habit of returning pro-Thaksin elements to office would cease. But Thailand's reputation as a stable, democratic oasis...
...clear what Thaksin wants to do with this "group of rising stars." But he and his supporters will need a deep bench if they are to continue dominating Thai politics. In the coming weeks, the lead party in Thailand's ruling coalition could be dissolved by the Constitutional Court because of an electoral-fraud conviction. If that happens, Somchai and other top party executives will be barred from politics, just as Thaksin and his top cohorts were legally excluded from office last year. Lower-echelon Thaksin stalwarts would have to reconstitute themselves as a proxy party. Still, support from rural...