Word: thais
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...Thailand's 18th coup d'?tat since 1932, bloodless for a change, and its leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin was at pains to present it as the kindest, cuddliest one yet?a "soft coup," it's being called. While smiling Thais handed flowers to soldiers, their Asian neighbors had more somber anniversaries to consider. Eighteen years to the day before the Thai coup, Burmese soldiers shot dead hundreds of prodemocracy protesters in Rangoon; 16 years before that, late dictator Ferdinand Marcos put the Philippines under martial law; and another seven years earlier, a general called Suharto seized power in Indonesia. Burmese...
...cozied up to the generals, and once famously described the detention of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as "reasonable enough." But ironically (tragically, really) ordinary Burmese who rejoice at Thaksin's departure will share a sentiment with their own oppressive rulers. Burma's generals will celebrate the Thai military's takeover, and the months of political deadlock that preceded it, because it proves what they've insisted all along: democracies don't work and civilians can't run countries. Burma is a large, ethnically diverse nation scarred by civil war, and the military has always presented itself...
...were termed, and even vowed to "do a Thaksin" on her country's drug dealers after he unleashed a killing spree in which more than 2,500 drug suspects died. But Arroyo's popularity slumped to record lows amid allegations that she cheated in the 2004 election. After the Thai coup, protesters in Manila waved placards showing Arroyo's face beside Thaksin's, with the message, "You're next...
...with political systems incapable of guaranteeing smooth and legitimate transfers of power. Even if General Sonthi keeps his promise and returns power to civilian hands, the damage is done. Neither the dictatorial style of Thaksin's rule, nor the manner of his departure, are worth celebration. Sukma believes the Thai coup will embolden "antidemocratic forces" across the region. "They are all laughing at democracy now," he warns. Democracy might yet have the last laugh, but in much of Asia that day remains a long...
While the Thai people wait to see whether their country’s military returns power to a civilian government by next week—following a coup there last Tuesday—undergraduates from Thailand and student organizations planning trips there are tracking the ongoing political developments. General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the leader of a new party calling itself the Democratic Reform Council, last week overthrew Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, leader of the populist Thai Rak Thai party. Thaksin, who at the time was in New York to address the U.N. General Assembly, declared a state...