Word: thais
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...THAI ARMY OFFICIAL, reading a message on Thai television to request the people's "cooperation" after the military ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup...
...mood during Thailand's first military coup since 1991-the previous one eventually ended with protesters gunned down in the streets-was remarkably festive. Women in miniskirts posed for pictures in front of tanks, while elderly men in pajamas jabbered on cellphones. Last spring, hundreds of thousands of Thai citizens had organized daily peaceful protests on Bangkok streets, calling for the resignation of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose popularity in urban areas had nosedived after the controversial sale of his family telecom business. Now, after months of political instability, the military brass appeared to have gotten much closer...
...Welcome to democracy, Thai style. Late on Tuesday evening, with satellite feeds of BBC and CNN intermittently jammed, a military spokesman announced on Thai TV that the armed forces, under the command of Army Chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, had taken over Bangkok and surrounding areas and was declaring martial law. The spokesman blamed the military's extreme measures on what he termed corrupt practices by Thaksin, alleging that the Prime Minister had hampered the workings of both parliament and the courts. Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a constitutional monarch, was reaffirmed as head of state, while the spokesman promised that...
...Thaksin seems unwilling to grasp that he is the central problem in Thai politics. He remains popular with rural people, especially in the north and northeast of the country, and may well win another majority in parliament. Yet few of his own ministers have spoken out in his support in recent weeks. Questions abound about his ethics, his authoritarian style, and the 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...
...Thai officials tend to assume that their status is inherently legitimate, not understanding that such legitimacy must derive from active popular consent on the part of citizens. In Bangkok, Thaksin is in office but not in power. In the 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...