In the end, they just packed their bags and left. Clutching water bottles, walking slowly towards the buses aboard which they would begin the journey home, the red shirts streaming out of the besieged Government House looked more like a football team’s vanquished supporters than revolutionaries forced to surrender by a violent government crackdown. Dejected and emotionally spent, to be sure, but still walking away from it with their lives, their limbs, and their freedom. Earlier threats to the contrary notwithstanding, when their backs were against the wall their leaders …

This blog has remained silent on the latest “disturbances” — with every hour that passes, it looks increasingly likely we will refer to this as a “massacre” when it’s all said and done. Not that anyone would give a damn about what I think, really, but some thoughts are forthcoming. As regular readers would know, I sympathize with the cause of the red shirts — if not with their leadership or their methods. Given how sketchy the reporting currently is, I want to give this a chance to play out before I …

The battle lines are drawn, in the ongoing fight over Thailand’s grotesque lèse majesté laws. It’s “Western” democracy versus “Thai” culture. In contemporary political discourse, after all, ”culture” is just about the only word whose international currency rivals democracy’s. To be sure,  culture commands more respect than the “dictatorship” and “oppression” it is frequently invoked to mask. As a justification for torture, murder, and the arbitrary imprisonment of political opponents, pseudo-cultural arguments are not only effective at home —where they can be tailored to fit just about any narrative about the imperative to protect traditional …

It has been too long since the people of Thailand last faced any good option. Today as they have for much of the past eight decades, if perhaps in terms that have never been more stark, the Thai people confront a choice that offers no real alternative. Before them stand two factions, divided more by competing private agendas than they are by alternative visions for the future of the country. On one side, in yellow, safely ensconced behind their tanks, their guns, and a frenzied, yah bah- powered army of …

The military made its move on September 19, 2006 — less than one month ahead of a new round of legislative elections. Ominously foreshadowing that something big was about to go down, Thai television stations abruptly cut out of scheduled programming and played soothing, ready-made slideshows bearing still images of the royal family, at times accompanied by music composed by the King. Shortly thereafter, CNN reported that tanks were advancing through Bangkok, rolling down Rachadamnoen Avenue in the direction of the Government House. The capital city — a megalopolis of …

The good people of Thailand have a long history of meekly acquiescing to coups d’état. So it was not altogether surprising that they appeared to collectively breathe a sigh of relief when Abhisit Vejjajiva emerged from the siege of Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports with just enough parliamentary votes to become Thailand’s 27th Prime Minister. By-elections held on January 11 gave him an unexpected boost. The Democrat Party picked up a handful seats; its performance in a number of constituencies in Northern and Central Thailand improved markedly. The Thai people, …

The 2007 Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand begins with a tawdry, obscene fabricaton. With Orwellian audacity, its preamble states: โดยที่การปกครองของประเทศไทยในระบอบประชาธิปไตยอันมีพระมหากษัตริย์ทรงเป็นประมุขได้ดําเนินวัฒนามากว่าเจ็ดสิบห้าปี. The official English translation is still more unequivocal, removing any language referring to the “development” of democratic institutions: “Thailand has been under the rule of democratic government with the King as head of the state for more than 75 years.” There you have it. No mention is made of aborted transitions and military takeovers. No significance is granted to the decades of repression Thailand experienced under the thumb of ghastly military dictators …

It looks really bad for Thaksin – and not merely because of the number of seats the alliance of Peua Thai and Pracharaj was able to win in yesterday’s by-election. Considering Newin’s defection, retaining 10 of the PPP’s old 13 seats is not a terrible result. Nor should the performance of the competition be considered much of a setback. Chat Thai Pattana basically held steady. The Democrat Party performed well in Central Thailand as well as the North, netting 7 additional seats. But the Democrats are no more a national …

In the days since the PAD was ordered by its patrons high up to vacate Suvarnabhumi airport, by far the biggest news has been that former Thaksin loyalist Newin Chidchob and his faction of 30-some Members of Parliament jumped the fence, paving the way for Abhisit Vejjajiva’s assumption of the Prime Ministerial post. It remains to be seen whether Newin’s faction is really that unified behind its leader — or whether, for that matter, the newly formed Peua Thai party will manage to buy back Newin’s MPs. Nonetheless, thanks to …

Siam and Europe have taken very different historical courses. Therefore, it is totally mistaken to try to introduce Western ideas as they are. We cannot cultivate rice in Siam using European agricultural textbooks about wheat. Western political institutions, such as parliaments or political parties, are not suitable for Siam where the king traditionally leads a backward population. Even if the radicals could introduce European political institutions, they could not achieve their aims because their political party could not obtain a majority of support in the parliament since the majority of …