EVERYONE IN BANGKOK KNOWS ABOUT IOWA TODAY-- REALLY

Here in Bangkok, we're in the midst of a huge national election campaign. I've been trying to figure it out. My friend Paul, a Thai who spent two years at Sacramento State University studying mass communication and knows far more than the typical American about the subtilties of U.S. politics, waxed eloquently about the reasons Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would be corporate pawns with more in common with Bush and any of the GOP hopefuls than with the aspirations and dreams of ordinary Americans. But Paul couldn't help me understand the intricacies of the Thai elections. He dismissed both major parties, the PPP and the Democrats. "They both suck."

Today's Bangkok Post on the other hand, features a major piece on how overseas Thais look at the election. It was instructive-- and for more than just the ins and outs of the election here. It starts in, of all places, Iowa-- with a great big color picture of Obama. (In India, Hillary is the clear favorite; here they like Obama.) Now, despite today's Des Moines Register endorsements of McCain and Clinton, the thriving Thai communities in Ames and Iowa City, while completely interested in the U.S. elections-- more, I'm guessing than many Americans-- are even more concerned about the elections in their homeland.

Over the past few months, Nittaya Burnham has met Bill Richardson and John Edwards. She's seen Obama, watched Chris Dodd stump and was left at least mildly impressed ("they were good") by a rally with America's political power couple, Hillary and Bill Clinton. While she's still hoping to catch Mike Huckabee and some of the Republicans, there's a decent chance she's already seen the next president of the United States.

Like others living in Iowa, where the US political season is in full swing and the nation's first presidential political caucus will take place on January 3, Nittaya has had plenty of opportunity to get up close and personal with America's presidential hopefuls.

Yet, for this 12-year Thai resident of Iowa and a native of Nakhon Pathom in Thailand, the next ballot she will cast will be in a Thai election and for parties that she has had considerably less exposure to.

She plans to vote in the December 23 general election, and though she regularly follows news coming out of Thailand through online sites and her Thai satellite TV and she's already been sent her ballot by the Chicago consulate, she's not yet sure how she is going to cast it.

Though unadulterated by whatever vote-buying antics that may be going down in their homeland, Nittaya and other Thais living in Iowa nonetheless struggle with their vote. It is an effort to sort out basic information about the choice of parties, potential prime ministers, and sometimes, even the voting process.

While she plans to turn to Internet research and friends back home for help, she notes that even her mother in Nakhon Pathom is struggling with information and a decision this election.

"It's hard, whether in Thailand or here, to know who is a good candidate. They all have similar messages, and after elections, you never hear anything again about what they do or if they've made any progress. You just see them on billboards," says Nittaya.

In his new book, which you may have noticed I keep referring to-- Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party-- Glenn Hurowitz shows that party affiliation is the surest predictor of how someone will vote. It means far less in Thailand, where parties come and go and partisan alliances are temporary, expedient and career-oriented. Nittaya in today's Post story is looking for a way to figure out who to vote for. She is leaning towards a third party, the Farmer Network of Thailand Party, which is polling in the lowsingle digits. "They are not highly educated, but their representation comes from the people. I think this is important. Lots of Thai people will look for qualities like good education and career and assume these will make good leaders-- but this has not always worked out for us in the past."

When asked what qualities she wants in Thailand's next leader, she returns to the idea of change.

"Honestly, I want candidates who will get something done, and respect human rights and help poor people more. I don't want a party or a prime minister that will go in and commit corruption and lie to people as has happened in the past. We need someone that will look out for poor people."

While she identified fighting corruption and helping the poor as key issues, she also hopes the next leaders will improve the situation in the Deep South [Muslim seperatists] by promoting understanding from both sides, and also end the human rights abuses that she has heard go on in Thailand's refugee camps.

"I hope with our new election, we have new faces who will get more work done and move in the right direction," she added.

Nittaya sounds like many Iowa voters. Another Thai living in Ames, a PhD at the university there, explains to the Post how he's going to pick his candidate, a process that validates much of Hurowitz's research.

He based his decision on party backgrounds and personal qualities, rather than their policy, which he says are rarely accomplished anyway. "Politicians just keep saying good things as they want to convince you," he added.

Even with such cynicism towards the parties, he believes this election is critical for he country: "It will determine our country's future. I don't want to see a [civil] war and hopefully it won't happen. I feel if the old government team comes back, there will be a number of people that strike and it will be a major cause of economic crisis."

If Indians have convinced themselves that Bill and Hillary is what the world needs now and if Thais are falling for Obama's snakeoil charisma-- hey, no offense meant; I once did too-- this week people in both countries and all over the world, have been celebrating another American political figure, one who isn't running for anything. Jimmy Carter has been widely quoted outside of the U.S.-- I'm betting this got little if any coverage on corporately-controlled U.S. media-- slamming Bush Regime torture policies, and the complicity of the entire Republican Party. "The administration and the Congress have become immune to the tragedy of human rights violations under the aegis of security. We say in order for us rich folks to be secure, we can deprive others of their civil rights."