Oedipus' Message To Thailand: "Freedom Is Not Easy, Democracy Is Not Easy"

When I started one of the first punk rock record labels in America back in the late '70s, most rock radio stations laughed at our records and refused to play them. The first big station outside of the San Francisco Bay Area to play the 415 Records artists was WBCN in Boston. We went from being a label that measured sales in various Bay Area neighborhood stores to suddenly shipping boxes of albums to stores in Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire. And, because WBCN was such a huge and successful station, other stations around the country started playing the records as well. The program director there, the man who made the decision to play releases from a small indie label clear across the country, was music fanatic Oedipus. He helped us break RomeoVoid, Translator, Wire Train, Pearl Harbor & the Explosions. And he helped us get our first #1 hit, China by the Red Rockers.

Years later, Oedipus and I each discovered the beautiful Buddhist culture of Thailand. I've visited the country more than a dozen times. He married a Thai woman and lives between Thailand and the U.S. Above you can see him addressing a rally for Thai democracy advocates. Here's a letter he sent me yesterday:

Bangkok is quite exciting these days. Protesters have blockaded major intersections in the city for over 4 weeks now. They are trying to dismantle the corrupt democratic dictatorship that so blatantly overstepped its authority that many Thais finally awakened and said enough. There is no end in sight as both sides are firmly entrenched but someday Thailand may throw off the feudal yolk.

Yet this is not your traditional protest. It is not unlike a rock festival complete with staging, lights, 3-camera shoot, sound towers, video screens, elaborate shutdown merch, entertainment between speeches, huge semi-permanent tent structures for protection from the midday sun, security for ingress/egress, backstage catering, toilets, camping (a sea of tents), and even private Muslin prayer rooms for the minority from the south of the country. The protestors also have their own TV channel. Imagine 59th and 5th in New York with the concert fare all the way down 5th. Now add 5 more major intersections. Could not happen anywhere else in the world that I can think of. Really quite unique. Only in Thailand could demonstrators shut down major portions of the city and not face immediate retaliation from the police.

I was invited to speak and was told that I was the first farang to appear onstage at the Thai protest… I opened for a former deputy Prime Minister. So well received that they want me back for an encore, but I have to lay low for a while as they have begun deporting non-Thai protesters.

Still causing trouble after all these years.  Once a punk…

Causing trouble for fascism, an ideal Oedipus and I always had in common, Last week, the New York Times covered a group of Thai-Americans who are doing something along those lines with their low-budget political satire TV show in Bangkok.

Founded by two Thai-Americans, Shallow News in Depth is a low-budget weekly program posted to YouTube that employs a type of Western humor not common in Thailand-- acid-laced sarcasm-- and draws on the deep well of paradoxes, absurdities and mangled logic of Thailand’s otherwise deadly serious political crisis.

The show has been running for five years but has seen its viewership soar into the hundreds of thousands in recent months as the crisis has escalated.

“If you take seriously everything happening in Thai society, you will go mad,” said Winyu Wongsurawat, the co-host of the show.

…The show has drawn inevitable comparisons to The Daily Show, the satirical American news show anchored by Jon Stewart.

Shallow News in Depth follows a similar format of celebrity interviews, commentary on news and humorous dispatches by reporters on the streets of Bangkok.

But with its ultrafast, chaotic pacing and its silly antics, Shallow News in Depth is “Jon Stewart on crack,” in the words of the Bangkok Post, an English-language newspaper.

Thai politics have become such a circus that reality can be hard to trump.

Protesters in Bangkok are vowing to overthrow the government and banish from Thai politics the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, and her billionaire brother, the still-influential former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose populist policies have made him a hero to many of Thailand’s poor. They are indeed opposing the current election and doing all they can to thwart it.

They have taken over major intersections in Bangkok and blocked people from voting in a number of districts in the city and southern Thailand, enough disruption to delay the election process for weeks, if not months.

In the meantime, Thailand is deadlocked and lacks a fully functioning government.

…“We are not to be taken seriously,” he said. “We are just clowns.”

But this is a very serious political juncture for the Thai people and, as Oedipus explained in his rant against reactionary Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH), westerners are tending to not understand what's going on at all. Shallow News In Depth may be entertaining but it isn't bringing much clarity. Reporting last month for The Guardian, Dave Sherman was far clearer about what's at stake and why it should matter to westerners who love Thailand and who-- unlike Turner-- love democracy.

As Thailand's protests intensify and a state of emergency is imposed in and around Bangkok, some have begun referring to the demonstrations as "antidemocratic," zeroing in on the opposition's boycott of a forthcoming election and the protest leaders' calls for an unelected "people's council" to replace existing democratic structures. But the truth is more complex, with the protesters being arguably-- and paradoxically-- more democratically minded than the elected government they oppose. To understand how this is possible, one has to scratch beneath the surface of Thai politics and dispel some myths.

Myth 1: The protesters are mainly 'Bangkok elites'

The government is led by Yingluck Shinawatra, who is widely acknowledged to be the proxy of her self-exiled brother and former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. The protests began last November after the parliament passed an amnesty bill that wiped Thaskin's slate clean, allowing him to return to Thailand without serving his two-year jail sentence.

Spearheaded by the opposition Democrat party and Bangkok's middle classes, the protests grew even after the bill was withdrawn, morphing into a wider movement to reform Thailand's politics, cleansing them of Thaksin's influence once and for all. These protesters are often called an "elite" by pro-Thaksin groups – it's a term used to discredit their opponents, and it has caught on among many in the international media. In reality, while the protests indeed have their centre in Bangkok, most protesters are fairly diverse, and include the city's middle and working classes, as well as students and people of all walks of life from Thailand's south. Crucially, the majority of the Bangkok-born working class do not support the government.

It is true that the protest does not enjoy much support in the country's northern and northeastern regions, where the majority of Thailand's population resides. This geographic divide highlights the protest's limits as a national movement, but it in no way supports the notion that protesters are an unrepresentative elite.

Myth 2: Urban protesters oppose rural Thais' desire for equality

The protests were never driven by a need of urban Thais to deprive their rural compatriots of their rights, but were triggered by specific and highly provocative actions by the pro-Thaksin government and parliament. The controversial amnesty bill carried one clear message: we are here to serve, first and foremost, the needs of Thaksin Shinawatra, not the country-- and it was, in effect, the last straw.

But while the protesters want to remove Thaksin from Thailand's body politic, they do not specifically seek to punish his rural supporters. When Yingluck Shinawatra first assumed power after winning the 2011 election, all Thais accepted the result peacefully. Had "Bangkok elites" wanted to bring down the government simply because it represented the power of their opponents, they would've come out against it much sooner.

Some protesters have, unfortunately, said disparaging things about rural Thais, questioning their ability to make the "right" electoral choices due to a lack of education and other perceived faults. What this shows is that Thailand has a long way to go in conquering the many stereotypes that exist among its people-- but it does not point to a protest born of a desire of one part of the population to disenfranchise another.

Myth 3: The protesters want 'less democracy'

Thai protesters will invariably tell you that democracy does not end with elections-- that it is not simply a piece of paper placed into a ballot box. This shows parallels to Egypt last year, as masses piled into the streets, challenging the elected government of Mohamed Morsi in its drive to consolidate power and impose a theocratic state on an unwilling populace. It's not that Egyptians did not want democracy-- a year earlier they had died in the streets fighting for it-- but they felt democracy was usurped by the very government elected under its rules.

Thai protesters' anger and disillusionment comes from a similar place. They are reacting to the government's abuses of power, its vast corruption and a majoritarian style of rule that excluded opponents from any decision-making on key issues of governance. As the government became more and more dedicated to fulfilling Thaksin's need to regain power, it became not just distasteful to the protesters, but politically illegitimate.

To the protesters, Thaksin has always been seen as an autocrat for whom democracy is simply a means to holding on to power, not a guiding political philosophy. Therefore opposing Thaksin and his proxy government is not seen as antidemocratic-- as Thaksin himself is antidemocratic in substance, if democratic in form.

Meanwhile, Yingluck's dissolution of parliament and call for new elections as the protests intensified was viewed as nothing but a raised middle finger to the protesters: "We don't care what you're protesting or demanding; we will have an election, and we will win on the strength of our supporters alone. You don't matter!" The protesters heard this message loud and clear, and it only deepened their resolve to resist an illegitimate government, hiding behind the facade of an election.

Hence, the demand for "reform before election"-- with most protesters accepting democracy with free elections as a basic form of government, but only after reforming the system to eliminate Thaksin's influence from Thai politics.

What Happened In Thailand last Weekend-- And Why?

I always seem to end up in Thailand when they're in the middle of their elections. The one last week went far more smoothly-- particularly the aftermath (at least so far)-- than almost anyone predicted. Over at my travel blog I ran a graph from the Bangkok Post (below) that confirmed there was a widespread belief among people in Bangkok that violence was sure to follow election returns that anticipated a victory for Pheu Thai, the political machinery of the Shinawatra family.


But Pheu Thai's sweeping victory-- which did not include Bangkok and was predicated on the massive turnout among poor farmers in the northern part of the country-- has so far been taken in stride. The night after I ate in the Benjarong, a restaurant in the Dusit Thani Hotel, which had been mortared from across the highway in Lumpini Park the last time the red shirts and the yellow shirts clashed in Bangkok. Thomas Fuller at the NY Times, who doesn't seem to share my concern about Thaksin Shinawat's faux populist/fascist orientation, marveled at how deftly the Shinawatras seem to have pulled off a political miracle-- or magic act. "Once again," he points out in awe, "the Shinawatra clan has pulled off an unlikely feat: One of the wealthiest families in Thailand has convinced the poor and politically disenfranchised that it understands their problems, feels their pain and will fight for their rights." Even without the long and ridiculous list of promises Shinawat's party made to poor Thais-- from a laptop in every hut to universal medical care-- it was more than clear the poor people of Thailand want Thaksin as their country's leader. But he's in exile, avoiding a prison term for corruption... so they elected his sister.

The Shinawatra family, a family of Chinese immigrants who became wealthy by lending money and confiscating land, has a hold over poor Thai families that isn't easy for a foreigner to comprehend. And that includes the Bangkok elite! It's got to go deeper than his ability to speak to them in the local northern dialect.

The paradox of a billionaire family winning Sunday’s election by championing the have-nots-- a notion that flabbergasts its adversaries-- was on full display here in San Kamphaeng, the Shinawatra family’s hometown.

In grubby market stalls and ramshackle shops, residents flew red flags that advertised their support for Thaksin Shinawatra and his younger sister, Yingluck, who is now in line to become Thailand’s first female prime minister... Opponents of the party fear a surge of populist policies, increased debt for the country and a revival of what they say were efforts by Mr. Thaksin to dilute democratic checks and balances.

But here in the birthplace of a now revitalized Shinawatra political dynasty, the victory Sunday was personal.

“We have been tormented since 2006,” said Piyapong Pookklai, 61, a classmate of Mr. Thaksin at the local primary school. The military coup that year removed Mr. Thaksin from power and the election Sunday was seen here as both a vindication and an act of defiance toward the coup makers.

A caravan of pick-up trucks from the Pheu Thai Party drove triumphantly through town on Monday, with loudspeakers blaring a grateful message to voters: “We will bring happiness back to you, brothers and sisters! Thank you!”

The caravan was led by Mr. Thaksin’s niece, Chinnicha Wongsawad, who was re-elected as a member of Parliament with a commanding 78 percent of the vote. At 29 years old she is one of the youngest members of the Shinawatra family.

She joins the growing dynasty: In 1969 Mr. Thaksin’s father, Lerdt, was elected to Parliament and served a little more than two years. (Like his son nearly four decades later, his term was interrupted by a military coup.) Mr. Thaksin’s sister, Yaowalak, served as an official in the municipal government of Chiang Mai, the busy capital of northern Thailand a half-hour drive from here. Mr. Thaksin’s brother, Payap, was a member of Parliament for one year until the 2006 coup.

Finally, Ms. Yingluck’s election to Parliament on Sunday marked her debut in politics. Previously she worked as an executive in Mr. Thaksin’s business empire.

The Shinawatra family started its silk business in 1911 and have spent recent decades converting their economic clout into a political power.

As Chinese immigrants who arrived in northern Thailand in the early 1900s, the family’s forebears were outsiders. But the family grew deep roots in the community, married local villagers, bought land, planted orchards, lent out money and soon became the overlords of the area.

Bangorn Auppara, 76, a resident who once worked for the Shinawatras, says the secret to the family’s success has been a mixture of hard work, resourcefulness, and “stinginess.”
The family became powerful in the area, she said, partly by lending out money and confiscating land when the borrowers could not pay back.

It’s hard to find someone here who has a bad thing to say about the family, partly because so many people in San Khampaeng work for them or rent property from them.

I hope we never find out what would happen if any Kochs run for office here. It's bad enough we have Rockefellers.

Election Weekend In Thailand

I'm in Bangkok, right now, theoretically recuperating from a grueling month in Nepal. But it's so hot and humid here-- normally I visit Thailand in December, when it rarely gets to 90 degrees-- that it's utterly demotivating... demotivating to do anything. And for me, an air-conditioning-phobe, the bone-chilling full-blast dry freezing air indoors (including in the SkyTrain) makes it even worse. If you dress for the hot humid air you freeze when you enter any building. No one seems to have ever thought about moderation here. Which brings us to the Thai election Sunday.

The government says they'll be clamping down on "electioneering" (or coverage) starting Saturday by blocking mentions of the election on Facebook, Twitter and on blogs over the weekend. To give you an idea, let me start by pointing out that the Army Chief, Prayuth Chan-ocha, is reassuring the public that there is no coup planned if the military is unhappy with the results. More than a few people disbelieve him.

Officially Thailand claims only a 1.1% unemployment rate and a fast-growing economy. It isn't what's reflected in the streets. Before I go into the specifics of the Thai election, let me say that fake populist movements (like the one here in Thailand), controlled and financed by wealthy plutocrats are taking hold among uneducated masses-- and not just in the U.S., but everywhere in the world. Oligarchs are gambling that they will come out ahead whether the local conservative party wins or a fascist party wins.

* In the U.S. the fascist-oriented populist movement has taken over the traditional conservative party (the GOP), while the traditional liberal party has basically morphed into a conservative party. Yesterday, for example, two top-level right-of-center Democrats, Bill Clinton and Rahm Emanuel, endorsed a tax holiday on repatriating offshore corporate profits, something the Republican Party and their financiers are demanding. Clinton and Emanuel have been politically successful by serving those identical financiers.

* In France the Socialist Party is rallying behind rapist Dominique Strauss-Kahn again, even though his "socialism" is a right-wing version of corporatism akin to Blue Dog politics in America.

* This week almost every Greek Socialist voted to commit political suicide by backing austerity measures being pushed by the predatory plutocrats demanding the masses pay for the unsustainable practices of the banksters and the wealthy.

* In India, a fundamentalist swami/shill of wealthy families, Baba Ramdev, is leading a right-wing "populist" movement that makes the Tea Party look subtle.

"AUSTERITY" WORLDWIDE IS SWEEPING THE LEGITIMATE
ASPIRATIONS OF WORKING FAMILIES INTO THE GUTTER

And Thailand is no different, although almost no one is talking about it here.

Brother and sister team

Virtually all opinion polls suggest that the opposition Pheu Thai Party (PTP) will beat the ruling party by a wide margin but will need to ally with smaller parties to form the next government. No polls can be published during the final week of the campaign.

An opposition landslide would be a major blow to enemies of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who picked his younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to lead the PTP and remains a key player in Thailand’s internecine politics. Red-shirt fans of Mr. Thaksin last year staged mass protests in Bangkok, provoking an Army-led crackdown that left more than 90 people dead.

Army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha recently urged Thai voters not to elect “the same people” to run the country, a swipe at Thaksin and his allies who won the past three elections. Prayuth commanded troops in the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin and is seen as a staunch defender of the monarchy, which has become a target for militant red shirts.

But for all the posturing, the military is unlikely to stage a coup in the election aftermath, though it may try to use other means to thwart a PTP-led government. Another scenario, say analysts, is a return to a cycle of street protests by anti-Thaksin yellow shirts and partisan brinkmanship, particularly if Thaksin returns to Thailand, where he faces a two-year jail term for corruption.

“I think we’ll see another attempt to undermine an election result,” says Kevin Hewison, an expert on Thailand at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

An Army colonel says that Prayuth may strike a compromise with the PTP that keeps him in his current position, installs an ally as Defense minister, and shields his officers from prosecution over last year’s bloodshed. Diplomats say PTP leaders have hinted privately at such an accommodation, even as they publicly insist that no deals are on the table.

The background of the election is complicated. The key figure, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, isn't on the ballot-- or even in the country. The fascist-oriented populist was ousted by the military, and his sister is running. As Time pointed out yesterday, Thaksin "likes to compare himself to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement."

Both are in conflict with their country's military-backed leaders. But that's where the similarities end. Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, whereas Thaksin backed two violent anti-government protests. Suu Kyi spent more than decade under house arrest for her political convictions, while Thaksin fled rather than do time for corruption. Suu Kyi is a champion of democracy, Thaksin's critics call him an autocrat.

But as Thailand heads toward a national election this weekend, Thaksin looks set to get a new lease on his political life. The Pheu Thai party, which he controls from Dubai, is poised to defeat incumbent Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Democrat Party. And the person he can thank for that turnaround is the woman he hand-picked to lead and who may become Thailand's first female prime minister: Yingluck Shinawatra-- his youngest sister.

Although Yingluck Shinawatra has never held office, the 44-year old executive has emerged as this election's brightest political star. She either carries the sheen of the Shinawatra name or the taint of Thaksin, depending upon a Thai's political point of view. Many aren't sure what to think; Polls show between 20% and 40% of voters remain undecided. The split reflects lingering anger about the violent protests that rocked Bangkok last year. To sway voters, Yingluck has cast herself as a pacifist: "As I am a female I do not encourage violence. I will unite Thailand,'' she told Time.

Indeed, Yingluck displays none of her brother's notorious temper. With her soft physicality, photogenic looks and ever-present smile, she has the aura of the "good girl" that so many Thais root for in television soap operas. "Her gender, in Thailand's male-dominated politics, also serves to take the edge off her party's portrayal as representing a dangerous autocratic extreme,'' says Hasan Basar, the founder of Bangkok Public Relations.

Although her opponent, Oxford-educated Abhisit, also has soap-star looks, he is backed by the military. Top generals haven't been shy about urging voters to elect what they call "good people," a euphemism for non-Pheu Thai candidates. The military's involvement "drives people away," says Pavin Chachavalpongpun of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Singapore. "They don't appreciate the direct intervention in politics.'' It also sets up a dynamic reminiscent of Burmese politics, where powerful generals appear to bully 'The Lady.' Yingluck certainly isn't Aung San Suu Kyi, but the narrative could sway some of the undecided.

If it doesn't, Yingluck and her party are offering voters a raft of goodies: free tablet computers for one million students, a guaranteed rice price, credit cards for farmers and taxi drivers, and debt moratoriums. Economists worry that the programs will create unmanageable levels of government debt. The Democrats are offering their own populist package, but it pales in comparison to Pheu Thai's giveaways.

Although much is still unknown, most analysts predict that Pheu Thai will win the most seats but not an outright majority in Thailand's 500-seat House of Representatives. In that case, the military may lobby smaller parties to join a Democrat-led coalition government. Even if Pheu Thai wins an outright majority, or succeeds in putting together a coalition, uncertainty may persist. Victors have been disqualified in the past. "If the traditional elite decide to overturn the results, a new round of violent conflict may start,'' says Pavin.

As Prime Minister Yingluck could also generate conflict by granting her exiled brother amnesty, allowing him to return to Thailand. She's vowed to clear anyone charged with political crimes in the aftermath of the 2006 coup, including her brother. "That would be a mistake,'' says Pavin. Yingluck has now back-tracked, saying only that a committee will consider amnesties. Few, however, believe she won't facilitate her brother's return. "For a Thai, where family bonds and loyalty are extremely important, it is perfectly natural and 'right' for her to do as her older brother would want her to do,'' says Hasan.

The country is so politically polarized that some prominent Thai columnists express fear of a civil war between Thaksin camp (the rural and urban poor in the north and northeast, the Red shirts and those who oppose the military meddling in politics) and anti-Thaksin factions (the Democrat Party, the military, members of the conservative establishment, middle class voters, southerners, monarchists, and the Yellow Shirts). Jon Ungpakorn, a former Senator, warns of a "long and violent civil war." "The next opportunity for reconciliation may well not arrive again for many years," he wrote.

In that sense, Sunday's election may be the easy part. With so many post-vote scenarios and warring factions, the future of Thailand, once regarded as the most stable country in Southeast Asia, looks anything but bright.

There's a PTP rally now in Lumpini Park about two miles from our apartment. It features Yingluck, and Roland thinks we should walk over. One of our favorite restaurants in town overlooks the park, the Benjarong in the Dusit Thani Hotel. Last year it was hit by a couple of grenades fired from an M79 launcher. Let's hope it's more peaceful today. I updated the situation at my travel site

Should American Banksters And Their Political Protectors Learn A Lesson From Events In Thailand?

Ignorant Thai teabaggers weep when once powerful predator's assets are seized

America-- in terms of the country's collective consciousness-- tries its darnedest to not learn from its own history let alone from events in other countries. The right-wing party in this country has gone so far as to discourage education itself. Earlier today we met North Carolina Democrat Billy Kennedy, who is running against an elected Republican congresswoman, Virginia Foxx, who tries to make a case against public education, her point being that why should rich people pay for poor people's children to get an education. In Utah we learned a couple weeks ago how elements of the GOP were determined to continue chipping away at public education by abolishing the 11th and 12th grades, although the state seems perfectly happy with the "compromise" position of making the 12th grade "optional," while the system discourages the option. It's called "dumbing down" the population, a dream for right-wing politicians who can only thrive on an ignorant and easily manipulated, uneducated voter base.

The Founding Fathers couldn't have been clearer on the importance of the separation of Church and State, based on catastrophic experiences in European religious wars. And yet religionist divisiveness is a keystone of reactionary political thought in America. I remember reading in Rep. Robert Wexler's entertaining book, Fire-Breathing Liberal about his adventures on the House Foreign Relations Committee, meeting Republicans for whom it was a Badge of Courage to brag about not ever traveling abroad or even owning a passport! The current crop of ideologically self-justifying robber barons at the base apex of the GOP is apparently completely unaware of the lessons of the French Revolution. They may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Yesterday Digby pointed out the unseemly whining of JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon-- who still hasn't digested his $17 million bonus this year-- about how "Washington has become increasingly erratic and unfair in its treatment of the banks over the last few months." Like me, I see Digby has also been thinking about the French Revolution.

Oh boo fucking hoo. For the first time in my life I'm really beginning to understand why the French went so nuts with the Guillotine. They were just sick to death of having to watch spoiled aristocrats behave as if a bunch of hungry, armed, very pissed off peasants presented absolutely no threat to them whatsoever. At some point you want to kick their privileged asses just to shut them up.

Unlike Republican members of Congress, I love to travel and I love studying history. I'm proud to say I've lived all over the world for years on end and still travel to remote and foreign places annually. I write a travel blog as well and love learning from the experiences other countries have. One place I've been to over and over is Thailand. In February of 2006 I write about that country's Bush-buddy fascist-- Thaksin Shinawatra, a plutocrat demagogue appealing to desperate and ignorant populism. He was eventually overthrown but today's L.A. Times catches us up with this powerful criminal who could well serve as an idol for American teabaggers. The Thai Supreme Court is confiscating $1.4 billion after determining that he was, simply put, a crook. America needs some lots and lots and lots of that. Maybe it would stave off Madame Guillotine. Oddly, the Court has decided to leave Thaksin with nearly a billion dollars in his ill-gotten gains! Thaksin and his former wife, Potjaman na Pombejra, were unanimously found guilty of 5 counts of corruption (and of pursuing policies with Myanmar that would enrich his family) and convicted of hiding ownership of shares in family business Shin Corp. during his five years in office, and of abusing his power by crafting policies that benefited the company. Thai teabaggers are outraged that their hero was found guilty and that his stolen loot is being returned to the people of Thailand.

"Accepting death is better than letting the elites rule us," said Thonglor Manglat, a retiree and Thaksin supporter, outside the Supreme Court before the verdict was announced. "Even if the soldiers come out and shoot at us next month, we won't run in fear."

Although pro-Thaksin leaders have called for nonviolent disobedience, rallies have turned violent, including an assault on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's motorcade last April and rioting at a summit of world leaders a few weeks later.

And Thaksin opponents seized the capital's two airports for a week in 2008.

How About If We Offer The Thais Palin To Run Their Country Instead?

I'm preparing for my annual Big Trip. This year it's Mali. Roland and I were contemplating the extra cost of hiring someone to ride shotgun in the 4WD we're renting-- literally shotgun-- to take us through remote areas of the country where, by normal tourist standards, there's nothing (including no roads). "At least," said Roland, "we're not headed for Thailand this year. There are serious riots and they closed the Phuket Airport." Last December we were in Thailand and we covered the Thai elections, which brought the party of corrupt neo-fascist billionaire and crook Thaksin Shinawatra back to power. Thaksin, a crony of the Bush family of course, has since fled the country (again), one step ahead of a prison sentence.

The riots Roland was relieved we wouldn't be involved in this year, were due to the fact that people wanted Thaksin's puppet prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, to resign. He refused. I've been to Thailand over a dozen times; I love the place, although I'm not all that enthusiastic about the political instability, and especially not about the corrupt, Bush-oriented leadership. Today's NY Times explains how an appearance on a TV cooking show... cooked Samak's goose-- and could have saved the country from more riots and a probable military coup. (The Times of London goes one step further-- and features the recipe Tom Kha Salmon-- that did Samak in.) I said "could have" because Thaksin's party, the P.P.P., plans to renominate Samak for the job, defying the court order.

Anti-government protesters cheered and wept when the verdict was read over radio and television, but there was no sign that they would end a two-week standoff in which they have blockaded the prime minister’s office.

The confrontation has hobbled government business, hit financial markets, damaged the country’s vital tourist trade and raised fears of violence or a possible military coup.

...The protesters accuse Mr. Samak of corruption and incompetence and say he is a stand-in for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup two years ago this month.

Mr. Thaksin is in London, where he is seeking political asylum in an attempt to evade corruption charges. He says the charges are politically motivated.

The allure Thaksin has for Thailand's ill-educated rural masses-- he has little support among educated people in cities-- is not unlike the Sarah Palin phenomena we're seeing in America (nor unlike the attraction Italians feel for crooked right-wing billionaire Silvio Berlusconi). It's a fascination with the "reality TV" aspects of their lives and a frustration with the hopelessly corrupt political system which is difficult for anyone to respect. Samak had been paid $2,350 for four shows on a program called “Tasting and Complaining," a harbinger of what we can expect from the Livin' Palin crew.

HOW TO GET AROUND THAT LITTLE INCONVENIENCE OF DEMOCRACY-- THAI STYLE

It looks like the Thai military, the royalist politicians and the rest of the anti-Thakson coalition have figured out how to get around the huge PPP victory Thaksin's allies won at the polls last week. Their Election Commission is disqualifying more and more of the winning PPP members for cheating and vote buying. The minor parties, which the PPP (or the Democrats) need to form a government, say they are waiting to see how many PPP winners get disqualified before deciding which way to jump. So far 6 have been barred from participating in Parliament, shrinking the PPP's seats down to 227.

Yesterday I saw Bush on TV talking about how the terrorists are trying to undermine Pakistan's "democracy." I think if he ever comes to trial some prosecutor needs to ask him to define democracy or ask him to explain how military juntas allied with his government qualify as democracies. Another rigged election this last week: Kenya.

Anyway, according to this morning's Bangkok Post, the head of the Election Commission, Sutthipol Thaweechaikan said three more PPP winners-- Pornchai Srisuthiyothin, Rungroj Thongsri and Prakit Poldej-- are also "banned from political activities for one year and were subject to criminal charges along with their canvassers for making financial promises to those who cast their ballots for them." They were found guilty of having promised incentives to eligible voters in Buri Ram. A new election will be held there January 13 and the 3 will have to pay the costs of the election while not be allowed to be on the ballot.

There is speculation in Bangkok that the Election Commission may be able to disqualify enough PPP winners to throw the election towards a Democratic Party-led coalition, a sure premise for political instability, especially up north where Thaksin is still immensely popular.


MORE NASTINESS THE THAIS MAY HAVE LEARNED FROM BUSHCO

Both the U.S. and hailand rate among the worst countries in the world when it comes to the government spying on its own ciizens.

Thai election update: Looks like billionaire former P.M. is headed back into the governing picture

As of the moment, there has been no coup in Thailand, a possibility Howie was discussing yesterday. Thai voters, with their principal choices between the right-wing prime minister who was deposed by the military and the mlitary deposers, voted decisively against the military, and strongly if not quite so decisively in favor of the former prime minister. The People's Power Party (P.P.P.), which Howie described as "a right-wing conglomerate of supporters of deposed billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra," won 232 seats in the 480-seat parliament.

Today Seth Mydans and Thomas Fuller are reporting on the NYT website that the P.P.P. is claiming it has enough seats to form a governing majority:

Thai Party Says It Can Form Coalition

BANGKOK — A party that backs former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Monday that it had made alliances with enough other parties following parliamentary elections Sunday to form a coalition government.

The secretary general of the winning party, the People Power Party, said he was not ready to name his allies, and an official of the second-place finisher, the Democrat Party, said he doubted the claim.

“After counting the number of parties that have responded and having more than half the seats, there is no problem in forming a government,” said the secretary general of the People Power Party, Surapong Suebwonglee.

In the election Sunday, the pro-Thaksin party, known as the P.P.P., won 232 seats in the 480-seat parliament, in a strong repudiation of the generals who ousted Mr. Thaksin in a coup 15 months ago.

The total fell short of a majority, and Monday has been a day of hard bargaining among the parties to form a coalition government.

The strong showing of the P.P.P. means that Mr. Thaksin and his supporters will remain a force in Thai politics whether or not they form a government, and insures that a struggle for power will continue in this deeply divided country.

“It’s quite clear that P.P.P. in the next few days will try to form a government,” said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. “Their legitimacy will be challenged by the Democrats and other parties.”

The Democrats, who have the backing of the generals, won 161 seats. Political analysts said the smaller parties would come under strong pressure from the military and the political establishment not to join with the pro-Thaksin party.

REPORT ON THE ELECTIONS IN THAILAND TODAY

The Wat Saket complex in central Bangkok

Since I got to Thailand I've been wondering if there is going to be another military coup. No one wanted to talk about it but the prospect has been hanging like a shroud over the city. This weekend, though, people are talking about it. Today is Sunday, election day. Exit polls confirm what pre-election surveys had been predicting, that the huge rural vote in the north would propel a victory for the P.P.P. (People's Power Party), a right-wing conglomerate of supporters of deposed billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Depending who you talk to, Thaksin and his supporters are best known for either massive corruption or for populist rhetoric. Not many people-- regardless of how they felt about Thaksin-- liked the idea of a military coup.

The P.P.P. doesn't deny they would welcome Thaksin back to Thailand and pardon him. It is also suggested that the military officers responsible are likely to be charged and tried by a P.P.P. government. It doesn't take much to figure this situation is ripe for a coup-- despite the fact that the military is claiming that will resist the temptation. People in Bangkok-- which is decidedly not P.P.P. or Thaksin territory-- are worried. No one wants violence or instability.

I've been to Thailand over a dozen times since the late 70s and I've never seen so few tourists here. It's the peak of the tourist season-- Christmas, warm, dry; and a dollar still goes very far here. But there are so few tourists that it is disconcerting. I've walked into clubs where I'm the only customer. You don't need reservations for even the best restaurants in town. Today Roland and I spent a couple of hours at Wat Saket (Golden Mount), a spectacular temple complex in the middle of town. I may have seen, at most, half a dozen European tourists the whole time; normally there would be scores. Maybe their travel agents warned them to stay away.

And Thailand isn't the only "democracy" with electoral problems lately. Tonight we found out that India's Gujurat state just re-elected a far right, nationalist, anti-Muslim bigot party, Modi's BJP, while last week South Koreans elected a blatantly corrupt rightist as president, a Bush-clone who wants to "get tough" with nuclear-armed North Korea. God only knows what's about to come down in Pakistan. Elections conforming corrupt, authoritarian rule in Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were as patently illegitimate as Bush's wins were in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004. Bush has made the very idea of democracy and fair elections are farce and a bad joke around the world. And now he's using a trillion or so taxpayer dollars to spread his vision of "democracy" to Iraq.

ONE BIG UNION-- SOMETHING WE NEED NOT JUST IN AMERICA, BUT EVERYWHERE

My grandfather was a socialist who owned his own business and employed a couple dozen workers. He taught me that the labor movement was a crucial component-- if not the crucial component-- of American democracy. Labor unions are the only countervailing force the American people can count on against the greed and avarice of the wealthy who own the media and both political parties-- the Republicans 100% and the Democrats... to a great extent.

Adam from Traveling Light has put together an inspiring and inspired video for the song "One Big Union" by Iowa rockers Red Smear. It's my favorite song and I can't stop listening to it and watching the video:



A few days ago I mentioned how I couldn't quite get my head around the Thai elections (which culminate on Sunday). I'm understanding them better now. In the past I've written about Thailand's now-ousted and exiled corrupt billionaire prime minister Thaksin. His party is no more but the front runner in this week's election, the PPP, is just another version of the same corrupt crew. The primary opposition, the Democratic Party, claims to be battling the forces of entrenched corruption. The PPP-- like Thaksin-- takes a populist stance (while lining the pockets of their supporters) and have great appeal in the less educated countryside-- where most of the voters live.

When I embarked on this trip, all my friends warned me about Burma and their violent military junta. Sunday the PPP will probably win the elections here. They are threatening to re-write the Constitution (again) and the military, which overthrew Thaksin, may well move against them. Damn, do they need one big union here! South Korea too-- where they just elected a corrupt, right-wing vulture capitalist as president.