democracy! or democracy?

In recent years, democracy in Thailand has continued to be called into question. Several years ago, former Thai PM and multi-billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, was forced from office by the military in a bloodless coup, who claimed that Shinawatra and his entourage were corrupt, and unfit to rule. The PM’s bank accounts were frozen, and he fled the country. An interim government was appointed and the case was closed. . . sort of.

Since then, protesters from both pro-Thaksin and pro-reform have clashed on a number of instances in Bangkok, and Thaksin has sought to regain influence in the region by taking up a consultant position within the Cambodian government( something that for most Thai’s is unthinkable given turbulent relations between the two countries) and improve his international influence through the purchase of a well-known English football team.

The nature of politics in the area, characterized by rural vote-buying in which “big-bosses” have effectively monopolized the political process by gifting money to individual Thai’s in a rural setting and the threat of Thaksin cronies regaining power in an election have created further problems both in regards to the military’s attempt to minimize participation by pro-Thaksin politicians and also, through the questionable nature of paid-out votes. Each presents a valid concern for pro-democracy advocates.

In an article published last week touching on the mass protests and military crackdowns in Bangkok, it has been put forward that not only was the military response pre-planned by a number of years, but, also the military attempted to cremate the bodies of protesters killed by the military to destroy evidence. This raises an entirely different level of concern for Thai democracy.