| The Continuing Crisis in Thailand |
| Written by Giles Ji Ungpakorn | |
| Monday, 01 September 2008 | |
|
Democracy and social justice get lost in the shuffle between the royalists and the pro-Thaksin forces
On the one side are
the deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his disbanded Thai
Rak Thai Party, its successor, the Peoples Power Party and the
government. Opposing them are a loose collection of authoritarian
royalists comprising the People’s Alliance for Democracy, the
pro-coup royalist military, the pro-coup judiciary and the Democrat
Party. The authoritarian royalists are not a unified body. They only
share a collective interest in wiping out Thaksin’s party.
The two sides mirror
each other. Both are firmly in the camp of the Thai capitalist elite.
They both are nationalistic and are prepared to abuse human rights.
While the Thaksin government and Samak’s Peoples Power
government support extrajudicial killings and a hard-line murderous
position on the Muslim insurrection in the south, the opposing side
cares little about such killings and counts the former Thai commando
and assassin who took part in several coups and is called the butcher
of Krue Sae Mosque, where Muslims were massacred, among its
leadership.
Both factions are
associated with people who have a record of corruption. It is common
knowledge that all Thai politicians are engaged in corrupt practices,
whether legal or illegal. The military have a long record of
corruption and the 2006 junta were no exception. After the illegal
coup in 2006, they appointed themselves to boards of state
enterprises and forced through increased military spending.
Yet the courts have
clearly been used to single out Thaksin’s faction on corruption
and “abuse of power” charges. While Thaksin was still in
power, the courts bent to his wishes. There is no justice in
Thailand. The judiciary are not accountable to the electorate and
always support the rich a powerful. In labour courts they always rule
against trade unions. No jury system exists in Thailand.
The differences
between the two factions are there too. While the Thaksin faction are
committed to their strategy of winning power by elections,
parliamentary democracy and money politics, the PAD and their friends
are in favour of military coups, reducing the number of elected
parliamentarians and senators and increasing the power of unelected
bureaucrats and the army. The justification for this is the belief
that the poor majority in the country are too stupid to be given the
vote.
The PAD faction are
also fanatical royalists. They want a new coup and were happy to whip
up hatred of Cambodia and risk a war over an ancient Khmer temple.
The PAD strategy, as outlined by Pipop Thongchai, a core leader of
the party, is to create enough political chaos that institutions and
parties are destroyed and a “new order” arises from the
ashes. Needless to say, this new order will not be democratic nor
committed to social justice and equality. In terms of economic policy, the Thaksin faction try to use a dual-track strategy of mixing neo-liberalism with grassroots Keynesianism. They believe that the poor must not be left out and have a record of real pro-poor policies such as the Health Care Scheme. However, they are not remotely socialist and are against taxing the rich and building a Welfare State.
The
PAD/Democrats/royalists are hard-line monetarists. They propose
interest rate hikes to cut down spending on the poor and to squeeze
wages. The king is one of the richest monarchs in the world and he
supports this economic policy and has also advocated the “sufficiency
economy” where everyone needs to curb their spending according
to their means. Income re-distribution is ruled out. That is why the
poor have consistently voted for the Thaksin faction.
The major reason why
democracy and social justice have fallen off the political agenda
into the stinking canals of Bangkok is the total disarray of the
social movements, NGO networks and trade unions. After the collapse
of the Communist Party in the mid 1980s, the new slogan of the
Peoples Movements was “the answer is in the villages”.
This was an NGO
strategy to turn to rural development along single-issue lines. The
slogan reflected a respect for villagers which contrasted greatly
with the attitude of the government. Now the slogan of those People’s
Movement networks supporting the PAD has changed to “the
villagers are stupid and don’t deserve the vote!”, “the
answer is with the military, courts and the king”.
Sections of the
NGO-Coordinating Committee, some Thai staff in Focus on Global South,
HIV+ networks, Friends of the People and some farmer groups have
lined up to support the PAD and the demand to decrease democracy. The
Railway Workers Union and the Thai Airways union have also shown
support. The Rail union leaders have never campaigned for hundreds of
rail employees who have been on temporary contracts without welfare
for decades. The Thai Airways union has ignored military corruption
in the airline and in the Airports Authority. Both unions have turned
their backs on serious attacks on trade unions in the private sector
and are only prepared to take action when people in high places give
them the green light.
Other activists who
cannot stand the PAD have allowed themselves to be pulled into
supporting the government. This is just as bad as those supporting
the PAD. Some have even cheered when the police tried to break up PAD
protests.
The lack of
independent class politics in the Thai Peoples’ Movement is a
result of years of rejecting overall “politics” and
“political organisation”. It is a result of the
anarchistic ideas that were popular after the collapse of the
Communist Party, a reaction to the party’s Stalinist
authoritarianism. The problem is also a result of the “lobby
politics” of NGOs. Neither strategy leads to building an
independent position for the trade unions and social movements. They
reject “representative democracy” but have no concrete
democratic proposals to put in its place.
Even today, at this
late hour, we can still build political independence. We must
campaign for more democracy and more control of institutions from
below. We must advocate a root and branch reform of the justice
system, a reduction in the role of the military and the building of a
welfare state through cuts in the military budget and progressive
taxation of the rich. Yet there are still those who say that we must take sides in the current elite dispute and leave such reforms until later. The problem with that is that the dispute will not be quickly settled and if it is settled on the terms of one or other elite grouping it will result in a smaller democratic space and less bargaining power for social movements.
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Thai will be a republic within a decade. The corrupt royal family with his ill gain of $30 billion will be overthrown. remember Nepal 2008. Imagine a scene that the royal house accumulates wealth while Thailand has been the top sex tourist destination for the world for the past 40 years. Child molesters and daughter rapist like fritz of austrian have their way with thai girlie while the monarch continued ruining (reigning) the country. The urban elites, self appointed, care little about their less fortunate countryman and indeed joining in raping the daughters of poor farmers. They deserve their own Roberspere.
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 written by ddd , October 03, 2008
For all Thais, it is shameful that the government building has been occupied by the PAD whose demand for new politics has made Thailand backwards many years.
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 written by John Francis Lee , September 09, 2008
' We must campaign for more democracy and more control of institutions from below. '
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That seems certain to be the answer to me. Although Thailand has had elections of its national MPs it has never had democracy. The last junta appointed leaders at the Tambon level for 10 year terms! Wanted to appoint them for life! There is no hope from the "top". As Giles points out the "top" is totally corrupt, PAD or PPP. The answer is the same in Thailand as it is everywhere else on this earth. Individuals must ban together and organize locally to protect themselves from the ravages of "their" governments. Hand in hand with settikit paw piang goes gan mueang paw piang. report abuse
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 written by Heresy , September 03, 2008
It's hard to view the PAD through the lens of existing theoretical dogmas. Royalists would never admit that this is a "Royalist" movement especially with many PAD leaders advocating socialist agendas (under the cloak of Royalist form). Even as the "urban mass" and labor unions declared a general strike, Marxists would find it hard to place the current event into their theoretical 'urban proletariat' box - as urban elites and movie stars also join ranks with the PAD. Finally, advocates of "electoral democracy" would find the PAD unacceptable for their declaration that western democracy does not lead to social justice - a heresy in a modern age of McDonald’s and Starbucks.
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When asked in 1970s about the significant of the French Revolution, Zhou Enlai has been known to say "It's too early to tell"! Perhaps we should wait a bit before jumping to any theoretical conclusion. report abuse
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It is a sad day to see the country in this type of conflict, however the two sides seen to be standing off and not going head to head which is a good thing and shows Thai politics has matured some what.
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 written by AC , September 03, 2008
Chinese Thai :
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Why not address the specific points in this article if the facts were wrong? It does little for your credibility to stoop to name calling without being able to bring up a single coherent argument. report abuse
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 written by Pipin , September 02, 2008
Chinese Thai:
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You're funny. Too bad you don't have a single useable idea in your head. I'm waiting for you to declare me a stooge of Thaksin and Samak. Labeling me a "scumbag" just won't do. Yeah, okay, Giles is a "republican fanatic" so you don't have to address a single argument he makes. Your powers of persuasion are awesome, comrade! report abuse
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 written by athitaya , September 02, 2008
Good article, I agree some part of it. it's too sad that many Thai prefer to use their feeling rather than using their brain to think rationally even for a few seconds.
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Yeah, we need to be patient. report abuse
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 written by Chinese Thai , September 02, 2008
Pipin,
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You can't accept the truth, huh, scumbag? Go to http://www.prachatai.com, which belongs to Giles Ungpakorn and all the republican fanatics. report abuse
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 written by Pipin , September 02, 2008
Chinese Thai:
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Your inane rants and raves are getting tiresome. Post after post you keep rehashing the same tired boilerplates. Now tell me, where does Giles say or imply in this piece that he's advocating for a republic? So, as long as Sonthi and his ilk are using the monarchy as an excuse for their fascistic tendencies, all is well eh? They are spoiling for a fight constantly and planning to disenfranchize Thais of their vote, but you see nothing wrong with that? Now, let's imagine Samak and his supporters had the same agenda, you'd be crying bloody murder, no doubt. Quite some hypocracy there eh. As always, you manage to ignore the facts that stare you in the face and go in for cheap ad hominem attacks. Man, you even accuse Giles of at one time "proclaiming himself as a Chinese [sic]." Well, if that's a crime in your eyes, then why do you keep calling yourself "Chinese Thai"? You're a silly twit. report abuse
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written by Chinese Thai , September 02, 2008
Giles Ungpakorn must be happy to see this picture. A transition to Republic of Thailand?
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A force for democracy? The guys in red are Pro-Thaksin ("Pro-Democracy") http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8127/imageil8.jpg report abuse
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written by Chinese Thai , September 02, 2008
General Anupong Paojinda says the situation has not reached the level that the government can declare a state of emergency!!!!
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So you know, Samak became a bozo. Poor him. report abuse
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written by Chinese Thai , September 02, 2008
Tansin:
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Thaksin is not finished yet. He's still alive and well in London. He is just waiting for 'the right time' that he could come back to power bigger than ever. report abuse
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 written by Tansin , September 02, 2008
Thaksin forces are now virtually finished by the pro-royalist judiciary while the proxy Samak government is staggering the backfoot. Long live the Richest Monarchy and let the stupid peasants live like pigs.
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 written by Sarat , September 02, 2008
Well, this is human rights. Rights to gathering and protest.
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What a big joke! When Thailand goes into a tailspin from these street protests then ALL THAIS will suffer irreparable damage. Western liberal democracy? Strange it doesn't happen like this in the West. Question is are Asians really ready for "Western style democracy". report abuse
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written by Chinese Thai , September 02, 2008
As usual, Giles Ungpakorn purposedly omits the fact that, while Thaksin's camp resort to elections, the elections are not democratic. Provincial and district administrative elections are the apparent examples. People are either lured to vote by money or forced to vote by guns and bullets by local mafias (village leaders, district chiefs, thugs, local police, etc.)
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The only reason that Giles Ungpakorn remains married to Thaksin's camp and Samak, one of the causes for Oct 1976 & May 1992 bloodsheds, no matter how filthy and bloodthirsty they are is a regime change to Republic of Thailand. Thailand adopted democracy by a coup forcing a King to hand over power. The coupmakers were so corrupt that they fought among themselves after getting the power. Now Giles Ungpakorn wants to go a step further, a Republic, knowing full well that the change itself is very corrupt. I am not a royalist but a republican Thailand now will pull Thailand further backward. It will drive Thailand further to perennial anarchy, not democracy. Take Republic of the Philippines as an example. I am not saying Monarchy is a benevolent force in Thailand. It must be changed one day. But to push this country to further to a Republic is foolish and self-destructive. You can lie foreigners around the world but not the Thais who live close to the situation. Oh! I almost forgot that Giles once proclaimed himself as a Chinese and Briton. report abuse
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 written by Sm , September 01, 2008
you are one of the few writers worth reading on this website... i have also read some of your journal articles and cannot agree more with your opinion
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 written by John Neal , September 01, 2008
A great article! This article should be written in Thais to inform the public of the danger they are now facing. But to make it a fair game, the elite side should erase the Les Majeste law. This law had been used as a tool to eradicate their opponents. On every Coup de ta, Les Majeste was one of the accuasation that the military used to overthrown the government. If we erase this law, the next Coup de ta will be tougher for the military. Without this law, the Thais will be able to see a darker side of the elite instead of only the brighter side.
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|
For the past two or
more years, especially since the September 2006 coup, Thai society
has been hypnotized into forgetting about the real social and
political issues. Instead, the whole of society and most tragically,
the social movements have been entranced by a fight between two
factions of the Thai ruling class. 
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