Thailand’s political crisis

A way out

Both sides in the stand-off must back down, or risk their country’s disintegration

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Readers' comments



All the talks and socalled experts views and forecast were and are to no avail and null and void if the imbalance system is not corrected.

The Bangkok elites have no morale high ground to criticize Thaksin and Yingluck because they couldn't stomach the defeat that lost to the poverty-stricken voters led by Thaksin/Yingluck.

As I have said before, they have been enjoying the wealth and happiness for few hundred years until Thaksin came to power and felt
threatened; Suthep then invented a version that voters should be given voting power based on their knowledge and wealth (meaning income) and so the poor farmers would be deprived of their voting rights under such a system favoring only the rich and well schooled Bangkok elites; If so, the poor would lost their democratic fundamental right which is universal acceptable rule and order.

The Chinese proverb says: Evil spirits emerging when the country is doomed to be doomed; Is Thailand now facing such an untenable situation only God knows.

My advice to Suthep, you can use the Thaksin/Yingluck tactics to win back the poor voters so you can rule again; You must have patience and resilience and a willing heart to work with the poor; The world has changed and so the old order cannot be forever there and remains unchanged.

In politics, serving the vast majority interest is the only paramount objective which Suthep must learn to accommodate for his country and himself.

Suthep must ask himself, is it fair to the vast majority poor???


Both sides in the stand-off must back down? I don't agree. The Democratic Party refuses to put its position to the electorate and abide by election results, and such a party has no standing to argue much of anything in a democracy. It certainly doesn't deserve its name. The electorate is aware of the Yingluck-Thaksin connection in the Pheu Thai party and they can include it among the issues they decide on when they vote. Be consistent - would The Economist also agree that an American election resulting in Republican victory is invalid because the whole electoral and governmental process is so heavily influenced by corporations? If not, then The Economist is hypocritical.


Pretty solid review, Economist. I continue to find it difficult to find any good guys in this whole mess, though, and broadly speaking, I believe that Thailand must face up to the flaw in its current makeup or suffer continued frustration in its development as a modern nation: the continued widespread countenance of corruption, especially if it benefits the group you happen to be a member of. Combined with an educational system that not only insists on rote learning without ever questioning the official line, but also leaves the average student inadequately prepared to enter the modern world, condemns the country to a future with a pliable citizenry easily swayed by vote-buying, cash politics, and economic cronyism.
If one speaks with the average Thai in the PDRC, their complaint isn't so much that corruption exists within government in Thailand, rather it's that the present government simply engages in more of it than the previous Democrat administrations did, and to the benefit of only the Shinawatra minions. And since only about 4 million people out of the 38 million income earners in Thailand actually pay into the system, and most of those are centered in Bangkok, they are particularly outraged when the Shinawatra Clan uses their tax dollars to buy the votes of the North and East, which further places them outside the benefits they are supposed to receive from their group, i.e., the Democrats.
But the Democrats are no prize either. Their long tradition of ignoring economically, or taking advantage of, the poor of the rural areas is without dispute, and their regaining the reins of power would no doubt mean a return to such policy.
For the foreseeable, all this suggests intransigency rather than cooperation.


I've lived in Thailand for eight years, during two of which I was the editor of a local 20-page English language weekly newspaper. Through the job, I came to understand the vast gap between those who had money and the everyday Thai people,including the farmers in my locality.

You reporter obviously hasn't had a change to get to the grass roots, both of the country and of the present situation.

Thaksin, whatever else he may be and whatever his reasons, lifted the life of everyday Thais via his local village loans and the 30 baht health scheme. The north and northeast are far more prosperous than ever before,and it shows.

The BKK elite, however, (and whomever), are desperately trying to hang on to power, for reasons I'm not allowed to mention...but which are likely to be paramount in the near future. The situation here strongly resembles that of the UK between 1900 and the pre-WWII years, in that we're watching the death of the feudal system which has held Thailand and its peoples back since 1932.

Sophie Jordan


Since when is Thaksin convicted for corruption? It was a conflict of interest case. Anti democracy leader Suthep was also convicted for a conflict of interest charge and when it comes to corruption Suthep can learn the government a thing or two. He was involved in a Phuket land scandal that brought down the Democrat party led government in the 90's was involved in a palm oil price fixing scandal and a corruption case regarding the appointment of a police commissioner. The anti democracy movement is the real sham. If you close down airports, establish life firing zones in the middle of Bangkok and use the army for a bloody crackdown on your opponents you simply do not have what it takes to lead a country. Suthep is bad for business and bad for democracy all at the same time.


Best review of the long-running Thai crisis I've seen in a long time. New faces and new ideas are needed. Taksin did one really good thing, he showed the Thai people that a truly national political party which courts the votes of a wide range of society can win elections, especially against an opposition that doesn't believe in true democracy and exists only to defend the powers, wealth and privileges of a grimly entrenched backward looking elite. He has outlived his usefulness and so has his sister YL, time for all the Shins to go, but let them leave peacefully and legally, to be replaced by new leaders with some of their better ideas and none of their baggage. The government should stay, if it can, and I think it can if the Army stays in their barracks and the redshirts make some moves toward a more stable and less corrupt nation. I'm rooting for them because if they can't make a go of it there will be blood. Previous coups and political turmoil were often tragicomic, more ranting than fighting, part October Revolution, part Gilbert and Sullivan, something tells me this one won't be. Fluency in Thai, 45 years off and on in Thailand, a Thai wife and many Isaan relatives give me a bit of background. I even write books about Thailand, they're mostly fiction, fiction that I would not like to see come true. One last comment. The Rice Pledging Plan is a boondoggle, just like the whole US Farm Program, but I remember an earlier boondoggle, The Thai Rice Board, it forced poor rice farmers to sell their crops at a fraction of the going price, then resold them on the international market. The Thai elite raked in the loot on that one for decades, and the Thai Democrats made sure that no one messed with their cushy franchise. AKA M H Burton

Polar Resident in reply to guest-smeonow

I agree with all you say- I have visited Thailand many times over the last 25 years. Thailand has lost much of its charm during this time and Bankok has become a modern glass, steel and concrete jungle seperate from the provinces in outlook and lifestyle. I fear that both side will not comprimise and the easy fall back is violence which is never far below the Thai surface. Gun battles in central Bangkok does not inspire. There is no clear solution and the events of August 2006 have not played fully out yet. Philippine beaches and Manila nightlife beckons now.

Puntmeister in reply to guest-smeonow

Yes, all very true.

Its a hard event to come to fruition though - the passing of the batton in the Red Shirt party, that is.

Thaksin largely founded the Red Shirt movement. I don't know the inner-workings of the upper-ranks of the Red Shirt party, but I'd suspect there are several types ready and willing to take over - but do they dare speak their desire?

In all likelihood, they all just sit around, akwardly, and promote the least-risky candidate (least risky in terms of internal dissent): a Thaksin relative.

It would likely be seen as direspectful to promote one's self, or someone unrelated to Thaksin, to be PM.

Puntmeister in reply to Puntmeister

Unfortunately, given this dynamic, it would really only be Thaksin himself that could make this kind of change happen.

He would have to adamently insist upon a non-relative taking up the reigns. He would really need to go so far as to pick the actual candidate.

The problem is, that wouldn't be a whole lot different than just picking a relative. Somewhat better, but not entirely.

In any event, Thaksin did some good, but I he is not perfect. His ego is in the game, and he's likely to want to stay as close to things as possible. Hence, Younglick.

Y2BxahnFQP in reply to guest-smeonow

I disagree with you totally and think that Yingluck will go soon after this sham election.

Democracy does not begin and end with the ballot box – it's a myth that this is all about an elite rejecting the popular vote

Like her brother Thaksin, Yingluck is very corrup.

A failed rice scheme (which you misunderstood-perhaps you got the wrong informations from your Esarn wife)is only one example.

During her time of as priminister Thailand has slip from 88 to 102 on the chart of world corruption index.

guest-smeonow in reply to Polar Resident

Thailand has lost its charm to me to, not the people but the society and the politics. I once thought of retiring there, no more. Maybe I'll try Laos, it's no less democratic than the Thailand Suthep envisions and people won't criticize my 'hillbilly' Thai. I was there in 2011 and the pure Lao I learned at the Foreign Service Institute came roaring back...and the Lao loved it.

guest-smeonow in reply to Y2BxahnFQP

Let me get this straight, corruption wasn't a problem in Thailand before Taksin and elections aren't needed to have democracy. Guess I'm just another stupid foreigner who doesn't understand the subtleties of Thai politics and society. You disagree with me 'totally', that's the real problem, as long as Thai politics is 'winner take all' there will never be peace. I guarantee it.

guest-smeonow in reply to Puntmeister

You're right about the 'hard to come to fruition' part. I'm not optimistic about that myself, but it, or something like it, has to happen or the 80-year plus cycle of coup-and-sham democracy-and more coup will continue and each turn of the wheel from now on will be ever bloodier.

Corruption has always existed in Thailand, but it reached a whole new level when Thaksin came into power. He has raped and pillaged the country's assets and resources for his own personal financial gain, and changed the laws so that he could get away with it. Please read up on this. I have a friend who used to wane between red shirt and protester sides. After attending both protests and doing research, he concluded that the food at the red shirt protests was better, but he decided something was off about the red shirts ideals.

Yes, elections are needed for a democracy, but not when the elections are rigged. There are no subleties of Thai politics to understand; just that corruption easily occurs at the ballot box as well. What the protestors want is an uncorrupted democratic process. The current government is really autocratic dictatorship under the guise of a legitimite 'democracy'.

On another note, I loathe reading descriptions of the opposition as "elites", "urbanites", "privileged", "old establishment". I guess the foreign articles aim to paint a dramatically polarizing description of the two sides, but these people exist on both sides. I would say the majority of opposition protesters are made up of the middle class of all ages, social statuses, and walks of life; young and old, blue collar workers, office workers, doctors, lawyers, students, just regular every day people. Please when reading the NY Times, Washington Post, BBC, CNN, Reuters, etc. do not believe everything you read from them.

guest-smeonow in reply to guest-smwwwso

I've heard this all before, a hundred times. No use in even trying to dispute your 'facts'. Some of my relatives are among those BKK blue collar workers. I hope they were able to vote and I know damned well who they voted for. The ground is shifting under the old Lords of BKK, too soon to know in just which direction. Change will come, and I'm sure you'll be very surprised when it does.


Samak was ousted for cooking up a storm. YL should have been ousted for wearing Burberry boots during the 2011 storm. "Hurry up & dump YL", an awesome line from TE that's better late than never. Shins manufactured maladroit into new art form, just scratch the shiny surface. Bling bling


I have been travelling to Thailand and the far east for over 30 years and observed the growth and prosperity of the country dramatically improve over the years, it is so sad to see a it slowly destroy itself.

The difference in wealth between the south and north is only to obvious for all to see. Thailand must remove all forms of corruption before it can advance and believe in one man one vote.

It is essential that the Royal Family remains, but the country must be ruled by the elected representatives if it is be become truly democratic.

I love Thailand and its people but do pray that it becomes of age soon before it is to late.

Felix Qui

Yet again, we see that sources outside of Thailand are superior to domestic Thai media and other sources both at providing relevant factual information and sound critical analysis of Thai affairs. This is, as intended, a guaranteed consequence of Thai law which has, from the constitution (all of them) down, been made up to suppress that free speech on matters of public concern which is a necessary condition for informed opinion of worth, rather than ignorant, uninformed opinion, however blissful that ignorance of the mass of people might be for some.

Crucially, as The Economist points out, we are in the age of Twitter, and here, the only way to maintain hallowed myths of dubious truth and far more dubious worth is to adopt the North Korean approach, with the resulting political, social and economic devastation. Sadly, some old camp mindsets, on both sides, do seem to think that the PDRK approach of centralized despotism and ruthless control to suppress has much to recommend it.

Let us hope for Thailand's sake that the Twitter ideals of free speech succeed to allow the correction of entrenched errors in belief, in social practice and in Thai politics that are so long overdue. And that the needed reforms proceed peacefully in accord with democratic principles which respect all as having a right to an equal say in how they are governed, however intensely they might dislike some temporary situations, whose further evolution they may freely work towards by peaceful means.


Factions of the red shirts have started to cannibalize themselves because they realize now that they have been deceived and misled by Thaksin's rice pledging scheme and the amnesty bill fiasco. An attempt has been made on the life of a powerful red shirt leader in the northeast. Pieces of evidence such as video clips, previously withheld, are coming forth to implicate red shirt protesters in the burning of Bangkok in 2009. The rice pledging scheme, in particular, the failure of which have left rice farmers with useless promissory notes instead of cold hard cash because the government has run out of money, have resulted in three consecutive suicides by hanging of rice farmers in three days in three different provinces in the northeast, the stronghold of Pheu Thai Party. The red shirts will implode. The other side has nothing to do but to wait it out.


At this point, the divisions between red shirts and yellow shirts have become so hardened, its difficult to see how any sort of real compromise could ever occur.

Unlike in, say, the U.S., where there are swing voters - voters who will sometimes vote Republican, sometimes Democratic, depending upon the actual credentials and policies of the candidate in question, no Thai will ever sometimes vote Yellow Shirt, sometimes Red Shirt.

Given the two sides are effectively set in stone, and one side is bigger (Red Shirts) than the other (Yellow Shirts), its not hard to understand why the Yellow Shirts don't respect Democratic elections.

Increased Federalism, with a largely symbolic national leader (on domestic issues), whose only real strength lies in foreign policy, may be the way out.

I have found, in any event, that Red Shirts & Yellow Shirts almost always agree when it comes to one thing - foreign policy.

guest-smwwwso in reply to Puntmeister

It's not that the "Yellow Shirts" don't respect Democratic elections; They do not respect elections where the votes are bought or elections that are rigged due to massive corruption. There are local reports of several illegal Cambodians dropped off of a van to cast their vote (as they would be paid to do so), but having to be turned away because they could not produce the National Thai ID Card that is required to vote.
Side note: "Yellow Shirts" is not the right name for the party, though it is easier to say Yellow or Red. They are more correctly referred to as opposition/anti-government/PDRC.


It is entirely likely that Younglick consults with her elder brother on a regular basis.

It is also quite likely that the rice-pledging scheme is bad policy.

But bad policy, and a leader consulting their sibling, does not equate to a 'sham'.

guest-smwwwso in reply to Puntmeister

Calling the rice-pledging scheme bad policy is a major understatement. Are you going to mention the corruption or the poor farmers whose support he'd gained, who are now left with worthless promissary notes instead of the money they have been promised? The farmers who have committed suicide because they are now in debt, just for a program that would win votes to Thaksin's party and consequently lose the country money as rice stocks rot.

It IS a sham and the despotism in action when Thaksin places his relatives in all high posts in the government, while he is in exile.
There are a few articles where Thaksin has been interviewed and admits that he is ruling the country and making decisions from abroad. Please read this article:

"In Thailand, Power Comes With Help From Skype"--NY Times


Does this really sound like a democracy to you? No it's a dictatorship in disguise.


Well PT did appoint a non-Thaksinite as their leader but he was dished out by the courts for appearing as a guest on a TV cooking show.

I see the only way out is for the Democrat Party to dissolve. Its ideologies and policies can live on in a new party that is made up of new faces and doesn't carry all of their old baggage.


You err, I believe, like all other genuine news organizations in making the amnesty bill seem nothing more than a ruse to allow Taksin back into Thailand. It was more 'nuancé' than that. In fact, the Red Shirts disliked the bill more than the Yellow Shirts did for the obvious reason the amnesty bill released the Army from liability for many civilian deaths and ended investigations into massive corruption on the Yellow Shirt side.

If you fault the current freely elected government for being a "sham" because it is controlled by Taksin from afar, a prime minister who rightly fled for his life, then allow him back. Voilà, end of sham.

saraburian in reply to Padova44

The (inappropriately named or hilariously misnamed) Democrat Party -led government a few years back, which was held together by the help of the military coup and the judiciary coup was also a sham in this respect. As it was controlled by few people in the royal court. Not to say that Yingluck-led govt can be a sham, but at least it was clear when the campaign in the last election what it intended to do. "Thaksin Thinks, Pheu Thai Acts, and those who use to act, support" (the last part refers to Thaksin's lieutenants who were banned 5 years from politics by the ruling of coup-installed court)"



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