Mob, Part 2

Since the coup that left Thaksin without a day job, the country has been given a new constitution that weakens elected officials, by making it easier to impeach the prime minister, and increasing the power of the courts.

The judges have been busy. This week they threw three members of Thaksin’s legal defense team in jail on bribery charges. (The lawyers claimed to have gotten their cake boxes mixed up when they handed one containing $60,000 in baht to some minor court officials. The press is calling the incident “Pastrygate.”)

A longstanding border dispute with Cambodia has also flared recently, keeping Thai politicians from tackling, say, inflation, currently over 5%. Instead they’re debating which country should control the concessions around a 900-year-old border temple that may soon become a World Heritage site.

Next the courts will rule on whether or not the ruling party must disband in light of election irregularities. Bottom line: the government is struggling to survive.