This is Not About Issues

Thailand’s political crisis boils down to rich against poor, right? Whose turn it is to get how much power? How far democracy will be allowed to go in Thailand? The role of the royal family? At least those are some of the questions Westerners might ask in trying to understand the latest events here. We are taught to think first of causes.

Thais see the headlines differently, I suspect. Through their eyes the current struggle is about the relationships between the various red and yellow personalities. Some of the stuff that has gone down over the past couple of years amounts to settling old scores, saving face, and following the lead of the “phuu yai,” a term in Thai that translates as chief, superior, principal, or head man. In Thailand historically there’s lots of precedent for doing what the phuu yai says, regardless of whether or not he’s right. Loyalty to him today will pay dividends tomorrow.

Conspicuously absent in the dialogue are issues, at least in the sense that the term is traditionally used in Western politics. Speeches revolve around how bad the other guys are, not around specifically how things will be better under us.

Further complicating the conflict is the emphasis on national unity that is instilled in most Thai people from an early age. The Thai nation is a relatively young concept—some would say less than 100 years old. As borders have been better defined, successive governments have sought to also define who is Thai. That effort led to a change in the country’s name from Siam (circa 1939) and to national school curricula that promote a common language, history, and religion. To watch Thailand split apart is therefore especially uncomfortable for many people who grew up here. Little wonder that Westerners and Thais hear different things when Thai leaders speak.