Thailand remains a tinderbox, nearly five months after the capital burned as opposition protesters scattered following a military crackdown on their extended central-city demonstration. Since then, opposition leadership has been silenced through jailings and selective blocking of radio and web communication. Nobody can say how many back-channel conversations are taking place that might lead to reconciliation between people at opposite ends of the political spectrum here.
A bomb went off yesterday in another part of the province next to Bangkok where we just moved. The explosion was quite a distance from our place, but it does serve as a reminder that lots of bitterness remains, in spite of a “Together We Can” campaign started by people representing the silent majority.
An emergency decree outlawing gatherings of more than five people remains in place for Bangkok and surrounding provinces. If elections were held tomorrow, the prime minister’s party would lose and the current government would be replaced by one that would like to bring back Thaksin. It’s still a potent mix here of globalization coming to the villages, obstinacy coming from the old guard, testosterone, fear, and legal mumbo-jumbo.
Somehow, Thailand’s economy churns along. Tourism seems to be rebounding, and the baht has rarely been stronger.
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1 comment:
Thanks for the update, John. Thailand has slipped from the news here.
-Laura
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