My thoughts on the recent events in Thailand - M. White, Teacher (British National)
I have been closely following the escalating political events in Thailand ever since I moved here two years ago. During that time I have tried to keep a neutral viewpoint and take both of the main political sides’ arguments into account.
I must admit that, I did begin to lean towards the side of the yellow shirts, as I believe that their aim to rid the country of a clearly corrupt political power in the form of the Thaksin family would be beneficial. From my experiences at both a national level (on the news) and at a local level (my own personal experiences), it seems that many people in positions of power, whether it be the government, the police force or immigration, have a price and are willing to accept payments to bend the rules. This is evident from the small bribes that can be paid to be allowed through the immigration checkpoints first, to huge amounts of money paid to build on prohibited land.
However, I did not agree with the yellow-shirts when they made suggestions to give middle-class or intellectuals two or more votes, whilst poorer working-class people only received one. In a democracy, everyone is entitled to their opinion and each person who is eligible to vote must have equality. Although the yellow shirts thought that they had the better and more logical argument, they were still outnumbered and that is how a fair system of government works in any democratic country.I myself support the Labour party in Britain, who were beaten at the last UK election, but I have to accept this and hope that my party can work towards acquiring more voters.
With regards to the Coup, although I cannot say that I believe that this was the best method of trying to end the protests and disagreement, it did seem that there were no other options and the situation had become a stalemate. Talks had become predictable and monotonous and nothing was being achieved. Sometimes extreme situations call for extreme measures.
However, I must admit that since the military have taken over, I have seen many examples of the new leaders trying to bring stability to the country and their actions such as removing illegal building and taxi ranks from the beaches and roads, plus a crackdown on immigration has been positive and widely appreciated by both the Thai and Ex-Pat community. But, these issues are still very small in comparison to the bigger picture. I do hope that these small gestures are not been used to lull the Thai people into submission to the current regime.
At the moment, the Thai military is not receiving endorsement and support from the EU or America and people are worried that the seizure of power may have damaged international relations and monetary support from other countries. But, as a European myself, I think that all that we want to see is that the country can quickly return to democratic rule. European and American systems are built on the right to vote and we have never experienced a seizure of power in our country, so it is harder for us to condone or understand this. However, I believe that international relations can and will be re-established, but not until the military can come to a swift solution to ensure that elections can be put into place as soon as possible. I hope, for the Thai peoples’ sake, this can be achieved very soon.
