Thursday, November 27, 2008

Every day is opposite day in Thailand

I'm having a hard time figuring out Thailand these days.

Correct me if any of this is wrong. I sure hope some of it is, because it hardly makes any sense.

On Tuesday, the ironically named People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which neither represents the majority of the people nor cares much for upholding democratic values, lead a mob of protesters that swarmed and shut down Bangkok's international airport-- one of the world's busiest transport hubs, with 90,000 passengers daily.

Their goal? To cause as much chaos as possible to force the democratically elected government to step down, and install some sort of new system that limits the electoral power of poorer rural voters. This new system is needed, of course, because if they merely succeeded at toppling the government it would just get re-elected at the next possible chance.

This PAD already accomplished the task it was created for in 2006, when a military coup toppled the beloved legitimate Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. It re-established and repurposed itself when Thaksin's allies won a resounding victory in the first post-coup election.

Now aiming to purge the government of all traces of influence of the deposed Thaksin, PAD stormed into government offices in August and have remained there since, forcing the government to administer things while moving from one place to another.

And now, no longer content with merely shooting themselves in the foot, Bangkok Thais have moved on to shutting down their country's main international gateway, damaging Thailand's reputation and economy beyond foreseeable repair. Economic prospects are bleak, foreign investors are repelled, and obviously tourists don't want to have to deal with all this shit.

Meanwhile, at the airport, the middle-class mob is unable to see the menace that they themselves are creating by holding their country hostage. One PAD executive continued to blame Thaksin who is "willing to destroy the country". He also said "we don't want to inconvenience people", and, as if the PAD has no role in it, said "I'm really worried that the violence will increase".

Is... Is this what they actually believe?

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