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I was in Thailand in December, and the political situation there is really not great at the moment. The 90-year old King, whom Thais regard on the whole with a

I was in Thailand in December, and the political situation there is really not great at the moment. The 90-year old King, whom Thais regard on the whole with a great deal of respect, is dying. He is in hospital for much of the time, there are rumours that he now barely speaks, and he is hardly seen in public at all anymore. The military is nervous about what happens when the King dies, as his son is not held in anywhere near the same high level of esteem with the public. The King's popularity stems from being seen as a 'unifying force' through many of Thailand's political crises. Fearing a constitutional crisis when he dies, they're now clamping down heavily on any dissent. Which makes the atmosphere on the street a little strange. I was there on the King's birthday in December, and the whole country (people included) were decked out in yellow, the King's colour. There are icons of the King every 300 yards or so in central Bangkok (less so out in CM). While I was there someone was sentenced to several years in prison for a Facebook post about the King's dog. The laws re: insulting the monarchy have been around for a while, but are now being much more widely applied and strictly enforced. It's very very hard to work out if the public affection for the King is for real, and no Thai will speak openly about their feelings. I spoke to a taxi driver on the way out of the country and said I'd been in the country for the King's birthday. His response: 'Yes.' I left the country fascinated by the experience of a population living under authoritarian military rule, but really hope that for everyone's sake Thailand is able to resolve its difficulties and get back to regular elections soon.

dave2000 10y ago
> I left the country fascinated by the experience of a > population living under authoritarian military rule, It's not as simple as that. They are a democracy, with regular elections. They're just punctuated with military coups. There'll be tanks in the street and the military will have to, after a few days, try and stop people from dancing on/near the tanks. There'll be as many people in favour of the coup as against it. The military situation has nothing to do with the respect for the king; the coups don't happen without the king's blessing. Absent the monarchy in Thailand I don't think the situation regarding democracy would be any different at all.
- kelnos 10y ago
  > They are a democracy, with regular elections. That's almost laughable. The country has been under martial law for two years, with its constitution revoked. If the article is to be believed, the military prohibits campaigning against pieces of "legislation" they want passed -- like the new constitution, which basically just confirms military rule as law. A country with harsh (and enforced) laws on the book prohibiting criticizing the head of state... yeah, not a democracy.
  - dreamfactory2 10y ago
    > the military prohibits campaigning against pieces of "legislation" they want passed -- like the new constitution They prohibit campaigning either for or against
    - kelnos 10y ago
      Sure, except that the military "nudges" people toward voting in the direction they want. Regardless, even if they didn't, your argument is in no way in support of the idea that they have a democracy. A democracy requires public discourse in order to be healthy.
walrus01 10y ago
Any discussion of politics in Thailand is worth mentioning that they've had 12 (twelve!) coups since 1932: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Thai_coup_d'%C3%A9tat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Thai_coup_d'%C3%A9tat It's like a national sport or something...
dreamfactory2 10y ago
> It's very very hard to work out if the public affection for the King is for real It's real. A lot of people have small shrines in their houses

dave2000 10y ago

> I left the country fascinated by the experience of a > population living under authoritarian military rule, It's not as simple as that. They are a democracy, with regular elections. They're just punctuated with military coups. There'll be tanks in the street and the military will have to, after a few days, try and stop people from dancing on/near the tanks. There'll be as many people in favour of the coup as against it. The military situation has nothing to do with the respect for the king; the coups don't happen without the king's blessing. Absent the monarchy in Thailand I don't think the situation regarding democracy would be any different at all.

kelnos 10y ago
> They are a democracy, with regular elections. That's almost laughable. The country has been under martial law for two years, with its constitution revoked. If the article is to be believed, the military prohibits campaigning against pieces of "legislation" they want passed -- like the new constitution, which basically just confirms military rule as law. A country with harsh (and enforced) laws on the book prohibiting criticizing the head of state... yeah, not a democracy.
- dreamfactory2 10y ago
  > the military prohibits campaigning against pieces of "legislation" they want passed -- like the new constitution They prohibit campaigning either for or against
  - kelnos 10y ago
    Sure, except that the military "nudges" people toward voting in the direction they want. Regardless, even if they didn't, your argument is in no way in support of the idea that they have a democracy. A democracy requires public discourse in order to be healthy.

walrus01 10y ago

Any discussion of politics in Thailand is worth mentioning that they've had 12 (twelve!) coups since 1932: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Thai_coup_d'%C3%A9tat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Thai_coup_d'%C3%A9tat It's like a national sport or something...

dreamfactory2 10y ago

> It's very very hard to work out if the public affection for the King is for real It's real. A lot of people have small shrines in their houses