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> 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 democrac
by 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 agoSure, 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.