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Thailand has cycled between elected government and military dictatorship something like 15 times while he was King, the miracle is he didn't have an outright ci
by dageshi 10y ago
Thailand has cycled between elected government and military dictatorship something like 15 times while he was King, the miracle is he didn't have an outright civil war during his reign. If you've ever visited Thailand, you'd know that compared to surrounding countries (with the exception of Malysia perhaps) the level of infrastructure and standard of living is much higher in Thailand, things generally work there whereas in neighbouring countries like Cambodia/Laos/Burma they generally don't, or at least they haven't until very recently.
To at least my outside perspective, The King seems to have been a stabilising force which prevented Thailand from descending into outright civil war.
And I can't help but feel that somehow insinuating that America shouldn't consider Thailand an ally after the events you listed is a bit ridiculous considering the year before they occured the US was still in Vietnam fighting a war with allies who were torturing and killing a damned site more people than what was happening in Thailand around the same time.
- rodgerd 10y ago> things generally work there whereas in neighbouring countries like Cambodia/Laos/Burma they generally don't, Yeah, I can't imagine having B-52s unloading on Cambodia or Laos had anything to do with that. Clearly it's their lack of a monarchy.
- pastProlog 10y agoCambodia had a monarchy and stability (relative to its neighbors), but Sihanouk refused US requests to get involved in the Vietnam war, so the US began a campaign to destabilize the country, eventually replacing Sihanouk with a puppet government under Lon Nol when Sihanouk was out of the country.