Would You Support Another Coup?

[thaigene2]

My poll - so here is background to the above question for those not close to this.

When the military moved in to remove the democratically elected TRT Government, it did so following demostrations by a largely middle-class Bangkok group called the PAD, saying it was necessary to do so as there was serious social disunity. However, it promised to hold elections a year later. It kept the promise and the election was held. It was considered free and fair by most though there were reports (as always) about vote buying. The electorate returned to power a party (PPP) that was a self-admitted proxy of the TRT.

Edited June 8, 2008 by thaigene2

[nonthaburial]

As a non Thai I would not answer such a question as it has nothing to do with me, nor would I be happy to read such a Post if I was a moderator !! Best keep your nose and everything else out

[thaigene2]

If the Mods have any problem with it they'll pull it. Simple.

[burman]

As a non Thai I would not answer such a question as it has nothing to do with me, nor would I be happy to read such a Post if I was a moderator !! Best keep your nose and everything else out

You wouldn't be happy to discuss another country's politics even when it effects you?

[CTO]

So far I am pleased people here support Democracy.

[NHJ]

i think another coup should'nt happen, people did vote truely or bought vote but no matter this government was elected freely.

if people don't like the way the goverment is acting, they can protest like the taxi did for gasoline and next time maybe people will take more interest in the politics if they're not happy with the actual government and so will vote after reflexion.

[toptuan]

The last coup gave Thailand a black eye before the developed world and free countries worldwide. Why would Thailand want TWO black eyes?

And... Nonthaburial, what the heck is that avatar? Can't quite figure it out....

[thaigene2]

The last coup gave Thailand a black eye before the developed world and free countries worldwide. Why would Thailand want TWO black eyes?

And... Nonthaburial, what the heck is that avatar? Can't quite figure it out....

Symmetry

[Gary A]

The first coup was a serious mistake and now they are pushing to make an even more serious mistake. The country is still recovering from the first mistake.

[PeaceBlondie]

I voted no, overthrow cannot be justified if force of arms is used. I know that is true in Christianity, and suspect that Buddhism theoretically frowns upon killing people. The amazing thing is that the last coup, for all its faults, was non-violent. Most modern revolutions have been almost totally non-violent.

I think the PAD is laying the groundwork for another coup, even if they do not think so.

[lazeeboy]

another coup would destroy thailand ,the last one brought it to its knees,just look at the tourist figures since the coup,investors are not investing either.

[Ulysses G.]

The first coup was a serious mistake and now they are pushing to make an even more serious mistake. The country is still recovering from the first mistake.

They have a coup and screw up the whole country and then (pretty much) the same people are immediately elected again. There is a lesson to be learned here.

[Ricardo]

My poll - so here is background to the above question for those not close to this.

When the military moved in to remove the democratically elected appointed caretaker TRT Government, it did so following demonstrations by a largely middle-class Bangkok group called the PAD and also serious anti-democratic action, such as media-censorship by the TRT, and 400 armed Forestry-Department thugs led by TRT-politicians preparing for violent break-up of peaceful democratic PAD political protests, saying it was necessary to do so as there was serious social disunity which still continues now. However, it promised to hold elections a year later. It kept the promise and the election was held. It was considered free and fair by most though there were reports (as always) about vote buying. The electorate returned to power a coalition-government led by the largest-minority party (PPP) that was a self-admitted proxy of the TRT. Some elections were re-run, after corrupt interference & vote buying, but this didn't alter the overall outcome of the election.

My additions above, in red, to give a slightly different view.

The PPP-led government has so-far achieved little, a couple of minor scandals have amazingly resulted in resignations, and the feared whitewash of Thaksin/TRT has not yet been achieved, although there has been some apparent pay-back for officials who supported the previous government.

Former caretaker-PM Thaksin has returned to face his accusers in court, without any violence or assasination-attempts, which he had previously claimed to live in fear of.

PM Samak is behaving erratically, and may not have full support from all his MPs, after declaring that he is no-longer a Thaksin-puppet, but still remains in power, sometimes claiming to fear an imminent coup, then denying it.

The military have respected the election-results, which is a hopeful sign, and so I don't currently expect another coup, for what it's worth. The PAD continue to perform a useful role, in high-lighting corruption, and their rallies have been balanced by similar meetings of anti-junta supporters, notably outside H.E. Prem Tinsulanonda's house.

Thus far things have been largely peaceful.

[villagefarang]

Come on guys this stuff has been going on forever. I can't remember how many times I have been through this.

For the most part they are pretty gentlemanly about the whole process. Eventually everybody is forgiven, for anything they do, and everything goes back to the status quo. Confiscated property is returned and the same old people end up running things.

[Ulysses G.]

All true.

So why this vendetta against Thaksin? He was no more of a crook than all the rest.

[villagefarang]

He didn't play well with others and hogged all the toys. Against playground rules.

[Ulysses G.]

He gave some to the poor folks and so they love him. Maybe that is his real crime?

[samran]

He gave some to the poor folks and so they love him. Maybe that is his real crime?

he gave with one hand (30 baht health care) and took away with another (buying the hospitals which got the government subsidies).

What will come back to bite him is that he has awoken the poor to their democratic voice. This is a good thing. For now, they listen to him, until someone with a clearly better offer comes along. And they will.

[Valjean]

I was rather sympathetic to the first coup and didn’t try to project too many of my values on the good or bad of it. But watching things play out and talking a number of Thais the past year about things I think it was a bad thing because it reinforced that someone else, high up, should take care of things. I’m not against bringing down an elected government that has gone bad – but that is the job of the people either in the streets or at the ballot box. In my humble opinion the Thais will better off when they accept that responsibility rather than abdicate it to the military. There isn’t a government today that can survive, or at least ignore, a concerted, well-supported and ongoing protest movement. Over the past 20 years we have seen the governments, walls and despots fall when the people really take to the streets with conviction and vigor. That’s the lesson I fear Thais don’t learn when they let the military be their proxy.

by the way I'm not saying anything good or bad about the current government or if this should or should not happen. I'm not paranoid to express my views - I just don't follow things close enough to have a strong opinion on this. I'm just talking about the principal of it.

edited spelling error

Edited June 8, 2008 by Valjean

[burman]

^ Good post.

[brahmburgers]

I was happy when I heard about the coup in sept 2006. ......mainly because I didn't like Thaksin and his people - many reasons.

The guys that took over tried to do right, but didn't have the skills or the alacrity needed.

At the risk of sounding like a hippocrite, I am not in favor of another coup for Thailand. Reasons:

>>> There was a vote. Though not democratic in any real sense, it was a vote nevertheless - with a dollop of democracy. The Thai people have to find a way to deal with their flimsy ways of appearing democratic. If they wind up with a do-nothing selfish, bunch of men in charge, then perhaps that will motivate voters to get a better bunch in next time ....again via the ballot box.

Vote buying isn't going to go away any time soon, neither will the score of other drawbacks to Thai democracy, but things could get better incrementally. It may be a long slow slog, but Thais have to figure out how to make it work reasonably well, without looking to the guys with the biggest guns to take over.

[samran]

I was happy when I heard about the coup in sept 2006. ......mainly because I didn't like Thaksin and his people - many reasons.

The guys that took over tried to do right, but didn't have the skills or the alacrity needed.

At the risk of sounding like a hippocrite, I am not in favor of another coup for Thailand. Reasons:

>>> There was a vote. Though not democratic in any real sense, it was a vote nevertheless - with a dollop of democracy. The Thai people have to find a way to deal with their flimsy ways of appearing democratic. If they wind up with a do-nothing selfish, bunch of men in charge, then perhaps that will motivate voters to get a better bunch in next time ....again via the ballot box.

Vote buying isn't going to go away any time soon, neither will the score of other drawbacks to Thai democracy, but things could get better incrementally. It may be a long slow slog, but Thais have to figure out how to make it work reasonably well, without looking to the guys with the biggest guns to take over.

even better post.

My biggest fear is that the next coup will be by Thaksin loyalists in the army. Call me paranoid, but I think if we are debating the likely hood of a coup, then that is the one you'll likely get.

[Jingthing]

I think the Thai people are well justified to rise up and kick to batards out, all of them, but I think they should do this by demanding a fair election, and doing it that way. After the last coup government, which was dreadful, I certainly lost my taste for so called "justified" coups.

[thaigene2]

Okay - well Poll has been running a few hours now. TV'ers are (at present) just over 50 in number and two-thirds are saying there is no justification for a coup at present, with almost half of all votes - 49% - saying it's never justified to remove a democratically elected government.

There are some who say there could be reasons to overthrow a democratically elected govt depending upon circumstances..And roughly two-thirds say the PAD is encouraging a coup to take place.

I won't make any other comments since it's my own poll.

(Sorry the edit was to correct it's 49% not 49.5% and add the bit about the PAD results in Question 2)

Edited June 8, 2008 by thaigene2

[Jefferson]

The most recent coup was a colossal mistake that achieved nothing but make sure the entire world knew instantly what type of democracy Thailand is.

A second coup.. Aside from the moral issue that it's just wrong, I also can't imagine any good to come out of it.

Whatever Thailand's problems are politically, there needs to be a democratic solution / maturing to solve it, however long it may take. There's really no shortcuts to this one.

Edited June 8, 2008 by Jefferson

[onnut]

another coup would destroy thailand ,the last one brought it to its knees,just look at the tourist figures since the coup,investors are not investing either.

thats why I will not support another Coup. its just another headache for business owners, Thai and Farang.

[Jefferson]

BTW, though I'm against all coups against elected governments, that doesn't mean I'm very happy with PPP. I'd much rather this TRT/Thaksin thing got sorted out and see Thaksin become PM again. It's what most voters really want, and need, anyway. (And frankly Thailand and the Thai economy needs this too)

[Monroe]

While I wouldn't personally support a coup in Thailand, I do feel it would do more good than bad for me and my family circles.

I could see a second coup weakening the THB and lowering land values. With a weakened THB and a strengthening USD, I wouldn't be surprised to see the exchange rate back up in the 40:1 range. I won't go much further, but almost inevitably, a worse time for Thais is the right time for foreign investments.

So while I would like to support democracy, I wouldn't ignore a chance to make some money.

[beammeup]

I think the best thing that could happen for Thailand would be if they could somehow get rid of the vote buying and have real free and fair elections. Untill this happens there will always be a split in the country. The newer generation of Thais are becomming more educated through the internet so in time the old system will fall apart. They just have to keep the monsters at bay untill then.

[sriracha john]

My poll - so here is background to the above question for those not close to this.

When the military moved in to remove the democratically elected appointed caretaker TRT Government, it did so following demonstrations by a largely middle-class Bangkok group called the PAD and also serious anti-democratic action, such as media-censorship by the TRT, and 400 armed Forestry-Department thugs led by TRT-politicians preparing for violent break-up of peaceful democratic PAD political protests, saying it was necessary to do so as there was serious social disunity which still continues now. However, it promised to hold elections a year later. It kept the promise and the election was held. It was considered free and fair by most though there were reports (as always) about vote buying. The electorate returned to power a coalition-government led by the largest-minority party (PPP) that was a self-admitted proxy of the TRT. Some elections were re-run, after corrupt interference & vote buying, but this didn't alter the overall outcome of the election.

My additions above, in red, to give a slightly different view.

The PPP-led government has so-far achieved little, a couple of minor scandals have amazingly resulted in resignations, and the feared whitewash of Thaksin/TRT has not yet been achieved, although there has been some apparent pay-back for officials who supported the previous government.

Former caretaker-PM Thaksin has returned to face his accusers in court, without any violence or assasination-attempts, which he had previously claimed to live in fear of.

PM Samak is behaving erratically, and may not have full support from all his MPs, after declaring that he is no-longer a Thaksin-puppet, but still remains in power, sometimes claiming to fear an imminent coup, then denying it.

The military have respected the election-results, which is a hopeful sign, and so I don't currently expect another coup, for what it's worth. The PAD continue to perform a useful role, in high-lighting corruption, and their rallies have been balanced by similar meetings of anti-junta supporters, notably outside H.E. Prem Tinsulanonda's house.

Thus far things have been largely peaceful.

That might change if the earlier plans (purple text above) eventually do occur as below.... and once again, involving Yongyuth's hometown...

Chiang Rai watching for ill-wishers against PAD

Governor of Chiang Rai Traisit Sinsomboonthong stated that he has received news that there have been gatherings of citizens to be transported to protest the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in Bangkok.

Traisit said that he has instructed police officers to monitor the situation and all groups involved, especially any groups that are linked to the political arena.

The governor said that if any citizens do travel to protest the rally, their identification will be documented in case of clashes in Bangkok that may result in any damage. The documentation will be used to take reprisals against an violent action.

- ThaiNews / 08-06-2008