There may be a temptation to compare the recent Red Shirt encampment and the tanks rolling in China 21 years ago.

The 1989 event in Beijing was led by the student elite from the country's best universities. The Red Shirt movement is proletarian: the underclass workers.

Ironic -- 'Communist' China with no 'proletarian' rights, 'Democratic' Thailand with a group of poor demanding better opportunities.

Say what you will, it still shows that democracy with all its flaws is still the best system going. In fact it was the negation of a previous democratic election that triggered recent events.

My understanding was that the recent events were the result of informal feudal barons being cut out of a share of corruption by a government trying to bring Thailand out of the middle ages, and a last-ditch attempt to restore their power and wealth, before the information age eroded the barons' ability to control their north-eastern peasants.

Its surprising how people can have such varying interpretations of the same events; and how little they will listen to other interpretations.

That's my contribution to getting this thread closed

SC

My understanding was that the recent events were the result of informal feudal barons being cut out of a share of corruption by a government trying to bring Thailand out of the middle ages, and a last-ditch attempt to restore their power and wealth, before the information age eroded the barons' ability to control their north-eastern peasants.

Its surprising how people can have such varying interpretations of the same events; and how little they will listen to other interpretations.

That's my contribution to getting this thread closed

SC

I mostly agree. But like Bangkok last night, Tianamen got really ugly after the Beijing student leaders had accepted talks and dispersal with the government, but then found they had no control over the other workers and students that had joined them.

The other China connection goes back further to the original revolution.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE13Ae01.html

Finally, some excellent objective reporting.

Even 21 year ago, the international community could locate China on a map. Most people had heard of China, and had some idea about China's govt etc.

Thailand.... not even a close comparison.