The question is, what are your predictions in both the long and the short term as how will x-pats be affected as well as tourists, and local business? Also your predicted outcome of this “political crisis.”  Feel free to include how things have effected you.

I make no prediction but I can relate to you that when I was in Thailand in the 1907’s the government changed 6 times during a 3-year period, mostly through a coup d’état. Of course there was unease among the expatriates, but it didn’t really change anything for us. Among the local population, there was a buzz in Bangkok, but also the Thai people did not get affected as such. These government changes are usually something that gets sorted out among the political cliques.

Governments come and go, but the country and its people remain the same.

Plus que ça change, plus que ça reste la même chose.

Thai politics is simply about which faction within the old boys network will get the biggest piece of the pie.  Toxin has tried to eat (kin muang) too much of the pie and the result of such behavior is indigestion within the political system. Such indigestion can result in a small silent fart such as the coup back in the early 1990s that was scarecely noticed outside Bangkok other than the schools being let out early to complete loss of bowel control when the doggy doo doo flows in the streets such as back in the 1970s. What is going on now are muffled burps presaging future political events that certainly will not happen this week of HRM's birthday.

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Yes.

It's all about carving up the pie and people get annoyed when someone kin muang as you say.

Thai politics is simply about which faction within the old boys network will get the biggest piece of the pie. Toxin has tried to eat (kin muang) too much of the pie and the result of such behavior is indigestion within the political system. Such indigestion can result in a small silent fart such as the coup back in the early 1990s that was scarecely noticed outside Bangkok other than the schools being let out early to complete loss of bowel control when the doggy doo doo flows in the streets such as back in the 1970s. What is going on now are muffled burps presaging future political events that certainly will not happen this week of HRM's birthday.

Good analogy! If 19992 was a small silent fart, it was also a stinker.

The issues in the past you are talking about, what are the similarities about them? I think is is very relevant to today. From what I am seeing is the government has started to hurt the average Thai by reducing their potential income just to serve a few at the top. Was that the issue in the past? For what it is worth the Thais of today are more educated, well that is at least the ones that did not cheat in school. The idea of preying on the uneducated to win a election or control public opinion is just a sour note in my book. I am curious if this is a repeat of events. If it is can someone explain or find a link about what happened back then.

I like the metaphor you used on the pie. Another one seems to be a tsunami. Isaan is way off shore so the wave is not noticed. However Bangkok is quite literally the beach. The closer it is to the beach the more it rises up. The question is how big was the earthquake back then as compared to now?