Things here in Thailand have taken a turn, politically. Over the past few weeks, anti-government protests have broken out in Bangkok, particularly focusing on the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, and her attempt to obtain amnesty for her brother.
Since then there was a truce to not protest during the King’s birthday. The King is the most revered person in Thailand, with his image plastered along roads, in front of buildings and hung up in every Thai house, restaurant, school and business. His yellow flag flies everywhere the Thai flag does. He, along with Buddhism and country make up the three parts of the motto of Thailand. It would have been in extreme poor taste to protest on a day set aside to honor him. The truce lasted through the weekend, which was the time the protests turned violent the week before.
The Effects of Holidays
On Monday, I was at a train station in Surat Thani, working on making my way back to my site after a week-long vacation. At one point a third-class bus rolled into the station, with people hanging out the windows, blowing whistles, cheering and waving. Most everyone was sporting some sort of fashion that involved the Thai flag: wrist bands, head bands, flags as capes, shirts with the flag on it, ribbons that looked like long versions of the Thai flag. There was also a lot of yellow apparel as well. The people in the station started snapping pictures and taking videos. These people would soon be a part of the 160,000 that filled the streets the next day.
Tuesday was a national holiday, Constitution Day, which probably made it much easier for people to take to the streets and allowed the numbers to swell so large. Also over the weekend, all 152 elected Democrat Party parliament members resigned from their positions in order to join the protests. By the end of the day, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had dissolved the lower house of parliament, the elected house, called for new elections on February 2 and, while holding back tears, said that she had stepped back as far as she could. Legally, she and her cabinet must remain in place until a new election takes place. The king made a royal decree cementing the election date on February 2.
Ramping Up the Protests
Suthep, the leader the anti-government protests, has called for Yingluck to step down and for the Senate, who members are appointed, to then appoint a new caretaker prime minister until the February elections. They are calling for “good people” to be appointed to a council that would run the country. Suthep has requested a meeting with the heads of the Thai military and police, which have publicly remained neutral. Most of the government changes have come at the hands of the military, with 18 coups in the last 80 years. Supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin, the “red shirts” who were the protesters that shut down much of Bangkok in 2010, have vowed to take to the streets if she were to step down.
This is all causing a lot of conversations among Thai people. For my part, I don’t understand much of what they are saying and I have been asked my opinion, to which I reply that I don’t know. But other than the increased discussions, nothing of note has happened in my rural village.