Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, there was a man called Thaksin. He was a successful businessman, he formed a political party, and became prime minister.
Traditionally, Thailand had been run by politicians who did nothing for the poor people, they were far too busy giving jobs to their friends and lining their pockets. Thaksin was also an expert in cronyism and pocket lining, but he also, for the first time in Thai political history, implemented schemes to help the rural poor, and they loved him for it.
Less impressed were the traditional elite. Thaksin was disrupting the status quo and they didn’t like it. And nobody liked his increasingly blatant corruption and cronyism. So the military staged a coup and Thaksin was out.
After a period of military rule there were elections and it was no surprise that a party sympathetic to Thaksin won. Their focus upon taking office seemed to be on planning to change the constitution to allow Thaksin to return to Thailand. The prime minister was a joke and eventually had to resign after appearing on a cooking show. The replacement prime minsiter just happens to be Thaksin’s brother in law.
These are the muppets that are currently running the government of Thailand. We will call them the red muppets, based on the colour of the shirts that their supporters wear. But at least they are the democratically elected red muppets (give or take a few thousand bought votes).
Enter PAD, the yellow muppets. Formed by member of the Bankok elite, they want to eliminate the democratic process in Thailand, using the argument that people from the provinces are too uneducated to be trusted with a vote. They have vowed to bring down the red muppets, although it is not clear what they offer as an alternative. If the governmment collapses, a fresh election would undoubtedly see a fresh version of the red muppets returned to power.
So we have the red muppets playing around at running the country, with the objective of finessing the return of Thaksin to power, and the yellow muppets trying to stop them by occupying various buildings and, most recently, the international airport. Neither group has any real interest in the good of the country, greed and power form the basis for their actions. Many of their “supporters” are of the rent-a-crowd variety; 300-500 baht will buy you a supporter for a day, and their is plenty of money behind each group to pay for a substantial crowd.
In most countries, the illegal occupation of the international airport would be addressed promptly by the security forces. Here, the police seem unable or unwilling to take on PAD. And the army… well remember they were the guys who threw out Thaksin, they seem unwilling to do anything to assist his brother in law. They did come up with a statement suggesting that parliament should be dissolved and that PAD should stop occupying the airport, a statement that was ignored by both of the factions.
So there we are, two sets of muppets screwing up the country while the security forces look on. The Thai people deserve better, but there is little sign that anything better is going to show up anytime soon. There is talk of civil war, but that really means no more than muppet vs. muppet rent-a-thug fights.
Meanwhile the rest of the country tries to get on with life. Here in Pattaya there is no sign of the strife. I understand there is a yellow muppet camp somewhere outside a police station, I might go and point a (long) lens at it sometime. There are obviously less tourists than last year, this latest nonsense is not going to help, other than the fact that the tourists that are already here can’t leave.
Oh, and she who must be obeyed has bought a handbag via eBay. Until the impasse is resolved, the bag of joy cannot be delivered. Reason enough for some decisive action I would have thought.
Comments 🔗
2008-11-27| Pete saysThat’s the best summing up of the situation I’ve seen for a long while. Spot on. If some of the so-called media were to print that instead of the usual b******s, maybe people would take a second look at what is really going on. Or then again, being muppets of various hues, they probably wouldn’t have a clue what you’re on about.
Don’t know if you ever read the likes of Thai Visa, but if anything the farang expats (1) who post there have got even less of a clue than the yellow and red muppets.
(1) the brown muppets. Because they mostly talk ****.
2008-11-27| It’s the Muppet Show - TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum says[…] the Muppet Show Not my blog, but I reckon this piece on the current farce is spot on. March of the muppets | Pattaya Days Spike’s view might be, as he put it, "simplistic", but it sums it all up for […]
2008-11-27| Britmaveric saysGood article. Probably correct but maybe not all of it.. I agree with you completely except for the bits which I don’t think are true.
2008-11-27| Billy saysHow dare you, you do yourself, your blog and your readers a very grave disservice and I have no option other than to warn you about your insensive characterisation of one of the best kids programmes of all time. Lay off the Muppets, they are cute, funny, honourable and loyal and not at all like those miserable wretches you describe.
Miss Piggy knows where you live, so watch it.
2008-11-27| Spike saysPete - Thai Visa, 5% news and 95% vitriol. I love it.
Britmaveric - The trick would be to agree on the same bits. The bit about the handbag may be stretching it a bit.
Billy - Miss Piggy? See this picture of ex-PM. http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200712/r213517_824013.jpg I rest my case.
2008-11-27| TizMe saysThe new political state of Thailand is to be Marxism. It will follow the ideals of Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.
2008-11-28| Spike says..and Sleepy, Dopey and Grumpy.
2008-11-28| Pete, FrogBlogger saysI mentioned your write-up over on TeakDoor, but it obviously went right over their heads ;-)
2008-11-28| Spike saysInsufficient bar girl focus perhaps?
2008-11-30| Savoy Brown says@FB: Nope, I’ve been reading Spike’s blog for some time… Good stuff…
@Spike: Nice summation… Left out some juicy bits, but understandably so…
2008-11-30| Spike saysSB, Yes, there are things that cannot be discussed. At least not if one wants to continue living in this fine country.
2008-11-30| Pete, FrogBlogger saysThat’s the truth. Didn’t stop certain topics being discretely raised at the red shirt rally last night though. I was very surprised to hear such things being spoken out loud, to strangers, in public. First time I’ve heard any criticism along those lines.