The Coup Diaries ...

[Smiles]

The Washington Post gets all hyperventilated about Thailand's latest coup and describes, breathlessly, examples of barbaric behaviour on the part of the Coupsters:

In its attempt to establish order, ThailandтАЩs military has used aggressive measures, ordering scores of political leaders to turn themselves in under the threat of arrest. So far, these has been no explanation for their detention. At least some have been held incommunicado, and stripped of their mobile phones (!!!) http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/tha ... story.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/thai-coup-leaders-summon-ousted-premiers-leading-politicians-for-talks/2014/05/23/b866c6c0-e250-11e3-810f-764fe508b82d_story.html)
Noted that Mrs Yingluck was NOT wearing her Burberry wading galoshes when detained, though her one-off diamond-studded Samsung Galaxy5 (300,000 Baht at Siam Paragon) was given some quite serious attention to by the younger recruits tasked with relieving her of it.

[Smiles]

To take stock of The Coup so far and weighing various purported legitimacies:

(1) The ex-government of the Puea Thai has probably the greatest call on a real legitimacy ~ in the western sense ~ by way of winning the last election by a large margin. (Doing absolutely nothing and being completely incompetent while in power is not necessarily a legitimacy points issue). On the face of it there is no doubt about the legitimacy claim, and only a true blue space cadet could possibly convince himself otherwise (also known as 'Pulling-a-Suthep').
On the other hand, it's also difficult to deny that the Party's bottom line/net legitimacy pool has suffered severe damage for it's hardly-secret grovelling at the boots of a certain Mr Thaksin Shinawatra who lives in small and supremely non-democratic autocracies lining the western shores of the Persian Gulf. The grovelling included the de facto running of Puea Thai government policy by the same guy ... a wanted criminal. One would have thought that the PT pols would at the very least be holding their noses at the stench of such a corruptible situation, but no ~ they were in fact flying by the dozens back and forth, month after month, year after year from Bangkok to Dubai and back again. They undoubtedly helped to keep Thai Airways in a profit position these last few years.
Does the latter rule out the former? Nope.
(Legitimacy Score: 5 out of 10)

(2) The Suthep Mob. Call 'em that you want: elitists, fascists, Bangkok bourgeois, monarchists, nationalists, flat-earthers, saviours-of-everything-Thai, thoughtless greedy dickheads, authoritarians, totalitarians, 7-11 franchise owners, young farang backpacker/window-smashers from Khao Sorn Rd, confused commies, drama queens (ever watched Suthep at his podium best?) . . . it does tend to stretch the imagination to square the concepts announced by Mr Suthep with anything remotely resembling political legitimacy. Where they figured they had a leg to stand on during the last six months of upheaval is beyond comprehension. Genghis Khan and his merry band of pillagers, rapists and homosexuals were slightly more legit.
Let's review their platform: er, well, we'll protest en masse in Bangkok for as long as it takes for the elected government to slink away, then we'll appoint someone or other to take over as Head Guy and then we'll appoint a bunch of people to make a plan for, er, something or other, then we'll take that plan and just do it, er, sooner or later, and then we'll, er, do something else, and then ....
(Legitimacy Score: -1 out of 10)

(3) The Army Coupsters. The Army of course has a tangible, real, constitutional legitimacy (meaning that it's score will be at least more than -1 simply for those reasons). It keeps Thailand safe from marauding hoards of Burmese fishermen and assorted refugees. It stops the Muslim Army from the south from invading Bangkok and forcibly circumcising all young Thai men under 45 and GoGo boys. It helps the governments finances out by keeping it's costs very low ... mainly by owning the Thailand drug trade, by taking huge kickbacks on all Thailand's infrastructure projects, and by being the largest landowner in Thailand.
The Army in this case has said it wishes to do nothing but get the assembled groups ~ they are in fact 'assembled' already, so it won't take long :D ~ back to business as to how they can both compromise and negotiate (as they say, "... going forward ...") an end to confrontation, and a start to a peaceful, happy, contented Thailand.
OK ... nice thoughts during a nasty time, worthy of legitimacy points.

On the other hand, let's just say the Army just can't seem to mind it's own damn business. It has made twelve coups since Thailand became a kind-of democracy, and although the majority were non-lethal, a number were ~ shall we say ~ a bit lax on the gentile quotient: not every coup had the natives shoving cut flowers into gun barrels. As coups are illegal (they are, aren't they?) that very fact gives the Thai Army about 5 days of low legitimacy marks ... that is, until they very quickly change the constitution to read that coups are in fact legal again: thus, to be fair, we are forced to give them 2 points back of the 5 taken away.
Herr Bismarck would be a champion of the latest Thai Army shenanigans: 'Real Politic' being proven factual one more time.
(Legitimacy Score: 3 out of 10)

(4) The Unseen Hand. 'DELETED!!!'
(Legitimacy Score: *************)

[Smiles]

The best, most sophisticated, most credible encapsulation of the Thai Army Coup of 2014, and it's root causes. A truly amazing feat of pure intellect:

(click on the image to enlarge. You will NOT be disappointed.)

http://notthenation.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/madness.gif

[Smiles]

What happened to Khor Toast's post pointing out ~ as usual ~ the obvious?
Has The Invisible Hand been at work here?

[Up2U]

Look in the Holding Room.

[Smiles]

Look in the Holding Room.
WHAT??? Are you implying that Surfcrest is the Invisible Hand?
(I knew it!)

[Khor tose]

What happened to Khor Toast's post pointing out ~ as usual ~ the obvious?
Has The Invisible Hand been at work here?

It was never obvious to you in all the years I have been reading your silly, self serving take on the issue. Strange how it is okay to make fun of a very serious manner, and throw insults at Oliver, but not okay to see that people understand what is really going on. from highly qualified journalistic experts on Thailand I truly wonder how you can be so two faced as you always were the very first to bitch whenever Jinks, Neal, or Spike moved or deleted something, but now you are as little mouse. Obviously this board haws two sets of rules. Congratulations for sucking up to the right person.

[Smiles]

:-s Well that was head-shakenly incomprehensible.
Proof read? Yes? No?
Try again? Yes? No?