Please read the Economist 12/4

[Khor tose]

I can scan and paste the article in the 12/4 print edition of the economist, but dare not print it on this msg board.
Anyone know how to link an article not yet on the web.
For those with access read the following article in the Economist. Rather long but a very complete and incisive review of the real Thailand.


Thailand's king and its crisis

A right royal mess

Dec 4th 2008 | BANGKOK
From The Economist print edition

Never mind I found it: http://www.economist.com/world/asia/dis ... extfeature

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Well worth reading and as thought-provoking as it is worrying for the future of Thailand - probably the most insightful article I have read on the present situation. Somehow I think the print version of the magazine will not be available here for long.

[Hmmm]

One of the ironies of the PAD campaign's use of loyalty to the King as their cornerstone (or excuse) has been that the world's scrutiny has now been drawn to the role of the King like never before.

Until Handley, newspapers found it easy to go along with the artiface created by the palace over decades. And only insiders knew the real story anyway. That's all changed now. If the Thais were not somewhat preoccupied currently, some of the world's major newspapers might be charged with lese majeste and their correspondents expelled from the country, based on what has been written in the last week or two.

This scholarly but seemingly unattributed piece from the Economist goes further than most, drawing heavily on Handley and academics like McCargo. The companion piece is similarly damning:
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displa ... d=12724832
The artifice is crumbling.

Hmmm, thanks for the link to another interesting article - I have seen "history in the making" at first hand elsewhere and it is seldom pleasant; as one poster so aptly put it, we may well be in the eye of the storm.

Hopefully there should be no need for a reminder of how delicate this subject is and that posting our personal opinions on this subject here is contrary to the Posting Guidelines.

In a troubled world, I pray the Lord to keep, keep hatred from the mighty,
And the mighty from the small,
Heaven help us all.

I wondered what The Colonel had been doing recently. The article has his fingerprints all over it.

Thank you Khor tose!

The first article I've read in any press lately that clearly spells out what is really happening in Thailand.
My only (small) quibble is they should have mentioned as "full disclosure" that Handly was (is?) a reporter for the Economist.

There is definitely an "End Game" being played out right now.

Thanks for the link

Excellent articles, indeed. My only points of dispute would be with their comparisons to Nepal and Bhutan, which I do not think are valid:

The Mao rebels (CPN(M)) in Nepal, who were ultimately responsible for the collapse of the Government and the end of the monarchy, had a very strong political rather than economic or cultural base and physically controlled large parts of the country, with a well trained and equipped "army" of over 30,000. The Thai Communist Party, or any similar group, has never had any such popularity.

Bhutan, demographically, has little in common with most other Asian countries, particularly with Thailand, which has a far more diverse mix of ethnic groups. It has a population of some 700,000 who have been subject to little outside influence or immigration - the only non-Bhutanese residents, some 70,000 Nepalese (along with a number of political dissidents), were forcibly ejected from the country 20 years ago. Neither the history nor policies of the royal family in Bhutan, nor the demographic, political, cultural, or economic climate in general, have any similarities with Thailand that I can see.

Could we forsee an end to the Chakri dynasty, many Thai's have indicated their dislike of the crown prince to me. That may well have been idle gossip, but there's no smoke without fire.
One has to wonder why the King did not put a stop to the airport blockades or many of the coups. Surely it was obvious that the general population stood to suffer.
A great article and thank you for sharing it with us.

....The Mao rebels (CPN(M)) in Nepal, who were ultimately responsible for the collapse of the Government and the end of the monarchy, had a very strong political rather than economic or cultural base and physically controlled large parts of the country, with a well trained and equipped "army" of over 30,000. The Thai Communist Party, or any similar group, has never had any such popularity....

And who exactly was the "power" backing those Maoist rebels in Nepal? Where did they get their funding and arms from? A bunch of poor peasants? Or more likely a powerful neighbor to the north?

Of course it didn't help things when the Crown Prince went nutz and blew away the King and half the Royal Family before offing himself. That kind of thing might make one loose faith in Monarchy as a system of government.


And one might also wonder where all the money for the "meals-on-wheels" that supplied the thousands of folks at the Bangkok airport came from.
Somehow I think we'll never really find out.