The possibilities of a military coup was in pipeline in
Thailand for a very long time. Country is already divided on many lines – red shirts
vs yellow shirts; royalists vs others; military etc. In anyway, involvement of
military in politics is not unfamiliar for Thais.
However this time integrity of country itself is in question.
The differences between red shirts and yellow shirts are raised to such a level
that, it might prove next to impossible for them to sit across a table for talks.
In current environment, it might not be possible for yellow shirts to come to power
through democratic elections. In any way, they won’t agree for a red shirt led government.
So army is one of the last remaining choices.
At the same time an army takeover is not welcomed by
political movements, especially the red shirts. After all how long army can
control the explosive situation? They might have to conduct elections soon.
If political problems are not sorted out early, Thailand
is going to suffer in a big way. Corporates won’t find it in their interest to invest
in a country, which is not at all sure about its own future. Due to current
crisis tourists won’t come to enjoy the Bangkok streets or beaches like Pattaya.
It might be very much difficult for the army to control the situation as
economic crisis will become deeper and deeper.
Probably the current king – who is still widely respected
by Thai’s (I won’t say the same about his heirs) – can do something to bring
all the parties to a table and hold discussions. The better it happens, the
better it for Thailand.
Sajeev
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