September 19, 2006

Is This Good or Bad?

The Thai military has launched a coup to remove the Prime Minister, who has been accused of corruption and abuse of power. The Prime Minister was in New York, for the UN General Assembly. There has been no reported blood shed.

Uh...huh? I don't think this is good, but I could be convinced otherwise.

Posted by baltar at September 19, 2006 12:45 PM | TrackBack | Posted to International Affairs | Military Affairs


Comments

I think a better question is when are military coups a good thing? From a US/Wilsonian perspective the first that leap to my mind are those in Turkey in the mid-20th century. Are there other instances of "good" military coups?

Oh, and as to this one - no I don't think it's a good thing. There are problems with Thaksin (I think it's generally a bad idea to elect one of the richest people in the country to head the government), but as far as I know he's fairly won his elections sooo .....

Posted by: Armand at September 19, 2006 01:42 PM | PERMALINK

Maybe you should ask W. This is te scenario that brought Pervez to power.

Posted by: binky at September 19, 2006 01:47 PM | PERMALINK

Yeah, that's what I thought: Thaksin (for all the protests against him) had the support of the majority of voters, and that fairly recently.

Removing him doesn't say much for how deep democracy has rooted in Thailand.

Posted by: baltar at September 19, 2006 01:50 PM | PERMALINK

The emergency legislative election held in April 2006 did give Thaksin's party the majority seats in the House, however this is generally not regarded as "support of the voters", since most of the opposition parties boycotted this election. Thaksin's announcement of resignation and the Court's declaration that the election was invalid points to this.

I'd estimate that Thaksin only has about 25% of the general population in favor of him right now, and most of those in favor being lower class, poor people (cheap bribes can go a long way in Thailand).

Events involving censorship of press, extreme corruption ($1.9 billion(!) dollar sale in the stake of a telecom company that wasn't taxed), and multiple acts of disrespect towards the King contributed to the crisis Thaksin created.

Although military coups usually aren't a good thing, this seems to be a well organized, orderly one that in the long run will be good for Thailand and the role of democracy in Thailand.

Posted by: Boontasak at September 19, 2006 06:52 PM | PERMALINK

If current reports are to be believed, the coup was undertaken with at least the assent, and perhaps the active involvement of, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. This wouldn't be the first time he has intervened in political affairs, and it's worth noting that at least in recent times his shaking seems to have generally led to improvements.

Posted by: jacflash at September 19, 2006 09:03 PM | PERMALINK

Thanks for the update Boontasak.

And if the king is seen as supporting this, you'd have to think it would hold (given the reverential way he seems to be viewed).

Posted by: Armand at September 20, 2006 08:18 AM | PERMALINK
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