The PAD must stop
Although I’ve spent the majority of the past week lazing about on Bali’s beaches, I’ve been following the events in Thailand loosely. From an outsider’s point of view, it just looks like chaos. All I can see is a group of radicals trying to overthrow an elected government. The economy, tourism, the wellbeing of the people of Thailand – how is this for the benefit of the country?
I have no qualms with people protesting the legitimacy of the government – if people have gripes then they should be free to voice their concerns – but threatening to bring the country to a standstill (water, power, transport, strikes) is something else entirely. By taking over television stations and airports, the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has not only stood in opposition of Thailand’s government, but of the foundations of Thai society.
Law and order? It’s gone out the window as the PAD makes its bid to ruin the country. People have a right to protest; they don’t have a right to do what the PAD has done. Where will it end? The need to do what PAD is doing should come from a collective desire to improve the lives of the people of Thailand, but in the 21st century, when people’s lives benefit from a stable economy and political climate, this kind of action is self-defeating.
You have to look at how the public will benefit. What will people gain from the PAD taking to the streets? By PAD’s logic, anything goes and all is fair in the name of achieving political goals, so what’s to give the average guy in the street any incentive to support the PAD over the government that was voted in?
And what about those who oppose the PAD? They’ve seen that there is no order to contain what is happening. Their own uprisings against the PAD are thus legitimatized by the new rules that the PAD has brought to the table. This isn’t about what’s fair and what’s just anymore; it comes down to brute force muscling into politics because the basic framework of the country doesn’t fulfill the needs of the PAD.
People need to wake up and stop supporting the PAD because if the current situation worsens, it’s going to cause damage that will be very difficult to repair.
From listening to the conversations of foreigners in Indonesia, it’s as if people think that this kind of state is the norm for Thailand. “They do this every three or four years,” was one comment I overheard.
For anyone concerned about traveling to Thailand, despite the State of Emergency, the country is not engaged in all-out civil war. Thailand is still safe.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Well said.
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:37 pm
ditto
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Whilst I agree the PAD must stand down, this crisis has also exposed the PPP coalition government as incompetent (at best) or intractibly self serving (at worst).
September 4th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Matty, while everyone here envies you for having peace of mind sipping beer and watching topless foreign tourists strolling the beaches of Bali, you certainly miss yesterday’s Bangkok Post article titled: “PAD is Thailand’s international embarassment”. Yes, PAD makes you cover your face in shame if anyone in Bali asks what and who this movement is all about. PAD is an anti democratic movement which makes even an elected govt afraid to act against by claiming that it is acting to protect the highest instituttion in the kingdom. Matty, pls also try to read what the local paper Bali Post (English edition) writes about PAD. You will be surprised to find out that it will quote The Nation a lot, now knowing that The Nation is unashamedly pro PAD for its own selfish reasons. For more balanced coverage, tell them that you read Bangkok Post while in Bangkok !
September 4th, 2008 at 2:47 am
This state is the norm in Thailand.
They do do this every 4 or 5 years.
The Chuan to Thaksin period was only a brief interlude.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:14 am
The ‘D’ in PAD is one of the most funniest things I’ve read the last few years.
Looks more like “People Against Democracy”
September 4th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Yeah, it’s nuts.
Lately this has been the topic of conversation for me with taxi drivers. Who are of course all pro-Thaksin and Samak, even though nobody is happy with how Samak is handling the problem. The subject makes for an interesting commute, though.
One guy asked me what would have happened if stuff like this happened where I came from. And when I think about it, they’d have declared emergency pretty much right away, called in the National Guard, and the whole thing would be over within a matter of hours. And a whole lot of people would probably be facing treason charges.
The (granted, hysteria-prone) American press would be calling anyone who pulled something like this on U.S. soil ‘terrorists’ in a heartbeat.
While that may or may not be the best way to handle the situation, it’s certainly a stark contrast to how things are being handled here. There’s just no game plan whatsoever. And so there’s no end in sight…
September 4th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
On an unrelated note, can u please come back, please?! You are missed. :(