I have lived through many coups in Thailand since 1950. Some were bloody and some were bloodless. Some took a few hours and some lasted for days. A few were of necessity but most were more of mere power struggle. But the September 2006 coup has a different unique nature and the political situation after has changed immensely since. I said unique in a sense that it was welcomed by a very big portion of the population comprises of the middle-class, the intellectual and the technocrats that was never seen before in all previous coups. As a matter of fact, it was the intellectual and the technocrats who instigated forces to protest against all earlier coups.
This is not without reason. The regime before the coup under ex – Prime Minister Taksin Chinawat was really a slap in the face to the educated. He did all the evils under the umbrella of an elected democratic government. His government seized power through votes buying to the extreme. The fund was earned through illegal, immoral and dirty means from foreign exchange manipulation that forced Thai currency to a free fall from Baths 35 to 52 to a US$ in a short period.
The detail will certainly require another article to spell. It resulted in the economic Tom – Yam Krung crisis that spreads and damaged the world. Corruption is another big issue in the agenda. His personal wealth is estimated to be US$ 100 billion in comparison to his wealth declaration of only US$ 200 million before he took office six years earlier. Worst, he sold off some of the national assets such as satellites and mobile phone concessions under his control at the time. The coup was inevitable when he ventured and challenged on the Monarch.
Thai citizens witnessed all on televisions on the night of the coup at around midnight when the King’s chief Privy Council and the Army in chief reporting the coup to the King in the Palace. All were the past now. But the political situation has since changed.
The first is the September 2006 coup would be the last in Thailand. I say this because the coup and post coup political situations in the nation have taught the military that coup can never solve political issues. I did not say this, but the military has voiced so repeatedly. And they did not just talk in vain, they had demonstrated in many circumstances they would elect to do so given the many excuses they could actually staged a coup as they had done in the past. I have more faith in their words on this now. (See my other article in Helium in “The role of the military in post-war S.E. Asia”, dd. August 8, 2008)
Second is the change of many politicians’ attitude and behavior they had learned from the coup. The new constitution, passed under the military regime, has since shut down two major political parties and banned their politicians for five years from political involvement because of bribery. They are far from ideal, but have certainly learned a great deal.
Last and foremost is the new people’s involvement in politics. The seven-month long, 24-hour nonstop protest of the so-called yellow people power has embedded the Thai people deep in Thai politics. Thai politics has entered a new chapter and will never be the same. Thai will not no longer tolerate the purchase of votes or corruption without checks. Thai have learned from this coup and the aftermath. They have embraced their political agency to act as watchdogs for the nation.
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