These are excerpts from a strong op ed in the BKK Post this morning:
"Two months after it transpired, Thailand's latest military coup appears alarmingly odd. ...
For his long trail of corruption and abuses of power, Mr Thaksin should be disgraced and afraid to return to Thailand. He should be scared of the ruling generals under the Council for National Security (CNS). But the opposite seems the case. The generals are afraid of Mr Thaksin's return. They are practically pleading for him not to come back anytime soon, but have not ruled out his eventual comeback. . . .
Mr Thaksin, on the other hand, seems to be the one holding leverage and advantage against the generals. He has traversed the globe basking in the media limelight, dominating newspaper headlines and front pages. . . .
Unsurprisingly, the general public is increasingly fed up with both the CNS and the Surayud government. What initially appeared as joy and relief in seeing the back of Mr Thaksin has turned into disappointment bordering on disillusionment.
Having dithered for two months and squandered the post-coup momentum in the process, the generals appear to have botched their seizure of power. They are facing the spectre of an inexorable downward slide, possibly leading to anti-military and anti-government protests down the road.
The public's chief frustration is the CNS' inability to take Mr Thaksin and his cronies to task for corruption, a leading rationale for the takeover of power. While a clutch of anti-graft bodies are going after a host of corruption cases, none has stuck as yet. . . .
Thailand's long detour from democratic rule to supposedly strengthen its democratic system before its re-introduction has been compromised by what appears like a bungled, stumbled and fumbled coup.
Unless the CNS and the Surayud government can reverse course quickly and regain their post-coup momentum, they are likely to face dire consequences in what will be a very long year in 2007. "
[The writer is Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University]
http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/24Nov2006_news23.php
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A bungled, stumbled, fumbled coup
Started by Sexpat, Nov 24 2006 11:01 AM
2 replies to this topic
#2 Guest_FanofThailand_*
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Posted 24 November 2006 - 11:22 AM
The general public probably expected too much just like they do everywhere when they get a new goverment. Dreams and hopes of change are always dashed. Did anyone really expect things to change in Thailand ? Bringing Thaksin too account for anything he may have done will be a long and exhausting job as the Phillipiines have found with their Imelda Marcos. Not only does she remain always free with an endless bounty and snubs her nose at authority she rubs their noses in it. Look at the Suharto family in Indonesia. Tommy is out today after 5 years, supposedly in a jail from which he came and went as he pleased, surrounded by luxury ,for organising the killing of a judge. I think it's usually called murder. But try taking a packet of illegal drugs out of Indonesia and you will be locked up for life. Money talks and Thaksin has it.
#3
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Veteran
Posted 24 November 2006 - 11:31 AM
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Money talks and Thaksin has it.
Don't laugh, the Post this morning says that the street rumors are that the counter-coup will cost about 2 Billion Baht.
The problem that the coup leaders are facing is that the trail of corruption leading to or from Thaksin usually leads to a lot of people who are still very influential in Thai society or actually members of the junta-installed government.
It looks like the coup leaders had one plan: stage a coup to remove Thaksin.
...............Next ?
