In the summer of 2006, two major news stories originated in Thailand. One of them is still being discussed on news shows and in tabloids. The other disappeared from the American news media faster than you can say Phuket. Guess which is which.
Story No. 1: On Aug. 16, American John Mark Karr was arrested in Thailand after he falsely confessed to killing pageant and cable-news princess Jon Benét Ramsey. Being really, really creepy is not actually a crime, so he was eventually released.
Story No. 2: One night in Bangkok (Sept. 19, to be precise), the democratically elected government of Thailand was overthrown by the Thai military.
If “easiest guessing game ever” is a Guinness Book of World Records category, I’m in.
It’s unfortunate that the American press chose to underreport the coup story. It’s much more important than the arrest of John Mark Karr. After all, shouldn’t a country that claims to be sacrificing blood and fortune to “spread democracy” in the Middle East at least feign interest when the elected leader of an ally and major trading partner such as Thailand has its democracy short-circuited by generals and a king? Even if only for the weirdness of the whole thing, it was still a better story than Karr. Here’s what happened.
On Sept. 19, Thailand’s Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in the United States for the same U.N. conference made memorable by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez with his “It still smells of sulphur” devil speech about President Bush.
Reportedly, Thailand was abuzz all summer with rumors of a possible coup against Thaksin. Though democratically elected in 2001, Thaksin’s popularity among Thailand’s urban middle and upper class had suffered this year, thanks to allegations of corruption, abuses of power and the sudden parliamentary election he called in April that was boycotted by opposition and ultimately ruled unconstitutional by a Thai court. The ongoing violent Muslim uprising in southern Thailand also took its toll on Thaksin’s popularity. He was (and is) still very popular among Thailand’s rural poor. He courted them with health-care spending and debt-relief programs. However, their influence over Thai politics is limited except at the ballot box — mostly because they’re rural and poor.
On the night of Sept. 19, coup plotters led by Thai military Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin finally struck. Tanks surrounded key government buildings and media outlets. It was possibly the most polite and orderly military overthrow of a democratic government in history. Bangkok families came out to the streets and posed for souvenir snapshots with soldiers and tanks. General Sonthi issued a statement that calmly explained what happened, before adding, “We ask for the cooperation of the public and ask your pardon for the inconvenience.” Hey, sorry about voiding the country’s constitution and nullifying the will of the people, now watch your step!
The coup plotters, with the support of Thailand’s king, have promised to restore democracy as soon as they can get around to it. The coup plotters and the elite who support them plan to rewrite the constitution, but it’s unclear a) when it will be rewritten and b) how any sort of democratic system wouldn’t just result in Thaksin or someone from his party being returned to political power. Thaksin’s wife returned to Thailand recently to ask Prem Tinsulanonda, an adviser to Thailand’s king and one of the main coup plotters, whether her husband could return to Thailand. They said no. Thaksin was last spotted waiting things out in China.
Although martial law remains in effect and political activity has been banned, life appears to have quickly returned to normal. The economy is humming along. Tourists are still pouring in. A guy can still get a ladyboy back to his hotel for $40. And a Thai zoo has just announced that it’s showing porno to its pandas to teach them to mate. When I said normal, I meant normal by Thai standards.
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2006.
