Thailand’s conservative middle classes are now joining populists in a movement against their military-backed system.
A New Democracy Movement in Thailand
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Thaksin Shinawatra
How Thailand Contained COVID-19
In politically turbulent Thailand, a public health system with popular support — not decrees from above — made all the difference.
What the World Cup Can Teach Progressives About Corruption
Brazil’s crushing World Cup loss to Germany's world champion team wasn't just bad news for Brazilian football fans. It's also likely to reignite the anger that many Brazilians felt towards the government of President Dilma Rousseff for hosting such a spectacular event...
Class War: Thailand’s Military Coup
This article is a joint publication of Foreign Policy In Focus and TheNation.com. After declaring martial law on Tuesday, May 20, the Thai military announced a full-fledged coup two days later. The putsch followed nearly eight months of massive street protests...
The Color Wars
I played for Green when I was growing up. That was my soccer team. We were divided up by color: Green vs. Red, Gold vs. Blue. The teams were chosen at random, but we became fiercely attached to our color. Friendships across color lines became strained. We talked of...
Thailand’s Protests and the Global Economy
The countries of Southeast Asia are planning to integrate their region in 2015. Meanwhile, in the dynamic city of Bangkok, the government of Thailand seems to be heading in the opposite direction, as recent protests have entered a ”shut down” phase. This was the...
Thailand’s Deep Divide
With popular singers belting out Queen’s “We are the Champions” and John Lennon’s “Imagine,” the enormous protests taking place against Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinwatra’s government have all the cultural luster of a progressive cause. Professional and highly...
The Battle for Thailand
Nearly a week after the event, Thailand is still stunned by the military assault on the Red Shirt encampment in the tourist center of the capital city of Bangkok on May 19. The Thai government is treating captured Red Shirt leaders and militants like they’re from an occupied country. No doubt about it: A state of civil war exists in this country, and civil wars are never pretty.
Postcard From…Bangkok
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra received his verdict on February 26. The Supreme Court stripped Thaksin of $1.4 billion dollars in assets from his telecommunications firm. One day later, several members of the ruling coalition declared that Thaksin Shinawatra should leave politics forever. The present government came to power in semi-democratic elections following the military coup that toppled Thaksin in 2006.
No Democracy Yet in Thailand
In mid-September 2006, a bloodless “democratic coup” swept through Thailand, the region’s darling of democracy. Military leaders justified their actions as a purely temporary means to wrest the country back from a power-hungry tycoon and restore the functions of government.