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
Fighting corruption is a proven means to reduce inequality. But the issue has often been co-opted by elites looking to do just the opposite.
Class War: Thailand’s Military Coup
Outnumbered by the country’s rural voters, Thailand’s once vibrantly democratic urban middle class has embraced an elitist, antidemocratic agenda.
The Color Wars
Clashes of colors — red shirts vs. yellow shirts in Thailand, a faded orange revolution in Ukraine — have many people reaching for the rainbow in response.
Thailand’s Protests and the Global Economy
As the economies of Southeast Asia integrate, Thailand’s social divide is as stark as ever.
Thailand’s Deep Divide
Thailand’s anti-corruption protesters appear to have lost faith in the key tenet of representative democracy: rule by people or parties elected by the majority of citizens.
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.