The Thai Military Coup and Other Bits and Pieces...

So the mice are playing whilst the cat is away in New York for the UN summit. The good news is that thus far there appears to have been no violence or bloodshed. I was at a friends place last night, whose wife happens to be Thai. While we Westerners all sat up glued to what was unfolding on the TV, her response was something more along the lines of "yes, I know" and then she went to bed. One thing I can say for my Asian friends, they take things in stride in a way I am rarely capable of doing. For people in Thailand, this seems to be par for the course, AND many people in Bangkok are happy to see it happen. Thaksins leadership has long been a point of contention for the 'urban-elite' of Bangkok. However, in the countryside Thaksin is popular for having instituted reforms in healthcare and other social services that many rural poor have never had until he became Prime Minister. Though there hasn't been a coup in Thailand in 15 years, there have been more than 20 since it became a democracy over 70 years ago. The military has been in charge of the government many more years than the civilians have been. That isn't to make light of a very serious situation, only to say that I'm glad that whatever has happened has, thus far, happened peacefully. Though its hard for us to imagine something like this happening, on this side of the planet, its kind of politics as usual, so I guess I can understand how it's happening so calmly. If you don't believe me, check on this list of coups in Thailand since 1971. If I included those that have taken place in the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Burma as well, the list would be LONG, very long indeed.

Courtesy of the Associated Press:

- 1971: Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn returns to power and abolishes the constitution and dissolves the parliament.
- October 1973: A student-led uprising ousts the "Three Tyrants" - Thanom, his son Col. Narong Kittikachorn and his father-in-law Field Marshal Praphas Charusathien - who ruled Thailand for much of the 1960s and early 1970s. A brief period of democracy ensues.
- Oct. 6, 1976: At least 46 student protesters, who were demonstrating against the return of Thanom to Thailand, are killed and hundreds more are injured by the police and army. A coup installs a new military-guided, right-wing government.
- March 26, 1977: The military government thwarts a coup led by Gen. Chalard Hiranyasiri after Chalard and about 300 men seized four government and military buildings.
- Oct. 20, 1977: A bloodless military coup, led by Admiral Sangad Chaloryoo, installs Kriangsak Chomanan as prime minister.
- April 1, 1981: Factions in the military attempt to overthrow Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda's government.
- Sept. 9, 1985: Retired military officers stage a failed coup attempt.
- Feb. 23, 1991: Gen. Sunchinda Kraprayoon, topples the civilian government of Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan in a bloodless takeover.
- May 1992: Suchinda's reign ends when troops gun down at least 50 pro-democracy demonstrators in Bangkok. In the aftermath of the violence, his appointed prime minister resigns. King Bhumibol Adulyadej intervenes to end demonstrations, and parliament votes to reduce the power of military in Thai politics.
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Sources: The Associated Press and The International Institute for Strategic Studies' Armed Conflict Database

In other news...
It's interesting that so much of the discontent in Southeast Asia politics boils down to ordinary people's frustration with the corruption that is rampant on this side of the world. And yet... there seems to be no end in sight because even ordinary people play a part in this. Every new government seems to find that they have to play the game to get anything done, and thus, the cycle continues. Malaysia, which rated rather well on the Transparency International Corruption Index (#35 , compared with Indonesia's #135 - a tie with Iraq), is at least trying to do something about it. Where corruption is most evident to the casual observer is in the police force and, in particular, traffic cops, who are well known for pulling people over and asking them "you want to pay now or later?" Pay now RM 50, pay later RM300. So the BBC article today discussing the pay for Malaysian police was interesting. In the up and coming KL, where BMW's and Mercedes are ubiquitous, traffic cops starting salary is under RM 300 PER MONTH. Thats about 80USD. Last month the government lowered the "pay later" fine, in an effort to get people to stop paying off the cops ("pay now") to get out of paying heftier fines later. The gist of the article was simple. The police chief refuses to crack down on corruption until the government starts paying its police officers a decent wage.