Month: May 2011

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

Red shirts mark anniversary of army crackdown

2011 05 20 reds protest

Anti-government red shirt demonstrators rallied here in Bangkok yesterday to mark the anniversary of the May 19 army crackdown.

The CSM provides some details on the protest and looks ahead to the July 3 elections, noting that moderates will be key:

Thousands of opposition supporters in their trademark red shirts rallied Thursday in the Thai capital to mark the anniversary of a military crackdown on chaotic protests that left 92 dead. The rally was among the largest held in recent months and comes as Thai political parties kick off their campaigns for closely watched parliamentary elections on July 3.

And:

While the red shirts have built a strong base that helps the PTP, analysts say the election may hinge on the mood among nonpartisan voters, as well as local dynamics in constituency contests. A large number of voters have not picked a party, according to recent polls, and may be turned off by the partisan style of color-coded street protests.

Reuters says that “a year on, mystery shrouds Thailand’s deadly unrest”:

A 30-metre (98-ft) corrugated iron wall masks the remnants of a mysterious arson attack a year ago on Southeast Asia’s second-biggest shopping mall, a reminder of Thailand’s struggle to tame a crisis many fear could turn violent again during elections.

The Bangkok Post says 20,000 were in attendance:

Around 20,000 red shirt supporters yesterday attended a gathering at Ratchaprasong intersection to mark the one-year anniversary of the clashes between red shirt protesters and security forces on May 19 last year.

And the FT‘s beyondbrics blog asks, “After Thailand’s elections, what next?”

Elections are supposed to solve political conflicts, not exacerbate them.

Thailand’s bitter divisions are about to be tested at the ballot box, but the real fight for power is likely to take place after the vote rather than before it.

(Image: Bangkok Post.)

UPDATE:

The BBC also has a piece featuring Thai journalist Karuna Buakamsri. Worth a look. And here’s an AP story, as well.

Categories
Misc.

Gone fishin’

And no, this time I don’t mean that literally.

Posts will likely be few and far between for the next week or so. You might catch me on Twitter (@newley) in the meantime, though.

Keep on keepin’ on. Back soon.

Categories
Thai politics

Update on the shooting of Pheu Thai candidate Pracha

A few stories from the international media on the shooting the Bangkok Post mentioned this morning:

The FT notes the timing: the attack came less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Abhisit dissolved parliament.

Bloomberg says:

A candidate for Thailand’s main opposition party linked to ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra was shot and wounded yesterday after a royal decree took effect to dissolve Parliament and hold an election on July 3.

AFP has more on the politician’s links to Thaksin:

A Thai opposition politician close to fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra was shot in an attack that the government said on Wednesday appeared to be politically-motivated with an election looming.

And:

Puea Thai spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said that Pracha had intended to run for re-election in the upcoming vote.

The politician is a staunch supporter of Thaksin and has visited the telecoms tycoon-turned-premier overseas where he lives in self-imposed exile.

Categories
Sports

More on World Cup bids and the cancelled England-Thailand friendly

You might recall my December post about World Cup bids, England, and the cancelled Thailand friendly. Today’s Bangkok Post reports:

Football Association of Thailand president Worawi Makudi was hit by another hammer blow yesterday when former English Football Association chairman David Triesman accused him and three other Fifa executive members of asking for favours in return for their votes for England’s 2018 World Cup bid.

Triesman was giving evidence to a British parliamentary inquiry into the reasons why England failed in its bid to secure the finals which were awarded to Russia in December.

Triesman alleged that Worawi demanded to be awarded broadcasting rights of a possible friendly match between England and Thailand in Bangkok this year.

(All emphasis mine.)

Categories
Thai politics

Bangkok Post: Ex-Pheu Thai MP shot

2011 05 11 pt shot

Today’s Bangkok Post says an ex-Pheu Thai MP was shot last night but survived. The paper says the attack raises concerns there could be “more violence in the lead-up to the July 3 election”:

Former Pheu Thai MP for Samut Prakan Pracha Prasopdee was shot last night in what is seen as the first election-related violence since the House dissolution on Monday.

Mr Pracha was shot in the back at about 9pm in the Phra Pradaeng area while he was driving his Toyota Camry to Phra Samut Chedi district after helping a local politician campaign for the provincial administration election.

Two men riding a motorcycle approached the right side of his car at Phra Pradaeng intersection and shot at him five times.

The bullets hit his back and pierced his right shoulder while causing minor damage to the car.

Mr Pracha was rushed to Bang Pakok1 Hospital.

Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit said Mr Pracha was in a safe condition.

The incident was the first attack on a politician since the royal decree on the House dissolution took effect yesterday, raising concerns there would be more violence in the lead-up to the July 3 election.

(Emphasis mine.)

(Image: Bangkok Post.)

Categories
Bangkok

DinTaiFung opens in Bangkok

2011 05 10 dintaifung

Xiaolongbao fans, take note: A branch of the Taiwanese restaurant DinTaiFung has opened here in Bangkok. The blog SixSix2 has a few photos and reports:

You can find it on the 7th floor at Central World right next to AKA restaurant. It’s hard to miss

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

A Facebook feud between Korn and Nattawud

Today’s Bangkok Post on a Facebook feud between Thailand’s Finance Minister, Korn Chatikavanij, and Nattawut Saikua, a red shirt leader:

It all started simply enough with a post on Facebook by the finance minister after taking his wife out to an innocent dinner at at unnamed restaurant on Thong Lor.

He was told that he had been seated at a table that had just been vacated by Nattawut, prompting a little swipe on his FB page remarking that he was amused how the person who called himself prai (peasant) actually had the same kind of lifestyle as the person he accused of being ammart (elite).

Within a matter of seconds, there was a response, and by Monday morning, he had received over 800 comments and almost 6,000 “likes”.

On Sunday morning, Nattawut posted on his own Facebook page how his dinner the previous night had become an online issue.

“Listen, Korn, because there are people like you that oppression still exists. Why do you have to define prai as being poor, stupid and accepting their downtrodden plight. What can’t prai eat at the same restaurant as the capitalists? Long live the people!”

(Emphasis mine.)

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

Thailand elections: Looking ahead to July 3

2011 05 10 abhisit elex

More on Thailand’s elections, which are set for July 3:

The Christian Science Monitor says the election is a “high-stakes contest in a shaky democracy”:

Observers say that the bitter rivalry between political groups, and the risk that neither would accept defeat, has increased the stakes.

The Bangkok Post points out that “A Pheu Thai victory does not guarantee a Pheu Thai government”:

Without a landslide victory, Pheu Thai has little chance of forming the next government even if it wins the July 3 election.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva officially announced the election date and House dissolution via state television last night after a royal decree to dissolve the House of representatives was endorsed by His Majesty the King.

It was widely believed by several parties that the opposition Pheu Thai would win the election with the highest number of MP seats among contenders.

However, questions remain as to whether it can successfully form the next government.

Elsewhere, Bloomberg notes the risk for equities:

“The outlook for Thai equities will be a bit risky after the election because there will be more uncertainty in forming the coalition,” said Kiattisak Jenwipakul, head of research at SCB Securities Co., a unit of Siam Commercial Bank Pcl. “Domestic spending statistically jumps during the campaign because people are more upbeat and cash from politicians channels through the system.”

The Financial Times also has more on the economic implications of the coming election.

And finally, a Reuters “fact box” says some wonder whether an election will actually happen:

The election may not actually take place. Conspiracy theories abound that influential figures may be plotting to derail the poll by engineering judicial or military intervention. Some fear de facto power could return to Thaksin, who would seek to overhaul a power structure dominated by his political enemies. A Puea Thai government could scrap some of the previous government’s policies, initiate top-level purges within key institutions like the judiciary, police and military and perhaps seek an amnesty allowing Thaksin to return home and resume his political career without serving a two-year prison sentence for graft.

(All emphasis mine.)

(Image: Bangkok Post.)

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

It’s official: Thailand elections set for July 3

The AP says:

Thailand’s king has approved a decree dissolving the lower house of Parliament and setting general elections for July 3, the government spokesman said Monday.

Here’s the nitty-gritty:

The polls will elect 500 members of the lower house, an increase of 20 from the outgoing chamber.

The elections are expected to be fiercely contested between Abhisit’s ruling Democrat Party and the main opposition Puea Thai Party associated with Thaksin.

The Democrats held 172 seats in the outgoing lower house compared to 186 for Puea Thai, which won the most seats in the last elections in 2007 and formed a government that ruled for about a year.

However, controversial court rulings and militant anti-Thaksin demonstrations helped Abhisit’s Democrats take power by wooing enough lawmakers to join a new ruling coalition.

Polls suggest that Puea Thai will win the most seats, but probably not a majority. If so, the balance of power will lie with smaller parties whose allegiances are often won by the number of Cabinet seats they are offered in a coalition government.

The WSJ has more analysis:

Political analysts say the election will be among the most important this key Southeast Asian economy has ever faced and could set the political tone in the country for years to come, determining whether it gets back on track after years of instability or possibly faces renwed unrest.

Here’s more from Reuters, the BBC, and AFP.

And finally, a technical note: It appears that Abhisit is transitioning from his @PM_Abhisit Twitter handle to @Abhisit_DP. (The “DP” presumably stands for Democrat Party.)

Categories
Thai politics Thailand

Thai PM: new elections should take place July 3

Thai PM Abhisit told Reuters yesterday that new elections should take place on July 3:

Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva expects to hold general elections on July 3 in the politically polarised Southeast Asian country, he told Reuters on Sunday.

“The election should be on the third of July,” Abhisit told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders in Jakarta.