Categories
Thai politics Thailand

Reuters story on upcoming elections: “odds favor Thai PM”

A Reuters story from Friday:

When television broadcasters suddenly went off the air in Thailand recently, many people thought it could only mean one thing: the start of a military coup.

Authorities were quick to assure the public the three-hour blackout on April 21 was the result of a faulty satellite, not a putsch. But the coup speculation in a country that has seen 18 military takeovers since the 1930s illustrates the depth of uncertainty ahead of elections in late June or early July.

The odds favor the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in the coming poll. But he’s unlikely to win by a comfortable margin. And regardless of who prevails, neither side may respect the result.

If Abhisit loses, his royalist and military backers are unlikely to give way quietly, possibly using judicial intervention or a coup to restore the status quo.

But if he wins, the red-shirted supporters of his political nemesis, self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, could take to the streets in a new wave of anti-government protests.

Worth a read.

(Emphasis mine.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *