The ruling party in Thailand is seeing the writing on the wall. What the writing says is this is the last train.
The People Power Party (PPP) has come to realize that if they can’t change Thailand’s new Constitution, they simply can’t survive in politics. The new Constitution comes down hard on politicians who don’t do what they were elected for. Even the good politicians must toe the line or risk getting burned. So when a corrupt politician goes into office looking to just make money, their fate is already sealed.
Normally in the eyes of the PPP this would not be such a problem, however there are very strong indications that their voter base is not what it was. Without a strong voter base they would not have much of a chance of being the dominant party. Without being the dominant party, their personal agenda would be dead on arrival.
The list of dots for the PPP
- The PPP have still done virtually nothing for Thailand, and their efforts are still focused on helping the fugitive Thaksin.
- The conflict with Cambodia over the location of the border was started by the PPP.
- Thaksin has applied for political asylum in Great Britain. For that application to have a better chance of being accepted, Thaksin must keep his mouth shut and blend into the woodwork. That sends the wrong message to his supporters and weakens the PPP. Simply Thaksin needs to stay visible.
- Every act of violence can be traced back to the PPP and ultimately Thaksin as he is pulling the strings behind the scenes. Every time a Thai hurts a Thai, other Thais take notice.
- The PPP gave orders to disburse a crowd on October 7, and the police use tear gas without giving warning. The tear gas that maimed and killed was found to contain explosives by the countries most respected forensic expert. The Police are rejecting that finding but thus far are refusing to accept the challenge of the forensic expert to have the tear gas fired at them to prove one way or another. Instead they are looking for a second opinion, and that further sours the opinion of how the PPP are viewed in failure to take responsibility.
- Members of the royal family attended the funeral of one of the PPP victims. That alone cuts past all layers of education and sends a strong message to the heart of the PPP voter base in Isaan. The comments of the Queen to the father of the victim calling her (protector of the monarchy) and attending the funeral of a common person leaves little question as to how the royal family sees things.
- The National human rights commission places the October 7 deaths and maiming squarely on the PPP.
- The military has come out and publically said the Prime Minister should step down and accept responsibility for their actions. Shifting from a neutral position to one expressing morals and ethics simply goes against the PPP as they have shown neither morals or ethics.
And that is just the short list!
With all this going against the PPP, anyone with a reasonable sense of right from wrong would have long ago stepped down. The Prime Minister’s excuse to not step down being the royal funeral of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana from November 14 to 19, His Majesty the King’s birthday on December 5, and the Asean Summit in mid-December are all seen as just a delaying tactic. The real reason is getting at the Constitution.
Unfortunately the PPP don’t even see what they are doing will cause even more harm. Just imagine if you were a person of considerable respect, you would certainly want to place a lot of distance between yourself and people of questionable character. In fact you would not want to be associated with them in anyway public or private. Now think about November 14 – 19 and December 5.
If the PPP does not get the Constitution rewritten now, for the most part the worst of the problems in Thailand will be over. There will be no late train or alternate transportation for Thaksin cronies. That is why they are doing the unthinkable and going against everyone who has morals, ethics, and respect.
