As the Thai people sit back and reflect what just happened in their country, shock and disbelief are common emotions being felt. For many the thought of Thaksin being gone is a dream come true, for others a nightmare.
For many years both foreigners and Thais alike who were living in Thailand said the country would never be rid of Thaksin. The simple fact is Thaksin is still out there and he has every incentive to continue his crusade. Even as this is being written the media is reporting plans to hinder the new government lead by the Democrats. So simply don’t write off Thaksin yet.
As for the dreams and the nightmares, that is not a metaphor. The nightmares are genuine, and the people that chose to dance with the devil are the ones having them. With Thaksin’s people out of power, you can expect the criminal investigations, prosecutions and convictions to be a bigger part of the reported news in the general media. The long drawn out delays will be fast tracked. So depending on where you stand, it is either the dream of seeing the criminals in government pay their dues, or the nightmare of knowing it is coming.
As Thailand was so polarized, there is no middle ground on this. Thaksin simply pushed things way too far. This will be part of the healing process. If the judicial system is not allowed to proceed, all that has happened in the past few years will be seen as futile.
Looking at the reason why all of this happened, it comes back down to each person coming to the conclusion that having Thaksin around was just too high a price to pay. Thai politicians are essentially programmed ‘self then country’ in that order. Somewhere along the way the balance shifted saying self was best teaming up with the democrats. Thaksin’s psychotic crusade was causing too much personal collateral damage. What was hardly glanced at before was now locked in the spotlight with magnifying glasses focused. Simply put, they could not fart without the whole world knowing. The damage to their face was getting right down to the bone. With that said no matter how much money Thaksin offered, it would have to be rationed out over the rest of their lives as it was looking like a carrier ending one way ride to hell. The guilt by association with Thaksin was going to stick around for a very long time.
This however points to at best an uneasy marriage between the coalition partners and the democrats. If the democrats are looking to stay in power there must be some compromise, meaning some things will need to slide by. The self first programming will take some time to deal with, and leaving that to the constitution and the corruption investigators will be a help.
There will also be dealing with Thaksin’s continued attacks. For now they will not be the full blown attacks. They will be more like that annoying little dog that likes to bite your shoe laces while you are walking. However like most people, that little dog will sooner or later be launched into a low orbit.
Next part 2
