Thaksin’s red shirts tourist deterrent

It may have been The people’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that broke the back of Thailand’s tourist season by closing Thailand’s main airport, but it is the red shirts and their violent activities that are hindering any recovery in tourism. Needless to say this red thorn in Thailand is starting to fester.

When it comes to taking a holiday away from home, few places in the world can match Thailand. It’s pristine beaches along with every other imaginable draw make Thailand an enjoyable getaway. However over the past several years the political unrest in Thailand that is all centered around the convicted fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra, has already negated and then some, any benefits Thais may have received from him when he was Prime Minister. Now the actions of the pro Thaksin red shirts look to push things more into the red.

With the actions of the red shirts over the last few days attacking police barricades by ramming them with cars and just their usual violent behavior, they have sent a message that the violence is not over. In this case countries are starting to take notice and the potential of warnings from other governments to their citizens is a real possibility. However as things would have it, not all of Thailand has to deal with the red shirts. So with that said, governments would issue warnings to stay away from certain places. In this case the problems seem to be the most prevalent in the Pro Thaksin parts of the country being the north and northeast.

A short translation is. the pro Thaksin red shirts are only hurting the parts of Thailand where pro Thaksin people are. Other parts of Thailand are eagerly awaiting the return of the tourists.

It really does not matter what the rally cry is for the red shirts at this point, they are only hurting pro Thaksin people. Their effectiveness in Bangkok is actually limited and any rallies they would have requires transporting pro Thaksin people in from other parts of the country. Based on the latest election results, they are a minority as Thaksin related politicians got about half the votes of the election winner.

In very round numbers, Thaksin supporters now make up about 30% of Thais country wide. Each time the red shirts come out and play their games, that number seems to get smaller. A year ago that number was much closer to 50%. Seeing as they are now hurting pro Thaksin people the most, they are starting to have the same negative effect Bible Thumpers have by chasing people away from their cause by standing on some street corner yelling repent!


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