The Thai people have spoken in large numbers in that corruption must go. Only the corrupt would object to cleaning up the Government, and only the corrupt are resisting.
There are just some things in life that ring true with common sense. One of those things is getting rid of corruption, and even corrupt governments want to at least give the appearance they are fighting corruption. But of late The Pheu Thai Party (PTP) lead Thai Government is not even doing that. The so called plans they have are clearly seen as hollow and only look to make it appear they are concerned. Few people if any believe and trust that the Government would act. Even the Government supportive Red Shirts seem to have fallen silent as supporting the Government’s so called plans could cause serious loss of face and thus respect.
When you look at the numbers of protesters that have attended the anti Government rallies of late, the numbers are truly astounding and even difficult to believe. To put it in simpler terms, roughly 7.5% of Thailand’s population made their presence known in Bangkok. Those numbers simply dwarf anything seen before short of a public audience given by the King. Looking at the photos of a past Royal audience and the latest rally photos, the anti Government rally numbers are bigger by no small margin. For that to happen there must be some serious underlying motivation.
The next thing the Government will likely do is to take a more aggressive approach to subdue the protesters and not listen to them. At the time of penning this entry there was already talk of issuing a state of emergency to get rid of those mostly peaceful King and country loving Thais. If that were to happen it may take a certain resemblance to China’s handling of the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising. Not so much the violence but the usage of jails afterwards.
If you look at it another way the Government is also acting like a trapped animal. Their desire to push through the election seems to have been thwarted by the people as the number of people running for Parliament is below the 95% minimum. Even the Government had suggested that the enrollment period be extended to get to the needed 95%, and at the same time refused to push back the February 2 election date.
This is just another example of what motivated the masses to come out wanting to remove them. Their desire to ignore laws that are in their way are classic Thaksin. Governments that don’t follow the laws have lost the legitimacy to govern.
At any rate there seems a likely shifting of gears and how the government is likely to react is the same as Thaksin did before with personal attacks on the rally leaders by thugs or whoever. This way they can try to deny they are connected. But then if you go back and read the opening paragraph of this entry, it is easy to conclude who is behind those attacks.
