Once again it seems it is time to play the ‘Change the Constitution Game’ for money and prizes. And once again it all looks to boil down to falling short of mustering the agreement needed to make it happen.
As things seem to be playing out in this latest round of Change the Constitution, the Constitution itself has actually become both the carrot and the stick for the bad boy politicians. Change it and it becomes the carrot, fail to do so and it remains the stick.
Prime Minister Abhisit is also playing this carrot / stick approach from another angle. If the unrest continues, changing the Constitution is off the table and this round is essentially over. There are also certain things that Prime Minister Abhisit will not go for such as touching the teeth that keep the bad boy politicians in line.
So as things look to play out in this round, it is a fair guess the bad boy politicians will make a power play to try to get those teeth pulled. As in actuality there are many more bad boy politicians than good ones, so this may actually get pulled off. The Pheu Thai Party (PTP) are clearly the heart and soul of the bad boys, but there are several just biding their time inside Abhisit’s coalition government. All it will take is a few to vote with the PTP, and the Constitution is off to the dentist to get those nasty old teeth pulled and put under the pillow for the tooth demon to take away and leave the master key behind.
However if that happens, it almost will insure another coup is in Thailand’s not too distant future, and that will simply reset the cycle all over again.
In a way touching the Constitution is the forbidden fruit of Thailand, second only to saying something bad about the King or other members of the royal family. In both cases the consequences are unpleasant to put it mildly.
So this round will probably end up in flames in one way or the other, it will become amusing to watch and also important. Any changes to the Constitution amount to putting a magnet near the ships compass. Going off corse is much easier than staying on. So as it is, we suggest some popcorn with this as it is likely to resemble a pack of male dogs chasing down a female dog who is in heat. Thai politics at its best and worst all at the same time.
