Thailand’s Current Political Situation

By Helen Sneha

Thailand is an exceptionally well-endowed country – its food and hospitality are widely known, and it has ample resources and exports to sustain it economically. Yet many issues of leadership and legitimacy continue to afflict Thailand. The simple question of who deserves to, and gets to, rule the country has yet to be answered. As Associate Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak put it in our session with him today, it seems that those who win elections cannot rule, while those who rule cannot win elections. Politicians and corruption will always go hand in hand, but there are power players on the scene in Thailand who, while not able to contest electoral seats themselves, are in positions to prevent election winners from governing in every sense of the word. 

A bit of history might be in order to fully understand the implications of ruling and being elected in modern Thailand. Thailand was an absolute monarchy till 1932, until that was overthrown by the military and civilians, who drafted their first constitution. The 80^th anniversary of the day the absolute monarchy was overthrown was last Sunday, June 24^th. 

Post-World-War-II Thailand saw 25 years of military dictatorship, running from 1947 to 1973. Politicians and political parties were not allowed to exist, for the most part, and despite the turmoil in the rest of the region – with the Vietnam War and Burma’s military dictatorship raging – Thailand managed relatively well. In 1973, students overthrew the military dictatorship, which had grown undemocratic, inflexible, and corrupt, and, in a sense, reset the constitutional monarchy. There was then a right-wing military backlash against this in 1976, which led to another year of military dictatorship. It is interesting to note that these years of dictatorship were not as bad as they could have been as the generals did not try to micro-manage the economy and instead hired experts to do it – a lot of Thailand’s ample resources and exports were in fact built up during periods of military dictatorship. 

1997 was a year of serious democratic reforms, with a new constitution that appeared to combine the best elements from Japan, Germany, and the USA towards promoting greater transparency and accountability. When the 2001 elections came about, it appeared that Thaksin Shinawatra had the answers to long-standing unhappiness stemming back to the economic crises of 1997/1998, and by suspending farmer’s debt, and making available micro credit loans and universal healthcare, he won over the rural poor solidly enough to go on to win five subsequent elections by healthy margins. Yet another coup occurred against Thaksin’s government in 2006, despite his being a strong, popular, visionary leader. Judicial coups dissolved his new-formed party in 2008, and disenfranchised Red Shirt protestors took to the streets following two years of military rule in 2009 and 2010. Thaksin’s third-generation party, headed by his sister Yingluck, was then elected in 2011 by a 265/500 majority. 

A question that arose during the session was why Thaksin got re-elected so many times. sThe answer was threefold: first, he was the first to truly connect with the majority of voters in the rural areas – taking advantage of the income disparity meant that his policies could earn him the votes of the North and the NorthEast, nearly half of the population; second, the Democrat Party was not a viable alternative, and third, there was a growing political consciousness even among the rural poor. 

In the big frame of things, as Associate Professor Pongsudhirak phrased it, Thailand is currently in a kind of lockdown. Highly reductionistically, it could be a clash between the traditional and the modernized. As it stands, the military is aware that a coup now would lead to massive Red Shirt protests. Yingluck, meanwhile, as Prime Minister, could not do much in the face of one because the legitimacy of rule is still very much drawn from traditional sources of power. In no way, however, does traditional moral authority have to be opposed to an electoral mandate – there are no black and white distinctions. Being a loyal subject and being an informed citizen do not have to be oppositional.

Thaksin Shinawatra. (Source: Google Image)
 

The 2006 military coup. (Source: Google Image)

Helen Sneha, 20, is a second year Bachelor of Arts student, double-majoring in Writing and International Studies. She is hopelessly interested in tennis, funky rings, dinosaurs, and the human hand.

Tennis in Thailand: A View from the Stands

By Helen Sneha

As I was walking down the stairs of the Phloen Chit train station two nights ago, I spotted, in the shadows, a lone lady holding an oversized tennis racquet. I ran up to her and asked, “Do you play? You play?” while trying to mimic a service motion. She said that she didn’t play, but she worked for a company that made tennis racquets. If she was used to tennis-mad tourists interrogating her on the sidewalk at night, she didn’t show it. 

Some tennis-mad tourists (okay, fine, I have to admit I’m one of the many) might have fretted that having great adventures in Bangkok would have to come at the expense of that most hallowed of tournaments, Wimbledon. Even before it had started, Wimbledon 2012 was promising to be particularly remarkable, especially with Olympic tennis due to be played there at the end of July. It was to my great delight – you can ask my roommates, they saw a legitimate outpouring of it – in which I discovered that the hotel provided StarSports as one of its channels.

I was then reminded of the numerous advertisements that run during the course of the Australian Open, the first major of the year, stating that the live broadcast on StarSports is presented by Thai Airways. I’ve never flown with Thai Airways, but I know that for once I’m glad for a big corporation. This way I could spend my days and nights in Bangkok and the wee hours of the morning on the lawns of the All England Lawn Tennis Club – in spirit, of course. 

I would go so far as to say that on the whole Asian continent, Thai tennis is only behind that of those two regional heavyweights, India (which has produced the Amritraj brothers, countless outstanding doubles teams, and Sania Mirza) and China (who boasts Li Na, the first female Asian grand slam champion). Thailand is certainly the most successfully country in South East Asia in terms of producing tennis players, and arguably even in terms of hosting tournaments. While Laos can lay some claim to Anne Keothavong, who will represent Great Britain in the Olympics this summer, and her brother, James a top-tier umpire who regularly makes the trip down to South East Asia over the yearly indoor swing to umpire in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Thailand has produced top-tier players such as Paradorn Srichaphan and Tamarine Tanasugarn over the years. 

Srichaphan, to the best of my memory, attained the highest ranking ever achieved by an Asian man in the Association of Tennis Players (ATP), a record which he still holds today. He appears periodically on StarSports’ tennis program ‘Ace’, offering views on upcoming tennis matches and sometimes even playing little quiz games with the hostess. Broad-shouldered, tanned, grinning, and good-natured, he still cuts an impressive figure in his post-retirement. 

Tamarine Tanasugarn, sadly, made an early exit at this year’s Wimbledon a few days ago, but has a powerful forehand and is usually a tricky opponent on the grass. She, along with Mirza, Li Na, and Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm has done much the image of Asian women’s tennis over the past few years. 

Thailand also hosts an ATP tournament right here in Bangkok. It has been successful over the years in pulling in big names like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray. In a region where tennis tournaments struggle to find funding, the Bangkok Open has done remarkably well for itself, pulling visitors from all over its neighboring countries and offering the players full stadiums and healthy sums of prize money. 

As I write this from my hotel room, I’m half-watching last year’s defending champion, Andy Murray, play in front of his home crowd at Wimbledon. I must say, I really enjoy the Thai commentary. 

Helen Sneha, 20, is a second-year Bachelor of Arts student, double-majoring in Writing and International Studies. She is hopelessly interested in tennis, funky rings, dinosaurs, and the human hand.