Siam politics are very confusing

Finally the election took place. It was called at very short notice to try to allay the protests of all the anti-Thaksin camp. The protests were large, and even a little frightening at times. I was worried that they might call a state of emergency (at least Thaksin was asking for that apparently) but the military refused and so things carried on peacefully. All the major parties, except Thai Rak Thai (roughly translates as "Thailand for Thais") i.e. Thaksin's party, boycotted the election saying it was unfair as it had been called so hastily, and called on their supporters to abstain.

So almost everywhere, there was only one party on the ballot sheet - Thai Rak Thai. In Thailand voting is obligatory and many educated middle-class Bangkokians abstained. However Thaksin is popular in the rural areas thanks to his 30 Baht health scheme for the poor (they pay 30B for any treatment) and loans to villagers. He also has support among poor urban workers like motorcycle taxi drivers, who get cheap insurance and less mafia hoodlums asking for protection money as a result of his policies. So despite the vigorous anti-Thaksin protests, he got elected again.

Of course, the protests didn't stop after the election. So finally, this tenacious man gave up 'for the good of the country', and announced his resignation. He's now "caretaker prime minister" (a weird phrase that makes me imagine him shuffling round parliament with a broom and one of those brown work coats) and further votes are now being held to choose a new prime minister, while second round elections are being planned to choose MPs in some constituencies where the abstentions were so numerous that the MPs failed to be eligible for seats in parliament.

To outsiders, it may look like nothing much has really changed. The same party is still in power, the Thais are just changing the prime minister. But in reality, some important changes have come about: the media is now much more critical of the government and Thais believe that peaceful protest can bring about real change.

Picture by Hartfried Schmidt