No Smiles for Thai People?
image source: www.travelblog.org
The current Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has made some huge political blunders both internally and internationally such as bringing Thailand close to fighting with Cambodia over the border line surrounding the Preah Vihear temple which was settled in 1962 by the World Court. The Thai People always felt cheated about this and PM Samak had “solved” the problem in a one day meeting with the Cambodian leader about six months ago. There has been a military build up on the border near this temple in the last few months…
So … between the conviction and some actions and decisions that are not particularly cared for by the general population many Thai People are not happy with the current Prime Minister. The opposition party is staging protests and has been for the past 3 or more months. Peaceful protesting is a healthy expression of democracy, when the government allows people to express themselves in the open. The protests became unhealthy last week. The protesters were met with a rival group of “anti”-protesters supporting the current government. The two groups clashed and resulted in a death and over 40 injured people. The clash led to a “state of emergency” declaration by the government causing concern for the situation throughout the world.