Even Thai Don’t Know What’s Going On
Skip the advert but listen to this song by Joe South relevant to this piece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDeVonv3kY0
Even with the power of today’s internet, being aware of what’s happening in Thailand is not that easy or obvious. I recall, a few days after the 2006 coup, reading a respected observer of the Far East writing that anyone who knows anything at all about Thailand accepts that no one really knows what is going on.
He went on, “those that think they know what’s happening are doing a lot of talking, however cautiously. Those that really are in the know aren’t saying anything at all.”
Recent developments
As of June 2023, no-one, Thai or foreigner, knew whether the M.P. who won the recent election will be allowed to serve in Parliament. In early August, the constitutional court held that he could not sit as prime minister because he had held some shares in a TV company.
He had inherited the shares from his father but later sold them. The company had never broadcast any progammes. It’s asset value is around 10,000 baht. What’s the real reason the military elite forced him to quit?
Pita Limjaroenrat had signed a Memorandum of Agreement with PheuThai, a party really controlled by Thaksin Shinawatra but, at the last minute, PheuThai reneged on the agreement. This meant that they were no longer prepared, as a pro-Thaksin party, to be part of the coalition with Pita’s party, Move Forward (or Gao Gai in Thai). Pintongta was, therefore, no longer relevant.
Thai media have their own agendas.
Most of the media have their own agendas. Thais, in any case, dislike reporting criticism, conflict, or unpleasant news that their countrymen do not want to read or would prefer to ignore. It is a cultural characteristic which is a little enigmatic when you see gory photos of road accidents on the front pages. Thai newspapers, including the English language dailies, openly self-censor. Sometimes there are legal reasons why information cannot be published.
The UK Abdication Crisis
Only by having a wide range of Thai contacts, ordinary folk and maybe a few in higher places, and reading between the lines and listening carefully will you ever get a smattering of the truth and reality within the country. Browse the internet forums but check what you read from other sources, other Thais, and from your own observations.
