You could say the political situation in Thailand is a little tense at the moment. There have been some recent events that have been worrisome to some people, especially the parents of the students traveling with us to Thailand. So far most of the disruption has been centered in Bangkok near governmental buildings. Thankfullly, our YouthLINC group will not be in that area of the country. We will see what unfolds by the time we are scheduled to leave.
The current political disruption has been cause by demonstrations of two opposing political parties. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) usually dresses in yellow, called "the yellow shirts", which is the royal color of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The yellow shirts are supporters of the current Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. The National United Front of Democracy (UDD) dresses in red, widley known as "the red shirts", and are supporters of the deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The red shirts are demanding that current Prime Minister Abhisit dissolve Parliament and call new elections. Their demonstrations are part of a long-running battle between the poor and rural supporters of Prime Minister Thaksin and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the 2006 military coup that removed him from power. The red shirts claim that Prime Minister Abhisit and his political party illegitimately took power in Decemeber 2008 after the military pressured Parliament to vote for him. Thailand has experienced 18 military coups in it's history. Even after the 1992 transition to a democracy from military rule, the Thai Army has remained a very strong political force.
Both sides have experienced their fair share of corruption. Thaksin was ousted amid accusations of corruption and abuse of power. He fled the country last year before a court convicted him of abuse of power and sentenced him to serve two years in prison. On the other side, Thailand's election commission has accused the current Prime Minister Abhisit and the Democratic Party of accepting an $8 million campaign donation from a private company and of mishandling the funds the commission allocated to the party. The election commission is now also recommending that the party be dissolved and new elections help.
The current demonstrations have been going on for about a month with sit-ins and rallies staged near Prime Minister Abhisit's office and other governmental buildings. Since April 2010, thousands of red shirt demonstrators have occupied a central commercial district, blocking intersections and forcing businesses to close their doors. The demonstrations remained peaceful until this past week when the military tried to remove the people and it turned violent. 23 people have been killed and hundreds more injured. The Prime Minister has put the Thai Army in charge of handling the protesters now and keeping peace. King Bhumibol commands enormous popular respect and moral authority which he has used on occasion to resolve political crises that have threatened national stability. However, he is currently experiencing health problems and has been unable to address the current political climate.
I am glad you made this post. I have heard a lot about a "situation" in Thailand, and I kept meaning to read more about it but somehow I never got around to it. As much as I would hope for this to be resolved before you leave this summer - I somehow doubt that will happen. Regardless, you better be careful and stay safe!
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