Thailand’s Mobocracy Gets Out of Hand
When the People’s Alliance for Democracy stormed Bangkok’s two commercial airports and staged sit-ins since Wednesday, paralysing thousands of travelers and Thailand’s tourism, the PAD mob has covered new high risk political ground. Not satisfied with the sit-in at the parliament, the anti-Thaksin mob is sabotaging Thailand’s economy, and trying to bring the Somchai government down. The irony is that the PAD’s latest tactical gain might have made it lose supporters rather than win them.
Somchai has refused to step down as PM and a national crisis has deepened. There is a deadly game of brinkmanship going on as the PAD is trying to push the Somchai government to use deadly force to evict and quell the PAD movement. The military, hawkishly waiting at the sideline to seize the political upper hand regardless of Yellow, Red or Royalist sides, is bidding its time. Given the Thai military’s historical penchant in setting up juntas, it would be naive to think that the military is an objective apolitical bystander.
Who is bankrolling the PAD sit-ins in Bangkok which has lasted about 6 months? Rumours abound but anti-Thaksin business rivals who have political ambitions as well are the main culprits presumably. They want to replace the Thaksin KKN with their own KNN machinery, under the guise of reformation through anarchy.
Anarchy is a strong word but looking at the state of Thailand’s imploding democracy now under the misnomer People’s Alliance for Democracy, ochlocracy or mobocracy would be the euphemism for how the PAD is undermining the elected government. The PAD movement have not managed to replicate their sit-in anywhere else in Thailand, indicating a strong Bangkok middle class urban base but weak elsewhere in Thailand.
Thailand shuts down second airport in capital
23 hours ago
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thai authorities have closed a second airport in the capital after anti-government protesters stormed the terminal.
The country’s main international airport has been closed since early Wednesday because of tens of thousands of protesters laying virtual siege on the terminal in their push for the government’s resignation.
Serirat Prasutanont, chief of Thailand Airport Authority, says that the city’s main domestic airport, Don Muang, was closed early Thursday as authorities feared that protesters might harm passengers and planes.
He said authorities are considering using an air force base outside Bangkok and have alerted all airports nationwide to be ready to receive more diverted flights.
The closure of Don Muang cuts off Bangkok completely to air traffic.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — A call by Thailand’s powerful army commander to end the country’s deepening political crisis was rebuffed Wednesday, as the prime minister rejected his suggestion to step down, and protesters refused to end their occupation of the country’s main airport.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat justified his stance saying he came to power through elections and has “a job to protect democracy for the people of Thailand.” He spoke from the northern city of Chiang Mai, a stronghold of government supporters.
His rejection of Army Gen. Anupong Paochinda’s plan seemed to put him on a collision course with the military although the general has said he would not launch a coup.
The anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy insisted it would continue its airport occupation and other protest activities until Somchai resigns. It rejected the general’s proposal for new elections, pushing instead for the appointment of a temporary government.
As the deadlock continued, political violence spread Wednesday to Chiang Mai, where government supporters attacked a radio station aligned with the protesters. Separately, there were unconfirmed reports that one man was killed and several people assaulted in an attack on the city’s local airport.
However, it was the occupation of the international Suvarnabhumi Airport, just outside the capital Bangkok, that put the world on notice of the turmoil that has reduced Thailand to a dysfunctional nation.
European Union and Britain’s Foreign Office both issued statements of concern about the political situation.
Thousands of travelers were stranded in Bangkok when members of the alliance swarmed the airport Tuesday night, forcing a halt to virtually all outgoing flights.
Several thousand passengers were bused to city hotels Wednesday to await developments, but many other passengers spent a second night at the airport after a day of behind-the-scenes negotiations failed. All flights have been suspended until further notice.
Among those stranded were Americans trying to get home for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
Cheryl Turner, 63, of Scottsdale, Arizona, had asked neighbors to pull an 18-pound turkey from her freezer a day ahead of time to defrost so she could cook it for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
“My turkey is sitting in the sink at home,” she said.
Some travelers took the inconvenience in stride.
“It’s really horrible to be delayed and I’m missing my friend and things, but the local people have given us food, offered us drinks, and the airport’s actually quite a nice place at the moment,” said Andy Du Bois-Barclay, an English traveler .
Protesters were also occupying late Wednesday the passenger terminal at the older and smaller Don Muang airport, which appeared to effectively cut off civilian aviation services to the Thai capital.
The protest alliance accuses Somchai of acting as the puppet for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power. Thaksin is in exile, a fugitive from a conviction for violating a conflict of interest law. Somchai is Thaksin’s brother-in-law.
PAD, as the protest alliance is known, launched their current campaign on Aug. 26, with a failed attempt to take over a government television station, after which they stormed the grounds of the prime minister’s office, which they continue to use as their stronghold.
The group has also tried twice to blockade Parliament, in one case setting off a daylong street battle with police that left two people dead and hundreds injured.
They prepared for their “final showdown” Sunday in an almost festive atmosphere at their Government House stronghold. Even as they pushed through police lines Monday to blockade parliament and the temporary government office at Don Muang airport, crowds remained relaxed as police yielded to them.
The situation soured Tuesday, with scattered violence between political rivals in different parts of Bangkok. At one point, government supporters threw rocks at a truckload of alliance members, who shot back with pistols and then chased and beat their attackers.
Skirmishes continued in several spots Tuesday night and Wednesday, leaving more than a dozen people hurt.
Their action came as the group’s public support seemed to be waning and they appeared to be seeking out confrontations to up the ante in their struggle.
“It is no secret that the PAD are armed with guns, bombs, knives and wooden batons. They constantly break the law with impunity,” said Ji Ungpakorn, an associate professor of political science at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.
In an open letter, he charged that the alliance, along with the military, the opposition Democrat Party and “the Conservative Establishment would rather see total chaos in Thailand rather than allow democracy to function.”
In a televised press conference, Paochinda said, “the government should give the public a chance to decide in a fresh election.”
However, he insisted he was not pressuring the government and ruled out staging a coup.
“We have considered every option including a coup, but it will not resolve the problem,” he said. Government supporters have said they would forcefully resist a military takeover.
Suriyasai Katasila, a spokesman for the protesters, said the group would not abide by the army chief’s plea to leave the country’s international airport or other occupied government facilities
“If the government does not quit, we will not quit,” he said.
Late Wednesday night, in response to a petition by the state airport operator, Bangkok’s Civil Court issued an injunction ordering the demonstrators to immediately leave Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The protesters have ignored similar orders, but the document provides a legal basis for security forces to remove them.
Airport director Serirat Prasutanont, who had tried to negotiate with the protesters to allow passengers to fly out, said the takeover “damaged Thailand’s reputation and its economy beyond repair.”
Tourist income during the high season — from late October to February — could slump to about half the expected $6.8 billion, said Kongkrit Hiranyakit, head of the Tourism Council of Thailand.
The airport, the 18th-busiest in the world, handled over 40 million passengers in 2007.
Change from Inside and Outside
PM Lee is not totally wrong that change must come to Singapore and that it should be from within the ruling party. The PAP must change fast if they wish to retain their glamour over Singaporeans. Speakers’ Corner turning into a protest corner, the ISA no longer used to contain opposition leaders and the lighter touch in the Internet are modest attempts at change.
However, this change would not have come about if the opposition and the people were not vocal about these demands directly and indirectly. I would think that if there is another strong contender for our votes, the PAP would change even faster and more aggressively. Likewise, the other contender would also react to the PAP’s changes to win our votes. Brinkmanship in politics between parties to court voters sounds excellent for us. There should always be space for another main party in Singapore politics. Give our inherited parliamentary system a chance to flourish, and Singapore to really break out of the spell that only and only the PAP alone is good for Singapore.
Nov 16, 2008
PAP cadres conference – Change must come to PAP
CHANGE must come to Singapore – but within the ruling People’s Action Party rather than in the form of having a two-party system.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday stressed that the PAP must constantly evolve to keep up with the times. This means renewing its membership and leadership ranks, and coming up with fresh ways to engage Singaporeans.
Mr Lee, who is secretary-general of the PAP, said: ‘Change has to take place in Singapore but change must take place not (between parties) but within the PAP.
‘As long as the PAP changes itself, and continues to provide clean and good government, and the lives of Singaporeans improve, the country is much better off with one dominant, strong, clean, good party.’
Addressing over 1,000 cadres at the annual PAP Conference at the Toa Payoh sports hub, Mr Lee acknowledged the desire for change among electorates across the world.
‘It has happened in Australia, it’s happened in New Zealand recently,’ he noted. And most notably, in the United States too, where Democratic candidate Barack Obama swept to victory on his campaign platform of change.
Observed Mr Lee: ‘So the country is set on a new direction. And if Obama succeeds, that’s good.
‘If he doesn’t succeed after four years or eight years, the Americans will try again with a new President, change party, the Republicans set a new direction.’
But while the US is a big country with a big pool from which to find political talent, there is no such guarantee in smaller countries, he said.
‘In Asia, it very seldom works because having two or more parties has not guaranteed good governance or progress,’ he added, citing Taiwan as an example.
In the last decade, its unhappy voters had swung from the Kuomintang (KMT), to the Democratic Progressive Party, and back to KMT again.
‘By Western definitions of democracy, Taiwan qualifies because it’s got two changes of government – in, out, in.
‘But it is not a political system which is working properly. And I don’t think you want that kind of political system in Singapore,’ he said.
He added however that this doesn’t mean that the PAP has a blank cheque: It has to account to voters at the polls every five years. New parties will emerge quickly to take it on if ’something goes wrong with the PAP’, he said.
Neither did it mean it was the job of the PAP to build up the opposition, he added. ‘It’s hard enough to find one team to look after the country. How can you find two? As a small country, we must have a first division team, an outstanding group of people who can make up for our many limitations,’ he said.
The PAP has managed to survive more than 50 years because it kept itself ‘vigorous, lean, relevant, able to win elections’, and adjusting its leadership styles to ’suit new generations of Singaporeans,’ he noted.
He cited initiatives such as the PAP Policy Forum in which younger party members discuss policy making issues, intra-party elections to district committees, and establishing a presence in the new media.
It is difficult for political parties to stay vigorous, he allowed.
In Japan for instance, the Liberal Democratic Party has been in power for half a century, but ‘has not sustained its vigour’. With no nurturing of younger talent, there is a loss of energy and fresh ideas, observed Mr Lee. ‘So for more than a decade Japan has had a series of weak governments.’
China’s Communist Party, on the other hand, is trying to keep itself strong, vigorous and tied to the ground. This was why it was very interested in Singapore’s political experience, and sent many study teams here.
Mr Lee cautioned however that this did not mean the PAP had found the magic formula to keep itself strong. ‘It is always difficult to carry out self-renewal, to respond creatively to new challenges, to reinvent ourselves. But it is vital for the PAP to make every attempt,’ he said.
Poker Faces in the Marina Gamble
So is Capitaland, which is 40% owned by Temasek Holdings, eyeing Las Vegas Sands‘ casino project in Singapore? The local property giant had initially teamed with MGM Mirage in 2005 in a bid which Sands won. Looks like the tables might be turned if the CIMB-GK Research crystal ball gazing turns out to be accurate. However, Capitaland then threw the market into further uncertainly when they denied any hostile interest in Sands. Today, the government clarified that they won’t bail out Sands if the casino giant fails to raise US$2 billion. But then again, Temasek is officially a private company.
What this means for the 10,000 hoping to be employed in the Marina gambling and entertainment centre, until the casino is up, they can’t start working there. LV Sands priced dropped to an astonishing $5 range from about $122 in December last year. But it is doubtful that LV Sands would collapse as there are many hungry wolves at its door eager to lend money as bail out.
Singapore government will not bail out Las Vegas Sands
By Nicholas Fang, Channel NewAsia | Posted: 12 November 2008 1322 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Singapore government said Wednesday it will not bail out the troubled US gaming firm Las Vegas Sands should it fail to fund the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort.
Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran said there has been no request from Sands for a bail out so far.
Sands has been working to avoid defaulting on bank covenants and announced on Tuesday that it was raising some US$2 billion in capital.
There have been concerns about whether Sands has the financial ability to finish the resort at Marina Bay, after it ran into financial difficulties.
Mr Iswaran, who was speaking on the sidelines of an industry conference, said the government and Sands have a development agreement which specifies clear rights for both parties.
He revealed that Sands had asked the Singapore Tourism Board to adjust the timelime for the construction of the Marina Bay Sands resort.
The government is reviewing the request to see if it will conflict with its own plans for an integrated resort to be built by 2009.
Mr Iswaran added there is no reason to think that a large proportion of planned jobs for the project will be lost, although they may be put on hold.
While the government would not participate in any bailout of Sands, there is speculation that government-linked companies may be interested.
Mr Iswaran said government-linked companies are commercial enterprises and have to make their own decisions on whether an investment makes business sense. He added that it is not for the government to tell them what to do.
