At this moment of writing, Thailand has closed Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok. Due to demonstrations to topple the current government. This government is considered a proxy for the previously democratic elected and now ousted Prime Minister Thaksin.
Thaksin last weekend divorced his wife. His wife posted a 10 times higher tax declaration than her husband Thaksin. I don’t know what her profession is, but Thaksin is supposed to be a multimedia tycoon in Thailand. Earning only 10% of his wife… how sad and why would we not believe that…
But let’s explain what the protest has been all about : it’s actually a protest against democracy "the Thaksin way".
Thaksin won an overwhelming rural majority for the only reason that he seemed to have bought his votes.
That’s a problem any democracy faces when people in power have to rule over a population:
- that’s doing very well in the main cities but
- that is lacking behind in money in the rural areas.
Not only is it easy to buy votes from the poor, poor rural areas also are a possible heaven for extremism. When money is scarce, people have empty stomachs and only think black and white.
Meanwhile flights to Bangkok are cancelled worldwide.
4 ongoing months of demonstrations has caused tourism income in Thailand to be only a fraction of what it should have been this year.
In other words: the poor in Thailand are now even more poor and still there is no solution in sight. Thaksin is still flying from country to country…
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