Love is just like a merry-go-round
With all the fun in the air
One day I’m feeling down on the ground
Then I’m up in the air
Are you leading me on?
Tomorrow will you be gone?I wonder if one day that, you’ll say that, you care
If you love me madly, I’ll gladly, be there
Like a puppet on a stringI may win on the roundabout
Then I’ll lose on the swings
In or out, there is never a doubt
Just who’s pulling the strings
I’m all tied up to you
But where’s it leading me to?
Suddenly October 2007 is looking a very long way off. Thailand’s increasingly incompetent puppet regime must be starting to count the days, wondering how many more bungles it can endure before a constitution is finalised and an election held. If the September 19 coup seemed like a triumph for the royalist-technocrats in their longstanding battle with the “electocrats” (a term I am borrowing from Kasian), then the months that have followed have shown just how fleeting victory can be. A series of high profile bungles, accompanied by some simply preposterous public statements (especially those in relation to the Bangkok bombings) have brought the junta-puppet honeymoon to an abrupt end. In the wake of the Somkid debacle, even the yellow-trimmed rhetoric of sufficiency economy is starting to look a little tawdry.
One can only wonder if this troubled government can survive until an election is held. Whatever happens, the electocrats must be rubbing their hands in glee at the growing public and media disillusionment with the royalist white knights.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Jon Fernquest // Mar 1, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Royalist-technocrats, Electocrats….
“Selectorate” describes it better:
“Different incentives faced by democracies, autocracies, juntas, oligarchies, etc. Selectorate refers to **those who choose the leader**. Winning coalition’s absolute size and size relative to the selectorate both matter for type of benefits distributed. Large absolute size contributes to more public goods, hence more for general population. Large relative size of winning coalition (relative to size of selectorate) contributes to less **distribution of grafts and booty**.”
From podcast
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on Democracies and Dictatorships
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/02/bruce_bueno_de.html
2 Srithanonchai // Mar 1, 2007 at 11:34 pm
One might add a perspective by pointing to the issue of inclusion, ie. the expansion of suffrage. Western European social or welfare states (i.e., more public goods) are based on this expansion. In other words, those selected were forced by the electoral structures (institutional incentives) to be more responsive, which translates into more policies. This has not been without problems, as many Western European states’ problems with their budgets demonstrate…
3 polo // Mar 2, 2007 at 7:46 am
Back to the early 1980s of Prem — or perhaps Thanom-Praphas?
Bangkok Post
Friday March 02, 2007
CNS moves to tighten army’s grip
Officers to be deputy governors for security
The Council for National Security yesterday unveiled plans to appoint military officers as deputy governors for security affairs in all 76 provincial administrations across the country, an army source said. The CNS was also working to double the tenure of village heads from five to 10 years, the source added.
4 Srithanonchai // Mar 2, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Kasian, in his Matichon article of March 2, envisages a return to the pre-Thaksin era, and the time before May 1992, when the military was sent back to their barracks. Surely, the stature of the military in the Thai polity has increased tremendously with this coup. This will be complemented by weak politics, as is currently being engineered by the CDC. Then, maybe, as polo indicates, there might be some elements of Premocracy, too. Most importantly, the monarchy will have been pushed to centre stage. Thus, we will have weak politics, weak people, strong military/bureaucracy, within the framework of a royalist set-up.
5 Historicus // Mar 3, 2007 at 2:17 am
“Polo” has picked up the big story. Iit may be denied later by the CNS, but this is a trial balloon to see what they can do to re-establish Premocracy. You can bet that the royalist-military elite is hoping that they can spin this into reality. With this in place, electoral politics will be a sideshow.
6 Taxi Driver // Mar 3, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Memo to my comrades in the Army
(not to be disclosed to the navy, air force, or the stupid police):
The counter-coup to the May’92 people’s movement (and resulting 1997 constitution) is near complete.
Things are progressing to plan. Within the next seven months, we will have all our key people in the right locations, and we will have secured our budget and concessions for the next ten years (even before including our secret fund). By October, we will be ready to stage the elections. Be assured, my comrades in arms, this will not impact on your ability to carry out your sacred duties to the Nation and King (I don’t want to include “Religion” because yours are not the true religion).
Do not perceive the permitting of elections to be a sign of weakness from your leaders, my comrades. The elections are a neceesary evil we must endure. It is an opium of the masses (and certain to please a number of those annoying New Mandala bloggers). It is also necessary for our friends abroad to continue doing business with us (btw, wasn’t this year’s Cobra Gold just so much fun? I’m gonna order 20 of those new stealth battle tanks they showed us).
Uncle Surayud is proving most useful, as expected (nothing better than having a fall guy to take the blame for you – remember this is as a basic strategic tool for your future careers, my comrades). Mind you, Uncle Surayud seems to be getting too much attention lately. I hope it does not force us to change the timing of our plans.
And don’t worry about the referendum. We’ve already won it no matter which way the masses vote. They’ll either vote for our constitution, or they’ll be given one.
Stay the course, hold the line, my comrades in arms. The return of our glory days and rightful place in the National Hierarchy is near.
S.
cc. Uncle Prem.
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