After more than a year of military rule Thailand has a new, democratically-elected Prime Minister. Previous New Mandala coverage of Samak and his place in Thai politics is available here.
Will Samak’s tenure at the top mark a new stage (and level) of political conflict? Will his many opponents be able to handle today’s electoral realities? Has Thai democracy returned?
Comments and ideas from readers are especially welcome at this historic time.
1 response so far ↓
1 David Fullbrook // Feb 2, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Has Thailand ever enjoyed democracy? Is there an accepted definition or benchmark for a political system to be crowned ‘democracy’? It’s made a big show of electoral politics at various times since 1932 in its transition from absolute monarchy to some other system. Recent events indicate that the masses have picked up a taste for electoral politics, installing governments that at least make a good show of doing something for them. The victory of People’s Power confirms this trend which began with Thai Rak Thai’s first victory. The new reality is electoral politics, parties that want to win need to come up with simple policies touching voters hearts, minds and wallets, in place of the usual empty slogans and meaningless waffle. Notably during the last election every party parroted Thai Rak Thai policies, yet despite personalities and patron-client ties, People’s Power still swept the board because of its association with the track record of Thai Rak Thai. Perhaps in future elections parties will invest in developing manifestos to set them apart from the pack, grab voters’ imaginations and make-up for any shortcomings in their track record. But is this evolution at a point where it has become democracy? In the absence of justice, fairness, probity, law and order, can there be democracy in Thailand, or any country practising electoral politics?
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