Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai party won the election held two days ago. The result was hardly unexpected, as the Democrats and other opposition parties boycotted the poll. In fact, TRT was unopposed in many northern constituencies (TRT’s heartland), and many voters in Bangkok and the south (the Democrat’s stronghold) abstained as there were no Democrat candidates.
There have been street protests by monarchists in Bangkok for the past few months, notably at the Royal Plaza on 4th February — which was released on VCD as ภารกิจกู้ชาติ (‘mission to save the nation’) — eventually leading Thaksin to dissolve parliament on 24th February. The protests, led by media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, started after Thaksin sold a 48% stake in his Shin Corp. business to Singaporean company Temasek. (Thaksin’s government had increased the legal limit on foreign ownership of telecom firms to enable the Shin sale, and changed the tax code to avoid paying any tax on the deal, in a blatant manipulation of the law for personal gain.) Sondhi has taken his TV talk show เมืองไทยรายสัปดาห์ (‘Thailand weekly’) on the road, attracting large crowds at Lumpini Park.
There have been street protests by monarchists in Bangkok for the past few months, notably at the Royal Plaza on 4th February — which was released on VCD as ภารกิจกู้ชาติ (‘mission to save the nation’) — eventually leading Thaksin to dissolve parliament on 24th February. The protests, led by media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, started after Thaksin sold a 48% stake in his Shin Corp. business to Singaporean company Temasek. (Thaksin’s government had increased the legal limit on foreign ownership of telecom firms to enable the Shin sale, and changed the tax code to avoid paying any tax on the deal, in a blatant manipulation of the law for personal gain.) Sondhi has taken his TV talk show เมืองไทยรายสัปดาห์ (‘Thailand weekly’) on the road, attracting large crowds at Lumpini Park.
The protests escalated last month. A pro-Thaksin rally at Sanam Luang on 3rd March was attended by around 100,000 people. It was followed two days later by an anti-Thaksin rally at the same spot, when around 50,000 people marched from Sanam Luang to Democracy Monument, burning Thaksin in effigy. On 29th March, anti-Thaksin demonstrators gathered at Siam Square, and the SkyTrain station there was closed for the day. The large shopping malls in the area, including Siam Paragon, were also shut.
Thaksin has announced that despite winning a majority in the election, he will not accept the position of prime minister. He had earlier joked that he would quit — “If His Majesty whispers in my ear” — further angering his opponents, who accused him of showing a lack of reverence towards the King. (Thaksin won a landslide second term barely a year ago, on 6th February 2005, though his popularity has cratered since that election victory.)
Thaksin has announced that despite winning a majority in the election, he will not accept the position of prime minister. He had earlier joked that he would quit — “If His Majesty whispers in my ear” — further angering his opponents, who accused him of showing a lack of reverence towards the King. (Thaksin won a landslide second term barely a year ago, on 6th February 2005, though his popularity has cratered since that election victory.)
