Kevin's Blog

Extra! Extra! Inside info. on Thailand

Okay, I just got back from the 50th anniversary gala dinner for Hong Kong Baptist University, and I do have some stuff to say about that. But I met someone who's been in Thailand for much of his adult life (going back and forth from the US) and he says that military coup in Thailand was brought about when the civilian government started to make some changes to the military structure. For a long time the military worried about military things and the business world worried about business things, and everything was fine. But the businessmen running the immediately previous government started to change the constitution to put civilians in charge of the military. Then the coup happened. Two days before the new civilians were supposed to start work.

The whole scandal story is real, but nothing that would necessitate the military stepping in.

Anyway, that's what he says from his perspective on the ground. And it does explain one fact that is otherwise puzzling: why the military only picked ex-military types for positions of power. You'd think if it was just that the military had to fix the country for the country's sake, saving the country from corruption, then they'd just pick a bunch of people who are generally well-respected by the populace, military background or not. But if it is to protect military interests, you can see why they would only use ex-military.

Anyway, I thought this was worth putting up as a separate blog entry.

posted by Kevin Iga @ 8:35 AM