Several months ago the army in Thailand staged a coup, overthrowing the elected government. For the past several national elections a populist party has had resounding wins. The poorer north part of Thailand has, by dint of numbers, been in control. Thai democracy has always been rather fragile and there have been frequent army coups. The army's attempts to run the country have never gone very well and elections are held and for the last several years the populists have won.
This coup, coming on the heels of months of major protests and disruptions by the opposition party, is different. Apparently backed by the king the army is rewriting the constitution with the intent of restoring the power to the elite saying poor people don't know enough to vote. This is complicated by the extreme "lese mageste`" law, i.e., it is a crime to criticize the king or anything royal.
Since the coup there is no right of free expression, assembly or dissent. Professors cannot discuss politics in class, if you are caught reading Orwell's 1984, or giving the Hunger Games salute you will be arrested. Trial is in a military court without legal representation or any outside observers. Civilian courts are bypassed and freedom of the press non-existent.
The coup, coupled with some murders in the beach areas followed by badly bungled police investigations, has hit the tourist industry hard. Tourism is already down 19% this year and the bad news keeps coming.
Now the situation is calm. However, when the army promulgates a new, biased constitution, or when the king dies...he's very frail spending most of his time in a hospital...there will almost certainly be conflict.
"My people" are suffering. "When the elephants fight the ants suffer." Much of their livelihood is related to tourism. I do what I can to help. My next trip will be in February when I'll return to Ayutthaya to teach school.
Want to know more? This is very brief summary. I would love to talk with you about the situation.
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