Thai Politics: Where We Are, Why We're Here, and What's Coming Next [S6.E33]

Greg begins by explaining the momentous time we live in: soon
there will be a general election in the Land of Smiles. He turns
to Ed, allegedly a professor of political science, to give a
primer (long 'i') on the upcoming election scene, but with a
focus on how we got here in the first place. 


Ed begins by going all the way back to the elections of 2000,
when Thailand was reeling from the economic crisis of 1997 and
straddled with billions of dollars of debt to the IMF. On to the
scene marched a nouveau riche Thai billionaire, Thaksin
Shinawatra, who confidently promised to repay the government's
debts early (which he did, as a matter of fact). Thaksin formed a
surprisingly broad coalition of Isaan farmers and a fairly
sizable chunk of the Bangkok middle class. After an economically
successful but otherwise controversial first term, he was
re-elected in 2004 in more or less a landslide.


However, this apparent 'success' led to a backlash in the form of
a coup d'etat from a conservative establishment in 2006, followed
by years of political turmoil. After Thaksin's sister Yingluck
won an election in 2012, another coup followed in 2014. Since
then, the military has held a firm grasp on the government, but
lo and behold, Thaksin's daughter Paetongtarn is the leading
candidate in the upcoming election. The more things change, the
more they stay the same in modern Thai politics.


Greg and Ed discuss whether or not any of this really matters to
expats in Thailand. We can't vote, so why bother going deep? The
guys offer differing perspectives on the issue, leaving it up to
each expat to decide on their own. 


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