Coup D'Etat - A Happy Buzz

AP file photo.

It’s my guess that the coup d’etat was not as much of a surprise here as it was in the rest of the world. Thailand has been in political limbo for months. Prime Minister Thaksin took it upon himself to maintain a “caretaker” government after last April’s election was determined to be illegal. New elections were scheduled for October and there was little doubt in anyone’s mind that they were going to end up in a nasty mess. Thailand has been operating without a credible central government – a democratically elected government – and no one knew how long the situation would last.

Rumors that a coup was imminent reached our neighborhood mid-evening last night. I know this only because our neighbors were in the street in front of our place engaged in animated conversations. It was the sort of neighborhood powwow that might occur on a Friday or Saturday night, but unusual for a Tuesday night. It wasn’t until I read the first blurb about the coup on the BBC website that I realized what the buzz was all about. I checked around other news sites – some still hadn’t posted the event. CNN, with its usual, titilating, sensationalist drivel, posted the headline, “Thailand In Turmoil!” Nothing could be further from the truth. There has been no turmoil whatsoever and I don’t expect any.

My sense of it, uninformed as it is, is that it’s the military’s intention to reinstall a civilian government as soon as possible. It has already been reported that Bank of Thailand Governor, Pridayadhorn Devakula, has been approached to be the new Prime Minister and that he has accepted. I assume he will hold that position until fair and square popular elections can be held. It is the general consensus that billionaire Thaksin has used his position principally for personal gain and that he has mishandled a number of sensitive issues, not the least of which is the unrest and bombings in the far south on the Malaysia border.

As far as I can tell, no one here seems terribly upset by the turn of events. Quite the contrary, I think there is a lot of cheering going on. His Majesty The King is the pivotal figure in it all. It’s possible (likely) that we will never hear a word about it from him, but the military generals made a very visible visit to the palace before the coup was initiated and that in itself sent a strong message to the populace – the coup would go ahead with the King’s approval. He doesn’t have to say a word – everyone knows that if he disapproved of the move, it simply would not have happened. I’m sure that he has been upset by the fact that his peaceful and prosperous democratic country was in political shambles and the populace was greatly divided. Thaksin was the barb that had to be removed in order to restore unity.

There are some predictions that Thaksin will regroup and that he’s not out of the picture yet. Time will tell. We made a short trip into town for lunch today. We encountered two floats that were obviously celebratory and honored the King. The royal color is yellow and yellow shirts were everywhere. It’s hard to guess what the reaction is in the far north, where the bulk of Thaksin’s supporters are, but around here, I would say it’s relief and elation.

It’s seven in the evening as I write this and the street in front of our house is buzzing once again. It sounds like a happy buzz.