The Blog of E.M. FitzGerald

Now that I am back in the States, and away from Asia for a bit more than a week I have had some time to reflect about my experiences in Thailand. I have already spoken gads about Muay Thai, Phuket, the people, lifestyle, etc. There is however, one thing that during my time in Thailand began to define the country. Since I was in-country I thought it a bad idea to get into political observations as I didn’t want to be deported because of my views. I am of course talking about the Red Shirt protests that happened, and were broken up by the Thai military in Bangkok.

Better late than never. When I got to Thailand, the Red Shirt protests were in full swing, and the protesters had situated themselves in the shopping area of Bangkok. Since these troubles had been going on before I left, I didn’t bring any kind of red shirt with me on my trip, not wanting to get myself mixed up in that mess. When I arrived in Thailand, it wasn’t a topic on my mind at all. I planned to avoid Bangkok like the plague, and as such I wasn’t concerned should that topic arise.

And, it did arise. The people of Phuket (who come from all over Thailand) had very strong views on the issue. For the most part, they didn’t support the Red Shirts. The general feeling I got from the Thai people I encountered who talked about the protests said that it was a bunch of Thai people from the north who didn’t actually live in Bangkok doing the protesting. They were causing far more problems than they solved, and should have stopped a long time ago. The Thai economy was descending at a rapid rate because of the protests, and in the country that is dependent on tourism, that is a big deal. The general opinion was that there were better ways to achieve a victory for the people than closing down part of Bangkok with general insolence. When the military did come in and brake up the protesting, there was a clear sense of relief that swept through the country. It hadn’t been the first time the military had come in to put down a protest, but it was one of the best documented cases. As such, the backlash to the Thai people and their economy would clearly last for at least a year, something that everyone on Phuket knew was coming.

My own personal views on the subject are hard to define. Thailand is not my country, I don’t know the people or the politics so coming to any conclusion about the situation would be inexcusable on my part. Had I lived in Thailand, been a Thai citizen and understood the situation with greater clarity, then maybe I would weigh in on the frustrations of the people in that country. As such, I am not in that position, so I find it best to keep my mouth shut as it is quite clear that I do not understand the situation. If only this were a general rule that people in our followed, keep your nose out of business that’s not yours!!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 11:54 pm and is filed under California, Thailand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.