My associate on this exploration of Thailand and democracy, Lucas, is on his way to Thailand. While he was enduring a long layover in KL, he sent me a few of the thoughts he was having about this journey to post on our blog:
Day 0 – in transit
A quick math has revealed that I am going to be spending twice as long waiting in airports as I am going to be in flight. I am now pointlessly debating whether an extra couple of hundred dollars was really worth losing a day to transit. Ever the optimist though I’m convincing myself that an overnight stop in Kuala Lumpur might just be what I need before taking on Bangkok in the full swing of yet another controversial election.
To pass the time I guess I’d like to give you little background about myself and the situation. I was born in Thailand but have spent the last 20 years of my life in Australia. I’m on a tourist visa, my Thai vocabulary is the equivalent of a seven year old’s, same goes for my tolerance for chillies and right now I’m trying to remember all the customs and traditions taken very seriously by all true Thais.
Foremost amongst the faux pas foreigners are prone to making is to insult the king or the royal institution. Stepping on Money, showing the bottom of your feet to his image and speaking ill of him could land you 15 years behind bars. Heck, just me writing about it could get me in trouble.
So let me just clarify my position that I love the King and what he represents, and right now, just as it has been for all my life, he is the stabilising factors in Thailand. Foreigners have a hard time understanding why Thais revered his Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. They are more accustom to the tabloid scandals of the British royal family and the constant barrage of jokes directed at them. Things are different in Thailand though, a combination of propaganda, punitive laws and the fact that he is actually a good guy (he even played the sax with Bill Clinton once) means that he is practically a living saint.
For all his popularity though, it is fair to questions just how much power he actually has to influence the squabbling politicians and there remains the issue of his age and health. Few Thais are willing to contemplate a country without him, but as Buddhist we must be prepared to face this inescapable eventuality.
Like me, Thailand is in transit. Change is coming and no matter how strongly the old institutions will strive to stem it, it is inevitable. For the gloss and postcard images, Thailand is a developing country, and right now we are reaching a crucial turning point. The exploited masses are rising up, they need a voice, maybe they’ll find it in the exiled Prime Minister, or his younger sister who is currently the favourite to win the election. Maybe the current ruling government will stay in power by winning them over. No matter what happens, it would be interesting to see if they would really be listened to this time.
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