Dead Country Walking

Been in a black hole for the past two weeks, surrounded by mountains and beaches and penguins and sea lions. About mid through this self-imposed renunciation of Thai politics and the internet I got hold of a local faraway newspaper.

Thailand wasn’t front page news anymore, but still got a fat headline – and the sales lady in the local store said: “It’s all hell up there in Bangkok.” I needed to down a decent bottle of Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon to overcome the urge to head to the next town’s internet café.

But then again, as the good wine started to sink in and time went by, Bangkok slowly disappeared again beyond the mountains and beaches. The stolen Songkran couldn’t matter less in that faraway land where – symptomatically for the rest of the world – Thailand has become a synonym for a tragicomic sitcom.

Just to mention the so far unheard of several postponements of an Asean summit … But lots is not understood in this curious land where people prefer to eat ice cream with a hot dog bun and sticky rice.

The war of colors on the streets and in the Land of the Deadly Smiles has become something so complex that even Thailand’s wisest are at a loss of what is really going on.

Thai politics and Thailand’s security forces meanwhile have lost if not all international standing by degrading their nation into a falling state about to fail; a state that seems to be ruled rather by instincts than reason.

For now Thailand has a new martyr and Thaksin for good reasons better fears for his life. The mess will go on. Unless there’s a generational change. The traditional with a few wanting to remain the only few has proven to be destructive. The world evolves, but Thailand regresses.

While regional partner Indonesia, not long ago the failing nation of the continent, held peaceful elections as the regions most stable democracy, Thailand will most probably see no elections for some time to come.

As a foreigner living in Thailand you seriously have to ask yourself:

Is this the country I chose to live?

Or all smoke and mirrors?

I’ll go for the more relaxed approach.

Somehow Thailand will bumble through. Just don’t ask at what cost.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Dead Country Walking”

ThaiCrisis on April 20th, 2009 12.01 am

Nice to see you back on track.

Full of energy I guess, after those 2 weeks?

Don’t be too depressed … Let’s be optimistic a little bit … it’s too early to speak about “failed state.”
BangkokDan on April 20th, 2009 6.04 am

Gosh if even TC shows traces of optimism there has to be some betterment!

Thanks, nice to be back in a Bangkok that looks just normal. Not too easy tempers around here!

BangkokDan

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