Thailand Military Coup
nytimes.com
Thailand Military Coup
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#2I was living and working in Bangkok during the coup of '06. It was relatively tame. There were armed soldiers and tanks on the streets, and there were similar restrictions such as the curfew and gathering size limit - but it was mostly incident free. The reasons for the distress were the same.
I remember calling the US embassy the night it began, and they told me to stay inside and hung up the phone.
While I could never live there again, I really miss the people and culture. Never was a coup so laid back. I hope this ends peacefully and quickly, but I doubt it will change much about the political situation.
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#3Egypt: Massive public unrest against a democratically elected leader. The military steps in and takes control of the country to stop the unrest.
The West: Military coup? I don't think so.
Thailand: Massive public unrest against a democratically elected leader. The military steps in and takes control of the country to stop the unrest.
The West: Military coup! This will have consequences!
I wonder what the difference is...
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#4I hold no judgment on what's going on here, other than I hope those who live in Thailand stay safe and well.
I will comment on the articles quote, about "one person one vote" being a bad state of affairs, as "uneducated rural voters" having too much power. This is something that I hear quite often in various places, and I've never quite understood it. Sure, I get the tyranny of the majority, but as far as I can see any other way of tackling voting is rife with even larger issues.
But I'm not 100% on that, so I wanted to open the floor to other opinions from those far smarter than me here on HN! Is it possible to restrict voting and end up with a fairer system?
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#5I was living and working in Bangkok during the coup of '06. It was relatively tame. There were armed soldiers and tanks on the streets, and there were similar restrictions such as the curfew and gathering size limit - but it was mostly incident free. The reasons for the distress were the same. I remember calling the US embassy the night it began, and they told me to stay inside and hung up the phone. While I could ne…
I live here now, and while I have not really been outside yet (work work) this seems to be the case now also. Most everyone I'm talking to seems to be pretty laid back about it.
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#6I hold no judgment on what's going on here, other than I hope those who live in Thailand stay safe and well. I will comment on the articles quote, about "one person one vote" being a bad state of affairs, as "uneducated rural voters" having too much power. This is something that I hear quite often in various places, and I've never quite understood it. Sure, I get the tyranny of the majority, but as far as I can see a…
Think POTUS election. You can cut down the country in arbitrary unit which will have an equal voting power.
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#7Egypt: Massive public unrest against a democratically elected leader. The military steps in and takes control of the country to stop the unrest. The West: Military coup? I don't think so. Thailand: Massive public unrest against a democratically elected leader. The military steps in and takes control of the country to stop the unrest. The West: Military coup! This will have consequences! I wonder what the difference i…
Thaksin is pro-America, his opponents sre more pro-thai?
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#8I hold no judgment on what's going on here, other than I hope those who live in Thailand stay safe and well. I will comment on the articles quote, about "one person one vote" being a bad state of affairs, as "uneducated rural voters" having too much power. This is something that I hear quite often in various places, and I've never quite understood it. Sure, I get the tyranny of the majority, but as far as I can see a…
The biggest problem with simplistic democracies is the lack of strong constitutional protections for individual liberty, as well as for democratic institutions themselves. It's too easy in many democracies for mob rule to advantage a slim majority, and it's even easier for a democracy to vote itself into oblivion, ending democratic institutions.
Edit: One mistake a lot of people make when they look at politics in the west, especially in the US, is to bemoan "gridlock". Gridlock is actually desired. It should be very difficult to get anything done with a 51% majority. That's not democracy, that's just mob rule. The system of checks and balances helps ensure that slim majorities don't result in massive changes.
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#9Egypt: Massive public unrest against a democratically elected leader. The military steps in and takes control of the country to stop the unrest. The West: Military coup? I don't think so. Thailand: Massive public unrest against a democratically elected leader. The military steps in and takes control of the country to stop the unrest. The West: Military coup! This will have consequences! I wonder what the difference i…
Basically geopolitics. The US only supports democracy when its convenient.
Re: Thailand Military Coup
#10I hold no judgment on what's going on here, other than I hope those who live in Thailand stay safe and well. I will comment on the articles quote, about "one person one vote" being a bad state of affairs, as "uneducated rural voters" having too much power. This is something that I hear quite often in various places, and I've never quite understood it. Sure, I get the tyranny of the majority, but as far as I can see a…
Enforcing peoples votes being their own would be a good start.
There are reports of "village leaders" collecting everyone's ID card and going to vote for them all. In exchange they have a big village BBQ.
Just like the recent "stricter" tests for thai drivers licences, the laws themselves mean nothing if they are not enforced.