With recriminations still abounding from the Red and Yellow
forces (and add in the Army), this book is well timed. Bangkok May 2010,
subtitled Perspectives on a Divided Thailand is just available in
Bookazine Big C Extra. The book was edited by Michael J Montesano, Pavin
Chachavalpongpun and Aekapol Chongvilaivan (ISBN 978-616-215-042-5, Silkworm
Books, 2012) and those three writers have also contributed to some chapters.
To try and ensure a balance between Red and Yellow
preferences, the book is made up of items/articles/blogs from 26 writers,
with many from tertiary institutions within and outside of Thailand.
In Montesano’s Introduction he writes, “Scholars may
treat the ongoing conflict between Red and Yellow as Asia’s first major
violent revolution - whether triumphant or extinguished - of the young
century. They may see it as the sad end to a royal reign that looked so
successful for so long. Or they may determine that it was due to the greed,
cynicism, and evil of Thaksin Shinawatra alone.”
In the third chapter, James Stent writes, “The tragedy is
Thaksin proved to be a false prophet, a venal and egotistical demagogue who
had realized the potential power of the rural voting masses, but did not use
this insight genuinely to reform the nature of Thai society.”
The concept of the ruling elite (ammat) versus the
poor peasant (phrai) is a wonderfully emotive way to look at what
happened in May 2010, but is far too simplistic, and this is ably shown
throughout the book. Many graphs are printed to attempt to show where the
support groups lay, and it is obvious that “reds” was not a cohesive slice
of the Thai population and many factors smudged the edges, including the
cash hand-outs for the demonstrators from the bottomless piggy bank held by
Thaksin Shinawatra.
Examination of the May 2010 conflict automatically brings
up (or dredges up) the massacre of 1992, and no attempt to suppress this is
done in this book. There are more than passing similarities, and much of
this can be explained by Thai culture/society. This is dealt with by more
than one author of the chapters.
This book was a brave undertaking right from the outset,
as the internal struggles are far more than a democracy trying to make
itself apparent. It is also not a condemnation of what has gone before the
Thaksin years, the patronage system, Bangkok versus Isaan Thai and other
popular concepts such as the lese majeste provisions in the legal code and
the vexed question as to whom is the next to succeed HM King Bhumibol. The
book offers no real definitive answers, but does bring forth several points
to ponder, far more than the surface battle of the colors.
A weighty tome and good value for anyone with an eye to
the future - the future of Thailand itself. The back cover says it all,
“Contributions examine socio-economic, political, diplomatic, historical,
cultural and ideological issues with rare frankness, clarity and lack of
jargon.” The only omission to this book is the fact that the red
sympathizers are now in power, and Thaksin’s younger sister is the PM.
