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In-Depth Information
special legislation. This enraged the upper and middle classes and led to street
protests in Bangkok. Meanwhile behind the scenes, Thaksin had been working to
replace key military figures with his loyalists, strategic moves that would realign the
military's long-standing allegiance to the Bangkok aristocracy.
On 19 September 2006 the military staged a bloodless coup, the first in 15 years,
which brought an end to the country's longest stretch of democratic rule. The milit-
ary dissolved the constitution that had sought to ensure a civil government and in-
troduced a new constitution that limited the resurgence of one-party rule by in-
terests unsympathetic to the military and the elites.
Since the coup, political stability has yet to be achieved. Reinstatement of elec-
tions restored Thaksin's political friends to power, a victory that was unacceptable
to Bangkok's aristocracy who, with the implicit support of the military, staged huge
protests that closed down Bangkok's two airports for a week in 2008.
See Thailand Today (
Click here
) for the next instalment of Thailand's ongoing
political drama.
More than Fashion
Through the contentious political battles resulting from the 2006 coup, the warring factions
have adopted coloured T-shirts to identify themselves. Thaksin opponents wear yellow,
the colour traditionally associated with the monarchy. Thaksin supporters wear red, which
has been dubbed the colour of democracy. Those who support the monarchy but not a
political side have recently adopted pink as the new yellow.
The Modern Monarchy
The country's last absolute monarch was King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) who accep-
ted the 1932 constitution, abdicated the throne and went into exile. By 1935 the
new democratic government had reinstated the monarchy, appointing the abdicat-
ing king's 10-year-old nephew, Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), who was living in
Europe at the time. In 1946, after the king came of age, he was shot dead under
mysterious circumstances. His younger brother was crowned King Bhumibol (Rama
IX) and remains monarch today.
