Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
anti-communist civilian groups clashed with students, resulting in bloody violence. In the
aftermath, many students and intellectuals were forced underground, and joined armed
communist insurgents - known as the People's Liberation Army of Thailand (PLAT) -
based in the jungles of northern and southern Thailand.
Military control of the country continued through the 1980s. The government of the
'political soldier', General Prem Tinsulanonda, enjoyed a period of political and econom-
ic stability. Prem dismantled the communist insurgency through military action and am-
nesty programs. But the country's new economic success presented a challenging rival:
prominent business leaders who criticised the military's role in government and their
now-dated Cold War mentality. Communists, they maintained, should be business part-
ners, not enemies.
Prem Tinsulanonda serves as lifelong head of the Privy Council of King Bhumibol and is widely be-
lieved to have been the architect of the 2006 coup.
It's Just Business
In 1988, Prem was replaced in fair elections by Chatichai Choonhavan, leader of the Chat
Thai Party, who created a government dominated by well-connected provincial business
people. His government shifted power away from the bureaucrats and set about trans-
forming Thailand into an 'Asian Tiger' economy. But the business of politics was often
bought and sold like a commodity and Chatichai was overthrown by the military on
grounds of extreme corruption. This coup marked an emerging trend in Thai politics: the
Bangkok business community and educated classes siding with the military against
Chatichai, his provincial business- politicians and their money politics approach to gov-
ernance.
In 1992, after reinstating elections, an unelected military leader inserted himself as
prime minister. This was met with popular resistance and the ensuing civilian-military
clash was dubbed 'Black May'. Led by former Bangkok governor and major general,
Chamlong Srimuang, around 200,000 protestors (called the 'mobile phone mob', repres-
enting their rising urban affluence) launched a mass demonstration against the military
rulers in Bangkok that resulted in three nights of violence with armed soldiers. On the
night of 20 May, King Bhumibol called an end to the violence.
After Black May, a new wave of democracy activists advocated for constitutional re-
forms. For most of the 1990s, the parliament was dominated by the Democrat Party,
