A "Velvet" Coup?

These young fellows have been stationed round the corner from where we lived during our first five years in Bangkok, also within spitting distance of Soi Cowboy, which seemed subdued and bedraggled today instead of bustling with activity per usual. Some stalwart vendors had set up their dried-and-pressed squid carts and roti cookers, but customers were thin on the ground.

My three soldier buddies smiled and bashfully gave me permission to take their photo. After reading on Stickman that his friend had lost a camera to troops ornery that he'd taken photos of their tank, I made sure to ask before and wai them respectfully after taking these guys' snaps. Despite these soldiers' equanimity, locked and loaded weaponry in one's 'hood leaves a disturbing impression.

Sadly, for millions of people in the world, such images are part of daily life. And the soldiers aren't always as relaxed as these guys were.

I'm writing at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand right now, because my government-owned ISP (under the auspices of the Telephone Organisation of Thailand) has blocked all Typepad-hosted sites, and I haven't been able to work on my blog, much less see it or visit anything related to Typepad. Maybe the guys behind the coup took a lead from China and India, who have both blocked (i.e. censored) all Typepad sites from their citizens, lest their opinions expressed on such sites foment unrest in their otherwise tranquil society (!).

Last night I couldn't access Typepad and the consipracy theorist in me suspected that T.O.T. had blocked Typepad a la China and India, simply in a lame attempt to "purify" Thailand from pornography or political dissidence -- but even the most Oliver Stonie-ish part of my nature ever suspected that a "fifth column" of the government may have been locking down in anticipation of the coup. I trundled off to bed at 11pm, tsk'ing that I'd stayed up far too late to rise comfortably at 5:55am to get breakfast ready for Nathan before his early school bus. Little did I know that there'd be no reason to rise early, or that I'd end up staying up until 3:30am!

My friend Sarah sent an sms at 11:45pm that read, "School cancelled tomorrow, Wednesday, due to military coup." When my mobile first beeped, I thought it was my morning alarm clock and the first thought that shot through my mind was, "Gee, THAT was a short night. Are the nights gettin' freakin' shorter, or what?!" Then I saw Sarah's message and instantly I shot up and stumbled through the dark to get to our landline phone. (Pedro is working in Japan this week.) Instinctively, even at the age of 37, my first phone thought was, Call Mommy and Daddy!

Which I did, and Mom already knew what was going on from U.S. news coverage. We agreed to talk again later and then I called Pedro...who was blissfully snoring away in a Tokyo hotel room. I've always said the man could sleep through a train wreck. Now we know he can sleep through a coup. Har har. Poor dude had no idea what was going on back here.

Thanks to the folks at Ian's blog, our friend Paul in San Francisco, and my fellow blogger in HK, Tess, I picked up news before finally heading down to the Bangkok Post late this morning. Last night -- or early this morning, rather -- I saw about 15 minutes of the BBC and CNN before they cut to black. Local channels were playing Thai muzak along with montages of royal family images, which were frequently paused for brief statement by representatives of the "provisional governing authority" or whatever they're calling themselves at the moment; I've seen at least four different names so far. T.O.T. apparently blocked many news sites or panicky traffic had slowed the speed down to virtually nil.

Here at the FCCT, however, it's just an ordinary day and the non-T.O.T. ISP is working a treat. Too bad I've got to leave in a minute to head back to news black-out land -- or at least, at this point, a Typepad-less one.

Now that I've been out and about, post-coup life looks pretty much the same (so far, and only in the areas I've traversed: Ekkamai to the Bangkok Post building, then back to Asok BTS to Chidlom) as pre-coup life. The intrepid fruit truck guy was hawking his wares by loudpseaker insanely loudly this morning; contruction workers nearby were hammering away on a roof. Traffic, however, has nearly evaporated! Fabulous, we should have a coup every week if this is one of the benefits (kidding!). Many stores are closed, including certain branches of the coffee leviathan a.k.a. Starbucks.

My temporarily SAHM friend Corinna, a journo by trade, is working on a freelance story for a Canadian paper. Her interviews with soldiers, and her husband's perspective as Reuters bureau chief here, lead her to believe that this coup will pass without violence. Dare we hope that someday the annals of Thai political history might someday brand this as a "velvet" (i.e. bloodless and minimal acrimony) coup? On the other hand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, of whose shenanigans the military brass apparently have had enough, hasn't returned to Siamese soil yet. What will happen when/if he tries to do so?

My editor at Guru is very calm about what's going on. He says coups come and go, but as long as the monarchy is here to stay, Thailand will be OK. I agree with him. And I hope His Majesty the King got more sleep than most of us news junkies/nervous nellies did last night, although I doubt it. He will not allow himself the luxury of real rest until a constitution is restored, martial law is rescinded, and his beloved subjects can live under a functioning parliamentary democracy.

Comments

[Sarah]

I dunno. Seems to me Thaksin was democratically voted in - by poor country people mainly hoping to improve their lot - and I can't see why things couldn't wait until he was democratically pushed out. That is what a democracy is. He may have been inept and maybe even corrupt. There are many, many politicians in office that could be tarred with that particular brush. Some might accuse Bush of sharing these 'talents". Me included. I think Thaksin's being "couped" has more to do with the elite, and I am sure that the military got the ok with a nudge and a wink from His Maj. I can'tbelieve that he was kept in the dark about it. Which makes me wonder what the agenda is?

Anyway, glad it's all going velvety and that no one is hurt. Hopefully it'll be back to business as usual and not a return to pre-democracy military rule with secret police and midnight arrests.

[Rachel]

Thanks for the blog update Lyle. I didn't realise the whole school closed today (the papers here just said Australian embassy staff were told to keep their kids at home). I am happy to hear that you are all safe so far, and keep all our fingers and toes crossed that it remains so for you and everyone else in Thailand.

[Bron]

It was great to share such an historical and memorable day with you in Bangkok yesterday. Let's hope this coup remains, on the whole, a positive experience for those of us living in Thailand.

[Lyle]

Sarah, I agree with every point and observation that you made. We've all been asking (rhetorically, as no one can think of a good answer), Why oust Thaksin by force, when elections loom right around the corner? What were they thinking? Why the alleged "silent whisper" from above, giving assent (of which I learned last night, after posting yesterday)? I didn't delve into political analysis in yesterday's post because as a mum and a pacifist I was so relieved there hadn't been (so far) a bloody reprise of '92, '73, or '71. I do agree with my Thai editor that love for the King unites Thais in the long run, but I don't share his nonchalance about coups coming and going. I don't condone the military's actions. Believe me, if I thought coups were cool, I would've spearheaded a charge to oust Bush II after his disastrous re-election in 2004!

Thanks for commenting and for stopping by, Sarah -- I can't wait to catch up on how you'd been spending your recent 11:47s!
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