HISTORY & POLITICS
HISTORY
1965
Thailand hosts US
military bases during
the Vietnam War.1968
Thailand is a
founding member
of the Association
of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN).1973
Thai students,
workers and farmers
demonstrate for
the reinstallation
of a democratic
government.1976
Violent suppression of
student movement by
the military.months of the crisis, the Thai currency plunged from 25B to 56B per
US$1. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped in to impose fi -
nancial and legal reforms and economic liberalisation programs in ex-
change for more than US$ 17 billion to stabilise the Thai currency.
In the aftermath of the crisis, the Democrats returned to power uncon-
tested, but were viewed as ineff ective as the economy worsened.Thaksinocracy
In 2000, the economic slump began to ease and business interests
eclipsed the military as the dominant political force. The telecommunica-
tions billionaire and former police offi cer, Thaksin Shinawatra, through
his Thai Rak Thai (TRT or ‘Thai Loving Thai’) party, capitalised on the
rising nationalism and won a majority in the elections of 2001. Self-styled
as a CEO-politician, Thaksin swiftly delivered on his campaign prom-
ises for rural development, including agrarian debt relief, village capital
funds and cheap health care.
Thanks to the 1997 constitutional reforms designed to strengthen
the prime minister’s position, his was one of Thai history’s most stable
elected governments. The surging economy and his bold, if strong-arm,
leadership won an outright majority in 2005, eff ectively introducing one-
party rule. His popularity among the working class and rural voters was
immense.
In 2006 Thaksin was accused of abusing his powers and of confl icts of
interest, most notably in his family’s sale of their Shin Corporation to the
Singaporean government for 73 billion baht (US$1.88 billion), a tax-free
gain thanks to telecommunications legislation that he had helped craft.
Demonstrations in Bangkok called for his ousting and on 19 September
2006, the military staged a bloodless coup that forced Thaksin into exile.
The TRT Party was dissolved by court order and party executives were
barred from politics for fi ve years. As promised, the interim government
held general elections in December, returning the country to civilian
rule, but the outcome was unsatisfactory to the military and the Bangkok
upper- and middle-classes when Thaksin’s political allies won a majority
and formed a government led by Samak Sundaravej.
Demonstrations against the Thaksin-aligned government were led
by Chamlong Srimuang (Black May activist and former Bangkok gov-
ernor) and Sondhi Limthongkul (a long-time business and political
rival of Thaksin’s). Their group, the People’s Alliance for Democracy
(PAD), earned the nickname ‘Yellow Shirts’ because they wore yellow
(the king’s birthday colour) to express their royalist allegiances; it was
believed that Thaksin was so successfully consolidating power during
his tenure that he had designs on the throne or at least in interrupting
royal succession.Without the job
of being absolute,
King Bhumibol
had to find
new work so he
started the Royal
Project Founda-
tion in 1969 to
help struggling
farmers. The
foundation’s most
lauded effort was
eradication of
opium cultivation
among the north-
ern hill tribes.