Protests in the Air!
My sister K, who works and lives in Bangkok has inspired me to take interest in the present political scenario in Thailand through her constant emails and commentaries on chat since the past one month…. now I am on my own sustaining the interest. Well what is happening there is quite incredible. More than 2,00,000 people have taken to the streets of Bangkok and are demanding the resignation of the present Prime Minister, Thaksin. Many corruption charges have been alleged against Thaksin, and in the beginning of this year he and his family played with the legal system and sold their stock in a telecom company earning 76 billion bath in profits - all tax free. A no-confidence motion in Parliament is out of question coz his party enjoys 2/3rds majority. Also, he has a fan following in the country because of his populist policies (that has led to the deterioration of the health system and primary schools, of course). He has escaped the numerous efforts made through lawful institutions to bring him to books… leading to a civil society uprising.
Protest by the masses have been continuing for sometime but day before yesterday, in an overwhelming move, the people converged in the largest numbers ever. The demonstration continues... it can be viewed live at mms://broadcast.manager.co.th/11news1
Even though I can’t understand a word of Thai, it is just wonderful to see the organized manner of the protesters, the voice intonations of the speakers from the civil society, the beats of the live music and the songs….I also marvel at the technology that enables me to see it live on internet! For more news on the situation, www.nationmultimedia.com is where a lot of impartial updates are to be found.
4 comments:
Ambrosia - I found your blog because you were asking for the same kind of help that I'm looking for (links). Customizing my blog is eluding me as well. Hopefully one day we'll both figure it out! Happy Blogging!
Wendy - thank you for visiting my blog. Yes, I do hope we would be able to figure this out sometime in the near future!! I visited your blog, its beautiful. I love the saying by Graham Greene that you have quoted, - "All writing is therapy. To some extent all writers seek their craft to heal a wound in themselves, to make themselves whole." Indeed.
Hi everybody ! Ambrosia those are lovely quotes... how in the world do you manage to remember them.. Anyway the Thailand post was some new "news" for me. I had no idea that this is whats happening there....I guess corruption is everywhere. Also I so glad that you have good memories about my country.
Take care
Meera - Yes, I have warm memories of the lovely mountains, pines, the nature and the mall at Murree, the precious displays at the museum in Taxila, the extremely welcoming and courteous people of Lahore and the beautiful rides in Islamabad...
:) I remember some quotes, most I have to refer to!
I am glad that the Thailand post was useful. Day before brought in some good news. A jouralist against whom the PM had filed a case saying that she was trying to defame him when she reported his corrupt practices, won the case - the court dismissed the complaint filed against her - saying that she was just doing the work of a journalist! That was very good!
All the best to you!
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