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Tag Archives: Thailand conflict
Thailand and Turkey: Challenges to Elite and Military Rule
Memo #180 – Thailand and Turkey have a lot in common. Both countries celebrate their avoidance of formal colonization by adopting Westernizing adjustments overseen by “modernizing” rulers in the 19th century. Both have followed similar state-led economic development trajectories in the 20th century, only to liberalize after the 1980s. Both are known for military interventions in the electoral process. Both are highly nationalistic and devoted to national myths of development centred around revered figures. Continue reading
Posted in Thailand, Turkey
Tagged comparative politics, elite, military, political science, Thailand conflict
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Thailand Post-election Analysis: Crisis and Opportunity
Memo #97 – The highest voter turnout in history shows Thai voters still view elections as the most legitimate way to transfer power. 75 per cent of eligible voters participated in last week’s election. Pheu Thai took 40 per cent of the vote, gained 265 out of 500 seats, and together with five other parties will form a 300-seat coalition government – an impressive result for a party whose predecessors were ousted by a coup d’état in 2006, twice dissolved, and had their politicians banned from politics for five years. Continue reading
Posted in Southeast Asia, Thailand
Tagged coup, election, military, political science, red shirts, Thailand conflict
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Thailand’s Red-Shirts: One Year Later
Memo #60 – March 12, 2011 will mark the first anniversary of Thailand’s red-shirt protesters’ massive street campaign in Bangkok that ended in some of the worst political violence in modern Thai history. 91 people were killed and over 1,800 were injured in a military crackdown that resembled more of a civil war than a restoration of order. This was mainly due to the appearance of mysterious black-clad men on the side of the protesters who engaged the Thai army with automatic rifles and grenade launchers. Continue reading
Posted in Thailand
Tagged Asian Studies, March 12, protests, red shirts, Thailand conflict
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Nelson Rand, a Canadian journalist wounded in Bangkok analyzes the Thailand conflict
Memo #14 – Nelson Rand is a Canadian journalist based in Bangkok who has been covering insurgencies and political protests in Thailand for the past 6 years. He was wounded while covering the protests earlier in the summer. He is a graduate of the Master of Arts – Asia Pacific Policy Studies (MAPPS) program at UBC. Continue reading
Posted in Southeast Asia, Thailand
Tagged journalism, Nelson Rand, red shirts, Thailand conflict, yellow shirts
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What’s Next for Thailand? A Post-Crackdown Commentary
Memo #8 – The bomb blast in Bangkok last month underscores that few are smiling in the “Land of Smiles.” The street protests have been suppressed but recent polls indicated that at least three-quarters of Thai think the political crisis is far from over. Continue reading
Posted in Southeast Asia, Thailand
Tagged Bangkok, political science, red shirts, Thailand conflict, yellow shirts
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Threads, Robes, and Alms-Rounds: Thai Buddhist Monks in the Recent Yellow Shirt vs. Red Shirt Conflict
Memo #5 – Reports disseminated by Buddhist news aggregators suggest instances when Buddhist monks act along political “lines” while claiming political neutrality. The recent conflict in Thailand is no exception. Continue reading
Posted in Southeast Asia, Thailand
Tagged Bangkok, Buddhism, monks, red shirts, religious studies, Thailand conflict, yellow shirts
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Thai Academics Are As Polarized And Dispirited As Their Nation
Memo #1 – The recent images of the G20 protests in Toronto were disturbing. But they pale in comparison to the scale and implications of the street protests in Bangkok earlier in the summer. Continue reading
Posted in Canada, Southeast Asia, Thailand
Tagged academic debate, G20, monarchy, political science, political struggle, protests, Thailand conflict
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