South/South East Asian Civil Conflict: Not just for Bangladesh and Burma!

Finally the situation in Thailand has been resolved. The protesters who have locked down the airport for the last week have agreed to leave as the current government has been dissolved. I wonder if this is going to become a trend for protesters, airports are an ideal place for protesting in countries like Thailand that rely so heavily on foreign investment and tourism. Any flying in or out of Bangkok's beautiful and futuristic airport for the past week has been impossible, directly engaging the current government's international reputation as well as garnering more than the attention of the 100,000 tourists who were in effect non-violently held hostage by the protesters.

A brief summary of the conflict: in 2006 Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup. However by 2007 his old coalition regained party amid widespread charges of voter fraud and general corruption. Further, Thaksin, widely reviled, has been accused of trying to oust the beloved Constitutional Monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The constitution that had been set up by Thaksin's "proxy government" has been dissolved by the courts. The government was unable to repel the protesters because the armed forces refused to intervene, leaving the police to handle the masses.

Thaksin's proxy government won in a landslide democratic election in 2007, winning enormous amounts of the rural populations, where vote buying and fraud are easier to pull off. This sounds suspiciously like a simple struggle between newly powerful and modernized city goers and the rural communities that are far different. Thaliand has a parliamentary government, and the three deposed parties plan to reboot and reenter electoral politics this year. Several key members from these parties are banned from national politics for the next three years.

The end of the airport drama was especially great news for me, as I will be flying through Bangkok in two weeks on my way home to Seattle. I had become a bit nervous that I would have to find alternate means to get to Tokyo. At this point it appears I am going to be escaping South Asia without running into a major government upheaval (I'm counting on you, Japan!). I will be getting out of Bangladesh a couple weeks before the national election here, but a few days after the end of emergency powers. Hopefully there won't be any major fracases before I depart.

Before I came to this part of the world, and indeed before this past week, I was under the impression that this part of the world, and especially Thailand and India, was up and coming economically, politically and socially. In reality, it appears that economic advancements and strengthened tourist industries have obfuscated some serious conflict within these nations. For my first three months in Bangladesh I gazed enviously to the East and West, seeing two countries that seemed to be accomplishing things and traveling on a productive path to open, prosperous and safe societies. What the last week has done is remind me how very influx the future of this region still is. In some ways it is inspiring to see the Thai people put themselves on the cogs and gears of a system they passionate believe to be corrupt, on the other hand it is frightening that even Thailand is still in the learning phases of representative democracy. When I think of India and Thailand, I think of ancient cultures and religions; the serenity of Buddhism and the passion of Hindu. In reality, the countries as we know them today are still quite adolescent, learning how to control and nourish its constituent parts.

While Bangladesh stumbles towards an election that, while it may not impact any of this countries many ills, is not insignificant. A functional government is the first step to an effective government, and a system that assists rather than preys upon its people. I am almost sad that I will miss the election, as volatile as the situation may be. It may not look like it does in America, but even this Frankenstein democratic election is an unsteady step in the right direction.