Are we a democracy or what?!

Dear Ones:

On Tuesday morning, Jean-Jean, in my seventh grade home room was absent. In my grade 12 English class, Boon was absent. Absences are unusual at our school where we enjoy 99% attendance rates. Other classes reported absences too. Curiously, the majority of the absent students were Thai. What could have caused this unusual degree of absenteeism? For the past two weeks, a group called the People's Alliance for Democracy had stepped up their anti-government protests. They have occupied Government House for several days. Confrontations between pro- and anti-government supporters have become more violent and one person has died. In the face of protests, the Prime Minister has refused to step down.

Later that day, the administrators called an emergency meeting with the faculty. I expected the announcement that came: out of concern for the escalating political turmoil the school will be closed Wednesday and Thursday this week. They advised us to give our students enough homework to last three or four days. However, school may reopen on Friday, they said, so check the school's website for the latest announcements. I left school right after the students. I live on Sukhumvit Road, the upper end, so it was unlikely I would meet any demonstrators. Nevertheless, I worried about the trip across town since I live 23 km away from the school. I got home without any problem, feeling somewhat aggrieved to be so inconvenienced by democracy. The baht has slipped, the SET has dipped. Why does democracy have to be so messy?

Since December's national elections, some people, particularly the elite and the middle classes, were disappointed to see the return to power of the Thai Rak Thai, deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra's old party, now reincarnated as the People Power Party. Thaksin was widely admired among the poor since he promised to better their condition with innovative ideas such as the 30 baht health scheme and the One Tambon One Product initiative. Others were less admiring, particularly since Thaksin's other policies seemed to be self-serving; for example, after he made capital gains tax free he immediately sold his company, the largest telecommunications company in Thailand, without paying a single baht in taxes on the profit. The sale made him a billionaire—not a mere baht billionaire, a US dollar billionaire.

After the coup toppled him from power in September 2006, Thaksin decided it would be prudent to remain abroad until the time was right to return. He came back from foreign after the December elections to face charges of corruption and abuse of power. It was an emotional moment for him and all his supporters. He found a clean spot on the floor of Suvarnabhumi airport to kneel down and kiss the tiles. Reality, however, was a kick in the teeth. In August his wife was found guilty of tax evasion. To console themselves, the entire Shinawatra family (mum, dad, 3 kids) went to Beijing for the Olympics opening ceremony carrying a suspiciously large amount of luggage, according to witnesses. But people shrugged. The Shinawatras probably needed all those winter clothes because summer in Beijing is not as sultry as summer in Bangkok. Instead of returning to Thailand after the fireworks, the whole family took off for England, causing everyone here to finally realize why they needed the winter clothes. Thaksin petitioned the British for asylum. That meant he forfeited the US$400,000 bond he had posted as bail. That's chump change to billionaires, apparently. Of course, his Thai assets have been frozen since he de-camped for London, forcing him to sell his English football club for £30 million.

Adding to the chaos is the Election Commission's announcement that the People Power Party must disband for alleged vote buying. It's now Thursday, the second day of our little holiday from democracy and it's still a stand-off. The Prime Minister is still refusing to step down. He says he is the elected Prime Minister and he has the people's mandate. He says he wants to serve the nation. That's why he proposed amending the constitution to prevent the dissolution of political parties for corruption, the very thing that has since happened to his own party. It's not a democracy unless it works to your advantage. For their part, the PAD has proposed a "compromise" suggesting two names as replacements for the current Prime Minister and proposing a quota system for parliamentary representation with appointed rather than elected senators. Their reasoning: democracy doesn't work. At least the PAD is honest about its agenda.

How will it end? As Mr. Henslowe said in Shakespeare in Love, "I don't know. It's a mystery." I have just checked the school's website where I read the terse announcement: "School Open as Normal." The message was deliciously ambiguous; the school will open as usual or the school will be normal when it opens. The ambiguity is like the tense stand off between the government and its opponents. We are faced with reading competing views of what constitutes a democratic norm. In any case, we must get used to governance via revolving door. Three governments in two years. These days that seems normal.

Walk good,
Jo Anne