Thailand’s bad example

December 14th, 2008 alaksir Posted in Current events, Opinion |

Let’s hope politics don’t get across borders as easily as economy.

The Thais are really setting a bad example for us, aren’t they? First they had a robber baron for a PM, then a military coup, but then there were mobs occupying the airport, and practically holding the entire country hostage? What’s next? A ban on yoga? Wait, that’s another monarchy.

Bad Thai.

Didn’t you know Thailand and Indonesia have so many similarities? Just look at these:


Indonesia	Thailand

Indonesia	Thailand

See? We’re both crazy about yellow and red, and we agree blue is for sissies. They also mean the same here and there, with a little twist. Over there, yellow is for the monarch, over here it’s for long time, corrupt political party.

How about red? Over there it’s for grassroots political party that wants a corrupt former PM back from exile abroad, over here it’s for grassroots political party that wants an incompetent former president back so she can resume her habit of shopping abroad. You just can’t help making the analogy.

Infecting the entire region with bad credit eleven years ago just wasn’t enough, huh? You really have to give one of our sultans the idea that monarchy is still relevant, and make him think he has chance to be elected president?

Sultans, kings or whatever should be barred from elections. They usually don’t make good campaigners or debaters, because, well, you can’t really expect them to take criticisms all that well, given all the privileges they get from birth. Besides, I don’t think President Sultan or President King would make a good baby name if he wins on a change platform.

But then again, we really don’t have many alternatives do we? In Thailand, holding any more election would probably just bring Thaksin’s gangs or any one of their reincarnations back in power they say. Here in Indonesia, the political cartels are scaling back our freedom to choose our president, and the presidential election next year will probably just give us another stinking cat in office for the next five years.

But whether we’ll have a stinking cat or aromatic dog in the presidential palace, I’m glad we’ll still be able to vote a blue-eyed yoga instructor for legislator.