Economic Changes, Former PM Spur Thai Divisions

20 April 2010

An anti-government demonstrator dances to traditional music during a rally in the commercial district of Bangkok, Thailand, 16 Apr 2010

The demonstrations that have clogged the Thai capital for weeks reveal deep social rifts in the country. Political analysts say the divisions stem from political changes exploited by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who angered an established elite threatened by his popularity.

The red-dressed protesters who have taken over a large section of central Bangkok are mainly from the rural north. They say the country's elites - royalists, the urban middle class and senior army commanders - have removed democratically elected leaders who favor farmers and the working class.

Many of the protesters twice voted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra into power. He was ousted by the military in 2006 and now lives in exile to avoid jail time for corruption charges.

A controversial figure, Mr. Thaksin was criticized for a war on drugs that led to thousands of extra-judicial killings, a botched attempt to end an insurgency in the south, and for curbing media freedoms.

But he won the hearts of the urban and rural poor with low-interest loans and subsidized health care.

Andrew Walker is a professor of politics at Australia's National University. He says Mr. Thaksin took advantage of changes already forming in the countryside. "As controversial as he was, we have to see him as reflecting long-term changes in Thai society. He understood the aspirations of rural people for economic and political inclusion. His policies called populist were a response to that aspiration. That threatened traditional middle and upper class in Bangkok," he said.