absolutelyBangkok archive · Politics
Originally published Nov. 28, 2008
Tens of thousands of people stuck, a country on the brink, bloodshed looming and the impossibility of making sense of anything anymore — but the crisis is not yet bad enough for the military to enter the fray. That’s what a well placed security official tells absolutely:
“We wait for things to get really bad. With the last coup nothing was solved, we were just like a referee intervening. When we do it again then we’ll make sure that there is no chance in the future that the two parties can fight anymore.”
The current main problem: The silent majority is not yet vocal enough. “If the confrontation goes on,” tells us the source, “the silent part of the population might sart saying something.” But they’re shouting loud and clearly, I said, just read the newspapers.
“That’s not yet a strong enough rejection,” says the source, insisting that “he” puts “his” hopes on the silent group. To this end there has to be more talk in the streets and in the press. Most crucial is, he says, that “certain people” who were supplying the PAD “start to think carefully.”
The security forces want to be confident to be welcomed before they start moving in. To them it’s still an open guess how the silent majority reacts. “When they cease to be silent, then the army feels more confident to do what they have to do.”
This is how the Thai army always functioned: “We can’t do anything yet. Wait until the very last moment.”
Now that’s a lesson in higher Thai logic, isn’t it — and here some of the classic physiognomy of the protesters, elderly moms & dads:
Photo by Patrick Thorpe
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