Anti-democracy in Thailand

* all photos copyright *

PAD militia training near Makawan Bridge. October, 2008.

Thongchai Winichakul, Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has an interesting article over at New Mandala.

He is calling the current political crisis in Bangkok a “perfect storm” and, although I dont agree with the entire article, it provides a very clear picture of the chaos.

His description of the anti-democratic PAD is particularly apt:

"The PAD’s propaganda runs around the clock every day, feeding the public with their ideology, concocted news and information, and rumors and lies that serve their political agenda and viciously destroy their critics. The PAD’s demagoguery is more dangerous than Thaksin’s by far. But it is effective; the PAD is now like a cult, with hard-core followers who think and speak alike close-mindedly, and becomes increasingly militant. As they claim political righteousness, they defied laws, dehumanized critics and opponents and intimidated them too, and [they are] armed."

The full article can be found here: Anti-democracy in Thailand