Shinawatra Shuffle

Our Thai friends are among the kindest people we know. Seldom do we hear prejudicial remarks about other people from their lips. Our experience of Thai culture is that manners are important, and that keeping one's mouth closed rather than saying something unkind is expected.

We were, therefore, taken aback when sitting in the company of four singular Thai women this summer. Two were University professors, working at a government-run University and on the Thai government payroll. One was a member of a Thai goverment ministry. Another owned a tour agency. All of them agreed that they wanted to see Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra not only out of power, but dead.

The reality is that none of these devout Buddhists would ever harm another human. But they consider his crimes against the Thai people so heinous that his death would serve to save lives.

My Thai friends should wake to good news. As of this writing, BBC and CNN are blacked out in Bangkok and there are tanks in the streets of the city. But Reuters is reporting that a peaceful coup has taken place ousting Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he is in NY attending the UN General Assembly Session. So far, there have been no shots fired, and the Army Commander-in-Chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalinarmy has already met with King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Military leaders have not taken government titles and insist that democracy will return as soon as possible.

We find it interesting that American newservices are the only newsservices of the many we have read this afternoon that mentioned that Sonthi Boonyaratkalinarmy happens to be muslim. We sincerely doubt the relevence of this detail, save that it may keep insurgents in southern Thailand from adding to the stress of this troubled time.