Red and Yellow: Thailand's Future in Check and Balance
July 1, 2012 6:29 PM Subscribe
Interesting piece, I didn't read all of it (it was massive!), but I do feel the author somewhat sidesteps that the yellow shirts are just - if nt more - elite-powered than the redshirts; certainly they represent the interests of an elite and urban Thai population far more so than the red-shirts.
I also felt that - from what I did read - he understates the depth of red-shirt support in rural Thailand. It's true that the red shirts rely on support from a certain group of elites, however that is arguably true for most political movements in developing countries. By reducing the movement to little more than venal self-interest, essentially buying off regional officials/areas, and profiting, I think he reduces something quite complex.
This all said, he's right in picking up the dissonance between what the leadership of the red-shirts wants/stands for versus what a broad and oft-times contradictory membership wants, believes or hopes for.
But I do feel the impression of red-shirt popularity is understated by the piece. The population - for better or for worse - is definitely behind them.
posted by smoke at 7:53 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I also felt that - from what I did read - he understates the depth of red-shirt support in rural Thailand. It's true that the red shirts rely on support from a certain group of elites, however that is arguably true for most political movements in developing countries. By reducing the movement to little more than venal self-interest, essentially buying off regional officials/areas, and profiting, I think he reduces something quite complex.
This all said, he's right in picking up the dissonance between what the leadership of the red-shirts wants/stands for versus what a broad and oft-times contradictory membership wants, believes or hopes for.
But I do feel the impression of red-shirt popularity is understated by the piece. The population - for better or for worse - is definitely behind them.
posted by smoke at 7:53 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
only superficially different
Thaksin's populist party introduced universal health care (albeit a flawed and underfunded model).
That's not a superficial difference.
posted by dontjumplarry at 11:23 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Thaksin's populist party introduced universal health care (albeit a flawed and underfunded model).
That's not a superficial difference.
posted by dontjumplarry at 11:23 PM on July 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
I'm with Smoke on this one. Despite whoever is behind the funding, the sentiments of the hundred of thousands of Red Shirts runs pretty deep.
The satirical website, Not The Nation, (a reference to The Nation Newspaper) has a few choice pieces on the contrast between the two movements.
I think this one nails it. When the Red Shirts rally, you get the impression some people show up wearing any scrap of red they can find: coca colar hats, discarded Khao San Road Che shirts, repurposed socks etc. When the Yellow Shirts come out, they look like well coordinated country club members.
Not saying one is better than the other, but there is a huge difference in the feet on the ground if not the figures pulling the strings in behind the curtain.
posted by Telf at 12:31 AM on July 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
The satirical website, Not The Nation, (a reference to The Nation Newspaper) has a few choice pieces on the contrast between the two movements.
I think this one nails it. When the Red Shirts rally, you get the impression some people show up wearing any scrap of red they can find: coca colar hats, discarded Khao San Road Che shirts, repurposed socks etc. When the Yellow Shirts come out, they look like well coordinated country club members.
Not saying one is better than the other, but there is a huge difference in the feet on the ground if not the figures pulling the strings in behind the curtain.
posted by Telf at 12:31 AM on July 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
Interesting for sure, complicated, and offering more than a few warning parallels, but man... Professor of Media Studies, really? That article needs a good editor. What an overlengthy mess.
posted by blue shadows at 12:45 AM on July 2, 2012
posted by blue shadows at 12:45 AM on July 2, 2012
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It sounds oddly familiar, although I can't quite figure out why.
posted by Avenger at 7:51 PM on July 1, 2012 [5 favorites]