By Tim Johnston in Ban Wai, Thailand
Published: June 15 2009 17:47 | Last updated: June 15 2009 17:47
Ban Wai is a village like thousands of others punctuating the hot featureless ricebowl of north-east Thailand. Its 600 residents live a life far removed from the concrete and clamour of Bangkok but the gentle pace and bucolic charm is misleading: the village is fully engaged in Thailand’s political maelstrom.
In the spring, two dozen Ban Wai residents pulled on the red shirts identifying them with the opposition and climbed into pick-up trucks for the eight-hour journey down to the capital to protest at what they saw as their disenfranchisement by the Democrat party’s takeover of government.
The party came to power after weeks of protest by its yellow shirted supporters, which led to Thailand’s two international airports being shut down.
At one point in April’s counter-demonstrations, 100,000 protesters demanded the resignation of the Democrat party government led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, who was installed by a parliamentary vote last December. The protests turned violent, provoking a crackdown by the army.
A sense of calm has returned to Bangkok, but in the country’s rural heartland the deep anger that drove tens of thousands of people on to the streets of the capital still burns.
In villages such as Ban Wai, 600km north-east of Bangkok, people say they feel they have been cut out of the democratic process by the capital’s elite, leaving them with little choice but to make their voice heard through public demonstrations.
“There are no institutions we can rely on,” says Phongsri Panlert, a fruit seller.
A group of about 20 villagers, gathered under an awning in Ban Wai, talk about their unhappiness. As words tumble from Mrs Phongsri, others nod and break into applause.
She says parliament, the courts, the army and even the media are all ranged against the interests of rural Thais. “Most of the institutions have double standards,” she says.
Mrs Phongsri and her fellow demonstrators are particularly upset by a law which states that if any official of a political party is found guilty of electoral fraud the party is disbanded and all its officers banned from politics for five years.
All of the 135 politicians who have been banned under the law were members of parties backed by the red shirts.
The residents of Ban Wai freely admit that political canvassers give them money for their votes, but say that all parties make much the same offer, and that they vote with their conscience. “If they give us money, we will accept it, but that doesn’t mean we’ll vote for them,” says Thawee Meechai, a farmer.
The red shirts are largely supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister whose rural empowerment schemes upended Thailand’s political status quo before he was removed in a coup in 2006.
Mr Thaksin is now in exile and his influence seems to be waning, but it is unlikely his opponents in the establishment will be able to put the genie of rural political aspirations back in the box.
Another large demonstration is planned for the end of next week. “We didn’t go to Bangkok just for Thaksin – he is just one of the red shirts – we went to fight for democracy,” says Prayoon Thakhuntos, a farmer arrested at one of the protests.
Mr Abhisit, the prime minister, has called for a review of the constitution, including the party ban provision. It is a move that the villagers think is sensible, but they warn that the review is not a process that can be drawn out indefinitely. “We are worried that the government won’t dissolve parliament and the people will lose patience,” says Amphan Hujong, who runs a clothes shop in a nearby town.
Since taking office, Mr Abhisit says he has been seeking a middle ground on which to build a political consensus, and he seems to have had some success among the residents of Ban Wai.
Although there is real anger at how he came to power, and they detest some of the most powerful people in his coalition there seems to be only limited animus towards Mr Abhisit himself.
He is facing challenges from within his own ideological camp but has been careful to maintain Mr Thaksin’s populist policies. With the leadership of the red shirts in disarray, some observers see Mr Abhisit as starting to emerge as a consensus candidate who could lead Thailand out of its political deadlock.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
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