THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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An unlikely scenario

An unlikely scenario

Some writers of letters to this page have raised the possible scenario of civil war and a bloodbath should there be another coup in Thailand, and conceive subsequent interference by the superpowers to clean up the mess, via an international tribunal. The

First of all, you need a fully justified cause to pick up weapons and fight. The majority in the rural North and Northeast, the stronghold of the red shirts, do not really understand the disputes among politicians, nor do they have much of a clue about the constitutional wrangles in Parliament. What these people are interested in right now is whether the seasonal rainfall will continue so that they can grow rice. In the coming few months at least, they would rather get their feet wet in the rice fields than get stuck in muddy political tussles.
And what kind of tribunal would be mandated to interfere? No country can interfere in another’s internal affairs unless, perhaps, there is a unanimous UN resolution.
In normal circumstances, no Thai wants to see a coup. But to try to deter a coup by making scary remarks about a bloodbath and casualties in the hundreds of thousands is sending an irresponsible and inappropriate message to Thais, no matter which side they are on.
Shirts can be thrown away and changed, and colours too can be changed, but death is irreversible.
Yingwai Suchaovanich
Bangkok
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