Is current govt reducing threat of civil strife?
Many writers were of the opinion that Thailand was ungovernable and on the verge of civil war when the military intervened in a coup in May 2014.
Pheu Thai Party and its forebears had been governing Thailand off and on – mostly on – for the past 15 years. While the results might not be to everyone’s liking, there was no doubt that the country survived, and some would say thrived, in a credible manner.
True, the anti-Pheu Thai demonstration just before the coup took the country to the brink, but blaming Pheu Thai for that would be like blaming a crime victim for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Perhaps the coup was necessary, but for a country that was about to lapse into a civil war, the fact that the mere threat of an attitude adjustment session is sufficient to quell the urge makes one wonder about the validity of the premise in the first place.
Which brings me to my final point. Can we say with any degree of confidence that the current government, well intended as it might be, is reducing the risk of ungovernability and civil war?
Kemadist Chiaracharuwat
