CrazyExpat Posted January 28, 2015 Report Share Posted January 28, 2015 The past eight months in Thailand have been something like a phoney war. For all the talk of violence after the coup, of a "red-shirt" uprising, nothing of the sort has happened. Red-shirt leaders were rounded up in the first days of the coup but then quietly released, having signed promises not to engage in politics. They have stuck to those promises. A few weapons stashes have been displayed by the military, a few alleged ringleaders of armed groups arrested, but nothing else. Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was also quickly released and allowed to travel abroad. It seemed that a deal had been done; supporters of the ousted government would not disrupt the efforts of coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha to impose order on the country. In return, they were left in peace, quietly maintaining their networks of supporters in preparation for a return to democratic politics, when they expected their party to succeed at the ballot box, as it has for the past 14 years. That deal must now be presumed to be off. The National Legislative Assembly's vote to impeach Ms Yingluck and impose a five-year ban from politics, along with a criminal charge that carries a 10-year jail sentence, presents her with the bleak prospect of ending up in exile like her brother Thaksin. This would deprive her party of a proven vote-winner, and her brother, who is still the party's main funder, of a trusted lieutenant. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30974131 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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