Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [11]
Despite this and other controversies, ranging from a bird-flu crisis to early bar-closing and privatisation protests, during the February 2005 general elections the Thaksin administration scored a second four-year mandate in a landslide victory with a record 19 million votes. Armchair observers speculated that the blame lay with the opposition’s lack of a positive platform to deal with these same problems. Others, however, believed it was simply that Thaksin and TRT had again been rewarded for appealing directly to the enormous rural vote that exists out of sight of Bangkok, and usually far from the minds of the city elite. An obvious tactic, perhaps, but one that had never previously been employed. Either way, Thaksin became the first Thai leader in history to be re-elected to a consecutive second term.
However, time was running short for Thaksin and party. The final straw came in January 2006, when Thaksin announced that his family had sold off its controlling interest in Shin Corp to a Singaporean investment firm. Since deals made through the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) were exempt from capital-gains tax, Thaksin’s family paid no tax on the US$1.9 billion sale, which enraged Bangkok’s middle class.
Many of the PM’s most highly placed supporters had also turned against him. Most prominently, media mogul and former friend, Sondhi Limthongkul organised a series of massive anti-Thaksin rallies in Bangkok, culminating in a rally at Bangkok’s Royal Plaza on 4 and 5 February 2006 that drew tens of thousands of protestors. This was an early sign of a growing schism in Thai society between the largely urban middle-class, anti-Thaksin camp and the predominately rural and working-class Thaksin supporters.
Retired major general Chamlong Srimuang, a former Bangkok governor and one of Thaksin’s earliest and strongest supporters, also turned against him and joined Sondhi in leading the protests, which strengthened throughout early 2006. Two of Thaksin’s ministers resigned from the cabinet and from the TRT, adding to the mounting pressure on the embattled premier.
Thaksin’s ministers responded by dissolving the national assembly and scheduling snap elections for 2 April 2006, three years ahead of schedule. The opposition was aghast, claiming Thaskin called the election to whitewash allegations of impropriety over the Shin Corp sale.
During the campaign, which the major opposition parties boycotted, TRT was accused of ‘hiring’ smaller parties to run in the election to ensure their victory. Thaksin initially claimed victory, but after a conference with the king, announced that he would take a break from politics. Thaksin designated himself caretaker prime minister before another round of elections was scheduled for later that year.
The Coup and the Red/Yellow Divide
On the evening of 19 September 2006, while Thaksin was attending a UN conference in New York, the Thai military led by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin took power in a bloodless coup. Calling themselves the Council for Democratic Reform under the Constitutional Monarch, the junta cited the TRT government’s alleged lese-majesty (treason), corruption, interference with state agencies and creation of social divisions as justification for the coup. The general public, particularly those in Bangkok, initially overwhelmingly supported the coup, and scenes of smiling tourists and Thai families posing in front of tanks remain the defining images of the event. Thaksin quickly flew to London, where he remained in exile until his UK visa was revoked in 2008.
In October the junta appointed Surayud Chulanont, a retired army general, as interim prime minister for 12 months, or until elections could be scheduled. The choice of Surayud was seen as a strategic one by many, as he was widely respected among both military personnel and civilians. The Surayud administration enjoyed a honeymoon period until late December, when it imposed stringent capital controls and a series of bombings rocked