Within the past couple of days, there has been some political changes in Thailand, and I know my family and some of my friends have expressed their concerns about me traveling to Thailand from October to March. I would like to say that I completely understand the concerns, and I appreciate the thoughts. Of course, what is going over there does worry me. However, after reading more about it, I feel less concerned about it. The following is from a blog that I follow:
Today the Thai military announced a coup d'etat. What this means is that are not just in charge of security but are now also taking control of the political side of the government. They did this to prevent a worsening political conflict. This is a good move for Thailand’s stability and peace in the short run. The military will now likely lead a reform process and announce elections in the near future. I believe that the military has no desire to take over the government in the long run. When they carried out the previous coup 2006, they were criticized by all parties and they couldn’t wait to step down.
There have been more than one dozen coups in the past 60 years in Thailand. They are generally very peaceful events. The last one was in 2006 and there was absolutely no violence and the result was an election that followed 12 months later. The Western media and nations said they were disappointed last time and they will this time too, but they will not change their stance of support towards Thailand (their best ally in Southeast Asia) and they will support and encourage the military’s peace and election road map.
Teachers should expect no impact on (and no change to) their activities, daily lives or jobs in the near future. The worst impact you can expect is a bit more traffic if you live in Bangkok or the suburbs.
This is just part of the political competition between groups, and the reform process will hopefully make Thailand a more democratic and inclusive country in the near future.
I've also been following CNN for any updates. Here are two current links to take a look at: