Thailand , Thaksin and the Coup

Thaksin , Thailand and the Coup - A behavioural perspective

Last week there was yet another military coup in Thailand and the democratically elected government led by Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra was summarily dismissed. Thailand is not new to military coups . Last time when there was a military coup , the people reacted very angrily and there were violent protests all over the place . The coup failed and in time a popular government had to be installed . This time around there was absolutely no reaction from people to the coup that happened . Reaction if any was that life returned to normal after one day .

I believe the reason for this lie in the behavioral area .

Dr. Thaksin has many firsts to his credit . He is the first trader /entrepreneur prime minister of Thailand . Till then all the prime ministers were either lawyers , noblemen, or Army Generals. He is highly educated. He is a billionaire . He tried to run the country like a corporate entity . He was a man in a hurry and would push his agenda through like a juggernaut.

At times he snubbed Prem Tinsulokananda , a one time prime minister of Thailand and currently the chief advisor to H. M . King of Thailand . This was seen as extreme rudeness which did not go down well with the proletariat and the bourgeoisie .In Thai culture showing public dissent and public anger is considered to be signs of weak persona and are also considered to be prime insults . Thaksin overdid this . He virtually stepped on many toes in trying to get his way .

His swift reaction to insurgency in the border areas was seen as being too brutal a reprisal . This did not go down well with the peace loving urban Thais . Again in Thai culture there is a concept of " taking care " , The big brother takes care of the younger brother . It means something like covering up for younger brothers follies . This means avoidance of any kind of punishment . If you give punishment , the younger brother is vindicated and does not any more think of the folly he has committed . If the elder brother takes care of him then by rule the younger is indebted to him for covering up for him . A punishing boss is not respected , a compassionate boss is . Thaksin was not seen as being compassionate.

Lastly H.M. the King would not get drawn into any kind of public debate or dialogue.But indirectly he does give out signals about his displeasures - these signals Thaksin decided to ignore . This did not go down well in the public eye .Thus the public though not against Thaksin per se , would still have liked to see Thaksin punished / reprimanded / shown his place in some way or other . Just the way people are happy to see the wings of a high flier being clipped or he being put into his place .

As result of all these factors , the public reaction to the coup was minimal.I also believe that Thaksin had seen the writing on the wall . Quite some time back he sold all his telecom stake to a Singapore based company , and none of his family members were in Thailand at the time of the coup .

By the way , Thaksin is bang in the midst of his Sadesati .

If elections are to be held in the next year , if Thaksin's party does not win hands down , it will at least manage to be the biggest party in the country .