Sunday 19 August 2007

Thailand says Yay or Nay

It's a big day for Thailand today...it's the day they vote Yay or Nay for a new constitution. There have been dozens of protests leading up to this day in a campaign to "Vote NO". Reasons being that the present government was put in place by an army takeover in a coup to oust the highly corrupt Prime Minister last year. I mean this dude is RICH. Not just rolling in it, but completely screwed his own country to make his way into the Forbes richest people on the planet list! This is Thailand by the way! Anyhoo, it's getting pretty exciting now because they're tallying up the scores and it is a really close race. Most votes from the south (my area) were Yes but most votes from the north (ex-PM's area) are No. Ex PM was quite renowned for paying people to vote for him and considering the areas that voted No are from his home province and the poorest province in Thailand, one only has to read between the lines! Perhaps I'm getting a wee bit too involved!!

The current government was assigned by the army to serve a one year term to attempt to reform the corruption that had become rampant under the previous government. The current PM was royally endorsed by the King, who is probably the most proactive monarch in the world in helping his fellow countrymen fight poverty and improve their lot. This referendum was held to vote for a new constitution before a new election can be held so that Thais can vote for their own government rather than keep the army elected government in place for longer than necessary (that was long winded!!). I think it's probably gonna get messy no matter what the outcome. If it's a Yes, people will claim corruption and riot in the streets. If it's NO, people will start protesting again to oust the current temporary government (who are still there because they didn't vote yes!)....oh it's a complicated situation....currently sitting at 58% Yes 42% No..


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