Question time here, I'd normally ask a friend of mine who is partially Thai and used to talk to me about the political sitiuation in the country, but I assume she'll be too worried for me to go mailing her and poking in the wound.

I understand the situation around the previous coup, more or less. However, since it was as you say "a breeze", would you say that the military got cocky and just assumed that people would follow them without question, no matter what they did? Did they perhaps think that the opposition was bluffing when they said they would fight? Not that you would know for sure, just your gut feeling.

I ask because I can imagine what would happen at home if the military said something once and nobody questions it. From that point on, that would be the expected outcome. I honestly believe that we must constantly keep showing them that their ideal scenario is not going to happen.

No. The last coup happened because the poor, who supported Thaksin, the elected Prime Minister who got kicked out in the coup, were not organized. Again, it was a coup run by the rich and elite, and they were able to get away with it.

This coup, the pro-government poor are very very well organized, as they learnt their lesson, while the anti-government supporters have only had support from poorly educated 'middle class' Thais in Bangkok who believe everything the scumbag opposing the elected government tells them. The poor have already said, if the elected government gets kicked out again (which it just has) there WILL be civil war, as they're sick to death of having their rights stomped on by the rich and their elected officials illegally kicked out.

You have to understand, the vast majority of so-called 'educated' Thais are very badly educated. Even the university educated Thais, as Thai universities are so abysmal. Most are very naive, they lack common sense, they don't have analytical skills and they cannot think for themselves. So an average middle class 'educated' Thai isn't usually educated in the sense any westerner would think of as educated, not unless they've been educated overseas. That's why they've been so easily led by the anti-government scumbag (his name is Suthep) who kept telling them he was trying 'to save Thailand from corruption' when, in reality, he himself is one of the most corrupt people in the country.

This coup is going to go very badly, IMO, as the middle class are not the majority. 65 percent of the country are poor and they almost all support the government that just got kicked out and they also oppose the military.

I think the military knows how difficult this coup is going to be. As they are the people who murdered almost 100 unarmed protesters in 2010, however, it's certainly not going to stop them from shooting now.

@Bloodygoodgames: I just wanted to say "Stay safe!" and thanks for posting.

It's one of the advantages of an international forum like this that we can hear from the "horse's mouth" what's up in the world. But it's kind if scary too (see the "I got robbed"-thread).

May no harm come your way (and to those you love)!

Well, there goes my hope of them going "oh shit, what have I done" and backing out when things got ugly.

I remember talking to this Thai friend, when she explained me about Thaksin. She told me what she had heard from her aunt (she was 16 at the time, IIRC), that Thaksin was bribing some poor people (and taxi drivers, I think) by giving them some kind of money, and how most people just voted the one benefiting them most and so he got elected. When I pointed out that if people voted for whoever benefited them most and Thaksin got elected then Thaksin was the one benefiting most people, she didn't know how to answer and had to rethink the whole thing. So I believe you when you talk about them being naive.

Let's hope that your country will finally find peace, one way or another.

Best of luck! I've just heard about it from my Thai friend. She's studying in Sweden ATM but she is very worried about her family...

After reading this post, I started looking at pictures and videos of Thailand (though I have seen The Beach with DiCaprio) man that place looks amazing, I'd love to go there in my lifetime.

Vote buying is nothing new for Thailand. I have no idea if the mostly poor rural people would have elected him anyway due to his populist promises promising them a better life. What I am looking for is information how his politics / plans affect all the Thai people, e.g. the rural population and the middle-class citysters - is there a big transfer of money from the latter ones to his voters?

Hers was a complaint on the line of "taxi drivers vote for him because taxi drivers got subsidized", though. Not literal vote buying, but voting for the one who benefits you personally, right now.

Great: egocentical bastard in me: shit I have a trip planned starting 15/06

Normal me: I hope you guys can figured it out and everybody is safe. No bloodshed please.

^This.

Thai food must be really-really-really-fucking-amazing in Thailand since it's already fucking-amazing in the states.

Stay safe.

That saying is mostly only accurate if you disregard any outside influences. The problem is usually foreign meddling. Either through threats or bribes. The brutal egyptian military would not be in power again without all the military aid and political support that has been coming from abroad for decades.