Tailandia (Continuación)

MundoAsia

When the first fatality occurred in the clashes between rival "pro-democratic" forces in Bangkok early yesterday morning, people were shocked but not exactly surprised. Pressure had been building for more than three months, as yellow-shirted protesters styling themselves as the People's Alliance for Democracy appropriated royalist colours and nationalist language to oppose the government of prime minister Samak Sundaravej and his People Power Party (PPP). Late last year, Samak proclaimed himself a nominee of the party's mentor and financier, the former PM and now ex-Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

Although he was ousted in a military coup in 2006, Thaksin's five-year premiership has cast a long shadow over Thai politics.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia,

Los síntomas que presagian un golpe de Estado son similares en cualquier lugar del mundo. Tiende a ocurrir que la infantería y la caballería acorazada rodean los edificios públicos y, con mayor intensidad, la residencia del gobierno. Además, de forma sincronizada, las Fuerzas Armadas ocupan la televisión pública y suspenden la programación habitual. De ahí que cuando, hoy hace un año, tuvimos noticia de que los tanques del Ejército tailandés custodiaban el palacio gubernamental, aprovechando que el primer ministro visitaba Nueva York, y de que la cadena de televisión pública ofrecía una y otra vez imágenes grabadas de la familia real, enseguida sospechamos que el país estaba a punto de ser víctima de un golpe militar.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia,

Tema: Este ARI analiza la difícil situación a la que debe enfrentarse el nuevo primer ministro de Tailandia, el general Surayud Chulanont. La caótica situación en el sur del país, donde desde enero de 2004 han muerto alrededor de 1.700 personas, en el marco de la lucha entre diversos grupos musulmanes y el ejército, se ha convertido en uno de los principales focos de inestabilidad en el área y amenaza con convertirse en un nuevo teatro de operaciones del yihadismo internacional.

Resumen: El análisis se centra en la dramática situación que se vive en el sur musulmán de Tailandia, ocasionada en buena medida por la agresiva política llevada a cabo por el depuesto primer ministro Thaksin Shinawatra, y explora las diferentes vías que puede adoptar el conflicto tras el golpe de Estado protagonizado por el ejército.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia

Por Clara García, profesora ayudante doctor de Economía Aplicada en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid y miembro del Grupo de Estudios Económicos de Asia Oriental (REAL INSTITUTO ELCANO, 25/10/06):

Tema: Tras haberse consolidado Tailandia como una de las más prósperas democracias de Asia oriental, el pasado 19 de septiembre un golpe de Estado militar destituyó al primer ministro Thaksin. Se impone pues una reevaluación de las perspectivas económicas de esa “tierra de los libres”.

Resumen: En este análisis revisamos cómo, pese a la crisis financiera de 1997, Tailandia se había convertido en una de las más prósperas democracias de la región.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia

By Simon Tisdall (THE GUARDIAN, 27/09/06):

Army commanders who seize political power by force often have the best intentions. But once installed they find it hard to let go. General Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew Pakistan's elected prime minister in 1999, subsequently appointed himself president while remaining army chief. Seven years later, and now peddling a book lauding his achievements, he seems determined to carry on indefinitely.Thailand's coup leader, General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, also cast himself as a national saviour when he bundled the prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, out of office last week. Many Thais and some foreign commentators welcomed the intervention, deeming it a "necessary evil".…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia

By Ismail Wolff, a freelance reporter based in Bangkok (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 26/09/06):

AROUND 8 last Tuesday night, I was sitting in an Irish pub in the heart of Bangkok. Two friends and I were downing pints of Heineken when a familiar topic came up: How likely is a coup?

We almost felt embarrassed to talk about it. It was unlikely, said one friend, a journalist. I doubt it will happen, said the other, a defense analyst based in Jakarta. I concurred. Suddenly my phone beeped. I had a text message: “Coup under way — rumor.” Tanks rolling through the streets of metropolitan Bangkok?…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia,

By Chris Beyrer, a medical epidemiologist, directs the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins and Voravit Suwanvanichkij, a physician in Thailand, is on the faculty at Johns Hopkins (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 12/08/06):

Twenty-five years into the H.I.V. pandemic, there remain few developing countries that have had success in controlling the virus. Thailand is one of them.

In the late 1980’s, Thailand experienced the first H.I.V. epidemic in Asia, and one of the most severe. By 1991, 10.4 percent of military conscripts from northern Thailand were infected by the virus, the highest level ever reported among a general population of young men outside Africa.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaMundoAsia, ,

By Anna Husarska, senior policy adviser at the International Rescue Committee (THE WASHINGTON POST, 22/04/06):

For the past nine years, this ravine 100 miles west of Bangkok has been "home" to 9,325 ethnic Karens from Burma. All of the huts here are made entirely of bamboo, which gives it a sort of Pier 1 Imports look. It is, however, not for aesthetic but for political reasons that bamboo is used. Anything else would be a "permanent home," and the Thai government insists that Tham Hin, a remote, overcrowded camp near the Burmese border, be only a very temporary shelter.

These refugees fled their own land in 1997 when the military junta in Rangoon launched an offensive, killing Karen civilians and independence fighters, and burning their houses.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia

By Pasuk Phongpaichit, a professor of economics at Chulalongkorn University, and Chris Baker are the authors of "Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand." (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 14/04/06):

THAKSIN Shinawatra, who resigned last week as Thailand's prime minister after several months of street protests, once said that running this country was like making apple juice. You had to destroy some nice apples, but this was ultimately justified by the sweet taste of the juice. Perhaps because he departed from office sooner than the quarter-century he felt he deserved, he has left behind a mess of political pith and pulp that has seriously damaged the country's political institutions and climate.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAsia

By Simon Tisdall (THE GUARDIAN, 08/03/06):

A political morality play is being acted out on the streets of Bangkok as Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's prime minister, battles to keep his job in the teeth of escalating protests by an ad hoc alliance of opposition parties, students, trade unions and celibate Buddhist vegetarians pledged to the simple life.Mr Thaksin's ethical troubles began in earnest in January when his family sold its 49% stake in Shin Corp, the telecoms and airline conglomerate he founded. The fact that his relatives avoided tax on the $1.8bn (£1.03bn) deal, coupled with claims of insider dealing and concern over foreign control of key national assets, brought public unease about Mr Thaksin's style of governance to a head.…  Seguir leyendo »