Land of the Free, Home of the Siamese

[howeird]

By popular demand, I'm writing about the coup in Thailand. I won't have time to write much till Friday evening, but in a nutshell, my take on it is AFT. The miltary did what our Joint Chiefs should have done in 2000, when an election was rigged, and with every branch of the government run by the incumbent party, there was no way a fair election would be held.

The diff is Thailand has a king, and no directly-elected chief of state, so chucking out the Prime Minister doesn't leave the country decapitated.

"Thai" means "Free". The country used to be called Siam, and its flag was a white elephant. They changed to reflect a more Western attitude and to assert their independance.

Don't panic. All is well in the Land of Smiles.

While you're waiting for my golden words of wisdom, check out these pages about the royals. It will give you an idea of how lucky Thailand is.

The King:
http://www.thailink.com/king.htm
http://www.kanchanapisek.or.th/biography/hmk.en.html

The King's father, Dr. Mahidol
http://www.thailink.com/dad.htm
The King's Mother
http://www.thailink.com/mom.htm

The Queen
http://www.thaimain.org/eng/monarchy/bhumi7Q.html

The princesses
http://www.thaimain.org/eng/monarchy/ubol.html
http://www.kanchanapisek.or.th/biography/sirindhorn/index.en.html
http://www.thaimain.org/eng/monarchy/chula.html