Back in the Land of Smiles

Hello all! Here I am, back in the hot and humid Land of Smiles. I've been here a week so far and had a slight flu relapse and an uncharacteristic bout with "Delhi Belly". Needless to say, I've been slowed down a wee bit. But enough about me! Probably the most significant thing that's happened here since I've been back is the election. After a rough past year for the incumbent Thai Rak Thai (Thai Love Thai) party including the violent Tak Bai incident that I discussed in the fall, they handily won the election. In fact, it was a landslide. The current Prime Minister, Taksin Shinawatra's programs and policies were completely endorsed by the Thai people. One enormous plus for TRT's easy win was the government's handling of the Tsunami tragedy. With a few exceptions (identification of the bodies for instance), the response by the government was swift and effective from all reports. Clearly the Thai people approved overwhelmingly. I asked a few of my Thai friends about their thoughts. From what I could gather, the tsunami response was part of the puzzle, but beyond that the Thai people feel that Taksin's government has effectively cut down on the drug trade, improved the economy and provided stability to the country. The only section of the country TRT did NOT carry was (surprise, surprise) the South. The South is largely Muslim and between the Muslim animosity over Tak Bai among other things and the feeling among the Buddhist community that they are not being adequately protected, it was clear that TRT was going to have a problem. In fact, they won NO seats in the South at all. Taksin admits TRT has some work to do but appears confident that they will do better in future polls. That definitely remains to be seen. NOT likely. So TRT has a clear mandate to continue with current programs. Stay tuned!

I'll be posting more in the next few days including some pictures, but for now, that's all! As always, comments or questions to andym528@hotmail.com