PHUKET: Thailand is going to the polls on July 20, with the election commission and the government agreeing today to that date.
The previous national poll in February was a disaster, with protesters across Phuket and the south as well as in Bangkok preventing approval of the result and leaving Thailand in limbo since.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party was expected to win on February 2. But in March, Thailand's Constitutional Court nullified the poll and ordered a new one.
A key to the outcome will be the approach of the disputatious People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and its leader Suthep Thaugsuban.
While Khun Suthep, a former Democrat Party Deputy PM, has consistently said that reforms outlawing corruption must take place before the next election, he has been talking in recent weeks with officials from political parties.
Supporters of the ''Red'' side of Thailand's politics say that elections are the key to democracy while Khun Suthep's supporters insist the values that underpin democracy must be in place first.
Most of the street protests have taken place in Bangkok, gradually undermining the economy and bringing administration to a halt for long periods since November, when the Amnesty Bill revealed the government's intent to try to bring back Khun Yingluck's fugitive brother, Pheu Thai powerbroker Thaksin Shinawatra.
Khun Suthep has said he will not end his street protests until the Shinawatras are removed from Thai politics.
The previous national poll in February was a disaster, with protesters across Phuket and the south as well as in Bangkok preventing approval of the result and leaving Thailand in limbo since.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party was expected to win on February 2. But in March, Thailand's Constitutional Court nullified the poll and ordered a new one.
A key to the outcome will be the approach of the disputatious People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and its leader Suthep Thaugsuban.
While Khun Suthep, a former Democrat Party Deputy PM, has consistently said that reforms outlawing corruption must take place before the next election, he has been talking in recent weeks with officials from political parties.
Supporters of the ''Red'' side of Thailand's politics say that elections are the key to democracy while Khun Suthep's supporters insist the values that underpin democracy must be in place first.
Most of the street protests have taken place in Bangkok, gradually undermining the economy and bringing administration to a halt for long periods since November, when the Amnesty Bill revealed the government's intent to try to bring back Khun Yingluck's fugitive brother, Pheu Thai powerbroker Thaksin Shinawatra.
Khun Suthep has said he will not end his street protests until the Shinawatras are removed from Thai politics.
Disputatious is a good description of this so called organisation. However what is not correct is that the so called amnesty bill revealed in November the governments intent of bringing back Thaksin ... that has been on at the menu all along and is properly shared by a lot of Thais.
Posted by Sailor on May 1, 2014 11:59