Starter en tråd om Thailand. Stor spenning knyttet til hva som skjer den dagen kongen (88) dør vs jernhånden som de militære holder over landet, konfliktene mot muslimene i sør som ønsker løsrivelse med mer med dertilhørende bombeangrep left right center (effektivt fjernet all turisme).

CIA World Factbook om Thailand:

A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been colonized by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US treaty ally in 1954 after sending troops to Korea and later fighting alongside the US in Vietnam. Thailand since 2005 has experienced several rounds of political turmoil including a military coup in 2006 that ousted then Prime Minister THAKSIN Chinnawat, followed by large-scale street protests by competing political factions in 2008, 2009, and 2010. THAKSIN's youngest sister, YINGLAK Chinnawat, in 2011 led the Puea Thai Party to an electoral win and assumed control of the government. A blanket amnesty bill for individuals involved in street protests, altered at the last minute to include all political crimes - including all convictions against THAKSIN - triggered months of large-scale anti-government protests in Bangkok beginning in November 2013. In early May 2014 YINGLAK was removed from office by the Constitutional Court and in late May 2014 the Royal Thai Army staged a coup against the caretaker government. The head of the Royal Thai Army, Gen. PRAYUT Chan-ocha, was appointed prime minister in August 2014. The interim military government created several interim institutions to promote reform and draft a new constitution. Elections are tentatively set for mid-2017. Thailand has also experienced violence associated with the ethno-nationalist insurgency in its southern Malay-Muslim majority provinces. Since January 2004, thousands have been killed and wounded in the insurgency.

Wikipedia om Thailand:
Kongeriket Thailand er et land i Sørøst-Asia. Thailand grenser mot Laos, Kambodsja og Thailandbukten (Siambukten) i øst, Malaysia i sør, og Andamanhavet og Myanmar (tidl. Burma) i vest. Landet har om lag 70 millioner innbyggere, og har et areal på 514 000 km². Hovedstaden er Bangkok.



Kong Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX av Thailand (født 5. desember 1927 i Cambridge i Massachusetts) er den niende konge av Thailands Chakri-dynasti. Han overtok tronen etter broren kong Ananda Mahidols død i 1946, og ble formelt kronet i 1950. Rama IX er den kongen i Thailand som har styrt landet lengst, i tillegg til å være verdens lengstregjerende, levende monark.

Rama IXs regjeringstid har sett 17 militærkupp og 26 statsministre; i et land der politikken til tider kan være veldig urolig, har kongen blitt et symbol på stabilitet og kontinuitet. Kongen har i thaienes øyne regjert plettfritt,^[1] og dette har gitt ham en unik moralsk tyngde: Når Rama IX taler, så lytter folket til det han har å si. Siden kongen har vært moderat i å bruke denne evnen til å påvirke landet, har folket respekt for ham, og kongen ansees for å være en slags «reserve-makt» – en som kan rydde opp når ting går veldig galt.^[1]


SVT Korrenspondentarna hadde en interessant innslag bl.a om usikkerheten rundt monarken:
Korrespondenterna Säsong 13 - Avsnitt 5

Del 5 av 10. Korrespondenternas Lena Scherman och Pablo Torres reser i det verkliga Thailand, bortom paradiset och all-inclusivehotellens murar. De möter "sea gypsies" som vräks från stränderna i Phuket, demokratiaktivister som jagas av juntan i Bangkok och poliserna som attackeras av jihadisterna i södra Thailand. Ett program av Lena Scherman och Pablo Torres.

Skille


Stratfor (mulig betalingsmur):
Thailand: Military Constitution Approved, Partial Results Show

Thailand voted Aug. 7 to accept a military-backed constitution, results based on 80 percent of votes counted showed, Reuters reported. Results from the country's Election Commission show 62 percent of the country voted for the charter while 37.9 percent rejected it. The vote paves the way for a general election in 2017 but requires future governments to rule on the military's terms. The draft charter also includes a host of sweeping economic, judicial and political reforms. Critics, including the country's major political parties, have said the constitution is undemocratic. With the charter approved, the transition back to civilian rule will likely be smooth. But whether the charter will succeed in stabilizing Thailand over the long term is far from certain.

SVT om det samme:
Klart: Thailand stöder militären

Juntans agerande har kritiserats av bland annat FN och EU. Att inte öppet få argumentera för eller emot ett förslag gör folkomröstningen demokratiskt stympad.


Reuters har intervjuat militärer som ger den samstämmiga bilden att ett huvudsyfte med den nya författningen är att göra de militärkupper Thailand regelbundet drabbats av onödiga. Militären ska få ett stabiliserande – läs: större – inflytande över politiken, och därmed ska drastiska maktövertaganden undvikas.
When the Thai King Dies

The King of Thailand is dying. The bluntness of this statement will win no friends in Thailand—as the New York Times was reminded last week when its printer there refused to publish an edition speculating on the King’s health. Yet, today, the King’s mortality is the central factor in Thai politics. It must be acknowledged directly and more fully accounted for in development of U.S. policy.

The military is probably overestimating exactly how “firm” it needs to be. This, however, is precisely why Washington should foster the sort of environment that will allow its new Ambassador, Glyn Davies, to confidentially and effectively caution Thai officials against overreach. When someone at the level of U.S. Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs visits Bangkok, it should be to consult with Thai friends on the best way forward; not publicly hector them, as Assistant Secretary Danny Russel did in January of this year. Restoration of high level dialogue between the U.S. and Thailand that has been suspended since the coup would also help restore a level of trust appropriate to decades-long allies.
The United States has an interest in seeing democracy return to Thailand as rapidly as possible. Policy makers, however, cannot fail to appreciate that the central feature of that timetable is not the ratification of a new constitution, but the death of King Bhumibol.