Two great cities have been brought to a grinding halt in the past week. In Bombay the pressure of universal blame has caused the resignation of the home minister and the state chief minister, and perhaps a new approach to terrorism. Rather than enumerating instances when our government failed to protect its citizens, let’s look at another Asian country, part of the so-called South East Asian miracle, and actually see what happens when the elite loses faith in politics.

Thailand is no stranger to political turmoil; its hub, Bangkok, is run by its wealthy, who have written political upheavals into its modern history. Military governments have flirted with civilian governments, a courtship of mutual understanding: should Bangkok and therefore the army and king be displeased, a temporary halt to democracy will follow.

Such is the situation in which ordinary Thais find themselves today. Unease between the ruling party and the Bangkok elite has been brewing since Thaksin Shinawatra’s ill-fated civilian government. It has now culminated in the overthrow of the soft-spoken technocrat, Thaksin’s brother-in-law Wongsawat. Anti-government protesters had occupied Government House for four months; but it was not until protesters swarmed Bangkok’s international airports, grabbing international attention, that the establishment moved. A swift exchange of civilian government to a potential government of military men had been planned. Thus Bangkok’s entitled removed the politicians they despised, including Wongsawat, last week; the PM had been voted in with a 71 per cent majority in 2006.

Similarly, the government of Thaksin (the villain in Bangkok’s plot) too had been voted in and re-elected with vast support from the populous, under-developed and substantially poorer countryside. If figures were to make a mandate legitimate, Thaksin had a glowing record — GDP and household incomes increased, poverty decreased, and rural reforms made the countryside generally better off.

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