It's always difficult to tell how much media coverage anything is getting back home, but we're assuming that yesterday's military takeover of the Thai government didn't completely escape notice in the US of A. For the record: we're completely fine, and no one here seems remotely worried about it. We've only been here a couple months, and won't even pretend we understand Thai politics, but I'll have a go at the nutshell version of what's going on.

Thaksin - the current (now previous, I guess) prime minister - has been steadily losing public support for quite some time. All the usual complaints about corruption are joined by accusations that he's not capable of / interested in any kind of real resolution for the "unrest" in Thailand's southernmost three provinces, among other things. Protests and massive public outcry for his resignation went unheeded, and the military stepped in to show him the door. None of the Thais we've talked to seem overly upset, dismayed, or even surprised by the turn of events, despite international grumbling about the state of democracy in the country. The major international news sources seem to have done a pretty good job of covering the particulars.

There is one important element in the equation that's really difficult to understand from afar: the Royal Factor. The Thai public (everyone from rural farmers to educated professionals) are extremely devoted to the King. As far as I know, his actual, official power is quite limited, but he commands a remarkable level of respect from politicians and public alike. While he doesn't seem to have much in the way of direct political aspiration, what he says pretty much goes. For those of us from a very anti-monarchy country like the US, there's a sort of built-in resistance to the idea of royals as a good thing, but Thailand's King seems to be exactly what a monarch in a perfect world should be: fair, altruistic, and totally devoted to his country. He really cares about his people and has founded innumerable programs and public works to make life better. He's earned the respect he gets. A mark of the King's continuing popularity can be seen in every store and on most of the Thai population - yellow polo shirts bearing the King's insignia are THE thing to wear right now, in all sectors of society, and yellow "long live the King" bracelets modeled on the Livestrongs are also extremely popular. A version of the "King shirt" in blue - the "Queen shirt" - is also seen everywhere, and is equally supportive of the royal family.

The Thai political rumor-mill foretold that Thaksin's marginally King-critical remarks would hasten his exit, and it looks like that may have been a factor. He's been accused of being disrespectful to King and Country, and that doesn't fly here. Conversely, the King's purported support of the coup (he's supposedly quite close to those responsible for the takeover) will have a major impact on public support for the new leadership.

So. Political turmoil and turnover aside, we're at the brink of some major decision-making here ourselves. I have two job offers on the table thus-far, in a province we weren't even looking at very seriously. We've been focusing on Phuket a lot, mostly because we got very excited about the outdoor recreation possibilities here (surfing, snorkeling, etc) and the ease of living. A couple of possibilities down in Songkhla province have piqued our interest, however, and brought us back around to much more of a Thai immersion experience. We spent a couple of days in the area interviewing, and while we wouldn't exactly be able to go snorkel after work, there are a good number of opportunities for beaches, jungles, islands, mountains and waterfalls within a few hours' public transport or drive. We're intrigued. Which leaves Trevor in a bit of a quandary: the area isn't exactly tourism/conservation central, so it might be a lot more difficult for him to find something in these desired areas. Some possibilities might be for him to take a volunteer position he's been excited about up in Khuraburi (small town on the northern portion of Thailand's Andaman coast, which would put us 10 hours via bus apart for a few months) or take up teaching himself (an idea he's been toying with for a while). Or we might be sucked in by Phuket yet. Employers are waiting on decisions, so we'll have to make up our minds quite soon. Like, by Friday.

With the government more or less suspended, schools are shut down for the day, nixing our plans for resume drop-offs (getting a teaching job here involves some good-old-fashioned pavement pounding) and giving us a lovely sunny day with little choice but to head to the beach. Darn. We had a great afternoon of swimming and volleyball yesterday (no net? No problem!) and hoping for surf today.

Labels: coup, Phuket, Thai King, Thailand, Thaksin