At 3am on May 20th 2014 The Royal Thai army declared that the political protests which had plagued the country for the last six months had gone to far and declared martial law with the intention of bringing the bickering parties together for talks. Two days later and with seemingly no breakthrough in the talks the RTA (Royal Thai Army) decided to take over and mount a military coup d'état. The coup was the twelfth in the past eighty years creating a seemingly unbreakable cycle where coup's are an integral part of the Thai political system.
I am not going to use this blog to talk about political ideologies and the rights and wrongs of the militaries intervention in civilian politics. Instead I am going to talk about the ways in which the coup has had a direct impact on me, an expat living in the south of Thailand. Expats who are living in Bangkok have clearly felt the brunt of the coup far more then those living in the provinces, who unless they follow the news could actually be oblivious to anything that is happening.
The number one military order that is going to affect expats is the curfew which is currently in place. The law dictates that no one should be on the streets between the hours of 10pm and 5am. The army has also stated that it is illegal to gather in groups of more then five people. I can see from reports that this rule was being strictly adhered to in the nations capital of Bangkok, at least in the beginning. In the south of Thailand the rule seems to be lightly enforced at best. The large businesses (7-11 etc) and most large bars and pubs are enforcing the curfew and are closing before the designated time. I think the fact that the bars and restaurants are closed is leading to as much of a decline in people on the streets then the orders given by the military. Many small shops, markets and certainly street vendors are not following the rule at all. On the first day of the curfew I decided to go out slightly after curfew hours to see who was about and was able to buy my usual roti and chai yen with absolutely no problem. I have noticed that checkpoints are dotted around here and there but as usual they tend to just wave foreigners through. The checkpoints are administered by the police rather then the army down here and appear to be set up in rather random positions.
One positive I have noticed from the coup is that the army have removed all of the protest areas situated around the provinces city halls and given them a thorough clean. The actual protest areas were generally quite small but they always attracted a large number of market stools selling protest paraphernalia which usually blocked large parts of the roads. The towns certainly look cleaner then before the military had taken over. I can honestly say that I don't feel in danger living through the coup and there are both positives and negatives to the coup being enforced. Thailand will not only have to deal with the technicalities of enforcing martial law but also deal with the inevitable backlash which is likely to come. The political minefield and centre stage is firmly pointed at Bangkok though and I seriously doubt that we will see any sort of social unrest in the south.
The truth is that the coup has not had too much of an impact on the daily life of the people in the south. The people are still going to work, socialise and discuss politics in the same way they were before. The military also hasn't imposed any orders which the average foreigner would find deeply unsettling either. The internet is still largely accessible and there has been no move yet to curtail and limit the use of social media. The army hasn't imposed alcohol bans or stepped up checks on foreigners yet so most people are generally content even if politically they don't agree with the coup.
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