On the Songkran crisis of 2009

Nicholas Farrelly - 13 Apr, 2009

Over at East Asia Forum I have an essay on the unfolding events in Thailand. I conclude that:

During Songkran 2009 the political fault line running through Thai society has become a yawning chasm. This year it is not just the tragic annual holiday road toll that should worry us. In this Songkran crisis the potential for a catastrophic showdown between the Army and the red-shirts looms ominously over the traditional start of Thailand’s New Year.

About the Author
Nicholas Farrelly
Dr Nicholas Farrelly is the co-founder of New Mandala. A graduate of the Australian National University and the University of Oxford, over the past 20 years he has undertaken research in Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China and India. Nicholas is Head of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania and formerly the Associate Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, where he also led the ANU Myanmar Research Centre from 2015 to 2017.
New Mandala is supported by the Australian National University (ANU), a world-leading centre of research and teaching on Southeast Asia that has hosted the site since its founding in 2006. New Mandala's editors make editorial decisions independently of the ANU, and the views expressed at New Mandala are solely those of contributors and do not represent the institutional position(s) of the ANU or any of its constituent parts.
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