Thailand is still embroiled in the fallout from the 2006 palace-backed coup against the elected government of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand’s political and economic future is now wrapped up in the succession once the crown passes from the hands of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and that may take years to resolve.

– Extracted from Jonathan Manthorpe, “Indonesia: A steady democratic light in a dark southeast Asian tunnel“, Vancouver Sun, 1 April 2009.