As of this writing, the military action in Thailand that deposed the Caretaker Thai Rak Thai government of Thaksin Shinawatra seems to have taken the changes to visa rules and regulations out of the headlines and off the minds of many foreign teachers and government bureaucrats.

Apart from the 90 day requirement that was scheduled to have taken effect October 1st, 90 days max in country on a tourist visa, a minimum of 90 days out of it, there seems to be little else happening concerning visas or in the pipeline that would affect foreign teachers directly. Some changes are in the offing regarding business visas and work permits, but, again, as of this writing, there is little that I know of that would affect foreign teachers who legitimately are in Thailand with the proper Non-Immigrant ‘B’ Work Visa, Work Permit, Teacher License etc.

The excellent TeflWatch thread on Thai Visas has slowed to a crawl in a sharp contrast to the great attention it had received pervious to the coup. A new and incisive thread which invites discussion of pensions relative to foreign teachers seems the more interesting and informative topic of the moment than visas.

So I’d like to take a look at the military action that occurred on Tuesday, the 19th of September and to consider how it might affect foreign teachers, if at all. I’d like to comment and to generate comment on the military action. For example, how it might affect life for foreign teachers in Thailand? After all, how many of us literally have experienced a coup d’ etat in a foreign country? Does anyone see a continued visa threat to foreign teachers under an interim government during the next 12 or so months?

Experiencing a coup d’ etat is a new and first time occurrence for me. I’d read clauses in my contracts in Korea and Thailand, respectively, that address the situation of the foreign teacher should there be a national emergency of whatever sort.

In Korea the main thought behind the clause was of a renewal of the long-dormant military conflict between the South by the North. That’s because there isn’t any peace treaty between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Since the cessation of hostilities in 1953, only an armistice or “cease fire” has been in effect. In other words, the two countries technically remain in a state of war. The present situation on the Korean peninsula and its immediate environs is volatile and I know from my experience teaching English in Korea that young learners there fear and worry regularly about a resumption of the war.

In Thailand, where prior to Sept 19 there had been 19 coups since the abolition of the absolute monarchy in 1932, there seemed little possibility of a coup when I arrived in Bangkok in May 1998. After the massive January, 2001 election victory of the new Thai Rak Thai party (Thais Love Thais), there seemed an even less possibility of a coup as Thaksin Shinawatra had won a blowout victory which placed him in complete command as prime minister.

However, it’s since been a tumultuous 5 years for both Thailand and Thaksin. As long as four years ago, for example, the Economist had a cover photo of Thaksin along with the question: “Tycoon or Thaicon?” It would seem that some of us knew the question almost from the start. Street demonstrations by tens of thousands of people throughout the year had caused a new “joke” to circulate that Thaksin had to change his surname from Shinawatra to “Thaksin Get-out!” Anyway, the tumult of the past five years culminated in the September 19 coup while Thaksin was in New York City for the General Assembly of the UN.

It indeed was strange to see tanks rumbling along the main thoroughfares of Bangkok, soldiers everywhere and TV playing only “patriotic” music and scenes.

I still don’t much feel that I’ve experienced a military coup, however. This after all was another peaceful, or bloodless, coup–as so many have been dating back to the original coup/revolution of 1932. Indeed, people in Bangkok were cheering the soldiers, giving food and flowers to the soldiers on the tanks and street corners. Blood had been spilled in the past when Thais took to the streets to drive out military governments that would not leave the government, but most of the coups themselves were bloodless.

While I’m pleased to see Thaksin deposed and TRT out of the government, I oppose the coup d’ etat as an instrument of gaining power as it is an extra-constitutional action. But, as we well know, this is Thailand (TiT). I find myself in sympathy with the point of view expressed by so many that the military action seemed the only way out of a “mess,” as the revered and respected King had called the leadup of street protests and the recently annulled general election won by TRT but boycotted by major opposition partiess.

As the internationally respected former prime minister Anand Panyarachun stated it, “A coup d’ etat has a different meaning in the Thai context.” Anand, who’s done heavy lifting at the UN for the past 30 years, went on to say, “It’s not a military coup as in Africa or in Latin America, which is normally associated with severe violence, mistreatment of people and curtailment of rights. The ban on political activity is not going to last.”

Indeed, the ban on political activity is primarily focused on preventing or even precluding a TRT political comeback in whatever form, whether in a counter-coup or in a new general election swindle. To Anand, the respected global diplomat, that makes the coup respectable, at least given the situation and circumstances of the present and the forseeable future.

The former ambassador of the UK to Thailand, Derek Tonkin, took much the same philosophical view, stating, “Thaksin”s wealth has become so immense and has been used so shamelessly to undermine political opponents and critics that his position had become virtually unassailable through the balloot box.”

Further comfort to coup supporters and sympathizers came from Roland Watson, founder and director of www.dictatorwatch.org, According to Mr. Watson, “It was imperative that his (Thaksin’s) destruction of Thai democracy and his splitting of Thai society come to an end. He (Thaksin) had organized violence against the People’s Alliance for Democracy–for their planned demonstration last Wednesday (Sept. 20th)–as a prelude to declaring a state of emergency and subsequently banning public dissent and also purging the armed forces of its last professional officers.” Concluded Mr. Watson, “Thaksin was about to complete his long-term plan to become the absolute ruler of Thailand.”

Further, Thaksin’s record in education is abysmal. The Thaksin government has gone through about 5 ministers of education during its 5 years in power, with Thaksin himself doubling as prime minister and minister of education for one wasted year. One recent minister of education publicly called the learner-centered classroom “buffalo learning.” Thaksin and TRT don’t want an educated general population of Thailand as such a development would radically change wages and prices as well as the general level of education among the Thai people. One statistic provides evidence of this truth: only 53% of secondary aged learners in Thaland are actually in secondary school, one of the worst rates of any developing country.

Mr. Watson of DictatorWatch has pointed out that Thailand is a “formative” democracy. It is odd to me that I easily and readily agree with distinguished and respected people, such as Mr. Watson and Mr. Anand et al that the coup might well be a necessary and required step towards the actualization of democracy in Thailand. Hopefully, a pro-education, democratic government might also emerge from the recent Thai tumult.

And maybe the legitimate, qualified, certified, experienced farang teachers can be left free by the government of hassles and burdensome paperwork so that we can teach some English to Thai learners of all ages.

Search Tags: Thailand, TEFL, Thailand Visas