Am I the only one getting increasingly pissed off by such comments? Yes, there was a military coup which toppled Thaksin's government. But was there - or was there not - a subsequent general election? And did not as a result of that election Thaksin's proxy party win the majority of votes and cobble together a solid coalition government? And were not 2 prime ministers, members of that very party, then found guilty of corruption by the courts and forced to resign? And did not one of the factions supporting Thaksin's proxy party then switch its support to the Deomcrats which then ended up with a majority in parliament? And is it not entirely unusual in democracies around the world that minority parties can form governments in the middle of a parliament's life without the need for a new election - e.g. Israel and italy? So what's undemocratic about all this post coup wheeling and dealing and the Demoocrats actually being in power? I really would like to know!

Of course, corruption has greased the wheels of Thai democracy for a long, long time. But do you seriously believe that the reason Thaksin came to power was only because he had the best policies? Of course not. He would probably never have reached that goal without the billions of Baht paid out in bribes to villagers around the country and other shenanigans.

I agree his policies once in power were populist. hence his ability to get re-elected with ease - an election which probably required less in bribes :-) But I firmly believe his ruthlessness (killing 2,500 people in cold blood and then declaring publicly that Thailand no longer had a drug problem!!), corruption and self-enriching schemes whilst in power (tell me: how as Prime Minister can you make almost US$2 BILLION by selling your share in a telecoms utility to an overseas government and within DAYS pass a law enabling you to avoid paying one satang of tax on that gain?), justified the coup. Ferdinand Marcos would have blushed at such blatant, open public manipulation of the system - at least in the first few years of his long reign of corruption.

But be that as it may, to talk about the need to restore democracy in Thailand is puerile. Thai-style democracy has never gone away! But if you want guaranteed free and fair elections, then you first have to eliminate the rampant corruption which in a recent survey places Thailand as the 17th (out of 18) most corrupt country in Asia. And how, pray tell, do you achieve that?!