That’s One Strange Coup You’ve Got There, Thailand

Photo Op!

Here’s a photo that’s getting some attention right now:

It’s from a blog called Mai Me Arai and written by two people named Ben and Oui.

In this entry, Ben writes that although the TV stations have been shut down, people still have internet access:

Oui told me earlier that a Thai site had a story saying that while the coup was occuring, internet usage in Thailand increased more than 400%. Let it never be said that Thai’s don’t know where to find information when they really want to. Cutting off one source of information (ie television) only moves people to find another.

Here’s Ben on the Thai and world response to the coup:

[From this entry] It’s been interesting to me to read the different reactions coming from other countries. Those who outright condemn the move obviously have no idea of what the situation in Thailand has been up until yesterdays coup and come off sounding panicked that their own military might get the same idea.

[From this entry] Am I the only one who doesn’t give a shit if the US withdraw aid from Thailand? So what? Are Thai’s meant to be quaking in their boots because big powerful America threatens to withdraw aid as a result of the coup that, according to a Dusit poll*, more than 80% of Thai’s support?

Explaining the Coup in the Nerdiest Way Possible

Over at the blog Interesting Things, Ko Saipetch explains the coup in the nerdiest way possible: he likens Thailand to a computer, the ousted government to operating system that installed malware, spyware and a rootkit on his computer and the Thai Council for Democratic Reform as a friendly computer tech who reformatted the hard drive.

Like Ben, he’s amused at the notion of the US condemning the coup.

Other Perspectives

There’a group blog called 19Sep (named for the date on which the coup took place), whose authors are attempting to chronicle the events.

Blogger “Cowboy Caleb” is an editor for Tomorrow.sg (“Singapore’s answer to Boing Boing“), and just happened to be in Bangkok when the coup took place.

Keep an eye on Global Voices’ “Thailand” category, which collects a number of blog entries from Thailand.