Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstra-
tors massed peacefully across Thailand’s capital on
Sunday in their latest bid to topple Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra before a February election the
main opposition party will boycott. Yingluck called
a snap poll for February 2 to try to cool tension but
protesters want to scuttle the election to prevent her
from renewing her mandate and perpetuating the influence of her self-exiled brother and former premier,
Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand remains in a deadlock
after eight years of on-off conflict broadly between
supporters and opponents of Thaksin, whose populist political machine has won every election since
2001 with widespread support among the rural poor.
Chanting “Yingluck, get out”, whistle-blowing protesters gathered at locations around Bangkok and set up
stages in at least four places, bringing traffic to a halt
at three main intersections and in two commercial
districts. Among the protagonists in Thailand’s turmoil is an establishment elite with influence among
judges and generals and which backs protests against
governments controlled by Thaksin, who they see as
a tax-dodging crony capitalist who used his power to
enriches his family and his clique of tycoons. But to
millions of rural working classes and farmers outside
Bangkok, he is a benevolent billionaire who improved
their living standards with cheap healthcare, easy
credit and a raft of state subsidies. Thailand’s near-
term future has become more uncertain following
a decision on Saturday by the opposition Democrat
Party to boycott the election, saying the democratic
system had been distorted by Thaksin and was failing Thais. The boycott adds to concern that Thailand
could be left in political limbo if forces allied with the
Democrats and the protesters block an election that
is otherwise likely to return Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party
to office. Questions remain about how the protesters
can remove Yingluck when the rallies, which have attracted as many as 160,000 people, have remained
largely peaceful and have failed to stop her government from functioning. The rallies were expected
to finish late on Sunday and protest leaders said the
demonstrators would return to their base in the city’s
historic quarter.
South Korea is unlikely to finalize any orders for the
Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighter jet until the
summer or fall of 2014, after it redoes a complicated
acquisition process. South Korea’s military chiefs last
month said Seoul would buy 40 Lockheed F-35 fighters, with the first planes to be delivered in 2018, despite the fact the only Boeing Company’s F-15 fighter
met the competition’s price target. They say an additional 20 fighters to be acquired could be different
models. Europe’s Eurofighter also bid for the order.
Both Boeing and Eurofighter have said they remain
willing to supply smaller numbers of jets to Seoul, if
asked. The military chiefs’ decision requires Seoul to
redo part of its acquisition process and also take another look at the budget, which in turn will defer any