Thailand: Always close to a crisis
Written by: (Contributed) on 10 July 2025
Above: Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended after apologising for her phone call to Cambodia’s Hun Sen. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
The political crisis in Thailand is best viewed in the context of the present Cold War; its origins, however, lie in the earliest days of US-China regional rivalry and the previous Cold War. Emerging social, political and economic forces have challenged the status quo inside the conservative kingdom, facilitating a political environment marked by constant stand-offs. The popularist forces have, nevertheless, successfully challenged traditional class and state power, and correspondingly, US-led hegemonic positions.
Thailand, previously, an important part of US-led regional operations, is now regarded by Washington and the Pentagon as a serious problem. The US, therefore, appears to have reverted to covert operations reminiscent of the previous Cold War. With later military assessments now regarding China as rivalling the US, the present crisis in Thailand can, therefore, be regarded as the forefront of Cold War regional rivalries, inside their US-Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office in early July following an investigation into a leaked telephone call with Cambodian leader, Hun Sen. (1)
The pro-royalist conservative Asian country's Constitutional Court ruled to immediately suspend the PM after a petition of 36 senators alleged she had breached 'ethics' during the high-level diplomatic telephone call.
The removal of the popularist PM has plunged Thailand into further political chaos and it was noted that 'the Thai political system is grinding to a halt'. (2) The coalition government headed by the Thai People's Party was already experiencing economic problems and plans to negotiate tariffs with the Trump administration in Washington proved problematic. Earlier, in mid-June it was noted the Thai government was already on the brink of collapse following a key coalition partner quitting, leading to increased instability. (3)
Thailand is, therefore, facing a political crisis with increased instability, security considerations with separatist attacks in the south of the country, economic challenges and continued political upheaval. The Thai People's Party has already agreed to vote for a new prime minister to establish a temporary government with fresh elections to be organised at a later date. (4)
Behind the scenes, however, a great deal more is happening in Thailand than meets the eye of the casual observer. And Thailand is a country of 'trained eyes', educated by previous experience; elections come and go, the struggle continues.
Reliable sources have already noted that 'the conservative establishment don't know how to take power themselves because their proxies can't win elections. But the people that do win they don't like so they want to take them down. Every time there is an election, it gets subverted or manipulated'. (5)
The present drama has seen 'ruling coalition partners to withdraw support for her government, already teetering on the edge of collapse after coalition partner Bumjaithai withdrew support in June'. (6)
It is not difficult to establish the hidden hands of the US behind the malaise. And it has a long history. Connivance, and all which accompanies it, is the name of the game for Washington and the Pentagon.
Thailand, in fact, was the only country in south-east Asia where the military elite openly collaborated with Imperial Japan, to the extent of declaring war on both the US and UK during the Second World War. (7) After the war the US merely stepped in to fill the vacuum and maintain the military apparatus, subsequently increasing military aid to increase its viability. (8) It served 'US interests', and still does. The past has merged with the present.
Later military coups and involvement in Thai civil society were specifically intended to defend and secure 'US interests'. During the US fiscal years, 1973-77, the US were responsible for training 2,655 Thai military personnel, together with military aid, sales credits, arms sales, and further economic aid. (9) It was noted that 'increased military aid in 1976 'no doubt facilitated the counter-revolutionary coup of October 1976'. (10)
Repression and gross human rights abuses became the order of the day.
Thailand was exposed to the US Army Foreign Intelligence Assistance program, under which the notorious AR Regulation 381-20 was widely used. Declassified in November, 1993, it has provided a chilling account of the US-led counter-intelligence training. (11) It was focused upon all those regarded worldwide as against 'those who oppose the US Defence Department … during peacetime and all levels of conflict'. (12)
Whole populations were profiled with the program, and placed upon black, grey or white-lists for immediate identification; no difference was made between 'insurgents and political adversaries'. (13) Political opposition, in Thailand, tends to be secretive, past and present.
In an attempt to rid itself of its own sordid and squalid past during the period of the so-called New World Order, the Pentagon eventually purged large numbers of foreign agents with 'sordid records … the CIA seemed to specialise in hiring murderous thugs and military officers'. (14) It was merely a token gesture, however, to legitimise and enable US-led neo-colonial policies pursued through international financial institutions controlled by the US, to fling vast troves of finance capital into subject economies.
Thailand was one such economy. Its significance was largely due to the ability of the US to deeply penetrate civil society and government institutions, another was the importance of the Bangkok Stock Exchange as a central conduit for Asia.
And Thailand prospered; the Thaksin family also became central players. They continue to the present day, challenging the traditional power centres and authority patterns in the conservative nature of the country. The present political crisis in Thailand is merely a continuation of decades of stalemate as the two sides attempt to win power and establish a stable government.
It is not particularly surprising to find that one of the comments in the leaked telephone conversations between Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Hun Sen was her reference to the present-day political opposition to her government as 'a Thai military commander'. (15)
There remain numerous conspiracy theories about the present Thai political crisis. While it is generally accepted that Hun Sen was responsible for the actual leak, his motives remain a matter of speculation. He might have been concerned at the threat of another military coup in Thailand and US-led puppet forces on his borders; the conservative forces quickly seized upon it to serve their own agendas and remove yet another member of the Thaksin family.
Hun Sen was a long-time friend and associate of Thaksin Shinawatra, former Thai political leader, the father of the present prime minister. (16) Deposed in a military coup in September, 2006, Thaksin Shinawatra lived in exile for fifteen years. During that time, he gained full diplomatic status as a representative of the government of Nicaragua, and advisor to Hun Sen in Cambodia.
Some have suggested that Thailand's recent crackdown on on-line scam centres or the government's move to legalise casinos have been responsible for undermining Cambodia's support for the Thai government. Another matter of speculation has also been the concerns raised about the possibility that the MH370 that was shot down while passing over secret US-Thai military exercises and actually crashed in Cambodia. (17) The diplomatic silence surrounding the whole issue can be explained due to the secrecy involved. While the official position of the Malaysian government in the final July 2018 report noted they 'did not know what happened to the plane', its final resting place was allegedly found on a contested Google Map in Pursat Province, Cambodia. (18) Subsequent underwater investigations in the Indian Ocean, thought to be where the plane crashed, were quietly shelved without official explanation.
In conclusion, in light of the latest military assessments of China's rise stating that 'China is an Asia super-power, the strength of the Chinese People's Army now rivals that of the US military', the struggle in Thailand has become increasingly intense. (19)
With the US intent on imposing its Indo-Pacific Strategy upon the region, it seeks compliant governments. Anything directly or indirectly linked to the Thaksin family, however, is generally regarded as unsuitable for 'US interests' and moved aside. A substantial proportion of the people of Thailand, nevertheless, tend to see the whole matter rather differently.
A great deal more than open campaigning is likely to accompany forthcoming elections in Thailand; a trained eye in such matters, however, should be able to identify the characteristics, without too many problems. Magnifying glasses to the fore!
1. Thailand in crisis as PM sidelined, Australian, 2 July 2025.
2. Ibid.
3. Thai political crisis, The Laotian Times, 19 June 2025.
4. People's Party offers way out, The Bangkok Post, 3 July 2025.
5. Australian, op.cit., 2 July 2025.
6. Ibid.
7. The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism, Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman, Boston, 1979), page 218.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., page 45.
10. Ibid., page 46.
11. Army Foreign Intelligence Assistance Program, The Army Counter-Intelligence Program, AR 381-20, Declassified: 15 November 1993.
12. Ibid., Section 1.5, Mission and Policy, page 1.
13. Army's Project X had wider audience, The Washington Post, 6 March 1997.
14. 'The CIA cleanses itself', Lead Editorial, The New York Times, 4 March 1997.
15. Australian, op.cit., 2 July 2025.
16. Ibid.
17. See: Did MH370 crash in Cambodian jungle, WION, fact-check, 6 September 2023; and, Was the MH370 shot-down, FMT., 29 January 2021; and, MH370, The Independent (London), 30 July 2015.
18. WION, ibid., 6 September 2023.
19. See: Northern bases key to regional security, Defence Report, Australian, 16 June 2025.
Print Version - new window Email article
-----
Go back
Independence from Imperialism
People's Rights & Liberties
Community and Environment
Marxism Today
International
Articles
Thailand: Always close to a crisis |
The excessive cost of the US-led policies of "constructive chaos" |
ICOR Declaration: The USA bombs Iran |
Condemn Israeli Zionist Aggression Against Iran |
US to rely on military means of countering Chinese Pacific presence |
Trump's "Make America Great Again" tariffs a case of "be careful what you wish for" |
Lal Salam (Red Salute) Comrade Basavraj |
Qatar: a strategic geo-political hub for 'US interests' |
A very British coup? “They have spies, we have agents” |
Celebrate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of fascism |
ICOR: 1 May 2025: All over the world, come out on our day – long live socialism! |
PROLETARIAN AND INTERNATIONALIST MAY DAY - Statement by Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Parties |
US trade war with China accelerates US imperialism's decline |
No weapons for Outer Space |
USA's tariff war a sign of imperialist power in decline |
Summing up the US April 5 Hands Off rallies |
Greenland: Trump talks tough but Vance comes a cropper |
Multipolarism – the new Kautskyism |
Support for the people’s war in India |
Kiribati and China deepen ties |
-----