Posted on August 14, 2017
Like most modern nations with a king or queen, Thailand is supposed to be a constitutional monarchy. This sort of nation is common in Europe - there is a ruling queen or king (in Britain it's Queen Elizabeth II), but although that royal leader is considered the head of state, he or she is not actually the leader of the government. Instead, there is a constitution that specifies how lawmakers and heads of the government are elected by citizens.
Unfortunately, Thailand has had several periods in the past few decades when, instead of being a democracy and following the constitution, the country has been ruled by a military junta. Right now, and ever since a coup in 2014, that is the situation - the king, Vajiralongkorn, is the symbolic leader or figurehead, but instead of the citizens having full rights and freely electing lawmakers who choose a prime minister, a group of generals took over the government and did the following:
* partially junked the constitution,
* declared martial law,
* set up a curfew, a time at which everyone had to be in their homes, and even tourists had to be in their hotel rooms - thank goodness, this curfew has since been lifted,
* banned political gatherings,
* arrested and imprisoned politicians and activists,
* set up a censored version of the internet,
* taken control of the media, and
* violated people's civil rights.
Aack, sounds ugly, doesn't it?
In the midst of all this ugliness, today is the birthday of the current Queen Mother of Thailand, Queen Sirikit. Born on August 12, 1932, she is the mother of the king. Whenever August 12 falls on a weekend, as it does this year, the holiday is observed on the following Monday.
Observed? How is the Queen's Birthday celebrated in Thailand?
Well, it sounds delightful - buildings are decorated and streets are festooned with colored lights and flowers. Portraits of the queen are put up everywhere, and there are fireworks shows.
Actually, this is the way the Queen's Birthday is often celebrated - but I have no idea how much of this wonderful stuff can happen if the government is cracking down on people who are demanding that democracy be restored...?
Also on this date:
Plan ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:
No comments:
Post a Comment