After coup, students unfazed

Dozens of University-affiliated individuals have weathered social and political unrest after Thailand underwent a military coup d'etat yesterday afternoon.

The students and alumni are safe, however, and seemed unconcerned by the situation.

"Everything has been peaceful so far, although I guess it's only been going on for six hours or something now," Matt Losch '05, a Princeton in Asia (PiA) fellow living in Bangkok, said in an interview last night.

There are currently 23 PiA fellows working in Thailand, program director Anastasia Vrachnos '91 said, adding that none of them are in danger.

"Princeton in Asia takes security very seriously," she said.

The coup — the first in the country since 1991 — ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was visiting the United States to address the United Nations. After seizing the capital, military officials suspended the Constitution and the parliament and declared martial law.

The transition has been peaceful thus far. "As far as I'm concerned, people in Bangkok aren't really affected by it," Alissa Lorentz '09, who is from that city, said. "There has been social and political unrest, but not what the average person would be affected by."

"All shops and schools have been closed for the day, but apart from that nothing has really changed," Lorentz added.

Support nonprofit student journalism. Donate to the ‘Prince’. Donate now »

The military leaders, who declared a national holiday, took control of the radio and television stations. "Canned messages [are] being played on the radio apologizing to 'all brothers and sisters' for the 'inconvenience,'" Cody Griggers '01, editorial director of Keen Publishing and Media in Thailand, wrote in an email from Bangkok.

Though the coup removed Thaksin from his position as prime minister, the king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, appears to still be in power. Television in Thailand is replaying "the same videos of the King and patriotic songs," Griggers wrote.

Soldiers have blockaded intersections and surrounded government buildings, wearing yellow ribbons "tied to their uniforms, their guns, and I've seen them on a few tanks as well," Losch said.

"Yellow is the royal color. Monday's color is yellow, so people in Thailand wear yellow to show their allegiance to the king," he explained. "The soldiers that were out tonight were wearing these yellow ribbons to show solidarity with the king, but again I don't know if that shows that the king had anything to do with this."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Thaksin lacks support in the cosmopolitan area of Bangkok, though he has a large populist base in the northern and northeastern parts of Thailand, Losch said. The king, on the other hand, has been ruling for 60 years and retains widespread support.

"People still trust the king's judgment, so people aren't really worried," Lorentz said. "As long as the king is still there, it's not anarchy."

Though rumors have been circulating about a coup for several months, it took many by surprise.

"There was a lot of talk going on especially before I left for Princeton that there would be some sort of coup sometime, because the prime minister had made a couple remarks about the monarchy," Bangkok native Thomas Yeung '08 said.

"The political turmoil isn't anything new," Losch added, "but the Thai military coup is definitely something that caught me by surprise. It seemed like the kind of thing where there was always a new rumor coming out every week."

Losch found out about the coup roughly an hour-and-a-half after it happened, when a friend of his "came banging on [his] door and said, 'Are you watching the news?' "

Coups are not uncommon in Thailand. Since 1970, there have been nine coup attempts, six of which were successful in causing a change of government. Most of the overthrows have been nonviolent.

"I think it will pass peacefully," Yeung said. "I'm not very concerned about the political stability."