Dilema Demokrasi Di Thailand

Heru Prama Yuda, M. Mohtar Mas’oed

2010 | Skripsi | Ilmu Hubungan Internasional

The political instability in the past five years in Thailand has brought the attention especially for those who believe that democracy and its wave have swept the end of the twentieth century as well as its reverse wave. Rather than a reverse wave, Thailand’s political conflict is argued to support the course of dilemma of democracy wherein under certain procedural process, the government accountability is hard to be measured, or in another way, to be called democratic although it proves to be in favor of the majority. The democracy dilemma is also argued to be the outcome of several factors which discern Thailand’s case of democracy. First, history has proven that, under oscillation of political condition in respect towards democracy, Thai people have grown from a hierarchical society into a nation with notably high inequality of economy which further explains the polarization of society. Second, taking into account the condition of hierarchical and disparity of economy, Thai political culture gave a way for the practice of patron-client relationship in political scene as clientelism also serves as preferable political strategy to gain votes. Thus, as the strategy put in practice by Thaksin Shinawatra during his democratically elected government term, polarization within the society surfaced in the form of horizontal conflict of the urban yellow shirts, and the rural red shirts over the legitimate government who should stay in power. The political conflict has brought an end to three administrations, including Thaksin’s, through non democratic means and later shaken the current premiership of Abhisit Vejjajiva. Finally, Thailand’s monarch who presumably above politics, also render its roles in the democratic dilemma as the people, especially the well-educated middle class of yellow shirts yearning for royal intervention to end the political deadlock and the public disagreement of the heir to the throne; despite the fact that it’s against lese majeste. The purpose of this writing is not to resolve the dilemma of democracy, but rather to provide a perspective to further understand Thai politics in the twenty first century. Then, however, drawing political solutions out of it is not prohibited, nor it is suggested. Keywords: dilemma, democracy, Thailand, Thaksin, inequality, red shirts, yellow shirs

Kata Kunci : Demokratisasi Thailand