The Land of Smiles

 

Supannika Yodsanga 

ESLINTG CE 100


The Land of Smiles


            The right to vote is the heart of democracy. If people in the country have no right to vote, there will be no democracy. Many tourists who visit Thailand are welcomed with a nice smile. That is why Thailand has a nickname as The Land of Smiles, but who knows that in this land of smiles that many people died for demanding their right to vote. Over a decade ago, also there were many coups happening in Thailand in which many people scarified their lives in political violence events. After the military coup in 2006, the right to vote was taken away from Thai citizens. Thailand got a government under military control, and Thai people were facing an economic decline. There was corruption happening without investigation, and whoever criticized the government was sentenced to jail. Because of injustice and inequality in Thailand, I decided to take action that changed my life forever.
            

            After the military coup in 2006, the Thai economy had deteriorated even further. The economy was not stable, and some companies moved their manufacturing to another country because they did not trust the political or economic situation in Thailand. Many residents lost their jobs, and businesses were cancelled and not profitable. My family's business was one of the businesses that was affected by the economic turndown. After four years, the business was bankrupted. In addition, in 2011, there was a group of protesters who protested the government, my family and I wanted to join them. For this reason, there was a conflict among family members who had different political views. Some family members supported the government because they worked in government jobs. The difference of political view created among family members when my family and I joined the Red Shirts, the opposition.


           
            In addition, there was injustice and inequality in Thai society. Therefore, my family joined the Red Shirts in 2010 to fight for the right to vote. Four years of new administration Thai military-controlled government led the economy to decline, the cost of living, and corruption to increase. Millions of Thai people from across the country including my family and I, headed in the same direction, which was Bangkok because we want to dissolve parliament and the election. Several months of protesting had gone fast, and the government under the military power decided to disband protesters by choosing violence. Hundreds of the Red Shirt protesters and innocent residents died. More than thousands of people were injured, and many of protesters were killed by snipers. In this land of smiles, many people were brutality killed, including a volunteer nurse, journalist, and many young people. My family and I were lucky that we survived this nightmare. 


            As a result, all the political events that happened in Thailand had absolutely changed my political views. In 2014, Thailand had another military coup, which led Thai people to live under dictatorship for eight years. However, it seemed to be longer. Since the Red Shirts protest, I had lost my faith in justice and democracy in my country. Over the year, my family had told me not to criticize the government too much because they are afraid that I will get arrested. I felt angry deep inside that I couldn't do anything much to fight for the right to vote. For a decade, I have been supporting protesters in Thailand to reform the Thai constitution and bring back our freedom of speech and our democracy. I have been supporting the anti-government and demand for the right to vote. I also often attend political events in Chicago which organized by the Thai community, and support the protesters in Thailand at the same time. 
        

            Overall, the coups and violence are absolutely not solution to solve political problems. The government never listened to people's voice of how we wanted to change our country. In fact, it is vice versa; the government still uses violence without safety concerns against protesters. The country has fallen apart; many political refugees, and young generations were arrested and lost their freedom. People are divided on two sides of political spectrum. I am devastated to see people in my country hate and kill each other because of the political views. Today, there is no democracy in Thailand, but I still have hope that my country will be better in economically and politically. I'm still fight for the right to vote and equality in society. I will stand up for freedom and democracy until Thailand becomes the land of smiles again.


 

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