By Colleen Curry, ABC News
So Thailand’s been in the news a lot lately. I don’t know anything about Thailand. What’s up?
Protesters carry flags and banners as they march toward central Bangkok on Monday. Photo: Reuters
You really don’t know anything? Then we’ll have to start at the beginning. Back in 1939…
Hold it. I don’t want a history lesson. What’s the news?
Oh right, the news. Well, protesters want the current prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to step down, so they started holding demonstrations in late November. They tried to get into the prime minister’s office building and the police station in Bangkok. There were clashes with the police, who fired rubber bullets and tear gas to try and disperse them. Four people died and more than 200 were injured.
Wow. Why don’t they like Shinawatra? Hey, doesn’t that sort of sound like Sinatra?
I guess so. Shinawatra has been a controversial figure because her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is a zillionaire who was accused of corruption and run out of the country after a coup in 2006. Some Thai residents think she is just a puppet for him. He lives in exile in Dubai, and they’ve accused her of being his proxy. There are even stories of him running government meetings by phone.
Two Sinatras? A coup?! Wow.
No, no Sinatras. Two Shinawatras.
Right.
Earlier this year, current Prime Minister Shinawatra’s party introduced an amnesty bill to the legislature which her opponents feared would allow Thaksin Shinawatra to come back to the country and resume power. So they began protesting in November.
Read the full article by Colleen Curry from ABC News.
