Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing well, as the quote suggests, the perception of the election here, well I should say outside the Kingdom. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Thai Examiner, thaiexaminer.com. As per usual, Thai Examiner, a lot of insight, so I urge those who are watching this video, perhaps go read that article. 

That said, quoting directly, the article's title is: Thailand's economy at a tipping point as markets wake up to the potential for political turmoil. First off, throughout the Press can we stop the hyperbole, please? It doesn't help okay, and beyond even that there is a clear path, there's a clear legal mechanism that is being undertaken here and talking about this kind of as if there isn't, isn't helping anyone. Quoting directly: "Baht is down against the dollar but what may take Thailand's leadership by surprise is both the perception of the election result outside the Kingdom and the views of young voters among the over 14 million citizens who came out in force to propel the Move Forward Party to the top of Thai politics." Well fair enough on both points. But the first thing and the main thing, I am not going to get into internal Thai politics, it's not the point of this video, not the point of this channel in any way. What I will say is yeah while there have been a lot of votes going one way, they are not all the votes. Beyond even that we are done with the election, now we have got to deal with the parties coming together and dealing with the coalition; there is a timeline for that. There are other Press outlets out there that have discussed all of this, I don't know why this is such a big mystery but there is a mechanism in place and it is being followed. 

That said, again going back to this "but what may take Thailand's leadership by surprise is both the perception of the election result outside the Kingdom." Well who cares about the perception of the election result outside the Kingdom? It's not anybody's business other than Thailand, you know. I mean that is what kind of riles me and if I sound like I have the fervour of the converted, it's because I do. I became Thai and I don't really like seeing, this whole notion of “well the International Community, or this country feels that way or that country feels that". Who cares? Why should Thailand care about that? As has been already said, International observers noted that the election came off without any issues, I was reading about that yesterday and I am not even going to cite that, you can go read about that. The election came off, there's no issues regarding that, Thailand has her own mechanism for dealing with these things. 

Meanwhile, this hyperbole doesn't help anyone. I have lived in Thailand continuously for pretty much 15 years. I bore witness to the events that went down in 2009 at the airport. I directly bore witness to the events that went down in 2010; I lived amongst it, I saw it firsthand. I lived here all through the past decade and the events that transpired over the course of that time period. What Thailand needs is stability and what it really needs is for the International Community to stay out of her business. Thai Business is Thai Business. I keep thinking of this line from that old series back in the '80s, Noble House with Pierce Brosnan. There's this scene where they really sort of corner this Chinese gentleman and they basically kind of put him on the spot and he finally says: "This is China, I will handle it in Chinese fashion!" "This is Thailand, the Thais will handle their elections and will handle their political situation in Thai fashion."