By Martin Petty
Reuters
A grenade attack on the office of Thailand’s army chief this month is stoking fears of a worst-case scenario in Thailand’s political crisis – a possible fissure in the military along fault lines that have divided the country.
Analysts, diplomats and military sources say it is premature to talk of a split in Thailand’s powerful and politicized army but that festering ideological differences show signs of broadening in one of the most charged climates in decades.
A divide in an institution central to Thailand’s power structure would deepen uncertainty over the outlook for Thailand’s export-dependent $260 billion economy, Southeast Asia’s second-largest, and raise the prospect of instability in a country seen as a gateway to the region for foreign companies.
Large numbers of soldiers of lower ranks and some senior officers, analysts say, are sympathizers of Thailand’s rural, grassroots anti-government, red-shirted protest movement.
Please click here to read more...
No comments:
Post a Comment