By S. Arutchelvan, Sec-Gen of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)
In Thailand, Malaysia’s neighbor - recently the Reds won the elections against the yellow. The Reds were mainly based in rural areas and from working class and farmers background but firmly also supporters of Thaksin – the former Prime Minister and telecommunication tycoon while the yellow were those within the elites, supporters of the royalty and the army and many of them are from the urban areas especially Bangkok itself. The NGOs and civil societies – a numbers of them stayed A-political and some call this group, “wait and see” while some lefties organization stood with the Reds because of their class characteristic as well as because they are seen as the democratic forces. The Reds have since won the elections but real reforms are slow to come. The Army and the royalty still very much in the picture.