It has been reported in the local media that the government is forbidding taxi drivers from putting “Vote No” stickers on their taxis in advance of next Sunday’s constitutional referendum. Taxi drivers, mostly from the Issan (northeast Thailand) region, are generally supporters of the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was overthrown eleven months ago in a coup.
The taxis are privately owned and the taxi drivers are private citizens. But they face a fine (1000 baht, if I recall correctly) if they display these stickers.
Add this to the recent news of prisoners being “encouraged” to write letters to their families, urging them to vote in favor of the new constitution, and one has to wonder how democracy is going to have a chance to take root.
christao408 
ryc: that dude has left other odd comments on my page before so it was a last straw type reaction.
so glad to hear that renovations are back on track! can’t wait to see more pictures of the finished product.
what a disheartening entry to respond too, especially an off-topic response…regardless, ryc: here’s a link to the cafe i was talking about. ssshh, though. i really hope that becomes the city’s Best Kept Secret, or something.
Sawadeekrub!!! Are you located at Bangkok krub??
where is Thaksin actually now???? ^^
Chris and Tawn, So incredible that you will be able to have the renovations the way you want. I understand the frustration completely. You will be amused ,and pleased I think, to note our renovations are going very well. It helps to have capable guys around to DIY. Dick and Patrick have been awesome!
So how bad is the proposed constitution? It must be quite dubious if they are so fearful about losing.
Aaron, that’s a good question. In and of itself, the proposed constitution doesn’t appear to be a radical departure from the 1997 constitution. The way that legislators are elected is designed to make it less likely that there would be a single, very powerful party (Thai Rak Thai, for example) and makes it easier for members of parliament to censure the Prime Minister.
Those against the constitution have two arguments: The first is that the constitution strengthens military and bureaucratic power. The second (and not always related to the first – it is often just a separate argument) is that the new constitution is not legitimate because it was written by a committee formed by an illegitimate government. In other words, a vote against the constitution is a vote against the coup.