>>1452346>LOL WUT?!?>There's been a coup in '14 and the military has full powerMilitary coups have been a fact of Ty political life since the first one, back in 1932, that deposed the absolute monarchy. The current junta is operating, officially, on paper, in a caretaker capacity (as have all Thailand's military regimes since 1976, which was about the last time the field marshals were more or less open about their desires to hold on in perpetuity), and planning on elections. Whenever these finally occur, they are guaranteed to be filthy dirty, but multiple parties will be taking part and the army's candidate is not guaranteed to win. It's a very far cry from the Socialst Republic of Vietnam, or the Lao People's Democratic Republic, where there is only ever going to be one party on the ballot and the results are foregone conclusions.
>> it's officially ignored and thriving despite being illegal in both countries.>Except we know it's 14% GDP in the'90s so how much it must be now.I don't trust that number. The size and power of the sex industry have always been exaggerated by mongers, and by academics, who not so coincidentally happen to include a large number of dirty old men.
>I don't think you understand the importance of that number.I have a literal doctorate in Thai politics and economics (OK, technically political economy, which is less economic than it sounds, but I also did a fair amount of economic analysis in graduate school), and taught about Thailand briefly in a short and undistinguished academic career before defecting to the private sector. I don't think you understand Thailand as well as you think you do.
