This month commemorates the 30-year anniversary of the Bloody May events in 1992 that witnessed extensive violence against street demonstrators and the subsequent fall of the military-linked government that had come to power due to the 1991 coup. What then are some of the lessons to remember, resonating from the past to the present and the future?
The 1991 coup was instigated by a group of military leaders to overturn the elected civilian government on the basis of alleged corruption. It also annulled the constitution, but the junta which came to power was willing to put in place a civilian leader as prime minister in the interim. However, the subsequent revised constitution opened the door to a controlled Senate and an unelected prime minister. Although the key coup leader pledged not to become an unelected prime minister, this pledge was broken when he was appointed as premier in April 1992. This led to massive demonstrations against his tenure, thus advocating his ouster, and there were violent confrontations between the military-cum-police and civilians in the third week of May. About 50 civilians were killed and several hundred were injured, in addition to many enforced disappearances (their whereabouts remain unknown). Due to intervention from the top, the general resigned from the premiership and Thailand returned to civilian rule followed by elections. This paved the way for the catalytic 16th Constitution in 1997, which is now regarded as the most people-based and democratic of its kind.
