What Thailand's deeply divided society can teach Hong Kong

I closely follow events in Thailand in the news and through updates from extended family in Bangkok. The two sources increasingly seem to disagree. It is as if the international press and the people there are discussing two different places.

For example, a leading American newspaper carried an opinion piece in May criticising the Thai constitutional court for removing prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office. While the article mentioned that she was subject to impeachment for corruption and had made many mistakes while in power, it strongly criticised the action.

This angered some of my contacts in Bangkok. One accused the American paper of bias and ignorance, and asked whether its editors were paid by exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother. Many people in Bangkok complain that Western media and diplomats in Thailand favour Thaksin and his followers.

The background to this is Thailand's deep divisions over the past 13 years since Thaksin first came to power. The country is seriously split along lines of geography and social class. On one side of this divide are Bangkok institutions that have traditionally held power and whose supporters tend to be among the better-off. On the other side is the Thaksin camp, which has won elections by attracting votes from the poor with its populist policies.

To many in the overseas media, it looks simple: bad losers rejecting the outcome of a democratic process. My contacts in Bangkok are extremely bitter about this simple explanation of what is happening.

The Bangkok establishment dislikes the Thaksin camp for many reasons. These include corruption and incompetence, which go back a long way in Thailand but have reached new levels in recent years. But there are also deep cultural and social factors at play.