If I was going there, I wouldn’t start from here

I have to cross a divided highway to get from my hotel to the centre of Pattaya. I have to turn left on coming out of the tambon, avoiding the random motor-bike which is coming the wrong way up the innermost lane before I can move slowly to the right to slot into the traffic which is heading north. Picking my moment, I accelerate into the fast moving traffic in the outside lane, and accelerate even more to create a small gap behind me so that I can suddenly jam on the brakes and do the first part of a U-turn to the right. Now comes the exciting bit. My vision is obscured, and I have to sprint out from a standing start into the right-hand, fast lane which will take me south to Pattaya. (So far I have not been hit by anything already in this lane, and nor - even greater miracle - have I collided with those other intrepid random motor-bikes which choose to go against the stream of speeding traffic by steering along the grassy verge of the central ditch). All that I have to do now is move gradually into the left-hand lane, and allow the adrenaline in my body to resume its normal levels.
This little tale of daily life has seemed to me to be a remarkable parallel with political development in any country, not least my own, though I hasten to add that literally centuries have elapsed during the course of that particular journey. But in Thailand, in this as in so many other ways, evolution itself has been speeded up by the influence of earlier examples, both good and bad. Had the “Bangkok Post” been published in London in the eighteenth century, or in Paris in the middle of the nineteenth century, or in New York a little later, it could have printed stories of vote-buying very similar to those which I have read in the past months, with only the names changed.
Political evolution has to start with a move to the left, indicated by the involvement of more people wishing to travel in the same general direction. There will be those who go against the tide, but they run the risk of being brushed away, and sooner or later they will move out of the way. The pace will increase, often forced to do so by those who weave in and out of the lanes of traffic, headlights (or should I say “headlines”?) flashing, seeking their own goals as quickly as possible, with little regard for the peace of mind of others. At some point, however, many will feel that they are not going in the right direction, and that only a rapid change of course can correct matters. This is the most dangerous moment. The combination of speed and contradictory directions sets up the conditions for major collision and catastrophe. One need look no further than the former Yugoslavia to see one style of the political equivalent of a multi-vehicle pile-up; the bloodshed of countless revolutions which have led on to civil wars exemplifies a pattern of history which few countries have avoided in their political progress. But the turn must be made, before relative security can be established.
To this newcomer, Thailand seems to be edging into the left-handed lane, and travelling in the direction in which it really wants to go. There will always be those who need to head the other way, but mutual understanding can prevent most if not all disasters.
Next stop? Pattaya Central. How strange, when I set out in completely the opposite direction. But this is not a case of “This is Thailand”. This is History.
“Chris”

If I was going there, I wouldn’t start from here