In the streets of Bangkok last week, thousands of people danced and paraded past the tanks of the leaders of a bloodless coup. Such symbols of power and peace rarely mix in the American imagination, so our confusion about Thailand is understandable.
After all, it's hard to envision Americans rejoicing with a military siege of the White House underway.
The fact that the Thais can simultaneously see tanks and freedom is not, as some have suggested, due to a disposition that craves authoritarian rule. It is not simply a sign that the regime in Thailand was more oppressive than the media would report.
It is a sign of a democratic reality so vibrant and powerful that it has no reason to fear tanks. The Thais are not worried about the transition to an elected government because they have something that Americans long ago lost: faith in their own collective power.
What is perhaps most remarkable about the coup is the fact that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was neither a tyrant nor an ineffective leader, but a victim of the democracy he helped to create.
Many of his programs were highly progressive and popular - Thaksin championed the poor with a universal health care program and tougher drug policies while stabilizing the economy and recreating Thailand as a legitimate voice in international politics.
However, Thaksin's tenure is also a story of power grabs. Like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and President Bush in the United States, Thaksin used his popularity to accumulate executive powers at the expense of the Thai constitution.
The final straw came when Thaksin attempted to thwart the popular will by calling a snap election, giving political opponents no time to prepare their own candidates. The Thai courts threw out the election.
But with widespread evidence of corruption and election rigging, the people ceased to have faith in Thaksin's intention to hold a fair election.
We are right to be wary of unaccountable military leaders. International bodies should continue to apply pressure to the new Thai government to hold elections as they have promised. We should also hope that Thailand continues the positive changes Thaksin started.
Yet it seems unlikely that the transitional government fails to see the limitations of its power. The generals do not hold the real power anymore than Thaksin did a few days ago. The people initiated this change. They support it.
Only through the blinders of our own complacency can we portray the coup as a faltering step backward for Thailand. After persisting through 12 coups in the past 75 years, the Thai people know what they are getting into. The coup is a choice they have made and it is one we should respect.
Rather than critiquing the change in governance, perhaps we should reflect on what we could learn from it.
In light of the clear and ongoing election abuses in our own country, perhaps we should look to the admirably loud voices of the people of Thailand for a way forward.
By being so tied to the formalities of democratic workings, we seem to have forgotten how to appreciate democracy's most important aspect - a vocal and involved group of people working together for a better future. In that, we should celebrate, not condemn, the bloodless revolution in Thailand.
Taylor Jackson is a graduate student studying biology and society, and can be reached at Taylor.Jackson@asu.edu.
