Thailand Coup
It looks as if the coup in Thailand is going to be a bloodless
overthrow of an unpopular prime minister. I went to pick up some Thai
food tonight from our favorite little Thai place down the street and
asked the folks there what they thought about all that's going on in
Bangkok. There consensus was that it is good for Prime Minister Taksin
to be out of power. I don't know enough of Thai politics to give a
definitive opinion about whether this is a good thing for the nation or
not but I do know that despite his repeated electoral victories, he was
quickly becoming a heavy handed, and thus unpopular figure in the
country. As a related side note, when I was in Thailand in July 2004, I
was told that Taksin's unofficial policy to deal with the illegal drug
problem was this: Hire off duty policemen to covertly assasinate drug
dealers.
In any case, Sun and I are hoping and praying that things will settle down in Thailand and return to relative normalcy (and democracy as well), and that God will use this coup to speak to Thai hearts about the lack of peace and security in this world, and drive them to seek the peace that only Christ can give. And since there are so few Christians in Thailand (less than 1%), we pray that those whose hearts God is changing will encounter those who can share the Gospel with them. In that vein, we are hoping that this coup will not preclude or delay our anticipated departure for Thailand this coming November. Besides the obvious security issues if the coup turns for the worse, if schools, banks, and government offices are closed down then that would seriously slow down the processing of our visas (i.e. our visa request could be sitting in the inbox in some government office that is closed until further notice). All things are in God's hands so we wait and trust in God. We will arrive in Thailand at the appointed time, if indeed the Lord sees fit for us to be there.
Despite the Adminstrative Reform Council's (read "Thai military") clamp down on domestic and foreign media outlets, I've found help updates about the changing situation in Thailand on the website of The Nation, an independent English language newspaper in Bangkok
In any case, Sun and I are hoping and praying that things will settle down in Thailand and return to relative normalcy (and democracy as well), and that God will use this coup to speak to Thai hearts about the lack of peace and security in this world, and drive them to seek the peace that only Christ can give. And since there are so few Christians in Thailand (less than 1%), we pray that those whose hearts God is changing will encounter those who can share the Gospel with them. In that vein, we are hoping that this coup will not preclude or delay our anticipated departure for Thailand this coming November. Besides the obvious security issues if the coup turns for the worse, if schools, banks, and government offices are closed down then that would seriously slow down the processing of our visas (i.e. our visa request could be sitting in the inbox in some government office that is closed until further notice). All things are in God's hands so we wait and trust in God. We will arrive in Thailand at the appointed time, if indeed the Lord sees fit for us to be there.
Despite the Adminstrative Reform Council's (read "Thai military") clamp down on domestic and foreign media outlets, I've found help updates about the changing situation in Thailand on the website of The Nation, an independent English language newspaper in Bangkok