Thailand: Buddhism, Thaksin and Bangkok's Challenges

Two thousand monks descended on Thailand's parliament building April 25 — accompanied by nine elephants — and demanded that Thailand's proposed constitution make Buddhism the Southeast Asian nation's state religion. While the demand itself does not pose a fundamental long-term challenge to the government, the highly organized nature of the religious protests does. The government sees Buddhist activists as a real threat since they offer former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra an opportunity to bolster his influence over Thai politics from abroad.