Thai magazine announces its allegiance to the red shirts

This week, a new political magazine known as DMagazine will go on sale at the Royal Plaza in Pattaya. Although the magazine openly supports the party known as the “red shirts” the editor of DMagazine insists that the main message of the magazine is democracy.

“We only want to have freedom in criticising those who weaken the democratic institutions,” DMagazine editor Wat Wallayangkur commented in an interview in the Bangkok Post. “As long as the monarchy and Sangha are constitutional, they are respected. Those who love Thaksin have their reasons, so do the ones who hate him, but we should not be blinded that a coup d’etat will lead to good things. Any government must not make people feel grateful for their populist schemes. The people are entitled to receive these basic rights.”

Mr Wat explained that the D in DMagazine stands for democracy, which he feels to be the essential ingredient for the success of Thailand. The magazine costs 50 baht and is being launched this week to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the 1932 Revolution which brought Thailand’s absolute monarchy to an end.