[The shootout has stoked debate over gang violence in Thailand Bangkok
West Side Story-esque show of rivalry stokes Thai debate over gang violence and demonstrates wide appeal of K-pop video
The INN website reported that the two gangs
were dining in the same restaurant when "the younger members of both
groups danced provocatively at each other in the manner of top hit Gangnam
Style". The dance-off escalated into an argument and, eventually, a gun
attack in the upmarket Ekkamai neighbourhood, in which one of the gangs fired
at least 50 bullets from a carbine and an 11mm gun.
No
one was injured in the incident, police Lt Col Apichart Thongchandee told
the Bangkok Post. He said the two gangs had a history of
confrontation and would face arrest warrants.
The
shootout has stoked debate over gang violence in Thailand Bangkok
Thai authorities recently established an
army-style boot camp where, according to AFP, repeat offenders must endure
regular fitness drills and 5am wake-up calls side by side with their rivals.
Not all those attending went back home reformed, Lt Col Wanchana Sawasdeem
said, "but for 90% it will work, even if it just means they hesitate
before fighting … At least the camp will have made them think."
That
the two gangs apparently engaged in a Gangnam Style dance-off is indicative of
the video's popularity. Psy, otherwise known as Park Jae-Sang, told Radio 1's Scott Mills this week that his distinctive dance
style emulated "riding an invisible horse in your lower body". The
video features Park doing the dance all over Seoul
The
track, which is said to mock the affluent Seoul UK Malaysia
[The
political storm erupted last week after Mr. Singh’s government announced a
series of economic moves, including an increase in the
price of diesel fuel, a cap on the subsidy for cooking gas and measures that
would allow for greater foreign investment in civil aviation and retail,
opening the door for big, multibrand retailers like Walmart.]
By Jim Yardley
 |
Altaf Qadri/Associated Press
A woman in
Singh'stelevised speech on Friday, an unusually direct appeal.
|
Mr. Singh’s speech came on a day of intense political
jockeying, as the governing coalition lost the support of a crucial regional
ally yet managed to stay in power, for the moment, by securing support from two
other nonaligned regional parties.
“The time has come for hard decisions,” Mr. Singh said, in
an apparently prerecorded address that was broadcast across the country in
prime time. “For this I need your trust, your understanding and your
cooperation.”
The political storm erupted last week after Mr. Singh’s
government announced a series of economic moves, including an increase in the
price of diesel fuel, a cap on the subsidy for cooking gas and measures that
would allow for greater foreign investment in civil aviation and retail,
opening the door for big, multibrand retailers like Walmart.
Business leaders and many economists praised the moves as
critical for containing India’s fiscal deficit and
attracting foreign investment, but rival political leaders pounced, as did some
political allies of the government, saying the measures threatened the
livelihoods of small shop owners and common people. Thousands demonstrated on
Thursday in several Indian cities in coordinated protests organized by several
parties.
On Friday, Mr. Singh urged people to “not be misled,”
framed the moves as essential, if tough, and said they would begin to restore
economic growth and help prevent India from falling into the same economic malaise that Europe is in.
Economic growth, which topped 8 percent in 2011, is now projected to be as low
as 5.4 percent in the current fiscal year. “We are at a point where we can
reverse the slowdown in our growth,” he said. “We need a revival in investor
confidence domestically and globally.”
Hours earlier, Mamata Banerjee, the populist chief minister of
the state of West Bengal and once the most crucial regional ally in the governing
coalition, formally withdrew her party’s support. On Friday afternoon, with
television crews beaming live reports across the nation, Ms. Banerjee’s cabinet
ministers submitted their resignations to protest the new economic measures.
The departure of Ms. Banerjee’s 19-member parliamentary
delegation means that the governing coalition, led by the Indian National
Congress Party, has lost its parliamentary majority. However, the coalition
will survive, for now, courtesy of support by a two nonaligned regional
parties, which extended lukewarm endorsements on Friday.
“Our support is clear,” said Mulayam Singh Yadav, a
regional leader who told the Indian news media that he would support the
government, though not join it.
Friday’s machinations dispelled, for the moment, the
possibility of the government collapsing or of elections, now scheduled for
2014, being called early. But the Congress Party now faces a complicated
governing situation, in which it will need to massage and maneuver around
regional leaders like Mr. Yadav, as well as his rival, Mayawati, another
powerful figure who is supporting the government and uses only one name.
“We have another 18 months to go for the next elections,”
said Digvijaya Singh, a general secretary in the Congress Party. “We’ve got
sufficient numbers to carry us through.”
The prime minister’s appeal to the nation amounted to an
effort to reboot his much-maligned government. For roughly two years, the
Congress Party has been mired in corruption scandals and widely criticized for
arrogance and ineffectiveness, while also overseeing a rapidly declining
economy.
Mr. Singh, considered the father of India ’s first era of economic overhaul in the 1990s, has been
accused of failing to lead or to articulate a clear vision for the government.
On Friday, Mr. Singh argued that rising global oil prices meant that the
government had to reduce popular subsidies on diesel and cooking gas or risk a
rapidly higher fiscal deficit.
“Where would the money for this have come from?” Mr. Singh
asked. “Money does not grow on trees.”
Mr. Singh did not mention the weeklong political
controversies or the loss of support from Ms. Banerjee. Some analysts predicted
that her departure could free the government to push ahead with other economic
measures. Palaniappan Chidambaram, the country’s recently appointed finance
minister, has signaled that recently announced economic moves will come as soon
as next week.
To some degree, Ms. Banerjee had held veto power over such
initiatives because of her periodic threats to withdraw her party’s support and
bring down the government. Last year, she blocked a water treaty with Bangladesh — embarrassing the prime minister and Indian diplomats —
and also forced Mr. Singh to reverse himself after his cabinet first approved
the plan to open the door to retailers like Walmart.
“The government faces a stark choice — stand firmly behind
the measures to promote India ’s long-term economic interests or back off the reforms in
the interests of short-term political survival,” said Eswar Prasad, an
economist and an adviser to the Indian government. “The outcome of this battle,
and even the way it is fought and ultimately resolved, will reverberate in India ’s economic and political arenas for many years to come.”
When it became clear on Friday that the government was not
bending this time, India ’s stock market recorded the biggest gain of the year.
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.
