Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991                   TAG: 9103010713
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MILITARY COUP

Once-democratic and once-prosperous nations - much of Eastern Europe, Argentina - often find that the fall into or capture by authoritarian regimes spells economic stagnation. Once-authoritarian nations and now-prosperous nations - Korea, Taiwan - find that economic development may eventually bring democracy.

Because of that link, the military coup Saturday in Thailand is doubly disappointing. Not only did it mark the downfall of an elected government, but it also threatens the continued economic development of a nation heretofore on the verge of becoming a Third World success story.

Thailand's fate is important to America. The Thais - abutted on one side by a totalitarian Burma and on the other by a war-torn and impoverished Cambodia - are among the West's best friends in the region, perhaps in all of Asia.

Thailand's new rulers may prove no less friendly than ousted Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhaven, himself a former general. Staying chummy with foreign military elites seems something America does well.

Moreover, although Thailand has been coup-prone since the 1932 revolution that overthrew the absolute monarchy, the Thais also have a self-confident sense of nationhood. Their Buddhist religion is a unifying force. Having never been a colony of a European power, Thailand has not had to contend with the bitter residue of anti-colonial resentments.

Too, the apparent bloodlessness of the coup offers hope. So, in its way, does the military's allegation of corruption against the Chatichai government: It at least suggests that Gen. Sunthon Khongsomphong and his fellow commanders had more than self-aggrandizement on their minds.

Still, Chatichai was Thailand's leader by virtue of the will of the people, something Sunthon cannot say. If the coup can be seen as a form of impeachment, it still was not an ouster by elected representatives of the people.

At best, the coup reflects the fact that development of Thailand's political institutions has failed to keep pace with the development of its economy. Regression in government could deprive Thais of economic as well as political benefits of democracy.