SISAKET, Thailand -- "If the counting is fair, losers must accept the results," said Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, trying to calm down an anxious nation as rioting spread to over a dozen provinces in the wake of national elections Jan. 6. Having just lost the premiership as his party was trounced at the polls, Chuan knows what losing feels like.
Amid reports of polling irregularities, accusations of election-fixing and a spate of sore-loser comments by bitter politicians, the Thai experiment in democracy appears to be fraying at the edges.
Judging from nationwide antielection protests against results seen as unfavorable, elections are all about winning. But for a democracy to function, winning cannot be everything; it can only be one side of the coin. The Bush-Gore contest in the United States proved that Thais are not alone in finding it difficult to embrace defeat. But losers are important, and good losers are necessary for democracy to have a chance.