Thailand's PM Thaksin returns

After stepping down amidst charges of corruption in early April, Thailand's wealthy Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has returned to lead his government into the next election, likely to be held later this year. Read about it here. This has created a predictable amount of dismay amongst opposition parties and the intelligentsia.


All of this is in advance of the massive celebrations planned for June 9th, to honour His Majesty King Bhumipol's 60th year on the throne. The astrology strongly points to major incidents of civil unrest around this time. Thailand's chart is still running Jupiter- Moon dasha. The Moon therefore becomes the key planet for assessing the trend of events. Transit Saturn is still very close to the natal Moon -- just a degree or two past -- and now here comes Mars into Cancer in a few days. Having two malefics ganging up on the Moon and antardasha lord will not create peace and harmony in the Kingdom. Mars comes to the degree of the Moon just a day or two after the celebrations, while Sun will fall under the aspect of natal Ketu. This suggests a time when leaders come under stress. I am expecting the unrest to take the form of demonstrations which will include some violence.

Combine those first order afflictions with some long term destabilizing transits such as stationing Uranus squaring natal Mars and transit Rahu applying to Venus, and you have the recipe for some protracted political impasse. The upcoming Mars subperiod which stars in November 2006 looks more conducive to the open conflict required to complete wholesale change. Mars is very afflicted in the D10 chart representing leaders and government. Most likely the opposing sides in the dispute will come to blows in 2007. The most precipitous time appears to be June to September 2007 and will feature major upheavals in society in Thailand that will remake the fundamental terrain of Thai politics.

Canadian Liberal leadership: Ignatieff

The Canadian Liberal party will choose its next leader December 2 2006. At present, there are 11 declared candidates. I had originally believed that former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna was likely to win but in the end, he chose not to run. That threw the race wide open.

Among the present field of candidates, I think that Michael Ignatieff has the best chance of winning. Born May 12 1947 (again, no time available so this will necessarily be a work of approximation), Ignatieff has spent most of the past 30 years living outside Canada pursuing an academic career, first in the UK and more recently in the US. His secondary progressed chart contains two very positive aspects: a Sun Jupiter trine and a Venus-Chiron trine. (see above)

His heliocentric tertiary progressed chart also has p3 Venus trine a p3 Jupiter/Earth conjuction.

Transits at the time of the convention may also be helpful as Sun, Venus, Jupiter and Mars will all be in sidereal Scorpio which is in the 11th house from his Capricorn Moon. The 11th house represents gains.

One possible wild card is Gerard Kennedy who is seen by many observers as an attractive candidate. However, since his birth date is unknown at this time, I cannot handicap his chances of winning. Given the strength of Ignatieff's horoscope however, I think he is still most likely to carry the day.

Oil hits $75

Crude Oil pushed past $75 on Friday as the commodity buying frenzy continued. In the case of oil, the speculative bull market has been aided by fears that a U.S-led attack on Iran might interrupt oil supplies and take 5 million barrels a day offline in an already tight oil market.

There are a number of longer term factors that point to rising prices generally, but this week, we can see in the transit chart above that transit Mercury (13 Pisces) is moving into a nice conjuntion with the Sun, while activating the trine with Uranus and Jupiter.

Another short term factor is the applying opposition aspect of Jupiter to chart ruler Venus. We can expect higher prices in the short term as this aspect perfects, especially as transit Venus enters sidereal Pisces. Look for a short term peak around May 11 as transit Venus conjoins natal Sun and once again sets off that favourable Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Scorpio. Very approrpiate for a liquid that is found underground.

Gold hits $618

Gold rose $18 yesterday to close at a 25-year high.

This is confirms my prediction of March 29 when I thought that the Venus-Uranus conjunction at 19 Aquarius (Lahiri) would trigger a rise as it activated the natal Jupiter in the gold option chart.

upcoming Thai election

Thailand is set to go to the polls April 2. The trouble is the opposition parties are not contesting the election because of their distrust of PM Thaksin and the TRT. Read more about the protests here. In all likelihood, the election will go ahead as planned but the results will probably be ignored by half the country. This sets up a dangerous situation where the sitting government is regarded as illegitimate by the opposition and most urban voters. TRT gets its support from mostly rural areas which happen to form a majority in this still developing country.

As this blog (and my website) has been contending for some time, Thailand is in the throes of a political battle the scale of which hasn't been seen in years. The Saturn station on the Moon squaring the Sun is the basis of the whole thing. This is a devastating aspect that can create hardship for both leaders (Sun) and the people (Moon). Whatever happens, Thailand's political culture will be fractured for a long time to come. In keeping with my previous predictions, I believe Thaksin's administration will not survive these protests.

Another angle on it can be seen in the eclipse of March 29th. The eclipse point itself at 14 Pisces conjoins the fallen Mercury in the 12th house and activates the Neptune in Thailand's chart. This emphasizes the role of distortion and deception in communications in the time ahead. This seems especially likely given Thaksin's reputation for shady financial dealings and authoritarian control over the media. Look for even more disturbing revelations about Thaksin to emerge in the coming days and weeks. Another troubling element of the eclipse chart is that Mars at 28 Taurus is being picked up by both eclipse angles, underlining the conflict that is underway at the moment. Given the instability of the situation, it is probable that this political conflict will spill over into the streets at some point and become violent. So far this hasn't happened, but this eclipse chart is an alert to this very real possibility.

I am looking at April 9th as a day of significant setback for the government as Sun conjoins natal Rahu in the 12th house and Venus forms a semisquare aspect to Rahu. Perhaps there will be judiicial or royal intervention of some kind then that will worsen Thaksin's position. April 18th is another day to watch out for as Mars conjoins Uranus and opposes the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. If there will be violence in this political stand-off, this is the most likely time.

Gold price tops $560

The price of gold once again passed $560 this week. Although it fell back $5 Tuesday, the previous two trading days had yielded a nice $15 rise. The Mercury station was a key player here since it came to a full stop exactly conjoined with natal Jupiter in the Gold options chart. With Uranus there for extra oomph and Venus applying to the ascendant, this chart showed substantial gains.

As Venus comes closer to the 4 Aquarius ascendant (Lahiri), we should see more upward price movement. If this 10.00 am chart is correct, then the best days should be next Monday and Tuesday, the 3rd and 4th of April. This will be an important verification of the 10.00 am chart. If there is no significant rise at that time, then we would have to reconsider the 9.45 am chart once again.

Another probably price rise -- irrespective of chart times and ascendants -- will be in the days leading up to and including April 18, when Venus conjoins Jupiter in the presence of Uranus.

Thailand's troubles

Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin faces growing opposition to his corruption-plagued rule as protests to his government continue. Events are moving faster now that opposition political parties have refused to participate in an election Thaksin called two weeks ago. Although a majority of urban dwellers don't support him, Thaksin is still strong in the countryside, where poorer, less educated farmers have benefited from his populist policies and blatant vote-buying efforts. And given Thailand's predominantly rural population, it is very likely that Thaksin would win the April election. So the opposition boycott based on political calculation as well: since it cannot win the April vote, it is best to prevent it from taking place.

This growing breakdown in the political process is following the astrological script as Saturn bears down on Thailand's Moon. Watch for intensifying strife in the weeks ahead ending with Thaksin's ouster. In all likelihood, this will not be a peaceful transfer of power.