i was watching on BBC yesterday, the story of the people of Thai, who are protesting against a prime minister they do not believe in. the first day i saw the mammoth crowd of the red shirt protesters on Thailand main streets i was excited that such crowd can leave their businesses to come out and declare their stand as regards what they believe in. but is a pity that the once peaceful move has taking a different dimension, with 8 people dead as at last night, i wonder how many more will die of this poor and working class citizen who are fighting for a better living conditions for their children.
The tentative agreement reached last week between the Thai government and the “red-shirt” protesters should be reinstated, and elections should proceed in November, as reasonably offered by Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Prime Minister.
The protesters have no clear leadership, and it seems that elements among them who want a confrontation disrupted the agreement – these may have included Khattiya Sawatdiphol, a general in the Thai army who purported to be in charge of security for the protesters and was shot in the head on Thursday by snipers, while he was talking to a reporter from the New York Times.
After two months of demonstrations that have obstructed normal activities in much of the centre of Bangkok, the government is right to no longer tolerate their indefinite continuation. A deadline has passed for the sealing off of the protesters’ camp. Such a siege, making life in the camp inconvenient, would be reasonable, as would a slow but steady clearing of the protest area. If the government authorized the snipers, it overreached in risking the lives of civilians, though General Khattiya and others may indeed be genuinely dangerous figures who are trying to exacerbate conflict.
Despite some irrational behaviour by protesters, such as the shedding of their own blood, the sentiments behind the demonstrations are deep-seated. The rural poor have a strong sense of exclusion from a country dominated by the upper-middle class – hence, the government has now proclaimed a state of emergency in 17 provinces, to prevent even more of the rural poor from descending upon the capital to swell the demonstrators’ numbers.
Unfortunately, this discontent has manifested itself in support for the demagogic and corrupt billionaire former prime minister, Thaksin Sinawatra, as well as in the demonstrations themselves.
Eventually, the Thai elite may have to tolerate a democratically elected government led by Mr. Thaksin or – if he is excluded because of criminal convictions – one of his lieutenants. Mr. Thaksin was deposed in 2006 by a military coup, for which the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has usually stood up for democracy, expressed approval.
In the end, government with the consent of the governed must prevail, but so should due process and the rule of law. The protesters should leave their urban camp and start preparing for a fair election.
Thai PM defends deadly army crackdown in Bangkok
By VIJAY JOSHI (AP) – 4 hours ago
BANGKOK — Thailand's prime minister defended Saturday the deadly army crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters besieging the capital, saying there was no turning back as clashes raged in the center of Bangkok.
"The government must move forward. We cannot retreat because we are doing things that will benefit the entire country," Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a national broadcast, striking a defiant tone that made it clear he was in no mood for a compromise.
The spiraling violence has raised concerns that Thailand — a longtime tourism magnet that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles" — was teetering toward instability. The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia's second largest.
The demonstrators Saturday accused government snipers of picking people off with head shots.
The army says it is not shooting to kill, but protesters crawled along sidewalks to slowly drag away bodies of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle in the Ratchaprarop area Saturday. They accused army snipers of shooting all three in the head.
"The situation right now is getting closer to civil war every minute," a protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan, said. "We have to fight on. The leaders shouldn't even think about retreat when our brothers are ready to fight on."
