Thailand See(the)s Red

I don't think you can just say all of these pro-red supporters throughout Thailand were just ignorant dupes who are being manipulated by Thaksin's bribes. That's insulting the intelligence of too many people and overestimating the power of just one man. Again, this is what happens in a democracy when your views are routinely dismissed and your legitimate vote patronizingly annulled by a coup.

"This is not for Thaksin,” he said. “This is for democracy."

This sentiment can not be forgotten, despite the Red Shirt's poor leadership, which lost much moral credibility when it allowed the protests to descend into chaos, violence, and destruction.

But to me, Thaksin is just an easy scapegoat to blame for all of Thailand's woes. Whatever crimes Thaksin was guilty of cannot compare with the greatest crime of them all: overthrowing the democratic vote of the people. This is just blowback from this disastrous decision to stage a coup in 2006. It's the coup leaders who ought to be having their asses on the line for all this trouble, including he-who-can-not-be-named-lest-you-violate-the-lèse majesté-law.

A bandanna he sells is embossed with the words, "I’m not scared of you."

I just wish there was a similarly brave and organized "green" movement in Taiwan that would be pissed off about what the KMT is currently doing to its citizens.

And so, poor Thailand continues to bleed in a seemingly endless cycle of attacks and reprisals. My thoughts go out to all my friends in Bangkok who are dealing stoically with the chaos.

How to find a way forward? I think even if Thaksin's head was on a plate tomorrow, the underlying causes of the discontent would remain: the entrenched power elite (the military, the aristocracy, business elites, etc), whose corruption I'd bet is identical in every way to Thaksin's, will just continue to keep their hands on the levels of power in the country. The disenchanted poor and working classes will remain increasingly desperate (and perhaps turn increasingly to violence) as their only source of power -- the election ballot -- will continue to be thwarted by the courts or the military by having a hard or soft coup whenever one of the Red Shirt's duly-elected own gets too uppity and threatens the entrenched powers that be.

And one more problem that really needs to be addressed: Thais need to have an open, honest, and FREE debate on the proper role of the royal family in a modern and democratic Thailand, which can only begin by recinding its lèse majesté laws. Without being able to touch that giant gorilla in the middle of living room, the prospects for progress will remain grim.

And so, regardless of the actors of the hour, the tensions will remain until the underlying systematic issues are addressed, including the creation of a neutral military and judiciary that are untouchable by any political parties and who don't have their hands in the till. (Well it's a pipe dream, I guess.)

Let's hope in the coming months and years wiser heads on both sides can find a way forward towards real progress AND justice.