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Democracy News
Unrest in Thailand Continues as Abhisit’s Position Weakens
April 21, 2010
By: Randi Zung | Printer Friendly
In Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok, ongoing protests have cast an international spotlight on the country’s growing political crisis. The unrest, which began in September 2006 with the removal of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless military coup, has now drastically escalated to a violent standoff between a pro-Thaksin group called the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), also known as the ‘Red Shirts,’ and the current government led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva who took office in December 2008. The Red Shirts believe that Abhisit came into power illegitimately because he was not democratically elected, and are now calling for his removal from office. Thaksin currently resides outside of Thailand, and faces up to two years in prison if he returns.
The Red Shirts have a history of being politically active against the current Thai government. In April 2009, the group demonstrated at a summit meeting for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), resulting in the summit’s cancellation, BBC News reported. Following the cancellation of the summit, Red Shirt protestors stormed the Government House – the office of the prime minister – resulting in two deaths. One year later, the Red Shirts returned to the Government House to continue to protest against the Abhisit government, but this time the group declared that they would not leave until Abhisit agreed to dissolve parliament in order to make way for new elections. This most recent standoff between the Red Shirts and the Abhisit government escalated on April 10, when at least 25 protestors and five military soldiers were killed.
On April 12, the New York Times reported that “tens of thousands” of Red Shirt demonstrators celebrated in the streets at the Thai Election Commission’s recommendation to dissolve the current ruling party’s government. On this day, Red Shirt protest leader Veera Musikapong stated: “This government’s time in power is nearly over.” In addition to this announcement by the election commission, General Anupong Paochinda of the Thai military said that they would not intervene in the political crisis. Anupong stated: “The situation requires that the problem be solved by politics,” and commented that the protestors demand for the dissolution of the country’s parliament was “a reasonable step.”
Abhisit’s government is currently operating from a Thai military base, following a mass protestor siege on the Government House that happened earlier this month. The Election Commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Thai Constitutional Court, where a guilty verdict could result in the dissolution of Abhisit’s political party and its leaders being banned from political participation for five years.
On April 20, BBC News reported that the Thai military announced it was prepared to use live ammunition on unruly Red Shirt protestors. The announcement, which was made by army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, prompted the Red Shirts to cancel their plans to demonstrate in Bangkok’s business district. Previous to the announcement, the army said it would use tear gas, sound blasters, water cannons, pepper spray, and rubber bullets before resorting to using live ammunition. According to current protocol, soldiers are only allowed to use live ammunition for self-defense or to shoot in the air as warning shots. Additionally, BBC News reported that Abhisit stated he is trying to put an end to the political crisis, but noted the situation was difficult: “Both the government and the people want this to end quickly but we have to think about many factors.”
According to leaders of the Red Shirt movement, the group said the movement is aimed at bringing about democratic social change and solving current social inequalities, such as income disparities between the rich and the poor. Voice of America reported that pro-Thaksin supporters are largely from rural poor and urban working class backgrounds.
For previous news on Thailand, please see: http://ccd21.org/news/asia/thailand_protests_escalate.html
Sources:
BBC News - Q&A: Thailand protests
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