Street politics prevail in Bangkok (News Feature)

By Peter Janssen Mar 21, 2010, 6:00 GMT

Bangkok - Bangkok has witnessed another week of street politics, a seemingly more effective means of achieving political goals in Thailand than the dull parliamentary process.

Once again, tens of thousands of anti-government protestors have settled in the capital, pressing for the resignation of the prime minister, the dissolution of parliament and new elections.

Although the demonstration has been peaceful to date, the threat of violence lurks beneath the surface. A cat-and-mouse game is going on between the protestors and authorities to see who will lose their cool first and resort to force.

Government crackdowns on demonstrations is deemed political suicide in Thailand. In May 1992, newly appointed Prime Minister General Suchinda Krapayoon ordered troops to fire on a mass demonstration calling for his resignation and an end to military intervention in politics.

The confrontation put Thailand on the cusp of a civil war, which was only defused by the intervention of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who gave an audience to Suchina and protest leader Chamlong Srimuang, after which Sunchinda resigned.

Jatuporn Prompan, one of the leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), learned his tactics as an organizer of the 1992 demonstration. Sources close to the UDD say they are pursuing a similar game plan this month.

The so-called red shirts have been holding daily rallies in Bangkok since March 14 to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

They initially promised to bring 1 million protestors, but the demonstrations peaked at about 100,000. Lacking overwhelming numbers, they employed other tactics such as pouring blood drawn form their followers on the steps of Government House, the headquarters of the Democrat Party and the home of Abhisit, the leader of the Democrats.

On Saturday, the UDD shifted gear and organized a 'red caravan' through the capital, comprising an estimated 10,000 motorcycles, 7,000 pickups and cars, and somewhere between 65,000 to 100,000 participants.

Abhisit on Saturday said he was willing to negotiate with the UDD on the precondition that they do not raise issues related to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who remains the de facto leader of the Puea Thai opposition party and a key player behind the UDD.

Thaksin is currently a fugitive living in Dubai, fleeing a two-year jail conviction for abuse of power, but he has made phone-in calls to the rallies every night, urging them to continue their protests and promising to return to fix the economy, solve Bangkok traffic and bring back democracy.

To what extent Thaksin controls the UDD leadership remains unclear. He has opposed several of their tactics, such as the blood-letting stunt, and last week opposed an offer by Thailand's Human Rights Commission to moderate negotiations between the government and protestors.

'The UDD need Thaksin but it will be harder for them to use Thaksin-related issues in their demands because what can they say? He doesn't have to go to jail at all? Return his property to him? It's too much,' said Chaturon Chaisaeng, a former top executive of Thaksin's defunct Thai Rak Thai Party.

Thaksin is still known to be a major financier of both the UDD and Puea Thai, despite having lost 1.4 billion in cash seized by the Supreme Court on February 26, when it found him guilty of abusing his powers as premier between 2001-06 to the benefit of his family's Shin Corp business empire.

As of Sunday, the UDD appeared willing to get beyond Thaksin in its negotiations with the government, insisting only on holding talks directly with Abhisit.

'We will only hold talks with someone who is honest and has complete authority,' UDD co-leader Weng Tojirakarn said. 'And we have only one demand, the dissolution of the government. That's all,' Weng said, denying the movement would also push for amnesty for Thaksin.

But Abhisit has previously insisted that he is willing to dissolve parliament only after three conditions have been met: the recovery of the economy; a peaceful politic environment; and constitutional amendments to assure a fair election.

Those are all tall orders, especially as many members of his own Democrat Party are among the most vocal opponents to any changes in the current charter, which arguably favours them.

And it is unclear whether all the leaders of the UDD are willing to limit talks to Abhisit, whom some claim is a mere figurehead for Bangkok's political elite, the military and monarchists.

What seems certain is that more street politics are in store for Bangkok this week.