THE TELEGRAPH: Thailand is torn between two rival camps, best characterised as competing patronage networks.
Since March 12, tens of thousands of red-shirted demonstrators have occupied central areas of Bangkok, demanding the resignation of the Oxford-educated prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the dissolution of parliament. The violence peaked on April 10 – when more than 20 people were killed – and has flared up again, as the military have tried to clear out the Redshirts' encampment.
At times, the security forces have fought pitched battles with protesters. The fatalities have included a Japanese cameraman, and several foreigners have been injured, including a Canadian journalist. In recent days, snipers have been shooting people from high buildings.
This has been portrayed as a struggle between poor farmers from the countryside and an undemocratic Bangkok elite. Yet despite the sympathetic coverage for the Redshirts in much of the international media, this is not a classic "pro-democracy" struggle between good guys and bad guys. It is a savage and dispiriting civil conflict, from which nobody emerges with much credit. Read on and comment >>> Duncan McCargo | Wednesday, May 19, 2010
