Thailand: What happened?

[Nuvem]

A few months ago the situation in Thailand erupted into chaos, especially in the large cities and most especially Bangkok, as the struggle between the Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts peaked.

For those who don't know about this incident, it was heavily reported in the news for about 2 months and then dropped off the media for the most part. The Red Shirts are a group in Thailand with millions of supporters who call for the dissolving of the current government of Thailand, which took power a few years ago via military coup followed by mock elections. While the Red Shirts vary wildly in political spectrum from liberals, social democrats, anarchists, socialists and communists, they all banded together with the ultimate goal of bringing down the right-wing Nationalist government of Thailand through civil disobedience. All of downtown Bangkok was occupied by thousands of protesters, including the financial district and Thailand's equivalent of Wall Street.

http://www.finfacts.ie/artman/uploads/3/Red-shirts-Thailand_apriol062010.jpg

The Yellow Shirts stood in direct conflict with the Red Shirts, being supporters of the nationalist government and the royal family, which in the current government holds a small degree of power and huge amounts of wealth and social influence. The Red Shirts call(ed) for the royal family to be stripped of all political influence. Tension between the two groups erupted into violence several times, and the military was often send in to put down Red Shirt demonstrations violently despite their non-violent nature. The Red shirts started hitting back and defending themselves against police attack. Gradually, the demonstrations got more explosive, with Red Shirts burning tires and other debris to block off major streets. More than once the military opened fire on peaceful protests, killing some and injuring many more. Talks were held between the leaders of the Red Shirts and the current government, and the result was...I have no idea.
http://media.ft.com/cms/71e9ab44-2807-11de-8dbf-00144feabdc0.jpg

That's the problem I'm having. The media coverage just fell off a cliff, probably overshadowed by the death of a celebrity or something. I haven't been able to find much relevant data recently. The last news I got of the incidents was that the Red Shirts were growing increasingly radical and that the government was continuing to crack down despite peace talks.

Does anyone know what became of the situation in Thailand? I find it hard to believe that the Red Shirts would simply back down from their demands of the government disbanding, especially with the injuries, deaths and arrests which occurred.

[Red Commissar]

AFAIK the government said they would set a date for elections- one of the demands of the Red Shirts was this- but it never happened. The state of emergency it declared was applied to the rest of the country and the state came into conflict with Red Shirts in their strongholds in the north.

The Red Shirts have been somewhat active across the north at the present, holding small protests here and there. State police ended up arresting some that were armed and trained, leading them to play up the claim they had pressed earlier- that the Red Shirts were being trained in Cambodia. Some attacks, like this one (http://www.english.rfi.fr/asia-pacific/20101006-thailand-blames-red-shirts-bangkok-bomb) were blamed on Redshirts. Some provinces in the north continue to be under emergency decree rule.

As such the PM says he won't hold elections until the Red Shirts stop acting up. He says he's open to an election in 2011 (after saying he'd be open to one this fall), if the Red Shirts stop agitating. Of course we can see why they continue to agitate- he doesn't hold his word.

The state has managed to push the Red Shirts into the category of "terrorists" and the usual terms applied to enemies of the state. If an election is held they want to make sure they destroy what opposition there might be.

[Achara]

Whilst some members of the Red Shirts have been arrested for insulting the Royal Family, to say that the Red Shirts call for the Royal Family to be stripped of political influence is false. Every Red Shirt member I have ever talked to has shown nothing but reverence for the King (the Queen on the other hand...), as most Thai people do. To be openly anti-monarchist in Thailand is to be politically suicidal... The result of it all that 14(?) leaders of Red Shirts were arrested and are on trial, x number of people dead. Recently there have been protests in Bangkok marking the 4th year of Thaksin's exile. About four days ago there were gatherings near Khaosan Road (the main strip where foreigners/tourists converge). When I walked through around there, there was a hell of a lot of police and military - and in the last week there have been more soldiers stationed sporadically around Bangkok, but mainly focused in 'Red Shirt' areas.

[Achara]

Also, those who call for new elections fall for the democratic myth. If anything, this whole episode should prove the complete inability for elections to change anything - the PPP (Red Shirts) were elected following the military coup, their party was subsequently made illegal and dissolved. They formed a new party, then members of their coalition switched sides leading to the current government and prime minister. Of course, this is a common thing in democracies, and to critique the political system as not being democratic enough misses the point that democracy is always a farce. There were local elections in Bangkok a month and a bit ago which the Democrats (anti-Red Shirts) gained a majority 210 of 256 seats, which is pretty unsurprising for Bangkok. You say that the Red Shirts have a wide range of political views - its leaders and supporters also include former anti-communists who fought and killed communists and radical students. To paint this as some sort of movement for the working class is highly misleading - it is a group which in essence supports and fights for the return of Thaksin.

[Achara]

Some videos of attacks

youtube.com/watch?v=ztF6hUryt88&has_verified=1

youtube.com/watch?v=z8X1rRxHjtE&feature=related

I can't post links, so if someone could embed them that would be cool.