This Time It's for Keeps

The bloody streets tonight don't come as a result of volunteer donations. It looks like the government deployed armed troops downtown to disperse the red shirt crowd. To hear the Bangkok Post report, there were a 'couple thousand red shirts' there that needed to be moved. The moving I take it, didn't go so well, and sadly nine people are dead.

Does anyone else see this as a serious problem? No matter how the Bangkok Post and Thai media spin it, the situation has spiraled out of control as a direct result of these deaths. Not surprisingly, the government is now attempting 'talks' to disperse the red shirts through peaceful means.... To me this seems a little late.

In my opinion, it shows a complete misunderstanding of the government's bargaining position. By failing to compromise prior to this street battle, the door remained open for the red shirts to run amok. They did, and then the government hemmed and hawed without taking any real steps to address the red shirt leadership. Now, the new tack looks like a desperation move, and there is no doubt that the government has ceded its credibility.

Of course, the Prime Minister will blame the red shirts for instigating the violence (although I've only seen pictures with the Thai military shooting guns). That argument, however, misses the forest for the trees. The real issue is upholding the law, as the Bangkok Post so often likes to point out. So, how do you uphold the rule of law by raiding a protest you previously deemed lawful with soldiers carrying loaded weapons?

Spin it or argue it however you want, the government and the Prime Minister made serious miscalculations today. You cannot maintain order when you've lost the moral high ground. People died, and someone in government is going to have to answer for that.