Where is Yul Brynner when they really need him?
They are not communists. The exact opposite. Their demands are free and fair elections. Nothing at all communist related.
Or are they just afraid of what the neighbors will think if they open fire on communist rebels?
The Thai Army is currently shooting anything that moves on the streets. This includes journalists, civilians, women and children. it is not a joke.
I think I have a clue now. The current Thai gov't has problems of illegitimacy. If elections were held, they would lose. If they take a hard line, there will be martial law, and Thailand's tourist industry will virtually disappear.
This from Reuters:
The fighting is the latest eruption in a polarizing five-year crisis between the rural and urban poor, known as the red shirts by the clothing they wear, who accuse an "establishment elite" -- comprising royalists, big business and military brass -- of colluding to bring down two elected governments.
Those governments were led or backed by exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup who is a figurehead of the protest movement.
It's too bad the Thai Monarch is old and ailing.
No one seems able to mediate the situation.
I still wonder what the poor of Thailand see in a "graft-convicted populist billionaire." Most likely he is a social reditributionist. At this point, I would bet on Thaksin returning to power. And although the press calls them 'protestors', what we are seeing is a civil war, not simply people protesting against an unpopular gov't, and demanding reforms. Short news snippets can be misleading.
In all my life, I have heard nothing but positive things about Thailand, and I do love its culture and its people. I pray things can be settled peacefully. If the people want a friendly Oligarch, let them have it! The important thing is to avoid some form of tyranny or military junta. That would spell long-term disaster for this beautiful country.
Where is Yul Brynner when they really need him?