Thailand's descent into chaos

A summit of ASEAN leaders was aborted in the Thai beach resort of Pattaya on Saturday when hundreds of supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra descended on the venue to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Obviously, it was an embarrassing sight in full view of the world and it certainly put Thailand's embattled government to shame. The incident clearly shows the pitfalls the country's fledgling democracy has been up against, especially since a coup in September 2006 deposed Thaksin and replaced it with what has come to be seen as unending chaos.
Indeed, that things had to come to such a pass was not exactly unexpected, given the manner in which Thaksin's elected government was overthrown and given the questionable ways in which his two immediate successors, both his loyalists, were hounded out of office. One was removed by the judiciary on the dubious ground of having engaged in a conflict of interest by taking part in a television show. The other, a brother-in-law of Thaksin, had to quit when followers of the opposition then led by Abhisit stormed the prime ministerial home and kept it occupied for months. Their final act was a siege of Bangkok's two airports. Amazingly at the time, the chief of the army made it publicly known that he wanted the prime minister to quit. Once that happened, Abhisit, despite not having won an election, was sworn in as the new prime minister in clear defiance of democratic norms. If anyone thought politics would settle down following the changeover, he was soon proved wrong. Thaksin's followers are now doing to Abhisit what his own supporters have done to his predecessors and indeed to the cause of democracy.
There is little question that Thaksin Shinawatra's government was tainted by charges of corruption. Equally strongly, however, one can argue that the manner in which he was removed and then his colleagues were forced out despite their clear triumph at the elections has brought Thailand to the brink today. Its economy is now under threat, its politics is in disarray and its social fabric is at risk of getting frayed. As good friends of Thailand, like all its other friends elsewhere, we believe that a surefire way in which the country can go back to stable democracy is through new elections. More importantly, let no one negate the results and thereby destabilise an elected government.