Violence Blights Thailand's Image
Updated: 8:27am UK, Tuesday 03 December 2013
By Jonathan Samuels, Sky Correspondent, Bangkok
Outside Government House, in the centre of Bangkok, as another round of teargas is fired at protesters, a monk adjusts his gas mask. It is an arresting image, and the irony is lost on no one.
This Buddhist country likes to project an image of peace, a place to enjoy a relaxing holiday, to escape from the world's problems.
And yet for the last few years, it has been rocked by periods of violence as it struggles with a merry-go-round of political turmoil.
So who are the latest demonstrators, and what are their demands?
The protesters are mainly made up of Thailand's "better off" - the elite, the educated, royalists.
For the large part, they have been peaceful demonstrations - a huge group of people, including children and grandparents, all joining what has often been a carnival atmosphere.
They listen to speeches, blow whistles and enjoy the food from the many stalls (Thais rarely pass up a business opportunity like this.)
But now a hardcore group of mainly young men is determined to take a path of more violent protest, attacking government ministries and buildings.
Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been democratically elected, which makes it hard for many to understand the protesters' desire for a "people's coup".
But they say she is controlled by her brother Thaksin Shinawatra - himself kicked out of office in 2006.
The man who divided opinion in his own country now lives in Dubai, escaping corruption charges. The protesters accuse him of widespread corruption and abuse of power.
He was popular with a different section of Thai society, those from the country, farmers, the working class. For these people, Thaksin's healthcare reforms and access to cheap finance were vote winners.
His sister wanted to bring in an Amnesty Bill which would have effectively paved his way to return to Thailand. That was the spark to this upheaval.
So, the protesters are calling for their own, rather vague, form of government. A "people's council". Vague and undemocratic, say the critics.
"This is quite a bold and blatant demand to replace the government in the streets," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor and director of Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Security and International Studies.
"But Khun Suthep's (anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban) demands go down very well with the people who hate corruption in Thailand, who think that the electoral system can no longer be trusted and therefore they have to set up their own government and rewrite the rules."
So there is a stalemate, and the threat of weeks of protest just as the peak holiday season approaches.
A season which could be blighted as people think maybe this isn't the oasis of calm and serenity the brochures would lead us to believe.
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