UDD Demands

The UDD (the red shirts) are back in the news again, and have issued three demands to the government. They are demanding the removal of foreign minister Kasit, the dissolution of the government followed by new elections, and prosecution of the PAD for their airport occupation.

Two of the demands are actually pretty reasonable. The PAD's occupation of the airport cost Thailand's economy billions of dollars, and its total impact may not be known for a few years. The PAD protesters clearly broke the law and should be punished for it.

The foreign minister Kasit was a supporter of the PAD. He actually said that the airport protests were "a lot of fun" and "[t]he food was excellent, the music was excellent." One has to wonder how he could possibly be an effective foreign minister when he condones lawlessness, particularly when that lawlessness caused hardships on Thailand's foreign visitors. I have yet to hear a story where any tourist described the airport occupation as "fun". This guy is an extremely polarizing figure, and having him in the government says a lot about the current government. PM Abhist talks about wanting to unite Thais, but the inclusion of Kasit undermines the sincerity of his words.

I am not sure that I am in agreement with the UDD demands for new elections. While I think the Democrats ended up in power because it is what the military wanted, Thailand really needs a stable government. New elections might not be in the UDD's best interest anyway. There have been some elections to replace MP's and some local elections, and the current government has done much better than expected. If the government did call for new elections, the UDD might find its allies filling fewer seats in the Thai Parliament.