Red Shirt Protesters Cause Collapse of the ASEAN Summit

In a move that has to strike a blow to Thailand's pride and reputation, the red shirt protesters caused the premature end to the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) by storming the hotel where it was taking place.  The PM issued an Emergency Decree this afternoon, but lifted it in the evening. 

Apparently, they evacuated foreign guests from Pattaya.  I'm not sure if they forced the sailors from the U.S.S. Stennis to prematurely end their shore leave, but if so, there are some pretty ticked off American soldiers and poorer bar girls for it.

Seriously, though, this is just unacceptable.  In the past six months, the different factions have occupied the parliament building, shut down air travel, brought traffic to a stand still in Bangkok, and terrorized foreign leaders at the ASEAN summit.  Both sides claim to love Thailand, but truly they love only themselves.  Actually, a lot of the masses are just dupes, who are blindly following these "leaders".  This really isn't about the elite (yellow) versus the poor (red) as some would argue, its the battle between two powerful factions. 

Any sympathy that I had for the reds has now disappeared.  While I never really believed that they had the best interest of Thailand at heart, they hadn't had any destructive protests until this week.  I guess they feel like they embarrassed the government by disrupting the summit.  They indeed did, but they also embarrassed Thailand.  Thailand's authoritarian neighbors are no doubt pleased that they have eliminated any such protests (through force and intimidation) in their own countries, while the democratic members of ASEAN are no doubt appalled  at this "democratic" country. 

Part of me wants the reds to get what they asked for in the form of new elections.  I really believe that there will be a huge backlash against them.  I'm not sure how the ruling Democrats will fair, because they might be tied to the yellow shirt protesters who did so much damage last year, but I think the reds will lose a lot of seats in parliament. 

So far the police and military haven't done a whole lot to stop the red shirts.  The police and military really are partially to blame for this round of protests.  They didn't really do anything to break up the yellow shirt protesters when they occupied parliament and the airport.  When then PM Somchai ordered the police to take back the airport, they allowed the protesters to relieve them of their weapons and flatten their tires.  They just stood there and watched.

By not acting against the yellows, they invited the reds to misbehave.  Perhaps the reds thought that if the yellows aren't punished, then they won't be either.  So if the military or police really crack down, it might appear as if they are favoring the yellow.  If the military and police truly want to remain neutral, then they may have tied their own hands.

While I have no doubt that there are supporters of both the red and yellow in both the military and the police, I think the upper brass do in fact favor the yellow.  I wonder if they will continue to let the reds misbehave as long as the yellows did. 

Oh, and just when you thought you had the colors all set, we had a new entry.  Blue shirts came out today in Pattaya and clashed with the reds.