No end is sight

But leading newspapers yesterday all put Thaksin on their front pages, quoting him as saying he had been cornered by his enemies and vowing to fight on. Khao Sod newspaper's headline said that Thaksin plans to make a phone-in speech again to expose his enemies.

With Thaksin's vengeful mood, the political conflict is unlikely to end soon. Next time Somchai urges the press not to pay attention to Thaksin, his words should be taken with a handful of salt, for the evolution of the Thai political scene depends largely on what Thaksin plans to do next.

Thai Rath newspaper said in its editorial that Thaksin's fate was the result of his political deeds. The editorial piece - written before British Foreign Secretary David Miliband took the decision to revoke the fugitive ex-PM's visa - speculated on the decision and reasoned that the UK had decided to act after the Thai court sentenced Thaksin to two years in jail.

First, the paper viewed the UK's decision as its acceptance of the Thai judicial system's verdict. In addition, Thai Rath said that the UK might have revoked Thaksin's visa because it was not happy about him using the UK and London as a base from which to operate his political activities. Besides, the People Power Party-led government was planning to use Thaksin as a vehicle to push forward its plan to mobilise crowds nationwide to press for the Constitution's change and an amnesty for executive directors of the banned Thai Rak Thai Party.

Thaksin once praised the UK as a mature democratic nation. Now that the UK has revoked his visa, Thai Rath said it was not sure if Thaksin would continue to have such a high opinion about his former host.

Thaksin said during his phone-in that he had to pay dues for deeds he didn't commit. And it's now known not only in Thailand but possibly elsewhere that Thaksin does not plan to leave Thai politics as he has repeatedly stated in the past.

Former prime minister Anand Panyarachun said the political conflict was caused by one man: Thaksin. Thai Rath noted that political manoeuvres, both in public and in secret, are all considered political deeds. The person involved would have to pay for his deeds until he stops committing them. If he does good deeds, he will benefit from good consequences in return. But if he commits negative deeds, those bad deeds will haunt him. This is the basic principle of Buddhism, the paper concluded.

Matichon's editorial urged the People's Alliance for Democracy's leaders to reflect on what has gone wrong in its operation. It said that although the yellow-shirted crowds might pride themselves on being a historic movement, the PAD's rally has recently been the cause of violence.

Red-shirted government supporters had formed to express their opinion. People in the middle who don't want to see violence have started to get very worried. Many feared that if the conflict is allowed to continue, there might be civil war between the yellow-shirts and red-shirts.

Matichon summed up that the PAD's lack of legitimacy might make the conditions for its continuation more difficult than in 2006. The PAD should not spread the blame on others but should look back to see what it might have done wrong over the past 6 months. The PAD should not forget that its opponent, the government, is equipped with mass support, capital and media outlets. If the PAD continues to blindly attack others, its opponents may see it as a weak point to counter the PAD later.