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So, finally, the red-shirt protesters succumbed to the potentially disastrous urge to give their enemies a taste of their own medicine. As of press time, red-clad demonstrators had blocked all entrances to the Victory Monument, paralysing Bangkok which, on any given day, already suffers from heavy traffic congestion. The protesters, who are taxi drivers of the community radio clubs, parked their vehicles on all roads leading to the monument, which is one of the busiest districts in Bangkok. The anti-government protesters also spilled onto the roads circling the monument, causing chaos.

They were also blocking certain expressway entrances and exits in the area and vowed the blockade would continue for three days if Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva did not agree to the protesters' demands for him to resign and dissolve the House.

The protesters are obviously trying to intensify the level of the demonstration, fearing that the campaign will subside when the long Songkran festival begins over the weekend, and now that all key members of the Shinawatra clan may have left the country.

The red shirts would have gained more public sympathy, had they decided not to follow the tactics of yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy protesters last year. The decision by the PAD to seize the airports last year drew strong criticism from the public. Even some former PAD supporters disapproved of the seizure of the airports because it violated the rights of others and damaged the country's economy.

However, the supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have now resorted to the same tactic, even though the leaders of the protesters said they would rally in a peaceful manner. The Thaksin supporters claim they have to step up the campaign because the government refuses to comply with their demands. But realistically some of these demands are not likely to be responded to, such as the one for the prime minister and the privy councillors to resign.

The blockade of the roads around the Victory Monument did not only paralyse Bangkok's traffic, it greatly affected the public - and patients who had to use the services of hospitals located in the area. Sadly, the protesters who blocked the streets are taxi drivers, who should know the necessity for their clients to commute around Bangkok, day in, day out. A number of offices in downtown Bangkok let their staff go home early upon learning of the blockade.

The leaders of the red shirts also warned earlier in the day that they might move the rally to Pattaya if their demands are not met. The next target is to sabotage the Asean Summit in Pattaya, where regional leaders have gathered to discuss ways to solve the global economic problems.

This is an unfortunate incident for Thailand, which has already suffered greatly from the effects of the global recession and the lack of foreign investors in the country. Abhisit said on his first day in office that his government's priority was to restore the confidence of the international community in Thailand by showing the world that the country can - in spite of political differences - pull off a successful and peaceful Asean Summit. With the cooperation of the red-clad protesters, the government did manage to host a peaceful Asean Summit from February 27 to March 1 in Cha-am.

Now, Thais are worried about what will happen next in Bangkok and at today's Asean+3 and Asean+6 summits in Pattaya, for it not only affects the government's ability to operate but severely tarnishes the country's image in the international community.

Jatuporn Promphan, one of the red-shirt leaders, said yesterday that the political struggle had moved into a final showdown in which there must be a winner and a loser. "Anything can happen today or tomorrow," he said.

As of press time, while the traffic blockade continued, the red-shirted protesters were unable to claim victory. However, the whole country is already a casualty of this incident, just as when the nation suffered as a result of the Suvarnabhumi Airport seizure. The majority of Thais have been caught in the middle, and just as they had started to recover from the airport infamy, everything threatens to return to square one again.

This kind of incident is supposed to teach Thais a lot of lessons. Sadly, there is glaring evidence that we, as a nation, always struggle to learn valuable things from history, and that instead of looking up to good examples, we tend to emulate the bad ones that we all pretend to deplore.