Red shirts regrouping with no hint of avoiding violence

Some major challenges for the red shirts include avoiding street violence, making their movement participatory and their struggle democratic, growth beyond the personality cult of Thaksin, and transform into a more inclusive pro-democracy movement.

In order to achieve this, well-intended members of the red shirts should first stop thinking that because their opponents - the old elite, plus coup-loving generals, the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the Democrat Party - are on the "evil side", and that they are on the right side, and whatever they do overthrow their "enemies" is fair and correct.

Such a view is too divisive and simplistic. And that's why public reflection by the red shirts and others is greatly needed.

Although the majority of reds were peaceful, DAAD leaders made no attempt to imbue any in-depth notion of non-violent struggle to their supporters. This was, despite the fact they had plenty of time to verbally abuse their opponents, on-stage, for days on end around the clock.

Peace starts with inner seren-ity and a non-violent attitude. One may oppose the actions and views of one's opponents, but without regarding them as the enemy or dehumanising them. This is worth trying - even if it's not simple - because it holds the promise of transforming the nature of political struggle and conflict into a more civil and peaceful mode.

Yet no DAAD leaders have shown any serious interest in thinking like this and continue to dwell on hate speech and hate politics.

In South Korea, violent protest led the conservative government to restrict protesters' rights. Thanks to the DAAD and the PAD, the Abhisit Vejjajiva administra-tion is thinking about this too. Restrictions would affect not just the red or yellow shirts but future protesters.

The DAAD leadership has failed too by deciding things in secret, or worse, simply listening to the very influential Thaksin. The taxi drivers, working class people and a few progressive reds who took over Victory Monument in April, may represent a less top-down approach. But many of these people have no communi-cation with DAAD leaders and some told this writer they don't think the leaders are democratic.

At a recent red-shirt sympo-sium, one participant said he felt the red shirts appeared to be interested only in crude agitation. But given that many in the middle class have supported one dictator after another over the past few decades, people must have faith in the less-educated ordinary people's ability.

But there's still the Thaksin dilemma.

The illegitimate overthrowing of Thaksin through a military coup in 2006 has awoken the mostly poor working class and farmers who supported him, as well as a not-insignificant num-ber of middle class. This is a cru-cial aspect about the red shirt movement. However, if the force and angst is not nurtured and directed well, it will be lost.

The reds cannot expect to gain broader support until they come clean about Thaksin. This can start with accepting what was wrong during his period as prime minister, and after. It will not exonerate Thaksin but it will prove red shirts are willing to go beyond the caricature which branded them as a violence-prone mob, manipulated and paid by Thaksin.

A number of "progressives" have openly joined the reds, argu-ing that Thaksin, compared with the old elite, is the lesser of two evils. Their opponent, the PAD, shared a similar way of thinking - but on the opposite pole. That's why supporting the 2006 coup was acceptable or even right.

But as they say: there is no such thing as a free lunch. Apparently, there is no such thing as a free ride (on the back of Thaksin) either.