The red shirts have descended upon Bangkok as promised and the government has withstood their demand for House dissolution as expected. Now the burning question is - how will this drama end?
Though Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has rejected the red-shirts' ultimatum for a snap election, his remarks have been conciliatory in nature.
Abhisit said that after consulting his coalition partners, the government had decided it was impractical to have the House dissolved by noon yesterday as demanded by the red shirts.
However, he said, this did not mean that he and his partners would not listen to the people.
"House dissolution is the normal channel taken to resolve a parliamentary conflict or a political crisis that can be settled through elections," he explained. Yet, he said, this time elections would not end the political divide because the red shirts also believe that the turmoil involves a lot more than just a change of government.
According to Abhisit, if elections are indeed held then they should take place in an atmosphere of peace.
He was alluding to the harassment tactics of the red shirts denying Democrats the right to campaign in the North and the Northeast.
The bottom line is that the government seems to be ready to negotiate and pave the way for early elections even though an immediate dissolution of the House might not be practical. Many see a strong possibility for balloting in November or December.
On the other hand, red-shirt leader Natthawut Saikua is threatening to intensify the protests. The red shirts are apparently going to start off by spraying Government House with a million cubic centimetres of their blood today. If the government continues ignoring their demands, then another million cubic centimetres of blood will be used to soak the Democrat Party headquarters, and another million cubic centimetres thrown into the compound of Abhisit's home.
The red shirts are hoping that the 3,000 litres of their blood will bring about political change.
Fortunately, despite the fiery rhetoric, lines of communication between the government and the red shirts remain open. This is a good sign because both sides obviously don't want to burn any bridges.
Still, the massive presence of the red clad rural poor is a clear sign that mainstream politics has failed to meet the expectations of villagers.
Political parties and existing political mechanisms are undeniably dominated by the upper crust of society, with the political pie being shared by the middle class and urban workers, while the rural poor are left feeling hungry and cheated. Therefore, they can't help but believe that prosperity is only shared among a select few.
Many foot soldiers took turns at speaking on the main red-shirt rally stage at Phan Fah Bridge. They were nobodies who sounded uncouth and sometimes incoherent. Still they were speaking from the heart about the same thing - injustice.
It is a gross misjudgement to assume that the majority of the rural red shirts have fallen prey to the anti-government propaganda machine to rally for the individual interests of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Unfortunately, Thaksin and his cohorts are exploiting the growing political consciousness in rural Thailand for personal gain.
The poor want to be heard and win recognition as a political force. So far, mainstream politicians have only wooed them for votes, but have left them out of the decision-making process.
In 1992, villagers came to Bangkok for the first time to rally against the construction of dams and ended up having to camp out for months.
How many more times do they have to march to the capital to overcome their powerlessness?
