Yellow shirts fade slowly

Today is Monday. Every Monday since 2006, Thai people have diligently and loyally worn yellow t-shirts to honour the King. Yellow is also the colour of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the group that led a "people's movement" to overthrow Thaksin's government in favour of a military coup in the name of restoring dignity to the throne and democracy to the country. Today, however, we all noted a significant decline in the number of people wearing yellow. This is their silent, symbollic gesture of disapproval at the PAD's more recent violent behaviour and tactics.

PAD rally, source: AFP

The current political crisis in Thailand is incredibly disturbing, the PAD (despite their name) seek to end electoral democracy in this country and vow not to stop their fight until the government is dissolved and replaced with a parliament consisting of 30% elected officials and 70% appointed officials by the, uh, "Establishment". 2 years ago, they had mass support to the extent that most in the country believed a coup was necessary and justified - and now they have managed to make a nation of yellow fanatics reach for a new colour in their closet.

Though the protests have gotten violent, for the general public it is business-as-usual. We won't ever see the conflict spill to the rest of the city, I mean, god forbid the urban educated middle class get involved! God forbid they have an opinion they wish to express! What is being overlooked, however, is that something much worse is about to occur: the entire democratic process and institutions of the country are at stake.

Human rights groups and democracy activists are fighting each other, reflecting a highly polarised and divided country. This is the time when human rights groups and progressive academics should be coming out as a strong, united third voice to condemn both the PAD and the government and push for reform, but the factions are deep and feelings have been hurt and I fear they will never be resolved.

It's honestly a really dark time for Thailand at the moment, it is hard to be optimistic.