Over the past month the Red Shirt rally in Bangkok was loud and offensive to others that did not share their view. For the most part others stood silent and watched the spectacle until now.
Somewhat like the Puffer fish that inflates itself to make it look bigger, the Red Shirts aggressive approach looked to cower their opposition. With their single demand focused on dissolving Parliament and using violence to force the hand of the Prime Minister, many are concluding the same force would be used to install their people in Parliament if it was dissolved.
By no means would that be a fair and democratic method, and by no means should that be allowed to happen. The Red Shirts have shown how things will go and that simply does not fly in the eyes of other Thais who are genuinely looking to move their country forward and not backwards.
Even the open death threats to the Election Commission and the sudden (Don’t kill me) reversal on a vote to dissolve the Democratic party clearly demonstrates how the Red Shirts will act if the door is opened to them. Their behavior has been identified and it is constant, so extrapolation makes it very easy to see what would happen next. With constants, three dots in a row make a line, and three dots in any other configuration make a circle.
But now the voices that were silent for the last month are one by one speaking up in a growing chorus to not dissolve parliament for the Red Shirt bullies. The cry is also to put them in their place and that place is no doubt behind bars for dozens of criminal violations and ignoring laws like their leader Thaksin does.
It is apparent that the Pink Shirt rally was somewhat successful in stemming the psychological slide the Red Shirts started. The feeling of everyone wants what the Red Shirts want is now for the most part gone. The fact that the Pink Shirts suddenly appeared without a caravan of busses and trucks hauling them in also says a lot as well.
Even the Songkran activities in Bangkok and around Thailand showed that The Thai people would much rather go back to being Thai and stop dealing with Thaksin and his obsession. The anti politics group known as the Wet Shirts that appear for 3 days once a year were spotted in and around the Songkran activities were testament to that fact. Thai people just want to get back to being Thai people and not being forced to wear colored shirts and rally just to keep their country on track.
It is also clear the Red Shirts force must be met with force. They are deaf and blind to any views except their own and require a response they will understand. The Red Shirts and/or Thaksin have chosen the level of the game, and that level is very high with significant cost. Because of that the response must also be at that level as distasteful as it is to many Thais.
