Only one end to Thailand’s political conflict

As much as people Thai or other don’t want to admit it, the only end to Thailand’s political conflict is getting Thaksin Shinawatra out of the picture. Putting him in jail will not be enough to quell the conflict, he must be forever removed as an option.

There is little doubt by anyone that is remotely familiar with the political situation that Thaksin is the center of Thailand’s problems. There are such strong opinions about him being positive or negative, the area for compromise is non existent. Because of this the only way to bring political conflict to an end is to bring an end to Thaksin.

The Pheu Thai Party (PTP) if elected to power in July will set out on it’s first and only task to reinstall Thaksin to power. That means overriding the courts convictions and putting Thaksin above the law, and ultimately above the King. Even the King must obey the laws of Thailand as set by the Constitution, but Thaksin will have no part of any laws that restrict him.

Morally and ethically this can never be allowed to happen, and that is one of the key points of the political conflict. If Thaksin is above the law, then there is no law. There is no doubt in people’s minds that Thaksin will become a dictator if he is above the law. That is the one constant wherever a dictator is in power. Any attempt to invoke law will quickly be stopped one way or the other with unpleasant consequences for the person or people who cited the law. That simply makes Thaksin too much a danger to have around, and that simply will seal his fate.

Because of this unfortunate formula, the only way to end the conflict is to kill Thaksin. Once he is removed as an option the two opposite sides will reunite as one Thai people looking for what is best for Thailand. It is simple math and even simple chemistry when you come and think about it. It is the only answer. If Thaksin was in jail, there would be efforts to free him, and that would allow the conflict to continue.

Thaksin has put himself in this position because of his self serving arrogance. The normal response would be to increase measures to curb the arrogance until compliance is achieved. In the case of Thaksin, is seems curbing of his behavior is beyond Thaksin himself, and that simply means going to the extreme measure of killing him to get him to comply.

This is the unfortunate reality Thailand faces, and it seems many Thais have already concluded this. Even students can see this and would seek a third option if there was one. But short of one or a few colorful politicians from another party, there are few choices. Even if a third party came to power, Thaksin would remain and redirect his efforts against that Third party causing the conflict to continue.


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