Does anyone else despise Michael Yon? OK, enough about him now...
Latest developments include a possible ceasefire negotiated bet. reds & government with senators meditating. Also a rumour circulating that the full crackdown may ensue at 11pm Thai time (should peace deal fail, I assume).
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/37480/whatever-the-govt-may-say-this-is-a-massacre
Also of interest, this note by Federico Ferrara:
@thai_buzz asked the following: "Do you think every gov should resign, when there is uprising in need of CC measures, as long as the military isn't capable?"
This is a very tough question to ask in terms quite so general, without consideration for the details of the particular case.
I would say three things, however.
First, in real parliamentary democracies, governments often resign for much less than this (sometimes just after losing a single vote in parliament). This government claims to act in the name of the majority. Fine. Then resign and call an election. If what Abhisit says is true, he will have both solved the problem in the streets and strengthened the government.
Second, one has to consider the nature of the threat. If the choice is between massacring hundreds of people and ceding power to a fascist dictator, then perhaps mowing people down might be an option (by that logic, for instance, the Italian government would have done well to consider crushing Mussolini's "March on Rome"). But if the choice is between massacring hundreds of people and having a new election (incidentally, an election under rules designed by your own patrons), I'll choose the latter every time.
Third, we should say something against the nature of this regime. Abhisit has come to power only after the repeated usurpation of the people's will. Rather prominently, his rise to power took place thanks to military intervention and a campaign of protests far more disruptive/costly than these (which, I might add, the previous government handled in a rather more restrained fashion). Abhisit should have recognized long ago that when you live by the sword you die by the sword. Hard for him to now say that the government cannot submit to mob rule when it came to power thanks to mob rule.
So, in conclusion, the general answer to your question is "it depends." But in this case, there is no doubt in my mind that Abhisit would have done everyone a favor (especially himself) had he recognized the illegitimacy of his tenure and had resigned a year or so ago.
