<p>One week after Thai soldiers clashed with rioting pro-democracy &ldquo;red shirt&rdquo; protesters on the streets of Bangkok the country is still governed under the state of emergency decree imposed by Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.</p> <p>The emergency declaration bans gatherings of more than five people for political purposes, censors news reports considered threatening to public order, and allows for the use of the Thai military to quell unrest.</p>

<p>One of the leaders of the &quot;red-shirt&quot; protest movement in Thailand has promised to continue a clandestine campaign against the government.</p>

<p>&nbsp;The Doha Centre has given financial aid to the family of Suwicha Thakor, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for insulting the monarchy in postings online.</p>

<p>Thailand's anti-government movement will stage new protest actions in the next few days following a military crackdown that ended deadly rioting last week, the movement's fugitive leader said Monday.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Jakrapob Penkair also said the violence unleashed at the protests was instigated by military agents disguised as demonstrators in an effort to discredit their movement.<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p>It's not just red shirts vs yellow shirts; there are many players behind scenes.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> The current political turmoil is not as simple as a power struggle between the Democrat-led government and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The battlefield also has several other factions that have jumped in for other purposes.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> The two colours - yellow and red - seen fighting over the past couple of years, do not reflect the complete picture. There are also some other players behind the scenes.<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p>BANGKOK, Apr 19 (IPS) - When the Thai government imposed an emergency law cracking down on rampaging red-shirted protesters on the streets of Bangkok, the military, in combat gear, was not its only weapon. The state&rsquo;s censors were given liberty to silence critical media.</p>

<p>While most of technology pundits were debating&nbsp;<a href="http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/07/moldovas_twitter_revolution">the role of Twitter in stirring Moldova's protests</a>, we may have missed how it was used (and misused!) in Thailand, where much larger&nbsp;<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7994465.stm">protests&nbsp;</a>were taking place.</p>

<p>The government may be sending the red-shirted Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship underground by shutting pro-DAAD media and end up risking a backlash, free-media activist Supinya Klangnarong warned yesterday.</p> <p>The warning came as 66 pro-red-shirt Internet websites were blocked, scores of community radios silenced and the London-based Economist magazine taken out of circulation for the third time.<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p>Monday was the Thai New Year, a public holiday. Normally you would see people in the streets, having fun and, in keeping with tradition, throwing water at one another. But this year hardly anyone was celebrating in downtown Bangkok. Instead, protesters were clashing with soldiers; at least two people were killed and scores were wounded. I had never seen anything like it. This was raw anger, expressed in wanton violence.<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p>Despite repeated insistence by the government that no red-shirt protesters were killed during the two-day crackdown, the Student Federation of Thailand (SFT) and some political activists remained unconvinced. They set up a centre for missing protesters yesterday.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> They suspect dozens of protesters from the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship may have been killed and their bodies hidden some-where. The group urged people who have any information to contact them.<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p><em>Robin Wigglesworth, Gulf correspondent, interviewed Thaksin Shinawatra, former prime minister of Thailand, in Dubai on April 16 2009.</em><br /> &nbsp;<br /> <strong>Do you think your supporters, the red-shirts, have been defeated?</strong><br /> &nbsp;<br /> Thaksin:&nbsp;The movement&rsquo;s aim is to get true democracy for all. Thailand has been telling the whole world that we are a democracy, but we are not really a democracy for all. It is a democracy for a few: for the political elites in Bangkok who still have a very big influence over Thai politics.</p>

<p><strong>A truce on the streets may not herald a durable political peace</strong><br /> BAR-HOPPING visitors to Thailand are warned that minor brawls can turn deadly in the blink of an eye. The same applies to political violence. Over four days of mayhem, Thailand lurched from a mob invasion of a regional leaders&rsquo; summit in Pattaya to a military crackdown on protesters in Bangkok and then, on April 14th, to a negotiated surrender to authorities. By restoring order, the reeling government, and the prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, won themselves a temporary breathing space.</p>