<p><span class="texto1">BANGKOK, Sep 5 (IPS) - On first impressions, Thailand&rsquo;s political crisis appears to be an attempt to shape the future of democracy in a kingdom that has witnessed 18 military coups. But the anger that drives a protest movement to topple an elected administration has pitted it against the old media order.</span></p>

<p>The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry has detected more than 1,200 websites that violated the Computer Crime Act - of which 344 had content deemed insulting to the monarchy. </p>

<p>Now that Bangkok is under a state of emergency, one of the big questions is what will happen to the People&#39;s Alliance for Democracy mouthpiece, ASTV satellite television?</p>

<p> Over the past three years, Thai politics has degenerated from the tyranny of a majority under former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to that of a minority led by the People&#39;s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). </p>

<p>&quot;Because last night there was unrest affecting the peaceful law and order in the country and obstructing the democratic process, the government has declared a state of emergency, which will affect people&#39;s individual freedoms,&quot; an announcement on state radio said.</p>

<p>Advocates of media reform in Thailand have a long road ahead in their quest for democratisation of the Fourth Estate. Libel suits, self-censorship, profit-oriented mass media, cyber &#39;Big Brother&#39; &mdash; these are just some of the challenges that the media face these days. </p>

<p>After the PAD&#39;s armed guards forced the police out in the early hours of this morning I <a href="http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/2008/08/change-for-pad.html">wondered </a>how long the government could tolerate this. It seems not long.&nbsp; <strong><a href="http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/2008/08/police-start-to-move.html">Update...</a></strong></p>

<p>What the hell are the guys from PAD trying to prove with all of this? With every update that I read, PAD increasingly comes across as a bunch of lunatics. Is this supposed to win the hearts of the people? It&rsquo;s an ugly, ungraceful attempt to do something, but it&rsquo;s unclear exactly what the goal is here. I think PAD is shooting itself in the foot here. </p>

<p><a href="http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/2008/08/pad-tries-to-win-silent-majority.html"><span>UPDATE</span>: For updates see below</a> </p>

<p>The rule of law has been getting talked up in Thailand a lot since the former prime minister&rsquo;s wife, Pojaman Shinawatra, lost a criminal case before a special bench of the Supreme Court, and her husband skipped both town and bail prior to a hearing against him too. </p>

<p>The visit of George W Bush to Bangkok early this month to mark the 175th anniversary of relations between Thailand and the United States drew great attention to the Burmese pro-democracy communities in Thailand. </p>

<p>Almost a year has passed since the day Burma&rsquo;s military regime suddenly upped fuel prices without telling anyone, triggering off a series of small protests that led to some bigger ones, and finally, the really big ones that for a few days in September captured the world&rsquo;s headlines. </p>