<p><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'Cordia New';"><a href="news.php?id=789"><font size="2" face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Kasian Techapira on the PAD's &lsquo;general uprising'</font></a><font size="2" face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> provides some insights <em>into &lsquo;the flaws and dysfunction of the existing electoral parliamentary democracy'</em>, and the movement of the so-called People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).<span>&nbsp; </span>He points out that in his view, &lsquo;the PAD's most worrying trend is its stance towards the ethics of means'.</font></span></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">It should be clear to even a casual follower of the political crisis that neither the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej nor the dissolution of Parliament will put an end to the deadlock. And a proposed referendum on whether the premier should stay or resign would likely be rejected by the anti-government protesters. </font></p>

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Tahoma;">Like it or not, either you are with it or against it. The People&rsquo;s Alliance for Democracy (PAD)&rsquo;s latest round of protests since late May is an interesting occurrence, worthy of analysis.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">For the past two or more years &ndash; and especially since the September 2006 coup &ndash; Thai society has been hypnotised into forgetting about its real social and political issues. Instead, the whole of society &ndash; and, most tragically, the social movements &ndash; have been entranced by a fight between two factions of the Thai ruling class.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">Violence again broke out yesterday evening in the vicinity of Government House when two groups of protestors clashed over whose turn it was to hold the country to ransom.</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">So I hope we have all synchronized our clocks, watches and computers as of last Saturday.<span>&nbsp; </span>This was the date when Thai Standard Time came into force.<span>&nbsp; </span></span></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">The raid on the headquarters of NBT on the morning of Aug 26 by a group of anti-government protesters alleged to have carried guns and long knives, has struck alarm among human rights and media freedom groups. </font></p>

<p><font><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">The raids yesterday by the self-styled People&#39;s Alliance for &quot;Democracy&quot; (PAD) on the staterun NBT TV station, Government House and various ministries in Bangkok are pushing the public to decide where they stand. </font></font></p>

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">In her Bangkok Post op-ed column, Khun Sanitsuda Ekachai, whose daughter must be growing apace to cause Mum such worries, rails against the university selection process.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">The world is really a simple place.<span>&nbsp; </span>There are the good guys and the bad guys.<span>&nbsp; </span>And you call the good guys nice things and you say bad things about the bad guys.<span>&nbsp; </span>And it doesn&rsquo;t take long before you&rsquo;re threatening to come in on the side of the good guys to make the bad guys understand that they are in fact bad guys and have to stop acting like that.<span>&nbsp; </span>Of course, they&rsquo;ll still be bad guys, but they&rsquo;ll be bad guys that have been taught a lesson.</span></p>

<p><font face="tahoma,arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">Every day has been a hard day at the Article 63 Enforcement Office of the Royal Thai Police, ever since the Samak government forced through the constitutional amendment on the right of the public to hold rallies.</font></p>

<p><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma">The newly-minted Thai Foreign Minister, Tej Bunnag, hit the ground at some speed, scoring a notable success on his first day at the office. <span>&nbsp;</span>He met his Cambodian counterpart at Siem Reap and achieved the first step in defusing the tension over the Preah Vihear dispute by securing an agreement to remove the Thai and Cambodian troops occupying both sides of the border.</span></p>