There’s and interesting story in the Bangkok Post that says a lot about the context of Thai politics.
Democrat Party MP Attaporn Ponlaboot has broken ranks with the official regime line and has publicly supported the yellow-shirted demonstration. Attaporn has said that the People’s Alliance for Democracy has “a constitutional right and they had the freedom to promote their cause.”
He cautions them that their protest might lead to “war with Cambodia,” but that seems not a problem for yellow-shirt supporters. His worry is that such a clash would provide “ill-intentioned people opportunities to create unrest or generate unplanned benefits for the Thaksin [Shinawatra] cause.”
Just in case people were missing his message, Attaporn “accused red-shirt leaders of exploiting their supporters in a desperate bid to achieve their outdated, hidden political agenda.” Of course, this accusation could not be leveled at the lovable yellow-shirted war mongers….
Further, Attaporn accused red shirts as being led by people who are “outdated leftists” out to attack the monarchy. He seems to associate red shirts with Maoism.
PPT thinks this is tripe, but if it wasn’t, then one might want to ask if jingoistic monarchism isn’t even more “outdated,” having origins well before the alleged “leftism” of red shirts.
When the yellow shirts are being touted as a major threat to Abhisit Vejjajiva and his government, Attaporn turns to attack the red shirts. Obviously, Attaporn is one of quite a few in the Democrat Party who respect and align with the PAD, recognizing that the yellow ones did a heck of a lot to get the Democrat Party into power.
The problem for Attaporn and others like him, is that the regime’s backers are suspicious of yellow shirts for some of the same reasons that they hate the red shirts. The elite and royalists hate the idea of any political mobilization where they fear they are not in control. So when the yellow ones are working for obviously elite interests, they are welcomed. When there is another form of mobilization, the elite worries and sometimes panics.
