Thailand Update

The Thai Supreme Court disbanded most all of the conservative parties today for vote fraud, and suspended about 40 top politicians. Of course, the remaining several hundred members of the Thai Parliament (as well as all of the suspended politicians' brothers, sons, and wives) are still eligible to hold office. There is already the "Pheua Thai" party waiting in the wings as a "reserve vehicle" for all the now-partyless members to join.

In other words, nothing has changed... but a lot has changed.

The yellow shirts are still sitting in the airport refusing to leave until every single politician they don't like is removed from office and is forbidden from electioneering ever again. Obviously, that's not going to happen, so now they are holding one of Asia's most important airports hostage with a demand that can never be met. The military supports the yellow shirts because they want power for themselves, so the protesters aren't leaving that airport without some new pressure on them to leave.

Now it gets ugly.

Enter the red shirts: The supporters of the disbanded conservative parties. Now they're pissed, and they're bigger than the yellow shirts. Add to that the massive millions of Thai people who are seeing their incomes hurt because of a few thousand yellow shirt people sitting in an airport for what is no longer a good reason, and you've got all the makings for a good old fashioned civil war: Red shirts and most Thai people on one side, yellow shirts and the military on the other.

Read all about it in this excellent article.