By Nutthathirataa Withitwinyuchon
BANGKOK, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The two-month melodrama of the anti- government protest led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) ended abruptly on May 19, as the "red-shirts" core leaders surrendered themselves to the authorities following a day-long deadly clash between the troops and the protesters.
Disappointed protesters without leadership became rioters unfettered, setting ablaze in the following days Stock Exchange Building, Central World (the second largest shopping mall in South- East Asia), provincial halls, commercial banks, a television station, a movie theatre, telephone boosts and many other buildings.
The political turmoil, already under control according to the government, has left 88 people dead and 1,885 injured, including army forces and civilians, costing country's economy around 70 billion baht (2.12 billion U.S. dollars) and dividing country into two societies.
At the first glance, the anti-government protest, in addition to calling for democracy, seems to be an uprising of the poor demanding for the return of Thaksin, their hero, who was believed to be able to eliminate poverty and salvage them from distress. But in deeper look, it is more a confrontation of the main coalition Democrat party and social elites versus Thaksin and his supporters who wished to restore Thailand to the prior-coup condition. The genuine cause of the conflict lies deeper into the Thai society.
In Thailand, a man is classified by his occupation, level of education attainment and location of residence or work. The northeastern Thailand, with 19 provinces, is where poor people mostly resided. Most of the poor people are in agrarian sector which absorbs a largest number of laborers. The economic boom in the 1980s and early 1990s has led to the improvement of infrastructure and made people in the rural areas better off, but rural people were still lagged behind those living in the metropolitans. The widening of the wealth gap lit up angers of the worst-offs.
Under Thaksin's administration, a range of populist policies were introduced to benefit the poor, such as the 30-baht (about 1 U.S. dollar) health care scheme, 1 sub-district 1 product and low- interest loan for villagers. Rural poverty was mitigated to some extent, although he is not the only one who should claim all the credit.
