Protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy in Thailand have seized the initiative with their airport shutdown, writes Tim Johnston
IT IS somehow appropriate that the current showdown between forces that have for years paralysed politics in Thailand should happen amid the gleaming environs of Suvarnabhumi Airport.
When Thaksin Shinawatra, as prime minister, announced plans for the $4 billion (€3.1 billion)facility earlier in the decade, he said it would be a symbol of a new Thailand: forward-looking and open for business. His enemies said it more accurately symbolised his authoritarianism and corruption, alleging that Thaksin's allies had benefited from kickbacks on the construction.
Three days before the airport officially opened in September 2006, Thaksin was removed from office in a military coup.
During the past few days, the airport has become the front line in the ongoing conflict between protesters and the authorities.
Thousands of protesters, nearly all wearing yellow in a display of devotion to the king, took over the airport on Tuesday night, shutting it down and stranding thousands.
By Wednesday they were in full voice. Sitting on sheets on the road outside departures, they cheered and shook their trademark plastic hand-clappers as speaker after speaker called for the overthrow of the government of Somchai Wongsawat, the prime minister and Thaksin's brother-in-law.
Inside the terminal, tourists wondered what had happened to their travel plans. There was chaos as airline staff fled their posts, leaving passengers with no information on what was happening.
Followers of the campaign, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), tried to alleviate some of the discomfort by distributing water and food to stranded travellers. By the end of the day most tourists had left for Bangkok to find the means to take them on the 10-hour road trip to the nearest international airport at Phuket.
Suvarnabhumi was an attractive target for the protesters, not just because of its symbolic significance. Their tactics of aiming for political targets - they took over the prime minister's office in August and have twice surrounded parliament - had previously achieved little and the movement was starting to lose momentum.
The group has struggled to articulate a vision for its "new politics". Most suggestions have involved disenfranchising, to a greater or lesser degree, the rural poor who are behind the government's electoral success. The campaign has proposed a parliament that would largely be appointed rather than elected, or members elected by constituencies based on professions. Neither idea received a warm welcome, even among PAD's own ranks.
Many analysts believe the group has been reduced to trying to provoke a violent reaction from the government in the hope that the military would launch a coup, but the government has ducked the challenge and Gen Anupong Paojinda, head of the army, has remained opposed to the idea.
The move on Suvarnabhumi airport presents a challenge the government cannot sidestep. Tourism accounts for 6 per cent of Thailand's GDP. Any disruption to the flow of visitors will be a blow for an economy struggling to cope with the global economic slowdown.