Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has offered to dissolve the House of Representatives and hold a snap general election nearly a year ahead of the scheduled timeline of December next year. The dissident United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) does not see this, however, as responsive politics. By Sunday (April 4), the UDD, with its record of organising essentially peaceful but also stridently propagandist anti-Government protest marches and picketing for over three weeks in Bangkok, found Mr. Abhisit in an increasingly combative mood.
On balance, the current crisis in Thailand cannot be seen in conventional terms of democracy versus dictatorship or responsive governance versus arbitrary rule. In a simple yet profound sense, Thailand is in a state of political flux.
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