These views were exchanged at a meeting between foreign chambers of commerce and the Senate's committee on foreign affairs at Parliament headquarters yesterday, during which a number of senators including Kraisak Choonhavan, the committee chairman, briefed them on the rationale behind the current political movement.

Kiat Sittheeamorn of the Democrat Party explained the rationale behind the three opposition parties decision to boycott the April 2 election, saying that was unacceptable to have Thaksin dissolve the House instead of addressing the public about the Shin Corp sell-off.

"We don't want to be jokers as a rubber stamp for Thaksin," he said.

However, some chamber representatives said the current impasse did not bode well for the business sector.

"The lack of leadership is not good for business. As far as business is concerned, predictability is an important issue," said the Thai-Swedish Chamber of Commerce's representative.

A member of Thai-Korean Chamber of Commerce said some were particularly concerned with the future of government mega-projects. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra late January invited the chambers' members to take part in the Bt1.8-trillion public infrastructure projects.

"Korean investors got lost, whether you will go on. I don't know how to answer them," she said.

Senator Khunying Chodchoi Sophonpanich told the foreign chambers that, nonetheless, on the upside, in the future, "The takeover will be open to public scrutiny. Before, most takeover deals were low profile. Nobody understood them."

A representative from British Chamber of Commerce said the current political movements showed that "there's a vast improvement in democracy and a high ethical standard. The recent movements shows an unprecedented strong movement against something that they believe is unethical."

She added that the question for Thais in the future, though, was how to create a structure to prevent one person from having dominant power again.

Although a number of senators and politicians asked the foreign chambers to play a more active role in politics, the representatives said laws governing foreign chamber of commerce prohibit them from having any political roles.  "You should change the law because it's already half-a-century old," said a member from the Korean chamber.

One chamber's rep expressed fears of violence. A number of chambers' members also inquired about the possibility of invoking Article 7 of the Constitution, which resorts to a constitutional monarchy when a conflict cannot be sorted out.

The Swedish member said that sometimes it was difficult to understand the message among protesters, such as a banner carrying an image of Thaksin with a Hitler moustache. He said he didn't understand such a comparison.

A member from the Thai-Israel Chamber of Commerce asked the senators whether it was possible to resolve the impasse through negotiations.

"If Thaksin is re-elected, his government will not be able to function," said Senator Chirmsak Pinthong. "He has lost credibility. No matter how good he will try to prove in the future, nobody will buy it. He's the problem."

Jeerawat Na Thalang, The Nation