Their mixed feelings toward the political situation in Thailand are based on democratic ideals and the supremacy of the electoral process - winner takes all. They believe when politicians win a poll, they get the right to govern for a certain amount of time. If they fail to deliver, the voters can reject them in the next poll.

Nonetheless, they see the virtues of non-violent civil disobedience to put pressure on leaders to be more transparent and accountable and make them less abusive. To them, public accountability and good governance are pivotal in keeping government leaders and officials honest and serving the people. As such the situation in Thailand has been viewed as an exception rather than the rule.

Discussions with political insiders in the Bush administration and Congress last week showed a high level of admiration of the role of His Majesty the King and the military, which in their view chose not to interfere in the political crisis. As such, they point out that Thai democracy has been strengthened with increased political participation by the public.

They also view the recent election as voter empowerment as manifested through their support or opposition to Thaksin's governance, policies and style of leadership. The high level of vote abstention also indicated the voters' willingness to use the polls to display their opposition when parliamentary measures are being observed.

Furthermore, these insiders, who have intimate knowledge of US policy and the thinking of Congress, believe the foundation of Thai-US relations remains very strong despite the political uncertainties and slow progress in the free trade negotiations.

What is interesting is that they made a clear distinction between the relationship of US President George W Bush and Thaksin Shinawatra, who are like-minded, and the two countries' bilateral relations.

The Bush-Thaksin rapport hit its highest plateau during their first meeting in June 2003 when Thailand was identified as one of America's friends in the global anti-terrorism war. Bush rewarded Thaksin with the FTA negotiations and assigned Thailand as a major non-Nato ally. Their latest meeting last September was not as spectacular or as fruitful.

Over the past three years, their relationship has been marred by growing discontentment among key US lawmakers over Thaksin's growing dictatorial tendencies and the mistreatment of internally displaced persons, especially the minorities from Burma, the extra-judicial killings and the muzzling of the media. With growing congressional pressure on Bush, especially from Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, the Bush-Thaksin ties have taken a beating. Lugar and his colleagues have written memorandums to Bush criticising Thaksin on his policy on internally displaced people and Burma.

Interestingly, some of them have expressed concerns about the proliferation of street protests in Thailand and the Philippines which could be disruptive to further consolidation of democracy because elected leaders could be pressured to leave office.

But there were also clear references that what happened in Thailand was unique and that people's power in the Philippines was different from the peaceful rallies in Thailand. It is the difference between a banana and a durian, as one of them remarked candidly.

Surprisingly, the role of HM the King as a stabilising factor in Thai politics has been mentioned over and over again. But this time, the focus was on the King's silence. Almost all of them who talked to The Nation recalled the King's famous and timely intervention in 1992 that stopped the bloodshed which led to the resignation of then prime minister General Suchinda Kraprayoon.

They gave the Thai military the thumbs-up for its non-interference in the political scene. The refusal of Army commander-in-chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin to agree to Thaksin's requests on two occasions to declare a state of emergency was taken positively as a sign of the military's complete "return to the barracks".

Both the powers-that-be in the White House and Congress are closely watching the developments in Thailand as this US ally remains a key player in regional affairs. Further consolidation of Thai democracy would brighten the US democratic drive throughout the region.

Kavi Chongkittavorn

The Nation

Washington