With his keen international perspective, Anand was probably making a relative comparison between the steep decline of our once strong democracy - as the result of divisiveness and the confrontations between the pro- and anti-Thaksin camps - to the situation in countries that are deemed failed states, where the breakdown of political, economic and social institutions has rendered them ungovernable.

Anand said the political crisis had been going on for far too long and that it was now taking its toll by deteriorating social cohesion and affecting the country's destiny as a democracy.

Who is the main culprit behind this? Anand did not mention that person by name, but his audience knew immediately that he was referring to beleaguered caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

In a democracy, it is pivotal for the public to be able to effectively scrutinise and question the government as well as hold it accountable for its actions, especially those that affect the lives and security of the people.

Thaksin's transgressions over the past five-and-a-half years since he came to power are numerous. Thailand's vibrant democracy has been undermined to the point that it is on the verge of collapse. Through ruthless machinations, Thaksin has bankrolled his Thai Rak Thai Party to two consecutive landslide electoral victories and an unprecedented parliamentary majority.

As the most powerful elected politician in the country, he has proceeded to undermine constitutionally sanctioned watchdog agencies, intimidate the bureaucracy into bending to his well, muzzle the media and bend rules and regulations to his advantage. His tactics have been aimed at monopolising political power and then perpetuating his grip on it, so that his self-serving agenda could be pursued unchallenged and his personal gains maximised.

Thaksin's sinister design culminated in one singularly self-serving act when his family sold its controlling stake in Shin Corp - a conglomerate founded by Thaksin - to Singapore's Temasek Holdings for a tax-free Bt73.3 billion. The public outrage that followed led to his moral bankruptcy and loss of legitimacy as a national leader, ushering in a long and unbroken political stalemate that threatens to plunge the country into chaos.

In his rearguard actions, Thaksin remains as defiant and manipulative as he ever was. He seems to stake everything on the hope that a win in the next election will help whitewash all of his past scandals. His winner-take-all approach to politics is repugnant and anti-democratic. Fortunately, many people have woken up in time to realise that democracy has a lot more to do with political values calling for honest leadership, sound governance, public accountability, effective checks and balances and a free media, than it does with winning elections through vote-buying and electoral fraud.

Thaksin and his cronies may still be trying to regroup and they may even be thinking about staging a triumphant comeback after the general election scheduled for later this year, but they will find that they are fighting against an irrepressible force of democracy. Anand's figurative characterisation of Thailand descending towards the status of becoming a failed state can become a reality only if democratic forces fail to put up an effective resistance against corrupt elements.