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Published on July 24, 2007

Those calling themselves lovers of democracy and anti-dictatorship protesters who provoked violence and engaged anti-riot police in a series of street battles on Sunday deserve little sympathy. They surrendered their own rights to freedom of expression and political assembly when they chose to resort to non-peaceful means to advance their political agenda, which remains dubious at best.

Even those who disagree with what the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship stands for and what it aims to achieve have a duty to respect the rights of its members to air their views at public rallies, as long as they stay within legal bounds and their actions don't infringe on the rights of others. The group failed on both counts and its leaders who instigated the violence must face legal consequences.

The police should be commended for their self-restraint in handling hundreds of unruly protesters, who, despite comprising a minority among several thousand peaceful demonstrators, managed to do damage to public and private property when they smashed through security lines and threw projectiles at policemen. Police officers could have applied progressively more forceful measures to halt violent protesters or disperse them, but they decided not to.

Rather, anti-riot police tried to control the situation from escalating further by treating violent protesters with leniency and allowing them to continue to hold their noisy protest in front of the Si Sao Thewes residence of Privy Council President General Prem Tinsulanonda even after they had broken through security lines.

It is widely suspected that some protest leaders wanted to provoke police or security forces into using force in order to galvanise the wider public against the Council for National Security and the interim Surayud government.

Several protesters are Thaksin loyalists, but they have repeatedly denied that their protests are part of a conspiracy with their former boss to stir up political disturbances in the run-up to the referendum on the new constitution next month, and the planned general election by year's end. Thaksin, who is now living in exile, has also denied that he masterminded and funded the anti-military protests.

Despite their claims to the contrary, the behaviour of protest leaders seems to lend credence to public suspicion about their intentions to damage the junta's legitimacy, undermine the ongoing process to restore democracy, or even to blackmail the powers that be to keep them from prosecuting Thaksin on a string of corruption scandals that are now pending litigation.

Impressive though it may seem, the successful containment of violence by police in this instance does not guarantee that a violent confrontation leading to civilian casualties will not occur in the future. Protest leaders responsible for the ugly incidents on Sunday should be prosecuted for their alleged wrongdoings, including instigating a public disturbance, vandalism and obstructing the duty of government officials, among others.

If other protest leaders who played no part in Sunday's incident choose to continue their campaign and carry on with their protests, they must unequivocally denounce violence, if only to clarify once and for all that they do not mean to cause harm to Thailand's attempt to return to democracy. Let's make it clear that all military leaders, members of the Surayud government, and even General Prem, are not beyond reproach concerning their personal conduct or official capacities. As public figures, they can be subjected to public criticisms, so long as these are made in good faith, through rational discussion and without malicious intent.

Government security chiefs also must ensure that their personnel do not overreact when provoked, and that any use of violent force to restore law and order is measured proportionally to the level of threat that not using violence would pose to national security.

Both sides must realise that they are being closely watched by members of the public at large, who understand that the actions taken by the anti-military protesters and the way the government's security forces handle them are part of the larger political drama that is being played out as Thailand struggles to find its way back to some form of democracy. Our considered advice to both sides is: do not underestimate people's intelligence.