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...Yawning Gap Anger on the streets is directed not only at current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, an Oxford-educated economist, but also at an entire political and military establishment that many in the lower classes believe lives only to enrich itself at the common man's expense. For the red shirts it doesn't matter that Abhisit appears to be a rare clean politician in a country where politics and corruption seem as closely linked as mango and sticky rice. Nor is it significant to them that during his 15 months in power the Prime Minister has unveiled a raft...
...that Abhisit is in office at all. In December 2007, in the first postcoup election, Thai voters cast the most ballots for a Thaksin proxy party. As fears grew that Thaksin might be pardoned by his allies and stage a political comeback, the yellow shirts responded by occupying the Prime Minister's office complex for months and hijacking Bangkok's two airports for a week. They only dispersed when a court dissolved the then ruling party as punishment for electoral fraud, allowing an Abhisit-led coalition to form through parliamentary backroom deals. "This is not a government chosen...
...unlikely that Abhisit will heed the protesters' demand for a snap election, not least because every election since the 2001 ballot that swept in Thaksin has favored the reds. At any rate, the Prime Minister has until 2011 to hold polls and doing so right now - in the wake of a global financial crisis and before his own populist reforms have had time to take full effect - would likely mean career suicide. Meantime, his reluctance to travel widely in Isaan - the impoverished northeastern farm belt where Thaksin's support is strongest - because of safety concerns makes Abhisit look even further...
...About the only commonality between Thailand's two factions is a shared taste for political voodoo. In mid-March, thousands of red shirts lined up to donate their blood, which was then splashed by the bucketful at the Prime Minister's office and private residence. Brahmin priests attended the bloodletting, casting hexes on the government amid swirls of incense. Such black magic, which dates back to Thailand's pre-Buddhist past, might seem like the domain of superstitious peasants. But last year, yellow-shirt leader and media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul placed sanitary napkins soaked with menstrual blood around a Bangkok...
...arrests and torture - are resisting reforms. Also opposed are members of the revolutionary committees, who have garnered wealth and political benefits through their close association with Libya's leader. "There are a lot of people for whom reform is not in their personal interest," says Shukri Ghanem, a former Prime Minister who heads the Libyan National Oil Corporation. "It will not be a walk in the park...