'I ask the public to remain calm. I'm confident that the government will restore normalcy to our country,' Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit said.
BANGKOK - THE streets of Bangkok looked like scenes from a revolution, with no authorities in charge.
In front of the city's biggest luxury mall on Sunday, anti-government protesters danced atop two armored personnel carriers they had forced to a stop, waving flags and shouting 'Democracy'.
BANGKOK - Thailand's four years of political turmoil have been dominated by a group of key figures and groups all defined by their relations to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The following explains the main players involved:
THAKSIN SHINAWATRA: Telecoms tycoon-turned-politician Thaksin came to power in elections 2001.
The encounter reinforced that three years of turmoil between alternating governments and protesters opposed to them seemed ready to peak again.
The situation deteriorated on Sunday, after Mr Abhisit declared a state of emergency for Bangkok and surrounding areas.
The fruitless efforts to keep the peace are inspiring Thais to wonder who is in charge.
The same was true last year, when police and the army failed to take decisive action against yellow-shirted protesters on the other side of the country's political divide who occupied the then-prime minister's offices for three months and seized Bangkok's two airports for a week.
Back then, though, the army was in league with the protest movement, which was aiming to force out governments allied with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who had been ousted by a 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power.
That was all supposed to change when Abhisit came to power in December in a deal brokered in part by the commander of the army, always a key political player.
But Thaksin's backers last week proved their ability to turn the tables, when they were able to bring an estimated 100,000 followers onto the streets.
They followed that up by having taxi drivers block a major intersection and let Bangkok's notoriously congested traffic back up. The blockade ended when they decided to leave; police hardly lifted a finger against them.
'The government and the army are afraid of overreacting,' said Thitinan Pongsidhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. 'They know they would lose the battle if they perpetrate violence.'
'Deep down, some government and military leaders also suspect some police have sympathy for Thaksin,' he added.
Thai history shows that a tactical withdrawal of support at a key moment can often reap big rewards, especially should a coup bring a shift of power.
But when too many players are involved, the results can be hard to predict.
'It remains to the seen if the security forces can control the situation. It is unlikely anyone can because there are so many splits and so many power brokers,' said Charnvit Kasetsiri, one of Thailand's most prominent historians. 'No one seems to be in charge within the establishment, the government and the military.' -- AP
