Politics - Thailand: A Year of Living Dangerously

After a violent end to the recent protests, Thailand, a country of over 60 million people, was facing its worst political crisis in decades. For two months anti-government protesters, the so-called red shirts, had taken over key parts of downtown Bangkok, demanding for Abhisit Vejjajiva, the countrys current prime minister, to step down, dissolve parliament, and call fresh elections. The sit-ins had paralyzed Bangkok and threatened to rock the Thai economy, which is the second largest in Southeast Asia. The red shirts have been calling for Abhisits resignation since he came to power in 2009 – after Thaksin Shinawatra, the countrys populist prime minister, was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006.