Another long night in Bangkok

One protest is very like another when the army's called out to protect the government brother. It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity, to be spending the new year under a state of emergency. In Thailand, the yellow shirts, the party of the middle class, business owners, the military and representatives of the royal family, laid siege to the country's airports last year. This time, the opposition red shirts, the nation's party of the poor, has been rioting in the streets. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency and the country's top military officer has vowed to "end the chaos" currently engulfing the nation and spoiling the Buddhist new year celebration. And the self-imposed exile and former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, whose many moves do not exactly number among the purest, is fanning the flames by saying the time might be right for a revolution. Whatever happens next, Thailand might be better served by having its government turned over to Browncoats.