Thailand oh Thailand

Thailand is very popular in Indonesia, not only because it is, like Indonesia, a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), but also because many of its agricultural and industrial products are consumed in Indonesia.

For example in Jakarta, Thailand's Durian Monthong and other fruits are very popular and widely sold at supermarkets,  its cars are used by many people, it's restaurants are available in so many places.

Further, Thailand's capital city Bangkok and popular tourists resorts like Pataya and Phuket have became favorite destinations for many Indonesians.

Furthermore, the military forces in Thailand tend to have their attention focused on the government, thus quite similar to the condition in Indonesia (especially until 1998).

For the above reasons, I felt so sad when I heard and saw the news about the social-political unrest that has been going on for the last few months in Thailand.

Please find below an article about the latest development in Thailand quoted from The Jakarta Post.

Hopes raised for brokered talks in Thai chaos

Vijay Joshi, The Associated Press, Bangkok | Tue, 05/18/2010 12:39 PM | World

Hopes rose Tuesday for an end to deadly mayhem in Thailand's capital as leaders of a protest movement occupying central Bangkok said they would unconditionally accept an offer by the Thai Senate to mediate talks.

Scattered violence continued Tuesday in the standoff between soldiers and anti-government Red Shirt protesters that has killed 37 people in the past six days.

The country's upper house of Parliament on Monday offered to broker negotiations between the warring sides providing they both stopped that fighting that has transformed large swaths of downtown Bangkok to a war zone.

A Red Shirt leader, Weng Tojirakarn, told a news conference "we accept the proposal from the Senate." Another protest leader, Nattawut Saikua, said, "It would not be right if I set conditions for the Senate."

It was not immediately known whether the government had agreed to the Senate talks

In perhaps the most hopeful of recent signs that Thailand's two-month-long crisis could be resolved, both sides Monday evening also revealed that the government's chief negotiator and a Red Shirt leader had discussed negotiations in a mobile telephone call.

But previous attempts to negotiate an end to the standoff - which has destabilized a country once regarded as one of Southeast Asia's most stable democracies - have failed. A government offer earlier this month to hold November elections foundered after protest leaders made more demands.

Meanwhile, violence continued unabated on Bangkok's streets with security forces arresting a 12-year-old boy Tuesday morning for allegedly setting fire to several houses during the mayhem.

At least 37 people - mostly civilians - have been killed and 266 wounded since the government began a blockade last Thursday on a sprawling protesters' camp in the heart of Bangkok. Most of the unrest has flared outside the camp, with troops firing live ammunition at roaming protesters who have lit tires to hide their positions.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's administration gave the anti-government demonstrators, who have been entrenched in the upscale Rajprasong district for more than a month, a Monday afternoon deadline to leave or face two-year prison terms.

By Tuesday, there was still no exodus among the estimated 3,000 protesters remaining at the camp, and no sign of troops trying to break through their tire-and-bamboo barricades.

The Red Shirts, many of whom hail from the impoverished north and northeast, have been rallying in the city since March 12 in attempts to unseat Abhisit and force immediate elections. They say the coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it symbolizes a national elite indifferent to their plight.