© ack Kurtz/Zuma Press/CorbisAnti-government protesters in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Thailand has announced a two-month state of emergency in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces in response to protests that have seen nine people killed and hundreds injured amid calls for the government to resign.
Anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of the capital since November, cutting off water and power to ministers' homes, besieging government ministries, and forcing the beleaguered prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to rule from offices north of the capital in their attempt to oust her from power.
"The cabinet decided to invoke the emergency decree to take care of the situation and to enforce the law," said deputy prime minister Surapong Tovichaikul on Tuesday.
The emergency decree, which will go into effect on Wednesday, is seen as an attempt by the government to instil some sense of law and order in the capital, where main intersections have for the past week been blockaded by protesters and their rally stages and encampments in what they call a "Bangkok shutdown". Security forces will now be allowed to detain suspects without charge, impose a curfew, censor the media, close off parts of the capital and prevent political groupings of five or more people.
But it is unclear to what extent the decree will be used to break up the protest camps, with the minister in charge of the decree, Chalerm Yubamrung, telling AFP there is as yet "no policy to disperse" the protesters and that security officials would not use force against them.
Comment: Ok, so, over there, they're debating whether or not to physically dismantle camped protesters (many of whom are armed)... while over here, they just storm Occupy protesters all in one night, arrest and prosecute them.
One of the protesters' main leaders, Issara Somchai, announced the protests would continue despite the decree as they were within the "people's constitutional rights".
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban defiantly asked a crowd of supporters: "Is it right for them to use the emergency decree to declare a state of emergency to come and deal with us? Come and get us."
To date, Thai police have been largely absent from the seven main protest sites in an effort to avoid confrontation with protesters, who have themselves assumed some of the roles of the authorities, such as directing traffic and providing security around rally stages.
The lack of law enforcement has allowed for an increasing sense of tension, with the protesters' attempts to "shut down" Bangkok over the past eight days resulting in scattered violence, including recent gunfire and grenade attacks that saw around 70 people injured and one killed in incidents on Friday and Sunday, stoking fears of an impending military coup.
Protesters want an end to the so-called "Thaksin regime", relating to Yingluck's brother and former prime minister Thaksin, a billionaire telecoms tycoon who was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and now lives in exile in Dubai to avoid corruption charges that he claims are politically motivated.
Yingluck, however, refuses to step down and has called for an early election on 2 February, which the opposition Democrat party says it will boycott.
Led by Suthep Thaugsuban - who has faced corruption charges himself - the protesters aim to install an unelected people's council to clean up the Thai government, claiming that the current government would be unable to commit to reform on its own. Analysts have warned that the ongoing deadlock may only be resolved by a judicial or military coup. The army chief has ambiguously refused to rule out the possibility of the military's involvement.
When it comes to Ukraine, the matter is very different. Here the talk about democracy can be most useful in trying to oust the democratically (oops!) elected government, who is unwilling to play ball with the western powers and become a puppet. That the protesters are violent and include right-wing nazis is no problem. As long as the goal is reached and a puppet government can be installed that will kowtow to the West and not to Russia, then it is all fine and dandy.