Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej heads an elected, legitimate, government. An election eight months ago gave his People Power Party an overwhelming mandate to rule. The coalition he heads has an almost two-thirds majority of the seats in parliament. Protesters who are grinding the economy and politics to a halt to force him from office clearly do not believe the country deserves democracy.
The leaders of the protests contend that corruption and vote-buying were behind the election win. They made the same claim when orchestrating protests that led to a military coup that toppled Mr Samak's predecessor and ally, Thaksin Shinawatra, almost two years ago. The junta rolled back democracy by changing the constitution to ensure that half of the Senate was appointed. Those behind the protests want it to be put back even more by having 70 per cent of the House of Representatives hand-picked.
Their argument is that the electorate is poorly educated, ill-informed and vulnerable to manipulation - and therefore not in a position to make responsible political judgments. The rationale is that the political system is so corrupt and vulnerable to the power of money that Thailand is not really ready for western-style democracy.
It is true that all of the country's democratically elected governments have taken power through a degree of electoral malpractice. This is obviously not ideal, but whatever the problems with the process, the will of the people has been reflected. There is no credible argument that the election that brought Mr Samak or Thaksin to power was the result of gross manipulation.
There is nothing legitimate about the manner in which the protesters are trying to push Mr Samak from office. Protests are a legitimate means of getting a message to authorities, but they must be peaceful and, if possible, part of a negotiation process. No such consideration was given when, last Tuesday, the three-month-old demonstrations escalated from street protests to the storming of a television station, several ministries and the government's headquarters, Government House. Protesters have barricaded themselves in the latter and furthered the unlawful nature of their criticism by shutting down three provincial airports, two in prime tourist destinations. Nine protest leaders have refused to hand themselves in to police, as the government has demanded.
Thailand's biggest industry, tourism, is being affected by the protests. The stock market has fallen almost one-quarter since the demonstrations began. The currency, the baht, hit a nine-month low against the US dollar last week and continuing uncertainty is likely to keep it down. With Mr Samak unable to force his opponents to climb down and their refusal to rationally negotiate, the outlook is bleak.
