Thaksin steps up his role as gadfly

Human rights groups were swift to slam the Thai government for extending emergency rule in much of the country this month. Officials cited fears of lingering unrest to justify the move, but the groups accused them of exploiting the emergency decree to eradicate political rivals and silence the media.

Long after the deadly protests of April and May, the buildings gutted by fires set during the riots have not been demolished. They stand as a monument to the red-shirted protesters' resentment of Bangkok's ruling elite.

The government has told Thais to get on with their lives, and floated a proposal for national reconciliation. But 'red shirts' are suspicious: they believe Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is using the proposal to hold on to power.

Further, Thailand's political crisis has been internationalised in recent weeks, with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra urging the global community to intervene. He has accused the Abhisit government of violating human rights, in an effort to draw international attention to the continued suppression of the 'red-shirts'.

Thaksin has hired two lawyers - former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama and Robert Amsterdam, a Canadian international lawyer to discredit the current regime in the eyes of the world. Amsterdam sent a letter to Thai authorities late last month demanding an investigation into the deaths of civilians during the street protests in Bangkok - a call rejected by Abhisit.

Noppadon travelled to Washington and Brussels from June 29 to July 2, trying to interest the US Congress and the European community in the issue of human rights abuses in Thailand.

But there are a number of problems with these strategies. For one thing, Thaksin is not free of controversy on human rights. In 2003, he declared a war on drugs that resulted in more than 2,500 drug suspects being executed. From 2004, he used a hardline policy to deal with Muslims in southern Thailand, leading to a number of civilian deaths.

But the hardest task Thaksin's legal team faces is convincing the Western world, particularly the United States, to change its attitude to the traditional Thai elite. Thai-US relations have been built on an alliance tied closely to the kingdom's old power structure. During the cold war, the US worked intimately with the Thai military and elite to build a series of pro-American, anti-communist and even anti-democratic Thai regimes. Such ties have remained strong even though new players have appeared in Thai politics.

Also, Washington views the 'red shirt' fight for democracy with wariness simply because of its violence on the streets of Bangkok.

By battling with the Abhisit government on the world stage, however, Thaksin will put Thailand under the international spotlight, undermining the prime minister's efforts to restore the country's reputation. More critically, it opens the way for foreign governments to interfere in the crisis, further aggravating an already complicated situation.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore