But Thitinan said there was inference of some royal backing for the PAD when Queen Sirikit attended the funeral of a protester killed in massive clashes with police on Oct. 7.
With no official word from the palace on the current disputes, the government and military both appear cautious of taking steps to remove the protesters from the airport before the king’s traditional birthday speech due this week.
Thailand’s powerful army chief called on Somchai to dissolve parliament to end the crisis and also told protesters to abandon the airports they hold, but both have rejected his comments.
The PAD, military and the conservative establishment “would rather see total chaos in Thailand rather than allow democracy to function,” analyst Giles Ji Ungpakorn wrote on Wednesday in the Asia Sentinel, a Web-based publication.
Baker said that support for the PAD was dwindling as its tactics became more disruptive, adding that the movement was now in its “death throes.”
But he warned that while the rancor unleashed by the 2006 coup remained unresolved “it will take some time to get things back on track.”
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