Oppositions denounced the Yingluck administration's moves as "illegal." On December 8, 153 parliament members from the oppositions resigned en masse, and joined the street politics. Suthep even set December 9 as D-day against Thaksin and led protesters on a march to the Government House. To defuse the crisis, Yingluck announced the dissolution of parliament and promised to hold elections as soon as possible.

Need for political change

The only way to end the cycle of political strife is to fundamentally change the nature of Thai politics.

The conflict between anti-Thaksin and pro-Thaksin forces is merely superficial. The fundamental root of the Thai political deadlock lies in the conflict of interests between social classes and the unbalanced political structure. The anti-Thaksin camp is composed by the elite class including the army, bureaucratic and urban middle class; the grassroots class, especially farmers from northeast Thailand, forms the pro-Thaksin forces. The former are the beneficiaries of the Thai traditional elite political system while the latter regards the Thaksin policies as representing their interests. Drawing support from farmers, which account for 70 percent of the population, Thaksin won two Thai general elections respectively in 2001 and 2005 and his Thai Rak Thai Party became the largest party in the history of Thailand with 75.4 percent of parliamentary seats, breaking the balance of the country's traditional multi-party elite politics.

Thaksin took the first step to fixing the traditional political system of Thailand, but in doing so he opened the Pandora's Box of periodic confrontations of Thailand's two political camps. Thai politics has not become more functionally democratic with the extensive participation of the public— to the contrary, it has led to more populist street politics. Despite the Thai people's great enthusiasm for political participation, the country is mired in the internal friction of mass campaigns. The vicious circle of resorting to street politics instead of resolving problems within the parliament has finally made Thai democracy the victim of "democratic movements."

True political changes should be based on social and economic transformation. However, in Thai society, public political participation falls short of meeting the country's needs. The common Thai people do not have their own explicit political claims or political programs. They can only continue to serve the elite political class, becoming potential tools of politicians who abuse their power.

Therefore, to unlock the political impasse of Thailand, fundamental changes should take place at the social, economic and cultural level. What Thailand needs to pursue is a more equal modern society, a more fair modern economy and a more inclusive modern culture. These elements constitute the necessary foundation of democratic politics. Otherwise, voting and elections would remain a kind of transitional ceremony while the real venue of political forces unfolds in the street. The ensuing violence could only be ended by the ultimate intervention by the military or the last word of the Thai monarchy, leaving democracy in shambles.

Sino-Thai relations

Although the country's periodic political turmoil has led to grave consequences, it is fortunate that the violence was limited to Bangkok and its surrounding areas and that the foreign policies of the country were not greatly affected. Hence, no matter what changes occur in Thailand in the short term, Sino-Thai relationship will remain constant. The stable bilateral relationship has been highlighted by the staging of joint anti-terror training exercises code-named Strike-2013 by Sino-Thailand Special Forces on December 9.

Thailand has always pursued a friendly policy toward China. The Sino-Thailand relationship is among the best between China and the 10 ASEAN countries. Jeen Thai Phee Nong Gan (China and Thailand are brothers) is the general sentiments shared between Chinese and Thai peoples. And in the meantime, Thailand is one of the most important neighboring countries of China. With its strategic location, convenient transportation and abundant natural and human resources, Thailand is an indispensable strategic and development partner. In the future, China could conduct more in-depth cooperation in various fields with Thailand, especially in the economic field, and take the lead in the construction of a China-ASEAN "destiny community" to create a better external environment for the stability and prosperity of both China and Thailand.

The author is an assistant researcher with the China Institute of International Studies

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