Reuters has been closely following up the political developments in Thailand amidst conflicting attitudes and lingering tension between the Democrat-led government and the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).
The world-renowned news agency made a prediction on the outcome of the Thai political crisis following the bloody confrontations between the security forces and the anti-government supporters on 10 April 2010, which resulted in extensive casualties.
The forecast of Reuters was divided into five scenarios as follows:
- 1. The UDD protesters were successful at inciting hatred and violence in society.
- 2. Clashes broke out as supporters of the government stood up against the protesters.
- 3. The military ordered a crowd dispersal operation, but the protesters reunited at other locations.
- 4. The coalition government failed, and a fresh general election was organized.
- 5. The continuous deadlock between both sides and the vulnerability of the ruling government eventually prompted the military to stage a coup d’état.
According to the foreign news agency, the Thai government strived to promote the word “peace” in society during the UDD demonstration. However, its effort was futile as violent confrontations persisted while lives and property were lost. Instead, the word “violence” was labeled on Thailand upon series of images disseminated across the world through the international media.
via Special Report: Reuters’ foresight of Thai political crisis