For Buddhists and Catholics solution to political crisis requires unity and mutual respect

At present things are getting slowly back to normal. Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport has officially resumed full operations after an eight-day occupation by anti-government protesters.

Thousands of passengers are still facing long delays as the backlog is cleared and airlines re-establish flights. In fact there are still a large number of cancelled flights and those that have been scheduled have been overbooked. Overall it might take as much as a week before any semblance of normalcy is back.

For more than two years Thailand has been at the centre of a never-ending political maelstrom. In September 2006 then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown by the military on charges of corruption and forced into exile in London. His party, the Thai Rak Thai (TRT), was outlawed and he was banned from active politics for five years.

In January of this year Samak Sundaravej, leader of the People’s Power Party (PPP), was elected. His party is made up mostly of former TRT members. However last September he was forced to quit because of a paid appearing in a TV cooking show.

Soon after leaders of the opposition Popular Alliance for Democracy or PAD took over government offices in Bangkok, calling for the resignation of the government, dissolution of parliament and new elections.

On 17 September the ruling PPP appointed Thaksin’s brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat as the new prime minister. Clashes followed with the worst taking place on 7 October when two people died and more than 400 were injured as policemen and protesters battled it out.

Last week protest leaders led their followers to take over the capital’s two main airports. Air traffic was brought to its knees stranding tens of thousands of tourists

On Tuesday Thailand’s Constitutional Court dissolved the ruling People’s Power Party, as well as two small allies, forcing the government to resign.

Religious leaders have also not been spared by the ongoing political conflict.

Last 23 November Phra Payom Kalayano, spiritual leader at Suankaew Temple, opened the doors of his monastery to the leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, a pro-government group.

The opposition criticised the move, accusing temple leaders of openly siding with the government. In response Suankaew’s spiritual leader said that the monastery was open to everyone, whatever their politics.

Phra Payom noted that it is common practice for him to invite political leaders and sympathisers from all sides to prayer meetings. On such occasions he urges them “to listen and judge on the basis of their conscience” and according to the “teachings of the Buddha.”

For its part the local Catholic Church has called on its priests not to get involved in political issues. It also reminded the faithful that “voting is everyone’s duty.”

“We know that no one is perfect; for this reason we must pick the best qualified candidate,” said Card Michael Kitbunchu who urged others “not to vote for those who buy their support.”

Fr Philip Banchong Chaiyara, chairman of the Catholic Commission of Justice and Peace, said that the country’s current situation could serve as a “new lesson’ for Thailand’s society and democracy.

“The true reason for the ongoing crisis lies in the fact that no one accepts and respects the views of others, basing instead their own opinion on personal emotions and selfishness,” he said. That's why we need to promote the values of “patience, courage, sincere dialogue and reconciliation.”

“We are all citizens of Thailand,” Fr Anthony Vorayuth Kitbamrung, head of the Catholic Social Communications Department, said. For this reason we must “walk hand in hand for the good of the country.”