The deaths of four children, caught in the line of fire as the political conflict took a turn for the worse, have caused the nation enormous grief.
This latest, tragic loss of innocent lives brings the death toll to 22 since the first clash at Ramkhamhaeng University on Nov 30 last year.
Violence has become an integral part of the power wrangle between the caretaker government of Yingluck Shinawatra and the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protest group led by former Democrat Party MP Suthep Thaugsuban.
Both sides have denied their involvement in acts of violence.
But neither side can refute the fact that as the political deadlock continues, the degree of violence has escalated sharply.
The attacks are indiscriminate, as was evident in the case of the shooting spree in Trat which killed five-year-old girls Lilawan Promchai and Nattaya Rorsungnoen; and the grenade attack at Ratchaprasong which killed four-year-old Koravit Yos-Ubol and his six-year-old sister Pajarakorn.
Those behind these hideous crimes, meanwhile, seem to have slipped away easily as security authorities, especially the police, have been caught with their hands full handling both the rallies and the divisive politics. That inevitably hinders their performance.
What is worse is that as violence continues to intensify, a culture of extreme hatred forged and fomented by both sides of the political divide is also taking root and spreading across the country.
It’s most worrying to see people celebrating the killing of those who disagree with them politically.
But that is not all. There is now speculation about the possibility of the country descending into civil war, of secessionism and armed battles with one another.
Red-shirt leader Suporn Attawong even announced recently that 200,000 young men will be trained to become soldiers in order to protect democracy and “rid Thailand of the PDRC”.
Faced with an upsurge of indiscriminate violence that they can’t control and the possibility of extreme polarisation that will plague the country long into the future, Ms Yingluck, her brother ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and Mr Suthep and his political backers, should end their deadly stalemate now and proceed to negotiate a solution.
They truly have no other choice. Ms Yingluck can hold on to her caretaker status as the “guardian of democracy” but she apparently cannot govern.
Mr Suthep, meanwhile, can go on harassing the caretaker premier but he has no legal or political means with which to unseat her.
Leaving the country in this perpetual state of crisis will only compromise its future recovery and their fellow Thais will end up being hurt the most.
Between Ms Yingluck’s insistence on adhering to the democratic sanctity of a popular election and Mr Suthep’s proposal that the country undergo reform, a range of possible solutions exist.
Those solutions would probably not give either side everything they want but they could at least pull the country out of the quagmire where the risk of slipping into lawlessness is high.
Start the talks now while they are still possible. Contain the hatred before it triggers a civil war among us.
Act now, before it’s too late.