Leading article: Time for a royal intervention

The capture of Bangkok's main international airport by the yellow-shirted members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) threatens to turn Thailand's recent political unrest into a full blown national crisis. The PAD has described the sit-in as a "final battle" in its quest to provoke a coup, remove the discredited Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, and let the army take power. Yesterday, the head of the Thai army, General Anupong Paochina, called for both the PAD and the government to stand down and call an election. Unfortunately, instant recourse to the ballot box will offer no quick fix for this society, which is apparently torn by irreconcilable differences.

The PAD has already explicitly rejected an electoral solution, lacking both sufficient support to form a government and any confidence in rural citizens who, it claims, are too ill educated to be given the vote. Instead, demonstrators state that they will hold out until Mr Somchai resigns, before restoring Thailand to a military dominated autocracy – wearing yellow to symbolise support for their King.

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Though it calls itself "democratic", the PAD's constitutional ambitions are clearly not that. They do, however, stem from legitimate concerns about the ruling People Power Party, which the PAD claims is corrupt, commits voter fraud and whose leader, Mr Somchai, is a stooge of Thaksin Shinawatra – the exiled former leader convicted of political corruption. The People Power Party has red-shirted supporters of its own, who also swear loyalty to the King and have already demonstrated peacefully against the PAD. Indeed, in one alarming development, they have been accused of shooting a PAD demonstrator outside the airport, edging Thailand closer to a disastrous civil war.

This worst outcome may yet be avoided. The PAD's aggressive behaviour has already cost it some support in urban areas and the airport occupation has been undertaken by far fewer than the 100,000 supporters it originally promised. Thais tend not to respect violence. To avoid it in future, national tensions must be eased by the only player in the political game who commands widespread support but has not yet moved: the King.