There’s no end in sight to the strife that has torn up the country for three years. It’s tycoon and former PM Thaksin Shinawatra versus the traditional elites, with the king (and the people) in the middle.

Meanwhile in the south, which has endured an active Muslim insurgency for years, rebels met with the government in Jakarta and seemingly hammered out a deal. But intermittet brutal violence still occurs, such as Tuesday’s beheading.