Dear friends of Thailand,
Thank you for caring and following the ‘happenings’ in Thailand.
Please realise that the incident in Bangkok is not a battle between the rich and the poor, which is it made out to look like. This is a battle between the democracy loving people and the Red Shirted people battling for a multi tyrant billionaire who wants his power back at the cost of the innocent rht rural people. They are ‘bought’ to die for him when he himself is nowhere in sight and his wife and children flown out to safety by the second day of the rally.
For the moment I would like to keep my identity secured. Please read what I write and not read into WHO I am.
Frank — I’ll look for my September tape. Does anyone know the easiest way I can transfer it from a videocassette to something more digital?
The airport violence can be seen in links posted on Bangkok Pundit. I specifically recall a photo set linked to Matichon. More work than that I am unwilling to do for you. The guys shooting guns on the highway has been shown again recently on TPBS. There were links to it on many web sites. Including here on NM, I am fairly certain.
Threats? Yes, actually I can , though perhaps they were not as vivid and overblown. There was incitement by a Manager columnist to lynch Chotisak for not standing up during the king’s anthem. It was the subject of a widely circulated petition
Perhaps closer to what you were thinking, there was the not very hidden suggestion by Chai-anan that the PAD movement take to selective assassination if Thai politics wasn’t purged of its bad elements. That was in his own column. Jirmsak publicly endorsed the idea, though I can’t recall the source for that information.
The matter of the guy in the jeep — that’s a very interesting question. I don’t really know. How do you think he died?
I will confess it is an inference on my part, partly because it seems the simplest explanation. You will recall the copious data released about the death of that young woman that same day, including many statements by Dr. Pornthip.
The man in the jeep was just as dead, yet we haven’t seen a single word that I know of from Dr. Pornthip about that. Why might that be? I know she has been asked. Some reader, either here or on Bangkok Pundit, was kind enough a month or two ago to refer to some Matichon article on the case. I don’t have the skills or time to duplicate Dr. Pornthip’s work.
The idea of a documentation project is a very good one, actually. Would you want to take it up? I am sure many readers here would be willing to contribute material. I’m serious, not making a dig at you. I certainly trust you more than a Thai Senate committee.
Isn’t Montesano trumping it all up a bit? “Revolutionary change”? “Revolutionary situation”?
The Yellows used the ultimatum of street violence to try to force out Thaksin; he didn’t bite so they got the coup. And then they locked up the country’s economy by blocking the airport to get Samak out, successfully.
Now the Reds are using the same tactics with their own ultimatum of pushing Aphisit out; or pushing Prem out; or having elections; or bringing Thaksin back; or whatever, arai g’dai. With Thaksin backing them, they hardly seem democrats. And their attacks on Prem are limited to him, not toward the entire privy council or the monarchy.
This hardly seems a “revolutionary situation.” Revolutionary would be the military submitting to civilian authority. Instead it seems like unfocused chaos with the best case one could hope for being keeping the military from taking direct control of government house again. Sure, Thailand might get a new election, but elections have been the status quo since 1978 (with a couple dry spots here and there).
I guess the rest of Asia will rightly see not a tide of revolutionary change but instead draw the conclusion — LKY-style — that this is what necessarily happens when you give people freedom.
Amberwaves: Why is it fight or surrender NOW?
They have shown their strength, why not a tactical retreat to see if political reform can happen?
(They can always regroup later, and will have the higher ground which they have lost or are losing with the blatant lawlessness)
IMO, whatever violence the army may commit, will always be able to be simply countered by showing a clip of the storming of the interior ministry and attacking the PM’s car, so why not go home, let the dust settle, and live to fight another day?
(Thailand has already changed, its not really a now or never situation).
I also feel a bit sorry for the soldiers if they do only have blanks, when going up against the lawlessness & bloodymindedness exhibited by some reds which is CLEAR for all to see.
Abhisit is right when he says:
1. Law & Order
2 Political reform
If that that order is reversed, the country will be destroyed.
That said, I agree Abhisit does really need to throw some genuine carrots to go with the stick now (apparently, apparently not) being used.
nganadeeleg said: Can anyone explain the logic behind burning tires and busses?
I think it can be explained without justifying it. From the Reds’ point of view, it’s fight or surrender.
I think they would fight no matter what, but it is worth noting that Abhisit has talked simply about suppression and not solutions. You could say he has to deal with the emergency at hand, but a vision kind of guy, he’s not.
Pursuing that thought, I don’t think he has thrown a single bone to the Red’s side since taking office, not one real effort at reconciliation. I recall sweet words at the speech he gave to the Foreign Correspondent’s Club — did he deliver on any of them?
I hope you did not refer to me in your post Jim as I hate Sondhi and I don’t watch ASTV. You you incredibly sounds like red shirts in terms of your logic. Anyone who doesn’t agree with you now wears a yellow shirt.
Propaganda? Predictable? Let me be a little more predictable then. Watch the following clip. This is how the fighting broke out in Dindaeng. Tell me if this is also part of my innocent propaganda.
An interesting essay; particularly for its ethnographic value. The right questions are asked: “Is a Thai republic a viable option? Then the Thais must ask themselves if they can live without a national identity. How will they identify themselves with the nation that has been tightly bound with the monarchy for centuries?” Wasn’t it the common feature of most present republics that they were ruled by monarchs for centuries? Obviously, it is not that difficult to adapt to changing circumstances.
Another interesting aspect might be to look at the forms of government established by those countries that are members of the OECD. Perhaps this might provide an indicator on what form of government fits to the modern world.
I also saw khunThaksin was on CNN and said that he want to see everyone to come together peacefully without violence. Oh! It was such a great fake man in the world. He is the biggest supporter for the red shirt group, and i just heard his incitement to the red to stand up and fight for the democracy. He said that he is ready to come back to fight. If he really feels to see the conformity in Thai social, he should not phone in to urge the red shirt every night. Just thinking about it.
^ More Susie Wong nonsense again. Probably a Jakrapob Penkair nom-de-plume anyway. How much longer do we have to stand listening to supposedly educated people telling us that Thaksin Shinawatra is going to usher in revolution? How could a wealthy poo-yai elite businessman with a history of sucking up to the mainman and offing his opponents possibly deliver democracy? Just more mangled logic from those local intellectuals who haven’t yet figured their overprivileged arse from their underused elbow. Do you really think I sat through numerous savage & corrupt dictatorships just to see a convicted policeman buy his way back into power for another stab at being hideously corrupt? No democracy will ever come from a Thai policeman. Or from a local intellectual for that matter!
Looking for some point of views;
1. The comparisons on the army cooperated actions while the Yellow VS Red protesting.
2. The Yellow more aggressive than Red???
3. ASTV(Yellow) is never disturbed while DTV(Red) and Taxi Radio are closed now by Army.
4. The Democracy Party got green for illegal election. The opposite Party got panics.
……
I always thought of Andrew as Neoliberal. Neoliberal is to the right of center in my cosmology. So where does that put Jon Fernquest if he views to-the-right-of-center as the extreme left?
Of course this is all perception from great distance. I don’t know either of them and I’m sure those who do know them love them both dearly. Politics is just one dimension and at this level it is completely abstract as well.
I think the difference between the yellows and the reds was provenance and alliance. The yellows were immunized by the complicity of the military and the police in their drawn out creation of chaos. The reds have always know that the powers in charge are opposed to them, and the authorities have all the firepower. As we’re presently witnessing.
And your last observation is right on. The establishment let the genie out of the bottle, again, with their acquiescence to the coup of 2006. It’s been downhill ever since. The fall back in Thai politics seems to be to turn over the table when you’re losing then scramble around on the floor, in the blood and the beer, for the guns and the money. That works until next time.
The directness of this attack on royal councillors has little or no precedent in recent Thai history. It is tantamount to a challenge of the “network monarchy” through which Thailand’s current sovereign has played such an active role in the government of his country over the past three or four decades.
I just don’t buy that. I view HM King Bhumipol Adulyadej as as much a victim of the “monarchists” as the rest of the Thai people. Leftists, Ji Ungkaporn for instance, want it both ways : blame HM the King for involving himself with the reactionary forces in Thailand; blame HM the King for not involving himself against the reactionary forces in Thailand. You get to be king because of who you are not what you are. I, and I think Thai people in general, have a lot of respect for HM King Bhumipol who stepped up to the plate at 18 after his brother had been killed and who has not shirked his duty in the six decades since, and who has made the concerns of the Thai people his concerns to a greater extent than any of the Thai political class have. The people on the right have embraced HM’s views on a modest, harmonious way of life for all because they see it as the means of preventing the have-nots from agitating to have more, and the people on the left ridicule HM’s views because the people on the right embrace them; but the fact of the matter is that the global economy of the “smart money” is crashing all about us in the midst of this bickering and HM’s views are a step in the direction we will all be taking wily nily. And the people in the countryside know that. And that strengthens the bond between them and their King.
World history shows attacks against courtiers serve, more often than not, as mere cover for attacks on the royal institutions themselves.
The guy has no way of proving his theory so he resorts to the “anyone but a fool could see” “proof”.
Press coverage of last weekend’s demonstrations has left unexplored the bases of this organisation and its network of local cells. It has failed to follow up on red-shirt claims to have blocked roads, surrounded provincial halls and mounted protests across northern and north-eastern Thailand.
Press coverage for the past three years has left everything of interest unexplored. Perhaps for the past three decades. So much is unexplorable when you don’t want to know the answers.
The current upheaval seems to extend far, far beyond the tourist town of Pattaya and a couple of neighbourhoods of the Thai capital.
The press does not extend past the Thai capital and perhaps a couple of neighborhoods in Pattaya and Phuket. In fact, to the Bangkok “elite” Thailand is another country, to be exploited as Singapore exploits Malaysia and Indonesia.
Finally, neither an election nor a mediated process of reconciliation is likely to resolve Thailand’s present revolutionary situation. A free election will return Thaksinites to power, thus provoking his enemies all over again; an unfree election will only stir the red shirts into more intense opposition to the prevailing order.
And whose fault is it that a free election will return Thaksinistas to power? The fault of the powerless many who will surely vote for the thief who shares a bit of the spoils over the thief who will not? Or the thief who will not, and who will instead proceed at full speed for confrontation with the many to protect “traditional” rule of the few?
Come together peacefully without violence? The Reds clearly did not behave as peacefully as many people said, which is not much different from the PAD’s action in the past, and they seem to be shooting themselves in the foot when they allowed Thaksin to be part of their movement. No matter how many times Thaksin tries to deny in the foreign media having anything to do with this current unrest, his actions in the past few days have spoken volumes: inciting the Reds to mobilise via video and phone links. The very day before the Reds started to cause unrest, his family and his relatives departed the country. Surely they must have known that something serious was about to take place in Thailand. It is sad to see a group of people being manipulated by one man bent on attaining his goals in the false name of democracy. The guy very much wants to return to Thailand, to get back to power, to have his money back and to have his conviction quashed.
In Thailand, we did have elections. However, if the Prime Minister has to resign for some reasons (like his party was dissolved due to illegal violation of election law) but the parliament was not dissolve, then our constitution allow the parliament to vote to elect the new Prime Minister. This process was carried out several times in the past to elect new PM. So Aphisit Vejjajiva became the Prime Minister of Thailand through the proper democratic process.
PM Aphisit values the democratic right of the people and Thai people life. The violence was initiate by the red shirts protestors. The red shirts have been breaking laws, creating all sorts of violence (The red shirts’ threat to release 8 tons of gas in the middle of Bangkok is not a way to call for democracy) and causing a lot of Thai people to suffer (blocking streets, burning buses, etc). The red shirts also stormed the hotels where leaders of 10 countries were having a meeting. To describe their actions only as anti-government protestors
Even so, Thai military dealed with the protestor carefully. No one was killed. If the similar riot happens in another country, how many leaders you know would restore order without any loss of life?
PM Aphisit is one of the best PM we had in a long time. He deserved respect at International level.
In he last two hours two monks, two women and one 12 year old girl were shot: The BBC and CNN have been hopeless in their coverage just mouthing the government’s propaganda and CNN’s Dan Rivers- just a useless young reporter who has no idea what is going on. Sad. Pictures are available on http://thaienews.blogspot.com/
(scroll down)…
One thing that I find odd about this chaos is that there is no news from the provinces. If it is upcountry where Thaksin derives most support then why does it seem so calm outside of Bangkok? Is it a case of news censorship? Is it that the Reds just need time to get organised?
I guess that I am saying is that charges of violence against the PAD should be documented and listed in detail with proof and not claims, the same way, perhaps, that should be done for the Red Shirts.
not just for history, I hope, but also for the truth…. and the devil is often in the details, which I would like to ask:
1. “a tape full of video showing PAD guards beating the crap out of people on Sep 3 (I think that was the date, one Red Shirt killed by them)…” I will pay for a copy of this tape if you can provide it. In essence, you are saying that considerable time and a considerable number of people were involved? Or…?
2. “there are photos of them beating people at the airport, the senior PAD guard almost surely blew himself up in that jeep on Oct. 7, etc etc.” Again, lots of photos? Beating people? Left and right or not in a single of those instances defending themselves, no provocation, etc.? Details. Also, what leads you do think the guy blew himself up?
3. I am not going to crack any eggs we are walking over to say that PADs only respond to provocation, but to make comparisons, glib ones, between the two groups is doing a disservice, I believe, to almost all of the PAD and providing excuses to the Red Shirts. This little trick with the LPG tanker is surely a step in the wrong direction? And what of all the burning, blocking of the ASEAN summit, road closings, actual incitement to kill General Prem and Abhisit? I listened this morning before D-TV got cut off, and more than one was up on stage calling for everyone to go kill Prem and Abhisit. Have you heard the equivalent among the PAD? Also, let’s not ignore the man they all love, a killer and human rights violator of the first order.
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Red shirts on the march
Dear friends of Thailand,
Thank you for caring and following the ‘happenings’ in Thailand.
Please realise that the incident in Bangkok is not a battle between the rich and the poor, which is it made out to look like. This is a battle between the democracy loving people and the Red Shirted people battling for a multi tyrant billionaire who wants his power back at the cost of the innocent rht rural people. They are ‘bought’ to die for him when he himself is nowhere in sight and his wife and children flown out to safety by the second day of the rally.
For the moment I would like to keep my identity secured. Please read what I write and not read into WHO I am.
Peace
The yellow lesson
Frank — I’ll look for my September tape. Does anyone know the easiest way I can transfer it from a videocassette to something more digital?
The airport violence can be seen in links posted on Bangkok Pundit. I specifically recall a photo set linked to Matichon. More work than that I am unwilling to do for you. The guys shooting guns on the highway has been shown again recently on TPBS. There were links to it on many web sites. Including here on NM, I am fairly certain.
Threats? Yes, actually I can , though perhaps they were not as vivid and overblown. There was incitement by a Manager columnist to lynch Chotisak for not standing up during the king’s anthem. It was the subject of a widely circulated petition
Perhaps closer to what you were thinking, there was the not very hidden suggestion by Chai-anan that the PAD movement take to selective assassination if Thai politics wasn’t purged of its bad elements. That was in his own column. Jirmsak publicly endorsed the idea, though I can’t recall the source for that information.
The matter of the guy in the jeep — that’s a very interesting question. I don’t really know. How do you think he died?
I will confess it is an inference on my part, partly because it seems the simplest explanation. You will recall the copious data released about the death of that young woman that same day, including many statements by Dr. Pornthip.
The man in the jeep was just as dead, yet we haven’t seen a single word that I know of from Dr. Pornthip about that. Why might that be? I know she has been asked. Some reader, either here or on Bangkok Pundit, was kind enough a month or two ago to refer to some Matichon article on the case. I don’t have the skills or time to duplicate Dr. Pornthip’s work.
The idea of a documentation project is a very good one, actually. Would you want to take it up? I am sure many readers here would be willing to contribute material. I’m serious, not making a dig at you. I certainly trust you more than a Thai Senate committee.
Montesano on Thailand’s crisis
Isn’t Montesano trumping it all up a bit? “Revolutionary change”? “Revolutionary situation”?
The Yellows used the ultimatum of street violence to try to force out Thaksin; he didn’t bite so they got the coup. And then they locked up the country’s economy by blocking the airport to get Samak out, successfully.
Now the Reds are using the same tactics with their own ultimatum of pushing Aphisit out; or pushing Prem out; or having elections; or bringing Thaksin back; or whatever, arai g’dai. With Thaksin backing them, they hardly seem democrats. And their attacks on Prem are limited to him, not toward the entire privy council or the monarchy.
This hardly seems a “revolutionary situation.” Revolutionary would be the military submitting to civilian authority. Instead it seems like unfocused chaos with the best case one could hope for being keeping the military from taking direct control of government house again. Sure, Thailand might get a new election, but elections have been the status quo since 1978 (with a couple dry spots here and there).
I guess the rest of Asia will rightly see not a tide of revolutionary change but instead draw the conclusion — LKY-style — that this is what necessarily happens when you give people freedom.
On the Songkran crisis of 2009
Amberwaves: Why is it fight or surrender NOW?
They have shown their strength, why not a tactical retreat to see if political reform can happen?
(They can always regroup later, and will have the higher ground which they have lost or are losing with the blatant lawlessness)
IMO, whatever violence the army may commit, will always be able to be simply countered by showing a clip of the storming of the interior ministry and attacking the PM’s car, so why not go home, let the dust settle, and live to fight another day?
(Thailand has already changed, its not really a now or never situation).
I also feel a bit sorry for the soldiers if they do only have blanks, when going up against the lawlessness & bloodymindedness exhibited by some reds which is CLEAR for all to see.
Abhisit is right when he says:
1. Law & Order
2 Political reform
If that that order is reversed, the country will be destroyed.
That said, I agree Abhisit does really need to throw some genuine carrots to go with the stick now (apparently, apparently not) being used.
On the Songkran crisis of 2009
nganadeeleg said: Can anyone explain the logic behind burning tires and busses?
I think it can be explained without justifying it. From the Reds’ point of view, it’s fight or surrender.
I think they would fight no matter what, but it is worth noting that Abhisit has talked simply about suppression and not solutions. You could say he has to deal with the emergency at hand, but a vision kind of guy, he’s not.
Pursuing that thought, I don’t think he has thrown a single bone to the Red’s side since taking office, not one real effort at reconciliation. I recall sweet words at the speech he gave to the Foreign Correspondent’s Club — did he deliver on any of them?
Battle at Dindaeng, Bangkok, 13 April 2009
I hope you did not refer to me in your post Jim as I hate Sondhi and I don’t watch ASTV. You you incredibly sounds like red shirts in terms of your logic. Anyone who doesn’t agree with you now wears a yellow shirt.
Propaganda? Predictable? Let me be a little more predictable then. Watch the following clip. This is how the fighting broke out in Dindaeng. Tell me if this is also part of my innocent propaganda.
http://tamanxzg.exteen.com/20090413/entry-2
If anyone care to translate. I’m just too lazy.
Suggest you grow up a bit Jim.
On Republicanism in Thailand
An interesting essay; particularly for its ethnographic value. The right questions are asked: “Is a Thai republic a viable option? Then the Thais must ask themselves if they can live without a national identity. How will they identify themselves with the nation that has been tightly bound with the monarchy for centuries?” Wasn’t it the common feature of most present republics that they were ruled by monarchs for centuries? Obviously, it is not that difficult to adapt to changing circumstances.
Another interesting aspect might be to look at the forms of government established by those countries that are members of the OECD. Perhaps this might provide an indicator on what form of government fits to the modern world.
On the Songkran crisis of 2009
I also saw khunThaksin was on CNN and said that he want to see everyone to come together peacefully without violence. Oh! It was such a great fake man in the world. He is the biggest supporter for the red shirt group, and i just heard his incitement to the red to stand up and fight for the democracy. He said that he is ready to come back to fight. If he really feels to see the conformity in Thai social, he should not phone in to urge the red shirt every night. Just thinking about it.
Montesano on Thailand’s crisis
^ More Susie Wong nonsense again. Probably a Jakrapob Penkair nom-de-plume anyway. How much longer do we have to stand listening to supposedly educated people telling us that Thaksin Shinawatra is going to usher in revolution? How could a wealthy poo-yai elite businessman with a history of sucking up to the mainman and offing his opponents possibly deliver democracy? Just more mangled logic from those local intellectuals who haven’t yet figured their overprivileged arse from their underused elbow. Do you really think I sat through numerous savage & corrupt dictatorships just to see a convicted policeman buy his way back into power for another stab at being hideously corrupt? No democracy will ever come from a Thai policeman. Or from a local intellectual for that matter!
Battle at Dindaeng, Bangkok, 13 April 2009
Looking for some point of views;
1. The comparisons on the army cooperated actions while the Yellow VS Red protesting.
2. The Yellow more aggressive than Red???
3. ASTV(Yellow) is never disturbed while DTV(Red) and Taxi Radio are closed now by Army.
4. The Democracy Party got green for illegal election. The opposite Party got panics.
……
All bias democretic or hidden dictator.
Andrew Walker on SBS radio
I always thought of Andrew as Neoliberal. Neoliberal is to the right of center in my cosmology. So where does that put Jon Fernquest if he views to-the-right-of-center as the extreme left?
Of course this is all perception from great distance. I don’t know either of them and I’m sure those who do know them love them both dearly. Politics is just one dimension and at this level it is completely abstract as well.
So let us all exhale and listen.
The yellow lesson
I think the difference between the yellows and the reds was provenance and alliance. The yellows were immunized by the complicity of the military and the police in their drawn out creation of chaos. The reds have always know that the powers in charge are opposed to them, and the authorities have all the firepower. As we’re presently witnessing.
And your last observation is right on. The establishment let the genie out of the bottle, again, with their acquiescence to the coup of 2006. It’s been downhill ever since. The fall back in Thai politics seems to be to turn over the table when you’re losing then scramble around on the floor, in the blood and the beer, for the guns and the money. That works until next time.
Montesano on Thailand’s crisis
The directness of this attack on royal councillors has little or no precedent in recent Thai history. It is tantamount to a challenge of the “network monarchy” through which Thailand’s current sovereign has played such an active role in the government of his country over the past three or four decades.
I just don’t buy that. I view HM King Bhumipol Adulyadej as as much a victim of the “monarchists” as the rest of the Thai people. Leftists, Ji Ungkaporn for instance, want it both ways : blame HM the King for involving himself with the reactionary forces in Thailand; blame HM the King for not involving himself against the reactionary forces in Thailand. You get to be king because of who you are not what you are. I, and I think Thai people in general, have a lot of respect for HM King Bhumipol who stepped up to the plate at 18 after his brother had been killed and who has not shirked his duty in the six decades since, and who has made the concerns of the Thai people his concerns to a greater extent than any of the Thai political class have. The people on the right have embraced HM’s views on a modest, harmonious way of life for all because they see it as the means of preventing the have-nots from agitating to have more, and the people on the left ridicule HM’s views because the people on the right embrace them; but the fact of the matter is that the global economy of the “smart money” is crashing all about us in the midst of this bickering and HM’s views are a step in the direction we will all be taking wily nily. And the people in the countryside know that. And that strengthens the bond between them and their King.
World history shows attacks against courtiers serve, more often than not, as mere cover for attacks on the royal institutions themselves.
The guy has no way of proving his theory so he resorts to the “anyone but a fool could see” “proof”.
Press coverage of last weekend’s demonstrations has left unexplored the bases of this organisation and its network of local cells. It has failed to follow up on red-shirt claims to have blocked roads, surrounded provincial halls and mounted protests across northern and north-eastern Thailand.
Press coverage for the past three years has left everything of interest unexplored. Perhaps for the past three decades. So much is unexplorable when you don’t want to know the answers.
The current upheaval seems to extend far, far beyond the tourist town of Pattaya and a couple of neighbourhoods of the Thai capital.
The press does not extend past the Thai capital and perhaps a couple of neighborhoods in Pattaya and Phuket. In fact, to the Bangkok “elite” Thailand is another country, to be exploited as Singapore exploits Malaysia and Indonesia.
Finally, neither an election nor a mediated process of reconciliation is likely to resolve Thailand’s present revolutionary situation. A free election will return Thaksinites to power, thus provoking his enemies all over again; an unfree election will only stir the red shirts into more intense opposition to the prevailing order.
And whose fault is it that a free election will return Thaksinistas to power? The fault of the powerless many who will surely vote for the thief who shares a bit of the spoils over the thief who will not? Or the thief who will not, and who will instead proceed at full speed for confrontation with the many to protect “traditional” rule of the few?
On the Songkran crisis of 2009
Come together peacefully without violence? The Reds clearly did not behave as peacefully as many people said, which is not much different from the PAD’s action in the past, and they seem to be shooting themselves in the foot when they allowed Thaksin to be part of their movement. No matter how many times Thaksin tries to deny in the foreign media having anything to do with this current unrest, his actions in the past few days have spoken volumes: inciting the Reds to mobilise via video and phone links. The very day before the Reds started to cause unrest, his family and his relatives departed the country. Surely they must have known that something serious was about to take place in Thailand. It is sad to see a group of people being manipulated by one man bent on attaining his goals in the false name of democracy. The guy very much wants to return to Thailand, to get back to power, to have his money back and to have his conviction quashed.
On the Songkran crisis of 2009
In Thailand, we did have elections. However, if the Prime Minister has to resign for some reasons (like his party was dissolved due to illegal violation of election law) but the parliament was not dissolve, then our constitution allow the parliament to vote to elect the new Prime Minister. This process was carried out several times in the past to elect new PM. So Aphisit Vejjajiva became the Prime Minister of Thailand through the proper democratic process.
PM Aphisit values the democratic right of the people and Thai people life. The violence was initiate by the red shirts protestors. The red shirts have been breaking laws, creating all sorts of violence (The red shirts’ threat to release 8 tons of gas in the middle of Bangkok is not a way to call for democracy) and causing a lot of Thai people to suffer (blocking streets, burning buses, etc). The red shirts also stormed the hotels where leaders of 10 countries were having a meeting. To describe their actions only as anti-government protestors
Even so, Thai military dealed with the protestor carefully. No one was killed. If the similar riot happens in another country, how many leaders you know would restore order without any loss of life?
PM Aphisit is one of the best PM we had in a long time. He deserved respect at International level.
Battle at Dindaeng, Bangkok, 13 April 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyj-g8XI4xk
Thaksin is broadcasting how his money can buy his own type of democracy.
For whoever supports Thaksin here, you better go there and receive your 500 bahts cheque.
Photos of the crisis in Thailand
In he last two hours two monks, two women and one 12 year old girl were shot: The BBC and CNN have been hopeless in their coverage just mouthing the government’s propaganda and CNN’s Dan Rivers- just a useless young reporter who has no idea what is going on. Sad. Pictures are available on http://thaienews.blogspot.com/
(scroll down)…
On the Songkran crisis of 2009
One thing that I find odd about this chaos is that there is no news from the provinces. If it is upcountry where Thaksin derives most support then why does it seem so calm outside of Bangkok? Is it a case of news censorship? Is it that the Reds just need time to get organised?
Anyone got any ideas?
The yellow lesson
I guess that I am saying is that charges of violence against the PAD should be documented and listed in detail with proof and not claims, the same way, perhaps, that should be done for the Red Shirts.
The yellow lesson
not just for history, I hope, but also for the truth…. and the devil is often in the details, which I would like to ask:
1. “a tape full of video showing PAD guards beating the crap out of people on Sep 3 (I think that was the date, one Red Shirt killed by them)…” I will pay for a copy of this tape if you can provide it. In essence, you are saying that considerable time and a considerable number of people were involved? Or…?
2. “there are photos of them beating people at the airport, the senior PAD guard almost surely blew himself up in that jeep on Oct. 7, etc etc.” Again, lots of photos? Beating people? Left and right or not in a single of those instances defending themselves, no provocation, etc.? Details. Also, what leads you do think the guy blew himself up?
3. I am not going to crack any eggs we are walking over to say that PADs only respond to provocation, but to make comparisons, glib ones, between the two groups is doing a disservice, I believe, to almost all of the PAD and providing excuses to the Red Shirts. This little trick with the LPG tanker is surely a step in the wrong direction? And what of all the burning, blocking of the ASEAN summit, road closings, actual incitement to kill General Prem and Abhisit? I listened this morning before D-TV got cut off, and more than one was up on stage calling for everyone to go kill Prem and Abhisit. Have you heard the equivalent among the PAD? Also, let’s not ignore the man they all love, a killer and human rights violator of the first order.