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On Behalf Of the Rural Farang.


Julian2

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Excerpt from a WSJ Op-Ed :

 

Those who unconditionally condemn the red shirts need to ask themselves a few questions. Why did this protest attract so many people and stretch on for so long with relatively little violence until the end? Why, as the soldiers approached, were 5,000 people willing to remain in the encampment, announcing they were ready to die?

 

Yes, perhaps camaraderie and a siege mentality helped keep many protesters behind the barricades until the bitter end. But one still has to ask, why do so many ordinary Thais feel so desperate about the situation that they're willing to sacrifice their lives? Why, even in the final days, were people on the roadsides cheering on the red shirts and jeering the security forces? Why are people in so many provincial towns now destroying government property?

 

The easy answer traded among those who oppose the red shirts is that they are stupid, uneducated and paid by Mr. Thaksin. This thinking is a way of avoiding questions about what has been happening in Thai society over the past generation, a way of plugging one's own eyes and ears. But it leads nowhereâ€â€or to another May 19, sooner or later.

 

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"western liberal fantasy of a socialist rural utopia" or the version Kheiu Samphan came up with where you empower the elements of society that have been completely untouched by Western or even modern influence.

 

None of this useless education' date=' rules, commerce, etc.

 

Anyone remember where the Original Khmer got Cambodia?

[/quote']

Strangely enough I think you make a very good point about the Khmer.

I don't think anyone here has affiliated the Redshirts with type of Communist thought or philosophy which was the problem with the "workers/peasant" revolution in Cambodia though.

Wrong. You, as usual, are simply not paying attention to what is going on and who the players are: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE13Ae01.html

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Sorry, I meant on the board.

Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that. I did say later that this type of worker/peasant civil unrest does tend to attract the Commies though.

(Obviously not the pinko commies in this case).

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Excerpt from a WSJ Op-Ed :

 

Those who unconditionally condemn the red shirts need to ask themselves a few questions. Why did this protest attract so many people and stretch on for so long with relatively little violence until the end? Why, as the soldiers approached, were 5,000 people willing to remain in the encampment, announcing they were ready to die?

 

Yes, perhaps camaraderie and a siege mentality helped keep many protesters behind the barricades until the bitter end. But one still has to ask, why do so many ordinary Thais feel so desperate about the situation that they're willing to sacrifice their lives? Why, even in the final days, were people on the roadsides cheering on the red shirts and jeering the security forces? Why are people in so many provincial towns now destroying government property?

 

The easy answer traded among those who oppose the red shirts is that they are stupid, uneducated and paid by Mr. Thaksin. This thinking is a way of avoiding questions about what has been happening in Thai society over the past generation, a way of plugging one's own eyes and ears. But it leads nowhereâ€â€or to another May 19, sooner or later.

 

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Hi Kim, I fixed the editorial. Don't mention it sir. No link currently, but will also fwd to the WSJ, always known for its keen insight into the 'real Thailand.'

 

------- fixed version -----:

 

Those who unconditionally refuse to criticize the red shirts and are determined to defend them in spite of any action or circumstance need to ask themselves a few questions.

 

Why did its leaders push the group to firebomb commercial centers in Bangkok which are not military or government sites but hold civilians? Why did they arm themselves, build bombs and fortifications, and act out with murderous intention -- simultaneously proclaiming to the world that they were a 'peaceful protest' movement? Why did they use women and children, their own people, to protect themselves and serve as a buffer? And in a similar story: Why did over 900 people, including entire families, drink the kool-aid and take their own lives in a fucking pointless gesture for a lunatic at Jonestown, Guyana in 1978?

 

The reds like to shrug off any criticism as coming from condescending elitists who hate the poor. But until they're willing to take an honest self-appraisal at the senseless damage they've done to their neighbors, and by extension themselves, then they're nowhere. And it leads to....

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J2 has his viewpoint. LizardKing has his.

 

And then there's the truth' date=' which may be something else. "It would take authorities a day or two to clear the Ratchaprasong area, deputy army chief-of-staff Dapong Rattanasuwan said on Thursday night. According to Lt-Gen Dapong, security officials have entered the area on Thursday and found gas tanks that were wired with explosives and ready to go off hidden inside the Four Seasons hotel."

 

Rink

 

No matter what Menny Begin might have thought when he was running the Irgun in his younger days, no matter what Bobby Seale and the Black Panthers might have thought, no matter what the Weathermen might have thought, no matter what al-Qaida or the Taliban might have thought, no matter what Mr. Toxin might have thought, improvised explosive devices (such as this) are never a legitimate instrument of political discussion.

I take your point, which seems to be saying what I also stated.

 

You might want to add Abraham Lincoln to your list.

 

Don't get me wrong, I have no sympathy for the red-shirts, they were manipulated from the start, probably greed affected by offers of money and potential power, some acted out of sheer hooliganism, others were just crooks. The government should have acted much quicker, and more decisive, then they did. However, I read on other threads that that is the Thai way, slow to act, everyone has a hand in someone else's pocket, or pockets. This is not something new in Thai politics, maybe on a different scale, but nothing new.

 

We can only hope that the Thai government compensates those who has been affected by this tragedy.

I'm worried about something else.

 

When these clowns showed up at Songkran last year, it was mostly amateur hour.

 

When they showed up this year, they were a lot better organized. They were SERIOUSLY inside the government's OODA (Rink) loop all the way through, including the mayhem and the firebombings at the end. Some SERIOUS planning went into this year's street party. Whoever was really behind this lost a useful resource when Seh Daeng was TWEPped, but I'd be willing to bet he/they have access to plenty more expertise. I am seriously afraid they'll be back again next year, and they will have learned more lessons and planned for more problems.

 

The biggest worry I see is that they know that the government likely won't pussyfoot around anywhere near as much next year. The police will show up to try to clear them out a lot sooner, and a lot more vigorously, since they don't want another two months of humiliation. The Army troops will be locked and loaded with live ammo on Day One of operations, as they will have no interest at all in losing any more troops.

 

The implication is that the Red Shirts, when they come back, will not play nicely at all.

 

(And my recollection is that NO ONE WAS SERIOUSLY HURT during the big Yellow Shirt protests at the airports. I am certain Mekong will correct me if I misremember this.)

 

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I am concerned that if the elections do not happen by at least November, then the "protest" will be on again.

 

Also, why did the gov not have spies to know that all the destruction was going to happen at the end? Are the Red Shirts so well organized and secret about their plans?

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