Flashermac Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Yingluck Shinawatra's government is walking a tightrope as opposition against the Amnesty Bill has now gained momentum with various groups, including the Democrat Party and many red shirts groups who formerly supported her, openly launching their campaigns to tear down the explosive draft law. The ruling Pheu Thai Party, meanwhile, will convene a meeting today to discuss on measures needed to address the tense situation. The Democrat Party has staged its rally against what it calls the "whitewashing law" in Bangkok's Samsen Area for days already. Now, it has encouraged the like minded to join its movement. "We are pleased to welcome all demonstrators who are against the Amnesty Bill," Bangkok Democrat MP Ekanat Prompan said yesterday. The Democrat Party's rallies against the controversial bill have now spread to various other provinces as well. A number of demonstrators, for example, yesterday attended the rallies in Phuket and Surat Thani. Somkid Lertpaitoon, Rector of Thammasat University said law academics, lectures, students and officials in the university expressed their opposition to the amnesty bill as it was unconstitutional and against rule of law. The group of 578 academics of the university who signed a petition said they were worried about the conflict in the society. They urged parliamentarians to stop their effort to pass the bill into the law. Chamlong Srimaung, former leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy, led his protesters under People's Army against Thaksin regime from Lumpuni Park to join the group of student and people network for Thailand reform at Uripong insection in their protest against the amnesty bill. A red shirt leader Sombat Boon-ngarm-anong will organise the "10,000 Up" rally at the Ratchaprasong Intersection to denounce the Amnesty Bill. The bill was unfair and unjust for the red-shirt protesters who died in the crackdown since responsible persons were granted amnesty, he said. Thida Tavornset leader of Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship said a group of some 3000 red shirt would come to Bangkok for a training at Don Muang Technical College and they have liberty to join the protest against the bill. Police warn protest leaders to move cautiously, as they will be held responsible for what happen. "Protest leaders must be aware that they must be ready to take responsibility for any consequence," Police Spokesman Maj General Piya Utayo said yesterday. He is also the spokesman for the Centre for Administration of Peace and Order (Capo). He said police were now quite worried about the growing possibility that the opponents to the bill would be marching to various venues in Bangkok. "The marches will affect Bangkok's traffic. They also raise the possibility of confrontations with people who think differently," Piya said. Capo's deputy spokesman Maj General Anucha Ramayanantana said National Police Commissioner General Adul Saengsingkaew had instructed all police units to closely monitor the rallies both in Bangkok and in provinces. National Security Council secretary general Paradorn Pattanatabut, so far, said there was no need to invoke the Internal Security Act to control the situation at the moment. He suggested that the turnout at rally sites was not really that huge. Democrat Party's deputy leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot said his party would work with all people's networks to stop the Amnesty Bill. "With the legislation of this bill, the government is destroying the good governance and good principle in the country. If the bill is passed, corruption cases between 2004 and August 2013 will be dropped," he said. Alongkorn said the Amnesty Bill, if legislated, would run against the UN Convention against Corruption that Thailand had ratified. "Thailand's credibility will suffer badly then," he said, "The country can't give amnesty to the corrupt. Otherwise, the corrupt will keep doing the wrong things. They will think only by acquiring state power, their wrongdoings will be nullified". Alongkorn said the Democrat Party, in collaboration with allies, would hold various rallies to inform people of what the Amnesty Bill would bring. According to him, the rally will be held in Phetchaburi today, in Trat tomorrow, and in Chon Buri on Wednesday and in Pathum Thani on Thursday. "We will go to all provinces," Alongkorn said. Pheu Thai Party's spokesman Prompong Nopparit, meanwhile, said Pheu Thai MPs would today have a meeting as they would have an assignment to explain to people why the Amnesty Bill should be passed. "The Amnesty Bill is based on the principle of forgiving so that the country can move ahead," he said. Prompong also attacked the Democrat Party for orchestrating many rallies in the South. "The tourism season for the South has just begun and relevant entrepreneurs are now worried," he said. Week of protests The Amnesty Bill is now an explosive issue. What will be coming next? - Today (November 4) 9.30am - Core members of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand will convene a meeting to plan its next step in regard to its opposition to the Amnesty Bill. 10am - Opponents of the bill will converge with Democrat Party leaders in Samsen in Bangkok. Marches are likely. 12.30pm T- he Business Club for Democracy will organise a rally on the footpath in Silom Road. They plan to blow whistles. 2pm - The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking will announce its stance. 2pm - The Thai Chamber of Commerce will announce its stance. 3pm - Thammasat University will call on the Senate, asking it to reject the Amnesty Bill. - Tomorrow (November 5) 4pm T- he Chula Network for Morality will hold a rally at Chulalongkorn University to express opposition to the Amnesty Bill. - Wednesday November 6 Lecturers and students from Mahidol University will join the rally at Urupong Intersection. - Thursday November 7 Alumni of Thammasat University will call on the Senate president to express their opposition against the Amnesty Bill. 5pm - The Group of 40 Senators will announce their stance against the Amnesty Bill at the Democracy Monument. - Friday November 8 The Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand will announce its stance. - Saturday November 10 Noon Sombat Boon-ngarm-anong will organise the "10,000 Up" rally at Ratchaprasong Intersection to denounce the Amnesty Bill. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Amnesty-opponents-to-rally-nationwide-30218654.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Thaksin 'prepared to call poll' Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is re-examining his options as he expects the Consitutional Court to reject all controversial laws the government of his younger sister Yingluck has initiated. ... http://www.bangkokpo...ed-to-call-poll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Thammasat against Amnesty Bill More than 700 lecturers, students and staff of Thammasat University on Monday morning issued a statement reaffirming the university's stand against the Amnesty Bill. The statement was read by Somkid Lertpaithoon, the university rector, in the presence of the chairman of the Faculty Council and leaders of the students organisation and council. In the name of Thammasat University, the statement calls for the Senate to rejected the bill, which was altered and approved by the House of Representatives to give a blanket amnesty for all involved in political activities from 2004, including those who ordered violent actions and corrupt politicians, and instead take the original version of the bill for consideration. The university has not resolved whether to join the Democrat-led rally at Samsen railway station, but will leave it to individuals to freely make their own decision. The university may stage a panel discussion on the Amnesty Bill and gather up to one million signatures against it, Mr Somkid said. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/378010/lecturers-staff-students-ask-senate-to-reject-amended-amnesty-bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 when is the senate planning to debate & vote please ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Probably when no one is looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Went to the rally on Silom, it was huge. I mean really huge. My eardrums almost blew. Got myself a whistle to and whistled along ...... I didn't shout the political slogans nor raised my fists. I figured that no one can arrest me for blowing a whistle, but shouting Shinawatra oak pai might get me arrested .... The slogan mostly heard was Shinawatra oak pai (oak pai = get out). Interspaced by government oak pai and Yingluck oak pai. But the people mostly shouted Shinawatra oak pai (they seem to want to get rid of the whole family and I do not blame them). I went from Huai Kwang station at around 11.20 or so and the train was already packed from that station onwards. I arrived about 11.40 or 11.45 or so and Silom was already packed!! Both sides from Saladeang soi to way past soi convent. Must have been 10,000 - 20,000 at least. People really seem to have had it. Even the motorcycle boys in my condo very very hardore reds, have had it with Thaksin. He actually managed to reconcile the nation. Only not in the way that he expected LOL. So we have a couple of major demonstrations in Bangkok and many in the provinces and on Saturday the reds will join demonstrating against amnesty. Meanwhile the TV station that broadcasts talkshows by red shirt leaders has pulled all the shows of red shirts against amnesty of the air. And Weng is now complaining that it is undemocratic. Thaksin is really loosing a lot of his disciples rapidly. What many people do not realize is the huge impact this bill will have. Everybody whom has committed any kind of corruption between 2004 and now will go free! And no one can be brought to justice for any corruption in that period. Same goes for any political crime. This is not just about Thaksin. But really 1000's of people that will go home free if this bill becomes law. This bill is really so wrong it is indescribable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Tens of thousands of protesters against the amnesty bill converged on Bangkok streets on today to demand the draft legislation pushed through the House by the Pheu Thai Party be dropped immediately. ... The statement, issued today, was signed by the rectors of Thammasat, Srinakarinwirot University, Walailak, Suranaree University of Technology, the National Institute of Development Administration, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Khon Kaen University, Chiang Mai University, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Nakhon Phanom University, Maha Sarakham University, Mae Jo University, Silpakorn University and Prince of Songkla University. Chulalongkorn University also opposed the amended bill. ... http://www.bangkokpo...blanket-amnesty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Red TV cancels red leaders' shows This article makes my day http://bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/378061/red-shirt-tv-cancels-shows-by-red-shirt-leaders Pheu Thai list MP and United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) core member Went Tojirakarn on Monday asked AsiaUpdate, the satellite TV station for the red-shirts, why it has removed shows hosted by four leading red-shirt figures from its programming schedule. The four are Sombat Boonngamanong, leader of the Red Sunday Group, Tida Thawornseth, the UDD chair, Jatuporn Prompan, a UDD core member, and Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikuar, also a UDD core member. They all have voiced opposition to the amnesty bill as revised by the House scrutiny committee to offer a blanket amnesty, which they said would allow those who ordered the crackdowns on red-shirt protesters in 2010, resulting in 92 deaths and hundreds of injuries, to go unpunished. Mr Weng said he did not understand why the executives of the satellite TV station did this, saying that this showed they did not support democracy, which in principle does not obstruct but is open to the expression of different opinions. He said he personally agreed to the opposition to the blanket amnesty, which if allowed to go into effect would stop attempts to establish the truth surrounding the deaths and injuries inflicted on the red-shirts. The executives of AsiaUpdate should reconsider their decision concerning the shows hosted by the four red-shirt leaders, Mr Weng said. Mr Weng said despite the differences of opinion over the amnesty bill, all the red-shirts are still friends with a common enemy - the Democrat Party, which, since its inception, had supported military coups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Protest highlights from Twitter by Richard Barrow: http://www.richardbarrow.com/2013/11/highlights-of-pictures-tweeted-on-4-november-of-the-protests-in-bangkok/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 Bangkok Post â€@BPbreakingnews 51s Business groups threaten to return to Silom for another whistle-blowing campaign on Wednesday unless the government drops the amnesty bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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