Amnesty Opponents To Rally Nationwide

[Flashermac]

Online battle against bill gains ground

 

 

Activities opposing the amnesty bill are widespread throughout social media, paralleling the offline protests.

 

In one popular form of protest on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, users change their profile pictures.

 

This has inspired Kunuch Chutmongkolporn, a senior engineering student at Kasetsart University, to develop an application allowing people to customise their profiles by changing the colour, font and wording on the template, as well as allowing users to include comments on the picture. The app can be found at http://against.splendith.com/. It was launched at 9am Tuesday and had over 110,000 downloads as of 4pm yesterday.

 

This app became the talk of the town among social-media users overnight. The app reached 20,000 downloads within the first 10 hours of its launch, with about seven downloads per second.

 

Kunuch said he got the idea to develop a service to help people customise their anti-amnesty-bill messages after seeing so many campaigns against the legislation on social media, especially Facebook.

 

"The political campaigns looked so serious, so I got an idea of how to relieve stress while doing a protest online against the amnesty bill using signs on Facebook," Kunuch said.

 

His app is easy to use and facilitates all people, even those who have no programming or photo-editing skills. It is designed to facilitate users to just click on the templates provided and select the words "against the amnesty bill", then choose a colour for the sign.

 

"My idea is to make this app simple. Everybody can use it. It will generate a personalised sign within three minutes," Kunuch said.

 

He said the feedback has been good, and beyond his expectations. He feels happy that his development has been welcomed by a lot of people.

 

Apart from the app, whistles have become best-selling products, as they are popular among anti-amnesty protesters.

 

Whistles huge success

 

Whistles were sold out at Som-Jai Stationery Store's Siamkit Building branch in Siam Square. Kanya Ampanun, an employee at Som-Jai's Pahurat branch, said the whistle is a very popular product at the moment, selling out at several stores.

 

At the Pahurat branch, sales of whistles had rapidly increased from just a few a day to many hundred a day.

 

"Normally, we sell whistles to students or their parents, with only a couple of pieces per order. But now, each order is in the dozens," Kanya said.

 

Total sales per day amount to several hundred, up from just a handful normally.

 

Moreover, on social media, people have also been posting photographs of their activities at offline protests, which have been running non-stop in many places throughout Bangkok and some provinces.

 

Meanwhile, Orawan Chuenwiratsakul, an employee of a private company who loves painting, protested against the amnesty bill with her art. She began doing this to protest the Mae Wong Dam project.

 

"Some protest with text, some protest with infographics. I would like to share my opposition through paintings. I express my feelings through pictures. I am only one person, but when we join together to oppose the amnesty bill, I really hope that we can stop it," Orawan said.

 

She also joined in the whistle-blowing at Silom Road on Monday afternoon. She said she would continue to protest through her paintings and by joining the offline protests. She posted protest paintings and pictures of her offline protests on social media.

 

"Now, I understand a lot more about the duty of citizens," Orawan said.

 

 

http://www.nationmul...d-30218916.html

[Mekong]

 

I assure you, this government will never use force against the public, as we are a people's government, elected under the democratic system. We honour the laws, the Constitution and public freedom," the premier said.

 

 

 

 

Considering the amnesty bill is amending the constitution I find this comment rather moronic. But then again Yingluck said it.

[Flashermac]

[Flashermac]

Yingluck takes a gamble, and puts all at risk

 

by Ploenpote Atthakor

 

 

We don't need to look at Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's resume to know that her family's background is in trading.

 

When she broke her silence on Tuesday, saying the Senate would decide the fate of the amnesty bill, she was obviously just trying to buy time.

 

Clearly it was not a genuine wish of hers to lead the country out of a political crisis by aborting the contentious amnesty push.

 

Of course, she and others in her clique might have been shaken by the overwhelming public response against the bill.

 

The massive crowd which gathered under the whistle-blowing campaign led by the Democrat Party in Silom on Monday must have exceeded the prime minister's nightmares.

 

It stood in sharp contrast to previous short-lived protests by groups of anti-government activists, remnants of the yellow shirts or other anti-Thaksin groups which drew just a few hundred people.

 

After this flying start, city protesters, many from middle-class and well-heeled circles, plan a series of whistle-blowing campaigns in various locations in addition to the main protest site at the Democracy Monument.

 

Joining the mass protests, in person and on social media, are people in the entertainment industry who traditionally try to keep politically neutral for fear of a political backlash.

 

Many civil servants have also risked disciplinary action to join the anti-amnesty bill movement, including some in the medical profession.

 

Educational institutions, starting with Chulalongkorn University students and alumni on Tuesday, have joined the chorus of critics. Social media also has been swamped with anti-amnesty bill postings and protest pictures.

 

To me, these phenomenal protests are not about the blanket amnesty bill alone.

 

For many, the decision by Pheu Thai Party MPs to push through the bill at the unholy time of 4.25am last Friday was simply the last straw. The dubious manner in which the bill was passed has only intensified public frustration over the government's recent performance which was already bubbling beneath the surface.

 

Its shameful conduct ranges from the lack of transparency over the rice scheme that has resulted in heavy financial losses and the destruction of the Thai rice market, to doubtful water and flood management projects, to its enormous loan plans, unfair treatment of its political opponents, and so on.

 

The use of whistles reflects an evolution of protest tactics which suit the occasion, while social media has played a big role in ensuring the mass gatherings are well run.

 

More importantly, the protest discourse goes beyond "No to [blanket] amnesty". Instead, the crowd chanted in a united voice "Get out!"

 

However, there is a challenge for the protesters and the public in general - that is how to make the protest more than just a flash-in-the-pan phenomenon. Or how not to deal with it like just another anti-government protest but a worthwhile learning experience.

 

We should make sure we are no longer fooled by bad politicians, especially as this bill can always come back to haunt us after the Senate makes its move.

 

Will the government, Prime Minister Yingluck in particular, learn something from this conflict? I really doubt it and her remarks on Tuesday simply confirm that to me.

 

Like her brother, fugitive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra, Ms Yingluck keeps mentioning "distortion of the government's reconciliation effort" in her speeches.

 

Thaksin himself, while insisting he respects those with different opinions, underscored this "distortion" statement in his latest posting from afar.

 

Both Ms Yingluck and Thaksin should have known that such remarks will fuel public anger rather than appease it. Such a stance is confirmation that they do not have any remorse.

 

Nor will they step back. On top of that, if hard-core red shirts come out to counter the protests by anti-Thaksin groups, it is clear that more political difficulties lie ahead.

 

Prime Minister Yingluck has chosen to buy time. But with her family background as shrewd traders, she should realise that the stakes this time are very high indeed.

 

http://www.bangkokpo...uts-all-at-risk

[cavanami]

...they take a page from the USA senate in their last minute, at AM hours of passing acts/laws that they haven't even read!

[Flashermac]

Asoke becomes another protest site

 

 

 

Organised by a group of democracy-promoting businessmen, the protest is well backed by

office workers in the business area as well as the general public.

 

It was reported that students from Srinakharinwirot University, located nearby, will soon join the group.

 

 

http://www.nationmul...e-30218926.html

[Flashermac]

Petition to dissolve Democrat Party submitted to EC

 

 

Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit submitted Thursday a petition to dissolve the Democrat Party, for breaking the laws and using the anti-bill protesters to topple the government.

 

In the petition to the Election Commission, the party said evidence shows that Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was on the stage of the anti-bill demonstration. Other MPs including Suthep Thaugsuban also showed up. This shows the Democrats’ role in mobilising protesters, which is in violation to the laws.

 

Prompong said that though Abhisit said he was invited to the site, but he is a political party leader and an MP. He should have honoured the parliamentary system, by staging a flight in Parliament.

 

"The Democrats are staging a drama. In Parliament, they discussed only the need of the bill and its name. However, on the stage, they delved into details to persuade the innocent public. Though Pheu Thai and the Senate agree to drop the bill and other bills alike, the Democrats and Suthep raise a new condition to move the demonstration to another level. This demonstrates their true intention to use the anti-bill protesters in toppling the government," Prompong said.

 

 

http://www.nationmul...E-30218929.html

[Flashermac]

Red shirts appear to be biggest losers in amnesty bill

 

 

THE MORE Pheu Thai's leading members and those close to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra try to defend the amnesty bill, the more they sound unreasonable.

 

They have been trying to defend the controversial amendment to the bill during the vetting process to extend amnesty from ordinary demonstrators to all groups in a blanket absolution.

 

The daring move of the vetting panel left people agape in bewilderment. Then, criticism and opposition mounted from both opponents and supporters of the Pheu Thai-led government.

 

But the government ignored the criticisms and decided to send the amnesty bill to the House for the second reading today. The move was unacceptable to even several wings of the red-shirt movement, except the red shirts in the Pheu Thai.

 

If the bill is enacted, former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban would also be absolved for their alleged roles in the 2010 bloody crackdown on red-shirt demonstrators. If that happens, the red shirts' campaign for justice against the previous government's leaders would have been in vain.

 

The red shirts have become disillusioned because the Pheu Thai has repeatedly promised the government would bring those responsible for the crackdowns and killing of demonstrators to justice to set a precedent and prevent more bloody crackdowns. But now the promise would be completely shattered.

 

The red shirts felt they were betrayed and just used by the Pheu Thai as a stairway to power. As a result, the red shirts have come out to campaign against the amnesty bill and to express disappointment with the Pheu Thai in an unprecedented move.

 

Members of the vetting panel tried to argue that the bill had to be changed to grant blanket amnesty because the Constitution prohibits discrimination in legal enforcement. They said the original draft could be deemed unconstitutional.

 

But this argument led to the question as to why the Pheu Thai had earlier insisted that amnesty could be granted only to general demonstrators even though several sides had pointed out that such a bill could be deemed discriminating against wrongdoers in several other cases.

 

Though the vetting panel claimed the bill had to be amended to prevent discrimination, suspects or convicts in lese majeste cases would still be excluded from the amnesty. So, the discrimination argument was unreasonable.

 

Worst of all, the Pheu Thai claimed that Abhisit and Suthep would be helped by a special power to receive immunity in the trial process so the amnesty bill's enactment should be rushed to help free red shirts from prison.

 

This argument was fallacious. Effectively, the Pheu Thai leaders were saying that as Abhisit and Suthep would be acquitted anyway, they should be absolved right away without having to be tried in a court to set a precedent.

 

So, the Pheu Thai leaders were blaming the "invisible power", whose existence could not be proved, for the blanket-amnesty move. The Pheu Thai leaders were doing this although they liked to criticise the opponents for jumping to their own conclusions.

 

Worse still, all the arguments failed to explain why Thaksin would also be absolved because the former prime minister had nothing to do with protests and demonstrations.

 

The Pheu Thai should have sought to undo the effects of the 2006 coup with another law instead of using the amnesty bill.

 

As a result, all the arguments were just excuses for their plan to help just some persons while ignoring the grassroots' plight, as the real goal of the bill is not to grant amnesty to the people.

 

 

http://www.nationmul...--30218349.html

[Flashermac]

Protesters refuse to back down until bill dropped

 

 

SEVERAL GROUPS of protesters said they would not stop rallying against the government's blanket amnesty bill even if the Senate rejects the draft.

 

This declaration came despite the fact that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Tuesday that her government would accept the Senate's decision, provided the bill is thoroughly deliberated on.

 

Phakin Issayaworachot, a protester from the Student and People Network for Thailand's Reform, however, said his group will continue protesting even if the bill is rejected by the Senate because the House of Representatives can still pass it 180 days later.

 

He also said he had no faith in Yingluck. "I will only stop protesting when it is actually rejected in the House," Phakin said.

 

Another man at the rally said he would continue protesting because this government was corrupt and he believed it would push the bill through.

 

Somkiat Homlaor, leader of the Business Club for Democracy (BCD), added that Yingluck was just avoiding her responsibility and passing the buck on to the Senate. However, he said, the very fact that the bill was rushed through at 4am last week was enough reason not to trust her.

 

Meanwhile Chalisa Thammawong, president of Thammasat University's student organisation, said she would wait for the Senate's decision on Monday and might stop protesting unless the draft returns to the House.

 

Separately, in a move to check the sentiment on social media, Jin Somroutai posted this question on her Facebook timeline: "If the Senate rejects the amnesty bill, will you stop your protest?"

 

Here are some of the responses: Angie-ja Pongvutitham said: "I will keep protesting because my goal is for this House to be dissolved."

 

Wara Laksana said: "Even if the Senate rejects the bill, the House can still decide to push it through. The Senate is only a rubber stamp, but the people can be the political machinery to stop it." Panachit Kittipanya-ngam said: "I will continue rallying."

 

Picha Rattanadilok, a member of the National Institute of Development Administration, called on the 310 MPs who voted for the bill to take responsibility and step down. He was speaking on behalf of the People's Assembly Reforming Thailand group.

 

The Business Club for Democracy also called on the MPs to apologise to the public.

 

 

http://www.nationmul...d-30218919.html

[Flashermac]