samak Posted January 29, 2003 Report Share Posted January 29, 2003 wowwww! the son of the late general sunthorn! that's going to be very interesting now! good old days of coup d'etat; the new generation desparately looking for new playgrounds! :onfire: :onfire: :onfire: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2003 Report Share Posted January 29, 2003 A list? Found in a pile of rubble? With the conspirators names on it? Joe McCarthy meets Alice's Restaurant. There is no list. This incident merely provides cover to settle some old scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJsushi Posted January 29, 2003 Report Share Posted January 29, 2003 Says nukeboy180: A list? Found in a pile of rubble? With the conspirators names on it? Joe McCarthy meets Alice's Restaurant . There is no list. This incident merely provides cover to settle some old scores. When dd you ever hear of a politician giving up a golden opportunity to settle old scores? :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovineye Posted January 29, 2003 Report Share Posted January 29, 2003 Says nukeboy180: Joe McCarthy meets Alice's Restaurant . LOL!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Radley Posted January 29, 2003 Report Share Posted January 29, 2003 Says nukeboy180: A list? Found in a pile of rubble? With the conspirators names on it? Joe McCarthy meets Alice's Restaurant . There is no list. This incident merely provides cover to settle some old scores. Hi, I also thought that seemed a bit unlikely, that they would accidently lose a list with all the details of the operation and leave it at the site of the 'crime'. Here's some more from The Asia Times on-line: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EA30Ae02.html Brazen destruction threatens Thai image By Gary LaMoshi HONG KONG - As a frequent visitor to Bangkok, for the water of course, I was shocked to hear of Sunday's predawn destruction of Sukhumvit Square. The pleasant gaggle of open-air beer bars, snack vendors and souvenir stands was a favorite refueling stop before a visit to Thermae, the legendary late-night "coffeehouse". The brutal attack on Sukhumvit Square by a 600-member wrecking crew - reportedly including off-duty soldiers - drew widespread attention from local and international media. The attack left one person seriously injured, at least 500 people unemployed, and dozens of businesses destroyed. Workers and residents who lived behind the shops said they were ordered to leave immediately, without time to gather their belongings, as the buildings were razed. A sign on the metal fence surrounding the site after the devastation declared the demolition was part of the Ministry of the Interior's "Social Order Policy". That policy, with backing from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has taken aim at Bangkok's sex industry and its reputation for sleaze. To date, though, the policy has largely consisted of talk rather than action. Bangkok remains the only world capital where you can see an elephant clomping down a major downtown artery at 2am - and wonder which bar it's affiliated with. And why. Moral authority Barely 36 hours after the destruction, the prime minister visited Sukhumvit Square to deliver a morality lecture, though not the one the sign on the fence suggested. "We will not tolerate mafia rule in Thailand," he warned. "The government will make no exceptions" when it comes to punishing those involved in the Sukhumvit Square "anarchy", Thaksin told the public and law-enforcement authorities. "No matter who they are or who they are connected with, the law will be applied against them. Influential people cannot use the police to solve this issue." Police have already arrested more than 100 workers found on the site after the raid, believed to part of the demolition team. Rather than a blow for prudish values, the attack apparently had its roots in a property dispute, with the tenants of the Sukhumvit Square caught in the middle. Investigators are still piecing together the details. Apparently, tenants' occupancy agreements expired last month, and the land was sold and then leased to a developer, the Nickel Co, that says it plans to build a hotel on the site. However, Sukhumvit Square tenants received neither notice about the various transfers nor, more to the point, eviction notices. It's likely that the agents that rented them their space continued to collect rent from them without regard to the various changes in landlords. A Nickel spokesperson said the company would consider giving compensation to Sukhumvit Square occupants. The displaced were allowed back into the area on Monday to salvage whatever they could from the rubble. High profile low blow The Sukhumvit Square blitzkrieg was uncivilized but hardly unprecedented. Property disputes throughout Asia are often settled with a bulldozer rather than a court order. Indonesia's former president Suharto regularly deployed the army to evict villagers whose presence impeded a project favored by the royal family and its courtiers. The present Indonesian government is waging a campaign against Jakarta's uncontrolled growth that includes flattening squatter areas. To make way for former premier Li Peng's pet project, the Three Gorges Dam, China's government displaced millions of peasants from some of the country's best farmland. Not all left peaceably. In advance of big events, such as its 50th-anniversary celebration in 1999, Chinese authorities clear Beijing of unauthorized structures and people that might distract cadres and the Central China TV audience from the Communist Party's street spectacles. Bet on a bull market in demolition along with construction ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Most of these activities get no attention in the international media. Thailand's free press, a high-traffic location frequented by tourists and journalists, and the barbarity of the Sukhumvit Square raid combined to make it a front-page story and give it legs. Still, it seems strange that Prime Minister Thaksin turned out to survey the damage and condemn the attack; that task seems more appropriate for a mayor or governor than the head of the national government. Watching more than girls Thailand's business tycoon-turned-prime minister showed up because news coverage made the Sukhumvit Square attack into an international issue, not just a local or national one. More specifically, an international investor issue. Aside from putting any notion of a crackdown on libertine lifestyle choices to rest, the subtext of Thaksin's message at the site - that Thailand will not tolerate "anarchy" and will apply the law to all - is intended to make foreign investors feel secure about shipping their money to Thailand, where it is desperately needed to fuel economic recovery. In the past, Thaksin has stepped on the toes of powerful domestic constituencies to increase the comfort level of foreign investors (see Free Trading at the Global Hypermarket, November 23, 2002). The former tiger economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are currently locked in a desperate struggle for investment against China's foreign-money magnet. Among his ASEAN counterparts, Thaksin best understands that foreign investors are strange and sensitive creatures. As Thailand and the rest of Asia learned in July 1997, it doesn't take much to spook them. Often perception is far more important than reality (see Thailand's struggle to protect image, lure FDI, January 28). Owners of the girlie bars around Sukhumvit Square know that you need to differentiate your product to be successful, (minimally) clothing dancers in doilies, mid-thigh-length boots, or school uniforms to set their commodities apart from the competition. As a successful business leader, Thaksin understands Thailand must stand out from the pack as a foreign-investment destination. China, Indonesia and Vietnam can beat Thailand as low-cost producers. Malaysia and Singapore rank far ahead in technology. Rule of law is one key area of investor concern where, by denouncing the destruction of Sumkumvit Square, Thaksin can demonstrate that Thailand dances to a different beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJsushi Posted January 29, 2003 Report Share Posted January 29, 2003 Is it me or does it seem as if Mr. Gary LaMoshi is writing a book report rather than a serious international journalistic piece? I thought it was something a 12 year old could have wrote. No depth, no edge, no true opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadaBing Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 I agree , just looking at the next to last paragraph , he's using the operation of a girlie ( Go-Go ? ) bar as an example for luring foreign investers. That's some line of thought. Bada :: Bing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneSoup Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 This reply is to no one in particular - I just wanted to note that this discussion thread will record over 3,000 views in five days - that's gotta be a record for this board. For better, or worse, this topic captured our attention. Looking at the chaos in Cambodia right now, it makes sense to me to restrict free exercise of "the law of the jungle" sooner, rather than later - if you want to live in something resembling civilization. What happens at Poipet during the coming days/weeks????? The Fighting Fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 Says jjsushi: Is it me or does it seem as if Mr. Gary LaMoshi is writing a book report rather than a serious international journalistic piece? I thought it was something a 12 year old could have wrote. No depth, no edge, no true opinion. You're right, the piece has a pretty arbitrary air. But in this case I regard any international coverage as good coverage ;-) It's not so much about "how attractive/annoying was Sukhumvit Square to you?" or "is this a catastrophe or not?". It's about powermonging. Some bigshot(s) used his "natural" right to flatten a place that crossed his interests...but for a change it didn't happen "behind the scenes" but in direct sight of international eyes. Arrest the demolition crew workers? Why not for a start....But they are certainly the last ones responsible for the whole action. They are labourers who followed orders. The ones who gave the orders are the stinkers. I disagree with "CardinalBlue", who appears to be a classic example of the "big business watcher", who seems to think the relevance of an incident is measured in GNP numbers - something he only reacts to but is never part of in the first place. Not that the GNP would be an accumulation of individual actions or - god forbid - an indicator of small business benefits. CardinalBlue, you are ignorant, my man. Russia? Africa? If you never start to clean up your own surroundings you shouldn't ramble about the uncleanliness of far away locations. To do what you can against unjustice in your very own personal surroundings is a good start. Lower sukhumvit is designed to get fucked...for a price. If you fuck and think you don't have to pay...you should get punished. Bigshots not excluded. That's the spirit of free market economy. Btw: The net is closely monitored by the thai authorities. You wouldn't believe how many young patriotic college students collect internet data for the government - for free. I don't assume; I am not paranoid (nor should you be); I just say: when a "minor incident" like this makes the PM appear on the scene, the outcry is not for nothing. What was my point? Ahhhh...yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 Stonesoup, Interesting that you noticed the high interest level of this post. I doubt that the cambodia post will recieve as much attention from us. For nanaplaza.com readers the soi 10 sparks a greater interest than the cambodia issue as many more falangs here can relate to soi 10 incident much more than the cambodia event. Only some of the falangs will care more about the cambodia incident because of their cambodian interests/knowledge. Yet, the cambodia issue is an international media coverage issue while soi 10 incident is not. I have already seen our little Thai actress denial on CNN. This issue affects many more thai people/society at all levels and has much greater financial/political reprecussions than the soi 10 event. I think it will be interesting to watch over the coming days and weeks how the media covers both topics and see what inferences we can draw. Thai people at my work today were talking about cambodia and cambodian people; they were not talking about the soi 10 incident this past monday. Cardinalblue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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