SiamIAm Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand is dishing out free cable television in its restive Muslim south in the hope that sports coverage such as English Premiership soccer will calm tensions in a region plagued by violence. Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana told reporters on Tuesday an initial batch of 500 televisions would soon be installed at village tea shops so those who could not afford cable TV at home could all watch their favourite sports together. "Televisions and sports will help liven up the region," said Kongsak, the fourth interior minister in less than two years to be faced with ending the unrest in which more than 800 people have been killed since January, 2004. "Most children love watching sports on TV, but they can't afford that at home. So we are giving them what they love, hoping it can help solve the problem," said Kongsak, himself an avid golfer and a soccer player. Buddhist Thailand has tried a range of measures to curb the violence in its three southernmost, Muslim-majority provinces, including lavish promises of development aid, martial law, and an airdrop of millions of paper birds. None of them appear to have had any effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 nah... all our hopes rest on Beckham's sweet shoulders! The Premiership will signthe end of muslmim extremism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El_Tel Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Beckham is back playing in the Premiership? So when did this happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 F**k!! I'm little late! Random, deeply sorry he won't help to world peace and unification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damen Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 What's next? Send them all the weed they can smoke so then they are mellowed out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 The real joke is they are getting UBC, about the least interesting content to any Thai, Muslim Budhist or Methodist DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaiLuk Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 That is one of the most literal examples i've ever seen of a gov putting television to its highest and most effective use: take people who are thinking about what their gov is doing to them and convert them into potted plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 I didn;t think of that, how useful is a couch potatoe! "OK Mimhood, your the next bomber, strap this on and blow yourself up" "Err - sorry boos I can;t" "WHY NOT???" "Well, UBC's new series hasn;t finished and I want to know if Khun Nok will win!" "Fair enough, no more bombing till the new series on UBC is over" Seriously though, seems very odd! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shit-Spattered Dog Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 MaiLuk said:That is one of the most literal examples i've ever seen of a gov putting television to its highest and most effective use: take people who are thinking about what their gov is doing to them and convert them into potted plants. Well, at least it's better than declearing "Gay Marriages" legal. Or perhaps they should. Nothing like breaking up a marriage you know. It could really backfire on them. Gay people would be screaming at how the goverment is taking away there loved ones. ...but it could become a supersecret goverment plot to kill 2 birds with one stone. " Honey, today I must die by blowing up a bus. You can find another guy. " I think that by approching the problem by winning over the youth is not a bad idea. Let the adults all kill themselves. Shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khun_Kong Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Today's Nation: ****************************************** PM: Govt not involved in free-TV plan Published on August 18, 2005 Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday rebutted a statement by the Interior Ministry that the plan to install free cable television in the deep South was a government initiative. Thaksin said the initiative came from the private sector in an effort to provide another educational outlet for young people in the restive South. The business sector would be entirely responsible for the cost of the project, he said. Earlier this week, Interior Minister ACM Kongsak Wantana proposed the plan to give away 500 to 1,000 televisions to people in the South in the hope that watching English Premier League football games would reduce the violence in the South. Several local groups remained sceptical about the effectiveness of the plan. Suwat Jamjuree, president of the Faleeheen Pattani media group, said allowing only a sports channel would not be beneficial. ?Officials should allow programmes that teach the correct version of Islam as well as documentaries that depict life in the Muslim world and cultural diversity,? said Suwat. Ismael Haji-Husen Nawawee, a member of the Yala Muslim Businessmen Club, said the free televisions should broadcast programmes that address the needs of locals. Monitoring of gambling and other vices must also be implemented, Ismael said. ************************************************ It's a frightening, yet hopeful sign when the two most intelligent voices in this discussion are coming from the Muslim side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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