His Majesty Speaks?

[Barry]

Do you think that the Thai police should have taken stronger action against the protesters?

I do. They should have kept the airports open at least. But then the military isn't intended to protect ordinary people.

[drogon]

Agree, Thai police should have taken their duties.

(without provoking a bloodbath which would certainly have started something worse)

 

The role of the military should never be to intervene in case of public protests -> they are usually neither trained nor equipped to do so...

 

[beano]

You're not attacking the ordinary "Boys in Brown" then?

Surely the decision not to interfere with the protesters was political?

 

I can't think of too many International Airports that would keep enough police on hand 24/7 to cope with an unexpected invasion of several hundred protesters.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Agree, Thai police should have taken their duties.

(without provoking a bloodbath which would certainly have started something worse)

 

The role of the military should never be to intervene in case of public protests -> they are usually neither trained nor equipped to do so...

 

 

 

 

If the police went into the airports to take the people from PAD out I think there very likely would have been escalating violence and many injuries, and even some more deaths. Saying that though, I am amazed this did not happen and they let the protesters close the 2 main airports for all that time. It seems everyone just laid back mostly (the authorities) and waited for the outcome of the court decisions, which it looks like most Thais and some farang already knew the outcome of what that would be and it was just a matter of time. So, they just waited. The outcome (at the moment - who knows what will happen after the birthday celebration of his majesty) was very peaceful for the most part - so far. What happens once the king makes his usual annual birthday speech remains to be seen, but usually, from what I have seen, the Thais, most, take this speech to heart and try to do what the king asks of them. They do love him, and he is greatly respected and his words and wisdom are held in high esteem.

 

It seems the dissolution of PPP and the present government leaders was already a foregone conclusion and no one wanted to act (the police and army) to quell the PAD uprising and protests. The closing of the airports itself seemed almost planned and expected, and all they needed to do (the authorities) was wait a week or so until the court decision defused the whole thing fairly peacefully. God knows I thought this would end in a bloodbath, but it seems the Thais know themselves and their people and politics far better than I ever will. I guess I am too westernized and American to ever figure them out really.

 

In my heart I hope this is over and they will all act to better their country and help themselves by using compromise and diplomacy between the opposing camps to come to a less divided and more harmonious system of governance that has leaders that actually care about all the people of their country. The northern, northeastern and southern citizens deserve a piece of the pie and to be treated fairly by whatever government is eventually installed after this fiasco that has damged the country greatly in the eyes of the world.

 

To my mind though this just seems like placing a lid on a simmering pot which still has the flames below turned on too high. Eventually I expect it to boil over once again in the near future. There are going to be many unhappy people who feel they have once again been screwed over by an elite 'few'. I just cannot imagine them giving up and walking away from it all and letting the apparent 'winners' of today have their way to do as they please to run the country to their benefit once again without sharing the power and the wealth as before.

 

Taksin may have been a selfish corrupt prick, but at least he gave many something more than they had before, even if it was mostly rhetoric, hopes and dreams of a more equal and fair distribution of the country's wealth and better treatment from their government. Those who have now had a taste of the feast, even if just mere morsels, are now going to be hard to keep from the banquet table without a fight. Taksin, it seems, in his bid for power and glory, has opened the Pandora's box the elite of Thailand have kept firmly closed for many generations.

 

I fear interesting times are ahead. Not to be unduly pessimistic, but we may be seeing now the lull before an even greater storm to come. I hope not, as I do love this country and its people, the little people, the common folk, who I feel do deserve a fair shake and better treatment than they have received thus far.

 

And, for those of you who say Taksin was all hot air and unkept promises and populist baloney - you haven't a clue, because you are not here in the provinces to see the differences this made while he was in power. What he did, with the little he did give, made a big difference in many poor rural peoples quality of life. That 1 million baht annual village fund he started brought about much needed advances in the daily life of the villages it affected. In my own village where I have a home it provided newly paved roads, repairs of older roads, a new water pumping station, water tower, and water storage tank, new concrete lined drainage ditches on both sides of the raods, all roads within the village which funnels the excess rainwater back into the reservior, water mains from the water pumping station serving every home in the village so they no longer have to rely on the wells drilled that many times run dry in the dry season, it paid for a village work crew to clean the gutters and cut the weeds along the roads, bringing income into the village through the jobs this provided the locals, flowering trees were bought and planted along the roadsides between the villages to shade, beautify and help stop erosion of the berms, and many other smaller and not so obvious things one would notice unless one lived there, or visited there, much of the time. It did make a difference to many people's lives. It wasn't just a bunch of populist hooey, and it didn't take a lot of baht to achieve many good things for these rural poor and usually totally neglected villagers and their families. One million baht back then when it was around 40 baht to a dollar or a bit less, was around twenty-five thousand USD. This went a long way toward making much needed practical improvements in these places. And, this is what gave Taksin and TRT a huge base of voters on his side. They love him because he is the only one who ever did a damned thing for them. That is a fact that cannot be ignored no matter how much you dislike the man. And that is why in any election now, and in the near future, PPP, or whatever party Taksin is seen to be backing, will get many, many votes and will likely win the election.

 

JMHO and thoughts on this.

[CTO]

Save it Cent - they have NO idea - here just uneducated bargirls who's farmers always sell them (I have links to both comments except I can't "see" them anymore )

 

Arrogant Elitism.

[cavanami]

Save it Cent - they have NO idea - here just uneducated bargirls who's farmers always sell them (I have links to both comments except I can't "see" them anymore )

 

Arrogant Elitism.

 

I want to be uneducated...why?

 

Bill Gates, Mr. Microsoft, never completed the university but is the richest person in the world!

 

My brother-in-law, never completed high school, worked as a cook, 20 years later, sold his *** 42 *** restaurants for $68M

 

Street smarts rules! and both of the above have the street smarts!!!

 

There are many "educated" people now in the unemployment line here in the USA.

[Central Scrutinizer]

555555! Hey, my post was not directed at any one person here, but in answer to Drogon and as a general statement of my own opinions and thoughts on this. Don't drag me into your's and SD's little political tiff.

 

I'm just saying what I saw happening up in the villages during his time in office, and trying to explain a bit why he is still so popular in certain areas, and why he still seems to command such loyalty from many people (who I truly believe would vote for him whether they got 'paid/bought' or not for their vote). These people know which side their bread is buttered on, and vote just like everyone else for the guy or gal that will do the most for them. They may not be 'edjumacated' but they are certainly not stupid. And isn't that what elections are mainly about? Getting in the person who will help you and your family and friends the most?

 

I said it before, and I'll repeat myself, the Democrats here are letting the ball get away from them while no one is even on the field. If they would steal/appropriate many of Taksin's populist ideas and use them, and give something to these Taksin supporters, something real, not just broken promises, they would have the next election in the bag. But they are just too wishy washy and afraid of losing their Bangkok voter base. They blew it during the coup year, and they are still blowing it now. And Taksin's next party would win any election they have I still think if it ever comes to that. But then the PAD will never allow that to happen again, because they know they can not beat Taksin or even his puppets with him out of the country in exile and as a fugitive from justice. I may not like the man nor his theiving ways, but he is a smarter, more saavy pol than all these others combined.

 

The Dems really need to pull their heads out of their asses and start working for it, rather than standing on the sidelines hoping it will be handed to them.

[..]

Save it Cent - they have NO idea - here just uneducated bargirls who's farmers always sell them (I have links to both comments except I can't "see" them anymore )

 

Arrogant Elitism.

Yes, of course. Only CTO can have an opinion, even if it means using revisionism and fantasy to reconcile it, and if you are not of his, you are arrogant & elite.

 

Cheers,

SD -- proudly arrogant & elite

[..]

555555! Hey, my post was not directed at any one person here, but in answer to Drogon and as a general statement of my own opinions and thoughts on this. Don't drag me into your's and SD's little political tiff.

 

I'm just saying what I saw happening up in the villages during his time in office, and trying to explain a bit why he is still so popular in certain areas, and why he still seems to command such loyalty from many people (who I truly believe would vote for him whether they got 'paid/bought' or not for their vote). These people know which side their bread is buttered on, and vote just like everyone else for the guy or gal that will do the most for them. They may not be 'edjumacated' but they are certainly not stupid. And isn't that what elections are mainly about? Getting in the person who will help you and your family and friends the most?

 

I said it before, and I'll repeat myself, the Democrats here are letting the ball get away from them while no one is even on the field. If they would steal/appropriate many of Taksin's populist ideas and use them, and give something to these Taksin supporters, something real, not just broken promises, they would have the next election in the bag. But they are just too wishy washy and afraid of losing their Bangkok voter base. They blew it during the coup year, and they are still blowing it now. And Taksin's next party would win any election they have I still think if it ever comes to that. But then the PAD will never allow that to happen again, because they know they can not beat Taksin or even his puppets with him out of the country in exile and as a fugitive from justice. I may not like the man nor his theiving ways, but he is a smarter, more saavy pol than all these others combined.

 

The Dems really need to pull their heads out of their asses and start working for it, rather than standing on the sidelines hoping it will be handed to them.

Well said about the Dems, Cent. But I'd say that Wacky is just 1,000% shameless in his exploitation of the rural poor. He just uses them, doesn't care about them except come election time. Maybe you consider that savvy; I just call it scummy.

 

Cheers,

SD

[ThaiHome]

Cent, one correction. All those good things you saw, and they are good things were not from million baht program. That was a fund to make personal loans to people for things like buying better rice seed (from the local monopoly), transporting goods to markets (using the TAO chairmanâ??s pickup, discuss later how he got that), build or improve your house (using material supplied at large markup from the local monopoly). The fund was controlled by the TAO who decided who got money and if you actually had to pay it back. Virtually all the funds setup are now broke.

What you saw was pure pork barrel politics. All this was done not to benefit the poor, but allow the local bigshot to skim from contracts made with his companies to do or administer the work. Thaksin gave them all millions in the beginning to get the local to vote for the TRT and promised if he won, that he would get them millions more in contracts they could skim. For every one baht that went to a benefit to the poor, a thousand went into some TRT bought politician pocket, from TAO members, to MPs all the way to the PM himself.

 

Letâ??s try real hard to keep a realist attitude about what Thaksinâ??s populist program really is, and it ainâ??t about helping poor people, its about making rich people richer and keeping the power to keep on doing so.