Red Shirts vow 'we'll be back '

[cheekyboy]

 

Thailand issues Thaksin arrest warrant over Bangkok violence

 

Former Thai PM and 13 anti-government protesters sought for illegal assembly and creating public disturbance

 

* Jonathan Watts in Bangkok

* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 April 2009 17.59 BST

* Article history

 

Bangkok protesters 'feel they have been robbed of political power' Link to this video

 

Thai courts have issued arrest warrants for the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and 13 anti-government protesters blamed for one of the worst weeks of violence in the country's recent history.

 

Demonstrators have vowed to return to the streets unless the country's political system is reformed, regardless of the legal threat and the overwhelming military force used against them in recent days.

 

Faced by armoured personnel carriers and armed troops, 3,000 red-shirted protesters capitulated in Bangkok today, ending a bloody three-week period with a plume of black smoke, a cascade of water and a noisy retreat parade.

 

The demonstrators, many in tears, retreated from Government House. Four ringleaders handed themselves in to the police as hundreds of gun-toting troops surrounded their last stronghold.

 

Their leaders are charged with illegal assembly and creating a public disturbance, which carry prison terms of between three and seven years. The accusations add to the legal pressure against Thaksin, who called on his supporters via video phone last weekend to launch a revolution against the Thai government.

 

Thaksin's ousting as PM has been at the heart of three years of political turmoil. The former premier, who won two landslide election victories, fled into self-imposed exile last year before he was charged with violating a conflict of interest law.

 

His supporters backed down peacefully after at least two people were killed and 117 injured in yesterday's violent clashes. They set fire to two buses, ignited gas canisters and hosed the streets with water from a stolen fire engine, but there was no direct conflict with soldiers massed behind armoured personnel carriers and armed with M16 rifles and percussion grenades.

 

"This is not the end. We'll come back," said one protest leader, Nattawut Saikuar, after a farewell address to supporters. He said the protest leaders would meet after the Songkran new year festival to "discuss our next move".

 

The rebels, who identify themselves with red shirts and are mostly from Thailand's poorest classes, surrounded Government House in the last week of March. They called for new elections and the resignation of the prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, whom they accuse of being a military puppet.

 

In a televised address, Abhisit said the soldiers had restored order but more needed to be done to heal the divisions that have emerged in Thai society.

 

"If it is victory, it is a victory of society that peace and order has returned," he said. But he urged continued vigilance. "The operation under the state of emergency is not completed. There are still things to do," he said.

 

He praised the "soft methods" of the security forces and blamed the two deaths on the protesters. Thaksin accused the military of covering up the number of killings.

 

The clashes have highlighted the dangerous division in Thai society between a rich urban elite and poor migrants and farmers. Several of the demonstrators blamed the elderly king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, for manipulating the government behind the scenes. Most wanted Thaksin to return to power.

 

Last week, the red shirts seized key traffic intersections in the Thai capital and forced the cancellation of the Asean summit in the resort of Pattaya. Their actions prompted the government to declare a state of emergency.

 

Rival yellow and blue-shirted mobs, which support the government, have launched vigilante attacks, particularly on taxi drivers who are seen as a support base for the reds.

 

The security forces reported two drive-by shootings early this morning, one of which left a soldier critically injured. Several protesters claimed to have been beaten up by gangs of vigilantes and said the army had covered up at least 10 killings.

 

The conflict prompted staff at the embassies of several countries, including the US, the UK, Japan and France, to warn their citizens to either leave the capital or stay indoors.

 

As smoke billowed from burning buses again today, the American-born president of the Bangkok mission hospital, George Larrson, said disruptions had worsened since he set up the institution three years ago.

 

"To have this many troops on the streets and to have reds closing down much of the city last week is the worst yet," he said.

 

Soldiers regained control of Government House, which was empty of protesters and filled only with the plastic bottles and other rubbish left behind after the sit-in. Before leaving, the demonstrators held a retreat rally in which they sprayed each other in water in a traditional new year celebration. But many were crying after failing to achieve their goal of more democracy.

 

"We are going home. I'm glad the violence has stopped this time but, unless there is a change, we will come back again and fight even harder," said Thanachai, a hotel worker who was waving a Thai flag on top of an open truck. "There is no justice in Thailand the way things are now."

 

The government has declared two extra days for the three-day Thai new year holiday, which began Monday, to ensure public safety and give time to repair damage in the city. Many armed troops remain on the streets of Bangkok this evening to ensure continued stability.

[cheekyboy]

if they did arrest Thaksin and bring him back that would be the catalyst for all out war ,make no mistake ,they are in a state of high dudgeon in issan right now .they feel that they have been cheated big time and it will be a festering sore for many years unless there is major changes .

[cavanami]

"...ending a bloody three-week period with a plume of black smoke, a cascade of water and a noisy retreat parade..."

 

What a bunch of crap!!!

 

What black smoke? yes, only in a few very small areas.

 

Bloody? more blood was shed with the yellow Shirts!

 

...the lovely media trying to make a drama out of this...

[Flashermac]

Bangkok Post

15 Apr 2009

 

 

Editorial: Thaksin needs to change

 

By: Atiya Achakulwisut

 

 

These past few days have felt like a nightmare, like groping for the way out in a deep, dark tunnel full of pitfalls. But one thing has become clear: we now know why fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra made sure his children left Thailand. He did not want his kids, who recently claimed in a book that they'd suffered horribly from political harassment, to be in harm's way. Let other people's children face the mayhem. Has anyone ever looked into Thaksin's eyes? Could they tell anything about his soul? Does he have one?

 

As the tension and mayhem subsided, one voice remained in my head. It was that of a Nang Lerng resident. It sounded so young, full of anxiety and ambivalence; yet it was obvious the young man was trying his best to do his good citizen's job of calling the TV station and recounting the day's incident to the two anchorwomen.

 

His 19-year-old brother had been hit when drive-by shooters sprayed bullets into the neighbourhood, whose members had banded together to fight Red Shirt rioters who tried to set fire to tyres near their wooden houses. As he finished giving his account and the two anchors were about to cut him off, the young man made one last plea.

 

"Phi khrub," he said, "I still don't know how my little brother is doing. If you'd please check on him for me, could you?"

 

The genuine anxiety in his voice made the whole thing even more tragic. This was a young voice you'd associate with what is bright and beautiful in life, with a future and its many promises. The kind of voice you wouldn't want broken by tragedy.

 

The anchorwomen promised they would and asked him his brother's name. Yuthakarn, the youth replied. Soon after, the breaking news came up. Two deaths had been confirmed from the Nang Lerng clash. One of them was a 19-year-old male named Yuthakarn.

 

I want to say that Thaksin, who instigated the mob and whipped them into this frenzied state so they would smash things enough to pave way for his return to power, is responsible for the young man's death and for the melee that essentially turned Bangkok into a war zone. How does he intend to redeem the lives lost? He cannot. And that makes what he's done hideous.

 

Was the Sept 19 coup bad for Thailand? Definitely. Was it wrong for our democratic development? Certainly. But does it offer justification to incite people, rouse them with hate speeches and blatant lies and then let them loose to wreak havoc on ordinary citizens and public property? Absolutely not.

 

Was the coup necessary as a wake-up call for the all-too-powerful army to realise that the age of their intervening in politics through staging coups d'etat was over? Maybe. We haven't had another coup, despite the prolonged political tension and open rioting.

 

It may have taken a long time, probably longer than many are willing to give it, but if the September 19 putsch serves as the last nail in the coffin of military coups in Thailand, would it have been worth it after all? Instead of trying to redo the past and get tangled in all its complexity, would it be wiser to use it to put a final stop to the practice and think of it as a stepping stone to a more democratic future? Isn't that what demonstrators of every colour want?

 

Everyone can blame something on a bad childhood. Those who are smart, however, waste no time moping. They pick up the pieces and move on.

 

The Abhisit administration may have won the first major battle with the Red Shirts, but the seeds of discontent have taken root. The strength of the resistance - both those who support Thaksin for who he is and those who support him for what he is fighting against - should prompt anyone thinking they can control it by force, to think twice. These people can't be dismissed. The government must find a way for their grievances to be taken into account, their cries for change heard and heeded, or it faces a long and belligerent war.

 

Democracy is ultimately about fair compromise. It is obvious now that Thaksin neither knows nor respects that philosophy. He wants it all. If he can't have it his way, he'd rather destroy and burn it all. That is who he is.

 

It will be a long road to rebuilding the country, bruised and burned in the Songkran skirmish. Again, the future might appear like walking in a deep, dark tunnel not knowing which direction to go and where the snags and perils are. But without the pixelated apparition of demagogue Thaksin Shinawatra inciting people and misleading them about what democracy is - now that his selfish motive and cruel intentions have been laid bare - at least we won't feel so haunted.

 

 

[Torneyboy]

"We are going home. I'm glad the violence has stopped this time but, unless there is a change, we will come back again and fight even harder," said Thanachai, a hotel worker who was waving a Thai flag on top of an open truck. "There is no justice in Thailand the way things are now."

 

Sounds like they will ..just when..

[drogon]

TB: This one is a moron....

 

He is probably/maybe going to lose his job thanks to his own stupid actions.

He is destroying his own bowl of rice..

 

Wish this is what happens to him -> will teach him a lesson and next time he will think before acting

[Mentors]

Police hunt remaining UDD leaders

 

Two core leaders of the red-shirt movement remain at large, Jakrapob Penkair and Jatuporn Prompan, but have not fled the country and were being tracked down, police said on Wednesday.

 

Three other core members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship surrendered to police on Tuesday after arrest warrants were issued - Veera Musikhapong was later sent to a Border Patrol Police base in Pathum Thani province, Nattawut Saikua to Naresuan military base in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Weng Tojirakarn to a border police station in Kanchanaburi.

 

Metropolitan Police chief Lt-Gen Worapong Chewpreecha said police had warrants for Mr Jakrapob and Mr Jatuporn, who were on the run. He was confident investigators would find them.

 

Police were also compiling evidence to back applications to the court for arrest warrants for minor leaders who played a part in instigating the chaos of the weekend and Monday riots. Arrest warrants would also be sought for protesters who had destroyed property and injured civilians, including those who shot two people dead.

 

A warrant has also been issued for the arrest of exiled politician Thaksin Shinawatra, who exhorted his followers by phone and video-link to rise up against the government.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/140613/police-tracking-remaining-udd-leaders

 

 

 

[Bangkoktraveler]

Can the Thai government extradict Thaskin from Dubai?

[Flashermac]

Probably for a price ... but I doubt if they really want him. The Thai way is to hope he just goes away and stays gone.

 

[drogon]

Having Mr T back in LOS to be tried is not a good idea...and I don't think the government is eager to receive him....

 

If Mr T was intelligent he would now come back to Thailand to be arrested and then turn his trial into an open tribune, calling his supporters to free him, lying enough with his populist speech to reverse the situation.

 

Of course he might have an "accident" but if he had balls it is the perfect opportunity to turn the defeat into a victory -> with only words

 

Luckily, I believe he is too much of a coward to do so....

(and maybe he sucks at writing speeches...)