Red Shirts vow 'we'll be back '

[Mekong]

Don't support either the yellow nor the red side, but shouldn't the yellow leaders receive the same treatment as the red leaders?

Or will the red leaders receive the same treatment as the yellow leaders?

 

Arrest warrants were issued for 21 PAD Leaders and they turned themselves in on March 30 2009

 

They were accused of :-

 

Colluding with more than 10 people to cause turmoil

Obstructing law enforcement officers

Detaining state authorities on Oct 7, when they blocked then prime minister Somchai Wongsawat from delivering a policy announcement.

 

Arrest warrants for the 13 + 1 are for :-

 

Illegal assemblies of more than five people (under state of emergency

 

Threatening violence and breach of peace

 

Further charge against Mr T is :-

 

Inciting people to break the law and cause unrest

 

 

Now the Red Shirt leaders are just as guilty of the charges that the yellow shirt leaders are accused of, as well as the more serious ones that have been stated on the warrants.

 

This belief that PAD leaders were never charged is at the least pure ignorance and is the type of crap being reported by some western papers.

 

It is bullshit to say that PAD leaders were never charged, maybe some people should get to know the facts before posting preposterous statements that are infact down right lies.

[drogon]

Hilarious "translation"

 

-> original German article is less difficult to decript than the "translated" version.

 

Automatic translators suck big time

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

I too found the German more understandable than the "translation". Of course, the "translation" is about as good as the written English at The Nation, now that they've fired almost all of their Farang subs.

 

p.s. Thanks, Mekong. I was sure I remembered the PAD leaders being arrested on the exact same charges the Red leaders have been. But I can't be trusted, since I support the "regime".

 

 

 

[Mentors]

I too found the German more understandable than the "translation". Of course, the "translation" is about as good as the written English at The Nation, now that they've fired almost all of their Farang subs.

 

But I can't be trusted, since I support the "regime".

 

 

 

ja,

 

the automatic translation is horrbile.

on some hotel booking sides you can translate the comments of guest, the results are funny and absurd.

[Julian2]

I wondered if he was talking to his readers hear.

 

Afterwards one of the reasons is how they came to death, pervert.

 

It was sent to me by my neighbor who takes sides in Thai politics.

Personally I think anyone who takes sides in Thai politics should be made to lie down in a quiet room and watch reruns of the Brady bunch.

[Flashermac]

No that gives me an idea.

 

 

It might be fun to take works of literature and run them through an automatic translator.

 

:evil:

 

Here's a start ...

 

http://www.scots-online.org/

 

 

[Mentors]

No that gives me an idea.

 

 

It might be fun to take works of literature and run them through an automatic translator.

 

:evil:

 

Here's a start ...

 

http://www.scots-online.org/

 

 

 

i'm not shure if Munchmaster is amused...

 

[kamui]

"Professor Ungpakorn" is a self-proclaimed Marxist who was born and raised in England, his mother's country. Class warfare is his thing. Also, you can't get much more "elite" than his family is by Thai standards. As to these "hidden bodies", why aren't they on the videos? I saw soldiers pointing their weapons horizontally, but not firing at any targets. I think I can tell the difference.

 

I'd say The Star is much more in line with what is going on. It points out how both reds and yellow are essentially from the same class. This is not a Marxist "Klassenkampf".

 

p.s. I do not see chaos coming. Strange that "experts" outside the country do. It seems quite clear to me what will happen.

 

 

And the newspaper "Neues Deutschland" is a left wing left over from the former East German communist regime. In Germany "Neues Deutschland" playes no role in the public discourse, because no one takes it seriously.

 

So you can forget the whole article...

 

[cheekyboy]

Thai drama inflicts fresh blows on economy

 

2 hours ago

 

BANGKOK (AFP) â?? Thailand's fresh political dramas will inflict huge tourism losses, weigh down the stock market, and crimp growth in an economy already in crisis from the global downturn, analysts said Wednesday.

 

"The government must work hard to restore political stability in Thailand quickly. The next three months will be critical," said Thanavath Phonvichai from the Thai Chamber of Commerce's economic and forecasting unit.

 

Anti-government protesters shut down an Asian summit at the weekend and then battled with armed troops in the streets of Bangkok Monday in the biggest test of premier Abhisit Vejjajiva's four-month-old administration.

 

A successful military campaign to corral the demonstrators and force them to disperse is seen as strengthening Abhisit's hand against ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who is plotting to return to power.

 

But Thailand's stock market will deliver its verdict on his performance when it re-opens on Thursday, after a three-day holiday.

 

"In general, sentiment will be quite negative across all markets but the recent political shock will probably reflect (in) a more sombre equity market," said Jun Trinidad, a Citibank regional economist.

 

Trinidad said that a boost for Abhisit reflected in the markets was "a near-term possibility".

 

"But I don't think that the conflict has ended with the army intervening on behalf of the prime minister. Eventually the issue needs to be settled once and for all," he said.

 

In three years the kingdom has endured a military coup that deposed Thaksin and numerous mass protests by his foes and allies, while the courts have ruled to oust two other prime ministers.

 

"We do not expect recent events to undermine confidence significantly for the simple fact that there was so little confidence to begin with," said Mark Williams, an economist at Capital Economics.

 

"Markets should take the latest flare up in their stride," he said, adding that he predicted interest rates would fall further to spur consumer spending after four cuts since December, to bottom out at 0.75 percent mid-2009.

 

Thanavath said recent events would cost Thailand's tourism sector another 100 billion baht (2.8 billion dollars) in losses after already taking big hits from past troubles including last year's nine-day closure of Bangkok's international airport.

 

"The political situation has affected the Thai economy, especially on confidence in investment and tourism," he said.

 

"But the protest ended earlier than we had expected. The government stood firm on peaceful measures... This is positive and can help the government restore the country's economy more easily later," he said.

 

Thailand's finance ministry last month forecast the economy to shrink by two to three percent this year, the first contraction in a decade. Private-sector forecasts are even gloomier.

 

Trinidad said Abhisit, who unveiled a 117-billion-baht stimulus package in January, had been supportive of growth. But he remains hamstrung by questions of legitimacy after coming to power on the back of a court ruling that ousted Thaksin's allies.

 

"In that span of four months the game plan he has on the economy is very clear and markets were very receptive to it," he said.

 

"It's just unfortunate that this has happened at a time when the economic slump in Thailand is deepening."

 

Julia Goh, an economist with CIMB-GK Research, also said Abhisit's smooth handling of this week's crisis did not dispel his ongoing challenge to unite a deeply fractured society.

 

"The sentiment is still very much negative because the political uncertainty will continue to linger. So that will continue to be an overhang on growth, and amid the other downside risks from the external slowdown," she told AFP.

 

"Second quarter GDP is likely to contract and given the recent political events the tourism sector will continue to be affected, hence a delayed recovery," she said.

 

The research firm had been forecasting a 1.5 percent contraction for the Thai economy this year.

 

"But given the political events and its impact on the tourism sector we will be downgrading this to around minus 4.0 percent," she said.

 

Thailand's economic growth had already slowed to 2.6 percent in 2008 from 4.9 percent in 2007.

 

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

[cheekyboy]

Troubled Thailand: Tourists likely to stay away from Pattaya for years

 

Powered by CDNN - CYBER DIVER News Network

 

PATTAYA, Thailand (12 Apr 2009) â?? It could take up to two years before Pattaya's tourism sector recovers from yesterday's events, according to local operators.

 

Pattaya mayor Itthiphol Kunplume said the cancellation of the Asean summit had undermined the city's image.

 

About 500,000 tourists had been expected to travel to the seaside resort for the Songkran holidays. Over 5.5 million tourists visited Pattaya last year, mostly travellers from Bangkok just two hours away.

 

''Tourism here had only just recovered from the shock of [last December's] airport closure. But what happened today is the most severe incident in the history of Pattaya tourism,'' Mr Itthiphol said.

 

Before yesterday, occupancy in Pattaya had been running at 75% to 80%, the highest level in months. Tourism accounts for around 90% of the area's economy.

 

''It could take up to two years for tourism here to fully recover from the clashes and cancellation of the summit. And Thailand has lost not just its credibility for its handling of the Asean summit, but also the opportunity to integrate with other regional economies,'' Mr Itthiphol said.

 

At a local hotel, staff stood watching television coverage of the nearby protests with trepidation for the future.

 

''I feel shocked. I hadn't thought that things would turn out this bad,'' said Monti Meepien, a worker at the Eastern Grand Hotel, located just 10 minutes away from the Royal Cliff Beach Resort where the summit was held.

 

He said around 70% of the hotel's clients were Chinese tourists sensitive to the thought of political violence.

 

''We had hoped the summit would help the local economy. Now, I think the only direction we can go is down,'' said 38-year-old Mr Monti.

 

Lek Saingarm, a 48-year-old restaurateur, said her business would be seriously damaged by the violence.

 

''Pattaya depends on foreign tourists, especially as Thais have mostly cut back on spending.

 

''Who will want to go out to eat or go to the beach in a situation like this?'' she said.

 

Tourism in the region was only just recovering from last year's political upheaval, which culminated in December with the closure of Suvarnabhumi airport by yellow-shirt protesters under the People's Alliance for Democracy.

 

The rallies now by the red shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship could possibly be the death blow for the country's tourism sector for years to come, locals warned.

 

 

 

 

 

Troubled Thailand: Tourists likely to stay away from Pattaya for years

Red-shirted supporters of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra shout before clashing with pro-government supporters near the venue of the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Pattaya April 11, 2009.

 

Tourists in Pattaya said the events had left them shaken and homesick.

 

Ma Yeofen, a 61-year-old Chinese tourist from Shanghai on his first visit to Thailand, said he was worried about his safety after watching TV reports about the protests.

 

''Our tour group was supposed to go to the marina, but we couldn't because the protests blocked the streets,'' he said.

 

''This is the second major event where domestic politics has had an impact on international tourists. I don't think this should happen.''

 

by NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG

 

 

 

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