Flashermac Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 On the Thai TV News yesterday, the protest areas were empty! Maybe they took a day off? Maybe the $$$ dried up, no pay, no stay? No one is paying them. You couldn't pay hundreds of thousands of Thais to march for hours in the Bangkok sun. However, today is a working day. It was working people who turned out this time. And do you think university students are for hire? p.s. Everyone left Chaeng Wattana yesterday ... and marched the 20 km to Government House! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 << Terrorizing the family is a rather different matter. >> This is Asia, not the USA. Things get personal here. "On his first day as prime minister, his [Abhisit's] car is attacked. Jumping forward five months to Pattaya, his car is again smashed when waiting at a red light. A week later Abhisit's car is again attacked in the Ministry of Interior compound, but the driver escapes in the style of a US cop series by ramming through the gates." http://www.bangkokpo...s-rarely-simple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 It was a mob of protesters, IMO. For sure, the USA would not put up with protesters taking over gov buildings! what country would, only Thailand. IMO, Yingluck should have said a very firm "no" and stopped the trespassing on to the gov buildings. Hey, blow your whistles, use your hand clappers but keep it legal. Yingluck acted and looked weak. Her bad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Obama would have used drones. p.s. US style ... http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/bonusm.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioman Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Without term, business and family limits this merry-go-round will just keep on spinning anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 "Right wing, reactionary?" I think maybe you need to study up on your vocabulary words. The term "People's Democratic xxx" does not appear in ANY "right wing, reactionary" lexicon I have ever seen in my 50+ years of reading widely. Nor does the word "masses". Both terms appear frequently in left-wing (as in Communist) vocabulary lists. Mr Suthep routinely uses the first. One of his spokesmen, in a recent interview with the Bangkok Post, used the other. I refer you to the "Playboy" May 1971 interview with the late John Wayne for an on-point anecdote on this precise topic. It can be found on the Web. Also: You might want to reflect on the most recent development. "In his speech to the protesters, Mr Suthep said since Ms Yingluck had ignored the PDRC's "order", the committee had therefore issued an "additional order" that protesters demonstrate peacefully against Shinawatra family members and cabinet members." (http://www.bangkokpo...shinawatra-clan) This sounds a whole lot like a threat against the PM and her family, and is not something a "right wing, reactionary" protest movement normally does. Protesting at the office is one thing. Terrorizing the family is a rather different matter. Specialist, the ideas and especially the powers that Suthep presents are very right wing. In a nutshell they are very similar to what the yellow shirts wanted a few years back. It's almost like a coup without the military having to intervene or do anything at all to let it happen. Maybe reactionary is not the correct word, rather back to old ways and sending the country back a few years, instead of progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 So how would you describe the numerous "red villages" were dissent is not tolerated? What do you think of Thaksin as PM sending millions of baht in advertising to newspapers and magazines that supported him, and trying to drive advertisers away from those that did not? Thaksin as PM openly saying he saw no need to do anything for provinces that didn't vote for him? True democracy? I'd say democracy is defined rather differently in Thailand than the west. The newspapers say 48 million Thais are entitled to vote. Last election 15 million chose Pheu Thai; 17 million did not. That means 16 million didn't even bother to vote! Don't just point your finger at Suthep as undemocratic. It is endemic. Many Thais have agreed with me that Thailand doesn't move forward, it goes in circles. It is as if every so many years somebody pushes the reset button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Just went out and had lunch and picked up my laundry. I went to a little hole in the wall restaurant that has great food, owned by some folks from Ubon, in deepest Issan. The restaurant is very popular and dirt cheap, and I'd earlier noticed the family watching Blue Sky TV and cheering for Suthep. But when I went to the laundry, almost the first words out of the owner's mouth were (in Thai) ... "When will the government get out?" This is a tiny shop where the owners work long hours washing and ironing, all without a/c. They come from Khorat, on the edge of Issan. I asked if she had been to blow whistles. She replied yes, very proudly. I told her I had 3 whistles at home, and she and her father grinned widely and gave me a thumbs up. Turns out they have been going to the protests every night after work. They detest Thaksin. So much for the BS about only the evil "elite" and Bangkok middle class supporting the protests. He has really pissed off a lot of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 I still see hard core Red Shirts but hey, it's politics! I may get up to Isaan later this month and get a feel for what's up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Chalerm tells police to arrest Suthep within 48 hours Caretaker Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung Wednesday told the Metropolitan Police to arrest protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban within 48 hours. Chalerm said Suthep had allegedly committed several counts of crime and was facing an insurrection charge. He said if the Metropolitan Police failed to arrest Suthep wihin 48 hours, he would stage a protest at the police bureau. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Chalerm-tells-police-to-arrest-Suthep-within-48-ho-30221825.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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