bacchanal

I think the writer, Mr. Ganja, has an interesting avatar on his blog site:

It reminds me of this shot of a vendor selling red shirt materials at their rally:

The Red Shirts will contact local and foreign media as well as the Guinness Book of World Records to see if it could set a record number of protesters joining campaigns to oust the prime minister.

It's not the Guinness Book, but it's a pretty good start for them.

And while the blood thing was nasty and wrong, it was at least a non-violent act that succeeded in getting them some international press (although perhaps not the type they wanted).

To that end, one of the largest international news publisher has selected the UDD's blood-pouring protest as top of the 10 most bizarre protests in the history of the world.

A hearty well-done to the red lunatics comes from the Christian Science Monitor.

I would like to suggest for balance and equality that the searchers seeking this stash, should themselves be searched just to be upfront and fair, or go sans shirts

give her a pass

Does anyone know how much the bloody headbands are? sound like a great gift idea.

Quite. Nothing says, "I love you on Valentines", quite as much as a sweaty and bloody HIV-infected rag.

The artist will also mix some blood with cement to build four city pillars and sculpt an image of Nuamthong Paiwan, a taxi driver who used his own cab to ram a tank in a show of defiance against the military coup in 2006.

A new low attempting to make a martyr out of the delusional and suicidal mentally ill.

Thaksin's 100-page appeal document will also be submitted within March 26

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a Thai show I watched on this subject said appeal could only be granted on the basis of new evidence. Is that correct, and if it isn't what are the criteria?

Correct and the criteria is that it must be new evidence that wasn't already presented in the years-long trial involving thousands of documents and hundreds of witnesses.

Under that criteria, Thaksin's 100-pages will be blank.

Besides, here's he's likely just going through the motions to file an appeal as he took so much flak for failing to appeal his earlier prison-inducing conviction and that misjudged and indefensible goof made him look as guilty as the court said he was.

So the number of demonstrators currently involved is significant and the event has to be taken into account. The debate on the figures is of poor interest.

Yes, best to quickly gloss over the pathetic turnout in relation to the proclaimed "Million Man March".

If this sort of farcical and blatant lies emanating from the red leaders is any indication of what they will be like during the proposed peace talks, it's hopeless for the red side. But then again, they aren't interested in negotiating.

Taking into account that the Center of Gravity of the demonstration is shifted to "Class war" and no more centralised on Thaksin, the movement is going to take more momentum ....

Really? When did that happen? It's still all about Thaksin. Remove him from their "campaign" entirely and then they can start fresh with other issues.

Why does The Nation uses the word 'mob' to describe the redshirts? The definition of mob is as follows:

1 A dissorderly crowd of people 2 A loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities 3 An association of criminals.

The shoe seems to fit them very nicely.

Red members with pending criminal litagation

Jatuporn : check

Jakrapob : check

Nattawut : check

Suporn : check

Giles : check

Arisman : check

etc

etc

etc

Once again, congrats to the Red Shirts for keeping things peaceful. And while the blood thing was nasty and wrong, it was at least a non-violent act that succeeded in getting them some international press (although perhaps not the type they wanted).

To that end, one of the largest international news publisher has selected the UDD's blood-pouring protest as top of the 10 most bizarre protests in the history of the world.

A hearty well-done to the red lunatics comes from the Christian Science Monitor.

Sadly, it looks like the Red leaders are getting more desperate if media accounts are accurate. In addition to the threat of storming the infantry barracks we have the following in the news thread:

MCOT: Red Shirt leaders on mobile stage at 11th Infantry Regiment attack government, announcing stance for 2-3 hours before returning to Phan Fah Lilat Bridge

THE NATION: Another red leader, Weng, said 3 million protesters are in town.

THE NATION: Nuttawat said 1 million cc of blood will be taken from 100,000 protesters and splattered at Govt House tonite.

THE NATION: Blood donation will start at 8 am tomorrow and last until late in the afternoon for the first 1 million cc.

Hopefully its just hyperbole, but clearly they're getting desperate.

100,000 blood draws? By whom? Under what conditions?

Are any of them aware of the hazards of ill-equipped needle sticks by untrained people?

HIV and hepatitis for starters.

I, too, HOPE, it's just crazy words, without actual intent, coming out the red leaders' mouths.

if you do not take us voluntarily will will seize your boats

the red shirts schoolboy bully version of democracy in action

More like enforcing their equal rights as citizens to use public transportation.

You might have missed the other portion of the article.

However their request that the red shirts allow other passengers to get on the boats was rejected.

So much for "equal rights" of ALL passengers.

Gotta be red to be equal, eh?

Something has to give. If it means that the army will start shooting, so it be.

I guess nothing was giving, so the reds have made their moves it seems.

TAN network: Reports indicate red shirts start to cut barbed wire along infantry fence

This could get messy. If this is true and they begin illegally storming into the infantry, it is over for the reds and UDD. Seems as though UDD has made the first move, which is a very bad choice for them.

According to TanTV, the reds are planning to seize provincial city halls and state agencies so the government cannot function. They are provoking the government and are on the path to destruction. They're simply not going to win this.

Bad choice. Dying for a billionaire to get stolen money isn't worth it.

I saw the "reds" moving down Sukhumvit yesterday morning, we passed by the whole column.

There were many young children on board the trucks.

Do you think any responsible parent would bring their child along to any event that would put their child in harms way?

I draw the conclusion that they have not come with violence on their minds.

But of course I could be wrong

What do you guys think?

Violence occurred last Black Songkran when parents were encouraged to bring their children to the rally in Bangkok by Thaksin, who had ushered his own children out of the country just prior.

This year, the same ushering of Thaksin's children out of the country occurred and once again there seems to be a lot of children present in Bangkok, but hopefully the violence that normally occurs with Thaksin's children fleeing the country won't occur this time.

200 monks out of 20,000 "expected"

100,000 protestors out of 1,000,000 "expected"

at least these are better ratios than the "expected" Thai Elite Card sales

I for one, would love to see how many yellow shirt supporters would gather in somewhere like Chiang Mai,for instance, if this was the case. And who would pay them to go there. Suspect the numbers would be insignificantly small, in the hundreds, not thousands.

I think you're right. The thuggish red shirts in Chiang Mai have certainly demonstrated a proven record of intolence and intimidation with a propensity to violence. That's something be proud of, I suppose, if that sort of thing is what appeals to you.

Source: Reuters, by Jason Szep

foreign reporting, from the large, reputable agencies, usually is not biased and it's refreshing to have some different opinions from the different perspectives.

- they have access to information

Yes, must be lots of access to key Thai insiders.... in Boston.

An amusing find:

Reuters

Journalist Profile

Jason Szep

Bureau Chief, Boston

Dancing in the rain is a little more than symbolism for the red shirts.

It f**king pours down every time there is a major red shirt rally, no matter what season it is, often for hours on end.

See? Even God is trying to get them to wise up.

Thaksin was as corrupt as any past leader of Thailand has been

No, he wasn't.

Thailand's Auditor-General Khunying Jaruwan stated that corruption of every sort exists at unprecedented levels under the present administration.

- The Nation / Nov 14, 2004

His corruption was in the multi-Billions compared to multi-millions of the past. Which isn't to excuse the past corrupt leaders, but it helps to keep it in perspective and to highlight that no prior leader was in the same league with him. "Unprecendented" as someone in the know, Khunying Jaruwan, described it. To equate his corruption with the past and off-handed say he was no different from the past is to soften (apologize, if you will) his corruption.

To point out your mispeak also helps to keep things factual and accurate.