smileydude

The government is trying to intimidate the other leaders and hopefully kill off the momentum of the wave Suthep has been riding.

Suthep knew the risks all along. I'm sure he anticipated this and has a contingency plan.

The Thai saying "To kill the snake you have to cut off the head" doesn't always work for example when tackling corruption or terrorism and will neither work in this scenario.

Wow, the whole comic lineup in one photo op.

We have from left to right: Mr. Richest declared assets minister-because-my-wife-is-loaded, Mr. Toadface I-cannot-speak-any-english foreign minister, Mr. Crookidest ex-chief of police turned minister, the infamous Mr. Floodprasop, and Mr. White-Lies himself.

I'd wager a bet that the amount of hot gas and manure coming from this group could provide enough bio-fuel to run the entire nation for years to come.

anger + mob = burning bus

3rd hand manipulation = burning bus

Conspiracy theories abound but we cannot deny that all 3 factors: anger, mobs and 3rd hands were present that day.

The only way we'll ever know the truth is thru some top notch media sleuths.

I'm not holding my breath waiting for the police report. Not that they're incompetent, but because they're not neutral.

I agree with emptyset that unless both sides can reflect impartially on how Thailand's political and social division has become so violent and learn how to avoid such future incidents there will no winners.

But I do see something positive coming out of this. Blatant disregard of the law and constitution was met with fierce resistance.

Any government in a developed country attempting to pass such laws would have been swifty voted out never to be seen again, but this is Thailand with rampant vote buying and corrupt, greedy politicians making up the majority.

Thai's who are normally known for their sabai sabai, mai pen rai attitude with preference to be non-confrontational are learning to fight for what is morally right , especially the younger generation. Maybe there is a glimmer of hope that with this attitude, corruption can be eventually weeded out.

Lets start by removing the tyranny of one.

He might be assuming that Thai's being smaller will not be able to pick on him but the thai jails didn't get their notoriety as the "Bangkok Hilton" for nothing.

My advice: Don't bend over to pick up the soap. Tie the soap to a string.

There's also a problem with faster turnover rates for the younger generation.

The Millennium Generation (age 31 and younger) has been found to have somewhat unmet or unrealistic work expectations and when coupled with shared attributes like entitlement (stemming from coddled parenting), need for instant gratification (think internet) and less patience (think entitlement + internet), leads to job hopping. It takes HR months to train someone and years to develop their specialization but they are gone before its been completed enough for the investment to be rewarded in the form of a specialized and effective workforce.

Many leading companies face a shortage of staff, with training often cut down from 2-3 months to 2-3 weeks in order to compensate for the rapid turnover. Throw someone in the fold unprepared with generational M characteristics they struggle to adapt and end up leaving their jobs. Thus the vicious cycle goes on.

Okay so they now have first hand evidence . I'm interested to see how they will deal with catching the big fish behind these scams because most of the phuyai (big wigs) all know each other well.

Catching the little fish as scapegoats is futile unless you bag the big ones who are often (not surprisingly) people of influence and color (police, army etc.)

My skepticism tends to get the better of me when it involves the police. I hope they are really serious at tackling this nationally embarrassing situation and not just doing some PR stint to appease the Minister of Tourism.

Teach Suthep a lesson in arson and looting? Oh wait, thats the other dude.

How about a lesson on how to pursue a career as a comedian, or perhaps a clown?

I'm sure I have offended Jerry Lewis and Bozo, my bad.

We're afraid of sharks and box jellyfish but the real silent killer is undercurrents.

Since warning signs will never be enough maybe we should start educating the public more on how to handle yourself if pulled out to sea by such currents. Don't fight the pull, hold your breath, let yourself rise to the surface when the pull has subsided and swim horizontally along the shore until you start feeling less resistance from the currents pushing you away then swim at an angle towards the shore. Most people drown of exhaustion trying to fight the waves pulling them down or swimming against the tide. If your not physically fit enough to do the following I would suggest life vests while venturing out.

The dilemma: Money, No Money.

Duh, I'm sure they're wracking their heads over this one.

This guys one of the smarter ones, positioning himself ever so slightly on the fence to minimize the damage to his rep if the ball were ever to fall on the other court.

Thai caption: Friends don't abandon friends. So being humans don't let yourself be shamed by a jing-joke(lizard).

Its hilarious that the people filming it are actually trying to see if they can visualize a number from the shape of the snake's body so that they can use it to buy underground lottery tickets (huay). They said they saw the numbers 8,0 and 1 (thai script) . For those who are new to the LOS, thai's have been know to place bets according to the license plate numbers of vehicles involved in grisly accidents, numbers told to them by a ghost in their dreams, numbers obtained from the shape of candle wax floating in holy water and last but not least from anything perceived as ominous such as a snake trying to snack on a gecko. Anybody care to share their wives betting secrets?

(Sigh) we are such a superstitious bunch.

I hardly think this will disrupt the efficiency of the Thai Police force as they are already inefficient as it is.

Theres a lot more behind going on in the Health Ministry then what we see.

The current Health Minister was instated by the YL government and is not implementing policies that benefit both workers in the health force nor the health of the general population. Many of his policies are meant to centralize the Health ministry's power and control over budgets when in actuality he should be decentralizing budgets and allowing rural and provincial hospitals the opportunity to develop their primary and secondary care services according to the epidemiological and socio-economic factors of their respective regions. The RDS make up the bulk of primary care physicians who sacrifice the comfort of city based practice and higher income to help the less fortunate. They should be applauded. For them to get up and vent their dissatisfaction means something really stinks at the Ministry of Public Health.

I hope you and your ex can talk out a solution of how much you should to continue to provide for your child as thats the important issue here, not how much she wants. The best interests of our children should always have priority when a separation is concerned. I hope you find an amicable solution once the resentment has been put aside.

Are the demographics clearly defined, as the FAQ says? Reds are for the government, and yellows against?

Does the rice scheme and their payments (or lack of payments) play a role in this at all?

In my travel, I find the number of die-hard government supporters in supposedly red areas is much lower than the reds would have us believe. Most are indifferent, and some of the younger are quite anti-.

As another shade of red once said " One man with a gun can control 100 without one." Vladimir Lenin. Good old Vlad knew a bit about rough politics.

I would like to add that the demographics for the anti-government protestors is not as pure yellow as in the past. It is a mix of yellow shirts and those who were previously non-colored but cannot stand the blatant corruption (e.g. rice scheme) and disregard of laws (eg. amnesty bill proposal ) which could be called the"Anti-Thaksinism" group. The Anti-Thaksinism form the majority of protestors and are mostly from Bangkok and non-red dominated regions.

As for the pro-government, I agree with the previous poster that the true-redshirts have always been portrayed as a large group of people fed up with injustice stemming from the entitled and nobility ruling the country and mostly from the Northeast of Thailand or anywhere that is not Bangkok or the Southern regions when in truth they are much smaller.

Many who are pro-government are not true red in their ideology but pro-Thaksin in that they like and enjoy the benefits of his populist policies (eg. rice scheme, Universal healthcare, one tambon-one million baht fund etc.)

The die-hard redshirts ideologists are much smaller then the anti-thaksinists in numbers but they can mobilize voters better (via vote buying, populist policies etc) and thus PTP forms the majority of parliament.

In the past the government was formed from coalitions of political parties (friendlies more then ideology) while the rest became the opposition. Nowadays Thaksin via PTP has consolidated and absorbed most of the smaller political parties into his fold (PTP) by buying their loyalty. It has virtually become bipartisan like in the US with PTP on one side and the Democrats on the other.

Politically it has been conveniently boxed as PTP is for the less fortunate and rural (eg. famers) and Democrats for the nobility, entitled and rich when in truth it is not. It is more like whose policies will benefit whom. Nothing new in politics here but unfortunately it has been manipulated as a fight between the haves and have nots and is stoking the flames for civil disunity.

Problem is the Democrats political platform has never appealed to the majority of voters which are rural residents so they will never win the majority. In the past some smaller political parties were able appeal to rural residents but they have been bought out by Thaksin and Co. or pushed into obscurity.

Thailand needs more choices of political parties with good intentions to push the country forward in the global stage like what we've seen in Japan and Korea. Right now all we have is one party (PTP) that is polarizing the country between the haves and have nots and the other (Democrats) that just doesn't appeal to enough.

Is it alright even if they (wife and wife's sister) think its alright?

I doubt it will work in any country (exception being those that allow it religiously) because most mainstream social and cultural values do not wire us for bigamy.

Eventually jealousy will rear its ugly head.

cuckoo stories from cuckoonuts?

What is more democratic than an elected government?

By using populist policies and vote buying, TS via PTP, is using the Thai democratic system's inherent weakness to get elected.

Yes its an elected government but non true to the principle of democracy as was intended by those who created and championed it.

I think his strategy is plainly going for broke.

Chances that any anti-government movement will have as much momentum and people power as we have witnessed these past few weeks is far and few so he's going for a topple.

As for his agenda we'll never know for sure but I have to hand it to him that he's taking a lot of risks both physically and politically. Suthep doesn't have to step up to the plate to bat. He could just stay comfortable in the backdrop like what Korn and Abhisit are doing but he's leading the charge as a big bullseye for the opposition. The guys got balls.

He said its either him or his rival that will have to go.

I heard the police are already planning to make sure he goes.

I really don't want to see the gathering of people brave enough to protest and speak out against corruption and tyranny turned into strategic pawns that might give the government the excuse to use force.

I understand everyone is fed up with the blatant disregard and contempt for law that the government has show but we must find means that are legal and within our constitutional rights to wear them down, not this.

Action with anger will not change the world. Action with vision will.

Slang that refers to other countries in a derogatory manner like this comes from a false sense of superiority.

Only the insecure need to justify their superiority.

I couldn't care less because I don't go around using hip trendy vocab that has no substance and makes me look pretty ignorant and racist.

..brought to you live from the guy who said to "Burn the city down to the ground, I take full responsibility"

Democracy, yeah right. More like lackey to the highest degree.

Reading anything that spews from his mouth just makes me feel like I've lost a few more brain cells listening to stupidity.

I have sympathy for this gentlemen's plight as no one deserves to be conned but unfortunately it seems aging does not guarantee one's wisdom.

Nothing is really what it seems.

Misdirection is often paraded for the intention of its purpose.

Covert is kept under wraps by all means necessary.

Hmmm......trying to lull us into complacency that the police are doing their jobs well while in actuality the "real snipers" are getting into position not only unhindered but supported by intelligence from out-of-uniform police minglers?

If there is any reason they don't mingle with other westerners it would probably be the language barrier as someone earlier mentioned.

I have met nice friendly Russians and well as loud obnoxious and overbearing ones just as often as other nationalities.

One very large and muscular specimen even helped himself and his 2 female friends onto my beachfront property in Pattaya uninvited.

Of course I amicably reminded him this was private property and he removed himself promptly though only to camp out in front of my house.

Some russian women even decide to go nudie on my porch front swing while taking photos.

I guess there are pro's and cons in everything in life.