BeforeTigers

People are marching in the streets, not against dictatorship, but specifically for it; to give unilateral power of life and death to some crazy eyed, megalomaniac politician.

The more I think about it the crazier it gets.

What is wrong with these people.

Same style exactly as Gen Augusto Pinochet in Chile in 1973 and we all know from history, what came after that

What chance would us falangs have ?

Oh, I'm not sure when or if it will happen, but I'm already prepared for the inevitable vilification of foreigners that will accompany any all-out civil war. It's an historical certainty that the media will find it's finger pointed squarely at us when it really goes down- more so if mad dog somehow finds his way to power, with or without a violent revolt. Dictators feed on scapegoats.

Bit dramatic, I know. But these do seem like dramatic times to my eye.

This is great.
I there is a better self-education tool on Earth, I've yet to hear of it.
Very happy to see more Thais involved in the YouTube community.

So he decides the criteria for what is or is not a "victory" on that day.
mhm.

This guy knows how to work the media:
All you've got to do to win them over is to speak at people as if they're retarded, because they generally are.

After seeing that video of PDRC militai literally ramming trucks into standing lines of police outside of the Air Force HQ, and then to enter with no military resistance an official military post with the Prime Minister inside is it not embarassingly obvious that the military has already chosen to oppose the government?

Martial law would mean nothing but the initiation of a new fascist era.

If I am wrong I welcome your explanation.

"The rescue efforts had been initiated by an Australian father-daughter lifeguard duo who were on the same tour boat as Mr Reynolds and leaped into action when they saw he was in a life-threatening situation."

Gitcho procrastinating self up and head out to a weekend CPR and emergency care class, stat.
Bumrungrad Hospital offers them monthly, as I am sure many other hospitals and community groups must.

This kind of thing happens all the time, and learning how to be helpful in the situation is far more a relief than a burden.

Really easy to literally improve yourself as a person.

Good. I hope the scarcity of transport on the Malaysia side spurs a little hotter trade in busses.
First time I wandered across that bridge beyond Hat Yai was quite a shock- no vans, busses, taxis or hotels.

Dark, raining, alone, and with no available transpoirtation. Makes for a good travel story- ecoomics, not so much.

another really bright red shirt..seriously what did he expect...

Here's the PDRC ram-raiding the police and army lines at the Electoral Commission yesterday, (courtesy of Sanook.com).

Amazing that the military just does nothing about this.

I suggest you formally forward your complains and grievances to DSI, CAPO, OAG, RTP and Robert Amsterdam.

No, I'm calling on General Prayuth Chan-ocha, and the Royal Thai Army to do their job and protect Thailand from these thugs.

CAPO has already issued the order to the army, and the General agreed to follow CAPO's command last Sunday at the new Generals meeting.

And who is protecting these guys?

Who's protecting the Yellow Shirts? Certainly not Suthep.
For the life of me, I can't answer why none of the yellow protestors has yet figured out that, for all the marching and smothering and destroying, the actual protests in the street have accomplished virtually nothing, save a slight toe hold on popular legitimacy that evaporates instantatneously upon closer exmination. All four of the major moves; dissolution of the House, Feb 2 election blockade, the mislabeling of that election as Unconstitutional, as opposed to Null and Void, and of course the final dismissal of Yingluck, have all been thanks to direct action by Suthep, Sutheps party, or Suthep's party lackies in the "judicial" system.

All of the sweat, blood and tears have been nothing but for show.
Backroom deals have brought this country to it's knees, no thanks to children and grandmothers marching in silly hats.

Who is protecting these people? Absolutely no one.

Oh, so they are paid to be there?
I though that was propaganda.

Way to rob them of any notion of revolutionary spirit.
Let's hope they consented to be bought and paid for.

Can anyone explain to me what possible reason the police and military would have to allow, not only for the protestors the publicly shame them under the table, but to physically hit a police line with a truck?

I just can't work that out.
Has there been a behind the scenes castration process or what.
Where is the personal pride in these men?

It does take a real genius to pick a fight with an angry mob

It takes a special kind of mind to be flippant at a time like this.

" This argument, however, is invalid because the 2007 Constitution - which many of these legal experts helped draft - does not allow an unelected person to become prime minister."

nuf sed, as the parlance goes.

Elecions are the only way forward, and you know who is acting as if he and a handful of douchebags in black have final authority over that.

Know your enemy.

Two glaring problems with this idea:

1. "non-partisan"
Devil's in the details, aint it. There is no such thing as a "non-partisan" individual. The concept is illogical.

2. This is all predicated on the idea that Suthep really is a well-meaning servant of the people with nothing but the deep down, honest to goodness best wishes for Thailand. I hope that I will be proved wrong, but when I look at this megalomaniac, leading people to bleed and die in the streets for no practical purpose beyond demonstrating his own power (let's not forget that the Democrat party, the Court, and a handful of real hardliners have made all of the moves of any consequence in this mess) I have to see what history teaches me to see; a power-hungry politician with designs on an authoritarian regime.

Suthep's only interest in an interim PM is that it's a level he must pass to reach his ends.

So there are at least 4 conflicting laws regarding posession.
In a country with one of the world's highest drunk driving fatality rates.

Yeah, I totally didn't see that coming
=\

Where are the majority of reasonable Thai people?
When will they show up in force and stop this country from being overrun by fascist thugs.

Of course Suthep knows his mass of mislead revolutionaries would be squashed out of existence if it were a man for man battle. And we'll see that, too, if this continues. He knows this. Hence the endless postponement of the "final showdown".

The mass of citizens that would have voted him into oblivion in a standard election is equal to those that would face him in open warfare.
Suthep needs this to be as bloodless as possible.

It's nice to see that Yinglucks final removal has aroused soem real passion in the sideliners.
If it had been my country I would have been impassioned by February 3rd.

I had heard about some people making endless border runs to extend their stay indefinitely.
I never believed it.

Instead, I've been working at a job I don't particularly enjoy, just to keep a proper visa.
Feeling slightly conflicted about it at the moment.

Well, If you have to rob someone in Thailand, robbing the rich is best, since Thai rich got their money from robbing the poor. Flame away hi-so defenders.

In your perfect world, no one would get wealthier than the next person. No incentive to work harder or take a risk to invest in a business that hired people for the very fact of hiring people is exploitive. Hey, we could all go back to living in caves because modern society with all its amenities would't exist if some people didn't work for other people to build something bigger than a one-person enterprise. We could stop having new inventions, drug companies would have to stop operations, no more hospitals, doctors, etc.. You're a genius. All the society's problems would be solved if no one got rich. How stupid am I to still believe in Capitalism and the profit motive. Communism has proven to improved the lives of billions, the world over, and I am just too blind to see it. /sarc

I'll bet you wouldn't have a computer and INTERNET access to write on this forum if not for capitalism. Duh!

I believe you just railed against Anarchism, despite the original poster specifically referencing the Thai political/economic system, rather than Capitalism in general.

I hope you atleast feel better for getting that verbose and simplistic rant off your chest.

Assuming the story is true:
Fk 'em.

Maybe next time consult the Art of War before attacking a stronger enemy.

Forget the police... Just the army please.

The police are less than useless only good for traffic duties and that is reflected by Thailand having some of the worst roads in the world... That is how useful the police are.

As for this.......

Thousands of army and police personnel will be deployed to oversee the mass rallies called by pro- and anti-government activists next week, a top police commander said.

Erm...... It's happening tomorrow and Saturday..... not next week.

Sorry mate.

The army have been naughty boys so Uncle Sam has had to ban them from playing politics any more.

Please explain that Uncle Sam comment.

Love her or hate her, you all know that that verdict on Wednesday was total bs. That was absoultely a judicial coup. But this rice thing has a littl emore traction.

What's the word on criminal charges?
Has she fled the country yet?

Wow. So detailed I almost feel as if I were there =\

You cannot judge this story, good or bad, based on this article.

I find it difficult even to imagine this happening where I am from.

I would say the same for Thailand, if it weren't common knowledge that this is part of the culture.

What I can't figure out is why this is part of the culture.

Common knowledge to who? What on earth do you know about Thai Culture? The only people it's common knowledge to is trolls with nothing better to do than knit scarves and moan about Thai people.

Maybe you missed the bit where the young man risked his life to go help his friends............I thought he was Thai.

What I meant was that it would be difficult for me to imagine Thailand being a place where this type of behavior took place, if it weren;t for people opn this very forum making statements to that affect all the time.

I actually have seen this happen right in front of me when a man was mortally injured by a small explosion in front of my office.

Kinda makes the stories that float around here a little easier to believe.

But I'm no thai basher.

You make a very good point at the end.