boppia

The protesters aren't trying to run the country they just don't want to be represented by a corrupt dictatorlike leader. Thailand is suppose to have freedom. Thaksin is suppressing that freedom by controlling the media. Let the demonstartions get out live on the airwaves on Channel 3,7,9,11, and ITV and its over for Thaksin right now. That won't happen so the chaneg is going to take time.

In addition...

It's easy to see that the TRT is a collection of weak individuals led by a megalomaniac. The only strong TRT members have left to join the protestors. It's easy stay in line and follow your leader but it takes something special to go against that leader when he or she is wrong.

Gosh, what would the TRT do without Thaksin?

Thaksin is going. His only option is to use violence to suppress all the people in the country. Dictatorship.

Just a note.

Has anyone noticed that there are a lot of empty billboards around BKK? This seems to be something that has been going on for a few months. Either there is just too much supply of billboards or advertisers are cutting back. The economy may be softening despite the current political climate here.

I'd say go home for a few years. Try to save cash for a return trip someday. Think positive. You are young and the world is yours. Look to the future as you have one.

Feeling good now? Have a beer before you feel depressed again.

Eddie, we have connections to the same area. What's your favorite restaurant in town? That little Esarn food place downtown near the plant nursery is pretty good. There always seem to be a few cops eating there. I usually have lunch a few times there if I'm in town for a week.

Marco, you must be part Ethiopian. Glad to hear that you can handle the heat. For me when it's hot it's hot and when it's the cold season its still hot but it can get pretty cold at night. What province are you in anyway

There are plenty of objective honest people in Thailand but they are not looking for those types.

as for the Thai judicial system, it seems connections and money rule there too at least that's what I've heard from some aspiring judges. "This town needs an enema!" Jack Nicholas said that in one of the Batman movies.

I think the same goes for Belarus. The leader there won the election and has a majority support. Of course there was a small mob in the city square protesting his success in the election.

I think Saddam, Fidel, and the North Korean Leader were democratically elected too. Foreigners have plans try to accuse their elections as being illegitimate. Viva Thaksin. Censor the fools protesting! They are all mad. If the people of Thailand think corruption is good, viva corruption.

Of course, I don't follow the posters who think the above, that Thaksin should stay.

I see the ways of the TRT as a giant gang-rape of Thailand. Thaksin has kept the act away from the Thai people by stuffing his sock in Thailand's mouth.

This thread is good because it offers information. I can't understand why Thaksin supporters would need to read it afterall Thaksin believes people don't need to know anything.

In the end we may see the truth about this. Remember who you've backed.

I would guess most of us don't live in Esarn. Right now its just like a getaway camp. I enjoy visiting when I can. It's darn hot up there though. When I spend a long time up there I get bored with the food and want something western. I know that there are a few places in Muang district to get a burger. In recent years, more superstores have opened around LOS so that's good.

Who cares if Thaksin helped his school? It's good for developing the country. If its the place in Kanchanburi, I've been there.It is really very basic, they also help animals there.

As for the football club fiasco, well I agree with Chamlong on that.

Has Chamlong really beeen an active member of the TRT since Thaksin got in? I'll have to do a search for info on that. As for the killings, Chamlong is in Santi Asoke. Santi Asoke isn't about violence. Just because someone is or was a member or TRT that doesn't mean they approve of violence.

By the way a lot of the protesters voted for Thaksin in the past or are former TRT members.

Watching the rally at Chatuchak on TV, I had a flash in my mind that it was a lot like an Amway convention. On the other hand the audience seemed to be boxed in by thugs, which reminded me of the story of the Jim Jones 'Christian' Cult which forced 400 followers to drink poison KoolAid in a 'mass suicide' in French Guiana in the 70s.

I don't understand what TRT is doing. Like another poster said I think this is going ot have to be resolved by a higher power or this is going bad.

The only good thing I heard is that the anti-protesters are going to focus on education the countryside on what's going on with TRT. The truth may crash down on the TRT in near future.

About a month(?) after my baby was born my wife's mother shaved the baby's head. Anyone else have this done?

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9b39ee9c-b62b-11d...00779e2340.html

"For all his professed enthusiasm for modern management tools, Mr Thaksin in power has displayed many traits of the traditional Thai-Chinese tao kae, or business owner, ruling his dominion with an iron fist, making most key decisions himself, installing loyal relatives as subordinates and tolerating little dissent. Many in Bangkok have just had enough."

Sounds about right to me.

"'He claims to be a CEO running the country like a corporation, but it is an archaic corporation, not a modern corporation," says Somkiat Tangkitvanich, a policy researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute. "Participation is not allowed and secrecy is normal. He micro-manages everything, makes all the decisions and has centralised power. He has brought in and promoted many of his relatives and classmates to high positions. This is certainly not modern - it is a kind of nepotism, cronyism.'"

Very good observation.

""He doesn't like being contradicted and he doesn't like to be disagreed with," said one Thai business executive. Once when a cabinet meeting was broadcast live on television, many Thais were aghast to see the premier lecturing his ministers, who were submissively taking notes. Civil servants complain he interfered with the bureaucracy and the army, polarising the institutions.

Mr Thaksin has also sought to control the airwaves as no elected Thai leader has done before. Until recent weeks, most dissenting voices were purged from television and radio, while the premier's pronouncements were slavishly aired."

Have I heard this before. This Thaksin is a take charge kinda guy.

The TRT, I mean, 'Democracy' Rally is on now. I like the funny guys who keep punching, kicking, and hitting the signs with Sondhi and Chamlong's names on them. I'm sure Thaksin approves of this. He's building his army like Pol Pot.

I like the guy who says that people upcountry know about politics. They've got TV and newspapers!

As for ColPyat, I won't deny that Thaksin has done some good. Even the people protesting him know that he has done some good. As for Chamlong cheering on the killing of people, I doubt that. Chamlong supported Thaksin before he got in. i don't recall him ever cheering Thaksin on since.

As for corrupt politicans sure there are some on both sides that doesn't mean the people have to accept them. The people want change. Trust me Sanoh isn't going to be the PM.

As for what is going on, Thailand wouldn't be in this situation if Thaksin had answered to the people on his actions. He isn't an average citizen, he has to be more accountable, don't you agree?

The people protesting want censorship stopped, accountable leadership, responsible government, and originally Thaksin to answer their questions. Thaksin refuses to be accountable to the people and his cronies won't make him be accountable. Thailand is very close to a dictatorship in my opinion. Everyone outside of TRT should just shut up it seems. TRT is defining freedom and democracy now.

I surfed through both protests last night. The anti-Thaksin protest had much more diversity that the pro-thaksin 'rally.'

The Pro-Thaksin assembly was pathetic. It was run only by men as far as I could see. Half of the people there were motorcycle Taxi and van drivers. The people on stage looked like hoodlums. I didn't see one woman on stage in the two hours I watched the event. The speakers repeated how wonderful the 30-baht health care was a hundred times, to the point that the audience looked bored. One woman in the audience even looked like she disagreed with what they we saying about the 30 baht medical system. Another thing that the speakers brought up was how most of the audience had only primary school education. The speakers demonized the anti-Thaksin people as being all Doctors. They said you don't need and education to know. Anyways, Thaksin has a doctorate! Why didn't they bring that up? Another strange thing was one person came out to speak and I believe he said I something like I am not going to say vote for Thaksin but just vote. He seemed to keep away from promoting Thaksin. I got the feeling he wasn't wholly with the Thaksin side. His time on stage seemed strange as so many of the others, henchmen-like guys, were out angrily promoting Thaksin and trying to get the audience to think that Sondi is corrupt, Santi Asoke is evil, Chamlong is crazy, and the people downtown were nuts. A side note, I think one person on the sidelines shouted something after the speaker mentioned a name like 'kill him' but I am not exactly sure. The speaker looked his way with a surprising smile like Wow!

Anyways generally what I saw was a pathetic rally lead by thug-looking men and audience that didn't really seem to know what was going on and sat passively compared to the protesters downtown.

On another note...

What amazes me is how posters I guess who are westerners can accept a leader who refuses to allow them information.

I can understand 1st generation westerners whose parents come from countries like Thailand or China accepting dictators but I just can't understand how someone whose family has roots in a western country which values freedom and access to information can accept less than that.

Great pics Bulmercke. I took a trip down there today looking for some more VCDs but the place that sells them wasn't open until 6 PM. I saw Chamlong SriMuang there in the Santi Asoke Area; He was quite accessible. There were about 4 other farangs wandering around among the Thais. It was way to hot to do much. That was at 12noon. Anyways, it should be busy again tonight as many people are off tomorrow.

The opposition or the people who are against corruption in government don't have a plan for the government, they just want a responsible and accountable government, something Thaksin hasn't given them.

To be honest the people protesting aren't that organized and they aren't promoting their cause as well as they could outside of Bangkok but as I said earlier over time their complaints will be heard around the country. Information gets out. I guess Thaksin could start confiscating media equipment and do house to house searches for pamphlets, fliers, and VCDs of the opposition. he could put everyone in jail or at least kill all the vital members of the opposition. These seem to be his techniques with his previous wars. He could call it the War on Information. Right now he's turned off the tap now all he has to doo is mop up the resistance. Sadly, some posters would like him to do this. They obviously prefer Thaksin knowing what is going on.

If you think Thaksin is the man take a trip to visit the rich farmers who caravaned down to Bangkok to support the PM. They are protesting in an elegant prefab protest site at the new Chatuchak park. Gosh where on earth did they pool all that money together to create such a lovely protest area. Thaksin must have really hook them up in the countryside as they now seem to have cash to spare. I'd bet if you go there tonight you'll be able to hear Thaksin speak to them as I think its their first day there. If you dare, ask them who's paying for their gas and did they get any 'stipend?'

At the Sanam Luang protests there were flags and hats available but you had to got get them yourself. There was face painting for free too. You could donate money to tthe rally if you wanted. If you follow ASTV you'll notice that they publicly announce donations throughout the day.

I recommend anyone in Bangkok or in the nearby provinces to check out the protests for yourself. They people at them are paid to go there as many TRT people are telling people in the countryside. The people there come from diverse backgrounds. There are many different groups expressing their view of Thailand's problems there. You won't feel in danger there. Most Thai people feel that the protesters are in harms way but that's not the case. You have to go to know what is really going on. If you don't have cable ASTv you can buy VCDs there of the protests. If you let you Thais friends see them I am sure they will think differently about Thaksin. The VCDs are sold by the day of the protests. you can get two VCDs for 50 baht. That would be one day. They only cover about two hours of that day. If you like Thai country music you'll find a lot of musicians have played over the course of the protests including Pongsit Kumpee.

Don't believe what you read in the Thai papers and regualr Thai TV alone as the TRT has control over the media.

Thanks. I'll try it but I have a slow connection.

That link goes somewhere else.

Thaksin is running around like a madman now. He wants to be everyones friend. his face looks very worn, extremely worn. He knows that if he fails he and his family are going have to look behind them 24/7 or move abroad.

All thaksin has to do is open the books and explain. It's simple. Why can't he do it? Answer: Because he is guilty of everything he is accused of.

What day is April fools day inThailand? Is it the first or the second of April?

Donz used to be a whinger before he got a girlfriend. That's a fact!

Love heals.

Love can change a man.

Love can change a woman.

Love can can a man into a woman.

Love can change a woman into a man.

Man!

I put Ubon and Amnat Charoen together. Amnat Charoen used to be part of Ubon

Why won't the PM address the issues publicly to solve the problem? The issues are real as the country is in a serious political mess at the moment? Shouldn't a leader listen to the people?

My wife and all her poor surin friends are 'Thailand's elite' I guess. The coalition against the PM is not a coalition of wealthy people. Get out and meet them. Try visiting the protests if you live in Bangkok. Lots of working poor are against Thaksin. They can't take everyday off to go to the protests. And not everyone can afford to pay for transport to go to Sanam Luang everyday.

If Thaksin cares about the Thai people why did he call an election before the Songkran festival? He doesn't want the working poor to return to the countryside to talk to their relatives and village members. He knows what they will tell them. They will tell the the truth.

Poor Esarn people with Primary School Educations = Thailand's Elite?

The Truth is shocking. People are being affected by knowledge. When people realize what really is going on here in Thailand it has an impact.

When we see wrong happening and our government does nothing to stop it, it goes against logic and so causes emotional distress.

For Thais hearing what people are saying at the protests this is serious. As everyone says Thailand is sabai sabi (easy-going). Well, there are times when things need to be done and now is one of those times. The people are suffering from a corrupt government. Thaksin is wandering around in denial of his actions. He acknowledges the protesters but fails to address their concerns. Thaksin's actions are not those of a caring leader.

The Truth is coming out and it is shocking and painful.

Just curious where posters are. I know this has been done before but things change. So where are you guys or which provinces do you have connections to?

I've got connections to Rattanaburi, Surin but I am working somewhere else.