jonclark

Sad nightfor the country, mothers will wake to find their sons dead, wifes' missing husbands, sons with no fathers and all because Jatuporn and the reds couldn't wait nine months. Thefamilys of this night y will be waiting the rest of their lives.

Exactly - Thai not hurting Thais is complete and utter bol**cks - Thais love a good ruck providing they are they outnumber their opponant by 10 to 1. Abhisit is doing a great job, the military is bricking itself cause a coup would bring ALL Thais out into the street, so they can't play that card, leaving them devoid of ideas. This Thai not hurting Thai is media spin. Get in there kick them back to Nako n nowhere and have a good songkran.

Give him a gun and tell him to take the first shot

Nobody needs to shoot anybody. There are other methods of dispersing and controlling these people. This whole notion of Thais not hurting Thais is twaddle and a little childish. The country seriously needs to move forward and if this is not dealt with it'll be the same thing over and over again by any group not happy with the system.

I agree that the countries poor need a voice, but without wanting to sound like an obnoxious prick, what have they got to say.

'We are poor please help us'.

'Stop the corruption'.

'Give us a share of the countries resources.'

All fair points, but when you look at their leaders it reminds me of the old fable about the scorpion which asked the frog to take it over a river

I fear the poor will remain poor, the establishment will remain established and the scorpions will sting the frog.

I agree that the countries poor need a voice, but without wanting to sound like an obnoxious prick, what have they got to say.

'We are poor please help us'.

'Stop the corruption'.

'Give us a share of the countries resources.'

All fair points, but when you look at their leaders it reminds me of the old fable about the scorpion which asked the frog to take it over a river

I fear the poor will remain poor, the establishment will remain established and the scorpions will sting the frog.

Can someone who is familiar with 'red politics' etc. Please answer me this questions. What policies do the 'reds' in whatever reincarnation they be, have to bridge the political divide which has trapped this country. Winning an election will not solve the problem. So Reds - What are your policies? How will you appease the democrate supporters when you come to power?

Since you don't know I know your reference, and that I was going beyond it by dealing with real people in real places pursuing real things like money and greed, take a good look at this Goldfinger.

Why's your finger gold. Where have you been hiding it???

That's an excellent link to consider lannarebirth, thanks.

Gazprom, Thaksin, Cambodia, Dubai, Bahrain etc etc......oh, excuse me, just connecting some dots.

Real James Bond stuff... Does Taksin have a white cat by any chance??

You have quite the imagination . I'd suggest you not let it run too much farther however.

Lemme know what Wiki might have to say about Thaksin and cats. I know Deng Xiao Peng famously said of his communist critics of market economics, "It doesn't matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice."

So as you're so curious, let us know if Thaksin has a cat and what philosophical statements Thaksin might have to say about cats and Thai sociopolitics....on second thought..........stop trying to waste my time.

What the heck as catching mice, communist critics and sociopolitics got to do with anything. The white cat was reference to James Bonds evil arch enemy SPECTRE who were always trying for world domination through various scheme and plots.

That's an excellent link to consider lannarebirth, thanks.

Gazprom, Thaksin, Cambodia, Dubai, Bahrain etc etc......oh, excuse me, just connecting some dots.

Real James Bond stuff... Does Taksin have a white cat by any chance??

[

The stuff that ends up in one's Inbox:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/khmerintelligence/message/722

I have no idea if these are credible assertions, but it's out there.

Maybe i should changes jobs and become a psyschic (if only i coud spell it)

According to the Nation, there is also the small matter of some debts to Gazprom for him to settle...

From Russia with love to a financial debacle

By Thanong Khanthong

The Nation

Published on January 15, 2010

It now emerges that Thaksin indeed is facing financial difficulties. He has borrowed money from Gazprombank, a subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom, and is now having a tough time servicing the debt.

The amount of the loan he took from Gazprombank is not known, but it could be to the tune of US$1.5 billion.

Thaksin used this money to invest in Dubai. As we all know, Dubai is facing a financial meltdown. Dubai World, the state-owned corporation, is seeking a delay of payment in its debt, which amounts to $59 billion. Thaksin is facing huge losses after his foray into the Dubai market.

The Russian state owns about 50 per cent of Gazprom, a global energy company that focuses on geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and marketing of gas and other hydrocarbons, as well as electric power and heat energy production and distribution. Gazprom is Russia's equivalent of Thailand's PTT Plc, but bigger.

Yes this all crossed my mind earlier.

Gone to pay some debts and some lip service too?

He never said NEW investments in Thailand, it could just be

debt servicing to some big boys who don't mess around.

It strikes me that if you join all the dots with Taksin, Gazprom and Cambodia, You end up with a simple conclusion - Taksin gets cozy with Gazprom (finacially - 1.5 billion dollar loan / backhander) on the proviso that on his return he can influence government officials - both here and in Cambodia - that will allow Gazprom to exploit the gas / oil reserves in the Gulf of Thailand.

And that may explain why the Government backed out of the MoU with Cambodia, they knew more than we do, thus scuppering Taksin plans and leading to him to pay back debts, with money currently frozen...the result Reds on the street in a final desperate act.

Obviously this is pure speculation.

But if true taksin may well be on a very sticky wicket.

They all make very good points. If the reds really want to see and and to the stalemate then they must be willing to compromise. Ultimatums will get them nowhere.

All, no almost all. The yellow shirts should keep their mouth shut and crawl back into their pig stalls.

They have no right to speak at all after the damage they have done to this country.

For all the other points I agree with the talks, and charter amendments, however if the government now makes charter amendments and the newly elected government does not agree with them, they will change it again, and if that would be a red shirt backed party we have the yellow shirts protesting again.

My opinion, no charter amendments yet, first the elections, and then the amendments by the majority 'chosen by the people' and not backed by any protest group / army or any other group.

As this is such a contentious issue, then in order for fair play and to allow all people to vote a) for their party or for the party with charter amendments they agree with. Both the democrates and Phue Thai and all other parties need to outline what their charter amendments will be prior to an election, as well as other policy statements (on education, health, the economy etc.) to allow people to vote for which party is best for the country. Rather than this red / yellow boll**ks that is currently going on.

Dissolving the house now allows NO party time to prepare these important facts and to disseminate these facts to the voting public.

Imagine voting for Phue Thai and then finding out they implement charter amendments which KEEP Taksin in prision - The voting public woudl be so pi**ed off.

Does anyone know 'where' in Bangkok the protests are planned for. In this current round of demonstrations the public have normally been given a heads up to either join in or avoid the area. Anyone know where the rallies will be. Having stayed at home last weekend i'm off out this weekend and want to avoid the trouble spots.

Surely though it is the job of the Royal Thai Police to defend parliment in the first instance not the military. Fairly suire in most countries the police would beef up their presence to ensure security, or a joint police / milatry operation with the police as the public face and the military waiting in the wings to help if needed.

Next thing you know the women will be donating their used sanitary towels

"Next to Akarapol, a 40-year-old Bangkok resident known as Boy had drawn a picture of a gun and two hands fouled with drops of blood.

The gun, drawn in blood, means violence and the two hands are those of the government that had hurt people,he said."

I take it that the picture represents Taksin war on drugs and the innocent which lost their lives - Very inspirational. Hope many of the reds look and learn from it.

All this babbling about the same old topics of who is right and wrong. Both are right and both are wrong. No such thing as black and white in politics.

The point here is that next saturday we can expect more of the same!! This is going to inconvienience a lot of people who have lives to live and need to get out and about. I think if this happens then you can expect far worse gridlock next saturday and tempers getting frayed. It wouldn't surprise me to see a counter demonstration held at the same time.

Hopefully this announcement is just a barganing ploy by Jatuporn, as he sees Abhisit isn't budging on his precondition for talks. Hopefully it will amount to nothing and they will all sit down and discuss the future

Just to add my two cents worth to the support discussion. I was out on Suk 71 at about 4:30 ish. The reds seemed to be fairly well received in the area and all good natured. Lot's of local s sat around waving anything red in the air and cheering on the parade. However many of the motorcycles were driving down, suk 71, and then turning around and doing the whole circuit again. Not the cars only the motorcycles.

Overall congrats to the reds. Speaking to the locals they weren't really massive supports of the reds but were just there to see what was going on, and when someone waved or honked at them they cheered back. Overall whilst many people may disagree with the politics, i have to say the spirit of the carnival showed the best of Thai people, lots of smiling faces and lots of sanook .

Obviously traffic for the rest was a f**king disaster, but the reds and onlookers had a great time on suk 71. Note to Japutporn. Next time have your parade during Songkran and load up with water it will be mental!!and i'll join in.

I don't think any one on this forum has any objection to the poor being given the opportunity to work themselves out of poverty and to have a brighter more secure future. And as Abhist has offered mediated talks; which would be an ideal forum in which to bring up their hopes and concerns, and have some concerete promises laid down, as to how a brighter more equitable future can be achieved - A meeting with the PM seems the perfect opportunity. So why dismiss it?

It seems that the 'poverty' card gets played with the provision, that only a 'red' alligned political party is allowed to solve this problem and that makes me seriously wonder if certain political parties really want to solve the so called underlying problem. Or if they prefer to use poverty as an excuse to further exploit the down trodden.

The whole democracy thing is just smoke and mirrors. Democracy takes may forms in many different countries. And in 18 mopnths new elections will be held. If the Dems manage to solve the poverty problems in that timeframe. Then the Reds really will be up the creek.

"The disruption is needed because middleclass people like Bangkok residents are naturally reluctant to express themselves, unless their lives are affected," the source explained.

Right that's it I want to express myself. I'm gonna chuck yellow paint (cause i can't find yellow blood) all over them there reds and tell them to "go home" (in more colourful terms). I assume that's the sort of act self expression the reds are expecting as our lives are disprupted.

As a matter of interest, What would happen if you were on a Government Bus, which got stopped by the police, searched etc and a bag of yaabaa found, to which no one owns up - Would everyone on the bs get jail time?

Be warnesearched d that the law for drugs here is simple possession. If an undercover cop trying to sell hands you a baggie, and you accept it, even just to check it out, you are in possession and busted. If your gf has drugs in your room, you are in possession.

My sister- and brother-in-law got a ride in a pick-up south to BKK, stopped, searched and a bag of ya-ba found. Nobody claimed it, so all 8 thais in the truck got 12 years each, because they were in joint possession. Apparently quantity affects sentence, but there are no classes of drugs - just a prohibited list.

So let me get his straight today on Thai visa

Headline 1 - TAT assures the world of Safety

followed by

Headline 2 - Chang Mai Chokes on Smog

Hmmmmmm.

Apart from the fact that headline one implies - that TAT is now assuring everyone that the world is infact a safe place

The only ironic think about the airport saga is that the Samak government didn't prosecute the yellow leaders, but now the democrates are in power, the new manifestation of the old regime demands the dems do what they didn't. That's irony. On the subject of political terrorism it maybe worth getting the opinion of the Vietnamese FM on that as he was whicked away from the ASEAN summit last year as the reds stormed the hotel.

But thisthread isn't about the past it's about the present. The Reds were completely outthought both politically and strategically - end of story.

PS - I support neither red nor yellow as I have no vote. I'm just expressing what i have seen.

This was basically a publicity stunt to try to save face - The PM to his credit handled the whole situation calmly and simply rode out the storm, the media whipped itself into a frenzy, schools closed and people stocked up on food, water and beer fearing and impending crisis.

The Reds have been more than defeated they have been humiliated and humbled by the sheer stupidity and lack of planning by their leaders.

This blood ritual is simply a prank to gain publicity and to allow them to have closure on their terms, stagger off and lick their wounds and wait for the election when they will have another opportunity to test the water and see if they actually have the support they believe they have.

Personally I think this demonstration has made the government look better than it has in a while and made the reds and their political allies look like complete <deleted>.

And for all those constant whiners who complain that this isn't a legitimate government - well the lack of popular support spoke volumes about the view of the majority on that issue. An illegitimate government - debatable yes, but get use to it until the next set of elections cause it ain't going anywhere.

Personally I shocked to think that his majesty is sick in hospital and this fiasco goes on.

Would you rather the reds committed an act of political terrorism such as closing the airports as this governments yellow shirted friends did? This protest has been a peaceful one full credit to the Reds for that but they probably wont get what they want because they are acting within the law....rather ironic isnt it?

The real "irony" Jon, is your poor grasp of history. Who was the PM, during the airport fiasco? A mind is a terrible thing to waste...

Indeed it is which is why I feel so at home here on TV.

Apologies - we go through PM quicker than the Italians and sometimes it's hard to keep up. I think the point is still valid, that Somchai (like Samak) were of the same political persuasion and creed and would be typically painted as 'red' with the same master, and being leaders of parties that are reincarnations of TRT.

Either way 'red' politicians had their chance to prosecute their political foes when they were in power and bottled it. Now they expect the democrates to do what they lacked the courage or political will to. That smacks of a double standard if ever i heard one.

I think it's time for all people in this country to let past events be water under the bridge and like the silent majority, get on with our lives and wait for the elections.

The only ironic think about the airport saga is that the Samak government didn't prosecute the yellow leaders, but now the democrates are in power, the new manifestation of the old regime demands the dems do what they didn't. That's irony. On the subject of political terrorism it maybe worth getting the opinion of the Vietnamese FM on that as he was whicked away from the ASEAN summit last year as the reds stormed the hotel.

But thisthread isn't about the past it's about the present. The Reds were completely outthought both politically and strategically - end of story.

PS - I support neither red nor yellow as I have no vote. I'm just expressing what i have seen.

This was basically a publicity stunt to try to save face - The PM to his credit handled the whole situation calmly and simply rode out the storm, the media whipped itself into a frenzy, schools closed and people stocked up on food, water and beer fearing and impending crisis.

The Reds have been more than defeated they have been humiliated and humbled by the sheer stupidity and lack of planning by their leaders.

This blood ritual is simply a prank to gain publicity and to allow them to have closure on their terms, stagger off and lick their wounds and wait for the election when they will have another opportunity to test the water and see if they actually have the support they believe they have.

Personally I think this demonstration has made the government look better than it has in a while and made the reds and their political allies look like complete <deleted>.

And for all those constant whiners who complain that this isn't a legitimate government - well the lack of popular support spoke volumes about the view of the majority on that issue. An illegitimate government - debatable yes, but get use to it until the next set of elections cause it ain't going anywhere.

Personally I shocked to think that his majesty is sick in hospital and this fiasco goes on.

Would you rather the reds committed an act of political terrorism such as closing the airports as this governments yellow shirted friends did? This protest has been a peaceful one full credit to the Reds for that but they probably wont get what they want because they are acting within the law....rather ironic isnt it?

This was basically a publicity stunt to try to save face - The PM to his credit handled the whole situation calmly and simply rode out the storm, the media whipped itself into a frenzy, schools closed and people stocked up on food, water and beer fearing and impending crisis.

The Reds have been more than defeated they have been humiliated and humbled by the sheer stupidity and lack of planning by their leaders.

This blood ritual is simply a prank to gain publicity and to allow them to have closure on their terms, stagger off and lick their wounds and wait for the election when they will have another opportunity to test the water and see if they actually have the support they believe they have.

Personally I think this demonstration has made the government look better than it has in a while and made the reds and their political allies look like complete <deleted>.

And for all those constant whiners who complain that this isn't a legitimate government - well the lack of popular support spoke volumes about the view of the majority on that issue. An illegitimate government - debatable yes, but get use to it until the next set of elections cause it ain't going anywhere.

Personally I shocked to think that his majesty is sick in hospital and this fiasco goes on.

But this is a forum for foreigners to talk about exclusivly Thai topics, is it not?

foreigners arguing about things that are none of their business......