wandasloan

No constitution means no law , as of now the military will deem what is the law I expect worse is to come what I do not understand is how after two short meetings with the parties the general decides that's it we will have a coup and take control in the meantime all you guys around the table are going to prison ! I hope they do not cut the internet what a terrible thing to happen to the people of Thailand they voted in there masses for a Government only to see the opposition cause civil unrest because they want power and five years down the road it will be the same again.

In that case, just grab a couple of ATMs, take them home, take your time opening them up because it's quite legal. And buy a gun (completely legal now) and head down to the bank row in the mall and make a few withdrawals. Drive in the right-hand lane on the expressway on the way there, there's no law. And don't forget food. Take a couple of baskets at TescoLotus, fill them and head home. The baskets are free now, and of course so is the food since there's no such thing as stealing any more.

Let us know how much you're clearing per day in this new society without any laws and no law enforcement. I'm really chicken-hearted and have no ambition, I'm just going to keep obeying the old laws, just like they were still valid.

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If that's the best argument you have, it's pretty weak.

Heh. Right. If shooting the messenger is your best argument, then you don't have one. How come?

My argument is that a well-known authority and a scholar studied the video and think the Thai Visa majority is crazy. Whereas the authority you cite is.....??

I don't do messenger-shooting. I'll presume for now that your authority is "unknown" and presume you will make or give some actual argument in the next post you make.

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here's your urban legend ...

Excellent. Thank you. Makes it much easier for those who think to research and find out about it. Appreciate it. If we can kill of these most ridiculous urban legends like this one and the "paid mobs" we'll make rational discussion a lot better. So you've dropped the stupid notion of the "registration at the entry gate" for paid mobs, so progress is achieved. Now.

For the hard-core unthinking lemmings who would love to take urban myths to the grave, I guess these won't mean anything to you. To anyone more curious about what's true and/or factual, try Bangkok Pundit, a totally switched-on authority:

http://asiancorrespondent.com/18314/thaksin-paying-protesters-500-baht/

And consider an anti-Thaksin scholar who notes the myth-spreaders can't speak Thai (obviously)

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2009/04/20/the-crushing-of-the-red-shirts/#comment-644943

And even after those, don't believe a word I say, and don't accept the sources I give, and go and find out for yourself other sources to discover what this video says and what it means, and why the urban-legend spreaders cut the video to 74 seconds so you couldn't know the context. Get your own translation, not mine (and certainly not the horrible one on the video).

Everyone with brains, please use them.

The rest, carry on with the ridiculous stories you spread. But be careful of accepting drinks from strangers because a lot of people lately have been drugged and woken up in a bathtub of ice with a kidney missing. Don't even try to doubt it.

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Not to recall Thaksin from last time when he offered 500B/day for eveyone to join. It's on youtube and you can search it if you want.

Urban legend. It never happened. Thaksin said if people supported him they would not have to line up for the 500 baht social welfare payment that the Democrats made them line up for. Political rhetoric. You should check it out. You should actually, really check it out, I'm serious.

Why not tell actual corruption stories? It's not like there are none. Drop the urban legends in the rubbish where they belong. Tell real corruption stories. Tell how Thaksin got into business, one of the great kickback tales in Asian history. Tell how Thaksin totally back-stabbed and cheated that man, and can't ever go back to Hawaii because of it. Tell how Thaksin paid off cronies with laws and regulations when in power. Those are all real, actual events. Sorry if it takes you 20 minutes to find them and learn them but they are TRUE. Stop reading 3-line internet nonsense. Get a book. It's not a secret, it's just a secret from you.

It's totally ridiculous to use lies and myths when there is massive, fantastic corruption every time you look. Thaksin is one of the biggest crooks ever. Suthep is a BIGGER crook than Thaksin. The army is the biggest corporate crook in Thailand. And so on. Whoever is your villain, he (always "he") actually is a real, honest (haha) to goodness villain, cheat and corrupted person.

(Consider this if you bother considering what I said. How much money by how many people was made shorting shares at the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the two days of sham "martial law" this week - markets went up - to the real coup - when markets went down Friday morning. If you don't think those two days of martial law weren't corruption in the hundreds of millions of baht, you don't even want to know about corruption, you just want to continue your petty, spiteful gotcha politics.)

But you and others like you spread these really ... sorry, but these are STUPID stories about paying mob participants and the sorry, old, horrid Thaksin 500 baht story that simply isn't true. What you are actually doing is supporting the actual corruption of the big boys and massively disrespecting really decent citizens whose only sin is they care so much they go and join a dopey mob. Without pay.

But stop with these dopey, untrue... well, lies. It makes YOU look bad, not Thaksin/Suthep/army/whoever is today's villain for you.

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Methinks he doth protest too much...

Or maybe just can't protest enough, that's another possibility.

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In Prayuth's world, around 75% supported martial law.

One should think slightly less will support Prayuth assuming power; after all, Prayuth did take the soaps off air.

5555 Mixed results on the lakorn, I think.

But yes, Prayuth starts out like all junta brass with a certain good will. But only inside Thailand. This time around, it is going to be a total shutout from abroad. No one is going to support him, and even inside Asean he is going to get criticism and pushback. That's why I say, sure, go ahead and grandstand if you absolutely have to, and pull the passport.

But even talking about an international warrant and interpol is going to get nothing but laughter at the stupid banana-republic guy from outside Thailand. And that's why I think the best thing to do about Thaksin is absolutely nothing. Since there is nothing that Prayuth can do to make this right with the world, the correct thing for him to do is nothing.

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The best action for Prayuth would be to withdraw Thaksin's Thai passport, issue a warrant & seek international co-operation for his arrest.

Despite his denials of ongoing involvement in Thai politics, recent statements attributed to him have shown his degree of de-stabling influence on Thai politics.

Define "best". This seems to me to be the best way for Prayuth to look more like a stumbling fool than at present, in a world where he has no support and an immense amount of ill will and downright political opposition. No nation on Earth is going to arrest Thaksin. If that is the "best" Prayuth can do, he might as well pack and leave for Switzerland today instead of seeing this whole bloody tragedy out to the end.

Even pulling Thaksin's passport, a perfectly reasonable thing to do *INSIDE THAILAND* without involving the rest of the world in it, will have no effect on anything, including the fugitive or his movements or his businesses, both shady and illegal. You could cause more bother to Thaksin by releasing a fly in the room he's in.

To me, the best thing for Prayuth to do about Thaksin is to say over and over and over again, every time he is asked, "Who?"

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This will only work if reforms can be made to ensure Thai are equal by law and effectively. AND when those reforms can be made binding, enforcible.

Both the corrupt Pheu Thai with it's stronghold on the poor and the old guards in the PDRC need to step down, relinquish control and keep out of politics. That means a.o. that Suthep may not have much time for his victory party as he can't be part of the 'after reforms' situation. Of course also the Shinawatras are out, and Banharn, Newin, and many others.

The problem maybe to find new, young blood not tainted by their fathers' sins.

Shouldn't that include "by whom?" Remember this?

Please define "no one". As of now Prayuth is the interim PM, just as many predicted quite a while ago. Of course on "neutral" your views may vary. But my own advice is you'd BETTER accept Gen. Prayuth as interim PM, if you know what's good for you. "You" in the general sense, applying to every person inside the Thai borders.

This is a great example of why the wise observers of Thai politics never say "never".

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This news just in from 2006:

Prayuth is a Super Hero

Thailand is blessed with a Coup against Corruption

Thai military have stopped Dictator Thaksin

We Love Thai Soldiers

Time to light up and celebrate

While I personally support the current martial law provided it does not escalate into a Coup, this poll is unreliable at best. Small sample size and no mention of methodology so we can hardly deduce it is an accurate representation of the country. For instance, was the poll carried out nation-wide or just in Bangkok. What were the questions? How was the poll conduced (telephone, mobile, interviews)? How was the selection made. Until these and more questions are answered this poll is just a PR stunt for the feeble minded.

Do you not have your own opinion of the feelings of the nation, at least your area? If it doesn't come close to this poll, how do you think your neighbours/region feel differently, and why? If it comes close, who cares about the specific poll from a known distrustful polling outfit? (Remember the Bangkok governor's elections?)

My own feeling is that the poll results seem to be about right for the places I've been, the people I've talked to. And that includes both the main mobs, for whatever that's worth.

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even then......it would be preferable to leaving the corrupt PTP rabble who've bribed and threatened their way into power under the orders of a corrupt criminal and then totally made a mess of the whole thing leaving 28 dead and farmers desperate for their livelihoods - if this is martial law - it looks better than red shirt democracy!!

Let's examine this in words of no more than four letters:

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Hmm before martial law shootings and explosions. Since martial law the following has been reported:

"Last night there were no shootings or explosions in #Bangkok. It was probably the quietest night for weeks. Hopefully the peace will last."

"Another quiet night here in #Bangkok with no reports so far of shootings or explosions. I hope this peace & security continues."

I'm not sure what you're saying, but if you are saying the army has had a fabulous 48 hours and it's time for all the military to return to the barracks and revoke martial law, I'm with you - and I will certainly join in congratulating the general on an achievement of two days without a political murder. Good job! Thanks, and see you never again. Does "never" work for you, general, for the next military intervention? Great.

If you're saying that, I'm with you. If you are trying to make some prediction that 48 hours is the same as 48 days is the same as 48 weeks, please rub a lamp. I hope, pray that this incompetent bunch can muddle through without bloodshed. But I'm realistic and I fear very much they can't.

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Remember all those times an army takeover by any name ended peacefully with no blood spilt? Neither do I.

Short or selective memory? The 2006 coup was bloodless.

55555 good one. All coups and military intervention have begun bloodlessly or nearly so.

Would you like to try to answer the question again? I'll repeat it, and my comment, only this time with emphasis for the hard-of-reading:

Remember all those times an army takeover by any name ended peacefully with no blood spilt? Neither do I.

To put it in shorter, blunter (if less inclusive) questions. Do you remember 1973? Do you remember 1981? Do you remember 1976? Do you remember 1992? Do you remember 1985? Do you remember 2010?

So do I. And to be clear, I remember the coups/intervention that preceded them, in all their bloodless glory, some of which certainly had more than 75% approval, although polls weren't around for most of them.

Something I found interesting and probably pertinent. On Tuesday night and Wednesday night the crowds at the two main rallies in Bangkok and Thon Buri got noticeably bigger. I think those folks are quite willing to wait for a while, but even more of them are interested and invested in the outcome now. And when (not if) the outcome is not the one that one rally or both rallies want, that will start the REALLY dangerous time.

Answer me this: If a yellow or a red rally or both rallies just stand up and start marching and defy the army, what do YOU think the army will do when 10 to 50 thousand people do that defying? I'm not saying this will happen, but the mood is there. Just like it was there over and over and over again when the green-clad know-nothing humourless witless military twits got involved over the people's interests.

The army lost its one chance to break up those rallies and send people home and I think that was one of 357 stupid things that happened Tuesday. There is no chance to disperse them now, not bloodlessly.

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@EBLair48 . So let's say it wasn't easy to 'suddenly disappear' or end up dead in Thailand, what would you do if you were being openly disrespected and it involved them talking rudely about you and a friend

@Ulysses, I may have misunderstood him it's true. But if I didn't, I surely did nothing to bring it on. I was walking along minding my own business.

@rgs, She is a non-Thai teacher who teaches 60km away from here. A friend who's been out and about this town perhaps 3 or 4 times with me.

Yes, perhaps I misunderstood.

Let me rephrase the question so there's no confusion or we pick apart the situation in 100 ways.

Assume for sure you know he's talking badly about you and a female friend. Maybe not terribly.....But where I come from we call it 'catching rec', or 'gaming on someone'. Basically jesting at someone else's expense and speaking loudly enough so that anyone within 50 meters can hear it. And this person is no friend of yours. What do you do?

Tell us what answer you want readers to give you, and someone will give it to you and make your day.

You want to know how to act when a person says something, but you don't know what he said. I'm not clear why that is supposed to be a serious question.

As for your hypothetical question, you again have no idea what the person said. The reaction has to be based on what was said, surely? What is "talking badly"?

In 99% of cases, *I* hear nothing, do nothing. In 1% of cases, I do something. I know the 1% as soon as I hear it and I instantly know the correct response. My own suggestion is that if you don't know, then in 100% of cases, do and saying nothing at all.

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"What the Army should be doing is to declare that fresh elections will be held and all polling stations will be open and guarded by the military."

So long as it is followed by "And all Departments of Justice shall follow all actions of the new government 'live' and shall take appropriate action immediately when unconstitutional or criminal activity is suspected"

You mean "unconstitutional or criminal activity" like sidelining the government, annuling the sections on basic rights in the constitution, and failing to get authority even for a simple martial law order? That kind of unconstitutional AND criminal activity? Shouldn't that already be happening today, instead of sometime in a mythical future?

Or do you mean first of all, citizens will get their orders at gunpoint, and then they will carry them out precisely and exactly and unquestioningly and THEN starts all the unconstitutional and criminal investigation against all citizens who refuse to obey orders?

Aren't those citizens actually called "proles"?

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It appears the general is the wisest head of all. He kept his cool and didn't rush into making hasty decisions. Let's not forget that UDD/red shirts militants threatened his daughters/family. Yet he has risen above it. The message is clear. There is still enough time to find the way out of this mess without spilling hectoliters of blood.

Hmmm. I'd say that a 3am declaration of martial law with prepared orders to muzzle basic freedoms, occupy hundreds of properties, block key roads.... I'd call that fairly hasty. The Kamnan has planned for more than six months, giving careful notice at every step. The UDD have planned for weeks and over a period of time decided to interfere with practically no one.

But the man (of course) with 200,000 guns and heavy artillery is the one who doesn't make hasty decisions? Is there some way you can think of that he can change or annul his 3am decision in any manner?

I would call it responding to a threat of violence .. more information is coming out day by day!

In the sense that "you" (the general sense only) called the invasion of Iraq by US and many other forces a response to all those weapons of mass destruction.

This is a specious claim, and you shouldn't buy into it so fast. Think for a moment what Prayuth claimed, and the HUGE chasm between his claim and the truth. How often did Suthep and his gang, the mad monk and his gang,. Jatuporn and his gang -— how often and how passionately did they call for this threat of violence the general cited? The army can't (and won't) stop murders. The army can only prevent massive bloodshed between reds and yellows (and oranges, Maha) if they want to shed blood. And there is precisely no evidence anyone wants or wanted or would want any such thing.

I'm fully aware that people in Thailand have weapons and the army can raid 10 or 12 of them and make a splash. So far, the biggest weapons cache of the month was what the guards left behind in Lumpini Park. The lady in Pak Nam, the guy in Pitsanuloke, I'm fully, intensely aware of their weapons "caches", enough to arm a pickup truck of drive-by thugs. The left-behind Lumpini Park weapons would outfit a squad of similar thugs.

It's all despicable, but there are hundreds and hundreds of such caches around Thailand. They do not pose threats of mass bloodshed, mostly because those who could shed blood showed and show no desire to do any such thing.

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It appears the general is the wisest head of all. He kept his cool and didn't rush into making hasty decisions. Let's not forget that UDD/red shirts militants threatened his daughters/family. Yet he has risen above it. The message is clear. There is still enough time to find the way out of this mess without spilling hectoliters of blood.

Hmmm. I'd say that a 3am declaration of martial law with prepared orders to muzzle basic freedoms, occupy hundreds of properties, block key roads.... I'd call that fairly hasty. The Kamnan has planned for more than six months, giving careful notice at every step. The UDD have planned for weeks and over a period of time decided to interfere with practically no one.

But the man (of course) with 200,000 guns and heavy artillery is the one who doesn't make hasty decisions? Is there some way you can think of that he can change or annul his 3am decision in any manner?

Let us all hastily hope he has a plan, because he sure hasn't seemed to for two straight days so far. And just like in 2006, that 75% favourable poll ratings for his cou... his non-coup will disappear in weeks, not months. The whole country is now helpless because of his hasty decision and we can all hope, pray or worry our beads that he is less witless than he appears.

Keep in mind at all times. This is the man who couldn't defeat Cambodia on the battlefield, and who admitted last week he can't protect schools and school children in Yala because he forgot to provide enough protection units. This is the man we HAVE to trust, no alternatives apart from those hectolitres of which you speak.

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Lets hope that Nurak who has a share in drafting the 2007 constitution will be open and fair in his deliberation of charter reform.

I'm sure he would never let personal politics get in the way of judicial obligations.

Or. Well. Er. Maybe not.

"... judge Nurak Mapraneet said the 2007 Constitution did not allow any amendments."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/611059-constitution-court-turns-down-reds-demand-for-clarification-on-charter-ruling-bangkok/

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Bit over the top to be honest.

Not to the filipinos......they have had martial law in the filipines several times....lots of blood and gunfire....

It's just that here in Thailand...martial law is quite lay back.....not really the full on "martial law" situation.

I'm pretty sure in both cases you are talking about coup (attempt)s. Martial law was the standard law in the Philippines for decades, it never stopped. But they had some killer coup attempts.

And you and I have little idea how martial law is in Thailand, having almost never experienced it despite 20 or so coup attempts.

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if he can get the PDRC and the UDD to find a path forward, then I think I'll hire him to sort out some problems with my ex.......

You want to hire an outsider to force your ex-wife to shut up, tell her what she can watch on TV, monitor all her reading and cut her off from all her friends? At gunpoint? You LIKE that idea? And you think the day after your hired gun leaves and she is once again free to talk, listen and associate with anyone she wants, she'll not do that because she fears you so much?

What a man!

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The United States is playing with terminology here. Until a civilian head of the Thai nation and government addresses the Thai nation and discusses next steps, it is in fact a military takeover of the government with martial law or military dictatorship. So the Thais and the US are colluding to play with terminology here to ensure US taxpayer money flow for the Thai military and its martial law based dictatorship along with suppression of all rights and individual freedoms, speech, press, property..etc., applied at the military's discretion? Nice work USA.

First, full disclosure: I am a huge fan of Thailand and of the United States and of Thai-US relations. I wish all three will prosper and improve. And I think martial law is a mistake and I think the US is talking weasel-words about it. Now.

That said, the "US taxpayer money flow for the Thai military" is unimportant... no, it is insignificant. The only importance of US aid in this martial law slash coup unpleasantness is symbolic. Symbolic is important, but don't mix up "symbolic" with "the Thai army is killing a lot of people again thanks to the US government" as so many try to do.

Actual aid is not zero. But if it became zero, no one and nothing would notice, especially the Thai military. Even calling it "insignificant" is overstating the effect.

You can start here for a precise breakdown and total of aid ($79 million of which $6 million is military) and then go ahead and find your own sources, which, if they are reliable, will all say much the same thing. Roughly speaking US aid to the Thai military is 0.0011% of the publicly known Thai military budget, not including secret budgets and off-the-books spending and more.

http://goo.gl/uLEA3i

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I don't think it's a good idea to be in business with your spouse, so marital law would never have any effect on my business.

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