WinnieTheKhwai

Who would want to be friends with red shirt thugs?

Me, I have many friends who are red shirts, I wouldnt call them thugs.

What harm have they ever done to you?

Me thinks there are other issues here.

And before you accuse me of being a red shirt hugger I have just as many friends who are yellow shirts.

Exactly.. There are a couple forum bullies around who label anyone who doesn't agree with their radical anti Red / anti Thaksin views as 'terrorists' or 'red shirt apologists', or just call them names. These people rarely get sent on posting holidays, even when repeatedly advocating (and applauding!) violence and murder, or persisting in blanket derogatory and ethnicity inspired remarks against 'stupid rice farmers', etc. They'd write one-line posts like 'Just cut off their pla ra supply and they'll scurry back to Issan", or "don't send in the dogs, they'll eat them", and actually think that's funny, or smart.

Meh, even during the coup and subsequent state of emergency nothing much happened, and it was business as usual everywhere. I don't think it matters much.

So predictable.. The same people who were always going on about extra-judicial killings are now applauding cold blooded murder!

What a nice forum.

Who would want to be friends with red shirt thugs?

Not me, that's for sure. I do however very much enjoy being friends with red shirts activists who peacefully advocate democracy, equality, and oppose dictatorship!

And where might THEY be located

You don't say where you are in Thailand, but if it's somewhere other than the South then chances are that the answer is: All around you. All you have to do is talk to people.

The vast silent majority of people want a peaceful resolution, justice, equality and democracy. That applies to people in what some seem to call "Redland" as well as anywhere else.

Double post.

Who would want to be friends with red shirt thugs?

Not me, that's for sure. I do however very much enjoy being friends with red shirts activists who peacefully advocate democracy, equality, and oppose dictatorship!

LOL!, Thats like saying I don't like cats, except for the ones that bark.

No, it isn't. It's sad and unfortunate that you don't understand this, but I hope it's not lost on the more neutral readership.

Who would want to be friends with red shirt thugs?

Not me, that's for sure. I do however very much enjoy being friends with red shirts activists who peacefully advocate democracy, equality, and oppose dictatorship!

So ... can we take it that none of those people belong to Rak Chiang Mai 51? The Udon group or similar groups?

Yes, you can. (Kind of implied in my statement above, but happy to spell it out.). Rak Chiang Mai 51 get some very weird things into their heads, have some kind of thing against gays.. Nasty group IMHO.

That they have all denounced Arisaman and EVERY Top tier Red leader that has openly called for violence from the red stages? That your friends are not part of the violent illegal rally in BKK? That they were not part of the local read that threatened the home with women and children and threatened to take over the police headquarters? That they aren't associated with ANY leader that has called for violence?

OK, I thought not .... NEXT

??? You assume a lot.

( Some of course did join the protest, back while it was peaceful, before the April 10 massacre. )

Most of those in "redland", never understand where the money comes from. If no farang here, they would never have all this nice houses, new cars, where you see there in some places, and their daughters (or sons) would be not beable to support their families from the tourist places like Pattaya Phuket. They would working in the ricefields for 60 Baht a day instead of liiving a nice life in Pattaya.

Wow. The sad thing though is that this by far isn't the most inane thing you read on this forum.

Out of curiosity though, where/what is Redland?

Maybe i'm wrong, but my personal view: It's very common that many of peaple in "redland" only want money from farangs, but actually hate us. I stay here for 16 years, but i never travel to "redland" and i'll never support (directly) any families there.

!

Question: Did you just come back from "Phuket", or from Patong?

I ask because there's a lot more to Phuket than Patong Beach.

Bump.

> Petchabun town

??? Again, I think that's a very friendly town.. Perhaps not quite as charming as Phrae, but still...

No comment on border towns, some of those can be sketchy.

Who would want to be friends with red shirt thugs?

Not me, that's for sure. I do however very much enjoy being friends with red shirts activists who peacefully advocate democracy, equality, and oppose dictatorship!

I find Phrae a very friendly town.

And I find all Thais in general very friendly towards Farangs, both Red and Yellow shirts very much included!

Nuff said?

Today Thai country People will face their destiny...

Poor country People, exploited during years and centuries by the Elite, but also exploited by ambitious politicians from both sides.

They have no choice they are there for begging a little improvement for tomorrow, more for the future generations than for themselves. Generously, they put their life at stake facing History and Eternity: I wish than tomorrow will not be a bitter day.

My deepest respect

Seconded!

They are stupid / uneducated people from up country, and I bet some of them can't even explain why they are there, apart from getting some money!!!

Have you tried asking some of them? I assume you did, otherwise the above would be foolish beyond belief. Or dare I say, 'uneducated'..

and in the end to themsleves and god help us if the 'Taksin' friendlies come back to power.........

It's pretty inevitable that eventually they will. Not sure why that would affect you or me though, other than having a better chance at getting the economy back on track. (Which many Farang Retirees here don't really want, of course.)

Hmmmm. If Thaksin were Prime Minister I just wonder how he would handle this situation EH?

Judging from the airport occupation by PAD, while Thaksin's guys were in power: pretty much the same.

IMHO Abhisit should be given a medal for the restraint he has shown so far. These red leaders do NOT want negotiations, they want blood. If it's from they're own people, so be it. I'll be it wont be the leaders blood.

Agreed. Though there is the matter of April 10 of course. That may have been more Suthep's doing though.

its been frustrating sure but why does it sound like people want the army /government to hurry up and kill people? Isn't calling for the crackdown, getting the reds out etc calling for people's deaths (probably on both sides)?

Careful, you get branded a terrorist or red shirt apologist for saying that!

If travel convenience from Chiang Mai AND nightlife are considerations then keep in mind that Air Asia flies to Phuket DIRECT these days. So that's cheapo flights, straight to Phuket, which is currently reasonably affordable. Then fly back to BKK, and out..

I knew we were in trouble when Songkran didn't produce rain in the afternoon on the 13th. Will have to try a lot harder next year to prevent this from happening again.

Hahaha Nong poy, I love posting her in "hot girl" threads on car sites and after a few days of OM SO HOT type comments I tell them she's a man.

Excellent!

The poll is missing an option .........

Whoever could pay me the largest sinsot, build me a house and send me money every month.

So I couldn't vote.

It's funny you mention that, because around the same time when I started that poll, I did a separate one on if people would expect/demand/appreciate a sin-sod for their daughter.

As you can imagine, that was a controversial topic as well. I believe a remarkably high number of people went for the options that indicated they'd like to receive a sin sod! (Maybe someone can dig up the link)

EDIT: Ah, here it is: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Accept-appre...od-t345821.html

Never served in the military, I guess. First or last light is the usual times to begin a military operation. In a combat zone, everybody stands to, ready to repel an attack at both times. Why? At dawn, non-military types still have their head down sleeping off hangovers, with minimum of awareness. Done well, you can have half the job done before the target realises what's happening. You also get the max. number of hours of preferred conditions (ie light or dark).

Right, and agreed. The key word however may be 'combat zone', above. While it will no doubt turn into a combat zone, it must be kept in mind that it's ALSO a populated civilian business and residential area. When turning that into a combat zone, the preference is likely to not endanger the general public more than necessary. If you start things during the day, with a possibility that it transforms into running battles in the general area, then relatively more people will get caught up in it.

(In addition, there would be more witnesses around, though in this day and age that hardly matters, with the big media presence and with just about anyone having a camera phone. Traditionally though i think this has been a factor on planning these things at night.)

Hmmm.. the results of a poll on a website frequented primarly by Western tourists (and then North American ones in particular) is not the same as being actually 'shunned by travellers' or not. Actual numbers would give a better indication.

I think Phuket has great beaches, and world class hotels and resorts. Admittedly not Patong, but Phuket is a big place. Also Phuket Town is a really nice town, perhaps one of Thailand's nicest.

Sure, Patong is a bit of a pit, and if you don't have or rent wheels then the taxi mafia will feast on your bones.. But with some research & preparation those aren't issues.

Another good development is affordable direct flights from Chiang Mai to Phuket on Air Asia. That makes it very convenient for tourists to visit both places. (Thai Airways always had this, but expensive, and only from Chiang Mai to Phuket, not the other way around.)

Normally there's no significant rain anyway in the cool & hot season. The issue is that the rainy season is VERY late this year, which results in prolonged dry and very hot conditions.

Everything was pretty normal up until Songkran. Shortly after Songkran you would expect regular late afternoon showers and thundershowers. That hasn't happened yet, or at least not enough. Got a bit of rain yesterday afternoon in Chiang Mai, but very isolated, and not enough.