bravingbangkok

If you look to the numbers of demonstrators of both sides its seems to be an very small % of the population who take part of of the demonstrations. Most of the Thais go to work and carrying on normal.

They keep silence and low profile.

In the old USSR there was an underground news calles Samizdad, and I know this excist in Thailand also, and this already for many years.

In many offices sudently copied tapes founnd on office desks with tapped phone cals of high ranked people, faxes circulate with the wildest uncontroled rumours. This documents and tapes are discussed only in family and with very close friends and only whispered behind the hand.

I have knowledge of it, but its impossible to discus them ina public forum.

So I do wonder what the common Thai think of the present situation.

What even surprises me more is that since the last 2 day's of turmoil the SET indices are going up (even tourism)

very puzzling country Thailand is.

It is just fixed or sustained by dwindling resources as the property maket has been for the last couple of years. Now they are just spending their reserves to keep the baht afloat.

I think the taking over of Swampy has made many people who were neither pro or anti PAD move over to the "this has gone far enough and should stop" camp. Certainly that is the case with my wife and some of her friends. Her family, which is from Isaan, remain strong Thaksin supporters, well the younger ones certainly are.

Agreed, there needs to be some sort of process put in place to resolve this situation over the weekend as anything past Monday is going to have serious repercussions on Thailand and it's people, not that it has not already.

I ain't taking no chances. One for me. One for the mrs.

hahahahahaha

My wife and I opinion is that we really could not care, as long as we are still making money tp provide who gives a fuc_k who runs the country. In the end the PPP/TRT and Dem's are probably just as bad as eachother. This is just a cycle and it has happened before and will happen again, business will soon resume and all will be forgotten.

The wife and I have no respect for terrorists. We love Thailand and wish the PAD would have hopped on that flight and enjoyed the Haj with their buddies.

What a idiotic post. That comment is in itself racist.

I have overstayed my Visa by 10 days after all extensions so I am happy to pay 5000 baht but that would have meant me leaving yesterday morning. Have tockets to prove this so no way am I paying anymore than 5000baht for the 10 days up to thrusday.

I just want to know what happened to that guy in ya avatar ?

Dont laugh...................he's the commander of the police teargas dispersal unit!!!!!!!!!!

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Police to launch psychological warfare to weaken public support for PAD

Sources from the meeting said the meeting assigned chiefs of all stations to launch door-to-door psychological operations to tell Bangkok residents not to join the rally at the Don Mueang Airport and at the Government House. They will also be told to convince their relatives to leave the airport and Government House as soon as possible.

The police are finally doing something and nobody is getting hurt.

source: http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/r...newsid=30089697

By psychological warfare they surely mean turning off the signals for the soap operas? That will make them go home.

Now that might just work

Could just offer free bottles of chang and spy on the otherside of town

I would just like to thank PAD for allowing me an extended stay without charge

I was due back to the UK on Monday but in view of the uncertainty I have cancelled that flight and, under Gulf Air's free offer, rescheduled for the following week.

I would add that as they have now made their point they can p!ss off back to their families.

I just want to know what happened to that guy in ya avatar ?

One man's poor pacifist is another man's domestic terrorist.

I have seen this bloody word thrown around at anything and everything that is mildly irritating and causing issues for the past 8 damned years.

Terrorist are in it to cause terror. To scare people into submission, most recent methods are mass deaths to disrupt life as normal.

Just because it is frustrating, disruptive, or even confrontational does not make it terrorrism.

I do not see PAD people declaring ownership for various attacks or Bombings.

While the take over of the airport Really is a Tall order. Definatly on the illegal side. MANY society changing movements have done those.

How about good old American culture when a Black person sat in the front of the Bus, Wasn't that Illegal?

Right now it's people who just do not want Thaksin back in the country, and for the government not to slip in loopholes into law so they can hop right back into politics even which this massive Clusterfuc_k they have created for the past years.

So no going in with a Machine gun and 'clearing' out the airport is not an option.

Sure many people have been inconvenienced. But I doubt that will be recorded IF this event is recorded in History.

Your Mild discomfort and aggravation is temporary.

So stop thinking about yourself and talk honestly about the actual issue.

Another great post

To the mods. This stuff needs to be taken down. To people who do business in developing countries: Expect a setback or two and deal with it. You're here to make the big bucks where risks are necessary and rewards are not guaranteed.

WELL SAID THAT MAN !

The Nation, Fri, November 28, 2008 : Last updated 15:01 hours

ASK THE EDITOR

What will happen today?

By Tulsathit Taptim

A cheeky analysis of the current three-pronged showdown between the PAD, government and Army.

The danger of writing the following is that the whole piece can look very silly after two hours. Thailand's political situation is not dictated by just one or two men, and as I'm typing this (Friday, 11 am), Coup rumours are still coming from left, right and centre. The only thing we know is the three key players _ the People's Alliance for Democracy, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and Army chief Anupong Paochinda _ are playing the cards as they come at them and none of trio can predict what's going to happen next.

The PAD has said "All in". The political movement was dealt a bad hand (decreasing support, conflicts with former allies, nightly ambushes and so on) but all the chips had gone into the betting pot to provoke Anupong and Somchai into a final winner-takes-all showdown.

Meanwhile, Anupong "checked" (deciding not to bet now but with the option to call or raise later). He basically chose to sit on the fence for just a moment, hence the polite requests for Somchai to dissolve the House and the PAD to end its protests.

Somchai "called" the PAD's bluff. I will never fold, the prime minister told a nationwide audience in a TV address Wednesday night. Why should I? I'm holding a very good hand. Mine is a government elected by the people and for the people.

Good hand, yes, best one, no. And Somchai, while convinced that the PAD was holding weak cards, cannot be sure that Anupong was laughing inside and ready to pounce. This is why the prime minister only "called" (declaring a state of emergency) but did not "raise" (it was a very half-hearted, unusual state of emergency featuring peace negotiators and virtually leaving the Army out of the crucial operation).

Well, as a very poor amateurish poker player, that's as close as I can get to explaining the current situation. It appears to have come down to who blinks first between Somchai and Anupong, after a suicidal PAD threw in all its stakes and thus turned what should have been a normal round into one that will decide who goes home with all the money or empty-handed.

With the Suvarnabhumi Airport far more important than Government House and having to be reopened as soon as possible, pressure is on Somchai and Anupong and it's interesting to see who will be the next guy to say "All in".

That, as far as Somchai is concerned, means a crackdown.

As for Anupong, it means the thing he has repeatedly said with his poker face that he would never do.

marshbags

I thought this was an excellent article and a great piece of journalism.

Just a question for the idiots on here defending the PAD, have any of you been affected by loss of earnings or had flights cancelled over the past three days?

if any of you say you have been affected this way then I say now you are liars

Loss of earnings; yes.

Flights couldn't be booked, plans changed; Yes.

Liar; no.

Screaming, angry, intolerant; no.

Making the best of it; yes.

Imported packages delayed; yes.

Really caring about your opinion of me; not hardly.

well I hope you enjoy your life with a big footprint in your back as I am sure thats how you live your life. personally I call a spade a spade and the PAD are criminals with no more right to peaceful removal from the airports. Lets hope your business goes down the pan while you defend these criminals, in fact tell us the name of your business so I can sure to never use it

Maybe you should try using this siutation as a life experience, try to make the best of a bad situation is a vital asset anyone must have in life. Complaining about things you have no control over is fruitless and an immature way to act.

Werb's Air Asia flight was cancelled ... give him a break!

Just a question for the idiots on here defending the PAD, have any of you been affected by loss of earnings or had flights cancelled over the past three days?

if any of you say you have been affected this way then I say now you are liars

Loss of earnings; yes.

Flights couldn't be booked, plans changed; Yes.

Liar; no.

Screaming, angry, intolerant; no.

Making the best of it; yes.

Imported packages delayed; yes.

Really caring about your opinion of me; not hardly.

well I hope you enjoy your life with a big footprint in your back as I am sure thats how you live your life. personally I call a spade a spade and the PAD are criminals with no more right to peaceful removal from the airports. Lets hope your business goes down the pan while you defend these criminals, in fact tell us the name of your business so I can sure to never use it

I was due to fly to London Thursday morning with my family, I do not support the PAD but I deffinitely get where they are coming from. As they are not a political party and thereofre do not buy votes but merely compensate protesters for hours lost working, therefore you cannot compare them to the PPP in this way who deffinitely do buy votes.

As long as I am on a plane to sunny old England by Monday I just do not care.

It's a Thai thing.

They'd be smiling right up to the point where they go on a mass rampage killing people who look middle class. Leave the Corolla at home, parked across the street.

lol

Also regarding the contact lenses, I misspoke myself. The lens will fuse to your eyeball. Whenever there is a riot orm other situation in a public venue, there may be chilldren and seniors present. It is not always possible to segregate the combatants. The point is the agents are non-lethal, and the use of them is more humane and results in less death or injury than storming the place which willresult in gunfire and a good chance of innocents getting killed in crossfire. This is comon sense. I sent email to my old co-workers in NY and they find it hard to believe that some people on this forum are so clueless. Even non-law enforcement types should realize what needs to be done here.

and even law enforcement types should realize that is for the Prime Minister to resign.

Your co-workers back in NY might even agree with that one if you emailed them and asked.

yeah that will solve the problem oh no wait, it won't solve the peoblem, it will set a precendent for future groups who are unhappy wth the government and let them know that acts of terrorism is all that is needed to remove the government. if they quit now it will be the red shirts on the streets aiming to remove whoever replaces them, however it will be the same result in the next election leading to the same situation.

PAD need to be stamped out now, they are in the wrong with their actions, however right they may be with their agenda, their actions have shown them to be nothing more than a selfish mob who have affected thailand negatively than any government could.

What do you want them to do sit in a field in the middle of Issan waving yellow flags at rice paddies ??????

hahaha thats just silly, however I have seen worse !

The fact that the Army has never intervened on the PPP's behalf suggests to me that this is only going to end in one way...and that is a PAD victory and resignation of the PM.

Personally I could not give a shit what happens, they are both the same and probably both as bad as eachother but both do have their good points. I just want it to end quick.

It seems to be that in all the video bites and pictures that the PAD seem to be serious and the PPP seem to be joking away, smiling at any opputunity and basically not taking this situation seriously at all. I think they should be doing more to resolve this situation, if not then they should not be in office in my view. I have nothing against them really but when I see them smiling in the faces of all the tourits who are going through hel_l right now it really gets to me, they are making no friends by doing this.....not that they probably care.

I am getting tired of reading post the like of "will they charge for overstaying", "it is not our fault" blah blah blah ... Wake up people, of course they will. This is not a normal country, it is a failed state that has fallen into the abyss. Thailand has always been a dirty cash grab ... any opportunity to extort money without thinking of long term consequences has been the norm. Just look back at the thousands of previous topics/post on Thai Visa over the years which have touched on this topic. Most were met with the holier than thou die responses from die hard farangs that were prepared to defend Thailand at any cost. At the moment tourism is thriving in Thailand, because no one can leave ... As soon as the airports are open again there will be a mass exodus of people who have finally had enough ... Will the last one out shut the door.

You damned cynic you!

why would you think that the immigration wouldn't want to be generous???? They will probably pass a law in the next 24 hours where the charge is a million a day, just to pay for the shit they have.

The dumb gits unfortunately had a captive market at the airport, then went and closed the exchange booths, the restaurants etc..the usual Thai business skills, they could have made a killing...the cops or the army will probably make a real killing later tonight though!

I hope not literally ....

That is one thing I have learnt about Thailand, if there is a baht to be made, then dam_n the consequences down the track. Better to make one baht today than worry about the next. I love Thailand, but I am afraid they are their chickens are well and truly coming home to roost.

ps. If truth be told, they have never wanted us here anyway, just out $$$

Live for today and not tomorrow

I am sure many of you have done it.

Please share your stories.

With cold(er) I mean 15 degrees and below.

Did he/she adjust fast?

Did he/she have enough warm clothing?

What surprised him/her?

And so on.

Please share.

My wife has been to London a few times and even skiing ! She mainly gets very cold hands and feet but surprisingly not that ill. I think she was most surprised by the open spaces of London, the way nothing is too tall in the centre, she loved up the architecture. The first time she went she could not understand why everyone was not white/caucasian hahahahaha

Interestingly (to me at least), my wife called our laundry guy to come pick up some stuff afterwork last night, to which he replied, "sorry I can't as I am at the protest at the airport".

To which my (Bangkokian Chinese Thai) wife replied, fine, if you dont come tomorrow night, never come back again and hung up.

Let's see where his loyalty lies tonight, his pocket or his pride.

Are we taking bets on this ? lol I will give 10-1 he is not coming back....any takers ?

Do people honestly think that the length someone is a member of this forum is linked to how long they have been here ?????? pleaseeee how pathetic.