Centrum

getting a taste of his own medicine - serves him right

I'm not echoing your sentiments but.....for the conspiracy driven members,..

RT @tulsathit: Army chief Prayuth: We know who are causing violence. Stop now. via @WassanaNanuam

I wonder if....?

Sad that the voices of moderation and mediation are being subsumed by those who are immoderate, and unmediated.

It is peculiar phenomena of many democracies that, instead of respecting opinions that differ from our own, that many try to impose their will on others, which is decidedly undemocratic.

Freedom is also for those we despise. Freedom is also for those we love. Freedom is for each of us, and a personal relationship. To demand our own freedom seems correct to me. To support the freedom of those who disagree with me is my right. It is my dearest hope that more people every year choose inclusivity (which is not a word, although exclusivity ironically is a word, and a sad, telling irony at that).

It is my belief that the survival of our species may depend upon being mutually inclusive.

When considering all the 'voices' being heard or ignored, it seems the largest voice is constantly overlooked.

The overwhelming majority in almost any country is the apathetic, "I only care about me and mine!", 'leave me alone' group.

People who would never take to the streets to protest or support anything, happily vote for a party without thinking twice about it's platform and really couldn't give a toss who is being killed in a war on drugs or a war against separatists, or who is stealing what and not paying what taxes.

They want football, Big Brother, Thailand's got Talent, and the nightly soaps. 3 meals a day and maybe a beer after work.

In reality, they don't want to bother with elections, politics or even discussions on 'real' life.

They don't care about freedom, it was given to them, they never had to fight for it and they assume it will never be taken away.

They essentially cause a vacuum within society. By having no opinion, they allow the voices of minorities to be amplified, to fill up the void.

I'd like us to all take a moment to reflect on this abused majority. People, whose lives are affected as they try to go about their daily business, by annoying people who think they have a right to protest against 'corruption'. People who dare to suggest changes to this wonderful existence that is Thailand today.

Wouldn't life be so much better if we left all the decisions to others?

Be honest, we don't want to care about anyone but ourselves, do we?

The farmers cannot be paid as Suthep demanded the House dissolved and all the Democrat Party MP's resigned.

So this messed up the payments.

And until an election is carried out and a new government is installed, the payments cannot be made.

So really, Suthep and Abhisit/Democrats are to blame for the lack of payment in many peoples eyes and those same people want an election as soon as possible else they will months and months without payment.

Fail Fail for Suthep and Abhisit/Democrats.

Fail as they are getting blamed for late payment.

Fail as they want to delay the election.

In my opinion the above of course.

Isn't it funny how the Thaksin fan-boys, who claim that Yingluck is the democratically elected leader of the country, want to blame the Democrats for the failure to pay the rice pledge.

She is the one who dissolved parliament, not the Democrats.

All these 'respect my vote' people should be hunting down Yingluck because she is the one who disrespected their votes.

I think that it's likely that the Thaksin party knew the shitstorm that was going to hit with the failure of their promises to the farmers and ran and hid. Probably hoping for a coup.

IMO it was an assassination attempt

Didn't Jatuporn or Nuttawat offer 500,000 reward for the arrest of Suthep?

Dead or Alive?

There getting brave with daylight attacks now. Give the Weekend Warriors something to think about this weekend.

hoping for blood in the streets are we! Brave attacking peaceful protesters. Really How f*cked is that?

What we are hoping for is a peacful end to a fascist coup attempt.

The games almost up for Suthep and he has no allies as they have all been exposed and cornered this week by our sharp thinking and acting PM!!!

Enjoy it whllst it lasts as it is the last coup they will be able to stage in Thailand with any luck. Hope this will break the finiancial backs of their backers.

haven't you been paying attention?

Thaksin thinks!

Peua Thai acts!

Please don't give the PM (puppet mannequin?) credit she doesn't deserve.

I thought there were police parked outside Abhisit's house 24/7.

Yes, indeed.

Occam's razor anyone?

Scathing report looking down on these idiots with the disdain they deserve.

Good to see Sutheps English skills are on a par with his tactical nous. Absolute moron, whilst Abhisit is equally repulsive at least the guy has brains.

Totally agree. An excellent report there from Channel 4 news - as you say they treat the anti-government demonstrators with the contempt they deserve. Total idiots who cheer on that Dr Seri guy - not because they have a clue what he is talking about but just because he shouts so they think he is saying something forcefully.

I wish Channel 4 would interview some Farangs who support the anti-government protests. They too need to be exposed by the balanced media outlets.

But I don't see you asking for a 'scathing' reporter to interview Thaksin and Yingluck, do I?

No, fair and balanced isn't your style.

Yeah, a lot of people don't understand how things work in Bkk or Thailand for that matter. It's not even noon yet. It's going to get big.

Has Suthep claimed 65 million at Asoke yet? It will come.

Meanwhile around most of Bangkok you'd not know it was happening. Seriously - just drove down Ekkamai and it's life as usual with a slightly lower traffic volume. Yingluck posters line the street and are un-defaced as they have been for a week. Suk71 is bustling and the shops are doing their usual business. If this is the first day of the grand shutdown it hasn't worked.

The aim is to shut down the government which you are at least 10km from so of course you see little effect. Turn on Blue Sky tv and see the crowds in more central areas i.e. the allotted rally sites....

The 'aim' clearly has not worked. And no, I'm not going to rely on Bluesky any more than I'm going to rely on Fox for fair and balanced US news. More open handed media are reporting and showing far smaller crowds than expected. There are several places where the the mob has simply given up and traffic is flowing, and this is only the first day of the 'shutdown'.

I'd be very interested in these areas where the 'mob' have given up and traffic is flowing.

For those not in the city, every one of the 6 sites in central Bangkok are closed. There is one lane open in a couple of places but most are 100% shut down.

The crowds are massive and the protesters aims have been achieved.

9am and it's certainly looking like a flop so far. A few troublemakers loitering around traffic junctions in inner Bangkok while 99.9% of Thailand gets on with business as usual. The women around my way are cackling and waggling their little fingers. They say that Suthep just hasn't got it.

How unfortunate to have spoken too soon.

What are the women saying now?

This seems to be the death throes of Sutheps moment of fame and sadly he`ll want to go out with a bang before being arrested. What is clear is that ordinary people, regardless of their feelings on Yingluck, dont have the stomach for this and the economic damage it will cause.

The Dems have shocked me thoughout at how badly they`ve played their hand, which at times has been so strong Yingluck shoudn`t even have had a chance. With the amnesty bill, non payment of rice and other general discontentment, for the first time in years there was a visible gap between Shinawatras and the reds that was crying out to be exploited. The stage was set for a liberal smooth talker from the Dems to come out to promise the middle ground and investment to these Northern heartlands and landslide the next election.

Instead they backed Suthep

You should have got off your butt and taken a stroll through the protests sites, as I did today.

The crowds I saw today would be at least five times larger than the red shirts at the greatest.

I would think Suthep would be walking on air at the moment.

"Walking on air" - but why?

- World opinion has moved firmly to favour Yingluck - something which any politiician with half a brain could have avoided given her recent behaviour and record. Things have progressed from Thaskin v Suthep to democracy v Suthep, red shirts have been replaced by kids in white holding candles. I`ve honestly never seen someone so badly out witted in politics be it here or abroad.

- Contrary to your observations it is widely accepted todays numbers are down on the last march (6 million in Sutheps eyes, 150k to normal people) to under 100K.

- Hes had perhaps half a dozen "Final" pushes now and all have ended in failure and fizzled out, as will this. The guys pulling his strings are now feeling it financially and backing off.

- <deleted> he tried to set up a parallel police force of volunteers to displace the real police. I havn`t heard of a single instance of this and the police still around, like everything else hes tried its just failed and he comes off looking like hes not right in the head.

"Get off your butt" and do a bit of research before trying to follow what is you think is cool. Backing this clown doesnt make you middle class or one of them, your still just a worthless farang trying to fit in in their eyes.

Bit hard to discuss with someone who probably isn't even in the country, but at least I'm pretty confident that I'm only a 'worthless farang' in your eyes.

You're obviously relying on the BBC, or such, for your information, so I do have the advantage that when I get to actually see the crowds the international press are estimating as 'so big' or 'so small', I can make an assessment based on reality, not editorial requirement.

The numbers 'widely accepted' for the red shirt protest at it's peak were 100,000. today was probably five times bigger and growing.

But you don't care about facts and reality, do you?

One really has to laugh. In what other country would an anti - govt protest meant at overthrowing the government then break into pop songs and dance like what is happening now in Asoke?

Yeah, that's so crazy. Out front of a bank near Ploenchit BTS a small group of protesters were being entertained by what seemed katoeys on stage.

I couldn't contain the laughter when the burst into the number one protest song.

Gloria Gaynor's "I will survive.

Go on now, go walk out the door

Just turn around now

'Cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye

Do you think I'd crumble

Did you think I'd lay down and die?Oh no, not I. I will survive

Oh as long as I know how to love

I know I'll stay alive

I've got all my life to live

I've got all my love to give and I'll survive

I will survive,

^{15000 cops, 10.000 protesters, but the police can do ...NOTHING}

I'm not sure where these figures come from, but if you're not in Bangkok, and you haven't taken a walk down to one of the seven protest sites, those figures are absolute BS!

I went to 6 of the sites today and the only visible presence the police had was about a dozen sitting under the overpass at the Sathorn intersection.

When the protesters were gathered outside the police HQ, there wasn't a cop in sight.

As for 10,000 protesters, well that's a joke, a lie and outright propaganda.

Take your pick and there was near enough 10,000 people at any one of the 6 sites I went to in central Bangkok. I couldn't move at walking pace the whole stretch from Pathuwan to Rajprasong.

10,000 my arse!

There is no way the police would have been able to do anything but hand out free bottles of water in Bangkok today.

This seems to be the death throes of Sutheps moment of fame and sadly he`ll want to go out with a bang before being arrested. What is clear is that ordinary people, regardless of their feelings on Yingluck, dont have the stomach for this and the economic damage it will cause.

The Dems have shocked me thoughout at how badly they`ve played their hand, which at times has been so strong Yingluck shoudn`t even have had a chance. With the amnesty bill, non payment of rice and other general discontentment, for the first time in years there was a visible gap between Shinawatras and the reds that was crying out to be exploited. The stage was set for a liberal smooth talker from the Dems to come out to promise the middle ground and investment to these Northern heartlands and landslide the next election.

Instead they backed Suthep

You should have got off your butt and taken a stroll through the protests sites, as I did today.

The crowds I saw today would be at least five times larger than the red shirts at the greatest.

I would think Suthep would be walking on air at the moment.

Oh dear a thread about Suthep protest marching in Bangkok turns into another anti Thaksin rant......oh well......such is life on Tvisa

It would appear by the way, the protest was not overly well supported.......

you OBVIOUSLY weren't anywhere near a protest site, were you.

Just called a Thai friend, a retired general, whose house is right on one of the roads used by the "protesters". He said that he went out to talk to them and found that many of the people he saw had been bused in from southern Thailand. They had been given 2,000 baht a piece for their "protesting" efforts. We are planning to get a group of us friends together and go protest tomorrow. What a great party we could have for 2,000 baht each.

I think I know this general. In 2010 he told me he went outside to talk to the protesters and found that they all come from Isaan and were paid 2,00baht to sit at Rajprasong.

His name is General isation if I remeber correctly.

The real question here is ...is it really worth destroying Thailand to replace one corrupt politician with another corrupt politician? I have no doubts that Thaksin is corrupt, but Suthep also is. So why destroy the country if in the end we just end up with money flowing into another corrupt pocket?

Abhisit and Suthep have already demonstrated that they had no intentions of changing the laws for the better while they were in power. They did absolutely nothing. Suthep was charged with distributing land to poor people while he was a politician in the South and the land ended up in the hands of Phuket's richest families, not with the poor people.

When the Democrat government was question about this, they dissolved parliament in order not to have to answer and subsequently lost the next elections.

My God, you've convinced me.

Let's get Thaksin back before the elections, which will be postponed, and get him back in the big chair.

Give him back the money he stole, let him have his land, overturn his conviction, let him loose on another 2,000+ extra judicial killings to eradicate drugs, again, give him his heavy-handed approach to the situation in the South (that worked a treat last time, didn't it?), shit let's just make him ***g.

Just one question. When the red-shirts were threatening to 'destroy the country' in 2009 and 2010, and actually doing it, were you as equally vocal in your disapproval?

As far as I remember, nobody did 'destroy the country', unless you really do equate Central World with Thailand. There were other buildings set fire to, to be fair, but a number of these were suspicious in the sense that they seemed likely to be opportunistic arson for insurance money. Even some of the major fires were less than thoroughly investigated and, whiilst it is admittedly likely that some of the more extreme redshirts were behind at least some of the fires, as far as I can remember there was little if any evidence that came to light as to who was actually guilty.

Having said that, I was living off Rama IV at the time, and on that day a bunch of hooligans on motorbikes came down and ransacked and looted the 7/11. The question is, just like the riots in England two years back, how much of this was politically motivated and how much just opportunistic mayhem? Look at the history of social disorder in any country and you can see how soon one blends into another. You see it with the yellows now - remember the bus torched a few weeks back, the taxi driver beaten unconscious, etc? Same mindless thuggery, if you take a more balanced view and avoid being an apologist for violence on any side.

And as far as I can see, no one has destroyed the country this time around and there is no evidence that the country will be destroyed or any worse off than 2010.

Which was the point jackrich was trying to make.

The reality is that it won't be the numbers or the percentage of voters that hit the streets tomorrow that is important.

It's the effect they will have.

They've already forced the 'democratically' elected government to dissolve parliament.

Now if you had the 'will of the people' firmly behind you, you would never cede government. You would stand by democratic principles and remain in power for those who elected you.

Why make concessions?

1. Because it's not the democrats telling the country what to do.

Really? So why are all the protest leaders Democrats and ONLY the Democrats are boycotting the elections?

You know you're wrong but it's funny to read your silly arguments.

Seems everyone in the country is well aware there are several groups involved in the protest.

And not all of them have links to the Democrats.

You know you're wrong but it's not funny to read your silly arguments

Care to name these "several groups"? Or are they part of Suthep's well-kept secrets?

I refuse to believe you're as stupid as you're making out. You're well aware of the different organizations involved.

People's Democratic Reform Committee, the Green Politics group, the Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand (NSPRT), PEFOT, the Dhamma Army, and the State Enterprises Workers' Relations Confederation.

Regularly mentioned in the daily press and here on ThaiVisa.

No the Peu Thai Party did NOT get the majority. They got 48%. Which means the majority didn't vote for Peu Thai.

And the Democrats got even LESS. So why should the Democrats be able to tell the entire country what to do now?

1. Because it's not the democrats telling the country what to do.

Really? So why are all the protest leaders Democrats and ONLY the Democrats are boycotting the elections?

You know you're wrong but it's funny to read your silly arguments.

Seems everyone in the country is well aware there are several groups involved in the protest.

And not all of them have links to the Democrats.

You know you're wrong but it's not funny to read your silly arguments

Can't argue with dumb people. Better let them believe they're right. Makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Therefore you feel warm and fuzzy now, but I'm predicting your insides will be feeling quite sick in a few days when your princess backs down once again.

I'll be the first to say it.

I'm hoping Suthep has every success, just to shut you up.

You are incorredt. The majority did vote red. You are simply wrong.

Red was not an option in the election. You are simply wrong.

He said 6 million at one point, which was pretty much the number of votes the Democrats got in the last election. Pretty amazing, huh?

Even if 6 million did come out, what gives them the right to tell the other 50 million what to do? Oh yeah, they are "elite" and "high so". Sorry, forgot.

Apparently 14 million votes can tell 60 million what to do

And I'm sure you're just being crass by halving the Dem's vote but that surprises me not.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Hmm...Barak Obama polled just under 70 million votes in a country of 314 million.

Seems in a 'democracy' the minority DO tell the majority what to do!