LevelHead

Levelhead, are you kidding me? What world do you live in?

Imagine if the same situation happens in USA, what do you think would happen the protesters?

Seriously, taking control of governemnt owned vehicles? You support that kind of act?

The Constitution protect protests as long as it does not violate the rights of other individuals; therefore, these acts by reds are deemed illegal.

The 1997 Consitution prevented any coups and held all those that try to hold a coup as in violation of the treason law.

There was a coup.

How did they get around it ? By ripping up the constitution of the people of Thailand, changing the laws and making themselves "immune" from the law.

Wonder why people here do not have issues with actual abuse of power like that ???????

So "double standards" should be applied all round, some time ago the peoples constitution was not ok, but now the new one should apply ?

Really, the law needs to be applied, but across the board.

Reset button needs to be pressed.

Its a mess, a total mess, because some people used guns to hold a coup and take over power and change the law.

Thats why its a mess !

What rubbish. The reds leaders would not know democracy it it bit them. This 'peaceful' demo is an active attempt to intimidate both Bangkokians and the government and they seem to be succeeding as Abisit once again proves he is a weak leader. Its great to try and keep things under control, but right now, they are not, as the RS are doing whatever they want to do.

Democracy is about a government elected by the people.

Not one put in place by a court ruling and behind the scenes manipulation.

The Reds want a new election, they want Democracy back.

What is so difficult to understand ? If you love Thai's and Thailand you would have no issue with a new election now. Simple.

Too many people are too emotionally involved in their "I hate Thaksin" furore to see the bigger picture........ this is about Democracy, pure and simple.

Levelhead, i'll respond _one time_, ok?

1) "democracy" is _not_ about elections. "democracy" is a system of governance. in mature democracies it comes with separation of powers + additional checks-n-balances as free press, civil liberty organisations, consumer protection agencies etc. all in all - it's about dialogue & compromise.

2) Abhisit offered new elections - in 9 months. i read your interpretations of recent thai history - & i simply disagree, ok? Abhisit's government is legitimate.

3) your obsession with calling for "immediate house dissolution", imho proves one point: you're clueless about current situation. you're clueless about "democracy". in democracy opposing parties try to woo voters & supposedly work for the greater good. i have not heard any policy proposals from UDD or PT. PT's parliamentary performance has been characterized by mere obstructionism.

4) there's a mob in the streets. it's breaking laws & defying authority of governmet. please stop comparing this to PAD/airport etc; it was different governement, etc. if there's no rule of law, it's called anarchy: bullying by warring mafia-clans - exactly the UDD-profile.

thanks for your time.

btw, someone who compares Burmese situation to Thailand... wow, "ignorance is bliss", as they say, right?

Burma - Military took over. Military Coup. Military appointed the judiciary. Military appoited all sorts of committee's to investigate and arrest people they do not like.

Thailand - Military took over. Military Coup. Military made changes to the judiciary. Military appointed ASC to investigate the man they kicked out.

Whats not different ? Seems to be lots of "similarities".

I fail to see how people demanding that Democracy is returned to them is "anarchy".

Anarchy actually means there are no leaders. So how can there be anarchy if there is a leadership.

I find the amount of scare mongering in the Yellow owned media quite amusing.

The simple fact is that Democracy was crushed in Thailand and the rule of law was not obeyed by the coup leaders and that problem has resulted in all problems to this day.

Democracy was crushed once by men with guns and secondly by people appointed by the men with guns.

Until free and fair elections are held then Democracy remains crushed in Thailand.

The government came to power by courts and manipulation behind the scenes and is not "Elected" by the people.

This is the problem and a problem that is easy to resolve.

Simply dissolve the lower house, say there will be elections in 3 months and in the interim period a "unity government" will oversee the period leading up to elections.

The Reds would accept this.

Reds seize state vehicles

Weng Tojirakarn ordered red-shirt guards to take control of the fire engines and an armoured car brought in by authorities at Ratchaprasong intersection to break up the mob and restore peace.

You appear to have deleted the part where is says Weng ordered the protestors not to damge the vehicles and simply not allow them to be used against the protestors in a violent way.

Wonder why you missed that part off of the quote from an online article which you also failed to put a link with ?

Its very naughty to quote only parts of articles and not put a referring link in as well.

Everyone knows the present government was not elected by the people.

So simply, you have a mob on the street as Democracy has been trampled on.

Nonsense, just a few Thaksin apologists spout these lies and then try to use this as an excuse to bring an anti-democratic authoritarian into power.

Democratic elections meant the PPP won and came to power. The people elected the PPP.

No person ever voted for BhumJaiThai, as they did not exist.

The courts dissolved PPP and then 'elite" manipulaton made up a BJT party coalition with the Democrats, even having a banned politician seen hugging Abhisit.

So the present government was not elected by the people, it was put into place by manipulation.

And beleive me, all those that went over to BJT and defied the voters who voted for PPP are going to get hammered in the next elections, which is part of the reason the "elite" do not want new free and fair elections.

They prefer the imposed and annointed "un-elected" government presently in power.

Democracy to the people. New elections now !!!!!!

The sad thing is the silent majority who support the Reds remain silent. I have spoken to many who say they support the Reds but are afraid to go there or wear a red shirt as they might get beaten up by the Yellow shirts or shot at by government forces.

Many "silent" supporters also work for "Yellow" bosses and so must not be "seen" to support the Reds or they may lose their job.

The pressure on the working class under the elite is immense but still some have the guts and courage to come out and demand Democracy to be returned to the people.

How are the Yellow/Pink shirts getting on ? Numbers less than 100 today ?

But the Bangkok Post says vendors and pedestrians "cheering the Reds".

Is The Nation becoming so biased that they cannot see reality now ?????

WHICH IS why I say you have to be in Bangkok to really see what is going on. The truth is not always what you read in the papers and TN appears to be becoming far too biased now IMO.

The Reds have massive support in Bangkok and its why the government will not use force. They are too scared of the consequences. Its why they have issued deadline after deadline only to see the deadline pass and make them look weaker and weaker.

.

What I find sad is that many posters on here have been saying it will be over in hours since Saturday. Its now Tuesday, the government deadlines (multiple) have passed and nothing has happened.

And yet these posters still crave for violent action by the army/police ?????

Strange people.

This is about Democracy and you crave the present unelected government to do the protesters who want Democracy in ?

Are many posters on here Burmese Junta relatives ? Let me guess, you all think the Junta are great and a certain Mrs Kyi should be hung for all the trouble she caused in the past ??????? How dare she cause all the issues and problems for the nice Junta, how inconsiderate of her.

Most strange.

How insulting to compare our opinions to supporting the fascists in Burma.

So, lets suppose you are in charge here in Thailand. How long would you allow a mob to roam the streets doing whatever they want?

Everyone knows the present government was not elected by the people. It is a result of a court verdict and some manipulation, which saw Abhisit in the press shaking hands with a banned politican setting up a coalition.

So simply, you have a mob on the street as Democracy has been trampled on.

If I were in charge I would hold elections tomorrow, no problem.

The country is about all Thai's, not just a few Bangkok people. Perhaps Bangkok people are learning now that there is more to the country than just one city and what that city wants.

What rubbish. The reds leaders would not know democracy it it bit them. This 'peaceful' demo is an active attempt to intimidate both Bangkokians and the government and they seem to be succeeding as Abisit once again proves he is a weak leader. Its great to try and keep things under control, but right now, they are not, as the RS are doing whatever they want to do.

Democracy is about a government elected by the people.

Not one put in place by a court ruling and behind the scenes manipulation.

The Reds want a new election, they want Democracy back.

What is so difficult to understand ? If you love Thai's and Thailand you would have no issue with a new election now. Simple.

Too many people are too emotionally involved in their "I hate Thaksin" furore to see the bigger picture........ this is about Democracy, pure and simple.

I wonder when, if it hasn't already passed, the time will come were the PM is a day late and a dollar short in terms of his political career as a result of his dealing with this situation.

Even if the Reds do something grand and overtly violently, I believe many people will hold him 1/2 responsible too since he has as of yet done NOTHING to restore peace and prevent overt violence (death and injuries) which we all know is coming if this group is left unchecked.

Using force now (and it's necessarily attendant violence) would, like holding an election now, solve nothing and lead to more unrest and violence. Gently does it.

Enforcing the law and holding those accountable who flagrantly break the law would solve the situation we have now. When people learn there are laws that need to be respected then future coups will stop and people will learn they need to wait for elections and handle grievances in legal ways.

Enforcing the law will restore peace to all those suffering at the hands of this mob as well as stop further damage to Thailand as a whole.

MAKE NO MISTAKES ... THERE IS A LAWLESS MOB ROAMING THE STREETS OF BKK AS WE SPEAK

Excellent idea.

The law under the 1997 consitition said coups are illegal and you cannot throw the constititon in the bin and grant yourself immunity.

So under that "unchanged" law then the coup leaders, the military shoiuld all be tried for treason.

So yes, lets start using the LAW.

As the coup was "illegal" lets put TRT back into power by hitting the reset button.

Or do you just want to apply the law at this monent in time because it suits you ?

What I find sad is that many posters on here have been saying it will be over in hours since Saturday. Its now Tuesday, the government deadlines (multiple) have passed and nothing has happened.

And yet these posters still crave for violent action by the army/police ?????

Strange people.

This is about Democracy and you crave the present unelected government to do the protesters who want Democracy in ?

Are many posters on here Burmese Junta relatives ? Let me guess, you all think the Junta are great and a certain Mrs Kyi should be hung for all the trouble she caused in the past ??????? How dare she cause all the issues and problems for the nice Junta, how inconsiderate of her.

Most strange.

It is true. The last Thaksin puppet government was "mobbed out" by the yellows and now the reds are using this as a rationale for lawlessness.

Let's break this down.

The yellow tactic was indeed very bad.

However, what were they trying to stop?

They were trying to stop a dictator named Thaksin. Thaksin was not a normal PM, he was consolidating a dictatorship to be leader for life. He was and is totally ANTI-democratic. He is a totalitarian.

They used radical tactics to save their country.

The proof? Look at Thaksin now. If he was NORMAL he would have made a deal, left politics, and been happy to enjoy his ill gained riches for the rest of his life.

But his mad power and money lust knows no limits or price and he is willing to totally destroy his country in the process.

Bottom line -- yes this is all about this destructive man Thaksin, and the continuing struggle to get him out of the way so Thailand can move forward.

I beg to differ with you . Even following your logic that mobs can decide in some cases

Number one : Thaksin was not himself in power at the time of the airport stunt . Somchai was

Number two : Somchai governement was indicted for electoral fraud already , there was little doubt

that they will be convicted .

So there was no need to occupy the airport by the yellows . What they did is not excusable

Of course its the past

Hand grenades thrown at PAD encampment at Gov House was a strong incentive to up the anti.

No one was at that point 100% SURE that the laws would not be rewritten BEFORE PPP was dissolved,

absolving TRT and Thaksin of all crimes and misdemeanors.

That with the grenades KILLING people, was what pushed PAD to the next level.

IMO another misjudgment of Thaksin et al, that violence would make things better.

We know from PAD's move that this was NOT the case.. and has never been.

Each increase of violence against PAD made them MORE militant, not more wimpy.

Yet Team Thaksin tries the violence route yet again, clandestinely more or less.

What part of, 'this doesn't work', can't they understand....???

The consitution was ripped up, the laws thrown in the bin and the coup leaders granted themselves "immunity" in 2006.

Do not seeing you moaning about people who do this..... but you claim someone was trying to do it and that was wrong, even with no proof of it.

So why do you not bemoan the people who actually did change the law and grant themselves immunity ?????????

Hi.

For some reason i always get to places at the wrong time.... i went to Panthip Plaza and MBK yesterday morning, no problems with the traffic at all (using Phetchaburi Rd.) and, while i had the bike parked at Panthip, took a walk to the protest area. Must have been around noon, it was HOT.

All i could see was, maybe, one thousand red shirts there - no more. A small crowd around the stage and n even smaller crowd in the shade under the pedestrian bridge there. Left and right footpaths were filled with small stalls selling red shirts, flags, foot clappers and related things. I myself was, as always when getting into a political crowd, dressed all-black as to remain very clearly neutral.

Nobody approached me, nobody made any comments, nobody felt disturbed by me or disturbed me in any way, shape or form. I took a ton of pictures with my phone, walking up that pedestrian bridge which was also filled with red-shirted people, they smiled and were friendly, but seemingly quite exhausted. No wonder, it must have been well beyond 40 degrees Celsius there at that time.

I left the area not without getting me a little souvenir - a small-size foot clapper for 10 Baht. The lady who sold those spoke English - she asked me if i supported the reds, my answer "the reds, yes, but not Thaksin" was well accepted.

I just hope that the majority of those people there get out on their own before a crackdown comes down on them. Most of them ARE peaceful, it is just a few who want to start violence, unfortunately once violence is started the counterstrike will hit the masses of the innocent, too.

Having all those major shopping malls closed for an extended time does sure generate economic losses in the Billions of Baht - and it, too, inconveniences tourists as specifically that area there is a hub for tourists with all the big brand-name shops located there. Even places like Peninsula, while not closed, will not receive many customers these days - as people won't bother going anywhere near a potentially-violent mass protest. And the customers in that kind of mall are the ones Thailand needs and wants the most - high-spending rich foreigners.

Best regards.....

Thanh

Loads and loads of other malls are open, so its not going to generate any losses. Just because Paragon is shut does not mean the whole of Bangkok is shut, Emporium is open, Central Lad Prao is open and many many shopping malls are open.

Its crazy to say all of Bangkok shopping is just there, when in fact there are more malls and shops in other places than just there.

So people are still spending, nothing is not being spent, its just being spent in other places. Simple really.

Things going very well, nice peaceful protests.

The media seems in alarmist mode, but you have to expect that given its Yellow bias due to its owners.

The reds have taken control of a few fire engines, promising not to damage them but to not allow them to be used against protesters.

Some morons are now saying they are damaging state property and to call the troops in.....

Some people are so emotionally involved in this "I hate Thaksin" game that they have lost their senses. The Reds are about returning Democracy, get over it.

Thaksin is a small part of the Reds as he was ousted by an coup and found guilty to charges laid by a coup appointed committee by a coup appointed judiciiary.

The Reds are bigger that Mr T. this is now about democracy and the return, finally, of the power to the people to have free elections to vote for their government, not the government the elite have put into place by using the courts and behind the scenes manipulation.

And when you talk of elections being free and fair.

The last election, won by the PPP under massive stress and obstruction by the elite, it was the elite, the coup appointed government and coup appointed EC THAT REFUSED to allow international observers in in any meaningful way.

The PPP wanted them in, your "elite" friends refused as they did not want true democracy but wanted to limit how many seats the PPP could win, which would not have been possible under internation observation of the elections.

The PPP still won so the judiciary then dissolved them - such a sad state of affairs.

When can the country be handed over to some new youthful and not corrupt none elite ????? Only then can Thailand move forward, in the meantime the first step is to stop the elite manipulating things, as the Reds are trying to do now.

Thaksin was a corrupt dictatorial thief, changing the laws to specifically benefit his own business, putting people HE controlled in all the important positions while he was Prime Minister. It stopped when he tried to put his people at the head of the army. That would have given HIM control over everything. That would have made him the dictator he wanted to be.

Which election results did the Yellows dispute? The 2006 election where Thaksin couldn't form a government. The one where their was no voter privacy, so others could see how people voted. The one where the Constitutional Court (not junta appointed) says was invalid. The one where Thaksin was trying to change the law so that he could still become PM even though it was an invalid election?

If you want double standards, then start at the beginning. Go back to the Thaksin case in 2001 where he was found not guilty of improper assets declaration.

A thief is someone who steals, Thaksin has not stolen anything, so you are wrong to start with.

The job of the government is, as elected by the people (when they are elected by the people and not put into place by "behind the scenes" wrangling after a court case, to change old laws and implement new ones. Another of its jobs is to replace key personnel at the designated time.

I am afraid you have read too much of the Yellow newspaper trash which, like the biased story today, likes to implant idea's into peoples brains.

The way the Yellow papers work is to manipulate you into thinking a suggestion or a question is in fact a fact.

If I say "In 2002 it was more than likely that the Democrats paid off voters"....... I have not said they did or did not, but writing that in the mass media would make more than 60% of people beleive they did, cause they read it in a paper.

And this is how the two YELLOW controlled English language papers have, since 2002, built up their campaign against Thaksin and the TRT/PPP/PTP.

They rely far too heavily now on "un-named sources" for the scandalous accusations. Its an easy cop out for the media.

But there we go, the elite control far too much but a good thing for now is they do not control parts of Bangkok where real democracy and real people power can be seen on the streets

"City residents become hostages to red-shirt anarchy"

don't forget, the same could be said about the "yellow-shirt anarchy" its mutual or reciprocal.

I think the red shirts and yellow shirts are getting pretty even with their violence and economic damage.

The yellow shirts occupied the government house and the area and then moved out to the airport.

The reds shirts occupied the government house area and then moved to Ratchaprasong.

The yellow shirts may be slightly ahead with the economic damage with the shutdown of the airport, but I think the red shirts are ahead on the violence front with them forcing the abandonment of an international conference, and especially with threatening to blow up a gas tanker in a residential area.

You could go back a little bit further with Thaksin and the coup. The coup caused damage because, well, a coup is a coup. And Thaksin caused damage because of his moves to remove checks and balances and his corruption while he was PM.

People could argue forever about which group or event has been worse, but no one can argue that they all caused damage to Thailand.

One thing you can't argue with is ALL of it is caused by Thaksin. And it will continue on until Thaksin is out of the picture.

No. The country was running fine under Thaksin and the TRT. There were no problems at all, the people were happy apart from a few elite in Bangkok who were not getting their cut and wanted a return to the Democrats were they get their cut.

A bunch of elite sponsered Yellow shirts started causing problems. So this all goes back to the Yellows who started the problems first and would not accept the election results.

Then there was a coup.

Another election and the same Yellow shirts cause problems again.

The blame for all this mess goes down to the Elite and their Yellow sponsered shirts who will not accept Democracy and want to force their will on the people.

If there were no Yellow shirts and no coup - there would be no problems now and Thaksin would likely have been voted out now by the people under Deomcratic means.

The mess is caused not by Thaksin, the mess is caused by those that hate him, those that have broken the law of the 1997 consitition by holding a coup.

If you want a double standard lets start at the beginning.

A few people were paid lots of money to break the law and hold a coup, a crime punishable as treason under the 1997 constitution.

However, they ripped up the consititon and granted themselves "immunity"

Why are they allowed to do that ? Do you see where the double standards started ?

Biased article, i am sure Sopon Onkgara will not stay to the hotel in question. Totally yellow article without faire merit

It's out of the Nation. While probably not yellow, it's most likely anti-red.

One thing you have to remember, anti-red does not mean yellow.

You will find this writer is TOTALLY YELLOW. If you have read his articles in the past he is as biased as they get.

Firstly, people have to appreciate the owners of the local English media in Thailand are very Yellow. The media moguls have hated Thaksin for many years, since about 2002 when he upset them.

What they like to do is attempt to "slur" the Reds and Thaksin with baseless rumours, slurs, "unnamed source" comments etc.. which have no standing but serve to feed the masses. The comment about the speaker is a classic, its not happened, if it did the person would be arrested by the Red Guards and handed over to police......but that it did not happen is not an issue the writer wants to "stir up" those who simply read tha artcile but cannot be bothered to check exactly how true it is.

The headline of the article gives it all away with the comment of "Hostage".

Nobody is held hostage in Bangkok. All area's are accessible by foot and BTS etc.. Shops are open all over the city and the touristy area of Sukuhmuvit carries on as normal.

The Yellows are getting more and more desperate and will resort to more and more biased and inaccurate reports in the media, their desperation is showing which means the Reds are winning over more and more.

Be very careful of the Yellows (or if they wear Pink shirts and try to blend in with normal Thai's wearing pink for their special reason). They will resort to more and more desperate measures and could really ratchet up the violence, we can all hope not as the Reds are doing a fine job in making their point in a non-violent way.

The Yellows think they are "above the law" , they are the "elite foot solidiers" and no policeman can touch them and no court can convict them, this is a dangerous state of play.

The Reds have been convicted, many imprisoned in the past BUT THE YELLOWS never have.

Therefore we have to be very careful of the Yellows as they could turn this all very violent in order to YET AGAIN, get their way.

The current crisis is the mob and bombs going off in Bangkok. The current crisis needs to be resolved by having the police, and military if needed, enforce the law. It is completely up to those in the mob if the mob if the police will need to use force.

And hopefully Thailand has laws that will allow the parents to be jailed for a very long time for continuing to allow their kids to be part of such a threatening mob after the police have repeatedly warned them in writing (mob tore them up) and verbally that they are in violation of the law and that the law will be enforced ... at some point.

The 2000 elections in the US are a perfect example because there was not only the court order that ultimately resulted in declaring Bush the winner but there was also wide spread election fraud going on in varies precincts. After the court made its decision Bush's rival accepted defeat and ratified the elections and Bush as president.

To this day MANY people say Bush didn't actually win but they accepted that they would have to wait for the next elections because the laws of democracy played out as they have in Thailand. Fair or not that is fact.

Many people protested very focally over Bush's so-called victory but no mobs took to the streets without consequence and those who did break the law were arrested. Same is true when it came to the VERY unjust war against Iraq. Many people peacefully broke the law and accepted they would be arrested and went peacefully (passive resistance) while other marched and rallied but did so under the law which includes getting permission to hold such protests as well as working with officials to minimize the impact on locals.

Spoken like a true "not in Bangkok" person.

The issue here goes back to the coup.

The coup was illegal. Under the 1997 constituion anyone holding a coup is punishable of the offence of treason and should be executed. That was the rule of law of Thailand.

But of course, once the coup happened they ripped up the 1997 constitution and gave themselves "immunity" for all past actions.

Double standards here ?

Then of course many events happened, including the appointing by the coup government of a new Election Commission, new top Judiciary, new Assets Examination Committee.

Funny as it is, those organisation with people appointed by the coup leaders have found Thaksin, TRT, PPP etc... guilty of many things, but always find the Democrats "not guilty". Funny old world.

Now they had an election and even with the coup appointed organisations making things extremely difficult for PPP, the PPP won the election.

Now the Yellows hated that Democracy had won and the people had chosed the PPP so they swarmed the streets making up all sorts of stories still bieng told today.

The Yellows got their way as the Judiciary then dissolved the PPP and the some behind the scenes wrangling by the "elite" came up with a new party (BJT) who jumped into bed with the Democrats.

So the government now may be legitimate in the eyes of the law, but it is a NON ELECTED government, as the people did not vote for them.

So today, Reds are on the streets demanding Democracy be returned to them. They can have their vote returned to them. The courts and the elite can no longer throw their votes into the bin and annoint who they want as opposed to the party elected by the people.

The support for the Reds is growing daily, and its this strong support that is stopping the violence being unleashed on them.

So all you, "not in Bangkok" people. Perhaps you should read properly into events, and not just read the nonsense at times spouted by "un-named" sources in the BP and TN newspapers.

Please come to Bangkok and speak to the people.

I also was in Central Lad Prao today, my god that was busy, full of people shopping. Emporium is the same, chock a block with shoppers.

However, that does need feed the "alarmist" headlines the media loves.

People are shopping and spending money, just in different department stores across this massive city.

I have no idea why the media in Thailand plays up this "People of Bangkok unable to shop" nonsense....... they are all shopping and their is inconvenience to very few, if any at all. Nowhere is blocked off, access via BTS and foot is everywhere.

Wonder why the media is printing "alarmist" headlines ? Are their owners Yellow supportors..... ? ahaaaaaa...........

I'm not sure you live in the same "Bangkok" as the other millions do.

I live an work in Bangkok and if I was to conduct a similar poll I too could find the answer I was looking for if I wanted to say, all the people I work and socialize with, don't support the reds. Your poll means nothing without qualification.

Further, I am under the impression that Central Lad Prao closed on 31st March 2010 and is now closed until the end of the year for renovations...

No Central Plaza Lad Prao is open, I was there today, if you do not believe me then go there tonight, all open and full of shoppers.

I'm getting a tad tired of posters comparing the 'reds' and the 'yellows'. Fact is those who joined the 'yellow' movement did so as an educated, (whether wealthy or not, and there were a lot of relatively poor folks there too), principled group who sensed the real danger of the return of Taksin and all he really stood for (some of you as, farang posters really do have very short memories regarding his attitude towards the foreign population here). Whereas the 'reds' comprise the leaders really, Jataporn and Veera, who don't give a toss about the 'poor' people of Isaan, and are taking the money. Much like the er, poor people of Isaan.

By the way, the 'yellows' didn't don yellow shirts to differentiate themselves from any other 'colour' 'movement', they were the first, they were wearing the Thai favourite colour, albeit related to the King. The 'reds' on the other hand, simply put on their red shirts on Taksin's instruction.

You joined today, its your 5th post and you are tired already ?

The Yellows were paid daily, they had free food, free massage, free entertainment, free drink etc... all paid for by ??????????????

They were protesting because Democracy had run its course and the political party CHOSEN BY THE PEOPLE were in power.

They did not like that and wanted the other party and so they caused problems.

The reds want the power back to the people so the people (and not the courts and elite) can decide who runs the country.

Sadly Democracy is now presently not in place in Thailand. Hopefully it will return soon when this "manipulated" coalition that was not elected by the people is dissolved.

I also was in Central Lad Prao today, my god that was busy, full of people shopping. Emporium is the same, chock a block with shoppers.

However, that does need feed the "alarmist" headlines the media loves.

People are shopping and spending money, just in different department stores across this massive city.

I have no idea why the media in Thailand plays up this "People of Bangkok unable to shop" nonsense....... they are all shopping and their is inconvenience to very few, if any at all. Nowhere is blocked off, access via BTS and foot is everywhere.

Wonder why the media is printing "alarmist" headlines ? Are their owners Yellow supportors..... ? ahaaaaaa...........

Well, I spent the day walking around Bangkok today, asking people here and there what they think about the Reds etc..

Most all said they support the Reds cause and hope the house is dissolved soon. They are happy to suffer a bit of inconvenience as its about time that something was done against the elite sponsered present dictatorship in place.

When asked why they do not go to show their support and wear a red shirt they say they are very scared about the Democrats/Bhumjaithai politicians getting the Army to kill people. They are scared that they do not have the right to protest as they may get arrested, beaten up or killed by government sponsered groups.

So they are silent supporters.

When asked if they support the pink shirts they all said no, whilst they want peace they see the pinks as just the trouble making yellows in a different shirt colour.

Some said they were willing to go in the evening when numbers are higher, as they think there is greater safety when more are there and the Army or Government sponsered thugs are less likely to come in killing and beating people.

So there we are, my on foot poll today shows clearly the silent majority are in support of the reds.

I guess now we will have lots of posts from people not in Bangkok telling us how they got a different view.......

The real truth about Thailand is all political parties buy votes.

They have done for decades.

Now while in the Yellow owned media it might be fashionable to scream and shout it was Thaksin and TRT, they quite happily avoid saying "all parties did and do" this. Therefore it balances itself out.

Now, in order to pay these "windfall" packets to voters the Democrats, PTP and all the other parties have sponsers...... just like all those that gave 600 million dollars to Obama's team to get him elected.

And all these sponsers obviously get awarded meaty government contracts to get their money, and profit, back on the deal.

However, it would appears that rather than play by the book, someone got caught and the paper trail shows a direct breach of the election law, punishable by dissolution, occured.

What is good for the goose is good for the ganda.

So TRT and then PPP have been dissolved and now it is the turn of the Democrats to be dissolved. They have "got away with it" twice before, however this time it looks like the evidence is just too damning, and this is why the case is not being delayed and delayed and the plan is to delay it at least another 18 months.

The Reds are rightly pushing to get it sorted now.

It might actually serve as the ideal "solution' to these problems, in the same way the PPP was disbanded and the Yellows shut up, now its time for the Democrats to be disbanded and then the Reds will shut up.

Easy way out for all, lets hope that finally someone is not too scared to disband the Democrats.

But the case against the Democrats isn't about buying votes, I'm sure they do, but this case is over a donation of couple of hundred million baht to the part by TPI Polene.

Yes, the paper trail is there and obviously end of the day such large donations often go towards vote buying.

However, the issue is here that the bank accounts clearly show the money trail the "excuse" trying to be made is to try to say the accounts are not linked and therefore there is no case.

EG I give 200 baht to Jack, who gives it to Jill and who gives it to Fred, pre-ageeed.

Actually I have given Fred 200 baht.

I can say I never gave him 200 baht and I do not know who Jill is.

Pretty simple way of looking at the case here. Its blatently obvious what happened, but people are trying to muddy the waters and come up with a flimsy reason why the elite sponsered Democrats should again avoid dissolution.

A similar case may be Thaksin and the land buying by his wife.

He had nothing to do with the deal, his wife and the seller were found guilty of nothing, but Thaksin was the only one found guilty based on "association" even though he had no direct influence of knowledge of the deal.

Again, in the Takky case he is found guilty - no excuses.

In the Democrats case everyone is expecting them to be found not guilty based on a flimsy excuse, one which could not be used by anyone in TRT/PPP as the courts would throw it out.

Sadly it all boils down presently to what is nearly a, coup appointed EC, coup appointed Assets Examination Committee and coup appointed top judiciary.

They all appear to be anti TRT, PPP, PTP, Thaksin etc... and pro-elite, Democrats etc..... to such an extent that "double standards" are now becoming the new standard.

Which is why the people are now in red shirts demanding an end to the double standards and to get democracy back.

The real truth about Thailand is all political parties buy votes.

They have done for decades.

Now while in the Yellow owned media it might be fashionable to scream and shout it was Thaksin and TRT, they quite happily avoid saying "all parties did and do" this. Therefore it balances itself out.

Now, in order to pay these "windfall" packets to voters the Democrats, PTP and all the other parties have sponsers...... just like all those that gave 600 million dollars to Obama's team to get him elected.

And all these sponsers obviously get awarded meaty government contracts to get their money, and profit, back on the deal.

However, it would appears that rather than play by the book, someone got caught and the paper trail shows a direct breach of the election law, punishable by dissolution, occured.

What is good for the goose is good for the ganda.

So TRT and then PPP have been dissolved and now it is the turn of the Democrats to be dissolved. They have "got away with it" twice before, however this time it looks like the evidence is just too damning, and this is why the case is not being delayed and delayed and the plan is to delay it at least another 18 months.

The Reds are rightly pushing to get it sorted now.

It might actually serve as the ideal "solution' to these problems, in the same way the PPP was disbanded and the Yellows shut up, now its time for the Democrats to be disbanded and then the Reds will shut up.

Easy way out for all, lets hope that finally someone is not too scared to disband the Democrats.