Red shirts slam govt ‘false news’ on weapons

[webfact]

Red shirts slam govt ‘false news’ on weapons

By KASAMAKORN CHANWANPEN 
THE NATION 

 

File photo: Jakrapob Penkair

 

JUNTA ‘SHOULD FULFIL ITS PROMISE’ TO LIFT POLITICAL BAN AHEAD OF NEXT ELECTION

THE JUNTA government yesterday was criticised by red-shirt leaders and a political critic after it claimed to have discovered a cache of military-grade weapons and exploited the “questionable” incident to justify the continued ban on political activities.

 

Weng Tojirakarn, a key leader of the red-shirt umbrella group the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) should stop looking for scapegoats and fulfil its promise to hold elections.

 

Although the discovery of the weapons cache in Chachoengsao was linked to the red-shirt activists such as Wuthipong “Ko Tee” Kachathamkul and Jakrapob Penkair, Weng said he supported a fact-finding process and encouraged the junta to bring the culprits to justice if the announcement of the discovery was true.

 

Weng said it was questionable why weapons had been found every time the government faced a difficult situation. For instance, people had been demanding the lifting of the political ban and “out of the blue” the NCPO found military weapons left over from an operation launched in March, he said.

 

The red-shirt leader also said it was widely speculated that Wuthipong was dead after unconfirmed reports that he had been kidnapped while in hiding in Laos.

 

However, he said the junta should pursue a double track, hunting down criminals responsible for the weapons and working towards next year’s elections.

 

Jakrapob, a former minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, took to Facebook on Monday to deny the allegations related to the weapons and condemned the military regime for spreading “false news”.

 

In the post, the opposition figure, who has been in exile for almost 10 years, denied any connection with the weapons, adding that the “discovery” showed the hopelessness of the accusers and those who believed them.

 

The former minister said the only people who needed weapons and bought many of them were “those in high positions with low moral standards in Thailand”, apparently referring to the military regime.

 

Jakrapob added that his only fight was based on democratic principles, a battle that the people could win without violence, which was against morality and universal principles.

 

However, he warned that an uprising was possible if the regime kept using its “old trick” to accuse dissenters of having ill intentions and using violence.

 

After the discovery of the weapons, the NCPO’s lifting of its ban on political activities seemed more unlikely.

 

A number of NCPO officials have said that political activities should not be allowed at present because of the “current situation”, regardless how the decision could affect the “road map to democracy”.

 

Political scientist Titipol Phakdeewanich said security was not a good enough reason to prevent the return of democracy. The junta would not lift the ban because it was consolidating its power to ensure its influence after the election, he added.

 

While activists and politicians were being kept quiet due to the ban, the NCPO would burnish its image and try to build its popularity, he said.

 

In a related development, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday said in a statement to commemorate Thailand’s National Day that the United States was looking forward to next year’s election.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30333258

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-12-06

[JAG]

Optimistic sort of chap that Tillerson fellow isn't he?

[isaanbanhou]

Looks like Donald has started a movement

[steven100]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Weng Tojirakarn, a key leader of the red-shirt umbrella group the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), said the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) should stop looking for scapegoats and fulfil its promise to hold elections.

  .........................   next 

[Bob12345]

Quote

Weng said it was questionable why weapons had been found every time the government faced a difficult situation. 

We, as well as he, know exactly whats going on.

 

Who is the junta still trying to fool besides themselves?

 

[smutcakes]

Regardless of whether the Red Shirts/UDD etc are involved, the thing i find the most amazing is simply that in seemingly open and shut cases, cases are passed around, ummend and ahhed, and generally pontificated about until they disapear.

 

In other cases we have a load of rusted stuff found in a lake (forget the timing issue) and within a couple of days 5 suspects are named and discussion is on whether they should be trialed in civilian or military courts is ongoing.

[pattayadon]

Can't say "false news".... Donald owns copy rights!    555

[YetAnother]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

the NCPO would burnish its image and try to build its popularity, he said.

judging by what we have seen recently, this is not one of their skills

[yellowboat]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

  .........................   next 

Given your junta finds free speech and debate threating, one can only guess what a diminutive cache of weapons would do.   Sorry Steven, it all just looks rather cowardly. 

[Chris Lawrence]

"Ammonium nitrate is commonly used to make powerful bombs in Afghanistan and other countries, and it was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. MIT Tech Review"

 

There are plenty of fertilizers used in the rural areas. A small cache of ammunition found as it was does look strange, when there is all these other types of chemical's on the market place that do the same job?

[robblok]

11 minutes ago, Chris Lawrence said:

"Ammonium nitrate is commonly used to make powerful bombs in Afghanistan and other countries, and it was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. MIT Tech Review"

 

There are plenty of fertilizers used in the rural areas. A small cache of ammunition found as it was does look strange, when there is all these other types of chemical's on the market place that do the same job?

Most fertilizers can't be used to make bombs, normal weapons are always better then these fabricated weapons. However tracing back normal weapons and finding subjects is in general easier then tracing back where those home made bombs come from. 

 

(I don't agree with delaying the election because of this find of arms, I do think that its a red shirt weapon cache, the government so far has NEVER planted any arms to justify anything, they did make wrong assumptions or had wishful thinking about other bombings that turned out NOT to be the reds).

 

I also don't think that if this was indeed a red weapon cache as i am convinced it was that it was there for immediate use, quite possible for later use or a discarded forgotten cache. It makes no sense for the reds to start trouble now, but that they have weapons is undeniable Trad and other attacks have shown that.  

[Enoon]

17 minutes ago, Chris Lawrence said:

"Ammonium nitrate is commonly used to make powerful bombs in Afghanistan and other countries, and it was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. MIT Tech Review"

 

There are plenty of fertilizers used in the rural areas. A small cache of ammunition found as it was does look strange, when there is all these other types of chemical's on the market place that do the same job?

 

IEDs in Afghanistan.........very prevalent.

 

IEDS in S.Thailand.........common.

 

IEDS in the rest of Thailand.......rare.

 

The 3 zones of conflict are each at different stages of development..........give it time.

 

 

 

 

[seminomadic]

It's FAKE news, DA's....

 

What a bunch of rubes

 

jeez.

[halloween]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The former minister said the only people who needed weapons and bought many of them were “those in high positions with low moral standards in Thailand”, apparently referring to the military regime.

Jakrapob should be more specific lest readers think he was talking about his employers.

[hansnl]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

  .........................   next 

And just ignore the redshirts and their leaders?

They never did anything wrong, did they.

Never burnt a lot of buildings, threatened to form an army, threatened to carve up the country, never killed and threatened others, never bought votes, never killed around 2000, never had a rice scam, never.....,never........

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, smutcakes said:

Regardless of whether the Red Shirts/UDD etc are involved, the thing i find the most amazing is simply that in seemingly open and shut cases, cases are passed around, ummend and ahhed, and generally pontificated about until they disapear.

 

In other cases we have a load of rusted stuff found in a lake (forget the timing issue) and within a couple of days 5 suspects are named and discussion is on whether they should be trialed in civilian or military courts is ongoing.

 

Indeed. Not just cases involving politics but all types of criminal ones. It seems there is no uniformity and each one is treated uniquely depending on all its contexts.

 

Have to weigh up all the angles first before deciding how to proceed! And that's how it's always been and probably always will be! Some get action quickly others simply fade away with seemingly little if any action. 

[joecoolfrog]

17 hours ago, hansnl said:

And just ignore the redshirts and their leaders?

They never did anything wrong, did they.

Never burnt a lot of buildings, threatened to form an army, threatened to carve up the country, never killed and threatened others, never bought votes, never killed around 2000, never had a rice scam, never.....,never........

You need to buy a new record , that one is thoroughly worn out !

[Ricardo]

2 hours ago, joecoolfrog said:

You need to buy a new record , that one is thoroughly worn out !

Which means it's all untrue  ...  or just that it's something which newer posters may not have experienced at-first-hand, or may not even be aware of ?

[metisdead]

Posts containing disallowed references to the current government have been removed. 

 

Some off topic posts have been removed. 

[Dave67]

20 hours ago, hansnl said:

And just ignore the redshirts and their leaders?

They never did anything wrong, did they.

Never burnt a lot of buildings, threatened to form an army, threatened to carve up the country, never killed and threatened others, never bought votes, never killed around 2000, never had a rice scam, never.....,never........

They never opened up on civilians with M16s though did they

[halloween]

30 minutes ago, Dave67 said:

They never opened up on civilians with M16s though did they

No, their preferred weapons were AK47s, M79 grenades, RPGs and IEDs. Though they were allegedly aimed only at the military, the unavoidable collateral damage on bystanders also included a few children, and though denied, apparently a few of their own supporters.

Oh, and airport fuel tanks, hotels, a temple (deliberately targeted) and other sites of strategic importance.