1 hour ago, steven100 said:

The General is playing with the media. The Junta have absolutely no plan whatsoever to give up power, I know this and all these things are playing right into his hand.

 

For once steve I agree with you. 

 

But if people no longer fear the Junta and protests become bigger, bolder and more vocal..then in the absence of an election the only way forward out of the impasse would be to remove Prayut and his buddies in a coup, and I bet Prayut knows that too. 

3 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

The Junta is in a difficult situation with no clear path forward, so they'll muddle along trying to restrain any pro-democracy demonstrations, without (hopefully) resorting to shooting protestors violence.

 

If they clamp down too hard and too publicly, they will look bad both domestically and internationally.

 

If they allow almost any protests, they may lose control, and the 2014 coup and subsequent machinations will be for naught.

 

In hindsight, they probably should have installed a civilian government shortly after the coup, and then managed them to transition to elections and democratic rule?

 

 

Yes but they are poorly educated and only know by force. His not Thaksin and never will be. I don't care either. But every Thai I speak to says. Quote; Thaksin him take care good

5 minutes ago, poohy said:

Seems a collection of "P"s and their friends are "P" ing their panties !

 

Their time is over !

There's claw marks in the desk 

2 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

The notion that governments are "supposed to serve" the people is totally alien to Thailand.

 

The opposite is true in Thailand.

 

Widespread ignorance (among foreigners) of that simple bald fact is the reason for so much impotent outrage on these pages.

 

 

It's certainly alien to those who consider themselves, by virtue of birth, wealth, and most often a combination of these, entitled to rule Thailand.

 

I'm not so sure that it is so alien to the common people, and the idea that a government exists to serve it's people may well be gaining traction...

2 hours ago, Enoon said:

Duplicate post

Edited February 12, 20188 yr by JAG

The issue is not nearly as clear-cut as everyone on here thinks. It's not the junta vs the people. It's not even the elites (including the junta) vs the people. The elites extend right down into the people - the whole white-uniformed brigade. A large section of Thai society has a vested interest in the current system. A sudden uprising is not going to do away with that, especially when the people are mesmerised by singing contests/game shows/gossip shows on TV. It will take a couple of generations of gradual social transformation - assuming there is even sufficient and sustained popular pressure for change, and at the moment there is nothing like that.

Edited February 12, 20188 yr by CharlesSwann

"Probably" "might" "maybe" are causing all the mahem. Nothing to do with social unrest. 

 

15 hours ago, webfact said:

Any legal action against these groups, which have staged political rallies calling for elections this year in defiance of the NCPO’s orders, needed to be carefully weighed to avoid worsening the political climate ahead of the planned general election, which will probably take place early next year, the source said.

Tick...tick...tick....tick....the boom is coming. Unless the ever moving election is held there will be a boom.

9 hours ago, steven100 said:

The General is playing with the media. The Junta have absolutely no plan whatsoever to give up power, I know this....

What happened Steven? Lover's tiff?

not even these generals are foolish enough to dismiss these small but increasing protests under their own created juntaland

More and more posters are calling for elections soon......But if we are honest, would it really solve any problems?

The divide in Thai society is as big as ever..

So here is my solution:

In the upcoming election let the present coup-generals get 40% of the House of Representatives 500 seats (=200)....The remaining 300 seats are decided by the voters..

In the next election in four years let the generals get 25% of the seats (=125) The remaining 375 seats are decided by the voters.

That composition of the parliament will force the various parties/ social groups to work together.

If the guys in uniform still want to play politics after 8 years, they have to create their own political party...

That is IMO the only way to break the political deadlock here...!!

similar to what happened prior to the student uprising on October 14, 1973, which led to a notorious massacre of dozens.

 

The military was responsible for the 1973, 1976, and 1992 massacres of unarmed civilians. Do they have more sense in 2018. Frankly, I doubt it. With charges piling up on the most active activists, some of them in military court, will the junta create a new Burma, with hundreds of political prisoners serving long sentence?

Feudal protectors of the 'elite' clinging on with their fingernails.

On 2/12/2018 at 4:15 AM, webfact said:

Junta ‘fears social unrest’ over recent small protests

Then the junta fears Buddhism.

Didn't The Buddha teach nonviolence but not pacifism?

As we have seen in both modern Thailand and Myanmar, Buddhism embraces political discourse.

To that end doesn't Buddhism "advocates logical reasoning and shuns dogmatism born of blind faith or false reasoning. Through this, the Buddha himself advocates inquiry into all manner of information sources, whether it is news or religious scriptures or even a higher authority."

http://www.socialvisiononline.com/talking-points/2017/12/21/human-rights-buddhism-and-the-myanmar-quandry

How can one embrace political discourse without social unrest, ie., in an open and free society?