Red shirt movement is still on, says ex-MP

By The Nation

 

 

The red shirts and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra have not given up their fight, a former MP of the Pheu Thai Party said.

 

Red USA on Sunday posted happy birthday wishes for former prime minister Thaksin who they see as a figure of a progressive political movement. Thaksin turned 71.

 

The group’s activities were mostly publicised via the Red USA-Thai Voice International page.

 

Last year, Thaksin thanked people who supported him, saying: “I still owe my people for my party always won the elections."

 

Red USA leader Prachuab Charoensuk on July 14 posted a picture of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra having lunch with people from Red USA.

 

‎Sunai Chulpongsatorn‎, a former Pheu Thai MP, came to the US and joined Red USA as a political refugee in the country. He said that neither Thaksin nor the red shirts had given up but they just had to find another way to fight.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30391958

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-07-26

 

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Those 3 finger salutes can be a little more tricky the older you get ????

A post using a trolling meme and the replies have been removed. 

He was a billionaire, and still he wanted More! Could have been the best prime minister Thailand ever had, but he had billions of baht and he still wanted More!

Sister came to power, who had billions of baht, and again, she wanted More! Tried to change the law to get brother back who was a billionaire and still wanted More, and then the army stepped in.

 

The rest is history.

 

Without the sheer greed, they would both be living in Thailand, and very likely, still runnin the place, even now.

 

But, they were both billionaires and they wanted ....... More. ????

10 hours ago, thequietman said:

But, they were both billionaires and they wanted ....... More.

And this Government don't?

I was coming to Thailand when he was the prime minister, Thai people were free & happy they had more money. Foreigners were welcome visa's were easy to get, no charges at the ATM the the baht was at a good rate of exchange, the police only stopped people for not wearing helmets.

He could speak English and he new Thailand needed help from the west & Foreigners were respected!

Corruption and the fact that they became too popular and , with that , too dangerous , lead to their exile .

Still remember the last days of the Thaksin regime ... it was not peaceful ... at that time I thought the coup was good to bring peace to the deeply divided country ... But , now , six years later , it really is time for real and true democratic elections , without eliminating popular political parties just because they get too many votes in the eyes of the ones in power ...

29 minutes ago, naryan said:

I was coming to Thailand when he was the prime minister, Thai people were free & happy they had more money. Foreigners were welcome visa's were easy to get, no charges at the ATM the the baht was at a good rate of exchange, the police only stopped people for not wearing helmets.

He could speak English and he new Thailand needed help from the west & Foreigners were respected!

Not quite true on several points.

1 hour ago, rtco said:

And this Government don't?

Nope, same applies. I am commenting on the fact that the 'reds' are saying they haven't gone away, when in fact, if Thaksin & Co. were not so greedy, there would be no need for any of this.

History of Thailand has shown nothing but corruption and greed, the top position is the key to self enrichment. Whoever has got there has taken the wealth as if it's there own.

Not cascaded it down to the lower levels.

This government in six years has widened the wealth gap, got rid of all opposition and closed any avenue of protest.

Time for a change as the youth are not having any more, they are sick of the corruption.

 

11 hours ago, thequietman said:

But, they were both billionaires and they wanted ....... More.

Does'nt that just sum up Thai politics in general, nothing has changed in decades! Greed rules!

It's probably something Prayut and Co don't want to hear but the fact is Thaksin is still loved and revered by millions in the rural areas if comments I have heard are anything to go by.  He was betrayed,  stabbed in the back and treated very badly so they say.  Is there going to be a Red shirt awakening? 

The Shinawatra governments were as corrupt as the present lot. How many activists went missing under Thaksin's rule? The war on drugs? Billion baht lawsuits against journalists? Total contempt for human rights and justice. The flare up of the southern  conflict.Samak and Chalerm as his bully boy generals. The rice scheme that was nothing more than a half trillion baht feeding frenzy for the corrupt. Thaksin and his red brigade left quite a footprint.

 

Let's not forget the past.

 

Edited July 27, 20205 yr by SoilSpoil

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

Not quite true on several points.

 Are you going to explain a little more.. i would sure like to hear your views

12 hours ago, thequietman said:

He was a billionaire, and still he wanted More! Could have been the best prime minister Thailand ever had, but he had billions of baht and he still wanted More!

Sister came to power, who had billions of baht, and again, she wanted More! Tried to change the law to get brother back who was a billionaire and still wanted More, and then the army stepped in.

 

The rest is history.

 

Without the sheer greed, they would both be living in Thailand, and very likely, still runnin the place, even now.

 

But, they were both billionaires and they wanted ....... More. ????

The strange thing is that it was the mostly the very poor, who probably have no idea how much billions really are, who voted for him. He gave them a few thousand baht and paid the villages a million baht and they were happy.

Do I remember well that some Red Shirt leaders wanted - like Emperor Nero - burn the city?

great move eh...give more excuse for the army to stay in office

Belated happy birthday wishes Mr Thaksin.

33 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Does'nt that just sum up Thai politics in general

It sums up Thai Politics and Generals

Edited July 27, 20205 yr by klauskunkel

41 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

Let's not forget the past.

Nor justify the present.

29 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

The Shinawatra governments were as corrupt as the present lot. How many activists went missing under Thaksin's rule? The war on drugs? Billion baht lawsuits against journalists? Total contempt for human rights and justice. The flare up of the southern  conflict.Samak and Chalerm as his bully boy generals. The rice scheme that was nothing more than a half trillion baht feeding frenzy for the corrupt. Thaksin and his red brigade left quite a footprint.

 

Let's not forget the past.

 

More than a bit of exaggeration and embellishment in this post. Reads like a post from a person that wasn't here during the Thaksin years or one of the obsessives on here that can't admit the military is far worse in power than Thaksin ever was.

 

To disseminate:

The war on drugs was praised in the birthday speech of the country's revered person, whom we can't discuss here. It was overwhelmingly popular among the public as Thailand was awash with drugs at the time. It instantly improved the situation and did a lot to stop the scourge of yaba at the time.

 

The Southern conflict was exacerbated by the hardliner conservatives not under Thaksin's control. In particular the old guard like Prem and his acolytes (he's from Songkhla incidently) and let's not forget, as they are now, the military does not operate under orders from elected governments. Tak Bai and other incidents that inflamed the situation down there happened under the military, and nobody has been held accountable.

 

Chalerm and Samak are not generals, so please don't name them as such. 

 

Activists going missing? I can name one high profile person that went missing during Thaksin's time. There are dozens that have gone missing under this regime. Human rights is far worse now, that's not even comparible.

 

The red brigade? A direct response to the Yellow Shirt movement that was formed by a jilted media mogul after Thaksin removed his mate Viroj from the CEO position at KTB for poor performance and forgiving Sondti's personal loans of over 1 billion Baht.

 

It's like a Thai soap opera, but if you don't speak the language, read local media or understand the culture you'll get lost in unfounded accusations, uninformed opinion and the obsessive nonsense spouted by a few lost old men on here.

Thaksin came with 0 Dollars and he get out with Milliarden .....

41 minutes ago, fvw53 said:

Do I remember well that some Red Shirt leaders wanted - like Emperor Nero - burn the city?

Only way to kill the undead?

1 hour ago, thequietman said:

Nope, same applies. I am commenting on the fact that the 'reds' are saying they haven't gone away, when in fact, if Thaksin & Co. were not so greedy, there would be no need for any of this.

Actually, if the Thaksin government did not remove Viroj as CEO of KTB then Sonthi would not have taken up a vendetta against his old friend Thaksin.

 

The government removed Viroj because he forgave Sonthi's personal loans to the tune of over a billion Baht. He was also useless at being a CEO and losing KTB money so had to be fired but that is by the by.

Sonthi's media businesses were in dire trouble at the time too, so this was a dangerous situation for him in particular. Thaksin was starting his own media empire at the time too...

 

So it wasn't Thaksin's corruption that started all this in the first place. Nothing to do with greed on the government side anyway. 

 

After the vendetta started, Sonthi used his media empire to paint Thaksin as wholly corrupt and anti-Monarchy, which of course was all spin. Thaksin's administration was no more corrupt than any before it, and certainly not after it, current military administrations have proven to be completely beyond the pale. 

 

Once the anti-Thaksin movement gained momentum, the spin was lapped up by foreign obsessives on here, and the Monarchy was politicised, against the wishes of the ruling Monarch at the time.

 

Thaksin was also a victim of his own success. The share price of Shin corp. trebled while he was in office, before he sold it to Temasek, which provoked more rage among the befuddled Thai nationalists who then used Sonthi's media to claim Thaksin was changing laws to fiddle tax. Not true of course, but lapped up my many.

Best PM Thailand ever had. Roads, hospitals, health care, student education. Greedy?  yes  the best for Thailand?  hell yes by a long way.

1 minute ago, BobBKK said:

Best PM Thailand ever had. Roads, hospitals, health care, student education. Greedy?  yes  the best for Thailand?  hell yes by a long way.

Pretty much.

 

As much as I disliked the man at the time, he was as competent a leader as Thailand has ever had, and probably ever will have.

 

Dig out some of his old interviews with BBC and CNN if you want to reminisce. He deals with all the questions fielded to him competently, in English too. Do you think anyone in this current regime would even go on international TV? Let's not kid ourselves.

 

Getting rid of him probably set back Thailand 30 years, but you reap what you sow and the country gets the government it deserves, ultimately.

What is certain is that I, as an expatriate, I felt more secure without wondering what will still change to my disadvantage with immigrationrules  because today I no longer feel welcome which was not the case before!

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

History of Thailand has shown nothing but corruption and greed, the top position is the key to self enrichment. Whoever has got there has taken the wealth as if it's there own.

Not cascaded it down to the lower levels.

This government in six years has widened the wealth gap, got rid of all opposition and closed any avenue of protest.

Time for a change as the youth are not having any more, they are sick of the corruption.

 

All Thai governments have been corrupt, but some much more so than others. Chuan Leekpai was a lawyer with a very small bank account when he became Prime Minister, both times. And when he left office, he wasn't any richer than when he arrived.

13 hours ago, thequietman said:

He was a billionaire, and still he wanted More! Could have been the best prime minister Thailand ever had, but he had billions of baht and he still wanted More!

Sister came to power, who had billions of baht, and again, she wanted More! Tried to change the law to get brother back who was a billionaire and still wanted More, and then the army stepped in.

 

The rest is history.

 

Without the sheer greed, they would both be living in Thailand, and very likely, still runnin the place, even now.

 

But, they were both billionaires and they wanted ....... More. ????

what is this different from all the rulers all over the world, richest woman on the planet still is Qeen Elisabeth,she never said she was satisfied 

i bet even the quietman would fill his pockets if he could,wich is fine U can ask any thai who they want back

a good ruler just has a good salary

3 hours ago, naryan said:

I was coming to Thailand when he was the prime minister, Thai people were free & happy they had more money. Foreigners were welcome visa's were easy to get, no charges at the ATM the the baht was at a good rate of exchange, the police only stopped people for not wearing helmets.

He could speak English and he new Thailand needed help from the west & Foreigners were respected!

And you were innocent enough to somehow think all that was related to Thaksin. And it seems you still think now all would be better if Thaksin would be back. Let me guess where your "knowledge" comes from. Was it Noi or Nit who told you?