PAD Lay Siege On Government House, NBT TV Station

[hammered]

PS, I 've saved the pic and it's file name which you forgot to rename.

The photo was on a blog from BKK. I will try to remember which.

Why would I rename the photo ?

I checked the date because I was unsure if the photo was current. The dates suggested it was, but possibly it is not. I was not intending to deceive. It remains an interesting image with its own integrity.

I am not really taking sides on this issue; mainly view it as a human drama that reveals much about Thailand. I do feel the PAD are beginning to look silly -- what point in taking over the airports and draining police resources ?

Puts more presure on Samak

Its a weird war of attrition and very psychological in nature. Until midday today the PAD looke dparanoid and about to implode. Now a few hours later they look invigorated and the government look paranoid and stressed. Well Anupong said Samak looked stressed and the government have disappeared.

No doubt it flips depending on who has the upper hand. Odd thing is this morning Samak looked so secure.

[grantbkk]

The PR value of the picture of the policeman pointing a rifle at a protestor at point blank range is very high

Indeed it is...

The rifle is behind the persons head as you can see. The person is looking at the barrel from the side as it is pointed at something behind him. Nice try.

Irrespective of what is going on - WHY is the fire-arm shouldered?

The weapon appears to be a 37mm teargas gun from the 1960's. There is no reason for the policeman to be pointing that thing at close quarters. I hope it wasn't loaded and was an attempt at intimidation only by an inexperienced and scared officer. Big mistake.

[jackyseymour]

Here is my song for Samak and his henchmen...not original, but it will have to do

NANANANA NANANANA HEYYEYEY GOOOODBYE

Power to the People

No Justice no Peace...Samak out of Thailand please

Thank you to all my Union Brothers for helping in this struggle against a totally corrupt government

The only thing worse than PAD is labor unions.

labor unions are worst than anything else.....

Yes. That's why you get to live here for sod all.

[ando]

Looks like the stakes are being raised considerably. Time to declare a state of emergency and call the army in to handle the situation. Of course that could be a huge gamble for Samak as no one knows which way they would jump. They could disperse the protesters and restore the country to order, or they could join with the protesters and turn against the elected government. Ultimately, the future of democracy in Thailand is in the hands of those who control the army.

Gen. Anupong has said now is not a time for a state of emrgency. It should be solved by the two sides talking. He also said the police were capable of maintaining order

An interesting statement. I would guess Anupong did not agree wit Samak's decision to send in the police which according to the metropolitan police chief sidestepped his authority too.

Maybe Anupong doesnt know if he really controls the troops. Maybe he is just playing his own game. Maybe he is fianally hanging Samak out to dry. My own opinion is that Samak has flipped so many times that now is the time to deliver on the much talked about politcal deal. Anupong is not going to go down with Samak if he is playing the wrong side. Intersting to say the police can maintain oreder when clearly they cant remove the demonstrators. It implies that the army are happy to see the police just stand around as demos go on. This level of confrontation cant go on for much longer though. Something has to give.

Its Samaks call. If he declares a state of emergency and turns the army loose, it will be up to the army generals to decide which way to flip then. It would be a big gamble for Samak, but the way things are going I dont see he has much choice.

[sriracha john]

The PR value of the picture of the policeman pointing a rifle at a protestor at point blank range is very high

Indeed it is...

The rifle is behind the persons head as you can see. The person is looking at the barrel from the side as it is pointed at something behind him. Nice try.

The rifle is there in the picture in the first place and I highly doubt the safety is on. There's no defending it by any stretch of the imagination.

another...

[jackyseymour]

15,000 THAI unionists told to strike

The chairwoman of the labour union of Thai Airways International Friday told 15,000 members of the union to strike in retaliation of police's brutality.

Chaemsri Sukchoterat said 15,000 members of the union would stop working immediately to respond to the police's use of force against peaceful protesters.

She said if the government did not stop using force against protesters, all 25,000 Thai workers would be told to stop working.

The Nation

The only Unions with any strength represent workers for government and former government enterprises. They have huge pension funds that own a large share of companies, land, and etcetera. That's where their power lies and as I said before PAD is against privatization also.

How ironic that the unions (who are supposed to represent the workers) are supporting the agenda of the elite ruling class. I wonder who controls the unions?

Some here are so niave they border on the edge of stupidity in some of their thinking and comments. The first rule in causing hardship to a government - whether a union or an interest group is to remove your services, ie, water - power - trains - airlines etc,. This is irrespective of whether you are in agreement or not. This style of persuasion is used world wide and is not just confined to Thailand.

Only the edge?

[jackyseymour]

Not surprising at the Samui pier.

I have NEVER heard ONE good word about Samak from anyone here.

At best he gets a chuckle from some and a shake of the head.

An announcement on the PAD stage to consider trying take control of Samui's police station was answered by the Samui PAD

Rep. who took to the stage to announce it wasn't necessary....

as the police in Samui already backed PAD.

Chaiyo!

[animatic]

Yeah, bit of a problem that. I have some hope (not much) that the courts are now going to start putting corrupt politicians behind bars, thanks to a few polite reminders about Judicial Duties from HM. If enough politicians start doing time for breaking the law then maybe the system will slowly will start to improve.

There was no previous time a well connected person in this country, politician or not, had ever to be afraid of any wrongdoings!

This period of influential figures with a self issued "Carte Blanche" at will and at random, seems to have found an end or is going to find an end!

Nothing will be achieved in a couple of hour, days or weeks, but the watchdog out there on the streets keeps things ON THE TABLE and not as usual disappeared somewhere under the carpet to be whitewashed....

And hey, do "they" do allow this to happen... it's like financial suicide the giving up of the magic wand that allowed and made everything possible!

If Thailand want to go ahead this issue has to be solved...slow but sure!

Exactly, if they want a good working democracy,

they have to stop every instance of a kleptocracy.

This seems to be round 2.

Again this is the waining of the feudal system, but it isn't going easily.

Some have 'modernized' but with the old feudal I win, there for

I deserve to win MORE, no matter what attitude, grafted on top.

That can't continue long.

[richm7]

Looks like the stakes are being raised considerably. Time to declare a state of emergency and call the army in to handle the situation. Of course that could be a huge gamble for Samak as no one knows which way they would jump. They could disperse the protesters and restore the country to order, or they could join with the protesters and turn against the elected government. Ultimately, the future of democracy in Thailand is in the hands of those who control the army.

I'm puzzled by this statement. There is no democracy in Thailand (though the government in power is as close as you'll get) and PAD, despite their name, certainly do not advocate democracy. Why would they, after all, because in a free election, as has been demonstrated, they won't get in. So, their solution is to appoint themselves to government and maintain the status quo, i.e. protect their own interests. Those brown people from Issan are too stupid to vote (translation - they won't vote for PAD) so disenfranchise them. Can't see much sign of democracy there.

Anyway, any westerner knows that whether it's Britain, France or the USA (and of course, all the rest of the so called western democracies), 80% of the electorate either don't vote or don't have a clue, so Thailand is no different. Just because the stupidy of people does not suit you, you do not have the right to exclude them from the process. You could always try education, but that apparently doesn't work either; the electorate in the US were stupid enough, twice, to vote for Dubya, who is, to put it as politely as I can, as thick as a brick. I didn't see the (rightfully) indignant self proclaimed intelligencia in the US snarling up DC and demanding a Government of nominees. Samak, like Bush, might be corrupt and might not be to your liking, but his party was elected to power. That's democracy. It is the will of the majority, even if it is a majority of one. So, there will always be a lot of pissed off people. Tough titty. Go back to work and grow up. Anybody who thinks PAD will be better is probably a person who would vote for George Bush. Except with PAD, they wouldn't get the chance.

[ando]

The PR value of the picture of the policeman pointing a rifle at a protestor at point blank range is very high

Indeed it is...

The rifle is behind the persons head as you can see. The person is looking at the barrel from the side as it is pointed at something behind him. Nice try.

The rifle is there in the picture in the first place and I highly doubt the safety is on. There's no defending it by any stretch of the imagination.

another...

Try taking over the Whitehouse and see if you dont get a weapon shoved up your nose.

Do these PAD people honestly think they should be allowed to take over government house without some resistance from the authorities?

They provoke violence and then cry they are victims of brutality.

[newworks]

Looks like the stakes are being raised considerably. Time to declare a state of emergency and call the army in to handle the situation. Of course that could be a huge gamble for Samak as no one knows which way they would jump. They could disperse the protesters and restore the country to order, or they could join with the protesters and turn against the elected government. Ultimately, the future of democracy in Thailand is in the hands of those who control the army.

I'm puzzled by this statement. There is no democracy in Thailand (though the government in power is as close as you'll get) and PAD, despite their name, certainly do not advocate democracy. Why would they, after all, because in a free election, as has been demonstrated, they won't get in. So, their solution is to appoint themselves to government and maintain the status quo, i.e. protect their own interests. Those brown people from Issan are too stupid to vote (translation - they won't vote for PAD) so disenfranchise them. Can't see much sign of democracy there.

Anyway, any westerner knows that whether it's Britain, France or the USA (and of course, all the rest of the so called western democracies), 80% of the electorate either don't vote or don't have a clue, so Thailand is no different. Just because the stupidy of people does not suit you, you do not have the right to exclude them from the process. You could always try education, but that apparently doesn't work either; the electorate in the US were stupid enough, twice, to vote for Dubya, who is, to put it as politely as I can, as thick as a brick. I didn't see the (rightfully) indignant self proclaimed intelligencia in the US snarling up DC and demanding a Government of nominees. Samak, like Bush, might be corrupt and might not be to your liking, but his party was elected to power. That's democracy. It is the will of the majority, even if it is a majority of one. So, there will always be a lot of pissed off people. Tough titty. Go back to work and grow up. Anybody who thinks PAD will be better is probably a person who would vote for George Bush. Except with PAD, they wouldn't get the chance.

ummmm... i voted for george bush and if you look at my previous posts, you will see that i am very clearly against the so-called "PAD" and what they are doing.

piss-poor analogy. try again.

[JoeInSurin]

The PR value of the picture of the policeman pointing a rifle at a protestor at point blank range is very high

Indeed it is...

The rifle is behind the persons head as you can see. The person is looking at the barrel from the side as it is pointed at something behind him. Nice try.

The rifle is there in the picture in the first place and I highly doubt the safety is on. There's no defending it by any stretch of the imagination.

another...

So if you were leading the police you would tell them to keep their weapons behind their back? unloaded? safety on? or maybe back in the car? I can see you know nothing about law enforcement.

[sriracha john]

The PR value of the picture of the policeman pointing a rifle at a protestor at point blank range is very high

Indeed it is...

The rifle is behind the persons head as you can see. The person is looking at the barrel from the side as it is pointed at something behind him. Nice try.

The rifle is there in the picture in the first place and I highly doubt the safety is on. There's no defending it by any stretch of the imagination.

another...

Try taking over the Whitehouse and see if you dont get a weapon shoved up your nose.

Does Samak and his family live at Government House?

[marshbags]

Does that girl even know the danger her parents have put her in? Disgraceful.

Any photographer will tell you that picture was shot at night, wake up.

It is clearly not from this rally, they are all holding plastic hands to clap louder, not Thai flags,

It doesn,t look like they are one of the same to me.

Could the young girl have been superimposed for some reason ??????

Just a thought

marshbags

[Meerkat]

Translation via Bangkok Pundit. As I appreciate BP is seen as a paid Thaksin lackey by some here, the original article is linked to below in case his translation is off.

"Matichon quotes Sondhi L as saying that if the police hurt the people then every police station will be on fire. Today, the police must take action against police who hurt the people. If we don't receive and answer then tonight we will destroy the police station. Bangkok will be on fire and cannot guarantee that nothing will happen in Bangkok tonight."

Burning Bangkok. Hmm...

[tominbkk]

An easy way to view ASTV is to paste this url into media player:

mms://broadcast.manager.co.th/11news1?wmcontentbitrate=120000

[newworks]

The PR value of the picture of the policeman pointing a rifle at a protestor at point blank range is very high

Indeed it is...

The rifle is behind the persons head as you can see. The person is looking at the barrel from the side as it is pointed at something behind him. Nice try.

The rifle is there in the picture in the first place and I highly doubt the safety is on. There's no defending it by any stretch of the imagination.

another...

Try taking over the Whitehouse and see if you dont get a weapon shoved up your nose.

Do these PAD people honestly think they should be allowed to take over government house without some resistance from the authorities?

They provoke violence and then cry they are victims of brutality.

exactly. whether the PAD supporters here want to admit it or not, the current gov't is a democratically-elected one (just like thaksin's was!) and as such has every right to quell these protests and THROW THEM IN JAIL! they have taken over government property by force.

they are thugs. period.

[grantbkk]

The PR value of the picture of the policeman pointing a rifle at a protestor at point blank range is very high

Indeed it is...

The rifle is behind the persons head as you can see. The person is looking at the barrel from the side as it is pointed at something behind him. Nice try.

The rifle is there in the picture in the first place and I highly doubt the safety is on. There's no defending it by any stretch of the imagination.

another...

I don't think anyone is defending the policeman. However, these are two different officers with two different weapons, one is right handed and one is left handed with gloves.

[onethailand]

Getting crazier now... Sondhi has announced that there will be no incursion into Government House - furthermore, he has proposed to open up all the buildings for people to "duen tiao" - and in the back area, a monitor and speakers are being setup in an area which is otherwise quiet - just like a "resort".

[sriracha john]

AOT confirms all flights to and from Phuket, Hat Yai, Krabi cancelled

The acting president of Airports Authority of Thailand confirmed Friday evening that all flights to and from Phuket, Hat Yai and Krabi international airports were cancelled and the airports will be closed indefinitely.

Serirat Prasutanont, the acting president of the AOT, said the airports will remain closed indefinitely until the situation changes.

The Nation

[Thaising]

Getting crazier now... Sondhi has announced that there will be no incursion into Government House - furthermore, he has proposed to open up all the buildings for people to "duen tiao" - and in the back area, a monitor and speakers are being setup in an area which is otherwise quiet - just like a "resort".

What a good idea for a normal Thai citizen to have a chance to sightseeing this restricted area.

[Thaising]

AOT confirms all flights to and from Phuket, Hat Yai, Krabi cancelled

The acting president of Airports Authority of Thailand confirmed Friday evening that all flights to and from Phuket, Hat Yai and Krabi international airports were cancelled and the airports will be closed indefinitely.

Serirat Prasutanont, the acting president of the AOT, said the airports will remain closed indefinitely until the situation changes.

The Nation

A very good excuses that allow the worker's union time off to join the protest.

Edited August 29, 2008 by Thaising

[sriracha john]

Government House: Police evacuate compound; protesters resume occupancy

BANGKOK, Aug 29 (TNA) -- The struggle for control of Thailand's seat of government continued ebbed back and forth Friday afternoon as police guarding the compound since early Friday withdrew from Government House -- Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's office, once again allowing People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters symbolic control.

Police in mid-afternoon retreated from the compound after the PAD activists their six-wheeled sound truck and its PAD security escort to join with another protest group a few kilometres away.

They successfully broke through a police cordon, released colleagues who had been detained by police, and marched back to the Government House compound.

Surging protesters re-entered the Government House compound through Gate 5, forcing the police to retreat.

Opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva together with nearly 20 party members visited injured protesters and boosted the morale of police personnel on duty at the Makkawan Bridge near Government House, where the protesters are holding another demonstration against the government.

[LaoPo]

The MASTERMIND behind the present <deleted>, mogul Sondhi Limthongkul.

One of the nine leaders of an anti-government campaign, Sondhi Limthongkul, sits inside the Government House during a protest in Bangkok August 28, 2008.

Note with the 2 last photos:

A photographer takes photographs of weapons that several hundred police officers gave up when protesters forced those police officers out of the Government House compound in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Aug. 29, 2008.

source: kindly provided by Sriracha John:

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/ph...f7b1ba7c54ee43a

LaoPo

Edited August 29, 2008 by LaoPo

[hammered]

Translation via Bangkok Pundit. As I appreciate BP is seen as a paid Thaksin lackey by some here, the original article is linked to below in case his translation is off.

"Matichon quotes Sondhi L as saying that if the police hurt the people then every police station will be on fire. Today, the police must take action against police who hurt the people. If we don't receive and answer then tonight we will destroy the police station. Bangkok will be on fire and cannot guarantee that nothing will happen in Bangkok tonight."

Burning Bangkok. Hmm...

A thai person told me he didnt say burn when I asked for translation. It was more like make it hot as in not comfortable to be or work

[sriracha john]

Thai protesters, police scuffle over court order

BANGKOK, THAILAND (AP) - Thai police retreated from the prime minister's office compound Friday, seeking to defuse tensions with thousands of protesters who have occupied the site for nearly four days.

Earlier, police officers muscled onto the grounds to deliver a court eviction order to the members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, who are seeking the ouster of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

Several minor injuries were reported throughout the day as brief skirmishes erupted around the perimeter of the compound and in nearby streets.

"The situation was very volatile and a clash was likely if we pushed on," police spokesman Surapol Tuantong told the NBT TV network. "We have given way to let them back into the Government House to prevent a clash. All security forces have left the government compound."

Samak repeated his pledge to end the crisis without the use of force, and the commander of the Thai army called for both sides to negotiate an end to the standoff.

"The army will not stage a coup, the political crisis should be resolved by political means," said Gen. Anupong Paochinda.

The crowd outside the compound swelled Friday afternoon. When the police pulled back, many demonstrators followed them to a horse racing track about 500 yards from the Government House.

Sonthi Limthongkul, a protest leader, vowed Friday to continue the protests until Samak steps down.

"We definitely won't leave the Government House until we can topple Samak's administration," Sonthi told the Associated Press. "He cannot stay on for long, I am very sure of that. You can see people coming more and more to join us."

The number of protesters in and around the government compound since protesters overran the grounds on Tuesday has varied from a few thousand most mornings to a high of 30,000.

ASSOCIATED PRESS / August 29, 2008

[animatic]

Not surprising at the Samui pier.

I have NEVER heard ONE good word about Samak from anyone here.

At best he gets a chuckle from some and a shake of the head.

An announcement on the PAD stage to consider trying take control of Samui's police station was answered by the Samui PAD

Rep. who took to the stage to announce it wasn't necessary....

as the police in Samui already backed PAD.

Chaiyo!

Well I have only heard of 2 rallys by PAD on Samui, both quite some time ago.

But Samui has a great cross section of the country's people.

There is PAD there no doubt, but my comment wasn't referencing pro PAD attitude,

but ANTI Samak attitude, not at all the same thing.

I have no clue what the police force thinks of PAD,

But I do know they think Bangkok doesn't

send them enough money to do their jobs properly.

Especially considering how much money the place brings in for Thailand.

[Tony Clifton]

Crowd is swelling like mad, police backed off.

Then Samak declared he ordered them to pull back.

[onethailand]

Burning Bangkok. Hmm...

A thai person told me he didnt say burn when I asked for translation. It was more like make it hot as in not comfortable to be or work

Can't read Thai, but I'm guessing the phrase was similar to "dèuat rón" - to boil, or reach boiling point.

[Tony Clifton]

This is the beginning of the end for PAD....

Wrong, it's the beginning of the week-end.