Pad Rallies At British Embassy In Bangkok

[george]

PAD rallies at British embassy

BANGKOK: -- Protesters rallied outside the British Embassy Thursday morning to demand an extradition of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Hundreds of protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy started gathering outside the embassy at 9:30 am.

A company of policemen were deployed to keep security.

The PAD protesters block the traffic on Wireless Road from the Ploenchit Intersection to the Phetchaburi Road.

After the rally at the embassy, the PAD protesters will march to the Emporium shopping mall to distribute VCDs and documents as part of their awareness campaigns on police's bloody crackdowns on protesters on October 7.

-- The Nation 2008-10-30

[george]

Bangkok city traffic paralyzed

TNA/MCOT reports that traffic in the area is paralyzed. The PAD will march to Emporium on Sukhumvit Road.

[george]

One dead, 10 injured in bombings, gunshots at PAD protest site, judge's home

BANGKOK: -- The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protester's rally site at Makhawan Rangsan Bridge on Ratchadamnern Avenue was disrupted by a bomb, with 10 persons wounded, and one man was found dead near the Metropolitan Police Bureau headquarters, nearby.

Meanwhile, a second bomb exploded at Constitution Court judge Charan Pakdeethanakul's home causing minor damage but no injury.

Witnesses said that at about 3 am, two suspects drove a motorcycle to the rally site where Peoples' Alliance security personnel had blocked the roads with steel fencing and car tyres. The two men threw a bomb at the protesters' volunteer security guard tent, injuring 10 men, with one being seriously injured and was sent to hospital.

The bomb caused a small hole in the ground.

Meanwhile, a man identified as Sangwean Rujimola, 46, was found dead on a footpath near the Metropolitan Police Bureau headquarters not far from Misakawan intersection which was also blocked by the PAD.

In the initial inspection, police found a bullet wound in the back of the victim's head, while a bulllet hole was also found in the wall of the police headquarters.

Pol. Maj-Gen. Anan Srihiran, commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 1, inspected the scene and said police would question Mr. Sangwean's relatives regarding why he went to the rally site. Gen. Anan added that the police did not conclude that the victim was shot by PAD's volunteer security personnel.

The police general said witnesses reported seeing Mr. Sangwean drinking alcohol with friends. The victim appeared to be intoxicated before walking alone and verbally scolding PAD supporters. After that some 10 gunshots were heard during the night before he was found dead.

At about midnight, a bomb was thrown into the residence compound of Constitution Court judge Charan at Soi Soi Preedee-Phanomyong 45 in Bangkok, causing minor damage, but no injuries. At the time of the attack, Judge Charan was in the house.

The explosion caused a 30 centimetre wide hole in the lawn and some window were shattered.

Forensic police were dispatched to collect evidence Thursday morning.

-- TNA 2008-10-30

[Journalist]

Although I am currently elsewhere, this is the street I live on when in Bkk.

The only people this inconveniences are the local residents. None of whom have anything to do with Thaksin's flight.

Then we have the Triumph brassiere demos at the intersection of Witthayu and Petburi - and the road is closed down then too.

One respects folks' right to protest peacefully - but then if all we Witthayu residents came to their soi and prevented their kids going to school, they'd be bugged.

What a pain-in-the-rear, nihilist place Bangkok has become, where anyone can behave just as they feel like. Reminds me a bit of Jakarta in early 1998.

[logbags]

England is fast becoming the country of choice for criminal despots and dodgy businessmen. Thaksin has been found guilty by the very courts he once happily used in his vexatious litigations against opponents.

To now hear him whining about the injustice of it all is quite pathetic and sickening given his track record on human rights. Criminals on less serous charges would have been long since deported and shipped back home so what is it that allows him to stay happily in England?

If the poms are that desperate for people to prop up their overpriced football league let them have him. They will be the losers in the long run.

Edited October 30, 2008 by logbags

[Boater]

great for tourist promotions for the UK market.....

With all the crap and the rate of the pound, the goverment should step in and stop the idiots!!! ...... before it is to late and we lose all tourist trade from the UK

[Gary A]

If they plan to walk from Wireless Road to Emporium, that's a long walk and Bangkok will be paralysed all day. What a bunch of inconsiderate nit wits!

[tig28]

Re the demands that Thaksin be extradited to Thailand I recall this post relating to another person wanted in Thailand who resides in the UK. i wonder if this is indeed the case?

quote:

The European human rights law does not allow anybody to be extradited to a country where they could be executed or treated in a inhuman or degrading way.Thailand has a very bad track record on human rights.Amnesty international condem Thailand on a reg basis.Until Thailand bring there prisons up to a level that is fit to keep human beings in then extradition will only go one way.They also have to stop the beatings & murder of prisoners & also give them health care.European nations will not send people to be starved beaten tortured & be left for dead {when sick}

[Kerryd]

Breaking News

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- An explosive device was hurled at a key anti-government protest site in Bangkok before dawn Thursday, leaving 10 people wounded.

All of the wounded were guards for the anti-government protest movement, the People's Alliance for Democracy, said police Capt. Pompet Chotelang, who was at the scene.

Protesters have occupied the grounds of the prime minister's office compound since August as well as a bridge that leads to the Government House, both of which are patrolled by guards.

Makawan bridge was the target of Thursday's pre-dawn explosion, which occurred about 3 a.m. local time.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack or any immediate indication of who was behind it, said Pompet.

Protesters say they will not leave the prime minister's compound until allies of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra are out of power.

They accuse Thaksin of corruption and the current prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, who is a brother-in-law of Thaksin, of being his proxy. Somchai has been forced to operate out of a makeshift office at Bangkok's old international airport.

Thaksin was convicted earlier this month of violating a conflict of interest law. He is living in self-imposed exile in London.

Protesters planned to rally later Thursday outside the British Embassy to demand the extradition of Thaksin, a normally lengthy process the Thai government says it has not yet started.

Full Story: CNN - Blast in Bangkok Wounds 10

[adam1]

In reply to the poster who referenced the "over-priced" English Premier League, I might point out to him that Thaksin is no longer the owner of any football clubs in England. So, the lack of extradition has nothing to do with that.

I understand people being annoyed with PAD, but I still think we should celebrate the fact that the traditionally non-confrontational and passive Thai people are taking a stand against a political system that allows blatant vote-buying. They're standing up for what they perceive to be right! Whether their opinion is right or wrong is of course, a matter for debate.

If you can't get your kids to school for a day or two, so what? The future of the entire democracy is at stake!

[p1p]

The following is a somewhat pertinent piece currently doing the rounds of the internet:

DEAR British asylum authorities,

Before you say it, this is not dismayed sarcasm or a lame attempt at reverse psychology. This letter means every word that is written, and the one and only message that it tries to convey must not be misunderstood. We want you to keep Thaksin Shinawatra in England forever, or as long as you possibly can. Pure and simple.

He calls your country democratically mature and denounces his motherland as a dictatorial backwater where a large sector of the population cannot stand a rich and popularly elected leader.

Let him be there. He may be right. We are seemingly not sophisticated enough to deal with a democratic champion of the poor who has more money than everyone living below the poverty line put together but still needs to evade taxes and swallow up state properties against the will of the laws. Too complicated.

If he has already asked for asylum, give it to him right away before he changes his mind. If he has not, make him an offer he can't refuse. We don't care if that means you give Thailand a slap in the face. Just check our country's sorry state. A patient in a coma doesn't care how he looks.

Of course, a lot of people are making noises about the need to get him back for punishment. But ironically these are the same people who want Thaksin to disappear from the face of the earth. The other group that wants him back has the opposite goal of re-installing him as a democratic hero. So, as you can see, both camps harbour different agendas on his return, which will have the same consequence: disaster.

We may be a minority, but trust us when we say you will do Thailand a big, big favour by keeping the man. Let him launch a clandestine government in exile or simply continue to pull the strings of countless nominees. We won't blame you. If Thailand is as bad as he's saying it is to the world, we deserve to be weakened and undermined by this misunderstood angel of liberty.

We are through debating Ample Rich, Win Mark, SC Assets, the EXIM bank loan or the Ratchadapisek land deal. Thaksin has become a myth - he's either a hoax or something noble smeared by those envious of its virtues. Either way, he's too hot to handle over here.

We have ended up a wreck trying to work out if he was good or bad for Thailand. It's your turn, and the question is equally simple: Will you be helping a good, honest politician fleeing unjust prosecution in his homeland, or are you being used by a skilled con artist? Either way, a democratically mature nation like yours should be able to cope with the consequences of keeping him, without Parliament being seized and blood spilled on the streets.

Again, don't worry. You have little to lose. One half of the world will praise the asylum as your stern message against dictatorship, while the other half will be too exhausted to press on with his controversial cases anyway. And by all means The United Kingdom will be seen as a land of opportunities. Where else can political victims hunted down by ruthless dictators manage to buy a premium soccer club, sit in the director's box and then sell it at double the profit a year later?

We can never win with this man. None of the corruption cases was ever going to make its way to court when he was in power, but now that they have, he deems the courts politically motivated. This, however, doesn't mean we will mind if you take that excuse seriously and grant him asylum. There's a little problem, but we think you can cope. Giving him asylum could spark a "yellow" protest at your Bangkok embassy, but rejecting him will send a "red" army to the same compound. In either event it might cause some panic, but sooner or later embassy staff will get used to it like most of the Thai people.

So please, the least you can do is buy us some time. If you are reluctant to grant him asylum or want to kick him out straight away, a lot of legal time-wasting tactics can be explored. If it normally takes two years, make it five. If it normally takes five, make it ten. In fact, tell us who we have to kill if you can make him a British citizen.

Yours sincerely and God save your Queen,

A group of Thai people.

[The Philosopher]

England is fast becoming the country of choice for criminal despots and dodgy businessmen. Thaksin has been found guilty by the very courts he once happily used in his vexatious litigations against opponents.

To now hear him whining about the injustice of it all is quite pathetic and sickening given his track record on human rights. Criminals on less serous charges would have been long since deported and shipped back home so what is it that allows him to stay happily in England?

If the poms are that desperate for people to prop up their overpriced football league let them have him. They will be the losers in the long run.

quote:

The European human rights law does not allow anybody to be extradited to a country where they could be executed or treated in a inhuman or degrading way.Thailand has a very bad track record on human rights.Amnesty international condem Thailand on a reg basis.Until Thailand bring there prisons up to a level that is fit to keep human beings in then extradition will only go one way.They also have to stop the beatings & murder of prisoners & also give them health care.European nations will not send people to be starved beaten tortured & be left for dead {when sick}

Nothing to do with football just basic human rights - much lacking in Oz

[absolutelyBangkok]

Guerilla tactics in the middle of Bangkok - maybe you should start avoiding Govt House at nights.

[visionquesthai]

The following is a somewhat pertinent piece currently doing the rounds of the internet:

Yours sincerely and God save your Queen,

--snip--

A group of Thai people.

Brilliant! Well said!

[0Mix1up]

another sorry state of affairs

when will they decide whos turn at the trough it is

[poryai]

In reply to the poster who referenced the "over-priced" English Premier League, I might point out to him that Thaksin is no longer the owner of any football clubs in England. So, the lack of extradition has nothing to do with that.

I understand people being annoyed with PAD, but I still think we should celebrate the fact that the traditionally non-confrontational and passive Thai people are taking a stand against a political system that allows blatant vote-buying. They're standing up for what they perceive to be right! Whether their opinion is right or wrong is of course, a matter for debate.

If you can't get your kids to school for a day or two, so what? The future of the entire democracy is at stake!

I still think we should celebrate the fact that the traditionally non-confrontational and passive Thai people are taking a stand against a political system that allows blatant vote-buying.

90% of the PAD protesters are also bought. And PAD does not advocate Democracy for all only for the self righteous...get a clue!

[angiud]

90% of the PAD protesters are also bought. And PAD does not advocate Democracy for all only for the self righteous...get a clue!

This is a big lie, simply

[hill16]

I understand people being annoyed with PAD, but I still think we should celebrate the fact that the traditionally non-confrontational and passive Thai people are taking a stand against a political system that allows blatant vote-buying. They're standing up for what they perceive to be right! Whether their opinion is right or wrong is of course, a matter for debate.

If you can't get your kids to school for a day or two, so what? The future of the entire democracy is at stake!

What democracy will there be if the PAD get their way? The same as in Germany 1933? The present government is deeply flawed but what the PAD are proposing and their means of proposing it (such as armed protestors occupying government offices) is reminiscent of Germany in 1933.

[Splatter]

I just passed the PAD demo on Ploenchit.

They're cheating.

Half of them aren't walking, they're sitting on the back of trucks.

The Marseillaise doesn't mention anything about catching a truck...

"marchon, marchon!" that's how it goes.

I believe people have a right to march, and a right to gather,

but this seems to be a "let's cease up Bangkok while we're at it"

...AND the music they are playing is truly awful...

not eactly a U2 "rock and roll stops the traffic" play list.

Three lanes of traffic sitting still on the inward bound of Sukhumvit.

PAD on the outward bound.

So why didn't the police think ahead

and at least plan for temproary single lanes

going each way on the inward lanes?

And why don't the PAD organisers realise

that PAD guards walking down Sukhumvit

with great big sticks and a few baseball bats

sends out a "thug" message.

Has anyone got a spare

"How to Manage a Demonstration Manual #101?"

[Dap]

Although I am currently elsewhere, this is the street I live on when in Bkk.

The only people this inconveniences are the local residents. None of whom have anything to do with Thaksin's flight.

Then we have the Triumph brassiere demos at the intersection of Witthayu and Petburi - and the road is closed down then too.

One respects folks' right to protest peacefully - but then if all we Witthayu residents came to their soi and prevented their kids going to school, they'd be bugged.

What a pain-in-the-rear, nihilist place Bangkok has become, where anyone can behave just as they feel like. Reminds me a bit of Jakarta in early 1998.

[jeb]

90% of the PAD protesters are also bought. And PAD does not advocate Democracy for all only for the self righteous...get a clue!

This is a big lie, simply

At one point did PAD not advocate 30% elected representatives and 70% appointed?

[Dap]

The only thing I can see the PAD succeeding at, at this point is making Bangkok traffic worse than it already is and really angering EVERYONE.

[WISteve]

............I understand people being annoyed with PAD, but I still think we should celebrate the fact that the traditionally non-confrontational and passive Thai people are taking a stand against a political system that allows blatant vote-buying. They're standing up for what they perceive to be right! Whether their opinion is right or wrong is of course, a matter for debate.

If you can't get your kids to school for a day or two, so what? The future of the entire democracy is at stake!

And please explain to the surviving family of Mr Sangwean Rujimola how proud you are of these fine, upstanding citizens

Thugs ! Marching down a busy city street carrying their clubs and bats! Yes, we should all be very proud!!

~WISteve

[hammered]

It looks like it is all kicking off. Bomb attacks. The rumours a week or so ago that the funds had been released for this kind of thing seem to be looking truer than most rumours.

[fredKroket]

England is fast becoming the country of choice for criminal despots and dodgy businessmen. Thaksin has been found guilty by the very courts he once happily used in his vexatious litigations against opponents.

To now hear him whining about the injustice of it all is quite pathetic and sickening given his track record on human rights. Criminals on less serous charges would have been long since deported and shipped back home so what is it that allows him to stay happily in England?

If the poms are that desperate for people to prop up their overpriced football league let them have him. They will be the losers in the long run.

I always thought Thailand was the country of choice for criminal despots and dodgy businessmen! Pattaya is a haven for them for sure

[monkfish]

England is fast becoming the country of choice for criminal despots and dodgy businessmen. Thaksin has been found guilty by the very courts he once happily used in his vexatious litigations against opponents.

To now hear him whining about the injustice of it all is quite pathetic and sickening given his track record on human rights. Criminals on less serous charges would have been long since deported and shipped back home so what is it that allows him to stay happily in England?

If the poms are that desperate for people to prop up their overpriced football league let them have him. They will be the losers in the long run.

quote:

The European human rights law does not allow anybody to be extradited to a country where they could be executed or treated in a inhuman or degrading way.Thailand has a very bad track record on human rights.Amnesty international condem Thailand on a reg basis.Until Thailand bring there prisons up to a level that is fit to keep human beings in then extradition will only go one way.They also have to stop the beatings & murder of prisoners & also give them health care.European nations will not send people to be starved beaten tortured & be left for dead {when sick}

Nothing to do with football just basic human rights - much lacking in Oz

Yes I wonder why he himself did nothing to improve conditions,

in fact I believe he did all he could to make them worse.

He can get his Brother In Law to change conditions before he returns anyway.

[Splatter]

............I understand people being annoyed with PAD, but I still think we should celebrate the fact that the traditionally non-confrontational and passive Thai people are taking a stand against a political system that allows blatant vote-buying. They're standing up for what they perceive to be right! Whether their opinion is right or wrong is of course, a matter for debate.

If you can't get your kids to school for a day or two, so what? The future of the entire democracy is at stake!

And please explain to the surviving family of Mr Sangwean Rujimola how proud you are of these fine, upstanding citizens

Thugs ! Marching down a busy city street carrying their clubs and bats! Yes, we should all be very proud!!

~WISteve

I agree with both of these posts,

though I'd suggest the MAJORITY of citizens

on BOTH sides ARE UPSTANDING.

The police standing by doing NOTHING

as a minority openly carry offensive weapons

is worse than nothing to be proud of.

Whether it is at Sanam Luang or Government House.

...and having the opportunity use the counter argument of

"we have to carry weapons

as we don't trust the police

to keep order between two opposing factions"

is nothing to be proud of either.

Laissez faire governing

Laissez faire policing

seems to have lead in disillusionment in both.

Those observers on Sukhumvit are seeing the

resulting expression of that disillusionment.

Edited October 30, 2008 by Splatter

[dunque]

a political system that allows vote-buying - whatever next? Seems like they are pretty new to this democracy thing - omeone should tell them that it was ever thyus and will remaiin so as we in the UK know to our cost - our government doesn't just buy votes, it actually employs a lot of the voters!

[logbags]

The European human rights law does not allow anybody to be extradited to a country where they could be executed or treated in a inhuman or degrading way.

##Tell that to the guys held at Guantanamo Bay for the last decade without trial.

Thailand has a very bad track record on human rights.

##Unlike say the U.S, which executes more people than most countries, invades and wages illegal wars with other countries and spends billions of tax payers dosh fighting imaginary "terrorists." Or perhaps the UK who supplies land mines and other various weapons to the so called third world. They maim and disable innocent farmers. Human rights law?? Give us a break.......

Thailand bring there prisons up to a level that is fit to keep human beings in then extradition will only go one way.

##Like where, Guantanamo Bay? Pelican Bay? Thai prisons are nowhere near as bad as they were and there has been an effort to reform them. Pelican Bay prison in California has people locked down 23 hours a day for years in a place called the "shoe" and it makes Thai prisons look like a hotel.

European nations will not send people to be starved beaten tortured & be left for dead {when sick}

##Didn't Thaksin get a police motorcade when he last landed in Bangkok? I somehow can't see him eating red rice and fish head soup. He'd be the first Thai prisoner to have a 5 star rated cell with an ensuite if he ever got to jail. It aint gunna happen so just forget about it

[jdinasia]

Seems as if there is a large group of PAD up by the Emporium now.