Police And Pad Guards To Jointly Patrol Protest Sites

[Sarge]

What this is is political terrorism.

The supine Democrats deserve to be trounced in the (likely) next elections, and they will be. They have showed they have no leadership or statesmanship throughout this crisis, and if elected they would simply continue to be the conduit for the shemes and interests of the Bangkok elite.

But that's academic, because they will be beaten even more than they were in the last election, when they at least had some credibility, by whichever party represents interests opposed to the Bangkok elite. The march of progress and political disaffection will see to that.

agreed, and is not history repeating itself? these wishy-washy liberals did nothing, said nothing when military staged the coup. They're not worth even to be called a political party. Re: police patrolling lines with PAD thugs and their unlawful sit-in, on the face of it would seem hilarious but in reality another example how the police force is paying lip service to the government. The administration knows it, that's why they haven't nipped PAD in the bud, as any other confident government would have done. If then you add the military to equation, who're waiting in the wing for an excuse to stage another coup, you know what they're up against. They're weak, they know it, their enemies know it too. What will give?

[Dakhar]

This has to be the dumbest thing i ever heard ,the police are supposed to get them out ,not walk around holding hands with them

Thailand will become the laugthing stock of the world ,

going to be, i laughed for hours yesterday, google main story was ,police run from protesters, a few protesters were coming at police on highway in their trucks and police got in their trucks and took off, RUNNING from them, enough, this is domestic terrorism, how many pm have to step down, till the party that lost the elections are happy, i agree what a joke this is.

Well, we all new the BIB was for sale, I just never knew they would be so open about it.

[Mosha]

Have the BIB been watching repeats of "Police Squad"? They must have, and thought it was an American police training video.

[Ricardo]

The supine Democrats deserve to be trounced in the (likely) next elections, and they will be. They have showed they have no leadership or statesmanship throughout this crisis, and if elected they would simply continue to be the conduit for the shemes and interests of the Bangkok elite.

But that's academic, because they will be beaten even more than they were in the last election, when they at least had some credibility, by whichever party represents interests opposed to the Bangkok elite. The march of progress and political disaffection will see to that.

my bold above.

I agree that the role of the Democrats, to stand back or sometimes mildly criticise the PAD-actions, has been very disappointing. They are simply keeping their hands clean, showing no leadership at all, and must be very glad they chose to let the PPP form this very weak coaltion-government, in January.

How they might fare, in another election, is a very moot point. Ditto the PPP, who brought Thaksin back to the country, but then let the courts find him guilty of corruption ! That must have lost them brownie-points with the North/North-East voters.

The only way to test this opinion is of course to call an election, but PM Somchai seems curiously reluctant to do so, which suggests that either his brother-in-law has forbidden it ( democracy anybody ?) or that he himself fears being overthrown by his party, as PM Samak was, if he calls an election before the constitutional-ammendments have been passed.

An election would end this impasse, and buy several months for further developments, even if it just resulted in the same situation again. At least there would be fewer grenades, bombs & airport-closures meanwhile.

[freitag1]

We need "Simple Jack" making an appearance. Now!

[sutnyod]

There must be some VERY INTERESTING stuff going on behind the scenes. How I would like to play mouse! What is manifest in the actions of all involved is not even half of the story, you can be sure about that.

[old wanderer]

There must be some VERY INTERESTING stuff going on behind the scenes. How I would like to play mouse! What is manifest in the actions of all involved is not even half of the story, you can be sure about that.

There is indeed....for a better understanding of what/why this is happening you might read this thread I have posted several explanations. (and for now it is only 8 entries long, so hopefully it will not get buried with the usual BS statements that have no basis in fact. )

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Pad-Tactics-...rt-t226517.html

(edit to add thread)

Edited December 1, 2008 by old wanderer

[sutnyod]

There must be some VERY INTERESTING stuff going on behind the scenes. How I would like to play mouse! What is manifest in the actions of all involved is not even half of the story, you can be sure about that.

There is indeed....for a better understanding of what/why this is happening you might read this thread I have posted several explanations.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Pad-Tactics-...rt-t226517.html

(edit to add thread)

Aehm, I really mean BEHIND the scenes. Who secretly meets whom, who phones whom, who pulls what strings, makes what promises etc. Things nobody (unless a complete insider) could know. And I am also sure not even the inside-insiders know half of what is going on. The other scenario would be we have complete anarchy with everybody REacting...

[walt]

The supine Democrats deserve to be trounced in the (likely) next elections, and they will be. They have showed they have no leadership or statesmanship throughout this crisis, and if elected they would simply continue to be the conduit for the shemes and interests of the Bangkok elite.

But that's academic, because they will be beaten even more than they were in the last election, when they at least had some credibility, by whichever party represents interests opposed to the Bangkok elite. The march of progress and political disaffection will see to that.

my bold above.

I agree that the role of the Democrats, to stand back or sometimes mildly criticise the PAD-actions, has been very disappointing. They are simply keeping their hands clean, showing no leadership at all, and must be very glad they chose to let the PPP form this very weak coaltion-government, in January.

How they might fare, in another election, is a very moot point. Ditto the PPP, who brought Thaksin back to the country, but then let the courts find him guilty of corruption ! That must have lost them brownie-points with the North/North-East voters.

The only way to test this opinion is of course to call an election, but PM Somchai seems curiously reluctant to do so, which suggests that either his brother-in-law has forbidden it ( democracy anybody ?) or that he himself fears being overthrown by his party, as PM Samak was, if he calls an election before the constitutional-ammendments have been passed.

An election would end this impasse, and buy several months for further developments, even if it just resulted in the same situation again. At least there would be fewer grenades, bombs & airport-closures meanwhile.

Hey Ricardo,

What makes you so sure that there is going to be another election?

Walt

[Ricardo]

The supine Democrats deserve to be trounced in the (likely) next elections, and they will be. They have showed they have no leadership or statesmanship throughout this crisis, and if elected they would simply continue to be the conduit for the shemes and interests of the Bangkok elite.

But that's academic, because they will be beaten even more than they were in the last election, when they at least had some credibility, by whichever party represents interests opposed to the Bangkok elite. The march of progress and political disaffection will see to that.

my bold above.

I agree that the role of the Democrats, to stand back or sometimes mildly criticise the PAD-actions, has been very disappointing. They are simply keeping their hands clean, showing no leadership at all, and must be very glad they chose to let the PPP form this very weak coaltion-government, in January.

How they might fare, in another election, is a very moot point. Ditto the PPP, who brought Thaksin back to the country, but then let the courts find him guilty of corruption ! That must have lost them brownie-points with the North/North-East voters.

The only way to test this opinion is of course to call an election, but PM Somchai seems curiously reluctant to do so, which suggests that either his brother-in-law has forbidden it ( democracy anybody ?) or that he himself fears being overthrown by his party, as PM Samak was, if he calls an election before the constitutional-ammendments have been passed.

An election would end this impasse, and buy several months for further developments, even if it just resulted in the same situation again. At least there would be fewer grenades, bombs & airport-closures meanwhile.

Hey Ricardo,

What makes you so sure that there is going to be another election?

Walt

If the court dissolves the PPP, the government no longer exists, and it's election-time.

If the military steps in, that will surely lead to an election, shortly afterwards, as they don't want power.

Lastly I was replying to someone who seemed to assume that there would be elections soon.

[eastlight]

Reading through many of the posts on various threads here, it appears that many Farangs want bloodshed.

Then when you see the bodies of old women and young children lying in pools of blood after being attacked by The Police, the same people will be ranting about the heavy handed tactics.

The Police are doing the right thing by doing nothing of the sort, the Police know what will happen if they try to force out PAD and they don't want to escalate the situation into a bloodbath, however much a bunch of Farang would like to see it.

Very true, back home in the 'west' our Governments would beat, gas and electrify / taser you into submission, then throw you in jail. They must prevail no matter what the cost, this wait and see approach is much better and more sensible despite the 'annoyance' of having the airport closed.

The airport is no problem for me personally but I sincerely believe this shut down at this fragile economic juncture has the potential to throw Thailand into a depression. In a country as politically volatile and restless as Thailand increased economic disparity is not going to assuage anyone's grief. Political ideals shift with the wind but being broke doesn't; expect an increase in crime, suicide and tension. I am all for this situation being resolved without violence and there are crowd control tools that could accomplish that but to let an angry mob strangle the country and destroy it's reputation in the world is much more than an annoyance. I am not for either political side, I'm a utilitarian bottom line kind of guy because behind the rhetoric I think they are all the same. But the bottom line here is the damage here to the pysche and economy of Thailand is profound. It might seem like a silly Mai Bphen Rai situation at the moment but 6 months from now they will be calling this the land of frowns.

At last a voice of reason! Thailand always seems to be isolated from the economic woes of the world - continuing high growth rates / strong currency etc. Perhaps this could be the turning point for the worst.

Edited December 1, 2008 by eastlight

[eastlight]

This has to be the dumbest thing i ever heard ,the police are supposed to get them out ,not walk around holding hands with them

Thailand will become the laugthing stock of the world ,

Probably because the police were actually asked to carry out a law enforcement task for once and not just preying upon / ripping off the population at large.

[IMA_FARANG]

There must be some VERY INTERESTING stuff going on behind the scenes. How I would like to play mouse! What is manifest in the actions of all involved is not even half of the story, you can be sure about that.

Some years ago I used to live on Soi 38 Sukhumvit. At that time were some VERY highly connected Thais living on that Soi, but they kept a relatively low profile. In May 1992, during the problems and street violence I used to see the limos pull up to the house of these influential people, drive inside and the guards get out, close the gate, and stand outside as security. Never saw who went inside, but he/she had at least half a dozen guards. Thai flag on the limo too (hint).

My point....I suspect at this time there are a lot of quiet talks going on between people who really make the decisions. It would nice to be a "fly on the wall" there. A Thai solution, maybe one we farangs can't easily understand, may be going on. In May 1992, I know it happened.

[Kf6vci]

Well, whatever the court decides should be followed. If the court rules the occupation and disruption is unlawful, then the Police should enforce this ruling.

[toptuan]

After the PAD terrorized the BIB, stormed the police lines at Swampy, ran them off, then stole their equipment & trucks---what choice does the BIB have?

Since PAD is top dog now, enjoying support from the highest echelons of Thai society,

the operative word for the BIB is now "KOWTOW."

[Koo82]

This has to be the dumbest thing i ever heard ,the police are supposed to get them out ,not walk around holding hands with them

Thailand will become the laugthing stock of the world ,

going to be, i laughed for hours yesterday, google main story was ,police run from protesters, a few protesters were coming at police on highway in their trucks and police got in their trucks and took off, RUNNING from them, enough, this is domestic terrorism, how many pm have to step down, till the party that lost the elections are happy, i agree what a joke this is.

I'm speechless. Can someone slap my face so I know I'm awake?

Only in Thailand.

[waza]

I think this signals the death of the PPP. I just wonder how violent the death throe will get. Will the siezure of the courts by the predicted 100,000 red shirts delay the verdict long enough for the PPP to enact their constitutional changes? Will the love fest between the PAD and BIB last? Will the army coup? Will the stranded tourists get home? Stay tuned for more of this comical drama. TIT

[digitele]

Yep PPP will be even stronger - dumb move for the PAD!!!

And...It further polarizes BIB vs Army.

1) BIB protecting PAD

2) Army has not intention of staging a coup.

1+2= Clear battle lines have been drawn. Who do you think the majority will side with in the end?

[coalminer]

Could the BIB in the PAD compounds be a "Trojan horse"?

Once the BIB would have gained enough sympathy from the protestors and the BIB have enough man in the PAD compounds it would be peanuts to arrest the PAD leaders and roundup the protestors.

[digitele]

Could the BIB in the PAD compounds be a "Trojan horse"?

Once the BIB would have gained enough sympathy from the protestors and the BIB have enough man in the PAD compounds it would be peanuts to arrest the PAD leaders and roundup the protestors.

BIB only do things for their own benefit, so most unlikely. Interesting thought though.

One thing is certain, it looks like BIB vs Army. Who does the majority hate more?

[flying]

The Police are doing the right thing by doing nothing of the sort, the Police know what will happen if they try to force out PAD and they don't want to escalate the situation into a bloodbath, however much a bunch of Farang would like to see it.

I dunno I usually like your posts but............. You & anyone else who thinks doing nothing is great while videos of the wackos firing off 3" barrel pistols is shown does not seem like a great idea to me.

Neither does it seem like a great idea to turn their protests slowly into a hostage situation.

Fine you want to close Thailand close it.........TO Incoming.

But when you hold other countries citizens hostage from leaving??

If it were up to me the black hawks would be landing & collecting those that want to leave. Then see how well the 3" barrel pop guns do.

My wife is Thai & yes we would like to go back but we can wait out their tantrum.

Bunch of idiots. Perhaps they should hold their breath till they get what they want.

[Slip]

BIB only do things for their own benefit, so most unlikely. Interesting thought though.

One thing is certain, it looks like BIB vs Army. Who does the majority hate more?

1+2= Clear battle lines have been drawn. Who do you think the majority will side with in the end?

Really?- they look pretty united in doing bugger all to me...

[digitele]

BIB only do things for their own benefit, so most unlikely. Interesting thought though.

One thing is certain, it looks like BIB vs Army. Who does the majority hate more?

1+2= Clear battle lines have been drawn. Who do you think the majority will side with in the end?

Really?- they look pretty united in doing bugger all to me...

Flip, I hear you. Perhaps they are being in what the Thai smile is renowed for. Deceit.

IMA Flip, great observation. Bonus points and a beer. I live here.