P A D -bkk Protesters Aim To ‘re-educate’ Rural Thais

[pumpuiman]

For six years upcountry people, who take all their news only from government run TV channels, have been brainwashed into believing that Thaksin is the only man in this country who cares about them, that Democrats have never done anything for the poor, that Bangkokians are enemies of Isanese and so on.

For six years ANY alternative view of Thai politics have been banned from Thai media, so yes, it's time for little re-education.

ASTV has done wonders for opening eyes of the people in its first year, now it's time for mainstream journalism to step up to the plate as well.

NBT is simply pathetic, and it's a government channel that belongs to all Thais and is funded by all taxpayers, unlike Sondhi's owned ASTV.

My wife and family are from Isaan. They are intelligent free thinking people, unlike yourself.

Your pathetic attempts at glossing over this absolute racist bunch of elitists are ridiculous.

<snip>

And furthermore....I'd love for you to meet my brother in law and tell him he's too dumb to vote. He works as an engineer in Bangkok and has a university degree. His parents and three sisters worked tirelessly to put him through school. My sisters in law work as a business owner and postal manager and one takes classes to assure better chances of promotion. My wife and her sister both attended English classes, to open doors for employment.

I've never met a more resourceful people.

[xminator]

This "education/re-education" thing is scaring. Anyone with a minimum of history knowledge will get goosebumps from reading stuff like that. Its dejavu with all its bells and whistles attached.

[LomSak27]

Sondhi is continually banging about Khmer wizards, black magic and PAD eats it up. And this is the educated elite with a belief in their entitlement to rule ?!

[Xangsamhua]

With such ridiculous beliefs, how could Thailand possibly progress ?

Unfortunately, "ridiculous beliefs" like this are widely held in Thailand. You can probably think of a few strange things widely held in your own country.

I've only just visited this thread and don't intend to linger, but there seems to be an awful lot of sound and fury over a silly and provocatively headed article, perhaps typical of what we get from the overseas media.

I lived for a while in a country with a genuine Stalinist government (someone drew that bow) that really did set up "re-education" camps. I could see it getting under way. No one got re-educated but everyone suffered and quite a few died. Political education of the kind PAD is talking about is nothing like that and it demeans the memory of those who suffered to trivialize in that way.

Of course the rural poor need political education; so do the Bangkok elite. More importantly, people in Bangkok and in the previously neglected Northeast really need to listen to each other. Bangkok people may be better educated, but they are now learning the hard lesson that neglect of and contempt for the Lao people in the Issan provinces has got them into the state they're in now.

[Plus]

I'd love for you to meet my brother in law... He works as an engineer in Bangkok and has a university degree. His parents and three sisters worked tirelessly to put him through school. My sisters in law work as a business owner and postal manager and one takes classes to assure better chances of promotion. My wife and her sister both attended English classes, to open doors for employment.

Here, right here - the best argument against this so-called "class divide". It doesn't exist. People are free to move up and become middle classes or elites, and many millions have gone that way.

Neither Chamlong nor Sondhi are any kind of "elites".

Thaksin was self-made billionaire.

Chuan before him had a very humble background in some of the least developed provinces in the South.

Chavalit and Banharn before him had nothing to show in terms of being "elite" either.

Surayud and Suchinda were basically nobodies, and so were Sarit and Plaek Pibulsongram before them.

The notion that only elites rule this country and the "plebs" are kept in check by class divide is a complete load of &lt;deleted&gt;.

That's the kind of education that is needed in Isan, not "Thaksin is the only one who cares" propaganda.

.. and tell him he's too dumb to vote.

I would just remind you that no one is going to lose a right to vote. No one.

[Jupiter99]

With such ridiculous beliefs, how could Thailand possibly progress ?

Unfortunately, "ridiculous beliefs" like this are widely held in Thailand. You can probably think of a few strange things widely held in your own country.

I've only just visited this thread and don't intend to linger, but there seems to be an awful lot of sound and fury over a silly and provocatively headed article, perhaps typical of what we get from the overseas media.

I lived for a while in a country with a genuine Stalinist government (someone drew that bow) that really did set up "re-education" camps. I could see it getting under way. No one got re-educated but everyone suffered and quite a few died. Political education of the kind PAD is talking about is nothing like that and it demeans the memory of those who suffered to trivialize in that way.

Of course the rural poor need political education; so do the Bangkok elite. More importantly, people in Bangkok and in the previously neglected Northeast really need to listen to each other. Bangkok people may be better educated, but they are now learning the hard lesson that neglect of and contempt for the Lao people in the Issan provinces has got them into the state they're in now.

I think that's what they said to the South Vietnamese, Khmer, Chinese and Russians too.

[pumpuiman]

I'd love for you to meet my brother in law... He works as an engineer in Bangkok and has a university degree. His parents and three sisters worked tirelessly to put him through school. My sisters in law work as a business owner and postal manager and one takes classes to assure better chances of promotion. My wife and her sister both attended English classes, to open doors for employment.

Here, right here - the best argument against this so-called "class divide". It doesn't exist. People are free to move up and become middle classes or elites, and many millions have gone that way.

Neither Chamlong nor Sondhi are any kind of "elites".

Thaksin was self-made billionaire.

Chuan before him had a very humble background in some of the least developed provinces in the South.

Chavalit and Banharn before him had nothing to show in terms of being "elite" either.

Surayud and Suchinda were basically nobodies, and so were Sarit and Plaek Pibulsongram before them.

The notion that only elites rule this country and the "plebs" are kept in check by class divide is a complete load of &lt;deleted&gt;.

That's the kind of education that is needed in Isan, not "Thaksin is the only one who cares" propaganda.

.. and tell him he's too dumb to vote.

I would just remind you that no one is going to lose a right to vote. No one.

So why do my family, or anyone else in their village need "re-education"? To be reborn in Sondhi's image? Are you going to come to the village and point out the "stupid people"? Who's job will that be? Will there be an intelligence line of demarcation? Where shall it be placed?

And please don't even try to push your "new politics" drivel on me or my family. We are

intelligent enough to see it for what it is.

Edited December 1, 2008 by pumpuiman

[HankChinasky]

"Rural people are blinded by corrupt media and need to listen to ASTV,"

[Harry2]

I would just remind you that no one is going to lose a right to vote. No one.

Wrong - the PAD fascists intend the proportion of parliament composed of elected representatives to be only 30% (a true fascist proposition in line with Mussolini's notion of the fascist state). So in fact everybody's votes will count for nothing as a majority of parliamentarians will consist of fascist thugs selected by Major General Chamlong - ref: Class 7 endless coup attempts; & crooked, failed businessmen chosen by Sondhi.

[KireB]

Please tell that to the PAD. They should understand the mean of DULY ELECTED. How educated are they REALLY now....?

Media wise, it's no different than world style. The truly informed are those that consume all sides of media inputs with each of all their own various inherent biases and then sort it out internally. It's no different than watching Fox and CNN and then processing it into a third view.

Don't get hung up on the verbiage from a solitary translated article. For all we all, they are talking about education and not re-education.

And they will be duly dissolved by the courts of this country for election-fraud!

How DULY is that? You're probably educated enough to understand that in a true democracy, politicians dont commit election fraud!

[rainman]

You're probably educated enough to understand that in a true democracy, politicians dont commit election fraud!

And in a true democracy, politicians don't suggest taking away the voting right of the poor.

[GlenOrd]

Re-education. Sound like Jonestown II to me.

[sriracha john]

Sondhi is continually banging about Khmer wizards, black magic and PAD eats it up.

The Grand Wizard of sorcery....

More news from the "far side" or "tales from the dark side":

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is taking his fight to hold onto his job all over the country and beyond -- to the netherworld.

Thaksin, who has previously accused his political foes of using black magic in their efforts to force him from office, received a gift Tuesday -- a magical elephant prod -- to help him ward off bad luck.

"I will use this prod, along with spells and talismans, to control the fierce opponents who are trying to oust me," Thaksin said during a campaign stop in the northeastern Surin province where he rode an elephant.

- Associated Press

[clausewitz]

This is the content that PAD will be educating those ignorant Isan peasants:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/11/10...on_30087963.php

PAD saves the nation from supernatural attack

ON OCTOBER 29, Sondhi Limthongkul gave a speech from the People's Alliance for Democracy stage, broadcast over ASTV, about a new front in his fight to "save the nation". He said:

"For many years in the past, the powers of many sacred things including the spirit of the City Pillar, the Equestrian Statue of King Rama V, Phra Sayam Thewathirat, and the Emerald Buddha, have been suppressed by evil people using magic. 'Suppress' does not mean destroy, because sacred objects cannot be destroyed, as they have too much power. But 'suppress' means not allowing them to emit their power, by encircling them. This is true. So we have just finished rectifying this in the last two to three weeks. Like at the statue of the Emerald Buddha.

"Behind it there is a stone. Evil-minded people had allied with some in the Royal Household Bureau to allow a Khmer adept to go behind the Emerald Buddha and take the stone away, because that stone is the important thing for emitting power."

A few weeks ago, anti-government agitator Sondhi Limthongkul, whose People's Alliance for Democracy has occupied key official buildings for four months in an effort to topple a government he considers illegitimate, accused his opponents of employing wizardry to channel the statue's protective forces their way. And to reverse that alleged sorcery, he deployed his own mystics to encircle the statue with used sanitary napkins (collected from the PAD's rank-and-file) to form a shield of menstrual blood.

Obviously the guy is a complete nutcase.

He belongs in a straightjacket.

With such ridiculous beliefs, how could Thailand possibly progress ?

This stuff is sincerely believed by teh PAD members- I talked to one. They are so grateful to Sondhi for educating them about such things. Oh and yes, Thaksin really was going to sell Phuket to Singapore- Sondhi said so.

You know it is only because of PAD that we still have a King - sondhi also sAId so. Without thE re-education that ASTV so helpfully provideS all of thailand would be blind.

[Plus]

And please don't even try to push your "new politics" drivel on me or my family. We are

intelligent enough to see it for what it is.

With attitude like this you are obviously immune to any education.

[Jupiter99]

Please tell that to the PAD. They should understand the mean of DULY ELECTED. How educated are they REALLY now....?

Media wise, it's no different than world style. The truly informed are those that consume all sides of media inputs with each of all their own various inherent biases and then sort it out internally. It's no different than watching Fox and CNN and then processing it into a third view.

Don't get hung up on the verbiage from a solitary translated article. For all we all, they are talking about education and not re-education.

And they will be duly dissolved by the courts of this country for election-fraud!

How DULY is that? You're probably educated enough to understand that in a true democracy, politicians dont commit election fraud!

Then let the Re- Education begin! Next time we get somebody elected into office we'll just shut down the country over and over until we can finally open the border with Burma and hold hands together with JOY! Yippee!

[Akamai]

Educate the rural Thai??

Reminds me of the education that took place across the border in Cambodia!!

Perhaps the PAD should start by educating themselves on the word 'democracy':

1.government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

2. a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.

3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.

4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.

5. the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

[Thailand]

NBT is simply pathetic, and it's a government channel that belongs to all Thais and is funded by all taxpayers, unlike Sondhi's owned ASTV.

Absolutely no bias there then.

[toybits]

What is to be expected from an unbaised court?

If the DULY ELECTED are removed tomorrow, it would seem that foresight is a part of education.

If they were duly elected, the the PAD is committing an act of treason.

The earlier dismissed charges of treason says otherwise.

But still, tomorrow's dissolution of Somchai et al will certainly change the current situation.

[Chaimai]

Educate the rural Thai??

Reminds me of the education that took place across the border in Cambodia!!

Perhaps the PAD should start by educating themselves on the word 'democracy':

1.government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

2. a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.

3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.

4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.

5. the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

AGREE.

Democracy is an imperfect condition that is honed and refined as a nation develops.

An 'uneducated' vote is better than no vote at all.

Even the Americans voted in George Bush so you cannot hold it against the Thai 'common people' for ever for falling for Taksin's populist policies and propoganda.

[koosdeboer]

It is a fallacy to analyse present troubles as based on class system

By BY THANONG KHANTHONG

THE NATION

Published on December 1, 2008

SEVERAL THAI ACADEMICS and most foreign media have got stuck in the generalisation that the Thai crisis manifests a confrontation between rural and urban voters. This makes it sound as if Thailand is facing a deep-rooted class-system problem.

The mantra is that the Bangkok middle-class do not accept the will and aspiration of the rural people, who have cast their votes. "I only have one vote. Why don't the Bangkok people respect my vote? Aren't I a Thai?" cries an Isaan voter. The elite are envious of Thaksin's success with the poor. Thaksin is popular because he introduced populist programmes such as the village fund and healthcare that improve the life of the poor while governments in the past failed to look after their welfare. The elite and the military would like to keep things as they are in order to protect their status and privileges. The elite are afraid of Thaksin's popularity with the majority of Thais.

This mantra has been spread around in blogs and news reports inside and outside the country to try to give the impression that if Thai democracy is flawed Bangkok is the problem. If Bangkok just accepts the majority vote in the provinces, Democracy can move ahead and the country will enjoy prosperity.

My argument is that we may have a rural/urban divide in income distribution but our society is not, as we are led to believe, based on a class system such as they have in India or used to have in France. Rather Thailand is a status-conscious society. Any rural Thais can raise their status and merge into the Bangkok or military elite if they are capable. The Bangkok middle-class, the military and the elite are not exclusive clubs.

With this status-conscious society, Thais traditionally respect the military, civil servants and teachers. They do not trust businessmen or merchants.

In the absence of a class system, any Thais can rise to the top of the society. Children of farmers can become doctors, professors, top civil servants or military brass. Field Marshal Plaek Phibulsongkram, General Sarit Thanarat, General Suchinda Khraprayoon, Dr Praves Wasi, Dr Virabongsa Ramangkura, Dr Puey Ungphakorn and Thaksin Shinawatra all share a humble family background, but they all rose to the top of society without any class obstacle.

Bangkok has never denied the provinces. That's why Thai society has been relatively spared the conflict between the rich and the poor. It is also true that central governments in the past have ignored the interests of the poor., but this has been largely due to self-interest rather than any conscious urban/rural divide as seen in a class system.

Take note that the King's mother was a commoner.

King Yodfa (Rama I), who founded the Chaktri Dynasty in 1782, was also a commoner. King Lertla (Rama II), was also a commoner, because he was born while King Yodfa was serving as a junior civil officer in Ratchaburi.

Before the birth of Bangkok, King Taksin founded Thonburi in 1767 as the new capital after the fall of Ayutthaya. King Taksin was also a commoner, born of a father of Chinese descent and a Thai mother. King Taksin the Great has been recognised as one of the greatest Thai kings, second only to King Naresuan the Great.

The rise of commoners to royalty in Thailand has been accepted because we do not have any class system that inhibits anybody's potential by birth.

Boonchu Rojanasathien, the late and banker, was the first politician who really used money. As deputy prime minister in the Kukrit government in the late 1970s, he introduced ngern phan or money handouts to the poor. Yet he was never recognised by Thais. Thavich Klinpathum was given the nickname Chao Bun Thum or Big Spender. He too was not recognised and was rather held in contempt.

The liberalisation and opening up of the Thai economy in the 1960s has given rise to the business people, bankers and merchants who now control more than 80 per cent of the country's wealth. They too all come from humble family backgrounds, mostly of Chinese descent. They can tell you thousands of rags-to-rich stories. Again, practically anybody can be rich or successful and rise to the cream of Thai society.

The social and political distortion only came about during the Thaksin era of divide. Thaksin too comes from a humble family background which does not compare to those of elite-born Abhisit Vejjajiva and Anand Panyarachun. Thaksin went to a police cadet school and worked for the Police Department as a colonel before retiring to become a computer salesman. He went on to build up his computer business and later on telecom empire. He used his money to enter politics and succeeded in becoming Thailand's prime minister.

If Thailand has had a class system as most people are led to believe, Abhisit would have become prime minister a long time ago.

So in a way in Thailand it is a free-for-all. You have to really earn your success. Look at Chamlong Srimuang and Sondhi Limthongkul: they do not have any distinct family background, but they are now at the top of society - angels or devils depending on your view - by virtue of their own deeds.

The political distortion is now well on the way to dividing Thailand and polarising the capital and the provinces in the style of a class system when in fact Thailand does not inherently suffer from this problem. Its more a problem of social status and income distribution. At the same time, Bangkok and the provinces have all along accepted the votes of the latter.

Who is ex-prime minister Chuan Leekpai? He is an MP from Trang, an underdeveloped province in the South.

Who is ex-prime minister Banharn Silapa-archa? He has his political base in Suphan Buri and Central Thailand.

Who is ex-prime minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh? He does not come from a noble family like Abhisit or Anand.

The votes of the provinces brought Chuan, Banharn and Chavalit to the premiership. Bangkok and the provinces accepted their power.

Bangkok also accepted Thaksin's power when he was elected in 2001, although it did not like his messianic message and dubious business tactics. But when Thaksin went astray while he was in office, Bangkok rejected him.

Bangkok's rejection of Thaksin has been politically distorted into a clash between the4 capital and the provinces and an elite-military attempt to guard their status and privileges against encroachment by provincial power. If you read the foreign media and a lot of left-wing academics, you get this silly impression.

Thaksin in fact rose to become the ultimate member of the elite, with money and power and social status. Nobody tried to hurt him; he himself messed up his premiership, camouflaged in the metropolitan/provincial divide.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/12/01...on_30089863.php

[Plus]

NBT is simply pathetic, and it's a government channel that belongs to all Thais and is funded by all taxpayers, unlike Sondhi's owned ASTV.

Absolutely no bias there then.

Yes, but everyone knows what kind of bias is there. Read it, think about it, take it with a grain of salt - whatever, but don't believe everything they say as if it's a Gospel of Truth - that's the way Thaskin treated his listeners and they got used to it.

I'm deeply suspicious of people who practically grew up on a weekly "Dear Leader" loving address to the nation and claim they don't need no more education.

[KireB]

You're probably educated enough to understand that in a true democracy, politicians dont commit election fraud!

And in a true democracy, politicians don't suggest taking away the voting right of the poor.

You mean the same poor who are actually selling their votes?

[Plus]

An 'uneducated' vote is better than no vote at all.

Why?

I'd say "no vote" is better than a misused vote.

With a vote you delegate your power to someone else - if you don't know if it's going to be used for the good of the country or for stealing money from a simple folk like you, why delegate this power at all?

It might be worth nothing to you (so you take 200 baht in exchange), but if it's used to inflict much damage to the country and your fellow citizens - it's your responsibility as well.

So I'd say that if you don't know true value of your vote, keep it to yourself until you figure it out. Don't cheapen it by giving it away to the first criminal who wants to take it from you.

Writers of 1997 constitution got it wrong by making it punishable to not give away your vote and TRT used it to the hilt - "if you don't vote you are a criminal, give it to us, there's no one else out there?" It was like a harvesting season and everyone should have sold their votes by a due date or they would all get rotten.

[citizen33]

I've only just visited this thread and don't intend to linger, but there seems to be an awful lot of sound and fury over a silly and provocatively headed article, perhaps typical of what we get from the overseas media.

Many posters are developing an 'inside the laager' mentality when anything but 'their' news is biased. Pity the brainwashed rural Thais: it seems that the Thai terrestrial channels all spout Government propaganda and if perchance they buy a satellite dish and tune in to BBC World or CNN or Asia News Channel they get the same! Well I am an educated person and I am deeply sceptical that more education is going to make rural Thais think more like the pro-PAD cabal on this thread.

[animatic]

It is a fallacy to analyse present troubles as based on class system

By BY THANONG KHANTHONG

THE NATION

Published on December 1, 2008

SEVERAL THAI ACADEMICS and most foreign media have got stuck in the generalisation that the Thai crisis manifests a confrontation between rural and urban voters. This makes it sound as if Thailand is facing a deep-rooted class-system problem.

The mantra is that the Bangkok middle-class do not accept the will and aspiration of the rural people, who have cast their votes. "I only have one vote. Why don't the Bangkok people respect my vote? Aren't I a Thai?" cries an Isaan voter. The elite are envious of Thaksin's success with the poor. Thaksin is popular because he introduced populist programmes such as the village fund and healthcare that improve the life of the poor while governments in the past failed to look after their welfare. The elite and the military would like to keep things as they are in order to protect their status and privileges. The elite are afraid of Thaksin's popularity with the majority of Thais.

This mantra has been spread around in blogs and news reports inside and outside the country to try to give the impression that if Thai democracy is flawed Bangkok is the problem. If Bangkok just accepts the majority vote in the provinces, Democracy can move ahead and the country will enjoy prosperity.

My argument is that we may have a rural/urban divide in income distribution but our society is not, as we are led to believe, based on a class system such as they have in India or used to have in France. Rather Thailand is a status-conscious society. Any rural Thais can raise their status and merge into the Bangkok or military elite if they are capable. The Bangkok middle-class, the military and the elite are not exclusive clubs.

With this status-conscious society, Thais traditionally respect the military, civil servants and teachers. They do not trust businessmen or merchants.

In the absence of a class system, any Thais can rise to the top of the society. Children of farmers can become doctors, professors, top civil servants or military brass. Field Marshal Plaek Phibulsongkram, General Sarit Thanarat, General Suchinda Khraprayoon, Dr Praves Wasi, Dr Virabongsa Ramangkura, Dr Puey Ungphakorn and Thaksin Shinawatra all share a humble family background, but they all rose to the top of society without any class obstacle.

Bangkok has never denied the provinces. That's why Thai society has been relatively spared the conflict between the rich and the poor. It is also true that central governments in the past have ignored the interests of the poor., but this has been largely due to self-interest rather than any conscious urban/rural divide as seen in a class system.

Take note that the King's mother was a commoner.

King Yodfa (Rama I), who founded the Chaktri Dynasty in 1782, was also a commoner. King Lertla (Rama II), was also a commoner, because he was born while King Yodfa was serving as a junior civil officer in Ratchaburi.

Before the birth of Bangkok, King Taksin founded Thonburi in 1767 as the new capital after the fall of Ayutthaya. King Taksin was also a commoner, born of a father of Chinese descent and a Thai mother. King Taksin the Great has been recognised as one of the greatest Thai kings, second only to King Naresuan the Great.

The rise of commoners to royalty in Thailand has been accepted because we do not have any class system that inhibits anybody's potential by birth.

Boonchu Rojanasathien, the late and banker, was the first politician who really used money. As deputy prime minister in the Kukrit government in the late 1970s, he introduced ngern phan or money handouts to the poor. Yet he was never recognised by Thais. Thavich Klinpathum was given the nickname Chao Bun Thum or Big Spender. He too was not recognised and was rather held in contempt.

The liberalisation and opening up of the Thai economy in the 1960s has given rise to the business people, bankers and merchants who now control more than 80 per cent of the country's wealth. They too all come from humble family backgrounds, mostly of Chinese descent. They can tell you thousands of rags-to-rich stories. Again, practically anybody can be rich or successful and rise to the cream of Thai society.

The social and political distortion only came about during the Thaksin era of divide. Thaksin too comes from a humble family background which does not compare to those of elite-born Abhisit Vejjajiva and Anand Panyarachun. Thaksin went to a police cadet school and worked for the Police Department as a colonel before retiring to become a computer salesman. He went on to build up his computer business and later on telecom empire. He used his money to enter politics and succeeded in becoming Thailand's prime minister.

If Thailand has had a class system as most people are led to believe, Abhisit would have become prime minister a long time ago.

So in a way in Thailand it is a free-for-all. You have to really earn your success. Look at Chamlong Srimuang and Sondhi Limthongkul: they do not have any distinct family background, but they are now at the top of society - angels or devils depending on your view - by virtue of their own deeds.

The political distortion is now well on the way to dividing Thailand and polarising the capital and the provinces in the style of a class system when in fact Thailand does not inherently suffer from this problem. Its more a problem of social status and income distribution. At the same time, Bangkok and the provinces have all along accepted the votes of the latter.

Who is ex-prime minister Chuan Leekpai? He is an MP from Trang, an underdeveloped province in the South.

Who is ex-prime minister Banharn Silapa-archa? He has his political base in Suphan Buri and Central Thailand.

Who is ex-prime minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh? He does not come from a noble family like Abhisit or Anand.

The votes of the provinces brought Chuan, Banharn and Chavalit to the premiership. Bangkok and the provinces accepted their power.

Bangkok also accepted Thaksin's power when he was elected in 2001, although it did not like his messianic message and dubious business tactics. But when Thaksin went astray while he was in office, Bangkok rejected him.

Bangkok's rejection of Thaksin has been politically distorted into a clash between the4 capital and the provinces and an elite-military attempt to guard their status and privileges against encroachment by provincial power. If you read the foreign media and a lot of left-wing academics, you get this silly impression.

Thaksin in fact rose to become the ultimate member of the elite, with money and power and social status. Nobody tried to hurt him; he himself messed up his premiership, camouflaged in the metropolitan/provincial divide.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/12/01...on_30089863.php

Excellent article, many good points and references,

the main point is on the mark.

No doubt the usual suspects will scream about Nation's 'perceived' bias

and use that to write it off rather than THINK about it.

Their loss.

[fudoshinanzan]

'Re-educated'?

At best that's a PR blooper of epic proportions (another one).

At worst it's truly frightening.

I see many are doing their best to rationalize it, claim it means something else (it's education, not re-education, they confused the English etc.), when right now this is ALL we have to go on, so until something proves otherwise RE-EDUCATION is their goal.

The PAD want to re-educate the rural poor. They also want to marginalize their votes. These aims are from the horse's mouth so cannot be argued or twisted to suit until something, if anything, proves otherwise.

[Chaimai]

I'd say "no vote" is better than a misused vote.

Totally subjective !

You cannot be the judge of whether someone has 'misused' their vote. It is back to the education of people and informing them of the value and reasoning of that vote - do not deny it in the first place until they can pass some IQ test

Do you think that coal miners in Durham would do anything than vote Labour in the sheep-like manner their forebears did - certainly not until the end of the 20th century, and how long had they had the right to vote ?

Do you that someone would not simply vote for someone because they "had a nice face" or "spoke well on television". Obama would have turned a few voters with his easy style - although after Bush his task was made easier.

The road to democracy is a long and bumpy one - do not try and put road blocks in place in the first few metres.

[flanker]

I have been to the rural areas of Thailand many times and have stayed in my GF village in Nakon Sawan, Nakon Sawan is pretty poor..the people out there are not stupid or uneducated, they have a decent educational system out there for their education to the high school level..they are by no way dumber than these PAD shits that think they are so fking sophesticated..these bastards are an embarrassment to the whole country...ppp may be corrupt but these people are not the answer.

[jayjayjayjay]

NBT is simply pathetic, and it's a government channel that belongs to all Thais and is funded by all taxpayers, unlike Sondhi's owned ASTV.

Absolutely no bias there then.

Plus, read my version of your post :

NBT is WHAT IT IS, and it's a government channel that belongs to ALL Thais and is funded by ALL taxpayers, unlike Sondhi's owned ASTV, WHICH IS HIS STATION!

Your constant one sided view has from day one indicated your emotions are not stable enough to understand the true concept of democracy and how it's mechnisms do work. If the marauding idiotic military did not follow your so called country saving PAD into the black hole of political control of Thailand two years ago, the voting public, or as you might want to put it, the pathetic poor, would have had time to decide to evict Thaksin the thief or retain Thaksin the PM themselves. It may have taken time, it took USA another 4 years to clear themselves of GW Bush when the rest of the world new he had to go. But that didn't mean that sore loosers took over Capital Hill with sit in families using women and babies as protection. Neither did they try to hijack public facilities vital to all people, roads, airports etc.

You just cant understand this concept can you! You have only one arguement and that is Thailand must rid itself of Thaksin or any resemblance of his influence in the political scene. Unfortuneately, you are in the minority and must accept it.