Dtv To Launch Jan 19, Seen As A New Mouthpiece For Pro-thaksin Camp

[hammered]

Apparently Lampang 51 red group have announced they arent coming and that they are the true reds not the other lot, and that they didnt get the money promised. They join groups from Udon, Surin, Buri Ram, Sae Kaew etc in not attending. Seems the infighting is getting worse. No doubt today will be a "success". The organisers have revised their claim iof numbers down to 10K from 50K. This works well in creating a meme of success - 50K is well above expectations of 10K where as 50 K is no more than organisers expected if estimating 50K. And of course a 10K estmaite allows success to be claimed if 11K turn up.

It will be interesting to see where the reds go after this. There really is no support for street action and if they start to fracture they will rapidly become irrelevent, which may actually be good for ordinary people who need to demonstrate later when economic problems hit them. They will hopfully be able to do so outside of a context of red ideology and money politcs.

[Koo82]

DStation (Dtv) is having the live broadcast now of the big protest today at Sanam Luang, but the sound is not good.

[sriracha john]

Apparently Lampang 51 red group have announced they arent coming and that they are the true reds not the other lot, and that they didnt get the money promised. They join groups from Udon, Surin, Buri Ram, Sae Kaew etc in not attending. Seems the infighting is getting worse. No doubt today will be a "success". The organisers have revised their claim iof numbers down to 10K from 50K. This works well in creating a meme of success - 50K is well above expectations of 10K where as 50 K is no more than organisers expected if estimating 50K. And of course a 10K estmaite allows success to be claimed if 11K turn up.

It will be interesting to see where the reds go after this. There really is no support for street action and if they start to fracture they will rapidly become irrelevent, which may actually be good for ordinary people who need to demonstrate later when economic problems hit them. They will hopfully be able to do so outside of a context of red ideology and money politcs.

In the ASEAN Summit thread, the ever-present maniac Jatuporn laid claims to having "Hundreds of thousands" at next month's rally to coincide with the ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin.

Given all the turmoil with the Red Shirts, how do you think those sort of numbers will dramatically change from yesterday's 30K?

Is ASEAN really that much a bigger agenda than what the Sanam Luang mob was chanting about last night?.... or is this just yet another occasion for Jatuporn to come off looking like a foolish moron? I mean "hundreds of thousands" is quite a claim no matter what the occasion is.

[Steve2UK]

Satit affirms govt not to interfere with media

The Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office asserted today (January 15) that the launching of DTV television station network should not be problematic, affirming that the government would not interfere with media.

Mr. Satit Wonghnongtaey, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office, stated today that the launching of DTV television station network was a re-open of the existing television network. If the re-opening procedure has been in accord to the laws, then it should not be problematic. Also, he added that it was essential to assure that the broadcast contents would be impartial to different interest groups. However, Mr. Satit firmly insisted that the government would not interfere with media.

DTV has been reportedly run by the anti-government red shirted group.

Mr. Satit then commented on the planned phone-in of the ousted Prime Minster Pol Lt Col Thaksin Shinawatra into one of the programmes broadcast through DTV network that Pol Lt Col Thaksin had all the rights to do so. Nevertheless, he urged the media of all types to present their news in such a way that it would not lead to further divergences in the nation.

Source: National News Bureau of Thailand - 15 January 2009

Govt to counter Thaksin's 'air war'

By The Nation

Published on March 17, 2009

The government will use state media to counter the "air war" tactics being employed by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his loyalists, PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtaey said yesterday.

He said the government would show the public how Thaksin was trying to hamper its efforts to salvage the economy by pushing the country into deeper political conflict with the help of the red shirts, who continue staging rallies across the country. Thaksin himself has been using frequent phone-in events to stir political unrest.

"We have to explain to the people that the country cannot afford to let politics adversely affect the efforts being made to solve economic problems,'' he said.

Satit said the fact that Thaksin was attacking the government so frequently showed that the opposition Pheu Thai Party was weak and needed his support. He said public surveys showed that the majority wanted Thaksin to stop holding these phone-ins because they wanted peace to return to the country.

Thaksin has been calling on his supporters to join the red-shirt rally at Sanam Luang on March 2.

Government whip chairman Chinnaworn Boonyakiet said Thaksin was using this phone-in tactics to build support as the opposition gets ready to launch a no-confidence motion against the government.

However, he said, the government was not worried because it believes that Thaksin's moves would only reduce the public's faith in opposition because it was allowing itself to be used as a tool by outsiders.

Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart downplayed Thaksin' moves saying that as long as the government worked diligently to solve the country's problems, it had nothing to worry about.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/rea...newsid=30098051

What we read, what we watch is determining who we are

By Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

Published on March 18, 2009

A friend told this writer recently that her father had stopped subscribing to Matichon newspapers after being a loyal reader for more than half a decade. This, she said, is almost certainly due to the fact that her parents are now big fans of ASTV, the satellite mouthpiece of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) which has over the past few months accused Matichon, a long-standing quality broadsheet, of being a pro-Thaksin Shinawatra paper.

On another occasion, while on a public bus, I watched as the driver suddenly stopped the vehicle and told the conductor to run down to fetch a pro-Thaksin Prachatouch newspaper, which is not widely available in Bangkok.

Earlier this month, Prachatouch newspapers accused the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) of being less than honest and ganging up unfairly on Thaksin. On October 7 last year, a Bangkok Post reporter visiting a hospital was asked by an injured PAD protester what side he and the paper were on. And on Monday, PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtoey said he would use state-controlled media to counter Thaksin's "air war", in reference to the ousted and convicted former premier's increasingly more frequent phone-ins from abroad.

All these are but some manifestations of the deeply divided media landscape.

These days, you are identified by the papers you read, television channel you view or websites you visit. Space for fair and open debate and argument is shrinking, while more and more media censor the views of readers and viewers that do not fit their political agenda. Foreign correspondents critical of the PAD and the current administration have been roundly accused by pro-PAD media as being merely hired guns paid by Thaksin.

The unabashedly partisan nature of virtually all Thai media may be good in a way, because people can say that what you see is what you get, and very few now can claim to be "impartial" - whatever that notion means.

But when ordinary citizens only read or watch particular newspapers or television channels to simply reinforce their existing political beliefs, what a predicament that poses for dialogue, genuine debate and learning from different points of view?

The politicisation of the media and Thai people is such that it's doubtful as to how many yellow-shirt Thais can still listen to a critical view against the PAD - and not conclude that the person behind the critical remark must have been paid by Thaksin - and vice versa. Or is this simply the triumph of the crude logic that you're either with us or against us?

As the reds and yellows appear no longer wanting to make any sense of one another, people of other colours and political orientation are also being cast aside or treated as irrelevant or even non-existent.

Is this the price to be paid by the deep politicisation of the Thai media? And if so, is it worth it?

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/rea...newsid=30098188

Edited March 19, 2009 by Steve2UK

[hammered]

Control of information is becoming increasingly important in politcs. Obvious in Thailand but the use of the media to cheerlead the Iraq war shows it is nt limited to "lesser" democracies.

Old Thaksin was a master at information control. Now his opponets have improved at it albeit in a more clumsy fashion. These developmets are not good although the notion of a truly free media is pretty much a dream.

Edited to add: apparently some PTP dude claimed the reds would have at least 300,000 at their rally. Cant rememeber which dude claimed it but sounds a bit high to me.

Edited March 19, 2009 by hammered

[Koo82]

This is Khun Thaksin in the video link yesterday. DStation had the live for the whole event of the red rally in Chiang Mai on March 22nd, 2009. He wore red T-shirt and had red flowers

For so long we couldn't see his face when he phoned in. This time we saw him. He looks thinner and older. I love him so much that my husband says I'm crazy. He tells me not to believe 100% as no one is perfect. I know it but I don't care. He has proved to be a good Prime Minister who takes care of poor people's rights and lives.

[TAWP]

Holy cow...both.

[animatic]

This is Khun Thaksin in the video link yesterday. DStation had the live for the whole event of the red rally in Chiang Mai on March 22nd, 2009. He wore red T-shirt and had red flowers

For so long we couldn't see his face when he phoned in. This time we saw him. He looks thinner and older. I love him so much that my husband says I'm crazy. He tells me not to believe 100% as no one is perfect. I know it but I don't care. He has proved to be a good Prime Minister who takes care of poor people's rights and lives.

[Koo82]

Khun Thaksin said when he was PM, media had chosen his photo to appear not by his wish. He questioned "Why this photo and not that photo?"

When I read newspapers and watch tv, I see that majority of them are for a certain side.

One example, the reds said many times that they support the ASEAN Summit but not Kasit. Some said they walked to Embassies of 9 countries to ask them to boycott the Summit.

Or after the reds said they will never go inside the Government House, one source said "Nuttawut was about to climb the fence"

Glad we have our own tv station. We now know what Peua Thai is doing after the censure debate. We can watch the red protest around Government House (not in front of now) 24 hours a day.

Abhisit government used containers to block the red legal protest:

I was in the middle of the crowd so I did not see many police like this. I saw this via Dtv on 27th March 2009 when they re-ran.

[Koo82]

Through Dtv, I know that Khun Thaksin is supposed to serve 2 years in jail after his wife bought a land. Court said there is no corruption, buyer and seller have no fault what so ever and land is still hers. But he must be in jail

However country such as Hong Kong does not send Khun Thaksin to Thailand as they don't have one court system and they know what jokes are going on in Thailand when Army knocked a democratically elected Prime Minister by a coup then set up a whole thing to punish him only. They know a country where Army let a whole yellow bunch occupy Government House for 3 months and 2 airports for a week certainly is not usual.

DStation told us about a man who has a house on top of Yai Thaeng mountain when people at the mountain base are charged or in jail for taking mountain lands.

Dtv told us who were behind the 2006 coup after they failed to kill Khun Thaksin by a car bomb.

They just showed last night a photo of a man who wore girl clothes when he was young.

Now we cannot watch DStation both via tv and internet. I bet I still can watch ASTV.

[Plus]

I bet I still can watch ASTV

Why don't you try it for a change.

[Koo82]

I can watch DStation now. Almost 3 hours in the dark.

[Sandstone Art]

Is that a 'real' Thaksin in the video?

His head looks so big on his small body!

Where did he wore his flower? Could not see anything on his ear or pinned on his hair!