State Of Emergency Declared For Bangkok

[TonySoprano]

the leaders are giving themselves up just like PAD leaders did. that does not mean its over.

[blackman]

The current battle is over. The leaders of the reds are now on stage at Government House telling their supporters to go home. The Government has done a wonderful job. But this is far from over, believe me.

I do hope this is the last violence we'll see this side of the next elections (and that it remain peacefull even after that). But have the government really done a wonderfull job?

As I see it they still let "civilians" run around unhindered with sticks and stones behind army lines. That have potential to become very nasty.

Then there is the details that just dont seem right. The "assasination" attempt. The ASEAN summit scandal. And now the uncovered sabotage plots. With the government monopolizing the news its going to be fertile ground for conspiracy theory. The feelings of a large part of thailand have been polarized and that will not go away.

whatever, however, howsoever, whensoever, whomever etc etc etc......

these recriminations will come later and the road agead will be long and troubled

but just for now, even if its just for today....

lets be grateful that its over with minimal loss of life

[xminator]

the leaders are giving themselves up just like PAD leaders did. that does not mean its over.

Unlike the PAD leaders, there is now army presence that have showed willing to use force. This battle is over, and it will be hard to organize another mass rally in the near future.

[Who, me ?]

Veera tells red-shirts to take buses to provincial bus terminals

Before entering the Metropolitan Police head office to surrender, Veera Musigapong told red-shirted protesters to ride official buses to provincial bus terminals and go home.

He urged the protesters to take care of themselves during their trips home.

He said the four buses provided by the authorities would not be enough to accommodate them.

He told the remaining protesters to group on the road island waiting to be picked up and transported to Morchit, Northern, and Southern Bus terminals.

He directed protester to get up two buses to Morchit bus terminal.

- THE NATION -

Cops should tell them to take their red shirts off, then go back home walking naked. They would be red again in no time, and will keep a long lasting burning "souvenir" of their great performance....

[henryalleman]

What a few months in office...after a few years of political chaos...and the worst downturn in the economy since the Great Depression... Dealing with a developing economy in a region where China is master....What do you expect?

Maybe not borrow again from the IMF? Thailand has billions of their own reserves, PLUS they have Thaksin's billions. Why not use those to jump-start the economy? Or perhaps that money was already gone.

rainman, I'm worried about your mental health. I think you should take a good night sleep, so you can see things more clear in the morning.

[RegularReader]

Guys the woman I know who smsed me yesterday about the fact that they are not allowed to go home today is not picking up the phone my other thai pro-red who went there also don't pick up the phone, actually the phones are plain dead.... EVERYTHING you have seen on TV about the REDs here and there probably was staged to discredit reds, and I can say people that I know NEVER GOT PAID for being there it was their own decision, to stand up for their rights, they were all standing near the goverment house.

Don't you think it was so easy to discredit reds by dressing up other people as reds and allow them to do whatever for a day or 2, to then have rights to wipe the real reds away????

Justy think about it...

Pattaya was waaaay too staged up ( IMHO ) it was made to that ALL who attend the summit would see how BAD are the reds. For this the security allowed reds inside, and if you look at it all from a different angle you will see that all looks strange and really fishy.

I think your nickname says it all "Lazycat". Why don't you hop off your computer and go down the road for an "opening special" - it's after 11am....but you'll have to be out by 2pm

Should not be ignored easilly what Lazy Cat says.

It would be very wrong to simplify whole thing so, to reject this possibility what Lazy Cat posted. This is not jus a clash, just a riot in a short term. Anything in Thiland is not simple as in western world usually is, that shows history, so why this would be?

The rooths of conflicts are deeper and worth to think about what Lazy Cat says.

Political framework in Thailand is not easy for westerners to understand.

This is a war between

1. red shirts(PPP),

2. yellow shirts(democrats),

3. the Capitalists (the old money, oligarchies here) plus new money from modern business

4. Civil Society

5. Invisible hands

All of them are factors in Thai society and all of them should to sit and talk so will be no blood or problem anymore. The problem is they are all standing on their own positions, without any wish to accept any other solution, defending their own interests, whatever does it cost.

Whatever!

So, is this all over now? The reds are scared the Army used fire so easilly? They don't have strong ideology and idea about doing this all? Their actiong is short breath? They are afraid of guns so they gave up all? I don't think so. They will just recompose and change strategy because not any of them expected the army and democrats will use weapon so easilly. That was surprise.

We will see what will be the next move of reds but this is not end of anything they planed as general idea. The question is what will be inside of their leadership. What stream will be dominant. Military wing, hawks or peacefully preotestor's wing? That is the question. Just don't underestimate them.

Hey Lazycat, I hope I got you before you went off for one? Stepenwolf is gonna join you.

Both of you know so much about what's goinh on, I'm sure you'll get on like a house on fire.......or is that a bus?

Both of you should know a bit more about what is actually going on before you post such shallow comments.

[Gonzo the Face]

Thank heavens it looks like its finally settling down...... but there is one big question left unanswered....

Did Kn. Jakrapob finally call his 90 year old mother...... and ask for bail money ????

cripes even ET called home

Edited April 14, 2009 by Gonzo the Face

[hammered]

the leaders are giving themselves up just like PAD leaders did. that does not mean its over.

Unlike the PAD leaders, there is now army presence that have showed willing to use force. This battle is over, and it will be hard to organize another mass rally in the near future.

Now will be negotiation time. The relative strength of hands have changed. There is also a mid-year reshuffle of military and police due. Those who were overly neutral in recent days will be swept out. An interesting thing has been Gen. Anipong seems to be unseen and the supreme commander took control. That will start rumours if it hasnt already.

Some of Thaksin's shadowy ex-military buddies will also have some explaining to do.

As for PTP/red, now is a time to appear reasonable and call off any upcountry rallies - that is a bargaining chip they still have. They should also demounce the violence and I would gues denouncing Jakrapobs statement would be a good idea too. This has always needed people form both sides to create a playing field everyone can accept. Lets hope all the nonsense of the last few days has shaken everyone enough to get down to working on that rather than playing their insane power games at the expense of ordinary people

I doubt the reds will rally in Bangkok anytime soon again. The mood there will open them to vigilante action as we saw last night where only the troops saved some from being lynched. It may be worth red sympathisers being a bit careful what colour they wear now. In fact maybe everyone in BKK should think twice before accidently putting their ManU shirt on

[samgrowth]

What a few months in office...after a few years of political chaos...and the worst downturn in the economy since the Great Depression... Dealing with a developing economy in a region where China is master....What do you expect?

Maybe not borrow again from the IMF? Thailand has billions of their own reserves, PLUS they have Thaksin's billions. Why not use those to jump-start the economy? Or perhaps that money was already gone.

rainman, I'm worried about your mental health. I think you should take a good night sleep, so you can see things more clear in the morning.

I don't know if the money is gone or not. But most of the money is in Siam Commercial Bank.

http://www.set.or.th/set/companyholder.do?...amp;language=en

[webfact]

Natthawut surrenders

Natthawut Saikua joined Veera Musigapong to surrendered at the Royal Plaza at 12:22 pm Tuesday.

He left the rally site and saw the protesters boarding buses to provincial bus terminals.

Then, Natthawut joined Veera who was helping the officials direct protesters to board the buses.

- THE NATION -

[Meridian007]

I doubt the reds will rally in Bangkok anytime soon again. The mood there will open them to vigilante action as we saw last night where only the troops saved some from being lynched. It may be worth red sympathisers being a bit careful what colour they wear now. In fact maybe everyone in BKK should think twice before accidently putting their ManU shirt on

I know! I have a bunch of shirts with red in them that I bought months ago, now I can't wear them!

Next time I hope everyone chooses other colours, like pink, orange, puce, etc... Please don't choose black or dark blue, or I'll have nothing to wear!

[samgrowth]

The current battle is over. The leaders of the reds are now on stage at Government House telling their supporters to go home. The Government has done a wonderful job. But this is far from over, believe me.

Agreed. So this threat should be closed. To shut up or the Farang with Thai wifes.

[molsey]

Veera tells red-shirts to take buses to provincial bus terminals

Before entering the Metropolitan Police head office to surrender, Veera Musigapong told red-shirted protesters to ride official buses to provincial bus terminals and go home.

He urged the protesters to take care of themselves during their trips home.

He said the four buses provided by the authorities would not be enough to accommodate them.

He told the remaining protesters to group on the road island waiting to be picked up and transported to Morchit, Northern, and Southern Bus terminals.

He directed protester to get up two buses to Morchit bus terminal.

- THE NATION -

Cops should tell them to take their red shirts off, then go back home walking naked. They would be red again in no time, and will keep a long lasting burning "souvenir" of their great performance....

Probably unnecessary I would think.... they'll be taking their own redshirts off the first chance that they get, otherwise they'd probably get lynched once they're outside the armies protective cordon, and see just how much the average Thai thinks of them now!

One thing we do have to thank Toxin and his reds for though, is the decommissioning of delapidated, smoke belching buses from Bangkok's streets. Some have been trying to do that for years with no success. Ta!

[Priceless]

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's country. Participating in a war against one's country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps the best-known examples of high treason. High treason requires that the alleged traitor have obligations of loyalty in the state they betrayed, such as citizenship, although presence in the state at the time is sufficient. Foreign spies, assassins, and saboteurs, though not suffering the dishonor associated with conviction for high treason, may still be tried and punished judicially for acts of espionage, assassination, or sabotage, though in contemporary times, foreign spies and saboteurs are usually repatriated following capture. High treason is considered a serious offense, and carries the death penalty in many countries. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_treason )

Does anybody know what the penalty is, according to Thai law?

/ Priceless

[bkkjingjoe]

So, just let them go home now? And that's it?

I cannot believe this. Is it so easy to forget about all the pictures of what happened yesterday?

These were people who have attacked civilians, authorities, property, etc. with fire bombs, buses, knifes, sticks...

And now they can just go home and have a happy new year? What's wrong with this? This will even worsen the image that the outside world has.

As long as there is no effective justice and consequences for actions like this, it will not stop. Now everyone (red, yellow, whatever) will think that Bangkok is a place where you can ruin the whole nation's reputation without being charged afterwards.

I guess it's mai pen rai again and hard for us to understand.

[Supernova]

Now that the current crisis is over, Abhisit and his government should concentrate their efforts on cooling down the current political climate further by taking the following actions:

(1) Remove Kasit and all other PAD members from office;

(2) Bring the PAD leaders to justice - not simply a "slap on the wrist", but reasonable prison terms for their crimes

Now if they can actually do this, rest assured, they'll receive nothing but commendation and recognition from the Thai people. The Democrat Party have a lot to gain and not much to lose here. So why not take advantage of the situation?

As for the Thaksin question, well, I'd say leave him alone (for now). Give him time to ponder about what went wrong in his most recent quest for glory...

Thank you for reading.

[h90]

Now that the current crisis is over, Abhisit and his government should concentrate their efforts on cooling down the current political climate further by taking the following actions:

(1) Remove Kasit and all other PAD members from office;

(2) Bring the PAD leaders to justice - not simply a "slap on the wrist", but reasonable prison terms for their crimes

Now if they can actually do this, rest assured, they'll receive nothing but commendation and recognition from the Thai people. The Democrat Party have a lot to gain and not much to lose here. So why not take advantage of the situation?

As for the Thaksin question, well, I'd say leave him alone (for now). Give him time to ponder about what went wrong in his most recent quest for glory...

Thank you for reading.

As you may know or don't know in most countries not the government, instead courts decide about prison terms.

[samgrowth]

Now that the current crisis is over, Abhisit and his government should concentrate their efforts on cooling down the current political climate further by taking the following actions:

(1) Remove Kasit and all other PAD members from office;

(2) Bring the PAD leaders to justice - not simply a "slap on the wrist", but reasonable prison terms for their crimes

Now if they can actually do this, rest assured, they'll receive nothing but commendation and recognition from the Thai people. The Democrat Party have a lot to gain and not much to lose here. So why not take advantage of the situation?

As for the Thaksin question, well, I'd say leave him alone (for now). Give him time to ponder about what went wrong in his most recent quest for glory...

Thank you for reading.

As you may know or don't know in most countries not the government, instead courts decide about prison terms.

Are you naive or what?

Mark wins = PAD wins.

Kosit stays, and PAD walks free for GH & Airports seizure.

[samgrowth]

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's country. Participating in a war against one's country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps the best-known examples of high treason. High treason requires that the alleged traitor have obligations of loyalty in the state they betrayed, such as citizenship, although presence in the state at the time is sufficient. Foreign spies, assassins, and saboteurs, though not suffering the dishonor associated with conviction for high treason, may still be tried and punished judicially for acts of espionage, assassination, or sabotage, though in contemporary times, foreign spies and saboteurs are usually repatriated following capture. High treason is considered a serious offense, and carries the death penalty in many countries. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_treason )

Does anybody know what the penalty is, according to Thai law?

/ Priceless

Death and death alone.

[Meridian007]

Now that the current crisis is over, Abhisit and his government should concentrate their efforts on cooling down the current political climate further by taking the following actions:

(1) Remove Kasit and all other PAD members from office;

(2) Bring the PAD leaders to justice - not simply a "slap on the wrist", but reasonable prison terms for their crimes

Now if they can actually do this, rest assured, they'll receive nothing but commendation and recognition from the Thai people. The Democrat Party have a lot to gain and not much to lose here. So why not take advantage of the situation?

As for the Thaksin question, well, I'd say leave him alone (for now). Give him time to ponder about what went wrong in his most recent quest for glory...

Thank you for reading.

I agree with all of that except the bit about Thaksin. Laws should be put in place that he is now persona non grata, and mention of him or use of his image, video, or audio will amount to treason charges. If we can't get him back here so that he can be thrown in jail, we need some way of cutting his access. Influence from an outside criminal entity (that has proven that their influence is destructive to the nation) should be illegal.

***EDIT***

Are you naive or what?

Mark wins = PAD wins.

Kosit stays, and PAD walks free for GH & Airports seizure.

I hope that is shown to be a little too simplistic. I don't equate Abhisit or the democrats with the PAD, the PAD are merely a very vocal faction that is connected more to the military than the democrats. There are court proceedings going on against the PAD, but I think their crimes are minor in comparison to what we've seen from the UDD over the past couple of days. Hopefully everyone will be charged according to their crimes.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Meridian007

[way2muchcoffee]

Now that the current crisis is over, Abhisit and his government should concentrate their efforts on cooling down the current political climate further by taking the following actions:

(1) Remove Kasit and all other PAD members from office;

(2) Bring the PAD leaders to justice - not simply a "slap on the wrist", but reasonable prison terms for their crimes

Now if they can actually do this, rest assured, they'll receive nothing but commendation and recognition from the Thai people. The Democrat Party have a lot to gain and not much to lose here. So why not take advantage of the situation?

As for the Thaksin question, well, I'd say leave him alone (for now). Give him time to ponder about what went wrong in his most recent quest for glory...

Thank you for reading.

Agreed again, except in regards to Thaksin. I say take his money, or at least an amount that equates to fair taxes on the ShinCorp transaction.

Edited April 14, 2009 by way2muchcoffee

[hammered]

So, just let them go home now? And that's it?

I cannot believe this. Is it so easy to forget about all the pictures of what happened yesterday?

These were people who have attacked civilians, authorities, property, etc. with fire bombs, buses, knifes, sticks...

And now they can just go home and have a happy new year? What's wrong with this? This will even worsen the image that the outside world has.

As long as there is no effective justice and consequences for actions like this, it will not stop. Now everyone (red, yellow, whatever) will think that Bangkok is a place where you can ruin the whole nation's reputation without being charged afterwards.

I guess it's mai pen rai again and hard for us to understand.

They had to show offical ID to police before boarding the buses. It is also likely that the actual rioters are long gone. There were reportedly innocent demonstrators stuck at the rally site who just wanted to go home. The 4 buses (that is what 200 seats?) were reportedly enough for all of them.

[samgrowth]

So, just let them go home now? And that's it?

I cannot believe this. Is it so easy to forget about all the pictures of what happened yesterday?

These were people who have attacked civilians, authorities, property, etc. with fire bombs, buses, knifes, sticks...

And now they can just go home and have a happy new year? What's wrong with this? This will even worsen the image that the outside world has.

As long as there is no effective justice and consequences for actions like this, it will not stop. Now everyone (red, yellow, whatever) will think that Bangkok is a place where you can ruin the whole nation's reputation without being charged afterwards.

I guess it's mai pen rai again and hard for us to understand.

They had to show offical ID to police before boarding the buses. It is also likely that the actual rioters are long gone. There were reportedly innocent demonstrators stuck at the rally site who just wanted to go home. The 4 buses (that is what 200 seats?) were reportedly enough for all of them.

LOL

Show ID so that Mark can arrest them later.

[webfact]

Veera urges officials to speed up checking of protesters

Veera Musigapong urged officials to set up more channels to check protesters so that they could board buses faster.

Veera said the two channels for female and male protesters were not enough to accommodate the huge number of protesters.

Following the call, authorities stop checking the protesters' belongings, allowing them to leave rally site, heading to board four provided buses.

- THE NATION -

[JacknDanny]

So now brace yourself for Koo/ Level Head et al, to come on here proclaiming that they know a friend of a friend of a friend who was brutally murdered/shot/tortured, by the army. Blah, Blah, Blah

[Meridian007]

I see that there is still one group left on Phitsanulok near Nang Lerng. http://traffic.thai.net/

Anyone know what is going on there?

[Plus]

Abhisit should show some backbone now and charge red leaders with treason and lock them away without possibility of bail. Granting them "rights" to incite people to overthrow the government is only invitation for more trouble. Letting them to walk free after all that they have done to the country is travesty of justice.

They should charge as many leaders as possible, not only the ones actually calling for revolution but also those who supported them after the decision to overthrow the government was announced. There's also a long list of politicians threatening with use of force before Asean fiasco - they should also be held accountable.

>>>

Read Prawit, the resident red correspondent at the Nation, for an alternative view of the situation. It has some pearls like

"Not everyone is sympathetic with the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra reds, however."

Looks almost surreal after numerous reports of locals fighting with reds and some even dying in the battles.

There's one very wise remark from one military commander:

"This area has become lawless," Chinnuphan complains to me. "They shut the roads down and search people. Even the Asean Summit [last weekend], which was the face of the country, wasn't spared. Everyone demands their rights but do not know their responsibilities."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/14...cs_30100484.php

[samgrowth]

The Reds are over.

"Honey, where did not keep my Yellow shirts?"

"I need it now"

"Please keep my red one in the top drawer, I may need it again."

"By the way, have you pick up a blue one from Patunum yet, just in case".

[webfact]

60 buses take up protesters from Royal Plaza

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Sky-bangkok.com

To speed up the process of sending protesters back home, the authorities sent 60 buses to pick them up at the Royal Plaza.

Earlier, the authorities used 4 busses to send them to provincial bus terminals but the process was too slow.

- THE NATION -

[henryalleman]

Saw on NBT that soldiers shoot up the sky and walked ahead. The reds went away. Saw about 10 military trucks coming in near Pratunam.

Conclusion: the yellows can stay in Government House 3 months and stayed in 2 airports 8 days when State of Emergency was announced. The reds cannot protest on the street.

Koo, when the PAD stayed in Swampy there was no violence, nothing was robbed or destroyed, the tax free shops where safe, the people not even passed immigration;

just saw CNN, looting by red shirts is starting, they showed a red shirt who run-ed away with an television set, burning buses, set fire on buildings. you remember Koo only a few day's ago you proclaimed that the the reds would never use violence. Even your great leader announced on CNN that the violence by the red shirts is not correct.

You proclaimed that the population support you, but now we see footage of common Thais in the capital start to fed up and attacked the reds.

I can accept you have grievances but if you are honest with yourself you will agree that the kind of violence used by the reds was never used by the PAD despite the tear gas attacks who caused many wounded, despite the throwing of grenades amongst them at night.

Maybe you call the recent events protest , but I'm afraid only a few in the country share this view; For most of the Thai people its just insurgents and scum who set the capital on fire. The reds lost their last credibility

Its time to call it a day Koo and go home. you are fighting for a lost case, and you have no support from the public, its the contrary their adversity towards you is growing rapidly.

Did the PAD have to face M16's yes or no?

Do I realy have to repeat the grenades attacks at night , the shooting of tear gas od Chinese quality wo severly wounded dozens of people, the grenade attack of a TV stations, throwing bombs into a night market etc...etc....