State Of Emergency Declared For Bangkok

[Priceless]

This is probably the best piece of writing on the present dilemma that I have seen. Please go to the Bangkok Post and read it in its entirety: http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion...d-and-be-judged

A few sentences from the beginning:

"Establishing order by declaring a state of emergency is only one part of the rule of law. An impartial system of courts and a confrontation with past impunities are also necessary.

Supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy occupy Suvarnabhumi Airport on Nov 25, 2008.

The court has already handed down its decision on former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. But the illegal seizure of power by the military coup in 2006 has not been dealt with. The case against the People's Alliance for Democracy's illegal attempt to close the parliament from meeting, and the illegal seizures of Government House and airport has not proceeded very far, and it appears that its leaders may eventually be indicted with lesser charges, if at all.

A leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) has been charged with insurrection.

Thailand is lost in its relativism. The Council for National Security (CNS) said it had to stage the coup. Its leaders' understanding of "necessity" absolves them of their crime.[...]"

Any opinions (except the obvious, that it is unlikely to happen)?

/ Priceless

[Prempoutine]

I don't think this is over yet, by any means. Nor does the government, it seems:

Govt Spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn announces Apr 16-17 as public holidays in light of possibly more chaos in Bangkok.

(TOC)

What's with the mentions of "espionage" in the article attributed to "K. Thanong" ( quoted a few posts above)? Is this some special Thai/legal use of the term??

No , he is just an idiot , now drunk on a victory that will only play out to be a temporary postponement of the inevitable.

[WAERTH]

Just come back from my own long march towards government house. I had to walk from Phaya Thai/Petchaburi intersection. I went straight to Yommarat which had just been cleared. After 30 minutes waiting there was cheering, the reds had surrendered and we were allowed in by the military. I went with journalists from the Nation, Bangkok Post and Manager (Sondhi's paper) whom kindly told the military I was with them otherwise I would not have been allowed through.

When we arrived at government house the reds were mostly gone. I watched the disassembling of the site by the few still left. There were still tons of food and water, lots lots lots of water. The people still there invited us in true Thai Fashion to come and eat with them. Even in defeat they were still generous ...

I overheard some red shirts still around discussing with others on the phone where to gather next were there are no military sad.gif ... even when you speak Thai with them they still think you will not understand them :/

After this me and the reporters moved to the UN building to watch the clearing by the military.

The military were extremely well behaved and professional and showed extreme patience with the protesters leaving. After yesterday on Din Daeng and today I feel that the Thai army is a lot better and more disciplined than people give them credit for! The Thai people can be proud of their boys in my opinion.

[WAERTH]

In this thread on the Dutch Wikipedia I put a few of the pictures I took yesterday (at Din Daeng) and today ... :

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:De_kroeg#Burgeroorlog

Under the CC-BY-SA license everybody can copy these pictures and use hem, as long as credit is given to the maker (me, my real name can be found under the pictures, please give me the credit) and as long as you agree to allow everyone to copy the pictures from you again (you have to put them on your site under CC-BY-SA as well)

Waerth

[eldar1]

Now its all over you need to sit back and see what the goals were, who won points and who lost them.

Firstly :

Abhisit and the Democrats

Awful performance for the ASEAN summit. Weak, out of control, embarressment, this is enough on its own for him to resign.

Democrats, supported by the Army this is obvious. It now puts meat on the bones that the Army formed the government behind the scenes.

The lack of action against the PAD by the Army and Democrats will be the next hot potato, been mentioned massively in the world media in the last few days

Thaksin

He is now finished, but he also needed to be, it was apparant that there is too much propganda against him, so he needed his final two fingers up, he should go quiet now until he gets his..............pardon what was that noise.

However, as his parting gift he has now put a real downer on tourism and made the governments stimulus plans go down the pan. This will seriously weaken the country and therefore the government (Democrats) will in 6 months get blamed for yet more and more job losses, and pressure that way will mount should they still be in power. He has in effect made the government so much weaker in the mid term and also embaressed them short term. If the short term fails to oust Abhisit, the mid term effects of this action will get him. He has also clearly put into the world media the issues of the Armies links with the PAD/Democrats, the lack of action against the PAD, and many other issues, thats what he takes with him.

Reds

The role of the reds will now change, they will have to spin this now away from Thaksin (which will be done as above) and move the Reds into being purely about Democracy, with no links to Thaksin. As I said earlier maybe its going to be Green shirts now, protesting against the Army violence, the Army inaction against the PAD, the lack of any action against the PAD, for Democracy and for new elections (same again but with no links to Thaksin).

So Abhisit is a loser on all scores. He was in charge for a failed ASEAN summit (after giving his word), he also is now the PM in charge whilst Bangkok burned.

Thaksin loses and also wins, as he has seriously paid back against those who hammered him. He can now drift into being forgotten for now.

Reds will now morph into a new anti government force, just wait. They will come out stronger now, with more "points" to raise to the worlds media.

It still remains the only solution to get the 1997 constitution back and have new elections under it. Until that time this is going to carry on and on, and never end it seems.

Tell me what you would have done in abhisits place at the ASEAN summit ? Keeping in mind that the summit was planned around the time of the somchai government falling, so not hosting it was not an option. Cracked down on the reds as soon as they annouced plans to disrupt the summit? If that would have happend you would be screaming here about how the "Yellows" were allowed to demonstrate but not the reds.

Regarding thaksin

There is no real propaganda against him, most of the accusations against him are pretty much factual (policy corruption, nepotism, cronyism, human rights abuses, electoral fraud, etc) It's just that the UDD convientently never discusses these things. For a man who says he loves the poor, he has caused them a whole lot of problems. From the disruption of the economy (directly through the UDD and indirectly by proxy through PPP), increasing of family debt by 5 times to loss of investor confidence, he has consistently damaged the prospects of the poor rural population of thailand.

The reds are over and done with, thais have been shocked at the violence portrayed by the red movement, so they have lost serious backing. A transformation into a pro-democracy movement is unlikely since the current top and sub top will always be associated with the insurrection of the last 3 days. Only a completely new group could become thailands pro-democracy movement, thing is i don't think it will happen as there is no rich thai willing to fund it. Besides the only thing neccesary for a new election is time, just wait untill abhisits term is up. Following the laws of democracy is democratic aswell.

Why not bring back the 1991 consitution or the 1978 ? that makes just about as much sense as demanding the 1997 constitution. Only reason UDD demands it is because thaksin can't get elected under the 2007 consitution

[helvetian]

Someone tell me why Abhisit was able to form a coalition government with Newin, when Newin received a red card for vote buying in the last election?

[Guest Reimar]

Someone tell me why Abhisit was able to form a coalition government with Newin, when Newin received a red card for vote buying in the last election?

Wrong! Abhisit was forming the gov with the "Friends of Newin" which were not disqualified from politics.

[eldar1]

Someone tell me why Abhisit was able to form a coalition government with Newin, when Newin received a red card for vote buying in the last election?

My memory on it is a bit fuzzy, but i believe it's because newin is not actually part of the government (or any political party) it's just that he has sway over "the friends of newin group" most of which were not banned form politics. The MP's in "the friends of newin group" then switched sides to the democrats.

By the way if this seems a bot dodgy to people, they should bear in mind that newin did the same thing during the initial thaksin election and that this type of things happens all the time in thai politics.

Edited April 14, 2009 by eldar1

[helvetian]

The head of the Election Commission of Thailand, Apichart Sukatkannont, is a Democrat. That explains why all TRT/PPP MP's got red cards and were dissolved, while Democrats got away with 1 red card and some yellow cards.

Why Newin got a red card is beyond me. So if Newin got a red card, why can the "Friends of Newin" join the government, but the "Friends of Thaksin" (Samak, Somchai, etc) can't?

The world leaders must be laughing about Thailand by now.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Tell me what you would have done in abhisits place at the ASEAN summit?

Abhisit should have had 20,000 troops protecting the convention center. After the G20 meeting and NATO summit, there is no excuse for not having a mass of security at these types of international meetings. The soldiers would not have to do anything but stand in a column, and deflect all masses which try to invade. This was Abhisit's only mistake, not having sufficient and reliable security. The police were obviously not up to task. Not only were there not enough, their allegience was highly questionable. It was a huge lapse in security precautions, because all of these international conferences now bring protests.

[brahmburgers]

So Abhisit is a loser on all scores. He was in charge for a failed ASEAN summit (after giving his word), he also is now the PM in charge whilst Bangkok burned.

Thaksin loses and also wins, as he has seriously paid back against those who hammered him. He can now drift into being forgotten for now.

Reds will now morph into a new anti government force, just wait. They will come out stronger now, with more "points" to raise to the worlds media.

It still remains the only solution to get the 1997 constitution back and have new elections under it. Until that time this is going to carry on and on, and never end it seems.

I don't agree with Levelhead's assessments of recent events. Abhisit is not a loser. Despite poor performances by his personal security forces, he comes out of this looking good. His international reputation looks particularly good, in light of how he carries himself, how well he speaks English, and the restraint he has shown in recent days.

Thaksin lost face and should be tried for treason, in absentia or otherwise. All Thai embassies/consulates should have standing orders to arrest him on sight. He won't give up, as long as his assets are frozen. He's essentially Chinese and therefore money is king. It's notable that when there is civil unrest which might impact on tourists, the Chinese are among the first to stay away. Similarly, Thaksin got his family out of Dodge as soon as things got dodgy recently - concurrently calling on his mindless minions to come to Bangkok to be in harm's way - to cause destruction in order to try and force Thaksin's assets to get thawed.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

The head of the Election Commission of Thailand, Apichart Sukatkannont, is a Democrat. That explains why all TRT/PPP MP's got red cards and were dissolved, while Democrats got away with 1 red card and some yellow cards.

Why Newin got a red card is beyond me. So if Newin got a red card, why can the "Friends of Newin" join the government, but the "Friends of Thaksin" (Samak, Somchai, etc) can't?

The world leaders must be laughing about Thailand by now.

No, but they might be laughing at you, for even thinking Newin is on their radar.

[eldar1]

The head of the Election Commission of Thailand, Apichart Sukatkannont, is a Democrat. That explains why all TRT/PPP MP's got red cards and were dissolved, while Democrats got away with 1 red card and some yellow cards.

Why Newin got a red card is beyond me. So if Newin got a red card, why can the "Friends of Newin" join the government, but the "Friends of Thaksin" (Samak, Somchai, etc) can't?

The world leaders must be laughing about Thailand by now.

"the friends of newin"is a splinter group of the TRT with about 38 members with Newin as their leader. Only newin had a red card the rest did not, so they were free to join any party they wanted and vote which everway they wanted. Samark and Somchai did join the goverment they were bloody PM's so this statement makes no sense. Samark got kicked out because of conflict of interest charges and somchai went the way of the PPP, all executive members of which were banned for 5 years.

[Prempoutine]

So Abhisit is a loser on all scores. He was in charge for a failed ASEAN summit (after giving his word), he also is now the PM in charge whilst Bangkok burned.

Thaksin loses and also wins, as he has seriously paid back against those who hammered him. He can now drift into being forgotten for now.

Reds will now morph into a new anti government force, just wait. They will come out stronger now, with more "points" to raise to the worlds media.

It still remains the only solution to get the 1997 constitution back and have new elections under it. Until that time this is going to carry on and on, and never end it seems.

I don't agree with Levelhead's assessments of recent events. Abhisit is not a loser. Despite poor performances by his personal security forces, he comes out of this looking good. His international reputation looks particularly good, in light of how he carries himself, how well he speaks English, and the restraint he has shown in recent days.

Thaksin lost face and should be tried for treason, in absentia or otherwise. All Thai embassies/consulates should have standing orders to arrest him on sight. He won't give up, as long as his assets are frozen. He's essentially Chinese and therefore money is king. It's notable that when there is civil unrest which might impact on tourists, the Chinese are among the first to stay away. Similarly, Thaksin got his family out of Dodge as soon as things got dodgy recently - concurrently calling on his mindless minions to come to Bangkok to be in harm's way - to cause destruction in order to try and force Thaksin's assets to get thawed.

How pathetic can you be to claim " his international reputation looks particularly good" , after the ASEAN summit fiasco.

Please go ask the Chinese prime minsiter what he thinks about him.

People think for yourself, don't let the powers that be fool you.

[padkapow]

Someone tell me why Abhisit was able to form a coalition government with Newin, when Newin received a red card for vote buying in the last election?

My memory on it is a bit fuzzy, but i believe it's because newin is not actually part of the government (or any political party) it's just that he has sway over "the friends of newin group" most of which were not banned form politics. The MP's in "the friends of newin group" then switched sides to the democrats.

By the way if this seems a bot dodgy to people, they should bear in mind that newin did the same thing during the initial thaksin election and that this type of things happens all the time in thai politics.

That is correct/ There is always horse trading prior to a coalition government being formed in every country.

Small parties are coerced into joining up with the big boys by being offered good cabinet jobs or having their pet policy agreed upon. There is no compulsion on them to stay with whom they joined, and if things don't go the way they were promised they are quite free to join up with another party. This is what happened in Thailand in December last. The "friends of Newin faction" were disenchanted, and the democrats and their advisers made them a good offer, and they swapped sides. Others followed.

If Pheu Thai were as good as they like to think they are, then why did they do so badly in the by elections that followed the dismissal of all their executive MP's. Simply because, like the "friends of Newin faction", their supporters had also become disillusioned, and voted for alternative parties.

Now this is DEMOCRACY!

Edited April 14, 2009 by padkapow

[henryalleman]

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.

letting them go home and lick the wounds of their bruised EGO is the best way. Let the juridical system do his job. I think Abhisit is too intelligent to interfere. Because if he retaliate the reds will blame him he is not honest to them comparing with the yellow shirts. A intelligent man like him knows that a winner must not humiliate the defeated.

Its time to heal the wounds, after all they are all Thai, and must go on with each other in the future.

But I think he should take harsh actions against the only culprit and bad genius of all this violence.

revoking his passport would be a good idea for starters. And the rest is again the responsibility of the juridical system.

If he follow this guidelines he will be respected as one of the greatest politicians Thailand ever had.

So come on Abhisit now you have to concentrate on the social and economical reforms you promised to the people.

Good luck and congratulations

[catmac]

Someone tell me why Abhisit was able to form a coalition government with Newin, when Newin received a red card for vote buying in the last election?

Wrong! Abhisit was forming the gov with the "Friends of Newin" which were not disqualified from politics.

Correct, Reimar.

However, as it is well known (and was continually being declared by PAD and its supporters on TV) that every one of those "friends of Newin" also bought their votes, could you explain how this Government is "legitimate", whilst the last one was not - remember the endless chants of "they weren't elected, they bought their votes!"

And why was Newin himself working with Suthep to organise the blue shirted private army of thugs in Pattaya to do the work that should have been done by the police/army? Newin is disgraced and banned from politics by the courts (rightly so as I believe he stands for everything that's evil in rural Thai politics - he was a disgrace to TRT, and is now a disgrace to the Dems.).

A government that has to rely on the likes of Newin's poodles for its survival can hardly claim an electoral mandate.

Edited April 14, 2009 by catmac

[Priceless]

Someone tell me why Abhisit was able to form a coalition government with Newin, when Newin received a red card for vote buying in the last election?

Wrong! Abhisit was forming the gov with the "Friends of Newin" which were not disqualified from politics.

Correct, Reimar.

However, as it is well known (and was continually being declared by PAD and its supporters on TV) that every one of those "friends of Newin" also bought their votes, could you explain how this Government is "legitimate", whilst the last one was not - remember the endless chants of "they weren't elected, they bought their votes!"

And why was Newin himself working with Suthep to organise the blue shirted private army of thugs in Pattaya to do the work that should have been done by the police/army? Newin is disgraced and banned from politics by the courts (rightly so as I believe he stands for everything that's evil in rural Thai politics - he was a disgrace to TRT, and is now a disgrace to the Dems.).

A government that has to rely on the likes of Newin's poodles for its survival can hardly claim an electoral mandate.

Well, isn't there that awkward little problem of "innocent until proven guilty"?

/ Priceless

[padkapow]

.

A government that has to rely on the likes of Newin's poodles for its survival can hardly claim an electoral mandate.

"Newin's poodles" switched sides from Pheu Thai to the Democrats. Using your ideals, neither Pheu Thai nor the Democrats have an electoral mandate. So who do you suggest runs the country?

[henryalleman]

So Abhisit is a loser on all scores. He was in charge for a failed ASEAN summit (after giving his word), he also is now the PM in charge whilst Bangkok burned.

Thaksin loses and also wins, as he has seriously paid back against those who hammered him. He can now drift into being forgotten for now.

Reds will now morph into a new anti government force, just wait. They will come out stronger now, with more "points" to raise to the worlds media.

It still remains the only solution to get the 1997 constitution back and have new elections under it. Until that time this is going to carry on and on, and never end it seems.

I don't agree with Levelhead's assessments of recent events. Abhisit is not a loser. Despite poor performances by his personal security forces, he comes out of this looking good. His international reputation looks particularly good, in light of how he carries himself, how well he speaks English, and the restraint he has shown in recent days.

Thaksin lost face and should be tried for treason, in absentia or otherwise. All Thai embassies/consulates should have standing orders to arrest him on sight. He won't give up, as long as his assets are frozen. He's essentially Chinese and therefore money is king. It's notable that when there is civil unrest which might impact on tourists, the Chinese are among the first to stay away. Similarly, Thaksin got his family out of Dodge as soon as things got dodgy recently - concurrently calling on his mindless minions to come to Bangkok to be in harm's way - to cause destruction in order to try and force Thaksin's assets to get thawed.

How pathetic can you be to claim " his international reputation looks particularly good" , after the ASEAN summit fiasco.

Please go ask the Chinese prime minsiter what he thinks about him.

People think for yourself, don't let the powers that be fool you.

I do understand your grapes must taste very sour

[catmac]

.

A government that has to rely on the likes of Newin's poodles for its survival can hardly claim an electoral mandate.

"Newin's poodles" switched sides from Pheu Thai to the Democrats. Using your ideals, neither Pheu Thai nor the Democrats have an electoral mandate. So who do you suggest runs the country?

Perhaps hold a new election? Clearly, the present Parliament is such a mess that fresh elections would at least give any new government a mandate from the people, as opposed to a mandate from the courts/seedy back room deals between basically corrupt politicians.

[padkapow]

.

A government that has to rely on the likes of Newin's poodles for its survival can hardly claim an electoral mandate.

"Newin's poodles" switched sides from Pheu Thai to the Democrats. Using your ideals, neither Pheu Thai nor the Democrats have an electoral mandate. So who do you suggest runs the country?

Perhaps hold a new election? Clearly, the present Parliament is such a mess that fresh elections would at least give any new government a mandate from the people, as opposed to a mandate from the courts/seedy back room deals between basically corrupt politicians.

A new election would clear the air, but now is not the time. The dust needs to settle for around 6 months with no more outbursts, then perhaps the time would be right. I believe the more trouble the reds and their backers make will only prolong a fresh election for them

[Cayenne]

Wow, we have a lot sore losers on this forum, don't we not?

[Prempoutine]

So Abhisit is a loser on all scores. He was in charge for a failed ASEAN summit (after giving his word), he also is now the PM in charge whilst Bangkok burned.

Thaksin loses and also wins, as he has seriously paid back against those who hammered him. He can now drift into being forgotten for now.

Reds will now morph into a new anti government force, just wait. They will come out stronger now, with more "points" to raise to the worlds media.

It still remains the only solution to get the 1997 constitution back and have new elections under it. Until that time this is going to carry on and on, and never end it seems.

I don't agree with Levelhead's assessments of recent events. Abhisit is not a loser. Despite poor performances by his personal security forces, he comes out of this looking good. His international reputation looks particularly good, in light of how he carries himself, how well he speaks English, and the restraint he has shown in recent days.

Thaksin lost face and should be tried for treason, in absentia or otherwise. All Thai embassies/consulates should have standing orders to arrest him on sight. He won't give up, as long as his assets are frozen. He's essentially Chinese and therefore money is king. It's notable that when there is civil unrest which might impact on tourists, the Chinese are among the first to stay away. Similarly, Thaksin got his family out of Dodge as soon as things got dodgy recently - concurrently calling on his mindless minions to come to Bangkok to be in harm's way - to cause destruction in order to try and force Thaksin's assets to get thawed.

How pathetic can you be to claim " his international reputation looks particularly good" , after the ASEAN summit fiasco.

Please go ask the Chinese prime minsiter what he thinks about him.

People think for yourself, don't let the powers that be fool you.

I do understand your grapes must taste very sour

He who laughs last laughs best.

You can spin it as much as you want, butThailand is nothing more than the land of corrupt and incompetent buffoons in the eyes of the international community.

[Seizhin]

How pathetic can you be to claim " his international reputation looks particularly good" , after the ASEAN summit fiasco.

Please go ask the Chinese prime minsiter what he thinks about him.

People think for yourself, don't let the powers that be fool you.

Didnt Times of UK just said that the ASEAN Summit was one big stage of humor and a waste of time? Aphisit was being laughed at!

That's not something I want to read of, hopefully, our PM can do better soon.

He who laughs last laughs best.

You can spin it as much as you want, butThailand is nothing more than the land of corrupt and incompetent buffoons in the eyes of the international community.

And bingo, I cant help but agrees, there will never be 'equality' in Thailand. At least not yet, and I dont hope for any soon.

[Oberkommando]

Wow, we have a lot sore losers on this forum, don't we not?

The only loser has been Thailand.

[phetpeter]

Not just in the eyes of the international peoples, but, also in the eyes of very many Thai's.

Abhisit, has won the war, Takesin is a 'dead man walking'. and by playing his cards right he couild become a great PM and leader for the Thai's, has long as he pulls all colours together, The people I mean not the members of parties who need to go.

Thaksin lost face and should be tried for treason, in absentia or otherwise. All Thai embassies/consulates should have standing orders to arrest him on sight. He won't give up, as long as his assets are frozen. He's essentially Chinese and therefore money is king. It's notable that when there is civil unrest which might impact on tourists, the Chinese are among the first to stay away. Similarly, Thaksin got his family out of Dodge as soon as things got dodgy recently - concurrently calling on his mindless minions to come to Bangkok to be in harm's way - to cause destruction in order to try and force Thaksin's assets to get thawed.

[Robby nz]

Have been watching all this on TV and tend to believe what my eyes tell me, got one channel, (dont know which, have a champion channel changer here) they seem to give a ballanced version

Had a rep of the reds on in an interview he said that none of the burning of buses or anything else, the violance, throwing of stones or bombs, shooting or beating up of residents trying to defend their property or busineses was done by the reds it was the work of someone else someone probably paid by the govt to discredit the peaceful red shirt demonstrators.

Hands up who believes that, thought so LH, Koo and a few of your mates, you should open both eyes when you look at things.

There seems to me a lot of comparison between how the yellows and the reds protests were handled seems most doing this have lost sight of the fact that it was a different Govt in power when the yellows were stuffing up the counry, a Govt suported by the present reds, one they want to bring back. The previous Govt didnt have the balls to do anything about the yellows in contrast the Abasith Govt has shown the guts and backbone to deal with the reds and clean them out.He did make a mistake in trusting a ineffective police force at Pattaya but he has put that right now by leaving them on the sideline.

Then there is the discusion on the legality of the present Govt. This Govt is legal all the MP's were elected by their constituancies, whether any or all paid for votes is history and irrelavent. Then a coalition was formed by Abasith in spite of the attempted MP buying by the PTP party for a reported many millions of baht. Seems that vote buying for a 100b is illegal buy buying an MP for millions is not. Something that wants to be fixed before the next election. The country is lucky the PTP failed or Taxin would now be back reunited with his money and somehow in charge again. The yellows would be out again but Taxin would probably order them shot.

There is a lot made of the army shooting at reds, I saw that on TV also and heard the gunshots from the red side aimed at the army before the soldiers returned fire. What were they supposed to do, let some hoons shoot at them with no response, get real.

Also I noted in that instance there were two distinct groups of army the one on the right hand side of the road did not respond with gunfire while another group on the left did, perhaps the main body is there to intimadate with blank rounds as has been suggested while another is there for their protection.

There are those who seem to be blaming the whole debacle in BKK on the blue shirts in pattaya, cant work out the logic in that as the blue shirts were only trying to protect the summit and were beaten up and chased off by the reds, yes saw that on TV also.

It looks like there are still buses being burnt and saw a fire engine about an hour back going to try to put one out attacked with sticks and stones, no red shirts, may now be discarded as the leaders have given up. This is only mindless destruction of property for no good reason.

Saw someone said the army and Govt buildings were legitimate targets what the hel_l were they talking about? there can only be legitimate targets in wartime or in the minds of some loony terrorist, oh yes we do have loony terrorists out there now.

[stepenwolf1958]

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

Of course it's up to the courts to decide! I don't know of any government handing out prison terms outside a court of law... Perhaps I should have worded my post a bit differently.

Anyhow, the courts better get their acts together soon, 'cause a good majority of the Thai people want the PAD leaders prosecuted for their crimes.

Are you naive or what?

Mark wins = PAD wins.

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

Me being naive? I think not -- far from it actually.

Just because "Mark" wins doesn't mean it's a victory for the PAD. Even before the current crisis began, we started to see rifts between the Democrat Party and the PAD. Sondhi had been making regular statements to the press accusing the Democrats of this and that. But most importantly, he accused Abhisit of not allocating enough administration posts within Government to PAD members. When this information went public, a lot of Thais became infuriated. Even some PAD members came out to denounce this. The Democrats have been attempting to distance themselves from the PAD since.

There's no way the PAD leaders are getting away from the bounds of the law for their GH and Airport seizures. They'll be prosecuted and probably serve light jail terms at most, which is nothing considering the damage they've done.

I don't think Thaksin will be accused, much less convicted of 'high treason'. If any moves to convict him of treason were made, the Government would be perceived as having double standards; a reputation they're being accused of to this day. Let's face it, the PAD occupied the Government House for months. This alone, by Thai Law, is an act of treason. During their occupation of the GH, The PAD leaders were accused of committing high treason and had warrants issued for their arrest. Unfortunately, the court order was quickly revoked by order of the invisible hand and/or the powers that be. Sad but true.

Touche!

[stepenwolf1958]

Treason charges against PAD were dropped because they had no sense whatsoever. PAD wasn't trying to overthrow the state power, not even to remove the government by force.

Charges for airport takeover should correspond to crimes, not damages.

Thai Airways or AOT can sue PAD for damages separately, and I believe they can easily win Chamlong's left slipper as a satisfying reward.

Sorry, airports no damage, so no crime.

Case closed.

...So easy? How about the damage about incomes for lost flights, transfering people to other destinations so they can catch the plane, paid hotels bills in travelling to that destination all around, no tourists...etc

Wrong to simplifying it so much.