"Violence Unlikely" At Today's Red-shirt Rally

[Plus]

..last year it was the yellow, now its the reds, maybe next year it will be blue, or green, all I see are 2 sides that cannot work together on anything period.

Remembering that newbie's question on the first page - it's all about Thaksin and getting rid of him.

Colors, democracy, coups, vote buying, elections - they all don't matter, they are just meaningless labels to sway outsiders to your cause. And by outsiders I mean millions of people who had no idea what color they were five years ago.

Mc2 got it right, for once - reds love Thaksin and yellows hate him. There's not much more to it than that.

And the only way they can reconcile if Thaksin's fate satisfies them. Yellows want to see him punished, reds want to see him vindicated. If there's a way out of this mess it's this - how to deal with Thaksin in a manner that pleases both sides?

[webfact]

Thaksin tell supporters he makes video link from somewhere near Thailand

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra told his supporters at the rally at the Royal Plaza that he made the video link to address them from somewhere near Thailand.

Addressing the supporters at 8:35 pm, Thaksin said Thailand has not improved three years after the coup.

He said the people became poorer and became less happy after the coup.

He called on the government to dissolve the House and called for charter amendments for a fresh start in politics.

-- The Nation 2009/09/19

[Moonrakers]

It doesn't matter if he is 1 mile or a thousand miles away, he still isn't in Thailand is he!

[noithip]

"At present, there are injustice and less human rights and freedom the Thai society. There is a serious social conflict, particularly when Thai people are killing one another in Si Sa Ket province," he said.

http://bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/154818...ier-before-coup

[noithip]

Thaksin tell supporters he makes video link from somewhere near Thailand

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra told his supporters at the rally at the Royal Plaza that he made the video link to address them from somewhere near Thailand.

Cambodia?

[frodo]

It seems that the popularity of the UDD is starting to, thankfully, dwindle down a bit. When they say "many" I have no idea what that number is, but these gatherings aren't like they used to be.

Red-shirt protesters start dispersing after Thaksin's speech

Red-shirt protesters started leaving the Royal Plaza at 10 pm after former prime minister Thaksin Shinawattrahttp://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/ads...sin+Shinawatra+ finished his phone-in speech.

Many started going home after it was not certain whether the red-shirt leaders would lead the protesters to march to the house of Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda or not.

But many protesters remained, waiting for a final decision of the red-shirt leaders.

The Nation

The Nation

[Publicus]

Old timer bar talk is as nostalgic and unproductive as Prof Young's cocktail party circuit talk. Each voice comes from opposite directions or, at the least, different socioeconomic and class perspectives and experiences.

We well know that TiT which among other things means the coup d'etat is a way of life in Thailand and that Thai democracy is flegling at the best of times and too often tenuous. Who today would assert that Thailand has seen its last coup, as many had been asserting after 1991-92?

The coup is an instrument of Thai government and politics just as vote buying is. There are many things about Thailand that seem irreversably Thai and which during my ten years in LOS I was told to accept or leave.

The Thias who defend its Old World values, customs and traditions miss the point that Thailand, as an Old World and Third World developing country still needs a fundamental change to the self defeating mindset that it does not need nor would it ever welcome the role models of successful democracies, whether the successful democracies be Western ones or those such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan or of both kinds.

Thais need to accept proper role models and reference points so that Thais can have a better idea of how Thailand might better develop and evolve. The recurring mad chaos of one kind or another that over four score years has defined a very much wanting Thai democracy and development is leading nowhere.

What people in their right mind want endlessly to be a mouse racing full tilt inside its tumbler?

[frodo]

"At present, there are injustice and less human rights and freedom the Thai society. There is a serious social conflict, particularly when Thai people are killing one another in Si Sa Ket province," he said.

http://bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/154818...ier-before-coup

Less human rights and injustice as compared to whom? If he is referring to himself while he was in office, he really needs to point fingers at the man in the mirror first. Thai's killing Thai's isn't that just grand! How he has forgotten his ruthless killings in the south to name one example of his governments murderous rampage.

[xminator]

Where is the hooligans Suthep promised us? He sent all of them to the border?

[Jingthing]

So this so called big day turned out to be a big old nothing. Great news!

[Thai at Heart]

Where is the hooligans Suthep promised us? He sent all of them to the border?

Oh yes. They went bpai teeow for the day.

Thank god sense prevailed and someone convinced them to not go any further than they did.

I'm not sure what the situation is on the border is right now, but I would reckon that the PAD may have burnt an awful lot of bridges today.

[Publicus]

The reds have shown they hold only peaceful love fest gatherings and that Thailand hasn't anything to fear from the reds.

So what's to fear or be concerned about next month when the next international gathering is held in Thailand?

I'm not betting the farm on a peaceful October in Thailand. There are more extended twists and turns to this endless plot than Kafka or Hitchcock ever could have imagined.

Edited September 19, 2009 by Publicus

[mc2]

So this so called big day turned out to be a big old nothing. Great news!

so... all your many predictions about it being the next Armageddon have fizzled out to be nothing but dramatic nonsense after all.

what a surprise.

[mc2]

Under instructions from the child bride again ? " Who are these Red Shirts " You certainly had a good idea who was who quite recently. Early onset of Altzheimers ?

'child bride' ? <deleted>

no need to make those types of accusations.

Perhaps they escape you. The one eye makes it a bit hard to grasp everything about you Squire. It is sad to see.

what on earth makes you think that comment of yours was acceptable?

taking a dig about another posters wife is wrong for starters. then, saying she is a child.... and everything that it implies.... I hope i don't have to spell it out.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

So this so called big day turned out to be a big old nothing. Great news!

so... all your many predictions about it being the next Armageddon have fizzled out to be nothing but dramatic nonsense after all.

what a surprise.

It is time for your rest from TV. There are support Thaksin groups about. I hear the pay is rather good.

[Xangsamhua]

Where is the hooligans Suthep promised us? He sent all of them to the border?

Oh yes. They went bpai teeow for the day.

Thank god sense prevailed and someone convinced them to not go any further than they did.

I'm not sure what the situation is on the border is right now, but I would reckon that the PAD may have burnt an awful lot of bridges today.

PAD need to do some serious soul-searching and clamp down on the ultra-nationalist element in their ranks. If they can't do that, Thailand's situation will be even worse, with two unacceptable forces on the streets. Let's hope the present governing alliance can hold together and PAD can rein in their yahoos.

[webfact]

Country weathers protests

By THE NATION ON SUNDAY, AGENCIES

Published on September 20, 2009

Red shirts defy heavy rains to mark third anniversary of coup with peaceful rally; Violence mars yellow shirts' bid to march to disputed area on border with Cambodia

The country was hit by two mass protests yesterday when about 20,000 anti-government red shirts held a rally in Bangkok and thousands of the rival yellow shirts marched towards a disputed border area near Si Sa Ket.

The Bangkok protest was generally peaceful although it was disrupted by a heavy downpour. However, the march by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to a cliff next to the disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple led to a clash between the yellow shirts and local villagers, who said they feared the protest would further sour ties with Cambodia.

The red shirts gathered at the Royal Plaza to mark the third anniversary of the military coup that ousted the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, who is now a fugitive overseas.

"We came here today to mark the third anniversary of the coup, which has caused huge damage to the country," red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan told the crowd as a thunderstorm drenched the protest site.

"This will be a peaceful protest and will end by midnight if the government does not use violence," said Jatuporn, who is also an MP from the opposition Pheu Thai Party.

Thaksin was due to address the crowd later by video-link.

Authorities deployed more than 6,500 soldiers and police and imposed the Internal Security Act |in the protest area, amid fears of |a repeat of riots by the same |group in April, which left two people dead.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said there were reports unidentified groups of trouble-makers could set off bombs in the capital to create unrest. "I am worried about the situation tonight and have warned intelligence agencies," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of security, warned yesterday that four to five groups of trouble-makers might try to incite violence during the red-shirt protest.

The red shirts continued their protest despite hours of heavy rain that flooded the protest site around the Royal Plaza.

Heavy rain started at 2.20pm and the downpour didn't stop till more than two hours later. Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship leaders Veera Musigapong, Nattawut Saikua and Chatuporn Prompan took turns to address protesters on the stage, urging them to stand their ground and not to leave the protest site.

Some protesters who came by their personal vehicles left the scene and some waded through knee-length water at certain spots and found shelter at roofed bus stops.

When the rain stopped, they converged again at the Royal Plaza. They held hands vowing not to give up even if it rained heavier. The back of their main rally stage read: "Three years against bureaucratic polity to found a new Thai state".

More than 100 pieces of plywood were kept behind the stage, ready to be installed if the authorities turned on a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) to disrupt their protest.

Sanchai Chadapet, a leader of the red shirts, took to the make-shift stage on a pickup truck loaded with loud speakers after moving on Si Ayutthaya Road to the Si Sao Residence of Privy Council president General Prem Tinsulanonda. He slammed the elder statesman for 30 minutes before an audience of 50 red shirts before dispersing to join the main stage. They carried a 500-metre long cloth with a message "Give us back the 1997 Constitution".

Police threw a security blanket around Prem's residence.

The red shirts accuse Prem of masterminding the 2006 coup.

Earlier yesterday, some 4,000 red-shirt supporters of Thaksin showed up outside Prem's country home in Nakhon Ratchasima but called off their protest when confronted by an Army guard and informed that the chief royal adviser was not there.

-- The Nation 2009/09/20

[Thailand]

So this so called big day turned out to be a big old nothing. Great news!

Apart from the violence by the yellow factions at the Cambodian border.

[animatic]

Good news no violence for the Reds.

Bad news PAD causes trouble at border.

Good news PAD steals some limelight and press from Reds

Bad news, Thaksin wanted to save money for NEXT month with ASEAN meet...

Good news High season so far hasn't been wrecked

Bad news with the ASEAN target and Thaksin's court dates for 2 bil. coming up,

Oct being that much closer to High Season will cause late in the day panics.

Good news, when it comes to violence happening being proved wrong is a blessing.

Bad news, in this case it is justy putting off the pain,

till more damage can be done / leverage can be applied.

Good news Si sa ket people stood up to PAD 's nationalist wing

Bad news any lose of life or injuries

Good news no major border blow up with Cambodia

Bad news it ain't over yet.

Edited September 20, 2009 by animatic

[animatic]

Wow 100 peices of plywood.... 150 db will just start them vibrating,

and bounce the sound more diffused into the audience in front.

Saves the leader core a bit, but hammers their groundlings even harder.

Brilliant tactical response.

Of course the LRAD would have been used on 'street fighting groups',

to break up the rioting, and not on the speech makers, but let's not let

the 3 muscatel's egos, get in the way of a good illogical rant.

Edited September 20, 2009 by animatic

[Cayenne]

Wonder how many red shirts showed up yesterday? Assuming 20,000 x 500 baht = 10 million baht budget plus another 1-2 million for logistics. This seems to be in line for a budget for a modest concert event and even last night's AF6 finale probably had a bigger audience. This is a far cry from the hundreds of thousands like before so maybe there is a hint of truth that even Mr. T faces budget cuts (for certain things that is, his multimillion homes and mines notwithstanding).

[givenall]

Wow 100 peices of plywood.... 150 db will just start them vibrating,

and bounce the sound more diffused into the audience in front.

Saves the leader core a bit, but hammers their groundlings even harder.

Brilliant tactical response.

Of course the LRAD would have been used on 'street fighting groups',

to break up the rioting, and not on the speech makers, but let's not let

the 3 muscatel's egos, get in the way of a good illogical rant.

I would like to thank all the ones who did the rain dance for yesterday.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

still, there is nothing stopping a yellow or blue shirt putting on a red shirt and provoking the police & escalating violence. .... then the media will blame it all on the red shirts

Dream on. BTW what do you paid to do this crap ?

[lordsux]

A very apt title - It rains on almost every Red protest. I checked the radar and satellite imagery yesterday as I have done on other protest days when the skies have opened. As usual, a very heavy localized thunderstorm over Bangkok. Yesterday's radar and satellite images at the time of the thunderstorm were extreme in the way that Bangkok was blanketed under storm clouds. Unfortunately I was too busy looking for my tin hat to grab any screenshots.

[basjke]

The following is in the dutch press today.

In Thailand, Thaksin protesters celebrate resignation.At least 20,000 people have gone onto the streets to celebrate the premier Thaksin was deposed three years ago. One of the demonstrations, in a temple on the Cambodian border, got out of hand. Opponents of Thaksin clashed with the police when they wanted to enter the temple. Even supporters of Thaksin were on the street. The former prime minister spoke to them via a video link. He called the country with a clean slate and to prepare for elections. Thaksin was deposed three years ago and is in default convicted of corruption. He lives abroad.

Source NOS.nl

You see that Mc2 is right again.It were ALL yellows disguised as reds.

Edited September 20, 2009 by basjke

[hammered]

Small turnout

[animatic]

Where's Koo82 to tell us it was a great craek,

and the numbers were 120,000 and

ONLY Blues in red shirts caused the rain storm,

and Thaksin is her man for sure?

Up is down and black is white and only red is a real cooor...

[jayboy]

still, there is nothing stopping a yellow or blue shirt putting on a red shirt and provoking the police & escalating violence. .... then the media will blame it all on the red shirts

Dream on. BTW what do you paid to do this crap ?

I agree it's nonsense.Equally so is the recent post by Cayenne suggesting the Red demonstrators were paid, as if - even hypothetically accepting some were - that this was the main motivation.Then Hammered obliquely comments "small turnout" as if the government's security arrangements (quite sensible in my view given past events) had nothing to do with the numbers.But 20,000 is not an unreasonable number.Just a quick sampling which suggests we in TV often seem to be like just ants wandering around a mosaic.It would be good to focus a bit more on the wider significance of all this, and obsess less about marginal detail.For example the current silliness on the Cambodian border doesn't really undermine the Yellow political platform, however much the Thaksinistas say it does ( and I say that as someone broadly sympathetic to the Red cause).

[animatic]

still, there is nothing stopping a yellow or blue shirt putting on a red shirt and provoking the police & escalating violence. .... then the media will blame it all on the red shirts

Dream on. BTW what do you paid to do this crap ?

A somewhat unlike moderator response for what after all is a fairly standard international tactic for disrupting peaceful protests by inserting agitators amongst the throng to try to create mayhem.

I think such tactics where even mentioned by the powers that be in another thread.

Well it can be argued that our resident Jr T-man/almost an equation,

is JUST such a;

"tactic for disrupting peaceful protests by inserting agitators amongst the throng to try to create mayhem"

[dr_Pat_Pong]

still, there is nothing stopping a yellow or blue shirt putting on a red shirt and provoking the police & escalating violence. .... then the media will blame it all on the red shirts

Your broken record is too tiring Ma'am.