Video: Organizers Hand Out Cash To Red-shirt People

[SomTumTiger]

Of course they are paid. If they didn't pay, they only ones there would be the Jataporn and Mr. Happy Toilet.

[mrtoad]

Of course they are paid. If they didn't pay, they only ones there would be the Jataporn and Mr. Happy Toilet.

And just for old times sake here is Mr Wan "Mr Happy Toilet" Yoobamrung

Not really sure where he fits in with the Red Shits campaign.

[SomTumTiger]

He probably doesn't, but i just like saying "Mr. Happy Toilet"

[frodo]

Of course they are paid. If they didn't pay, they only ones there would be the Jataporn and Mr. Happy Toilet.

And just for old times sake here is Mr Wan "Mr Happy Toilet" Yoobamrung

Not really sure where he fits in with the Red Shits campaign.

...and who gives a "shit"

[Arkady]

What's to stop someone from signing up, taking the Bt.2,000, then splitting?

Actually, that's what the paid-voters should do: take money to vote, then go ahead and vote how they want - though would be a tad difficult if the insides of voting booths were viewable by officials, which it appears many were.

Either way, the pay-to-protest money is something many of us already knew was happening. We thought it was on the order of 300 to 500 baht, but now we see that (for some folks, at least) it's 2,000. Perhaps others are getting more. You can be sure the organizers are getting a whole lot more.

Either way, though news of protestors getting paid to attend a rally may not be a big deal to Thais, it's speaks volumes to people observing from overseas.

If Thaksin is trying to gain any credibility from foreigners / foreign governments / foreign press corps - he's sure blowing it big time. He might as well dance around half naked with a penis gourd and a dead chicken on his head - ....would do him no worse than news of him paying protesters to attend a rally to support his selfish antics.

The Nation report said they were getting 2,000 baht for going to Bangkok and another 2,000 baht when they get back, assuming they have been present for all required role call I suppose. I think many villagers who toil in other people's fields for only 300 baht, when the work is available, are happy for this kind of deal. Many have never been to Bangkok before and getting to go on an outing with friends with meals and transport provided plus 500 baht a day is not to be sneezed at. Obviously some people do take cash from canvassers and vote for other candidates but they are routinely threatened that something bad will happen to them or their families, if don't vote for the right candidate. Since many of the canvassers are also local government officials like village headmen, villagers often believe they will be able to look at their ballots and in some cases this is true.

It does seem hard for Thaksin to get much international sympathy at this stage. His defence hinges largely on the argument that the investigation into his unusual wealth emanated from the coup plus some convoluted points about quantifying the damage sustained by the state and the computation of the "fine". While international (farang) opinion frowns on coups and likes democracy or a semblance of it, the Western media seems to struggle with the logical corrolary of Thaksin's defence that it is OK for a serving prime minister to conceal effective management control of a large telecom company. This a good example of how the Thai concept of form over substance clashes with Western culture. In farang culture, if irrefutable evidence came to light that a farang political office holder had done the same thing, no one would care much who was the investigating party or where their authority came from. The very fact that he was in a position to favour his own business would kill him politically and their would be stiff penalties for the act of concealment without need to quanitify actually what damage was sustained by the state. Thaksin now lives in his own little world, motivated by desperation and surrounded by yes men and I would think these points are lost on him. Even died in the wool red shirt farang websites like New Mandala, hosted by Australian National University's Asian Studies Dept, and often indirectly quoted by media like The Economist, are struggling to come out with logical explanations as to how a protesting over the seizure of a corrupt billionaire politician's assets is supporting the cause of democracy and redistribution of wealth. The liberal Ozzie social science professors on New Mandala seem to have become tongue tied. They are not arguing that a corrupt leader like Thaksin is just what they need in Australia, even though they may think he is terrific for a third world country.

[DickFarang]

A friend's girlfriend owns a couple of stalls in one of the clothing malls in Bangkok. She's not sure she'll be able to keep her shops open this weekend as her workers have been offered 500 baht a day to go protest. Like many other small business people in Bangkok she's just as pissed off at the Reds as she was at the Yellows last year.

Option #1: Pay a decent wage to her employees and then they won't take off for better wages.

Option #2: Go herself and make some money to.

Option #3: Become a recruiter and send many people to the rally and collect a percentage from each.

Option #4: Don't worry about it, its only temporary. Go have a nice day in the park or at the beach.

As to option #4: More Bangkokians than usual, not sure about their colour, seem to come to Pattaya this weekend.

Whats the problem?

UDD as well as PAD have to pay people who use their private Pickups for transport to Bangkok?

What is your question about ?

My comment was about Bangkok people coming to the beach, this weekend apparently more than other weekends.

[rainman]

Has anyone seen the Bangkok Post article today showing that soldiers are being paid an additional 300 Baht on top of their salary for every day they spend on the streets against the protests? How is that any different?

[anotherpeter]

Has anyone seen the Bangkok Post article today showing that soldiers are being paid an additional 300 Baht on top of their salary for every day they spend on the streets against the protests? How is that any different?

They are getting paid to do their job (protecting the civilians in their country) ... with a little danger money and OT.

[way2muchcoffee]

Has anyone seen the Bangkok Post article today showing that soldiers are being paid an additional 300 Baht on top of their salary for every day they spend on the streets against the protests? How is that any different?

Have you never heard of hazardous duty pay? It is given to soldiers assigned to the south as well. Not sure the exact daily figure, but hazardous duty pay is pretty standard around the world.

Edited March 13, 2010 by way2muchcoffee

[SomTumTiger]

Has anyone seen the Bangkok Post article today showing that soldiers are being paid an additional 300 Baht on top of their salary for every day they spend on the streets against the protests? How is that any different?

Wow....lol...a true believer. Ill keep my hand on my wallet.

[brahmburgers]

It is interesting that the original estimations were THB 3,000 per pickup and it now appears to be THB 2,000.

A more recent article mentions that there is the 2,000 baht given at the departure point, and an added 2,000 baht given in Bangkok at the end of the rally. 2 + 2 = 4

4,000 baht, plus a lot of free food, drink, and probably a free or cheap place to stay - not bad for being away from home for 3 days - even if you're paying for some petrol.

You can be sure that subsequent money hand-outs by Red leaders will be less open - with supporters looking around and making sure no one is running a camera on the transactions.

Speaking of Red Shirt leaders, it would be most interesting to find out what they were pulling in for these rallies - and to what extent it might be tied in to the many millions of baht which the gov't said has been transferred to Thailand recently. It sounds as though many of those big money transfers were to odd addresses - mailboxes at abandoned buildings/businesses and such. Could be rumors but it sounds plausible. If I wanted to get a bunch of big pseudo-legal payments transferred to operatives in Thailand, I'd arrange to do it clandestinely also.

For Rainman and others who continue to claim how clever Thaksin always is: How do you explain, right before the Thai economy tanked in 1997, that Thaksin was able to transfer heaps of his Baht in to dollars - just before the collapse of the Baht. Was it just coincidence that T was meeting with the head of Bank of Thailand right at that time? In the US, they call that sort of thing 'insider trading' and there are serious legal consequences. Yes, Thaksin has been clever with money manipulating at times, but a conniving thief like Madoff can also be called 'clever.'

[mazeltov]

Has anyone seen the Bangkok Post article today showing that soldiers are being paid an additional 300 Baht on top of their salary for every day they spend on the streets against the protests? How is that any different?

that the soldiers are here in the city, coming across the Rubicon, is an issue that matters.

that they are getting paid an extra is hardly something to argue about and as they say in the village you cant compare guava fruits with mangoes.

[petebkk]

Would you carry around and throw bags of s#*t and smelly fish for free?

YAWN...give me a break.

In Europe, theres even a company called "Rent a protester"...5555. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/24/rent_a_protestor/

So whats wrong with this idea in TH ???

Hey, give me a break, man.

Is there any company over there offering a "Buy a voter" service? Now, that's progress, right?

[petebkk]

Has anyone seen the Bangkok Post article today showing that soldiers are being paid an additional 300 Baht on top of their salary for every day they spend on the streets against the protests? How is that any different?

that the soldiers are here in the city, coming across the Rubicon, is an issue that matters.

that they are getting paid an extra is hardly something to argue about and as they say in the village you cant compare guava fruits with mangoes.

If you can't see the difference, that's sad. To me, attending a protest is part of democracy, a way to voice your displeasure. If you're doing it for money, then you're renting your right as a citizen here. Not much different than vote-selling. As for the soliders, haven't you heard of per diem and expense account when you go out of town on business?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Bangkok Pundit had an interesting analysis and comparison. There are contributions to cover costs and possibly missed income. Same same for Sondhi and the yellows when they had their rallies. See here:

http://www.asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-pundit-blog

[mazeltov]

Has anyone seen the Bangkok Post article today showing that soldiers are being paid an additional 300 Baht on top of their salary for every day they spend on the streets against the protests? How is that any different?

that the soldiers are here in the city, coming across the Rubicon, is an issue that matters.

that they are getting paid an extra is hardly something to argue about and as they say in the village you cant compare guava fruits with mangoes.

If you can't see the difference, that's sad. To me, attending a protest is part of democracy, a way to voice your displeasure. If you're doing it for money, then you're renting your right as a citizen here. Not much different than vote-selling. As for the soliders, haven't you heard of per diem and expense account when you go out of town on business?

are you talking to me?

i have no problem that the soldiers getting that 300 baht. it is a non-issue and a no brainer why they get these 300 baht. and i don't want compare that with the video and the cash out to the reds or see it in the same line. apples/oranges. guava/mango. wasn't that clear?

that they are in the city at all would be something to discuss. i mean the soldiers.

btw. how fits that the concept of democracy. that army is here?

[hextac]

The videos only show petrol allowance being distributed to designated drivers.

I'm not red, I'm just sayin'...

[WinnieTheKhwai]

And it's interesting that the newspaper calls this 'Scandal?' when they were apparently fine with it when the PAD did it to pay for expenses for their supporters.

[Puccini]

...You can be sure that subsequent money hand-outs by Red leaders will be less open...

I read that the present demonstrations are the "final showdown" and thus there should be no subsequent events. Final sponsorship pay-out to the res-shirt movement, it would seem.

[citizen33]

The Bangkok Pundit translation is similar to the one I provided at post #186. I still don't say there might not be important things that I (and BP) have missed. There are several verbal exchanges on the first video which are difficult to make out, and I am surprised that none of the posters who claim to see more than the appeal for money and the apparent payment of drivers, haven't tried translations of their own - after all they are all old Thai hands. Over to you gentlemen!

[brahmburgers]

...You can be sure that subsequent money hand-outs by Red leaders will be less open...

I read that the present demonstrations are the "final showdown" and thus there should be no subsequent events. Final sponsorship pay-out to the res-shirt movement, it would seem.

The Reds won't be done when this rally is done. The Reds will be done when the money from Thaksin dries up. Thaksin won't quit until he gets retribution for perceived wrongs. He won't get retribution, so he will persist, and continue to be a thorn in the side of whomever is politically in charge, if it's not him or someone designated by him.

[Mamuang16]

An article about this question here:

http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/1670

[craigt3365]

We were just watching TV. Reporters showed pics of the boats headed down the river filled with reds. They said it appears many are not Thais, but Lao and Burmese paid to make it look like there are lots of them.

Looks like I have a few relatives in BKK now. Couldn't resist the money. Especially when you have no job. One said it took well over 24 hours to get past Khorat. Police seem to be stalling the hordes as much as possible....

[londonthai]

We were just watching TV. Reporters showed pics of the boats headed down the river filled with reds. They said it appears many are not Thais, but Lao and Burmese paid to make it look like there are lots of them.

in thailand there is no way of knowing an origin of many without talking to them first, to find out their accent - commentators should first do check, rather than broadcast rumours on a national tv.

because since than no media reported about foreigners in bangkok's protests (other than farang reporters and tourists taking pics), those commnets should be classified as a smear

[mca]

Have to agree with londonthai. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination but my MILs maid is Burmese and my wife said that unless the maid spoke there's no way she'd be taken for anything other than Thai. My nephew studies at in Bangkok and brought a fellow student from Lao to visit us. Again my missus said he'd be mistaken for a local Isaan lad until he opened his mouth when I asked if people could tell he wasn't from around here. My wife herself has Burmese grandparents and quite a few folks are surprised that she's not "pure" Thai for want of a better word.

I dunno of the news reporters have any other visual clues as to whether somebody is not Thai.

Edited March 16, 2010 by mca

[NightFall]

my wife told me this on the phone last night. i thought it might just be village rumor. guess not. she said that there are 'body guards' who mind the paid red-shirts so they just don't bug out with the cash. wonder how much they pay falangs? 5555

amazing thailand!

[brahmburgers]

my wife told me this on the phone last night. i thought it might just be village rumor. guess not. she said that there are 'body guards' who mind the paid red-shirts so they just don't bug out with the cash. wonder how much they pay falangs? 5555 amazing thailand!

Sure, there would have to be enforcers. If money was paid out, the enforcers would be deputized to make sure people didn't just show up for the money and then split to somewhere not designated. An earlier report in the Bkk Post mentioned that drivers got 2,000 baht to drive to Bkk, and 2,000 when they leave Bkk, (assuming it's not right away). Quite likely ID's are checked at either end. If someone is not accounted for, then it would be easy to make excuses, and Thais are Olympian class at making excuses for things.

It would be interested to find out what sorts of payments the upper ranks of the Red movement are pulling in.

Anyone have any news on that?

[Bottlerocket]

Does anyone think that when political parties in the US or UK hold events they do it without petty cash? This video is weak and government disinformation. George, when did you become a government shill?

[Tony121]

Looks like a big bunch of thousand baht notes to me, hardly petty cash in thailand.

[JetsetBkk]

Looks like a big bunch of thousand baht notes to me, hardly petty cash in thailand.

...but petty cash in Montenegro.