Video: Organizers Hand Out Cash To Red-shirt People

[yoshiwara]

Bought and paid for by Mr Thaksin.

hello boi, you got something wrong.

the correct stupid line is: Thaksin is stealing the money all the time.

Power to the people, GO RED SHIRTS !!!!!!!!!!

Some, of course, roll over and say tickle my tummy for nothing.

[monkfish]

OK after looking at the video again I accept your argument that they do appear to be ID cards

(although all are the older ID cards) on the first video. But can you prove these are direct payments

to protesters purely for attending the rally? UDD is a big organization and it is no secret that they do provide transport,

food and water to protesters which all has to be paid for. Unless you can prove it then the title of the thread is nothing more than

liable and slander and should be treated that way. By the way the audio gives a lot away check it out!

The title says: "Organizers hand out cash to red-shirt people"

In the clip: Some people who are clearly organising something are handing out cash to people, some of whom, are wearing red shirts.

What more can be said? Stop clutching at straws......

OK OK! so the title is not misleading the intention is however as such

[hextac]

So do we all agree these people are drivers and receiving 2000B to cover gas (petrol, Benzin) expenses for driving demonstrators to Bangkok and back again???

In a word.

No.

You sir are a fool. You have no idea what the people are saying yet you let your "intuition" tell you the answer.

[David006]

... no different from any lobbyists giving millions to any political campaign worldwide albeit at a macro level...??

[monkfish]

Caught red handed !

doesn't matter what they spend the money on they are being paid to protest.

Do other organizations need money to demonstrate? e.g Greenpeace or do they also manage with cash?

[ILOOKFORWORK]

Why does the news from this site always seem to be very biased?

[cougar52]

For Thaksin, it's all cold and calculated...

Pay 1,000,000 people 2000 Baht each, cost two billion dollars. Use them to throw over the government and get you 46 Billion back...net profit 44 Billion Dollars US, in less than a week. Where can you make that kind of money in one week, with the bonus of having your criminal record wiped out, all lawsuits dropped and being prime minister again (or should I say Prime Dictator, as in Thaksin's case). True, it may cost him few more millions, to pay off the organizers, but the profits are still huge.

That's if you don't count all the dead and maimed, who will be left in the streets, by the time all this is over :-( Anyways, if Thaksin wins, you can kiss democracy in this country goodbye.

Is this what is called Yellow Journalism ??? Let's get the facts of your post... (Pay 1,000,000 people 2000 Baht each, cost 2 billion BAHT not $ Dollars.

Use them to throw over the Government and get you 46 Billion back. ..net profit 44 billion dollars US.. 46 Billion Baht is 1.4 billion US dollars, so I do not get how you arrive to a profit of 44 Billion Dollars US. And yes at your calculations, I surely hope you are not my accountant...You would be telling me I have 50 Billion when I am BANKRUPT

[Tokay]

They're fighting for Democracy - errrrrrr money for votes, money for support, money for protesting. Now that's what I call democracy!!!!!!!!!

Exactly.

Perhaps the Americans need to "liberate" Thailand and force proper democracy upon them.

[cougar52]

Thai wife tells me very little Thai is being spoken and it sounds like Laotian to her but not sure. Does anyone know if these are Thai people being paid off?

I do not where your wife is from, but being as that this video was taken in NKP which is on the river where one side is Thailand and the other is Laos I am not surprised that the language is Lao, same way as in Nong Kai and Udorn.

[shawndoc]

Do other organizations need money to demonstrate? e.g Greenpeace or do they also manage with cash?

I don't know about Greenpeace, but Jesse Jackson routinely buses people in to attend his protests. My guess is Greenpeace and the anti-war movement during the Bush presidency had enough support that they don't need to do that.

[rufanuf]

All these threads about Thai Politics! Have any expats figured out how us poor hard done by immigrants can make use of these circumstances for the betterment of our own communities?

[kurtgruen]

Power to the people, GO RED SHIRTS !!!!!!!!!!

More like..."Power to the Billionaire", while the Red shirts get beat up and killed, trying to get it for him, with him hiding in another country.

[tominbkk]

According to my wife it is meant to be anything but clandestine. They WANT it widely disseminated so many more people will show up tomorrow to join. It's proof there's "big money" to be made.

That makes the most sense so far....all them crisp 1000 Baht bills, mmmmmmm!

[Ricardo]

fortunately is not necessary to travel 700km (+ 700 back) to go vote....

so, is not necessary to fill the tank....

ricardo don't worry, you're just a further user that stepped into a poo-poo (rumors say "bring luck")

No worries, mate. There's an awful lot of it around !

p.s. i'm not english mothertongue (really, who'd say... ) i got a question: to say "go smoke another one" is an assumption that the interlocutor is drug addicted?

And may I congratulate you, on the supreme excellence, of your vocabulary ? No poo-poo !

Edited March 13, 2010 by Ricardo

[Peter Bysouth]

Big deal! A lot of those people need to cover their expenses at home even if they get a free ride to Bangkok and a few free meals while they are there.

No big deal in UK most of the protesters are paid by the taxpayers it's called social security and the payments are guaranteed by the government and they send the paymasters to the protest sites.

[kurtgruen]

For Thaksin, it's all cold and calculated...

Pay 1,000,000 people 2000 Baht each, cost two billion dollars. Use them to throw over the government and get you 46 Billion back...net profit 44 Billion Dollars US, in less than a week. Where can you make that kind of money in one week, with the bonus of having your criminal record wiped out, all lawsuits dropped and being prime minister again (or should I say Prime Dictator, as in Thaksin's case). True, it may cost him few more millions, to pay off the organizers, but the profits are still huge.

That's if you don't count all the dead and maimed, who will be left in the streets, by the time all this is over :-( Anyways, if Thaksin wins, you can kiss democracy in this country goodbye.

Is this what is called Yellow Journalism ??? Let's get the facts of your post... (Pay 1,000,000 people 2000 Baht each, cost 2 billion BAHT not $ Dollars.

Use them to throw over the Government and get you 46 Billion back. ..net profit 44 billion dollars US.. 46 Billion Baht is 1.4 billion US dollars, so I do not get how you arrive to a profit of 44 Billion Dollars US. And yes at your calculations, I surely hope you are not my accountant...You would be telling me I have 50 Billion when I am BANKRUPT

Point taken, I must have been tired and/or distracted. I meant to say Baht. Not sure, how I got dollars in there So to correct it...he pays out 2 Billion Baht to get back over 40 Billion Baht, which makes it over 1 Billion Dollars US profit. Anyways, most of the people get less for going. It's only the drivers who get 2000 Baht or more/less, depending on the distance from Bangkok. Regardless of how much he pays out, he stands to get back over a Billion dollars US, if he wins, plus it will make him the powerful dictator he wants to be, in the country he wants to rule.

Yet, I think he will find, that his plan will not suceed, unless he actually works up the guts to be there with his followers, in the front lines, cheering them on.

Word is out, that his family left Thailand and everyone knows, that Thaksin himself is hiding in another country. Some of these poor people most be scratching their heads, wondering why they risks their lives? So a Billionaire can get his money back? For a few hundred (or few thousand) Baht? Or maybe, they actually think, that he will make them all middle class, once they get him back into power?

If I was a poor Thai, I would be staying at home with my family, watching my soaps and tilling the fields, rather than getting my head bashed in for a runaway billionaire. But that's just me, the guy who can't count

[RKASA]

When does this information and video make it main stream in the media. This is part of braking news, right. Come on Nation print it in your paper, Sondhi needs company, get this piece on channel 5 is that still owned and run by the military.

People listed on accounting sheets, show ID cards, and getting gas money to car pool to a rally.

but Look what they are doing makes better headlines.

It also causes division and confusion which is not helpful. The reds have a right to assemble peaceful and that is all most of these old women and farmers wish to do.

Media supported (Yes Goerge you are the media) disinformation organized as if its right from the RANT handbooks and presented by the forum puyia attached as part of braking news seems less then tasteful to me.

leave this to the blogger as they are largely immune to press standards for a reason. Once you connect in a deal to a news outlet and attach news to it, you are a pro and standards apply.

Now cue the cast which bury any dissenting view in a wave of pages filled with hateful ranting and name calling which goes largely un moderated. As it is also in the handbook. I am sure there are more objective forums around, but I have not found the Thai version of skinhead.com yet

[JimmyTheMook]

I saw one guy wearing a red shirt in that vid do a runner after he got the 2k cash , headed right for the 7-11 and the Beer Leo section.

[tharae]

Yeh, pay 'em to protest, pay 'em to vote. Whats the diff, every other country does it. Not!

[abcz9]

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.

your right there. he don,t have a single goverment behind him . only coup goverments.

[Gonzo the Face]

Have not had the time to read all 10 pages of posts, but just had a thought

The Video shows Red Shirts passing out 2000 baht to pay someone with a red shirt to go to Bkk to protest.

It has now been widely published and read.

..... Just as a thought....

..... What do you the the effect on protester attendance would be if an outside group, who wore Red Shirts , passed out 5000 baht to potential attendees and filmed it...... how would that affect those who are getting only 2000 baht to go.

Would they feel cheated and refuse to go ?

Would they demand more money to match the 5000 baht other were filmed getting and they saw it?

.... But then to say, how do we know the above filmed video of red shirts passing out 2000 baht , was not done in the above manner and they were not really redshirts....

As I am mostly on the Chiang Mai Forum ...... I have to say this ..... Its FOOD for thought ...

[neverdie]

^Gonzo, you tink too mut.

[johndpoole]

These people have their priorities mixed up. I just came from Laos for a visa run and you can go to a nice bar get mixed drinks for under 100 baht and girls for 500 baht. Why in the hel_l would these people want to spend BT2000 coming down to Bangkok and stand around in 36 degree heat?

[johndpoole]

Yeh, pay 'em to protest, pay 'em to vote. Whats the diff, every other country does it. Not!

In reality many (maybe all) do. Just not so blatantly. In the USA and UK they have companies they you can contract with to get you protesters. And what of their promises to lower taxes (put money in your pocket) or spend money on other projects that will benefit you.

It is almost always about money for such a large part of the populations everywhere.

[Sisaketmike]

Where can I find a red shirt that fits me?

[BigC]

Big deal! A lot of those people need to cover their expenses at home even if they get a free ride to Bangkok and a few free meals while they are there.

what everyday. travel to and from the protest area to pick up their daily money. yes i am sure taksin is just aying for their travel expenses. thats the only reason why the red shirts go is so they get a free tck and free food to bangkok a ha haha

[rafish]

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.

[Cayenne]

Hmm, funny if you want to call these handouts as "donation". Last I checked, people shouldn't have to submit copies of their ID cards and sign them to receive donations.

[kurtgruen]

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.

Option #5: Start whining to your "rich" farang boyfriend and get him to give you more money, to make up for the shortfall (After all, we all know, if someone is white and can afford to fly to Thailand, they must be rich ;-) lmao

[huanga]

They're fighting for Democracy - errrrrrr money for votes, money for support, money for protesting. Now that's what I call democracy!!!!!!!!!

That is a proper blend of capitalism for democracy :D