Thaksin's Rural Red Shirts Swarm The Capital

[ballpoint]

"clever slogan and marketing."

Not one major newspaper that I have seen mentioned anything negative about the number of protesters or anything at all about a million men showing up, or not.

The reds promised a million, they gave us 150,000 max. Despite all the spin from their supporters here, that's a miserable failure by any standards. I notice you've also changed tack in now not denying that the red leaders claimed a million would turn up, despite saying "However, they probably did not think that anyone would be dumb enough to think that they would know exactly how many protesters would actually march on Bangkok". So, they were lying to the people when they promised a million, or were they just showing their true feelings towards their dumb supporters?

Only a few obsessed nut cases on Thai Visa with nothing else to whine about are worried about it.

And you're so obsessed about it that you have to resort to flaming? Or are you admitting that all your posts on this topic were nothing more than efforts to troll a response?

[nakachalet]

Not a worry about short numbers, more a sign of relief.

The Red ReBranding™ has been somewhat effective for outside consumption,

but like Steve said, until the blood thing. May work somewhat north of Kohn Kaen,

but for the world press it's just blindingly stupid.

Ad hominum attacks abound, but don't sink good arguments UG.

Sorry your dog don't hunt.

contrary to world opinion....

the three leaders.... now including the fourth--dr wang or MOR-VANG.... (prisoner tuksin's close family friend and a major supporter) all believed that....

the idea of letting blood flow.... was their best idea ever....

to show to the parliament and the world at large that.... they are serious about seizing power and the returning of power to the people....

AND jatuporn boldly stated today, tuesday, on p-channel.... THAT THE CLOSURE WILL HAPPEN WITHIN SEVEN DAYS.... but he fails to elaborate if he and other leaders intend to close shop in seven days....

[SomTumTiger]

The reds are the perfect example of how bad leadership can doom a campaign. The idiots leading the group never gave them a chance. Game, set, match.

[Old Man River]

According to what Giles Ji Ungpakorn wrote yesterday, "hundreds of thousands of Thai Redshirt pro-Democracy demonstrators took to the streets of Bangkok and other cities over the weekend."

Somebody should buy this guy a calculator.

On the People's Channel broadcast (TVU) this morning, a list was read out of how many vehicles from each province were headed to / in Bangkok and the amount of money donated in each province.

Old Man River (keep on rollin'.... Missi...... sorry, got carried away),

How many people do you think are participating in the protest in Bangkok? Give us a number...

On these things, it is so hard to get accurate counts, but it is roughly what they had last Songkran (approx. 100,000). That was at its height. Now, many have cut and run.

[steveromagnino]

"clever slogan and marketing."

Not one major newspaper that I have seen mentioned anything negative about the number of protesters or anything at all about a million men showing up, or not. Only a few obsessed nut cases on Thai Visa with nothing else to whine about are worried about it.

Only SCMP (largest english language in HK)

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menui...orld&s=News

(sorry, I can only see the headline, maybe you subscribe)

FInancial Times (one of the world's largest papers)

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/973fb63e-2fec-11...?nclick_check=1

'The opposition United Front for the Defence of Democracy against Dictatorship had billed the demonstrations as the final showdown with the government. But the protests, which built up to a demonstration in Bangkok on Sunday, failed to attract the expected numbers: it was originally described as the “million-man march” but the UDD estimate of 350,000 people seems optimistic, even if police estimates of 85,000 seem understated.'

Straits Times (#1 Singaporean newspaper, usually as hysterically pro Thaksin as Nation is negative)

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/S...ory_502298.html

'The Red Shirts had dubbed their rally a 'million man march' but police estimated their numbers reached only 86,000 while protest leaders said they had more than 100,000.'

You want more?

[Siripon]

Reporters this afternoon at Pan Fah estimated there were about 20,000 red shirts there.

[Old Man River]

The reds are the perfect example of how bad leadership can doom a campaign. The idiots leading the group never gave them a chance. Game, set, match.

Their poor organization had been discussed before the demonstration and Jaturporn, Veera, Nuttawut et. al. didn't disappoint. Also, the authorities were much better organized than they were last Songkran.

Jaturporn calling for the Phea Thai MP's to resign was a highlight. He obviously forgot to talk to the guy in Montenegro who had spent a lot of money to get these people elected in the first place.

[Siripon]

As an aside, I noticed that Arisaman said in regarding to the throwing of excrement, they would use the human waste from a lady boy to throw at General Prem's house.

Well it will be amusing if Mingkwan becomes the next leader of Pheua Thai because Arisaman will have to wai someone of the same ilk!

[animatic]

As an aside, I noticed that Arisaman said in regarding to the throwing of excrement, they would use the human waste from a lady boy to throw at General Prem's house.

Well it will be amusing if Mingkwan becomes the next leader of Pheua Thai because Arisaman will have to wai someone of the same ilk!

Well I have been wondering where he planned to harvest his ammunition...

[geriatrickid]

And of course the whole country loses the EXPENSE of running those unnecessary by elections.

So many things to fix and pay for in a just recovering economic situation, and they want to throw

more money away in making their point.

Elections are an unnecessary expense???????

Wow. Your true position comes through doesn't it?

Yes, elections are an expense, but an election is sort of a fundamental part of a democracy isn't it?

No need for an election in your world it seems.

A depressing sentiment, and puts you in the company of some wonderful despots. Perhaps you wish to reconsider your statement?

[way2muchcoffee]

And of course the whole country loses the EXPENSE of running those unnecessary by elections.

So many things to fix and pay for in a just recovering economic situation, and they want to throw

more money away in making their point.

Elections are an unnecessary expense???????

Wow. Your true position comes through doesn't it?

Yes, elections are an expense, but an election is sort of a fundamental part of a democracy isn't it?

No need for an election in your world it seems.

A depressing sentiment, and puts you in the company of some wonderful despots. Perhaps you wish to reconsider your statement?

Oh please. Elections now are an unnecessary expense because there is a legitimate government in place, with the PM elected by parliament. The next elections will be in approximately 20 months. Should there be an election every time 80,000 protesters gather? Your attempt to smear is at best disingenuous.

Edited March 16, 2010 by way2muchcoffee

[Cayenne]

The reds are the perfect example of how bad leadership can doom a campaign. The idiots leading the group never gave them a chance. Game, set, match.

Their poor organization had been discussed before the demonstration and Jaturporn, Veera, Nuttawut et. al. didn't disappoint. Also, the authorities were much better organized than they were last Songkran.

Jaturporn calling for the Phea Thai MP's to resign was a highlight. He obviously forgot to talk to the guy in Montenegro who had spent a lot of money to get these people elected in the first place.

What was the real gem was in Jatuporn's reply to a reporter when asked if he would lead by example and give up his MP status. His response was, "I don't want to be a hero"

[SomTumTiger]

Jatuporn doesn't want to be a hero. Neither do the TV reds. "Who will help me bake this bread? Not me not me not me." lol Who will help me eat this bread. memememememememememememememem etc

[Jerrytheyoung]

Yes, the beginning of discussions between Abhisit and Veera is a good start as well as the Northern visit.

-It is time to face the real problems particularly the increasing gap between rural and citadin populations due to a fast growing industry

-It is time to re-think the future of the thai agriculture, its modernisation, the investments which have -also to be done in this sector. How to associate nearly half of the population to progress

- it is time to revise the Educational system at two speeds: Bangkok and the rest of the Country.

Good luck...

[roamer]

Yes, the beginning of discussions between Abhisit and Veera is a good start as well as the Northern visit.

-It is time to face the real problems particularly the increasing gap between rural and citadin populations due to a fast growing industry

-It is time to re-think the future of the thai agriculture, its modernisation, the investments which have -also to be done in this sector. How to associate nearly half of the population to progress

- it is time to revise the Educational system at two speeds: Bangkok and the rest of the Country.

Good luck...

They certainly have to think about the future of Thai agriculture, if the Reds decide to launch an insurgency campaign in Issan and the North and the insurgents in the South decide to deepen their own campaign the investment in Thailand would dry up so fast it would once again become an agrarian economy.

[nakachalet]

Yes, the beginning of discussions between Abhisit and Veera is a good start as well as the Northern visit.

-It is time to face the real problems particularly the increasing gap between rural and citadin populations due to a fast growing industry

-It is time to re-think the future of the thai agriculture, its modernisation, the investments which have -also to be done in this sector. How to associate nearly half of the population to progress

- it is time to revise the Educational system at two speeds: Bangkok and the rest of the Country. Good luck...

They certainly have to think about the future of Thai agriculture, if the Reds decide to launch an insurgency campaign in Issan and the North and the insurgents in the South decide to deepen their own campaign the investment in Thailand would dry up so fast it would once again become an agrarian economy.

perhaps, you really need to read up and study up on the distinction between problems facing the thai nation--the northeastern and the south....

they are truly mutually exclusive.... to quote someone

[roamer]

Yes, the beginning of discussions between Abhisit and Veera is a good start as well as the Northern visit.

-It is time to face the real problems particularly the increasing gap between rural and citadin populations due to a fast growing industry

-It is time to re-think the future of the thai agriculture, its modernisation, the investments which have -also to be done in this sector. How to associate nearly half of the population to progress

- it is time to revise the Educational system at two speeds: Bangkok and the rest of the Country. Good luck...

They certainly have to think about the future of Thai agriculture, if the Reds decide to launch an insurgency campaign in Issan and the North and the insurgents in the South decide to deepen their own campaign the investment in Thailand would dry up so fast it would once again become an agrarian economy.

perhaps, you really need to read up and study up on the distinction between problems facing the thai nation--the northeastern and the south....

they are truly mutually exclusive.... to quote someone

Enlighten then me wise one. I see a man in the south with a rifle, I see a man in the north with a rifle. Now I might start to think that my enemies enemy is my friend, thats a little scary.

Even if I couldn't bring myself to go that far I hope I would be astute enough to recognise that its far more difficult for an army to fight/defend on two fronts than it is on one and that now is a window of opportunity.. Believe a bloke called Adolf found out the difficulty of fighting on two fronts. Read up on him.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Here's a video of the protest.

[rainman]

Something that a lot of news sources failed to mention, is that there are a large amount of 'non-red-shirts' on the streets that are cheering on the red shirts:

(or 'terrorists' as some of you are calling them)

[roamer]

Something that a lot of news sources failed to mention, is that there are a large amount of 'non-red-shirts' on the streets that are cheering on the red shirts:

(or 'terrorists' as some of you are calling them)

Good pics. Little doubt that a lot of people support at least some of their aims. Others think its all over. IMHO its only just begun, difficult to defeat an ideal. Think Thaksin's legacy might be that he opened Pandora's box.

[nakachalet]

Something that a lot of news sources failed to mention, is that there are a large amount of 'non-red-shirts' on the streets that are cheering on the red shirts:

(or 'terrorists' as some of you are calling them)

rainman

great pix....

but WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE SO CALLED WELCOMING PUBLIC....?

many might cheer the marchers on and on, by the sidewalk.... but ask any of them to shed a sweat.... that would be another story.... LOL

-------

last night (tues) around 9 pm, at the p-channel, one of the speakers was shouting--

there were over a million of us redshirts gathering here.... we could not fail....

the police force was on our side now.... everyone around the world saw that today.... not even one policeman lifted the finger against us today as we confronted them face to face for many hours....

the soldiers were on our side now also.... we marched and confronted them all day, everybody around the world saw that too.... and they allowed us, the redshirts, to do anything we wanted.... they even allowed us to pour blood on their buildings and on their walls....

brothers and sisters.... apisit will have to resign tomorrow.... victory will be ours at last....

by tomorrow.... parliament will be dissolved for sure....

our leaders and many brothers and sisters have shed their blood today.... to guarantee our victory tomorrow....

and i was told, even bigger crowd than this.... is being organized around the country at this very moment....

they are coming to join us in bangkok to get rid of apisit and the um-mart.... they will arrive tomorrow to help us reclaim our democracy....

let's stay on.... let's fight on.... for tomorrow the victory will be ours, i guarantee....

[rainman]

I doubt that parliament will be dissolved anytime soon. And I doubt that Abhisit will step down anytime soon, either. The red shirt protests are also far from over, and even if they do end up going home, they will also end up coming back for another round. Unfortunately, the divide will only get bigger. And the root cause for this, in my opinion, was the army coup.

[nakachalet]

if any of us who has p-channel....

you would have heard from (general?) SAE-DANG, the guy that was arrested for hoarding war weapons as his personal possessions....

he claimed that he spoke in behalf of tuksin....

he proclaimed that the three current core-redshirts leaders have failed miserably TWICE already within a year....

the core-leaders have had no vision, they led the redshirts on day by day.... redshirts would continue to fail.... it is better for the redshirts to go home right away for now.... and regroup....

by may 1, when military processes were being reprocessed.... many soldiers would be away.... that would be the most opportune time.... to attack....

the time for victory surely is not now....

-------

he claimed that if he were to lead the redshirts, he needs only three days to revolutionalize the country.... yes, he said--in three days!

he said that the first day, his followers would seize the parliament....

the second day.... he would abolish the new constitution and would usher in the old constitution where loopholes are aplenty....

the third day.... he would invite tuksin back to lead thailand.... and it will be payback big time....

IT IS TRULY FRIGHTENING TO HEAR THIS MAN TALKS.... AND TO SEE HIM WALKS....

when he and his close aides were arrested.... his aides were locked up in cells.... but this general dressed in full military uniform.... were isolated on a second floor room with occasional freedom walking downstairs to talk and visit with his aides....

from what can be gathered.... this figure surely has some peculiar personality that authority in that police station appeared to cut him lots of slack....

SAE-DAENG is now out on bail.... and is making lots of noises....

and brothers and sisters.... he said that at the moment....

he is just waiting for the confirmation from all the core leaders of redshirt around the country.... to sack the no good current core-leaders who fail twice to lead redshirts to victory.... and what would the current core leaders do now that letting blood drip attempt fails to bring down the apisit and the parliament.... would the three core-leaders set themselves on fire.... in another hopeless new attempt to bring down apisit and the um-mart....?

he said.... he is just waiting for redshirt to regroup.... and appoint him as the new one and only one redshirt leader.... who will revolutionize thailand in three days.... as outlined above to the tele viewers around 4 pm today (tuesday, thailand time)....

now bro and sis.... that is really truly frightening indeed....

Edited March 16, 2010 by nakachalet

[thepodest]

"clever slogan and marketing."

Not one major newspaper that I have seen mentioned anything negative about the number of protesters or anything at all about a million men showing up, or not. Only a few obsessed nut cases on Thai Visa with nothing else to whine about are worried about it.

Hey, aren't you the guy who said that don't underestimate the red shirt and to wait until Sunday or Monday when the protest starts for a count?

It's nothing to do with the numbers at all. It has do with the credibilty of the red shirts' leaders. Understand?

[Cayenne]

Just because a few people cheer the red shirts on the sidelines doesn't mean they believe in the cause or anything. As many posts on TV have already covered, the whole protest has taken more of a circus-like atmosphere than a serious attempt to promote democracy. It is not helped either when people are paid to attend and the three stooges who call themselves leaders continually shoot themselves in the foot.

[kurtgruen]

Good pics. Little doubt that a lot of people support at least some of their aims. Others think its all over. IMHO its only just begun, difficult to defeat an ideal. Think Thaksin's legacy might be that he opened Pandora's box.

Yes, I think all these Red (and previous yellow) protests, make the poor aware of the fact, that they can band together and make their voices heard. We may one day see true socialism in Thailand, which would be the ultimate revenge on all the people, who organized these different prostests, for their own benefit (making more money). If it ever happened, I would say "Somnanna", they would get what they deserve.

At the very least, this show of solidarity will benefit future union organizing. There is Power in the people...Red Power, Yellow Power, Union Power and overall, power of the masses.

This Red Demonstration will of course fail, because it is hard to justify rallying up the masses to protect a "poor" Multi-Billionaire There is a first for everything, I guess.

[ChiangMaiFun]

And of course the whole country loses the EXPENSE of running those unnecessary by elections.

So many things to fix and pay for in a just recovering economic situation, and they want to throw

more money away in making their point.

Elections are an unnecessary expense???????

Wow. Your true position comes through doesn't it?

Yes, elections are an expense, but an election is sort of a fundamental part of a democracy isn't it?

No need for an election in your world it seems.

A depressing sentiment, and puts you in the company of some wonderful despots. Perhaps you wish to reconsider your statement?

Oh please. Elections now are an unnecessary expense because there is a legitimate government in place, with the PM elected by parliament. The next elections will be in approximately 20 months. Should there be an election every time 80,000 protesters gather? Your attempt to smear is at best disingenuous.

another rolled-out reply - the people do not support your notion of a ''legitimate government in place'' - and all this obssession with numbers is just to obscure the real issues - no one elected this government - hold an election - in the Bangkok Post the other day even Abhisit recognised this saying he would disolve the government (but not as a reaction to the protests).

[scotbeve]

I liked the pics of the folks that are in between..... They were wearing orange shirts! :-}

[kurtgruen]

And of course the whole country loses the EXPENSE of running those unnecessary by elections.

So many things to fix and pay for in a just recovering economic situation, and they want to throw

more money away in making their point.

Elections are an unnecessary expense???????

Wow. Your true position comes through doesn't it?

Yes, elections are an expense, but an election is sort of a fundamental part of a democracy isn't it?

No need for an election in your world it seems.

A depressing sentiment, and puts you in the company of some wonderful despots. Perhaps you wish to reconsider your statement?

Oh please. Elections now are an unnecessary expense because there is a legitimate government in place, with the PM elected by parliament. The next elections will be in approximately 20 months. Should there be an election every time 80,000 protesters gather? Your attempt to smear is at best disingenuous.

another rolled-out reply - the people do not support your notion of a ''legitimate government in place'' - and all this obssession with numbers is just to obscure the real issues - no one elected this government - hold an election - in the Bangkok Post the other day even Abhisit recognised this saying he would disolve the government (but not as a reaction to the protests).

The people elected MP's and the MP's have decided that the Democrats are good enough to lead them, with Abhisit as the Prime Minister. Yes, this Government was elected. The MP's, who run the Government coaliton were elected. What's so hard to understand about that. Maybe some other Western Countries do it differently, I don't know, but in Canada, where I came from, we have the same system as in Thailand. We have had many minority Governments over the year.

The TRT, PPP, etc., got their hands caught in the cookie jar and were disqualified to remain in office (just the way it should be, if corruption gets found out, the corrupt should get kicked out of office). Those were the rules...if executives in the party get caught vote buying, the party gets thrown out and that's what happened, if I remember right.

Now we have a minority Government and scheduled Elections coming up again in December 2011. So what is the problem, why not wait until the elections??? Abhisit is doing a decent job and the minority Government is working. If it works, don't fix it

[ChiangMaiFun]

The people elected MP's and the MP's have decided that the Democrats are good enough to lead them, with Abhisit as the Prime Minister. Yes, this Government was elected. The MP's, who run the Government coaliton were elected. What's so hard to understand about that. Maybe some other Western Countries do it differently, I don't know, but in Canada, where I came from, we have the same system as in Thailand. We have had many minority Governments over the year.

The TRT, PPP, etc., got their hands caught in the cookie jar and were disqualified to remain in office (just the way it should be, if corruption gets found out, the corrupt should get kicked out of office). Those were the rules...if executives in the party get caught vote buying, the party gets thrown out and that's what happened, if I remember right.

Now we have a minority Government and scheduled Elections coming up again in December 2011. So what is the problem, why not wait until the elections??? Abhisit is doing a decent job and the minority Government is working. If it works, don't fix it

You conveniently forget about coups, tanks and take overs... the people do not