Red Shirts Plan Intensified Protest In Bangkok : Saturday

[frodo]

Hmm, yesterday they had a mass head shaving. And today, according to the news updates:

BANGKOK: -- Red-shirts to use monks to lead procession to force soldiers to return to barracks at 5-6 key locations;incl Nang Leng race track, Wat Kae Nang Leng, Wat Bovornniwet, Wat Tri Tossathep, Wat Makut, Wat Sommanat Viharn, Panich Phra Nakhon University and Dusit Zoo.

I wonder how many orange robes were bought recently?

Now this is really going to be madness......I am afraid that things will soon get out of hands.....

Could very well be. Jatuporn, et al., have already made it known that any drop of red blood will be on the hands of the government. Personally, any drop of blood will be on the red shirts only. They have done nothing but threaten people for the past few weeks, and they're doing it again. The ever so cowardly drama queen, Arisiman, has put on his bullet proof vest. These leaders really want bloodshed as an excuse to tell the world, "We are the victims!" Hogwash.

[jdinasia]

So are the red shirts offering to refund Guinness for flying out to certify the size of the protest?

No. The Guinness people are here.

The reds are going for the record for the number of changed plans in a protest movement.

I thought the goal was to have the largest number of PAID protesters ever!

[Who, me ?]

Hmm, yesterday they had a mass head shaving. And today, according to the news updates:

BANGKOK: -- Red-shirts to use monks to lead procession to force soldiers to return to barracks at 5-6 key locations;incl Nang Leng race track, Wat Kae Nang Leng, Wat Bovornniwet, Wat Tri Tossathep, Wat Makut, Wat Sommanat Viharn, Panich Phra Nakhon University and Dusit Zoo.

I wonder how many orange robes were bought recently?

Now this is really going to be madness......I am afraid that things will soon get out of hands.....

Could very well be. Jatuporn, et al., have already made it known that any drop of red blood will be on the hands of the government. Personally, any drop of blood will be on the red shirts only. They have done nothing but threaten people for the past few weeks, and they're doing it again. The ever so cowardly drama queen, Arisiman, has put on his bullet proof vest. These leaders really want bloodshed as an excuse to tell the world, "We are the victims!" Hogwash.

They actually drew the first blood...Even if it were meant to be a symbol. Now, I am afraid that their provocation are going to be less of a symbol, and might very trigger something nasty....Hope that these poor lads who have been paid to wear a red shirt will see the light, and just go back home, leaving those muppets with their madness

[jdinasia]

You are saying that the RED can also take the airport, as long as they take it peacefully, just like the YELLOW. Please confirm my understanding.

Ummm go back and read what was written ... in no way did he say that. I would hazard to guess that nobody will ever be allowed to protest at Swampy again. The current government certainly wouldn't allow it no matter what color shirt someone wore.

What he said was that the yellows were attacked and responded (far out of proportion, but after the grenade attacks they had suffered how would they know what was being lobbed at them. The people involved should ALL have a day in court)

[Wolfie]

What he said was that the yellows were attacked and responded (far out of proportion, but after the grenade attacks they had suffered how would they know what was being lobbed at them. The people involved should ALL have a day in court)

And lets hope that day comes soon, so we can put to bed this 'double standards' claim of the reds...

[otherstuff1957]

It sounds like the Red leaders really don't have a plan and are just making it up as they go along. This latest idea - confronting soldiers and taking them back to their barracks - could really get out of hand. It's easy to say "do this peaceable", but when the pushing and shoving starts, who knows where it will end.

The Reds have been trying to get a violent response from the government for the past two weeks. Today they may succeed.

[frodo]

They actually drew the first blood...Even if it were meant to be a symbol. Now, I am afraid that their provocation are going to be less of a symbol, and might very trigger something nasty....Hope that these poor lads who have been paid to wear a red shirt will see the light, and just go back home, leaving those muppets with their madness

Agreed! The police, military, and the government have all been patient with them. If the reds begin laying hands on any of these people, they have started this "war" as Jatuporn puts it, and they alone will have to bear any consequences that may result. Protesting is fine but not assault.

[hammered]

It sounds like the Red leaders really don't have a plan and are just making it up as they go along. This latest idea - confronting soldiers and taking them back to their barracks - could really get out of hand. It's easy to say "do this peaceable", but when the pushing and shoving starts, who knows where it will end.

The Reds have been trying to get a violent response from the government for the past two weeks. Today they may succeed.

The government just need to sit and do nothing and the status quo continues. The red side and in particluar Thaksin need a game changer. Expect more attempts to provoke violence against them by the reds. Intersting and potentially nasty game of chicken

[anotherpeter]

Hmm, yesterday they had a mass head shaving. And today, according to the news updates:

BANGKOK: -- Red-shirts to use monks to lead procession to force soldiers to return to barracks at 5-6 key locations;incl Nang Leng race track, Wat Kae Nang Leng, Wat Bovornniwet, Wat Tri Tossathep, Wat Makut, Wat Sommanat Viharn, Panich Phra Nakhon University and Dusit Zoo.

I wonder how many orange robes were bought recently?

That's why they had the head shaving efforts in the last couple of days.

EDIT: missed your comment at the top :S

Edited March 27, 2010 by anotherpeter

[mazeltov]

if a banned party party executive was also a MP he left an empty seat in the parliament.

empty seats of a constituency vote MP got refilled with by-elections.

'proportional vote seats' not. 10 or 11 seats (of the total 80 proportional seats) are now empty. Somchai Wongsawat, for example, had such party list seat. so currently the parliament has only 469/470 members instead of the original 480.

According to the Thai Parliament Website, there are currently 475 MPs.

So that implies that 5 List MPs have been banned and haven't been replaced.

or that implies that the thai parliament website isn't up to date. and/or not that accurate.

check the list in english and in thai:

http://mp.parliament.go.th/biographical/fr...onList_Eng.aspx

http://mp.parliament.go.th/biographical/fr...PersonList.aspx

how sure you are with your 475? is it just fresh google information or knowledge?

i have only a weak memory.

[jdinasia]

What he said was that the yellows were attacked and responded (far out of proportion, but after the grenade attacks they had suffered how would they know what was being lobbed at them. The people involved should ALL have a day in court)

And lets hope that day comes soon, so we can put to bed this 'double standards' claim of the reds...

I honestly have lost track of what happened with the yellows on the truck. I think they were arrested but since I am unsure I have not commented on it. The case against the PAD leadership is proceeding.

[jdinasia]

If anything starts burning (I hope nothing does!) they should immediately grab Arisman and charge him with insurrection.

[Who, me ?]

If anything starts burning (I hope nothing does!) they should immediately grab Arisman and charge him with insurrection.

Absolutely!

[hammered]

Classic Thaksin. Seize the limelight from an international meeting in Thailand. They couldnt repeat the ASEAN insanity but by trying to provoke the army they get a lot of attention. Cynics would say they want more

[webfact]

Related link:

Red-shirt Rally Live Update - Saturday, March 27

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Bangkok-Red-...da-t350839.html

[otherstuff1957]

if a banned party party executive was also a MP he left an empty seat in the parliament.

empty seats of a constituency vote MP got refilled with by-elections.

'proportional vote seats' not. 10 or 11 seats (of the total 80 proportional seats) are now empty. Somchai Wongsawat, for example, had such party list seat. so currently the parliament has only 469/470 members instead of the original 480.

According to the Thai Parliament Website, there are currently 475 MPs.

So that implies that 5 List MPs have been banned and haven't been replaced.

or that implies that the thai parliament website isn't up to date. and/or not that accurate.

check the list in english and in thai:

http://mp.parliament.go.th/biographical/fr...onList_Eng.aspx

http://mp.parliament.go.th/biographical/fr...PersonList.aspx

how sure you are with your 475? is it just fresh google information or knowledge?

i have only a weak memory.

The Thai version of the list has 475 names, each with a party affiliation. It's dated 1 July, 2551, which I think was after the most recent by-election.

I may be wrong, but I would generally trust the Thai page over the English page.

MP list in Thai

[vicco]

Each and every time I start thinking that maybe the Redshirts are....stupid, or not really about democracy or whatever....I just log in here and get confirmation very quickly

that they are not so bad after all.....

The all knowing falangs of Bankok....who have predicted nothing but violence, total failure, collapse of the Thai economy etc are still harping on after two weeks of peaceful demonstrations....mostly with marches, speeches, the singing of songs and telling of jokes... it must be really getting to them. I for one am prepared to maintain a neutral view and wait to see what the final outcome will be. I hope it will continue to be peaceful and that it will lead to a legitimate election...which could very well be be won by the UDD party with a significant majority.....then what are the falangs of Bankok going to do? ...oh...I know..wait for the next coup...have the courts dissolve the UDD....same old rearguard restored to power....true democracy...at least if you get all your information from the Nation and the Bankok expats!

[anotherpeter]

Given what is happening today, maybe the army should give the red shirts a bit of rope.

Pull out of areas where they are only protecting property, and allow the red shirts do their thing.

Give them enough rope to hang themselves.

[Jimi007]

Don't count Thaksin out. Money is power in Thailand

Based on previous claims and actual numbers, they will be lucky to top 100,000 again

The Reds talk big, but lack a certain something when it comes to delivering on their promises

(Default behavior for most Politicians, right?)

These two posts, picked at random, sum the current stalemate up, quite well.

Thaksin must by now have realised, his Million Man March is a flop, the numbers were never even close to being delivered by his local leadership, but he still has pots of money, and some fairly off-the-wall local-supporters.

At what point might he decide, it's now time to sacrifice a few of the loyal Isaan pawns, in the greater interests of 'true-democracy' and 'justice' for himself ? He's failed to provoke PM-Abhisit's government, or the military, to repress the demonstration, so he may feel driven to the point where he arranges for it to happen anyway, just dress a few of his own in military-uniforms, and point them at the parade.

Would he even contemplate such a thing ? I sincerely hope not. But with time passing, and the meter still running, Thaksin must feel under immense pressure to break the stalemate.

Thaksin on sacrifice, not his:

Sour Grapes: Thaksin calls for turmoil

Asia one news

Thailand’s ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, now living in exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption, regularly encourages the red-shirted protesters in Bangkok via video-link. On Thursday he even raised the prospect of a campaign of civil disobedience if Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva continues to refuse demands to dissolve parliament.

"I pledge [sic] all of you to come out in force and fight peacefully. If they won't listen to us, then we will begin civil disobedience as [indian independence hero] Gandhi did to win against Britain…. If it is necessary we will have to do this. It's time for you to make sacrifices - don't be afraid," he said.

[p_brownstone]

Troops are leaving Nang Lerng and various Temples in Bangkok - and the Red Shirt rank and file believe they have won a victory.

However I am sure Thaksin and the Red Shirt leaders are absolutely furious at once again being so easily out-manoevered by the Government - what they desperately need is violent confrontation to trigger a Military crakdown and possibly a Coup, and however hard they try to provoke that violence the Government refiuses to be drawn.

Also of course, having left these various Natonal treasures in the hands of the Red Shirts, their Leaders are now responsible for protecting them against the thuggish tendencies of some of their followers.

The Government strategists are certainly in a different League to Arisman and Co.!

Patrick

edit : typo

Edited March 27, 2010 by p_brownstone

[TAWP]

if a banned party party executive was also a MP he left an empty seat in the parliament.

empty seats of a constituency vote MP got refilled with by-elections.

'proportional vote seats' not. 10 or 11 seats (of the total 80 proportional seats) are now empty. Somchai Wongsawat, for example, had such party list seat. so currently the parliament has only 469/470 members instead of the original 480.

According to the Thai Parliament Website, there are currently 475 MPs.

So that implies that 5 List MPs have been banned and haven't been replaced.

Which is far less than the by-elections covered and even less than the number of lost seats for the ex-PPP allied in the by-elections...so if they had the support of the people they could easily had overcome this loss and still had the same number or more MPs.

But it would not matter as factions where already tired and looked for new leaders to align themselves with for the rest of the term.

[anotherpeter]

Each and every time I start thinking that maybe the Redshirts are....stupid, or not really about democracy or whatever....I just log in here and get confirmation very quickly

that they are not so bad after all.....

The all knowing falangs of Bankok....who have predicted nothing but violence, total failure, collapse of the Thai economy etc are still harping on after two weeks of peaceful demonstrations....mostly with marches, speeches, the singing of songs and telling of jokes... it must be really getting to them. I for one am prepared to maintain a neutral view and wait to see what the final outcome will be. I hope it will continue to be peaceful and that it will lead to a legitimate election...which could very well be be won by the UDD party with a significant majority.....then what are the falangs of Bankok going to do? ...oh...I know..wait for the next coup...have the courts dissolve the UDD....same old rearguard restored to power....true democracy...at least if you get all your information from the Nation and the Bankok expats!

Wasn't it the red leaders promising violence, burning bangkok and civil war?

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

@Vicco

What "UDD party" are you talking about? No such party exists....... the PTP does exist, and if they continue to pay for votes and are cought doing so then dissolving them is the right thing to do. The same goes for the Democrats or any other party engaging in electoral fraud - because buying votes is NOT democratic.

As peaceful as the protests are, the reds are gambling with the sympathy i have for them (which, due to the "Thaksin" issue, isn't too much i may add) by continuously spoiling my weekends! Today, the third time in a row, i was woken up by the reds' speaker trucks slowly driving down Sukhumvit at 8 am. Do they not think about people who have to get up early Monday to Friday for work and wish to sleep in on Saturday and Sunday??

While they may work Monday to Friday and enjoy their protest party on the weekends there are plenty people who just wish to relax on their weekend, and having speaker trucks waking me up is NOT my view of "relaxing". At least keep the dam_n speakers silent until you reach your protest site, which is NOT outside my window here in Bangna!

I am not alone with this opinion by the way, my landlady also said she is so pissed at them for their early morning racket on weekends, specially now where the Motor Show provides that "late evening racket" with the outdoor car audio (sound-off) contests.

Right now the reds are confronting soldiers all over town, having announced in advance that "any violence will be blamed on the government". Great strategy really - trying desperately to force the opposition into a mistake and then blame them for it, too. Lucky so far the soldiers are giving in to the reds' demands.

To state my personal position once again: I am pro-yellow, anti-Thaksin, but i support several of the reds' causes, too. Everything except the Thaksin-issue and the "dissolve parliament" demand. So, reds, i am partly with you, but let me sleep on my weekends!

Best regards......

Thanh

[jdinasia]

Each and every time I start thinking that maybe the Redshirts are....stupid, or not really about democracy or whatever....I just log in here and get confirmation very quickly

that they are not so bad after all.....

The all knowing falangs of Bankok....who have predicted nothing but violence, total failure, collapse of the Thai economy etc are still harping on after two weeks of peaceful demonstrations....mostly with marches, speeches, the singing of songs and telling of jokes... it must be really getting to them. I for one am prepared to maintain a neutral view and wait to see what the final outcome will be. I hope it will continue to be peaceful and that it will lead to a legitimate election...which could very well be be won by the UDD party with a significant majority.....then what are the falangs of Bankok going to do? ...oh...I know..wait for the next coup...have the courts dissolve the UDD....same old rearguard restored to power....true democracy...at least if you get all your information from the Nation and the Bankok expats!

Perhaps you should log in to here more often ... and anywhere else that you can since you mislabeled the UDD as a political party than can be disbanded by the courts. (on a second note -- the word for white westerner is faRang ... only pronounced faLang by folks with linguitic ties to Laos)

Your other mistake is to rule out all the violent language used by the red-shirt leadership or to think that they (the leadership) is peaceful at all.

[yoshiwara]

Each and every time I start thinking that maybe the Redshirts are....stupid, or not really about democracy or whatever....I just log in here and get confirmation very quickly

that they are not so bad after all.....

The all knowing falangs of Bankok....who have predicted nothing but violence, total failure, collapse of the Thai economy etc are still harping on after two weeks of peaceful demonstrations....mostly with marches, speeches, the singing of songs and telling of jokes... it must be really getting to them. I for one am prepared to maintain a neutral view and wait to see what the final outcome will be. I hope it will continue to be peaceful and that it will lead to a legitimate election...which could very well be be won by the UDD party with a significant majority.....then what are the falangs of Bankok going to do? ...oh...I know..wait for the next coup...have the courts dissolve the UDD....same old rearguard restored to power....true democracy...at least if you get all your information from the Nation and the Bankok expats!

Another coy or maybe not so coy Thaksin apologist pretending to be neutral.

Now that openly supporting Thaksin appears to be discredited, they have to look as if they come from the middle ground.

But they cannot do it.

It sticks in the throat.

And they make a mess of it.

First, the question of violence: one of the hallmarks of the Thaksin apologist is never to acknowledge last year's red Songkran violence.

If they did then the peacefulness claim would make them look silly.

The lack of acknowledgement makes them look silly anyway.

Second, economics: actually the only prediction of collapse of the Thai economy is coming from the reds who push hero Thaksin as the saviour.

Not that the reds have any economic demands. They don't.

But the Thai economy is doing quite well this year without Thaksin anywhere near it.

Lesson? Thaksin is surplus to requirements.

and Thirdly, 'neutrality', the forum Thaksin apologists think they can claim neutrality if they make a forum contribution without making any reference to 'Thaksin'.

Only they are fooled by this.

Nobody else.

[frodo]

Each and every time I start thinking that maybe the Redshirts are....stupid, or not really about democracy or whatever....I just log in here and get confirmation very quickly

that they are not so bad after all.....

The all knowing falangs of Bankok....who have predicted nothing but violence, total failure, collapse of the Thai economy etc are still harping on after two weeks of peaceful demonstrations....mostly with marches, speeches, the singing of songs and telling of jokes... it must be really getting to them. I for one am prepared to maintain a neutral view and wait to see what the final outcome will be. I hope it will continue to be peaceful and that it will lead to a legitimate election...which could very well be be won by the UDD party with a significant majority.....then what are the falangs of Bankok going to do? ...oh...I know..wait for the next coup...have the courts dissolve the UDD....same old rearguard restored to power....true democracy...at least if you get all your information from the Nation and the Bankok expats!

Hearing things such as this does not give the impression of peacefulness, singing and dancing, and telling jokes. The propensity for violence is certainly there by hearing the "true voices" of the masses. The video has sub-titles in English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NTRBxEDp7w#

Not sure if the video embedded correctly.

[Who, me ?]

Each and every time I start thinking that maybe the Redshirts are....stupid, or not really about democracy or whatever....I just log in here and get confirmation very quickly

that they are not so bad after all.....

The all knowing falangs of Bankok....who have predicted nothing but violence, total failure, collapse of the Thai economy etc are still harping on after two weeks of peaceful demonstrations....mostly with marches, speeches, the singing of songs and telling of jokes... it must be really getting to them. I for one am prepared to maintain a neutral view and wait to see what the final outcome will be. I hope it will continue to be peaceful and that it will lead to a legitimate election...which could very well be be won by the UDD party with a significant majority.....then what are the falangs of Bankok going to do? ...oh...I know..wait for the next coup...have the courts dissolve the UDD....same old rearguard restored to power....true democracy...at least if you get all your information from the Nation and the Bankok expats!

Hearing things such as this does not give the impression of peacefulness, singing and dancing, and telling jokes. The propensity for violence is certainly there by hearing the "true voices" of the masses. The video has sub-titles in English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NTRBxEDp7w#

Not sure if the video embedded correctly.

Says it all......

Edited March 27, 2010 by Who, me ?

[hammered]

If this reuters report is correct then this is the big one.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE62Q00R20100327

[Who, me ?]

If this reuters report is correct then this is the big one.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE62Q00R20100327

In which regard?

[hammered]

If this reuters report is correct then this is the big one.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE62Q00R20100327

In which regard?

confrontation and win or lose that came from the stage speech.

Interesting in response to the win and lose rhetoric used on the red stage, Suthep came back with this is not about winners and losers.