Has The Time Come For Abhisit To Crack Down On The Lawless Red Protesters?

[Jingthing]

When should Abhisit crack down? Pressure is building for him to show a reaction. How do you feel about it?

[dttk0009]

I wrote 'need to wait' because crack down implies an extremely forceful response with good probability of fatalities. Why not actually start deploying riot police? Crowds like these can be managed.

[wayne78]

Enough is enough. These red shirts are holding us all to ransom. time to take action NOW. Clear the streets with the army.

[Jingthing]

I meant disperse them with reasoned force. Arrests, water hoses, tear gas, whatever non lethal force they have. If the reds do react with bombs, grenades, and Molotov cocktails, as they almost definitely will (their leaders have SAID they will, so better believe them), then of course the military will be forced to increase the level of force. It is sad, but who has forced the government into this situation? Answer - Thaksin. I think the vast majority of Thais understand that now, which is why I voted NOW. This anarchy cannot be tolerated forever.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Jingthing

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Water cannons will do the job.

[wayne78]

Let the tanks roll and let the chips fall where they may. Give these red shirt thugs the choice. Leave now or suffer the result of their stupidity.

[Jingthing]

My hope is this costs them much more money than Thaksin paid them. I don't wish to see anyone hurt. But lets get real, that's where its headed because Thaksin wants it that way!

[CWMcMurray]

With the way the choices of the poll were written, you can't possibly be anything but a open minded person....

The only option given to not to break up the protesters puts a clause on it that no one could possibly agree with (i.e. no matter how violent they get).

lets be serious ...

No the government should not break up protests of [ Insert the name of any group from any country from any time in History] regardless of how violent they become.

No reasonable person will ever chose the above choice...

It is also important to state that the REDs have not yet become violent... if the governement does crack down on them it could spark the whole thing off as they will be able to claim that they are "defending themselves" from what they view as an illegitimate government.

So long as the reds remain non-violent, the government has no choice buyt to find a peaceful solution.

Edited April 5, 2010 by CWMcMurray

[Jingthing]

No the government should not break up protests of [ Insert the name of any group from any country from any time in History] regardless of how violent they become.

No reasonable person will ever chose the above choice...

A really hard core red lover would vote that way. Just wait, that will get votes. I bet you.

[bkkjames]

With the way the choices of the poll were written, you can't possibly be anything but a open minded person....

The only option given to not to break up the protesters puts a clause on it that no one could possibly agree with (i.e. no matter how violent they get).

lets be serious ...

No the government should not break up protests of [ Insert the name of any group from any country from any time in History] regardless of how violent they become.

No reasonable person will ever chose the above choice...

It is also important to state that the REDs have not yet become violent... if the governement does crack down on them it could spark the whole thing off as they will be able to claim that they are "defending themselves" from what they view as an illegitimate government.

So long as the reds remain non-violent, the government has no choice buyt to find a peaceful solution.

All nice... as far as I can tell they have violated a few laws. If the police move into arrest them and they resist and get hurt in the process....

[Jingthing]

The rhetoric from the red leaders has indeed been VERY VIOLENT in the last few days. Can speech be violent? I say yes, if they are leading a big mob.

[kraxlhuber]

I wrote 'need to wait' because crack down implies an extremely forceful response with good probability of fatalities. Why not actually start deploying riot police? Crowds like these can be managed.

call in he Foreign Legion,they are paid mercenaries,just like the G.I,=paid to ......

A pity the stormtroopers are no more around,they would have whooped their backsides.

"Crackdown now" its too late,sorry to say that,there are too many about.

The true counterforce can only come from the pissed off other protesters.

Now we have a civil war on our hands,I hear the weapons are already distributed.

eg. sharp tongues,pea brains for the slingshots,hammer and scythe,pla rah,nam pla,

prik kapi and other sorts.

[wayne78]

Lets be serious here. These red shirt thugs are holding the government, the city of Bangkok and the thai people to ransom. They will only become more embolden with their disruption and thugish behaviour if the government continues to do little.

It is high time that these red shirt nutters get the message once and for all. I say bring in the tanks NOW as a show of force. Who has been letting these bombs off all around bangkok? - the governemnt???/i think not. red shirt supporters of that criminal Thaksin.

Come on Abhisit. Are you a man or a mouse?

[Jingthing]

So far, a mouse. But he had to wait until there were massive law violations, and now there have been. The time is soon, or never. If he can't act for some reason, then either the reds win or there is a coup. At the very least, the red leaders who have incited violence in the last few days need to be arrested. I think they are working on that, but too slow.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Jingthing

[Mosha]

The reds I think are trying for a response, they are getting desperate. They can't seriously believe they will still be in BKK on the 20th.

[CWMcMurray]

As so did the yellows... but we didnt see any arrests when they were protesting and hijacking the government house and airport... so how are those criminal cases coming along against their leaders? Two years later ans still "investigating"?

I know that two wrongs do not make a right, but if the red protesters are broken up or aressted, the blantant double standard will just prove that the reds have a valid point and that they are telling the truth ...

I am guessing that their leadership would love nothing more than for the police to break up their protest and arrest their leaders.

That would be playing directly into the Hands of the reds...

I still believe that a peaceful end to this is absolutely important for the government to hold any creditability. By failing to prosecute the Yellows, it makes it very difficult for them to prosecute the Reds.

Edited April 5, 2010 by CWMcMurray

[473geo]

No the government should not break up protests of [ Insert the name of any group from any country from any time in History] regardless of how violent they become.

No reasonable person will ever chose the above choice...

A really hard core red lover would vote that way. Just wait, that will get votes. I bet you.

I voted this option.......... because it offered the only realistic non aggressive solution.....in my opinion there should not be a potentially aggressive 'crackdown'.......if the crowd is to be removed from an area they peacefully occupy, the action should be by controlled negotiated and planned organisation as is correctly being applied.

If that opinion makes me unreasonable.....as I chose to ignore the ridiculous 'no matter how violent it gets' attachment to the statement......so be it.

edit: spelling

Edited April 5, 2010 by 473geo

[Jingthing]

The Thaksin reds (as recently proven once again) are not a force you can have good faith negotiations with. They are all or nothing. That is obvious. So this totally peaceful solution is IMPOSSIBLE.

[bdenner]

When should Abhisit crack down? Pressure is building for him to show a reaction. How do you feel about it?

To be completely democratic he should piss around as they did for the Yellow Shirts at the airport and parliament grounds. Can't vote here!

[Jingthing]

When should Abhisit crack down? Pressure is building for him to show a reaction. How do you feel about it?

To be completely democratic he should piss around as they did for the Yellow Shirts at the airport and parliament grounds. Can't vote here!

Abhisit wasn't in power back then, do you know that? So it is not at all relevant.

[bkkjames]

This situation reminds me of the annual - what is it - G8 protests around the world - except here the police won't do anything about it.

Please name me another city in the world that would allow protests like this to happen? London, SG, NY, HK, KL, Tokyo?

I seem to recall Jutaporn or Veera saying when they were doing their roving blood throwing protests something like "we don't wish to cause the people of BKK any problems"

[473geo]

The Thaksin reds (as recently proven once again) are not a force you can have good faith negotiations with. They are all or nothing. That is obvious. So this totally peaceful solution is IMPOSSIBLE.

Short term defeatist attitude Jing.......everything is possible.......some things just take a little longer.......

[wayne78]

the thai government has shown itself to be weak and without authority. people of bangkok are fed up with this and the time has come for action. otherwise this will only keep going on and on without end and it has to end somewhere and I say let it end here and now.

thaksin and is hired thugs are whipping up the crowds into a frenzy and if the government does not act now it is forever damnd in the eyes of all thais.

[Jingthing]

The Thaksin reds (as recently proven once again) are not a force you can have good faith negotiations with. They are all or nothing. That is obvious. So this totally peaceful solution is IMPOSSIBLE.

Short term defeatist attitude Jing.......everything is possible.......some things just take a little longer.......

They are destroying the economy of Thailand. I suppose they can wait until after Songkran ends and let them continue to do damage and then see if they just burn out. It would be nice if they could force Thaksin to pay for the economic damages though.

[jackr]

Should have ripped them out when they said they would on (taking the intersection)... as should have the Yellows when they misbehaved.

[mrtoad]

Water Canon, perfect in this kind of heat.

[473geo]

The Thaksin reds (as recently proven once again) are not a force you can have good faith negotiations with. They are all or nothing. That is obvious. So this totally peaceful solution is IMPOSSIBLE.

Short term defeatist attitude Jing.......everything is possible.......some things just take a little longer.......

They are destroying the economy of Thailand. I suppose they can wait until after Songkran ends and let them continue to do damage and then see if they just burn out. It would be nice if they could force Thaksin to pay for the economic damages though.

Ah yes, the Thai economy will crumble.......all beacause a few thousand people are standing on a street corner expressing the fact that they are not happy with their lot!!!!

[stander]

It is time he dissolved this illegitimate government and allowed the voice of the people to be heard.

[Jingthing]

Ah yes, the Thai economy will crumble.......all beacause a few thousand people are standing on a street corner expressing the fact that they are not happy with their lot!!!!

Your trivialization of the damage they have ALREADY done is simply a lie.

[Zolt]

If there is to be a violent crackdown, I'd rather it doesn't take place right on my doorstep. At this point the situation is tense, yet the mood at the main protest site is cheerful and relaxed. There's a lot of people down there though and I don't see that many cops. If the mood changes, things could get really ugly, and there's a lot of prime real estate that would be laid waste to.

If having the RS at Rajaprasong is such a nuisance, they should have prevented them from getting there in the first place. Indecision held the government back and now this will end either with the reds leaving of their own will, or with a lot of tears and blood.

Also the hotels in the area are still doing business, so there's a lot of foreigners coming and going in the area. My wife is even there right now trying to get to the BTS station. If some foreigners got watercannonned, teargassed or stampeded to death it wouldn't look good for anyone. Plus Songkran is coming soon so you'll have plenty of waterguns regardless.

Jingthing: Nobody's trivializing anything. The nearby shopping malls are losing upwards of 100MB a day in sales. Compared to the damage that would be cause in case of a confrontation in that area however, the amount is trivial.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Zolt