State Of Emergency Decree Imposed In Bangkok

[A_Traveller]

ChouDoufu Already has been. In fact it was trumped at one stage by the news of Martina Navratilova's diagnosis of breast cancer.

News priorities in the new age.

Regards

Edited April 7, 2010 by A_Traveller

[TheOldWolf]

It's about time! Totally justified for all the world to see.

A message to the good people of Thailand.

I can tell you with confidence the vast majority of foreigners support your honorable PM Abhisit in his valiant effort to fight anarchic red shirt's illegal attempt at revolution and the rule of a violent mob. Good luck to and best hopes for a PEACEFUL resolution.

so now u have taken up speaking for the vast majority of farang - well sunshine count me out of your vast majority - would u like to qoute what percentage u claim is the vast majority --- sounds like another yellow shirt supporter - illegal - what part is illegial - the illegal government in place or the reds who just claim equal justice and recognition -

Count me out of that vast majority too. Speak for yourself and your cohorts, Jingthing, not the rest of us.

I have three points to make here:

1. I too hope that there is a peaceful resolution;

2. If you want my opinion I will give it to you; you do not speak for me - for the record I am not part of your "vast majority"; and lastly because there is nowhere convenient to hang this

3. The state of emergency is a top story on BBC news as it will also be in Europe, Japan, the US, Canada and Australia/NZ. That will translate into more cancelled bookings from the dwindling numbers of tourists that were going to come here anyway. It will also guarantee a TV news crew presence from the major networks. Web enabled cell phones with a built in camera guarantees that information will get onto the Internet so blocking the Peoples Channel may be nothing more than symbolic.

Have anyone ever included you in the "vast majority". He has an opinion and he has never ever tried to speak for you or any others in this collective attack at his post.

[Redsunset]

Let me break it down for the Americans out there. The Red shirts are like hill billies from the Ozarks and Appalachians. Poor, not well educated and a bit marginalized by the rest of the country. They idolize a corrupt billionaire named Bernie Madoff, they thinks he's the cat's ass. Bernie is in jail for his misdeeds but sees these rubes as his ticket to freedom and the restoration of his ill gotten fortune. He tries to enlist the help of a million of these fine folks, but through bribery and angry rhetoric he only manages to get 50,000 to participate in his scheme. He has them march on Washington, he even puts gas in their pickups so they can make the journey. They occupy the streets of the nation's capitol. They piss on the sidewalks and make a nuisance of themselves. They loiter and block intersections and hang out at the Lincoln memorial. They hope by doing this that Obama will not only pardon Bernie, but that he'll declare him the new President. Sounds insane doesn't it? What about the other 300 million or so citizens? Shouldn't they get a say? No, all that matters is that Bernie Madoff gets rich and powerful once more. And when he does his protesters can go back to moonshining and marrying their cousins.

And that in a nutshell is what it is like to live in Thailand these days.

Chad, I imagine that you are an expert on hillbilly inbreeding givin the complete ignorance of this post, perhaps your own mother and father played in the backyard gene pool together as teenagers? Those red shirts in Bangkok are part of the same political party that garnered the most votes in Thailands last nationwide elctions, so wise up and get educated, it's never too late even for a hillbilly like yourself

lols! Chad in the USA, you sound like you are from the coal mines of West Virginia yourself... smoking too much weed? Sippin' too much moonshine? Perhaps the oxygen deprivation you experienced as a kid when your mom tried to suffocate you with her pillow has robbed you of your cognitive and thinking abilities? Just a thought...

[on-on]

the state of emergency here will be bumped for the much more photogenic state of emergency in kyzygstan.

"Bangkok to become hub of states of emergency."

[Jerrytheyoung]

It's about time! Totally justified for all the world to see.

A message to the good people of Thailand.

I can tell you with confidence the vast majority of foreigners support your honorable PM Abhisit in his valiant effort to fight anarchic red shirt's illegal attempt at revolution and the rule of a violent mob. Good luck to and best hopes for a PEACEFUL resolution.

so now u have taken up speaking for the vast majority of farang - well sunshine count me out of your vast majority - would u like to qoute what percentage u claim is the vast majority --- sounds like another yellow shirt supporter - illegal - what part is illegial - the illegal government in place or the reds who just claim equal justice and recognition -

Count me out of that vast majority too. Speak for yourself and your cohorts, Jingthing, not the rest of us.

I have three points to make here:

1. I too hope that there is a peaceful resolution;

2. If you want my opinion I will give it to you; you do not speak for me - for the record I am not part of your "vast majority"; and lastly because there is nowhere convenient to hang this

3. The state of emergency is a top story on BBC news as it will also be in Europe, Japan, the US, Canada and Australia/NZ. That will translate into more cancelled bookings from the dwindling numbers of tourists that were going to come here anyway. It will also guarantee a TV news crew presence from the major networks. Web enabled cell phones with a built in camera guarantees that information will get onto the Internet so blocking the Peoples Channel may be nothing more than symbolic.

I have a position quite close from Reddin. Let me express myself my position. I am not in your majority.

[hammered]

ChouDoufu Already has been. In fact it was trumped at one stage by the news of Martina Navratilova's diagnosis of breast cancer.

News priorities in the new age.

Regards

Martina is new and cult of clebrity news. Kyrgistan is brutal and newsworthy. Thailand is a 5 year old story and unless jatuporn chops his own nob off on stage as part of a brahmin ceremony or suthep launches a couple of nukes into nattawuts underpants will remain second string news.

[moo9]

However, this endeavor has not been successful. The rally has led to a violation of the law and the Constitution and has caused great inconvenience for the people, the economy, and foreign confidence in Thailand.

Nothing like the county's prime minister painting a picture to the newsrooms and lowering foreign confidence even further ...

Richard

It had to be said. The views or opinions of the Falang rarely count for a jot but, there is an impact on the external view from this protest. Some rural Thais are concerned by Thailand's overseas image - many are not.

Most are not... most Thai's either don't care what the rest of the world thinks of them and their government or even have a clue that the world outside of Thailand is even watching. The Thai people I know who live here in the U.S., have no desire about going back to live in Thailand. After living outside Thailand for any length of time, the consider living in Thailand again, like going back to the stone age. They see the news and read the stories of the problems back there and shake their heads at their ignorant cousins..

Indeed a progress, from the Stone Age to the Bronze age...:-)

Most of the Thai's I knew abroad would love to go back if they could make enough money here.

[rainman]

the state of emergency here will be bumped for the much more photogenic state of emergency in kyzygstan.

"Bangkok to become hub of states of emergency."

I heard that the 1st International State of Emergency Conference will be held in Bangkok next year.

[stevotoo]

The respective numbers are immaterial.

The important point is that the parliament is the product of military coup and military interference .

Therefore undemocratic and illegal.

Can only be reset by elections.

It is true to say that this parliament was elected under the constitution written by the military government. It included some gerrymandering which resulted in fewer seats in the NE.

[cdnmatt]

You know, honestly, it seems to be that most of the yellow shirt farang supporters are fairly hypocritical. If this same situation existed in any of our home countries, with an unelected government taking power for a good while, and publicly stating they will not relinquish power to the people for at least another 21 months, guaranteed everyone would be up in arms and demanding an election.

Then people absolutely despise Thaksin due to the fact he used his political capital to line his pockets financially. Really though, what high ranking politician doesn't do that? Even Canada's Paul Martin got caught up in a corruption scandal. Or remember how well Bush and Cheney treated their oil & energy buddies during their time in office? Where's the cries from Americans to have them put in jail? And you can't simply forego all the good Thaksin did, and the social programs he put into place, over one corruption scandal. Doing so is being deluding yourself.

Then there's this non-sense about the red shirts being mostly poor, uneducated low-lifes who just simply don't understand, so their voices shouldn't be heard. Hence why there isn't an election, because everyone knows if their voices were heard, they would currently control the government. The irony of course being, the only chance these folks have of becoming educated, and bettering their standard of living and social status, is if their voices are heard, and they do get a say in government.

Shutting them out, and passing them off an uneducated hicks who don't deserve a voice isn't going to help anything though. It's almost as though some people here would prefer a system where one vote from a Bangkok resident was the equivalent of eight votes from Issan. Obviously, that's simply asinine, because nobody here would ever put up with that in their home countries.

As for the calls for violence and arrests of the red shirts, that's just stupid as well. Remember Burma? By and large, this protest has been very peaceful, and the red shirts leaders are hoping (and maybe event counting on) the army firing the first shots. They're probably hoping that's going to piss of a whole lot of Thais, who will then begin showing up to Bangkok in droves. If the red shirts can gain the same type of momentum as Burma, or even marginally close, they'll be able to overtake the current government with no problem.

Edited April 7, 2010 by cdnmatt

[lannarebirth]

I'm sorry but this is really getting silly. The 'Red Shirts' here [bangkok] are not the poor and oppressed. They are in many cases the mercantile class from non urban areas. They are the very people who came here in company registered pick-ups, who run small business, some of which (? ) have unregistered money lending as a back room activity. This is, of course, the very activity which has been under pressure of closure by this government. Am I alone in seeing the possibility of a scintilla of connexion here?

For those who don't believe this, look a little more carefully at the footage. or like me take time to see with your own eyes [if you are in Bangkok]. Ferret out the parking places, or look at the preponderance of vehicle types as I've done. Draw your own conclusions, but please, stop attributing characteristics to these individuals which are totally at variance with reality.

Regards

Don't forget their little numbers rackets lotteries.

[A_Traveller]

The respective numbers are immaterial. [bet you wouldn't =say that if they were different, would you?]

The important point is that the parliament is the product of military coup and military interference . [by this logic though, there is no reset available, all follows from this.]

Therefore undemocratic and illegal. [Complete nonsense, the election process was viewed as basically free and fair, but there were very serious reservations about the increased politicisation of local officials and the eroding of privacy of voting]

Can only be reset by elections. [see 2 above herein]

One further point, the process here for the election to the post of Prime Minister is based on the Westminster system of the 'First among Equals. Therefore, even though most don't see this, any Member may be offered up for the post of Prime Minister and is subject to a democratic principled vote. In a coalition situation, members of the coalition vote for a nominated candidate from within the coalition. This is true in most representative democracies, however when a single party commands more than 50% of the votes in the house, irrespective of their showing in the general electorate, they have to right to from the government.

Regards

Edited April 7, 2010 by A_Traveller

[IanForbes]

Oh gee, I wonder why that happened?

Now let me see... A legally elected government of red shirt thugs is ILLEGALLY ousted by a military backed bunch of yellow shirt thugs who didn't get their own way, and don't like being not in power. That just about sums it up.

No question that Thaksin was a crook and needed to be taken out of power. But, the yellow shirts had many years to use the same process of bribing the poor Thai farmers with their own money. Had they done so, Thaksin would never come into power in the first place. Thaksin's mistake was being a greedy megalomaniac who thought he could get away with anything and it was his undoing. But, the yellow shirt group are no less crooked.

No question that Abhisit is a smart man, but so was Thaksin. Maybe Abhisit WOULD be a good leader, but because he illegally came into power it ruins all credibility.

I get pissed off when the same type of business backed thugs in Canada get elected, but at least I allow the LEGAL election process to take place.

[jdinasia]

The respective numbers are immaterial.

The important point is that the parliament is the product of military coup and military interference .

Therefore undemocratic and illegal.

Can only be reset by elections.

It is true to say that this parliament was elected under the constitution written by the military government. It included some gerrymandering which resulted in fewer seats in the NE.

Ummm there was no gerrymandering. There were not fewer seats in the NE. The parliament seated today would have been seated onder the 1997 constitution. The results would have been the same.

What IS true is that had the PPP dissolved parliament even the last day before they were disbanded then they could have had the elections that people are calling for now. They didn't. Their coalition partners dumped them .. the rest is just them crying because they lost their coalition.

[hammered]

Think comparing the likes of Arisman and Jatuporn to any pro-demcoracy leader in Burma is utterly insulting to the Burmese struggling for democracy but hey......guess a man or woman has to do what they have to do

[Jingthing]

You know, honestly, it seems to be that most of the yellow shirt farang supporters are fairly hypocritical. If this same situation existed in any of our home countries, with an unelected government taking power for a good while, and publicly stating they will not relinquish power to the people for at least another 21 months, guaranteed everyone would be up in arms and demanding an election.

Totally wrong. Bush vs. Gore. Year 2000. Bush installed by a biased court after NOT winning the election. Election stolen. If the Gore supporters had even begun to act like the Thai insurgent reds, even the violent revolutionary speech of the reds, they would all still be in jail. Such an illegal violent movement would NOT have found major support in America.

[CockneyGit]

You know, honestly, it seems to be that most of the yellow shirt farang supporters are fairly hypocritical. If this same situation existed in any of our home countries, with an unelected government taking power for a good while, and publicly stating they will not relinquish power to the people for at least another 21 months, guaranteed everyone would be up in arms and demanding an election.

Then people absolutely despise Thaksin due to the fact he used his political capital to line his pockets financially. Really though, what high ranking politician doesn't do that? Even Canada's Paul Martin got caught up in a corruption scandal. Or remember how well Bush and Cheney treated their oil & energy buddies during their time in office? Where's the cries from Americans to have them put in jail? And you can't simply forego all the good Thaksin did, and the social programs he put into place, over one corruption scandal. Doing so is being deluding yourself.

Then there's this non-sense about the red shirts being mostly poor, uneducated low-lifes who just simply don't understand, so their voices shouldn't be heard. Hence why there isn't an election, because everyone knows if their voices were heard, they would currently control the government. The irony of course being, the only chance these folks have of becoming educated, and bettering their standard of living and social status, is if their voices are heard, and they do get a say in government.

Shutting them out, and passing them off an uneducated hicks who don't deserve a voice isn't going to help anything though. It's almost as though some people here would prefer a system where one vote from a Bangkok resident was the equivalent of eight votes from Issan. Obviously, that's simply asinine, because nobody here would ever put up with that in their home countries.

As for the calls for violence and arrests of the red shirts, that's just stupid as well. Remember Burma? By and large, this protest has been very peaceful, and the red shirts leaders are hoping (and maybe event counting on) the army firing the first shots. They're probably hoping that's going to piss of a whole lot of Thais, who will then begin showing up to Bangkok in droves. If the red shirts can gain the same type of momentum as Burma, or even marginally close, they'll be able to overtake the current government with no problem.

Hear, hear!

[Netfan]

Thailand isn't just Bangkok, is it? Even though that's the current government's mentality.

It is also not just the North and NE - even though that is Thaksin / Red mentality. I'm sure you've seen enough Thaksin call-ins to know that he addresses the "people of the north and northeast", not "people of Thailand"

Edited April 7, 2010 by Netfan

[Hanuman2547]

If ISA failed, why will a state of emergency succeed?

It will not. It is just a political game. Using violence would be suicide for Anupong. the world is watching.

Actually, in terms of the whole world............no one really cares what happens to Thailand. It's just a small corrupted country that will make the days headlines and then they (the news presenters) will move on to the next flashpoint or soundbite.

[stevotoo]

The respective numbers are immaterial.

The important point is that the parliament is the product of military coup and military interference .

Therefore undemocratic and illegal.

Can only be reset by elections.

It is true to say that this parliament was elected under the constitution written by the military government. It included some gerrymandering which resulted in fewer seats in the NE.

Ummm there was no gerrymandering. There were not fewer seats in the NE. The parliament seated today would have been seated onder the 1997 constitution. The results would have been the same.

What IS true is that had the PPP dissolved parliament even the last day before they were disbanded then they could have had the elections that people are calling for now. They didn't. Their coalition partners dumped them .. the rest is just them crying because they lost their coalition.

On the contrary, the number of MPs in the house was significantly reduced by the military constitution.

[Jingthing]

Remember Burma?

Thaksin is like San Suu Kyi as a cockroach is like a unicorn.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Jingthing

[hammered]

Thailand isn't just Bangkok, is it? Even though that's the current government's mentality.

It is also not just the East and NE - even though that is Thaksin / Red mentality. I'm sure you've seen enough Thaksin call-ins to know that he addresses the "people of the north and northeast", not "people of Thailand".

Mmm dont bring the east into this Thaksin is hated in the east. Even in the areas that his godfather mates control he couldnt win MPs last time.

[lannarebirth]

The fact still remains that despite the TRT being outlawed and many leaders of that party being sanctioned from any political activity, the remnants from the TRT formed the PPP and won more votes than any other party in Thailand That is quite an amazing feat, in any other country if a political party was disolved and its leaders banned from politics it would take years or perhaps decades for the disolved party to regroup and try and regain power! To those ignorant farangs out there who think that this red shirt revolution is just a few uneducated hillbillies, you had better think again because this movement is the core of those who got the most votes in the last election and by the looks of it they are mad as hel_l and not going to take it anymore My guess is that we will see parliment disolved and new election by the end of summer

Ummm no Vic -- another of your less than accurate posts. In 2007 PPP did NOT get more votes than any other political party. So that just isn't a fact. That pretty much ruins the premise of the rest of your rant.

Now -- to get it factual. TRT was disbanded. The leaders for the most part are still active (think about Newin and Thaksin).

The 2007 elections gave the Dems the most votes for any party. It did not give them the most seats in parliament.

Nobody thinks the red shirst are just ignorant hillbillies ---- many people think the reds are a bunch of corrupt elites like Thaksin and many of the political bosses from Isaan as well as career opportunists from over the North and Isaan as well as some rural poor that have been lied to, paid off, and some that even have been deluded into thinking that Thaksin cares about them (which is of course why Thaksin is overseas with his family while the red rank and file that are in harm's way have turned over thier ID's to the organizers so they can collect the daily wage).

JD, they did get the most votes of any party and the rest of my post is quite germain to the current situatiuon The fact that the TRT was outlawed as a party and most of its leaders were banned from politics and yet the PPP rose from the ashes to gain the most seats in the election after the coup is a a truely amazing political story , as a matter of fact it is one of the most amazing political stories of this decade in worldwide politics You can deny this all you want but you can not change history! The rest of the world saw the military coup in Thailand as PM Shinawatra was about to adress the united nations and they have seen the dirty politicics in its aftermath that brought Ahhisit to power, you might want to pay attention to the final line in my post because it will come to pass Remember the world is watching!

It is not hard to give the appearance of prosperity or growth if companies or individuals start to indulge and exploit assets of the state. Things that belong to all people of the country. I'm sure you're aware of the "gin muang" political culture here in Thailand. It was never writ so large as under Thaksin's rule. It's theft and if some appeared to "trickle down" for a time, that doesn't mean anything good or lasting was going on.

[FarangCravings]

Oh gee, I wonder why that happened?

Now let me see... A legally elected government of red shirt thugs is ILLEGALLY ousted by a military backed bunch of yellow shirt thugs who didn't get their own way, and don't like being not in power. That just about sums it up.

No question that Thaksin was a crook and needed to be taken out of power. But, the yellow shirts had many years to use the same process of bribing the poor Thai farmers with their own money. Had they done so, Thaksin would never come into power in the first place. Thaksin's mistake was being a greedy megalomaniac who thought he could get away with anything and it was his undoing. But, the yellow shirt group are no less crooked.

No question that Abhisit is a smart man, but so was Thaksin. Maybe Abhisit WOULD be a good leader, but because he illegally came into power it ruins all credibility.

I get pissed off when the same type of business backed thugs in Canada get elected, but at least I allow the LEGAL election process to take place.

EXCELLENT POST

I agree 100% in everything you said

[VegasVic]

However, this endeavor has not been successful. The rally has led to a violation of the law and the Constitution and has caused great inconvenience for the people, the economy, and foreign confidence in Thailand.

Nothing like the county's prime minister painting a picture to the newsrooms and lowering foreign confidence even further ...

Richard

It had to be said. The views or opinions of the Falang rarely count for a jot but, there is an impact on the external view from this protest. Some rural Thais are concerned by Thailand's overseas image - many are not.

Most are not... most Thai's either don't care what the rest of the world thinks of them and their government or even have a clue that the world outside of Thailand is even watching. The Thai people I know who live here in the U.S., have no desire about going back to live in Thailand. After living outside Thailand for any length of time, the consider living in Thailand again, like going back to the stone age. They see the news and read the stories of the problems back there and shake their heads at their ignorant cousins..

Indeed a progress, from the Stone Age to the Bronze age...:-)

Most of the Thai's I knew abroad would love to go back if they could make enough money here.

Most Thais you knew abroad were likely migrant type workers and were not making a substantial enough living to live a good life in the various countries in which they resided I can only speak for the Thais that I have met and know in the U.S. and I will say that the vast majortity live very good lives over here and have no intention of moving back to Thailand full time, or perhaps I should qualify that and say that was the prevailing feeling before Obama was elected President With the socialist agenda that Obama is trying to stuff down the throats of hard working Americans, it is quite possible that many of those Thais (and many Americans as well) may be liquidating their assets and moving overseas in the not too distant future, at least until some sense of sanity has returned to the U.S. governemnt

[animatic]

The respective numbers are immaterial.

The important point is that the parliament is the product of military coup and military interference .

Therefore undemocratic and illegal.

Can only be reset by elections.

Do you do Hiku,

or are you just Koo82 and rather high?

[moresomekl]

THe last election in Thailand by the thai people was in December 2007 .

The PPP (proThaksin) won the absolute majority at that election if i remember well .

What election are you refering too ?

You are wrong. The PPP did not win an absolute majority. Here are those 2007 results:

Constituency Vote

People's Power Party: 36.63%

Democrat Party: 30.30%

Proportional Vote

People's Power Party: 39.60%

Democrat Party: 39.63%

The absolute majority is 240 seats .

In 2007 elections

The PPP won 233 seats

The democrat a distant secund won 165 seats

Wrong but by 7 seats only , not much and i said if i remember well

[maxpower]

You know, honestly, it seems to be that most of the yellow shirt farang supporters are fairly hypocritical. If this same situation existed in any of our home countries, with an unelected government taking power for a good while, and publicly stating they will not relinquish power to the people for at least another 21 months, guaranteed everyone would be up in arms and demanding an election.

BLA BLA BLA

You should have posted this earlier now most of the old lemmings are sleeping.

[Netfan]

Thailand isn't just Bangkok, is it? Even though that's the current government's mentality.

It is also not just the East and NE - even though that is Thaksin / Red mentality. I'm sure you've seen enough Thaksin call-ins to know that he addresses the "people of the north and northeast", not "people of Thailand".

Mmm dont bring the east into this Thaksin is hated in the east. Even in the areas that his godfather mates control he couldnt win MPs last time.

Sorry, meant to say North and Northeast.....its late

[VegasVic]

Oh gee, I wonder why that happened?

Now let me see... A legally elected government of red shirt thugs is ILLEGALLY ousted by a military backed bunch of yellow shirt thugs who didn't get their own way, and don't like being not in power. That just about sums it up.

No question that Thaksin was a crook and needed to be taken out of power. But, the yellow shirts had many years to use the same process of bribing the poor Thai farmers with their own money. Had they done so, Thaksin would never come into power in the first place. Thaksin's mistake was being a greedy megalomaniac who thought he could get away with anything and it was his undoing. But, the yellow shirt group are no less crooked.

No question that Abhisit is a smart man, but so was Thaksin. Maybe Abhisit WOULD be a good leader, but because he illegally came into power it ruins all credibility.

I get pissed off when the same type of business backed thugs in Canada get elected, but at least I allow the LEGAL election process to take place.

EXCELLENT POST

I agree 100% in everything you said

I concurr with FC, that post of yours sums up the situation in Thailand pretty well! Thanks Ian Forbes