An Embarrassing Fiasco For Thai Government

[webfact]

ANALYSIS

An embarrassing fiasco for govt

Arisaman

BANGKOK: -- What went wrong? Probably, nothing was right from the very beginning.

Arisman Pongruangrong and other red-shirt leaders on a wanted list could not be apprehended when they were in full public view in the middle of the city, so what convinced Thai police that they could catch them by storming a hotel that once belonged to Thaksin Shinawatra?

From the embarrassing shambles left in their wake, not only did the police think they could do so - they must have presumed they could do it with one eye closed. When overweight Arisman, who must also be afraid of heights, staged a clumsy cable-descending stunt in front of local and international media from the SC Park Hotel's third-floor balcony to safety, the humiliation of Thailand's highly questionable police force was complete.

Not to mention that two senior officers were taken by the red mob from the hotel to the Rajprasong rally site to "guarantee" the escapees' safe return. How come what was supposed to be a pre-dawn sting operation ended with Arisman staging the escape just before 10am and mobs accompanying all the police targets back to Rajprasong at noon?

Everything was so fishy that Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who around 9am had proudly announced that Arisman and at least a couple of others were now in police custody, lost his cool and virtually everyone on the government side lost patience with his excuses. A probe into what went wrong was pledged, but the damage had been done and half the world was already laughing.

The operation reportedly started at 3am, with stake-out forces stationing themselves near the hotel's entrances and exits, with a few disguising themselves as guests. Problem was, nobody knew for sure which rooms the targets - Arisman, Suporn Attawong, Payap Panket and Jeng Dokjik - were staying in. The four reportedly arrived at the hotel at around 4am.

Then around 6am another group of officers, purportedly working for an assistant police chief, arrived. One of them then committed a grave blunder by asking the hotel reception for house keys that could open all suspicious rooms.

That apparently did it. Phone calls must have been made by certain staff members and within minutes red shirts living nearby were gathering at the hotel. By the time the two groups of officers became aware of each other's presence, the hotel was crawling with red shirts. Two pickups mounted with loudspeakers were used to block the road in front of the hotel, situated in the sprawling Town in Town estate off the Pradit Manutham (Ekkamai-Ram-Indra) Road.

The police called their superiors and requested commando reinforcements. Through all these hectic developments, the hotel staff managed to buy time and kept the house keys away from the now restless, and pretty much clueless, officers.

When the policemen finally got hold of the keys, Arisman was already playing a Mission Impossible hero, albeit with some difficulty due to his weight. His face was white and he appeared disoriented once he dropped himself to safety, into numerous red hands waiting to grab him on the ground.

"The police wanted to kill me," he told reporters. "They wanted to kill me. There were bombs in the room." Press photos of the room later showed what looked like grenades, which police said needed to be examined before they could ascertain the types.

According to Arisman, he did not escape from his own room, but from a "red guards" room where he had hidden after being alerted that the police were coming.

Details were sketchier as to how the other three red leaders escaped from the hotel. Reports said they were helped by red-shirt members, who easily outnumbered police officers and led the leaders out of their rooms without police resistance.

The SC Park Hotel incident has inflamed gossip about "tomato" police, the term for pro-red police who allegedly might have dragged their feet when it comes to legal action or operations against the protesters. Whether yesterday's operations were simply lousy and ill conceived, or whether there had been moles within the force, reporters were able to locate one immigration officer, who described himself as a "brother" of Arisman.

The officer said he went to the hotel after hearing a distress call from Arisman's mother and sister. The policeman said he was there only to make sure Arisman was not harmed after escaping from the hotel balcony.

-- The Nation 2010-04-17

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[pontius]

Watermelon army and tomato police. What a fruity affair.

[Loaded]

Keystone Kops

"The Keystone Kops featured in a series of silent film comedies about a totally incompetent group of policemen. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Kops

[chadintheusa]

I guess we will see if Thais really care about losing face. If they do we should see the Thai Police clean house. Right now the international community wouldn't let the Thai police work security at a Backstreet boys concert because they couldn't hold back a mob of teenage girls if they tried.

[Changian]

Watermelon army and tomato police. What a fruity affair.

Wait till the strawberry SWAT, rhubarb marines and rambutan rangers come into play. Then things will really kick off.

[grandpops]

It's another snide piece and another nail in the coffin of journalism at Thailand's premier PAD mouthpiece. References to weight and appearance that would not be tolerated against other groups. Imagine a piece on Hilary Clinton referencing her body shape and appearance and ignoring all she said? Thats how low this pamphlet has sunk.

This was an assassination attempt. All the footage showed the room shot to bits.

They are now pinning their hopes on the Army. Are the Army going to run the country now if the Police can't?

Want to see serious loss of income, support and face for Thailand? Then let the Army go on a killing spree.

I think the smart move for the Reds is to negotiate with the Army. Then they all win, Army, Reds and business district. Leaves Mark and Thaugsabun out in the cold hoping that their 300,000 facebook supporters are enough to outvote 30 million red supporters!!

Mind you, stranger things have happened here.

Edited April 17, 2010 by grandpops

[blackman]

SC Park Hotel back in the headlines

By THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The SC Park Hotel on Praditmanutham Road became a scene of high drama yesterday morning.

Hundreds of policemen entered the hotel to arrest six red-shirt leaders - Arisman Pongruangrong, Suporn Atthawong, Payap Panket, Sangiem Samranlak, Wanchana Kerddee and Yoswarit Chuklom, aka Jeng Dokchik.

However, two of the six escaped by lowering themselves from the third floor via electrical cabling. The other four were apprehended, but were almost immediately released when red-shirt demonstrators descended on the area.

The six senior red shirts were staying at the hotel, which belongs to the Shinawatra family's SC Asset Corp.

SC Asset took over the De Ville Palace Hotel in 1994 and renamed it the SC Park. Many political activities have taken place at the hotel over the years.

The most notorious was when Yongyut Tiyapairat, ex-Speaker of the House from the now-defunct People Power Party, met with 10 local chiefs from Chiang Rai's Mae Jan district.

Yongyut asked them to support him, his sister and a close aide in the 2007 general election. He gave each of them Bt20,000.

The Election Commission found Yongyut guilty of electoral fraud and the Constitution Court subsequently ruled to dissolve the party.

Pheu Thai Party MPs and ex-Thai Rak Thai MPs are regular guests at the hotel, where they have organised many seminars.

COMMENT

under Thai law relating to guest registration, all hotel guests have to fill out a guest registration card accompanied by acceptable ID

these registration cards need to submitted to the local authority within 48 hours

my best guess here is that the guest registration process would not have happened in the case of these 'special' guests of the Shinawatras

so unless they can prove otherwise the hotel management conspired with the wanted criminals to conceal their identity or did not follow the law

therefore the S C Park Hotel should be closed forthwith

if they refuse to close, then cut the power, water supplies, revoke all the drink, dining,dancing and conferencing licenses.

any management or members of staff who conspired with the red shirts leaders to stall the police in their duty or tipped off the red shirts to the police presence at the hotel should be arrested and charged with aiding and abetting wanted fugitives

if its found that any members of the Shinawatra family, that owns the hotel were consulted about their special guests then they should be arrested on conspiracy charges

send the other staff home on full pay at the hotels expense

this is a message that should be relayed to all other hotels anywhere in the kingdom, that if you accept red shirts under criminal arrest warrant as hotel guests without reporting it to police, then you will be closed down as a result and charged with aiding and abetting wanted criminals

[geriatrickid]

In respect to the above comment presenting a " crime", maybe the Reds took a page from the Farang Sexpat community. The hotel allows joiners no questions asked.

Nothing precluded someone from registering for the room and simply handing the key to someon else or inviting a guest..

Fortunately, none of you are prosecutors. Otherwise we would have a lot of innocent people executed and a lot of murderers walking the street due to bumbling incompetence.

[pontius]

It's another snide piece and another nail in the coffin of journalism at Thailand's premier PAD mouthpiece. References to weight and appearance that would not be tolerated against other groups. Imagine a piece on Hilary Clinton referencing her body shape and appearance and ignoring all she said? Thats how low this pamphlet has sunk.

This was an assassination attempt. All the footage showed the room shot to bits.

They are now pinning their hopes on the Army. Are the Army going to run the country now if the Police can't?

Want to see serious loss of income, support and face for Thailand? Then let the Army go on a killing spree.

I think the smart move for the Reds is to negotiate with the Army. Then they all win, Army, Reds and business district. Leaves Mark and Thaugsabun out in the cold hoping that their 300,000 facebook supporters are enough to outvote 30 million red supporters!!

Mind you, stranger things have happened here.

Man, you either took too much or not enough of your medicine this morning.

[mca]

under Thai law relating to guest registration, all hotel guests have to fill out a guest registration card accompanied by acceptable ID

these registration cards need to submitted to the local authority within 48 hours

The regulation regarding submitting the details to the local authority is no longer in force for Thai citizens.

Edited April 17, 2010 by mca

[Artisi]

This so-called attempt to capture a couple of red-shirts sounds more like a poorly thought out boy scout jamboree activity.

About time the PM sacked all the idiots at the top of the military and the police and appointed capable people to run these government facilties.

[Mosha]

Shouldn't this topic have been called an embarssing fiasco for the police?

[eagleflyinghigh]

Watermelon army and tomato police. What a fruity affair.

Mind the lemon police and the grapefruit army.

Such incompetence of the security forces and the subsequent loss of face may lead them to be violent. A state built on clientelism and not on merit and competence can only be a failed state in the future.

Yes, the whole world is laughing as things become again very Thai after the very "un Thai" last Saturday where sadly people lost their lives.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

This so-called attempt to capture a couple of red-shirts sounds more like a poorly thought out boy scout jamboree activity.

About time the PM sacked all the idiots at the top of the military and the police and appointed capable people to run these government facilties.

Instead, he's sacked the idiot in charge of security operations.

And long over due it was.

[connel707]

This so-called attempt to capture a couple of red-shirts sounds more like a poorly thought out boy scout jamboree activity.

About time the PM sacked all the idiots at the top of the military and the police and appointed capable people to run these government facilties.

Yes Agreed... same as Korea did very successfully all police over the age of 36 yrs should be sacked forthwith, new police should be recruited on good salary and pensions, no corruption should be tolerated and new police training colleges opened and run by top farang ex policeman/ trainers.. Oh for a perfect world... at least us Farangs can go home whenever we need to...(most of us)

[TallForeigner]

It's another snide piece and another nail in the coffin of journalism at Thailand's premier PAD mouthpiece. References to weight and appearance that would not be tolerated against other groups. Imagine a piece on Hilary Clinton referencing her body shape and appearance and ignoring all she said? Thats how low this pamphlet has sunk.

This was an assassination attempt. All the footage showed the room shot to bits.

They are now pinning their hopes on the Army. Are the Army going to run the country now if the Police can't?

Want to see serious loss of income, support and face for Thailand? Then let the Army go on a killing spree.

I think the smart move for the Reds is to negotiate with the Army. Then they all win, Army, Reds and business district. Leaves Mark and Thaugsabun out in the cold hoping that their 300,000 facebook supporters are enough to outvote 30 million red supporters!!

Mind you, stranger things have happened here.

where are the 30 million Red supporters.. 30,000 you mean... and for sure here the Army will go on a killing spree... give us some fun to watch on TV..

Don't confuse activist with supporter. The red people you see in Bangkok are the activist - they are the representatives of many times more sympathizers all over Thailand. 30'000+ plus representatives of a mass that might well come close to a majority of Thai people. If you want to have something to watch look here: Ratchaprasong

I made these photos to show how my neighborhood under siege of the Red Shirts looks like.

[Teddy3943]

I'm not surprised at all. Almost all the "professionals" who did a job for me here in Thailand had much worst skills than amateurs in my home country. Quality is a word that's not in the Thai dictionary I presume. Meticulous planning is also not a common habbit.

I don't understand why so many accept the low quality of various products of mind and hand...

[geriatrickid]

This so-called attempt to capture a couple of red-shirts sounds more like a poorly thought out boy scout jamboree activity.

About time the PM sacked all the idiots at the top of the military and the police and appointed capable people to run these government facilties.

The PM cannot sack the military leadership because the military says that the elected government has minimal authority to do so. As General Prem the President of the Privy Council says, the military answers to a "higher" authority.

There are capable and honest people in Thailand. Unfortunately, as was the case with the police colnel that was murdered in the south, these people are sent to places where they cannot "inconvenience" corrupt officials.

[Deez]

It's another snide piece and another nail in the coffin of journalism at Thailand's premier PAD mouthpiece. References to weight and appearance that would not be tolerated against other groups. Imagine a piece on Hilary Clinton referencing her body shape and appearance and ignoring all she said? Thats how low this pamphlet has sunk.

This was an assassination attempt. All the footage showed the room shot to bits.

They are now pinning their hopes on the Army. Are the Army going to run the country now if the Police can't?

Want to see serious loss of income, support and face for Thailand? Then let the Army go on a killing spree.

I think the smart move for the Reds is to negotiate with the Army. Then they all win, Army, Reds and business district. Leaves Mark and Thaugsabun out in the cold hoping that their 300,000 facebook supporters are enough to outvote 30 million red supporters!!

Mind you, stranger things have happened here.

where are the 30 million Red supporters.. 30,000 you mean... and for sure here the Army will go on a killing spree... give us some fun to watch on TV..

Lets hope you are caught in the crossfire.

[jayboy]

It's another snide piece and another nail in the coffin of journalism at Thailand's premier PAD mouthpiece. References to weight and appearance that would not be tolerated against other groups. Imagine a piece on Hilary Clinton referencing her body shape and appearance and ignoring all she said? Thats how low this pamphlet has sunk.

This was an assassination attempt. All the footage showed the room shot to bits.

What a load of nonsense.The reference in the Nation to the fatness of Arisaman was completely relevant in context, namely the pictures of him scrambling awkwardly out the window.Obviously gratuitous insults are unacceptable but really some people are just too thin skinned on the fat issue.

Interesting that Bangkok Pundit considers the arrest of Arisman by the authorities to be completely justified, given his actions.

[Sisaketmike]

Watermelon army and tomato police. What a fruity affair.

It seems to me that they didn't just lose face.

The army infiltrated with red shirts, similar to the tomato cops.

There's only one solution now: SWAT. The guy with his yellow Hummer, weapons all around and they wouldn't run away from Rambo's copy.

SWAT= S=Serious W= Watermelon A= Amazing T= Thailand.

Edited April 17, 2010 by Sisaketmike

[Donnyboy]

dont know what was funnier, watching the escape, or the fact that the BIB couldnt catch him

[nakachalet]

grandpops....

and where are you from.... sir?

do you live in korat.... sir?

i'll be very happy to donote 100,000 to the charity of your choice.... sir

if the redshirts can successfully, as you suggested, negotiate with the army and the biz community.... and

another 100,000 to the redshirt coffer.... if you can prove to the thaivisa community and readers alike that....

there are some 30 mil redshirt supporters around....

i am just curious.... is your attending physician named.... DOCTOR WHENG....?

the redshirted doctor wheng was the first to publicly announced during their negotiation with apisit govt that the redshirts has some 20 or more million supporters....

and now grandpops.... you are saying the number has grown to 30 mil....

well.... just prove it to the thaivisa communities.... alright? and i'll be more than happy to donate to your favourite charity....

as far as the 300,000 silent majority supporters on facebook, it is really a surprise to everyone alike.... by now it could have

grown to a much larger number....

as grandpops said.... stranger things happened.... indeed who knows.... grandpops could be right too....?

grandpops dear.... wanna give me a rebuttal here....

It's another snide piece and another nail in the coffin of journalism at Thailand's premier PAD mouthpiece. References to weight and appearance that would not be tolerated against other groups. Imagine a piece on Hilary Clinton referencing her body shape and appearance and ignoring all she said? Thats how low this pamphlet has sunk.

This was an assassination attempt. All the footage showed the room shot to bits.

They are now pinning their hopes on the Army. Are the Army going to run the country now if the Police can't?

Want to see serious loss of income, support and face for Thailand? Then let the Army go on a killing spree.

I think the smart move for the Reds is to negotiate with the Army. Then they all win, Army, Reds and business district. Leaves Mark and Thaugsabun out in the cold hoping that their 300,000 facebook supporters are enough to outvote 30 million red supporters!!

Mind you, stranger things have happened here.

Edited April 17, 2010 by nakachalet

[landak]

I'm not surprised at all. Almost all the "professionals" who did a job for me here in Thailand had much worst skills than amateurs in my home country. Quality is a word that's not in the Thai dictionary I presume. Meticulous planning is also not a common habbit.

I don't understand why so many accept the low quality of various products of mind and hand...

Reminds me of how American withdraw from Vietnam, scrambling out from South Vietnam.

Cannot imagine with all the hi-tech weaponry US had, the well-trained US army still cannot defeat a bunch of 'amateur' farmer soldiers.

[Sisaketmike]

Shouldn't this topic have been called an embarssing fiasco for the police?

"Hundreds of policemen entered the hotel to arrest six red-shirt leaders - Arisman Pongruangrong, Suporn Atthawong, Payap Panket, Sangiem Samranlak, Wanchana Kerddee and Yoswarit Chuklom, aka Jeng Dokchik.

However, two of the six escaped by lowering themselves from the third floor via electrical cabling. The other four were apprehended, but were almost immediately released when red-shirt demonstrators descended on the area."

Actually some of us had a good laugh, but reading this is really scary. Hundreds of cops were not able to arrest a fat man in a red shirt?

And the four apprehended shirts were immediately released after some other red shirts showed up?

I guess the reds were better armed. Thailand isn't just losing face, they will lose, or let's better say already have lost their credibility as well.

[Donnyboy]

I'm not surprised at all. Almost all the "professionals" who did a job for me here in Thailand had much worst skills than amateurs in my home country. Quality is a word that's not in the Thai dictionary I presume. Meticulous planning is also not a common habbit.

I don't understand why so many accept the low quality of various products of mind and hand...

Reminds me of how American withdraw from Vietnam, scrambling out from South Vietnam.

Cannot imagine with all the hi-tech weaponry US had, the well-trained US army still cannot defeat a bunch of 'amateur' farmer soldiers.

they have the same problem now with some goat farmers in the middle east

[pontius]

It's another snide piece and another nail in the coffin of journalism at Thailand's premier PAD mouthpiece. References to weight and appearance that would not be tolerated against other groups. Imagine a piece on Hilary Clinton referencing her body shape and appearance and ignoring all she said? Thats how low this pamphlet has sunk.

This was an assassination attempt. All the footage showed the room shot to bits.

They are now pinning their hopes on the Army. Are the Army going to run the country now if the Police can't?

Want to see serious loss of income, support and face for Thailand? Then let the Army go on a killing spree.

I think the smart move for the Reds is to negotiate with the Army. Then they all win, Army, Reds and business district. Leaves Mark and Thaugsabun out in the cold hoping that their 300,000 facebook supporters are enough to outvote 30 million red supporters!!

Mind you, stranger things have happened here.

where are the 30 million Red supporters.. 30,000 you mean... and for sure here the Army will go on a killing spree... give us some fun to watch on TV..

Don't confuse activist with supporter. The red people you see in Bangkok are the activist - they are the representatives of many times more sympathizers all over Thailand. 30'000+ plus representatives of a mass that might well come close to a majority of Thai people. If you want to have something to watch look here: Ratchaprasong

I made these photos to show how my neighborhood under siege of the Red Shirts looks like.

Thanks for the pictures. As for the numbers, it is true that 30,000 active protesters represent a larger number of supporters, but 30M? No way. I guesstimate that 75% would prefer this chaos to end before choosing any color. How many of the rest are red/yellow/pink or green with purple spots is unclear and we'll probably never know, with the way the elections "are done" here.

[taff33]

I'm not surprised at all. Almost all the "professionals" who did a job for me here in Thailand had much worst skills than amateurs in my home country. Quality is a word that's not in the Thai dictionary I presume. Meticulous planning is also not a common habbit.

I don't understand why so many accept the low quality of various products of mind and hand...

beer Chang is good quality

[Sisaketmike]

I'm not surprised at all. Almost all the "professionals" who did a job for me here in Thailand had much worst skills than amateurs in my home country. Quality is a word that's not in the Thai dictionary I presume. Meticulous planning is also not a common habbit.

I don't understand why so many accept the low quality of various products of mind and hand...

Reminds me of how American withdraw from Vietnam, scrambling out from South Vietnam.

Cannot imagine with all the hi-tech weaponry US had, the well-trained US army still cannot defeat a bunch of 'amateur' farmer soldiers.

they have the same problem now with some goat farmers in the middle east

My father in law (Thai) was fighting in Vietnam too, a young poor guy, not trained for a war, but he succeeded.

It seems that Bush wasn't right that they've got god on their side....

World police is retired, and the country with the most bicycles on earth has got more say than America now. Amen.

[ChiangMaiFun]

This so-called attempt to capture a couple of red-shirts sounds more like a poorly thought out boy scout jamboree activity.

About time the PM sacked all the idiots at the top of the military and the police and appointed capable people to run these government facilties.

The PM cannot sack the military leadership because the military says that the elected government has minimal authority to do so. As General Prem the President of the Privy Council says, the military answers to a "higher" authority.

There are capable and honest people in Thailand. Unfortunately, as was the case with the police colnel that was murdered in the south, these people are sent to places where they cannot "inconvenience" corrupt officials.

yes and I know who it is... here's your anagram for the day: Merp