Updates From The Udd Rally Site - Monday 19 April 2010

[Sunderland]

Updates via UDD Thailand protesters. We shall wait to see if they are accurate later, but at the present time there is no coverage on TV whatsoever.

UDDThailand: INTEL REPORT: Crackdown will utilise a range of Southern fighting forces, including private militias. Face masks and stab-proof vests currently being distributed at UDD stage.

about an hour ago

UDDThailand UPDATE: Face masks being thrown into dancing redshirts protesters. Musicians continue to play.

48 minutes ago

[Sunderland]

UDDThailand UPDATE: Reports of many soldiers with people wearing yellow shirts are surrounding rally site in Bkk. Danger of violence high. Backstage area being cleared of obstructions. Flood lights panning rooftops. All security on high sniper alert.

45 minutes ago

UDDThailand There's a face-off between the red shirts and the security force. No crackdown yet. At Saladeang there's 100 more troops coming in. : DB

UDDThailand UPDATE: Reports of many soldiers with people wearing yellow shirts are surrounding rally site in Bkk. Danger of violence high. Backstage area being cleared of obstructions. Flood lights panning rooftops. All security on high sniper alert.

UDDThailand Update: Estimated 2000 troops are closing Henri Dunant Junction with 2 military buses. Not even the police can get in. : DB

10 minutes ago

[Sunderland]

UDDThailand ... alert soldiers are reported to have engaged protesters near Lumpini Park and tear gas has been used.

[Sunderland]

http://www.thairath.co.th/content/pol/77615

Thairath reports gathering of troops and red shirts close to Silom and Lumpini.

[tw25rw]

Getting tough 16 months too late.

[Chunky1]

if they kill 50,000 red shirts another 50,000 will come next week. its a fool's errand.

[Chunky1]

where these updates from?

[Sunderland]

Well let's see what happens in the next hour(s). At this stage I believe it is not a full crackdown but the army building a buffer between the reds and Silom Road. Even if that is the main aim, it will be seen by the reds as confrontation, so expect something to happen.

Regarding the complete lack of reporting on TV at present, there are 3 possibilities:

1. There is a media blackout of that area enforced by the govt. and military this morning.

2. All the news reporters are asleep.

3. Nothing is really happening.

[Sunderland]

The updates are from UDD Thailand (Facebook) and andrewspooner@twitter

Sorry, can't give you any updates from the Nation as they haven't woken up yet.

[Sunderland]

Another contributor:

http://twitter.com/RedPhanFa2Day

[IMA_FARANG]

where these updates from?

-----------------------

They are from UDD protestors, so assume bias in them. Not to say government reports not biased either.

Anyhow they are the news we only likely to get for a while.

-------------------

[IMA_FARANG]

Just on a guess this is just an attempt by soldiers to block off roads to Silom road, where government says NO RALLY ALLOWED.

Edited April 18, 2010 by IMA_FARANG

[britmaveric]

Bus loads of reds coming - might be reds surrounding troops.

[Sunderland]

Morning Britmaveric ... or is it just the end of the night??

[britmaveric]

^morning mate - well sun will up soon, so I think any action won't be today unless they are looking for a daylight confrontation.

[Sunderland]

Yes, makes you wonder what the plan is. I think it's a deployment to block the reds' movement rather than an attempt to move in and disperse them at this stage. Surely it would have made more sense to do it late last night rather than first thing in the morning when everyone is set to go back to work.

I would have fancied any attempts to break up the red protesters would have been made at night, but perhaps Anupong is being cautious in view of what happened on Ratchadamnoen on 10 April.

Interesting day ahead.

[Sunderland]

According to Thai Rath there are 1500 troops with weapons deployed in the area around Bangkok Bank, Sala Daeng BTS and the Lumpini end of Silom Road. Sounds like an area to avoid and would expect Sala Daeng station to be closed.

Looks like most of the soldiers have guns. Armed with what looks like a mixture of rubber bullets and presumably live ammunition. Barb wire going up in the area, but traffic (including buses) still moving through the area before dawn.

[Sunderland]

UDDThailand Update Around 4000 soldiers with blue scarfs were deployed between Silom Road, barbed wire being laid now in front of Soi Convent. Over 30 Humvies, water trucks are all the way to Naratiwat. Sean

[Sunderland]

Well some of us have to go to work. Hope it all dies down again and ends up being merely a standoff today.

Cheers.

[JRinger]

if they kill 50,000 red shirts another 50,000 will come next week. its a fool's errand.

....providing the money keeps flowing.......5,000 Baht a truckload of Reds from the village to Bangkok is the latest

[Tejas]

if they kill 50,000 red shirts another 50,000 will come next week. its a fool's errand.

....providing the money keeps flowing.......5,000 Baht a truckload of Reds from the village to Bangkok is the latest

If they do rid Bangkok of the Reds, no way 50,000 more will come to replace them.

The ball will then be where it should be: fair and free elections.

If what I am reading above is true, and if today is the day the govt. decides to do something, it is a sad day.

I say "sad" because the Reds have been warned, repeatedly to stop what they are doing and move on.

I think the govt. has been extraordinarily patient with them.

I hope they stop what they are doing and go home and wait for the next election.

Good luck Thailand!

[chadintheusa]

if they kill 50,000 red shirts another 50,000 will come next week. its a fool's errand.

In that case they won't be allowed to enter Bangkok next time and will arrest them a truckload at a time.

[chadintheusa]

Updates from UDD are probably unreliable at best.

Good time for government to act, international media is preoccupied with volcano in Europe, and half of them couldn't get here anyway due to airport closures.

Edited April 19, 2010 by chadintheusa

[hammered]

Bear in mind the UDD facebook site claimed on April 10 that the chaos was caused by someone dropping a grenade launcher in the command post and killing the commanders and then the soldiers turned round and fired on their own side. It is an argument that since not a single red operative has repeated for glaringly obvious reasons. For red sources it is the most discredited and announcements from the stage are probably best. Bear in mind though that keeping everyone tense maximises numbers at any time and anyone in this kind of rally but especially leaders will not want the rally to shrink to a size where they can be seized.

[Huey]

if they kill 50,000 red shirts another 50,000 will come next week. its a fool's errand.

If they kill 50,000 redshirts and another 50,000 come next week then they deserve a second listening too. But I don't think they have the stomach for that, I think if you kill 5000, they will craw back under the rocks they came out of almost overnight.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Updates from UDD are probably unreliable at best.

Right, so not unlike The Nation et al. It's good to know the source, so we can correlate it with reports from the other side. Whatever matches up is probably true.

[thunder30101]

Wow Huey you must be one sad angry person. All I have seen you spout on this situation is just plain WRONG ! I am guessing you have never seen death up close. I am not on either side of this mess as its not my mess and its not yours either ! Wishing injury and death on innocent people is BS ! I personally think you should be banned from this board. Its hard enough being a westerner living here without people like you around.

[maccaroni man]

Wow Huey you must be one sad angry person. All I have seen you spout on this situation is just plain WRONG ! I am guessing you have never seen death up close. I am not on either side of this mess as its not my mess and its not yours either ! Wishing injury and death on innocent people is BS ! I personally think you should be banned from this board. Its hard enough being a westerner living here without people like you around.

50k raving paid idiots is a good start and if they want to double the number to 100k that is to say the least a brainless move but hey at 1k to 500 per day it beats working an honest living

[Huey]

Wow Huey you must be one sad angry person. All I have seen you spout on this situation is just plain WRONG ! I am guessing you have never seen death up close. I am not on either side of this mess as its not my mess and its not yours either ! Wishing injury and death on innocent people is BS ! I personally think you should be banned from this board. Its hard enough being a westerner living here without people like you around.

Truthfully, I am neither angry or sad. And I have seen more death than I would have chosen to see if I could have.

I'm simply frustrated, Citizen or not, Thailand is my home, I live here and I love it here, my family (by marriage) is Thai and I have a vested interest in the stability of the country. I hate seeing these 2 bit scum bag peasant mercenaries coming to Bangkok and tearing Sh*t up all on some shady crook's dime.

I want to see these terrorists dealt with swiftly and harshly as so they don't ever dare try this BS again.

If some people have a legit gripe or grievances, then by all means, let a leader rise up from their ranks, crystallize their concerns and agenda in his speeches, and lead his people to a peaceful non violent MLK like revolution.

Not this crap, some billionaire that stole money from the people he's now throwing a few pennies at to die for his return to power while he Jet sets around the world living it up.

F him and anyone ignorant enough to follow him.

Finlay, I don't know why you say it's hard living here. I think it's great, a nice easy enjoyable life here in Thailand. If you find it so hard the door is eternally open for you.

[britmaveric]

Luckily Huey's not in charge - he'd most likely not survive with such tactics as he suggested. TIT, just don't work that way over here.