PM Abhisit Needs Help To Get Roadmap Through

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

PM needs help to get roadmap through

By The Nation

Despite Abhisit's best intentions, there are extremists on both sides who would like to derail the process

BANGKOK: -- The calmness was brief, and it was shattered on Friday night when two attacks near the red encampment in Rajprasong left two police dead and seven others plus two civilians wounded. This is the time when, if things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong. People with some inside information about the October 14, 1973 bloodshed must remember how "close" to an agreement the Thanom government and pro-democracy protesters were before the situation took an ugly turn. Even the Tiananmen Square tragedy was preceded by developments similar to our ongoing political stand-off - initial government patience, attempted negotiations, weakened protesters whose numbers were dwindling and an emerging sense in some quarters that "it" wasn't going to happen.

Red-shirted leaders were singing pop music and taking loved ones to McDonald's near the Rajpasong protest site. On Friday, their press conference hinted at an imminent "suspension" of their almost two-month-old rally. Chulalongkorn Hospital was resuming full services and many reporters were no longer wearing helmets. Then people woke up on urday morning to learn about the Sala Daeng and Lumpini attacks.

We can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Extremists on both sides are not happy about Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's roadmap, and it is they who speak the loudest. Despite what looked like a clear majority of the public welcoming the prime minister's peace initiatives, what will dictate the course of Thai politics remains the decisions of a handful of people.

Abhisit has won the backing of his Democrat Party and its coalition allies. Even the Pheu Thai Party is said to be kick-starting its election campaign preparations. The pro-government "multicoloured" shirt group welcomed the roadmap in general, though it said the election date set for November 14 was too early.

The red shirts have made additional demands, partly to save face and partly to make sure that they would not be double-crossed.

Even the Army, publicly at least, was relieved that it would not have to be the one charged with reclaiming Rajprasong from the protesters.

The real resistance has come from the yellow shirts. The People's Alliance for Democracy has denounced the road map as nothing short of a betrayal, a shameful deal between Abhisit and a movement he had just days ago virtually accused of being infiltrated by terrorists and anti-monarchy elements.

The PAD did not threaten to torpedo the road map yet but it asked Abhisit to revise it or resign.

Realities of war can always easily overshadow dreams for peace. The gravitational pull toward something that is worse is always at work. All parties must be totally on guard, because this is the time when the dark force is naturally most powerful. History, modern or ancient, shows us that the process of reaching out to enemies is often when political leaders are most vulnerable, because all of a sudden, the base to stand on is not quite there.

Prime Minister Abhisit, in trying to reach out to the red shirts, is undoubtedly at that juncture. Nobody seems to trust him when his agenda requires strong faith from everybody involved.

During a TV interview on Friday, Abhisit said he had never thought he would ever face anything this tough, complicated and challenging. He has been called a "murderer" by his foes and "betrayer" or even "traitor" by some allies. Suddenly, as Abhisit joked, Thaksin Shinawatra and some of Thaksin's enemies are wanting the same thing - his removal as prime minister.

Polls, meanwhile, seem to suggest there is a silent majority out there who believe that Abhisit is trying to do his best - not trying to strike a secret deal to save himself - for the whole country.

Can Abhisit make it through this increasingly blurred and hostile political landscape? Obviously, success or failure is not up to him. Nothing that is happening at the moment is up to any one particular man.

In fact, this is not about one man. Abhisit has simply taken the first step, brave in some people's eyes and cowardly in others', and it will be up to all Thais to look at his proposal with unbiased minds and decide for themselves.

-- The Nation 2010-05-09

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[BexleyBoy]

And the band plays on.....................

[WinnieTheKhwai]

PM needs help to get roadmap through

...

In fact, this is not about one man. Abhisit has simply taken the first step, brave in some people's eyes and cowardly in others', and it will be up to all Thais to look at his proposal with unbiased minds and decide for themselves.

Hear hear.

Edited May 9, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[SomTumTiger]

Unfortunately for all Thais, Thaksin does not care about peace. He cares about his money. His interests are served by derailing this plan, and that is why his army and police thugs are shooting and bombing people daily.

[Thailand]

"In fact, this is not about one man. Abhisit has simply taken the first step, brave in some people's eyes and cowardly in others', and it will be up to all Thais to look at his proposal with unbiased minds and decide for themselves."

Kudos to him for doing so. I was very necessary from one side or another but it now looks like the reds want to score more points, the yellows want to derail the whole thing. unknowns are trying to inflame the whole situation. Too many agendas.

Once the reds move out, perhaps with certain guarantees then maybe things can improve.

Come on reds defuse this mess, yellows, multi's whatever- your turn will come keep out of it.

[ozzieman05]

This has become like a channel 3 soap opera

Every day the same story the same thing

The Red shirts have a hidden agenda, and keep looking froe excuses to cause more problem

The government want the red shirts out so Bkk can come back to Normal

The Police (lollipop men) are scared of their own shadows

The army plays war games on computers, and do not want to hurts there little fingers

The only group showing any back bone are the yellow shirts

Has any one noticed unlike all other protest in history there is something missing on the red shirt stage

Have we forgotten not long ago Thasin was wearing Yellow

Get used to this Bangkok

street fighting has become part of your life style

Sad Thais used to be so mai pen rai

the good days are sadly gone and finished

[whybother]

So the reds are still discussing their proposal? I didn't think they wanted to negotiate. Why didn't they do this 6 weeks ago.

I imagine that their proposal will be about the same, except with elections or dissolution earlier.

Expect the army to be rolling in in the next couple of days. That's what the reds want.

[Robby nz]

Interesting that the reds need more time to present their version of a road map (peace plan) I dont suppose it is something they have ever thought of before.

How long have they been creating trouble now? and they have never given a thought to anything but getting Thaksin back.

One would imagine that a group genuinly protesting for democracy would have had some plan from the start as to how this could be achieved but it seems to have come as a complete surprise to them that there needs to be some plan as to where to go from here.

Perhaps they never imagined that they would be beaten so comprehensivly and confined behind their barrier and need an out as they do now.

[Publicus]

This has become like a channel 3 soap opera

Every day the same story the same thing

The Red shirts have a hidden agenda, and keep looking froe excuses to cause more problem

The government want the red shirts out so Bkk can come back to Normal

The Police (lollipop men) are scared of their own shadows

The army plays war games on computers, and do not want to hurts there little fingers

The only group showing any back bone are the yellow shirts

Has any one noticed unlike all other protest in history there is something missing on the red shirt stage

Have we forgotten not long ago Thasin was wearing Yellow

Get used to this Bangkok

street fighting has become part of your life style

Sad Thais used to be so mai pen rai

the good days are sadly gone and finished

The former Land of Smiles.

[Redsunset]

The Nation is an interesting newspaper.... sometimes it is "pro-Abhisit" sometimes it is "anti-Abhisit". Perhaps this is acceptable, I don't know.

But often it is difficult to separate facts from opinion. In this case, it is opinion, but Nation articles have been written that blur facts with opinion...

What is a reader to do?!

[whybother]

Interesting that the reds need more time to present their version of a road map (peace plan) I dont suppose it is something they have ever thought of before.

How long have they been creating trouble now? and they have never given a thought to anything but getting Thaksin back.

One would imagine that a group genuinly protesting for democracy would have had some plan from the start as to how this could be achieved but it seems to have come as a complete surprise to them that there needs to be some plan as to where to go from here.

Perhaps they never imagined that they would be beaten so comprehensivly and confined behind their barrier and need an out as they do now.

Their roadmap has been:

1) Dissolution in 15 days - with a later update to dissolution in 30 days.

(end of road map)

They have no plans for the country. They have no plans on how solve these ongoing issues. They have no plans on how to solve the problems of the poor.

They want an election now. They expect to get into government.

They seem to be ignoring the fact that they only got 40% of the vote last election, and their efforts now are not winning them any new friends, and the smaller parties are unlikely to support them again.

So they will probably use a bit of Red Democracy - stopping other parties from campaigning - to get a boost.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Unfortunately for all Thais, Thaksin does not care about peace. He cares about his money. His interests are served by derailing this plan, and that is why his army and police thugs are shooting and bombing people daily.

Well, that didn't take long.. Post #4 and Thaksin's pale arse gets dragged into it. Anyway, Thaksin is dead, don't you read Thaivisa?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The Nation is an interesting newspaper.... sometimes it is "pro-Abhisit" sometimes it is "anti-Abhisit". Perhaps this is acceptable, I don't know.

But often it is difficult to separate facts from opinion. In this case, it is opinion, but Nation articles have been written that blur facts with opinion...

What is a reader to do?!

Easy: Move to a better news source.

They actually wrote this, quoted verbatim, in full:

Reds leaders to meet again Sunday

Red shirts leaders' meeting after double fatal attacks ended on Saturday without any resolution when they would end their rally. Nuttawut Saikua, a red shirt leader, told after the meeting that the core leaders would meet again on Sunday to work out on more concrete plan.

(http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Reds-leaders-to-meet-again-Sunday-30128862.html )

Now, look how they struggle to get the reference to the violence in there in the same paragraph as the actual news fact, that the Red leaders will meet again today. It almost isn't even English anymore: " Red shirts leaders' meeting after double fatal attacks ended on Saturday without any resolution when they would end their rally. "

This really is getting quite tedious.

Edited May 9, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Thai at Heart]

The Nation is an interesting newspaper.... sometimes it is "pro-Abhisit" sometimes it is "anti-Abhisit". Perhaps this is acceptable, I don't know.

But often it is difficult to separate facts from opinion. In this case, it is opinion, but Nation articles have been written that blur facts with opinion...

What is a reader to do?!

The main editor obviously only works Monday to Friday. The Sunday edition often has copy from a completely different political stance than Monday to Friday.

[Publicus]

The Nation is an interesting newspaper.... sometimes it is "pro-Abhisit" sometimes it is "anti-Abhisit". Perhaps this is acceptable, I don't know.

But often it is difficult to separate facts from opinion. In this case, it is opinion, but Nation articles have been written that blur facts with opinion...

What is a reader to do?!

The main editor obviously only works Monday to Friday. The Sunday edition often has copy from a completely different political stance than Monday to Friday.

The Jekyll and Hyde syndrome of journalism in action in Thailand.

Edited May 9, 2010 by Publicus

[hagler]

The Nation is an interesting newspaper.... sometimes it is "pro-Abhisit" sometimes it is "anti-Abhisit". Perhaps this is acceptable, I don't know.

But often it is difficult to separate facts from opinion. In this case, it is opinion, but Nation articles have been written that blur facts with opinion...

What is a reader to do?!

The main editor obviously only works Monday to Friday. The Sunday edition often has copy from a completely different political stance than Monday to Friday.

The Jekyll and Hyde syndrome of journalism in action in Thailand.

:D

The "Nation" is nothing like journalism. It is propaganda, nothing else. And gawd help em if the UDD does get into power cause there will be some serious payback coming to them.

[whybother]

The "Nation" is nothing like journalism. It is propaganda, nothing else. And gawd help em if the UDD does get into power cause there will be some serious payback coming to them.

Yes, that's what RED Democracy is all about, isn't it. Payback!

[mazeltov]

I imagine that their proposal will be about the same, except with elections or dissolution earlier.

Expect the army to be rolling in in the next couple of days. That's what the reds want.

O RLY?

That the army should roll in is a wish you can read often at thaivisa and also the PAD demands this kind of action, they submitted letters to the army barracks country wide.

albeit the boys at thaivisa deny that they are yellow, i think no member of any of this groups is a red shirt or a red shirt supporter.

[fullcave]

It's easy to spot the elites as they act with total and complete immunity from the law.

Edited May 9, 2010 by fullcave

[whybother]

I imagine that their proposal will be about the same, except with elections or dissolution earlier.

Expect the army to be rolling in in the next couple of days. That's what the reds want.

O RLY?

That the army should roll in is a wish you can read often at thaivisa and also the PAD demands this kind of action, they submitted letters to the army barracks country wide.

albeit the boys at thaivisa deny that they are yellow, i think no member of any of this groups is a red shirt or a red shirt supporter.

I didn't say anything about me wanting it.

The reds have an opportunity to finish this now. They had their chance to negotiate weeks ago. They've been offered a way out without violence, but THEY don't seem to want that.

[bobonzo]

I imagine that their proposal will be about the same, except with elections or dissolution earlier.

Expect the army to be rolling in in the next couple of days. That's what the reds want.

O RLY?

That the army should roll in is a wish you can read often at thaivisa and also the PAD demands this kind of action, they submitted letters to the army barracks country wide.

albeit the boys at thaivisa deny that they are yellow, i think no member of any of this groups is a red shirt or a red shirt supporter.

I didn't say anything about me wanting it.

The reds have an opportunity to finish this now. They had their chance to negotiate weeks ago. They've been offered a way out without violence, but THEY don't seem to want that.

[bobonzo]

I imagine that their proposal will be about the same, except with elections or dissolution earlier.

Expect the army to be rolling in in the next couple of days. That's what the reds want.

O RLY?

That the army should roll in is a wish you can read often at thaivisa and also the PAD demands this kind of action, they submitted letters to the army barracks country wide.

albeit the boys at thaivisa deny that they are yellow, i think no member of any of this groups is a red shirt or a red shirt supporter.

I didn't say anything about me wanting it.

The reds have an opportunity to finish this now. They had their chance to negotiate weeks ago. They've been offered a way out without violence, but THEY don't seem to want that.

I have to believe some of the more militant parts of the reds group aren't ready to step back. The red 'leaders' were forced to bow to their demands ?

[rabo]

Easy: Move to a better news source.

They actually wrote this, quoted verbatim, in full:

Reds leaders to meet again Sunday

Red shirts leaders' meeting after double fatal attacks ended on Saturday without any resolution when they would end their rally. Nuttawut Saikua, a red shirt leader, told after the meeting that the core leaders would meet again on Sunday to work out on more concrete plan.

(http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Reds-leaders-to-meet-again-Sunday-30128862.html )

Now, look how they struggle to get the reference to the violence in there in the same paragraph as the actual news fact, that the Red leaders will meet again today. It almost isn't even English anymore: " Red shirts leaders' meeting after double fatal attacks ended on Saturday without any resolution when they would end their rally. "

This really is getting quite tedious.

meeting is a noun, ended is the verb, makes perfect sense to me.

Edited May 9, 2010 by rabo

[lazurus]

It's easy to spot the elites as they act with total and complete immunity from the law.

Does that make the red leaders elites?

[rabo]

It's easy to spot the elites as they act with total and complete immunity from the law.

Does that make the red leaders elites?

In a sentence, Thaksin is a wanna be Thai elite who couldn't get along with other elite people because of his own extreme greed and egotistical problems.

[Publicus]

The Nation is an interesting newspaper.... sometimes it is "pro-Abhisit" sometimes it is "anti-Abhisit". Perhaps this is acceptable, I don't know.

But often it is difficult to separate facts from opinion. In this case, it is opinion, but Nation articles have been written that blur facts with opinion...

What is a reader to do?!

The main editor obviously only works Monday to Friday. The Sunday edition often has copy from a completely different political stance than Monday to Friday.

The Jekyll and Hyde syndrome of journalism in action in Thailand.

The "Nation" is nothing like journalism. It is propaganda, nothing else. And gawd help em if the UDD does get into power cause there will be some serious payback coming to them.

Whether some like it or not, the Nation is journalism and it is globally respected Thailand English language journalism.

Red "payback" is not a respected attitude or intention whether domestically or abroad. The Redshirts have a long list of "payback" don't you, predicated on the Redshirt paymaster and his Enemies List.

[Jerrytheyoung]

back to the title of the thread:

It is obvious that the current stratification of Thai politicians, parties and movements is not corresponding to the situation. It is the interest of Abhisit to re-group his followers in a movement: he may even get some support in the Red Shirt population.

So I suppose this is the intention of this thread, I think it is perfectly understandable.

[lazurus]

In Nonthaburi the red protest is blocking Rattanathibet Road, traffic is backed up to the river and I imagine it is worse on Ngamwongwan Road in the other direction. Red protesters have intensified their protest at Thaicom in Nonthaburi and have blocked several lanes with their vehicles. Take alternate routes if you can, so much for things getting better.

[Jingthing]

Unfortunately for all Thais, Thaksin does not care about peace. He cares about his money. His interests are served by derailing this plan, and that is why his army and police thugs are shooting and bombing people daily.

Well, that didn't take long.. Post #4 and Thaksin's pale arse gets dragged into it. Anyway, Thaksin is dead, don't you read Thaivisa?

Thaksin is mentioned because Thaksin is RELEVANT to the topic.

He identified Army Specialist Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol or Seh Daeng and former PM Thaksin Shinawatra as being against the reconciliation plan while the core leaders of the protest are leaning towards the plan.

PM Abhsit

[321niti123]

This has become like a channel 3 soap opera

Every day the same story the same thing

The Red shirts have a hidden agenda, and keep looking froe excuses to cause more problem

The government want the red shirts out so Bkk can come back to Normal

The Police (lollipop men) are scared of their own shadows

The army plays war games on computers, and do not want to hurts there little fingers

The only group showing any back bone are the yellow shirts

Has any one noticed unlike all other protest in history there is something missing on the red shirt stage

Have we forgotten not long ago Thasin was wearing Yellow

Get used to this Bangkok

street fighting has become part of your life style

Sad Thais used to be so mai pen rai

the good days are sadly gone and finished

Why so depressing???

BTW the yellows dont have any backbone either, they dont have the courage to face a challenge that might develop thailand into a better and more peaceful country, they want to stand in the shadows of the past scared that they might lose all their wealth and prestige if other people have a change at wealth too.