Thai Authorities To Sever Red-Shirts Supply Lines

[Who, me ?]

Well, I publicly speculated that the rally would be over by now. I suppose I put to much faith in the Red Leadership being the least bit honorable. They are not. They are scoundrels, thugs, and just plain evil men. May they rot in their container for months, economy be damned.

I think that predicting anything now is just pure waste of time ! You were right to think that maybe things would be over by now. Some were right to think that maybe things would NOT be over by now....

I am now not sure of anything,....Will it end peacefully? Will Abhisit resign? Will it end in a blood bath? ...... Better buy a lottery ticket, at least you got some chances to win

[Lopburi99]

Well, I publicly speculated that the rally would be over by now. I suppose I put to much faith in the Red Leadership being the least bit honorable. They are not. They are scoundrels, thugs, and just plain evil men. May they rot in their container for months, economy be damned.

... and you also but faith in Abhisit actually following through on his widely-publicized, avowed dispersal plan

A simple, non-violent plan which would have been successful IMHO, disrupting others only very temporarily. For Chrissake, BKK has been paralyzed for two months!

[OzMick]

No sound-proof windows?

You can't get an "IGNORE" function for windows.

[lazurus]

As usual the tough talk amounts to nothing and more excuses. It's a holiday so we can hardly be expected to take care of business. Let's do a ploughing ceremony and see what the harvest would be like if the reds were back home planning for the growing season. Let's see how much rain will fall on the farmers sitting in Bangkok. Tomorrow we can issue more idle threats and see who gets bored of the whole thing first.

[pornsasi]

The "democrats" party is the oldest party in Thailand , they exist since 1948 if am not mistaken. They have been in power in most civilian governements that Thailand had in its tumultuous history since 1948. What did the self named "democrats" achieve for the poor thais that live in the countryside , many of them STILL living on 3000 bahts per month (thats not even US$100) for a familly of four , eating sticky rice morning , lunch and evening with a bit of salted fish once a while ?

Before Thaksin came to power, the poor in Issan were seeing some decent developments. Their kids could go to school. Many roads were paved, electric grids put in. Hospitals in all large cities and most large towns. Pretty much anyone who wanted a motorbike could get one. TV's and fridges in nearly all houses. .....all those basic amenities were being developed PRIOR to Thaksin's time as PM.

Not high on the hog, but certainly a lot better off than poor folks in many other countries. Even now, nearly all of Burma (and Laos and Cambodia) still have dirt and gravel roads and are at a development level roughly of where Thailand was three or four decades ago.

Thaksin is a master at basking in the adulation for other peoples' achievements. He took existing social policies, dusted them off, renamed them, and now the Issanaites think he's their savior. Thaksin himself has said in recent interviews that he's the only one qualified to help the poor of Thailand.

If you want to see truly disadvantaged people in Thailand, look farther afield at the hill tribers (my wife's family shares one outdoor 15 liter plastic tub with 4 other families - that's their communal cleaning spot). Of course, Reds don't ever mention hill tribe people. Why should they? Hundreds of thousands of Hill Tribers within Thailand can't vote (can't get ID) so they simply don't matter. They're essentially non-entities in the view of elites and Reds.

Thaksin according to all reports that i saw from independant western agencies did a lot to raise the standard of living of Isaan . Which is why Isaan support him , do you think they are total idiots just because they are not educated .

Please do not conclude that am pro Thaksin , the man . Am not . But some of his economic policies were good .

However today Thaksin is not in power , the dems are , so i have to talk about their achievement and sorry to say , prior to 2001 those are really really substandards IMHO . Yes bout the hills tribes and... burmese refugee as well

[lazurus]

Well, I publicly speculated that the rally would be over by now. I suppose I put to much faith in the Red Leadership being the least bit honorable. They are not. They are scoundrels, thugs, and just plain evil men. May they rot in their container for months, economy be damned.

... and you also but faith in Abhisit actually following through on his widely-publicized, avowed dispersal plan

A simple, non-violent plan which would have been successful IMHO, disrupting others only very temporarily. For Chrissake, BKK has been paralyzed for two months!

Now why would the government try something successful, why ruin their perfect performance record now.

[MikeyIdea]

It almost makes me wish Thaksin would come back. For all his flaws, indecisiveness was not one of them.

I take military rule before a corrupt and power hungry politician any time.

[pornsasi]

The "democrats" party is the oldest party in Thailand , they exist since 1948 if am not mistaken.

They have been in power in most civilian governements that Thailand had in its tumultuous history

since 1948.

What did the self named "democrats" achieve for the poor thais that live in the countryside , many of them STILL living

on 3000 bahts per month (thats not even US$100) for a familly of four , eating sticky rice morning , lunch and evening

with a bit of salted fish once a while ? Nothing at all , except enrich themselves and knowingly

keeping the poor uneducated , and dependant with no hope for the future nor dignity .

In a war with foreign powers the peasants would be the first to go on the field of battle die for their king and country , do they

have no rights ?

Meanwhile the middle class in Bangkok saw their standard of living increase as the country develloped itself like the rest of Asean

Now I am not talking to the few thais in here posing as farangs that are paid PAD activists and mistaken dems supporters

, known liars and deceivers trying to convince others that this is all about Thaksin return. Well they can only

convince those that are already on their side anyway , not much of an achievement

I am talking instead to the farangs that have been blessed to be born in countries where there is a sense of social justice

and some moral responsability by the polical class . Would you support such thing as happened in Thailand in your own country ?

I demand nothing more but to believe those dems like the PM who claims they have changed and that

from now on they will behave differently . I just wait to see if they will keep their promises .

I hear that the military coup in Thailand in 2006 was because no other choice

Any other choice for the reds but to protest , they have been robbed of their votes , their newspapers , their websites , their radios ,their

only one TV station ? What do you expect from a man that has been robbed of dignity for so long ?

Do you expect him to be polite and nice ?

Yes for sure , Abhisit will manage to get the reds to terminate their protest , but the problems will remain until

someone solves them . Whether or not Abhisit will be the one remains to be seen

Meanwhile lets try to be more moderate and see the real nuts and bolts of the division that affects Thailand today .

Even ppl from the elite like Khun Annand can see that something is definitely wrong .

Thank you

That's the first decent contribution I've seen so far! Thank you!

thank you

[brahmburgers]

Well, I publicly speculated that the rally would be over by now. I suppose I put to much faith in the Red Leadership being the least bit honorable. They are not. They are scoundrels, thugs, and just plain evil men. May they rot in their container for months, economy be damned.

... and you also but faith in Abhisit actually following through on his widely-publicized, avowed dispersal plan

A simple, non-violent plan which would have been successful IMHO, disrupting others only very temporarily. For Chrissake, BKK has been paralyzed for two months!

Abhisit is too sensitive to public backlash. Crowd dispersal is a messy business, but there are times when it's necessary. Actually, it's probably the wet dish towel wearing the top Army uniform who's the most to blame for inaction. His 2nd in command could lead the dispersal, but lambs rule.

And now today's the Plowing Ceremony. And tomorrow it will be something else that will extend the delay. With hundreds of years of history, and all the Buddhist holidays, Thailand is saddled with commemorative days nearly every day of the year. It's like a former friend who was an alcoholic: He said he wanted to quit drinking. Each day, I would say to him, 'ok, you can start today." Yet, each day he would say, 'I can't stop drinking today, I've got to celebrate my friend's/family member's birthday." Well, he knew about 500 'friends' and family, so there was at least one for each day of the year.

He never stopped drinking and died before 50 from internal body breakdown.

[lazurus]

It almost makes me wish Thaksin would come back. For all his flaws, indecisiveness was not one of them.

I take military rule before a corrupt and power hungry politician any time.

No desire to see Thaksin back, but you're right there wasn't any of this yellow and red nonsense with protests and occupations during the military government of 2006-2007. Maybe if Thais could elect a worthwhile government they wouldn't have so many coups.

[whybother]

How can they solve this problem ? They are not the governement .

The only thing they can do is to protest . Maybe based on 40 years

experience some of the reds do not believe the present administration care much .

Do you blame them ?

Others reds , more moderate ones , like Veera , are willing i think to give Abhisit a chance .

They could come up with a plan to give some people confidence that they could or would do something about the problems.

The Thaksin and PPP governments did very little for the LONG TERM prosperity of the poor. They were very good at making themselves and the village leaders very rich.

In 5 years of the Thaksin government, the plight of the poor improved mostly because of the booming global economy. But they also got into greater debt because of the easy credit that was available.

In the year of the PPP government, the ONLY thing they did was try and get Thaksin's crimes white washed.

Do the reds (or their political party - PTP) have ANY plans to help the poor in the long term, or just more plans to get Thaksin off and to make themselves rich?

[tigerbalm]

Seems that the UDD have their own problem regarding who realy is in charge.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Weng-...t-30128395.html

[Samuian]

Well, I publicly speculated that the rally would be over by now. I suppose I put to much faith in the Red Leadership being the least bit honorable. They are not. They are scoundrels, thugs, and just plain evil men. May they rot in their container for months, economy be damned.

It's the "tiny" difference, those guy's aren't there for th sake of their country, because they are convinced that there has to be a change... they are there because of a pay check!

If anything goes ( I ASSUME!) the figure on their pay-checks is raised - who would go home, after all it's not a real tough job, tell something, some stories, make up wild accusations and then say: "Hey, we've been only here because someone paid us to do so!"

Unless there is some higher pay-check waiting?

I have a proposal... concerning the pay checks... "I would pay them more and tell 'em they even can stay home or on Puket, better on Tarutao" and off they go...in peace!

"Happy family - one hand clap"!

[shawndoc]

What about Abhisit just ignoring the Red Shirts, maybe then they'll go away? With the exception of some shopping malls and traffic, they really aren't doing anything. Don't provoke them, don't antagonize them, just ignore them. Have troops/police on ready if they try to break out and stir up trouble outside their "zone", but otherwise just ignore them. Continue to work on constitution reform, continue to work on programs for the poor, and continue to let Thaksin pump money into the country.

Over 2 months their numbers have declined to less than 10% of their original numbers. Let's see how many are left after 2 more months.

[pornsasi]

Well, I publicly speculated that the rally would be over by now. I suppose I put to much faith in the Red Leadership being the least bit honorable. They are not. They are scoundrels, thugs, and just plain evil men. May they rot in their container for months, economy be damned.

... and you also but faith in Abhisit actually following through on his widely-publicized, avowed dispersal plan

A simple, non-violent plan which would have been successful IMHO, disrupting others only very temporarily. For Chrissake, BKK has been paralyzed for two months!

Now why would the government try something successful, why ruin their perfect performance record now.

I agree with you that announcing what they did yesterday about the blockade and not following through makes one wonder

if the governement is serious in whatever they say .

[OzMick]

The good news is that nothing every seems to pan out as expected with this crisis. Each time we get close to peace, it turns ugly and each time it looks like things will come to a head there is some halt to enforcing the law or indication the reds may vacate. So, with things looking grim right now and it actually looking like things may happen with enforcement of the law .. it would not be surprising to see the reds announce they will be leaving tomorrow.

Remember too that they will likely cut off cell service in the area too if they do anything tomorrow at 6AM.

I have serious doubt that 06.00h ( 5 hours 6 minutes from now ) has any meaning !

just another day break - good morning Bangkok !

In all honesty, why would you begin a clearance effort at DAYBREAK?

These guys really are showing how incapable they are of handling the situation.

Never served in the military, I guess. First or last light is the usual times to begin a military operation. In a combat zone, everybody stands to, ready to repel an attack at both times. Why? At dawn, non-military types still have their head down sleeping off hangovers, with minimum of awareness. Done well, you can have half the job done before the target realises what's happening. You also get the max. number of hours of preferred conditions (ie light or dark).

[lazurus]

"Any other choice for the reds but to protest , they have been robbed of their votes "

Now that's funny. When you sell your vote you shouldn't protest to show your love for democracy.

[Robby nz]

What I'm waiting to see is Weng and Jutaporn running towards the army guns bare handed.

Suspect they would be welcomed with open arms and given an escort to the door of the DSI.

But I wont be putting any bets on it ever happening

[pornsasi]

How can they solve this problem ? They are not the governement .

The only thing they can do is to protest . Maybe based on 40 years

experience some of the reds do not believe the present administration care much .

Do you blame them ?

Others reds , more moderate ones , like Veera , are willing i think to give Abhisit a chance .

They could come up with a plan to give some people confidence that they could or would do something about the problems.

The Thaksin and PPP governments did very little for the LONG TERM prosperity of the poor. They were very good at making themselves and the village leaders very rich.

In 5 years of the Thaksin government, the plight of the poor improved mostly because of the booming global economy. But they also got into greater debt because of the easy credit that was available.

In the year of the PPP government, the ONLY thing they did was try and get Thaksin's crimes white washed.

Do the reds (or their political party - PTP) have ANY plans to help the poor in the long term, or just more plans to get Thaksin off and to make themselves rich?

The dems are in power , not the reds , nor TRT/PPP/PTP . So lets talk bout the dems

The dems cant even keep their own commitment when it arranges them , like blockading Rachtaprasong

Will they respect their commitment when it does not arrange them ?

[lazurus]

What I'm waiting to see is Weng and Jutaporn running towards the army guns bare handed.

Suspect they would be welcomed with open arms and given an escort to the door of the DSI.

But I wont be putting any bets on it ever happening

They'll be easy to spot, but they'll be running away from the army hands holding bags of cash.

[AleG]

How can they solve this problem ? They are not the governement .

The only thing they can do is to protest . Maybe based on 40 years

experience some of the reds do not believe the present administration care much .

Do you blame them ?

Others reds , more moderate ones , like Veera , are willing i think to give Abhisit a chance .

The reds are tanking the economy, that is going to hurt the people they claim to care for, while at the same time not proposing any solutions or projects to improve their situation in life.

So tell me, for all the grief and damage this protest is causing, what are the benefits to those poor, downtrodden masses that it will achieve?

So your solution is that the red should not had protested and kept silent ?

Well in every situation you got pro and cons , you dont make omelletes without breaking

eggs . If more pro then cons they its worth it .

My view is that the reds should go home now and give a chance to the PM to make good on his promises

But I am not thai , I am not a red p[rotester , and frankly i dont know if i am right

They can protest and campaign in favor of a more egalitarian society, programs to help the poor and anything else they desire. If that's what they would be all about I'll be a supporter of them, but what they can't (or shouldn't) do is disrupt the lives of thousands in doing so, promote violence and disunion in Thai society and try to get things done their way not on the basis of having convincing arguments that will sway the vote of the people in a free election, but by the use of illegitimate force and coercion against the rest of the population and the government.

They don't offer solutions, they just want to kick the board and see if they (the leaders and men behind assorted curtains) can reap some benefit when rearranging the pieces.

I was born under a dictatorship that lasted over a decade, at some point peaceful (as in no riots, threats of burning down cities or leveling government buildings, banks and religious places) protest and campaigning brought enough pressure to force the military junta to call a referendum. They made demands that were hard to swallow, banned a political party from taking part and asked for amnesty in return; all was negotiated for the greater good of returning to democracy. For the first few elections cycles some things were shaky but everybody kept working for change and better democracy from within the boundaries of legality so that after 20 something years now the democratic institutions are the strongest in the region.

If the red shirts would be campaigning within legal parameters they could actually do more to improve the lives of the people they claim to be representing. Distribute leaflets, make political rallies to explain what they want to do, cater for voters by showing how they plan to make their lives better and how they intend to give them a voice in the halls of government.

They asked for anticipated elections, they got that but then refused; if they are truly the voice of the people, the majority, if they are so sure of the righteousness of their cause why not have people vote yes or no for what they propose? Abhisit suggested having a referendum for that, but they also said no, so how can they be trusted when they say they want democracy when they have refused all the offers to democratically put their position to the test of the electorate?

Have them call in a referendum, see if the majority of people in the country want to see parliament dissolved, the constitution revoked and the red shirts leaders given amnesty. Because that's how things are done in a democracy, people vote (freely) to make this sort of decisions. Then I'll believe that the red shirts are fighting for democracy.

[way2muchcoffee]

Yes you are right . It is chicken and eggs .

Well if the reds , or rather some militia supportive of the reds bring lethal firearms while

the other side dont , they would be totally discredited to the whole world .

And moreover we know that some police or army while beeing ordered by the gov

are pro-reds while other are anti-reds . If they have lethal weapons its even worse

they end up shooting at each other

Actually they are already discredited to the world.

And even if the authorities had no weapons, the illegal violent red mob would say they did and blame them for the killings.

As far as I know the police didn't bring grenade launchers to the illegal mob gathering but that didn't stop these supporters of terrorism blaming the authorities for the grenade attack on the sky train.

And all the evidence indicates the gov't NEVER ordered troops to do anything but obey internationally accepted tactics. So, your comment that "we know" is an untruth unless you live in fantasy land.

I have links pointing to the "we know" ...

Do you have links prooving the reds launched the grenade on Silom ?.

From where i stand could be any nutcase . provocator

The Red Shirts invasion of the Chula hospital was 29th April. Police then moved in and secured the area after they left.

5 May 2010 (NNT) – "M79 grenade attacks at Sala Daeng Intersection on 22 April 2010 have been proven to be shot from Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, according to the Central Institute of Forensic Science Director, Khunying MD Pornthip Rojanasunan."

http://www.siamdailynews.com/2010/05/11/sa...gkorn-hospital/

As the hospital was guarded from the Red Shirts and the forensic experts say that the grenades were launched from there, read between the lines and draw your own conclusions. You may also thus consider the possibility that the Red Shirts may have been correctly informed about soldiers being there in the first place. Truth doesn't seem very important in this country...

Nor to you either. The grenades at Sala Daeng were on the 22nd. The Chula invasion was on the 29th.

[daboyz1]

It almost makes me wish Thaksin would come back. For all his flaws, indecisiveness was not one of them.

I take military rule before a corrupt and power hungry politician any time.

I second that.

[ozzieman05]

Maybe you didn't read my posts. Please let me explain what it says.

1. My post doesn't address Samak or Thaksin not does it say anything about Parlimentary elections of a PM. It merely points out that with interrventon of the court that the Thai citizens were given no voice in the election of Abhisit.

2. I didn't say anything about who fired first. I merely pointed out that the Thai government used its army to kill fellow Thai citizens.

3. I don't see what any party affiliation has to do with my post. I merely pointed out that the UK government was capable of making a peaceful transition of government to an opposition party in a very short period of time contrary to the contempt that has been demonstrated by the Thai government.

4. I was only pointing out that the government made many public pronouncement in media about ahhving told so and so to do such and such. I was reflecting on how their communication was largely ignored. You seem to have an axe to grind but it doesn't apply to my post.

I hope it is clear what I said now. If you want to rebut a statement please try to rebut what is posted and not what you want to rail about.

Nice backpedalling, but you still left a few strings.

1. NOW you are blaming the courts. Before you didn't mention them. Elaborate a bit, your answer is a bit ambiguous.

2. So it's wrong for a nation to defend itself against an armed insurrection?

3. Yes, the British did things the democratic way - through voting, not by holding a city hostage, holding voodoo blood rituals (talk about shaming Thailand in the eyes of the world!), forcing the evacuation of hospitals, threatening to destroy the transit system and lying to media and the government.

4. No sources? Shocking. Not.

Then why Abhisit did not do it the democratic way , same as the british , through general elections ? What choice left to the reds tell me ?

where have yo been

The PM has called an election

and the red shirts are still not happy

The present protest is no longer about elections, but how they can commit cries then get away with it

[lazurus]

How can they solve this problem ? They are not the governement .

The only thing they can do is to protest . Maybe based on 40 years

experience some of the reds do not believe the present administration care much .

Do you blame them ?

Others reds , more moderate ones , like Veera , are willing i think to give Abhisit a chance .

They could come up with a plan to give some people confidence that they could or would do something about the problems.

The Thaksin and PPP governments did very little for the LONG TERM prosperity of the poor. They were very good at making themselves and the village leaders very rich.

In 5 years of the Thaksin government, the plight of the poor improved mostly because of the booming global economy. But they also got into greater debt because of the easy credit that was available.

In the year of the PPP government, the ONLY thing they did was try and get Thaksin's crimes white washed.

Do the reds (or their political party - PTP) have ANY plans to help the poor in the long term, or just more plans to get Thaksin off and to make themselves rich?

The dems are in power , not the reds , nor TRT/PPP/PTP . So lets talk bout the dems

The dems cant even keep their own commitment when it arranges them , like blockading Rachtaprasong

Will they respect their commitment when it does not arrange them ?

Yeah, let's not talk about the TRT, PPP, or PTP, we don't want people to think too much.

Thaksin Rak Thaksin

Peoples Pouting Party

Poor Thais Party

What will the name be after they get dissolved next time?

[ozzieman05]

How can they solve this problem ? They are not the governement .

The only thing they can do is to protest . Maybe based on 40 years

experience some of the reds do not believe the present administration care much .

Do you blame them ?

Others reds , more moderate ones , like Veera , are willing i think to give Abhisit a chance .

They could come up with a plan to give some people confidence that they could or would do something about the problems.

The Thaksin and PPP governments did very little for the LONG TERM prosperity of the poor. They were very good at making themselves and the village leaders very rich.

In 5 years of the Thaksin government, the plight of the poor improved mostly because of the booming global economy. But they also got into greater debt because of the easy credit that was available.

In the year of the PPP government, the ONLY thing they did was try and get Thaksin's crimes white washed.

Do the reds (or their political party - PTP) have ANY plans to help the poor in the long term, or just more plans to get Thaksin off and to make themselves rich?

The dems are in power , not the reds , nor TRT/PPP/PTP . So lets talk bout the dems

The dems cant even keep their own commitment when it arranges them , like blockading Rachtaprasong

Will they respect their commitment when it does not arrange them ?

From what can see

The red shirts are in power (from the streets)

they tell the PM what they can and can not do

The reds had won what they wanted

and early election

but this was not the real reason for the rally so loosing this was not really important to them

[daboyz1]

How can they solve this problem ? They are not the governement .

The only thing they can do is to protest . Maybe based on 40 years

experience some of the reds do not believe the present administration care much .

Do you blame them ?

Others reds , more moderate ones , like Veera , are willing i think to give Abhisit a chance .

The reds are tanking the economy, that is going to hurt the people they claim to care for, while at the same time not proposing any solutions or projects to improve their situation in life.

So tell me, for all the grief and damage this protest is causing, what are the benefits to those poor, downtrodden masses that it will achieve?

So your solution is that the red should not had protested and kept silent ?

Well in every situation you got pro and cons , you dont make omelletes without breaking

eggs . If more pro then cons they its worth it .

My view is that the reds should go home now and give a chance to the PM to make good on his promises

But I am not thai , I am not a red p[rotester , and frankly i dont know if i am right

They can protest and campaign in favor of a more egalitarian society, programs to help the poor and anything else they desire. If that's what they would be all about I'll be a supporter of them, but what they can't (or shouldn't) do is disrupt the lives of thousands in doing so, promote violence and disunion in Thai society and try to get things done their way not on the basis of having convincing arguments that will sway the vote of the people in a free election, but by the use of illegitimate force and coercion against the rest of the population and the government.

They don't offer solutions, they just want to kick the board and see if they (the leaders and men behind assorted curtains) can reap some benefit when rearranging the pieces.

I was born under a dictatorship that lasted over a decade, at some point peaceful (as in no riots, threats of burning down cities or leveling government buildings, banks and religious places) protest and campaigning brought enough pressure to force the military junta to call a referendum. They made demands that were hard to swallow, banned a political party from taking part and asked for amnesty in return; all was negotiated for the greater good of returning to democracy. For the first few elections cycles some things were shaky but everybody kept working for change and better democracy from within the boundaries of legality so that after 20 something years now the democratic institutions are the strongest in the region.

If the red shirts would be campaigning within legal parameters they could actually do more to improve the lives of the people they claim to be representing. Distribute leaflets, make political rallies to explain what they want to do, cater for voters by showing how they plan to make their lives better and how they intend to give them a voice in the halls of government.

They asked for anticipated elections, they got that but then refused; if they are truly the voice of the people, the majority, if they are so sure of the righteousness of their cause why not have people vote yes or no for what they propose? Abhisit suggested having a referendum for that, but they also said no, so how can they be trusted when they say they want democracy when they have refused all the offers to democratically put their position to the test of the electorate?

Have them call in a referendum, see if the majority of people in the country want to see parliament dissolved, the constitution revoked and the red shirts leaders given amnesty. Because that's how things are done in a democracy, people vote (freely) to make this sort of decisions. Then I'll believe that the red shirts are fighting for democracy.

Great Post!!

[pornsasi]

How can they solve this problem ? They are not the governement .

The only thing they can do is to protest . Maybe based on 40 years

experience some of the reds do not believe the present administration care much .

Do you blame them ?

Others reds , more moderate ones , like Veera , are willing i think to give Abhisit a chance .

The reds are tanking the economy, that is going to hurt the people they claim to care for, while at the same time not proposing any solutions or projects to improve their situation in life.

So tell me, for all the grief and damage this protest is causing, what are the benefits to those poor, downtrodden masses that it will achieve?

So your solution is that the red should not had protested and kept silent ?

Well in every situation you got pro and cons , you dont make omelletes without breaking

eggs . If more pro then cons they its worth it .

My view is that the reds should go home now and give a chance to the PM to make good on his promises

But I am not thai , I am not a red p[rotester , and frankly i dont know if i am right

They can protest and campaign in favor of a more egalitarian society, programs to help the poor and anything else they desire. If that's what they would be all about I'll be a supporter of them, but what they can't (or shouldn't) do is disrupt the lives of thousands in doing so, promote violence and disunion in Thai society and try to get things done their way not on the basis of having convincing arguments that will sway the vote of the people in a free election, but by the use of illegitimate force and coercion against the rest of the population and the government.

They don't offer solutions, they just want to kick the board and see if they (the leaders and men behind assorted curtains) can reap some benefit when rearranging the pieces.

I was born under a dictatorship that lasted over a decade, at some point peaceful (as in no riots, threats of burning down cities or leveling government buildings, banks and religious places) protest and campaigning brought enough pressure to force the military junta to call a referendum. They made demands that were hard to swallow, banned a political party from taking part and asked for amnesty in return; all was negotiated for the greater good of returning to democracy. For the first few elections cycles some things were shaky but everybody kept working for change and better democracy from within the boundaries of legality so that after 20 something years now the democratic institutions are the strongest in the region.

If the red shirts would be campaigning within legal parameters they could actually do more to improve the lives of the people they claim to be representing. Distribute leaflets, make political rallies to explain what they want to do, cater for voters by showing how they plan to make their lives better and how they intend to give them a voice in the halls of government.

They asked for anticipated elections, they got that but then refused; if they are truly the voice of the people, the majority, if they are so sure of the righteousness of their cause why not have people vote yes or no for what they propose? Abhisit suggested having a referendum for that, but they also said no, so how can they be trusted when they say they want democracy when they have refused all the offers to democratically put their position to the test of the electorate?

Have them call in a referendum, see if the majority of people in the country want to see parliament dissolved, the constitution revoked and the red shirts leaders given amnesty. Because that's how things are done in a democracy, people vote (freely) to make this sort of decisions. Then I'll believe that the red shirts are fighting for democracy.

You mean a referendum to ask ppl if they want to vote for a new parliament or not ?

And if they majority say yes then another referendum , i.e general election .

Is that practical ? Never saw that in any other country .

Not that am against , but why not have a general election and let ppl decide who they want .

Its the same , is it not ?

Saves money ...

Edited May 13, 2010 by pornsasi

[AleG]

where have yo been

The PM has called an election

and the red shirts are still not happy

The present protest is no longer about elections, but how they can commit cries then get away with it

I've hear people compare the red shirts to Gandhi and Mandela, they spent 7 and 26 years in jail respectively; that shows commitment for a cause; they knew theirs was just and more important than themselves so they willingly made sacrifices to advance it.

[OzMick]

If the case against Abhisit was so strong, the proper action would be to hold a no confidence vote, which would allow the PTP to put Abhisit "on trial" and show the world all the evidence of wrong doing they have on him. However the PTP (the political branch of the UDD) has said they will not seek to hold a no confidence vote.

It doesn't help seeking a no-confidence vote if the majority in the parliament are part of the coalition that still support Abhisit. Or are you suggesting that Newin will vote for Abhisit to leave? No way, because he knows when Abhisit leaves, so will he.

".......the majority in the parliament are part of the coalition that still support Abhisit." It's called democracy.

What about the yellow shirts.............squawk

What about the airports..................squawk

Double standards..........................squawk