Thai Authorities To Sever Red-Shirts Supply Lines

[lazurus]

There should definitely be a new election, in 2011. Give the reds a year to think about what they've done.

[jcbangkok]

Why do some people insist on pretending the reds want democracy when all their actions say the opposite?

It is also very strange to see these farangs claim the red mob wants all these things to do with bettering Thailand BUT we never hear the red mob say these things and instead watch at every turn as they try to sink Thailand further in a hole.

[lazurus]

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.

That's quite an insult to Ghandi and Mandela. Unless they were saying those reds are nothing like Ghandi or Mandela.

[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.

Thanks for spelling it out for those who may have thought you were pro-democracy.

What does this have to do with being pro-Democracy or not?

Call me pro-choice. Give the people of Thailand a chance to decide. Let's not forget that most coalition parties (except for the Democrats) were allies of Thaksin before they jumped ship and switched sides. So people that voted for the smaller coalition parties knew they were effectively voting for a pro-Thaksin government. Which is why Newin for example now knows that he doesn't stand a chance at the next election, because he gave his voters a "bait-and-switch" deal.

This is called representative democracy. If you don't like what your representative does, you can change your vote AT THE NEXT SCHEDULED ELECTION.

[Zolt]

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.

Even the military has proved they no longer have the guts to maintain the peace. The current mess is at least as much their fault as the government or Thaksin's.

[ozzieman05]

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 ...

===================================================================]

You failed to read what he said

There are a few that want an election and say they represent the majority if thais

Then there are those who say no the government should sit its time

There for a vote to see what the majority wants is the only democratic way to do it

Not seen any where else Your right

But this is Thailand not anywhere else

[jcbangkok]

Sounds like a 3 year olds argument when people start talking about the yellows to justify illegal behaviors today.

whaaa whaaa he did it too!

whaaa whaaa how come he didn't get in trouble?

whaaa whaaa whaaa

[brahmburgers]

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.

That's what Abhisit has essentially been doing. Indeed, that's been his strategy all along: Try to ignore the Red hot heads and hope they run out of steam and go home. Well, it hasn't worked. If this were a chess game, the Reds would have been making most of the best moves. One of the biggest moves was the withering combat fire of April 10th which came from the Red camp. The gov't didn't expect it, and it has chastened them to inaction ever since then.

If this were looked at as a military campaign (which it resembles), then the gov't side should not be so chagrined. They should regroup, assess their strengths, and act decisively. Granted, that's tough to do when your top general is as tough as a soap bubble.

If I were deputized with a group of ten farang teenagers, I could have cut the power, cut the mobile phone signals, and probably bolloxed their water supply weeks ago - with or without utility's ok.

If I were deputized with 200 good soldiers, I could have severely restricted ingress and egress and probably arrested at least half the Red leaders by now. Ok, so maybe I'm boasting with a lot of hot air, but at least I've got resolve which is something Abhisit and his top people don't have.

[AleG]

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 ...

Because the dissolution of parliament and call for elections the reds demand are out of the ordinary, they want them NOW, not when they are supposed to be normally. They also want a change in the constitution. Those things are extraordinary requests that disrupt the normal proceedings of the democratic structure of a country and should not be subject to the whims of whatever fraction of the population that feels entitled to it; so the fair and democratic way of doing it is to have a show of hands and see if it's really what the majority of people in Thailand want and not just the red shirts.

[pornsasi]

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

Veera and some others would go along with the PM roadmap from what i saw

Now the thugs , Sae Daeng probably Arisman dont let them do it and why ?

Because they are afraid for their own little person (amnesty and so on) .

Could be also that Mr T wants to force the dems to form a coalition with the PTP

which the PM should do i think , but only once the protest is over

I predict a split in the Reds soon .

Continuing this protest does not make any sense IMHO

Edited May 13, 2010 by pornsasi

[lazurus]

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

Veera and some others would go along with the PM roadmap from what i saw

Now the thugs , Sae Daeng probably Arisman dont let them do it and why ?

Because they are afraid for their own little person (amnesty and so on) .

Could be also that Mr T wants to force the dems to form a coalition with the PTP

which he should do i think , but only once the protest is over

I predict a split in the Reds soon .

Continuing this protest does not make any sense IMHO

Veera tried to go along with the roadmap, that's why he quit the others wouldn't listen.

It's not about democracy, right now it's about leaders avoiding jail. Why would you give bail to someone who is out on bail and committing worse crimes?

Why would the dems and PTP form a coalition, the dems don't need the PTP if they have the other parties, that just doesn't make any sense.

The reds have already split, only question is into how many factions.

This protest never made sense. (only baht)

[Deeral]

WEll said Oldgit!

the replies underline the ignorance and quite open fascism of some of the posters on this thread.

...and I mean fascism in it's true sense.

It is worth bearing in mind that if/when elections are held fairly, many of the people vilfied on this thread will be in government. So I think a lot of posters will find themselves very unhappy under any future governments if they believe half the things they have suggested on this thread.

THere will be a sea-change - so prepare yourselves.

[pornsasi]

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 ...

Because the dissolution of parliament and call for elections the reds demand are out of the ordinary, they want them NOW, not when they are supposed to be normally. They also want a change in the constitution. Those things are extraordinary requests that disrupt the normal proceedings of the democratic structure of a country and should not be subject to the whims of whatever fraction of the population that feels entitled to it; so the fair and democratic way of doing it is to have a show of hands and see if it's really what the majority of people in Thailand want and not just the red shirts.

Well the coup in 2006 and the disbanding of PPP also disturbed the democratic structure of the country .

As i said am not against it , it would be interesting to see what the reds would say were

the PM to propose it to them

Edited May 13, 2010 by pornsasi

[Insight]

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.

That's quite an insult to Ghandi and Mandela. Unless they were saying those reds are nothing like Ghandi or Mandela.

The red leaders (along with brother #1) are balking at not being able to get bail, hence wanting to end the SoE and asking Suthep to report to the CSI.

Sticking Ghandi next to Seh Daeng, Arisman or Kwanchai?

[lazurus]

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 ...

Because the dissolution of parliament and call for elections the reds demand are out of the ordinary, they want them NOW, not when they are supposed to be normally. They also want a change in the constitution. Those things are extraordinary requests that disrupt the normal proceedings of the democratic structure of a country and should not be subject to the whims of whatever fraction of the population that feels entitled to it; so the fair and democratic way of doing it is to have a show of hands and see if it's really what the majority of people in Thailand want and not just the red shirts.

Well the coup in 2006 and the disbanding of PPP also disturbed the democratic structure of the country .

As i said am not against it , it would be interesting to see what the reds would say were

the PM to propose it to them

The PPP were disbanded for electoral fraud, so yes that was a disruption of democracy. You shouldn't cheat to win an election and then expect to keep the power.

[brahmburgers]

WEll said Oldgit!

the replies underline the ignorance and quite open fascism of some of the posters on this thread.

...and I mean fascism in it's true sense.

It is worth bearing in mind that if/when elections are held fairly, many of the people vilfied on this thread will be in government. So I think a lot of posters will find themselves very unhappy under any future governments if they believe half the things they have suggested on this thread.

THere will be a sea-change - so prepare yourselves.

When the election happens, it will be dirty, as will its lead-up campaigning. One question is; will it be extremely nasty with death threats and murders, etc (some of which has happened in recent campaigns already - perpetrated by Red mobs), .....or will the next election be just moderately corrupt standard Thai style.

Another question: Does Thailand have such a dearth of leadership material, that the current Red thugs will be serious contenders for elected office? Scary.

[AleG]

Well the coup in 2006 and the disbanding of PPP also disturbed the democratic structure of the country .

As i said am not against it , it would be interesting to see what the reds would say were

the PM to propose it to them

You may have not noticed, but the reds rejected a referendum and early elections.

I think it's been mentioned around here a couple (thousand) times in the past few days.

[dhrobertson]

From my experience, everyone here is corrupt.

In over ten years, I have never had a staight deal. Not once.

Awful place. No natural sence of right and wrong.

I do business with a lot of Thais and have had very few problems with them trying to cheat me and very few complaints. I can not say the some about some of the farangs that I have had to deal with here, but even they are a small minority.

What dhrobertson was trying to say perhaps was refering to politics .

I took it in this context

Yes in business i have done quite a few of them with thais ( malays

and singaporeans as well) and usually thais are ok , though often

very long to get paiement .

Cant compare with the corruption in the Philippines .

Sadly, I refer to all aspects of life here.

I'm an engineer here and not a day goes by without me being offered bribes and backhanders.

Contractors always try to cut corners. Theft is rife.

I get short changed and generally ripped off continually,

Even family are a bunch of liars and cheats if I am to be honest.

Of course politicians here are the epitome of corruption. Just look at the contrast with British politicians It is all very sad.

[pornsasi]

Veera tried to go along with the roadmap, that's why he quit the others wouldn't listen.

It's not about democracy, right now it's about leaders avoiding jail. Why would you give bail to someone who is out on bail and committing worse crimes?

Why would the dems and PTP form a coalition, the dems don't need the PTP if they have the other parties, that just doesn't make any sense.

The reds have already split, only question is into how many factions.

This protest never made sense. (only baht)

Yes that is what i was saying , avoid jail , agree with you .

The dems dont need PTP now but they cant hope for Isaan support

nor reconcile the country if they dont at one point ally themselves

with PTP .

Now they cant do it anyway , it would be seen as acting under

pressure

[pornsasi]

Well the coup in 2006 and the disbanding of PPP also disturbed the democratic structure of the country .

As i said am not against it , it would be interesting to see what the reds would say were

the PM to propose it to them

You may have not noticed, but the reds rejected a referendum and early elections.

I think it's been mentioned around here a couple (thousand) times in the past few days.

I thought the reds agreed on some early elections , like 3 months or so .

Even at one point they agreed on the PM roadmap (Nov 14)

Well everyone keep on changing , the reds , the PM and so on

Hard to keep trace of the fluid situation LOL .

Its really a circus by now

[lazurus]

Veera tried to go along with the roadmap, that's why he quit the others wouldn't listen.

It's not about democracy, right now it's about leaders avoiding jail. Why would you give bail to someone who is out on bail and committing worse crimes?

Why would the dems and PTP form a coalition, the dems don't need the PTP if they have the other parties, that just doesn't make any sense.

The reds have already split, only question is into how many factions.

This protest never made sense. (only baht)

Yes that is what i was saying , avoid jail , agree with you .

The dems dont need PTP now but they cant hope for Isaan support

nor reconcile the country if they dont at one point ally themselves

with PTP .

Now they cant do it anyway , it would be seen as acting under

pressure

Isaan doesn't actually vote 100% for the PTP, if you eliminated vote buying there and if democrats could openly campaign there with out violent intimidation they might even win some of the seats. Since PTP MPs are leading the red protests it seems unlikely that they will want to be the democrats buddies in parliament.

[pornsasi]

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 ...

Because the dissolution of parliament and call for elections the reds demand are out of the ordinary, they want them NOW, not when they are supposed to be normally. They also want a change in the constitution. Those things are extraordinary requests that disrupt the normal proceedings of the democratic structure of a country and should not be subject to the whims of whatever fraction of the population that feels entitled to it; so the fair and democratic way of doing it is to have a show of hands and see if it's really what the majority of people in Thailand want and not just the red shirts.

Well the coup in 2006 and the disbanding of PPP also disturbed the democratic structure of the country .

As i said am not against it , it would be interesting to see what the reds would say were

the PM to propose it to them

The PPP were disbanded for electoral fraud, so yes that was a disruption of democracy. You shouldn't cheat to win an election and then expect to keep the power.

You are naive if you think other parties , dems included , are not corrupt . vote buying in Thailand is SOP since democracy exist .

And the military coup ?

[pornsasi]

Veera tried to go along with the roadmap, that's why he quit the others wouldn't listen.

It's not about democracy, right now it's about leaders avoiding jail. Why would you give bail to someone who is out on bail and committing worse crimes?

Why would the dems and PTP form a coalition, the dems don't need the PTP if they have the other parties, that just doesn't make any sense.

The reds have already split, only question is into how many factions.

This protest never made sense. (only baht)

Yes that is what i was saying , avoid jail , agree with you .

The dems dont need PTP now but they cant hope for Isaan support

nor reconcile the country if they dont at one point ally themselves

with PTP .

Now they cant do it anyway , it would be seen as acting under

pressure

Isaan doesn't actually vote 100% for the PTP, if you eliminated vote buying there and if democrats could openly campaign there with out violent intimidation they might even win some of the seats. Since PTP MPs are leading the red protests it seems unlikely that they will want to be the democrats buddies in parliament.

And BKK dont 100% vote for the dems either . May be the South does ...

Well see how it goes

[tigerbalm]

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

Veera and some others would go along with the PM roadmap from what i saw

Now the thugs , Sae Daeng probably Arisman dont let them do it and why ?

Because they are afraid for their own little person (amnesty and so on) .

Could be also that Mr T wants to force the dems to form a coalition with the PTP

which the PM should do i think , but only once the protest is over

I predict a split in the Reds soon .

Continuing this protest does not make any sense IMHO

I for one have to agree with this

[OzMick]

Well the coup in 2006 and the disbanding of PPP also disturbed the democratic structure of the country .

As i said am not against it , it would be interesting to see what the reds would say were

the PM to propose it to them

You may have not noticed, but the reds rejected a referendum and early elections.

I think it's been mentioned around here a couple (thousand) times in the past few days.

I thought the reds agreed on some early elections , like 3 months or so . Until the SMS came!

Even at one point they agreed on the PM roadmap (Nov 14) Only if Suthep went to the DSI, no Police, no resigned, no PM and DPM resigned...........

Well everyone keep on changing , the reds , the PM and so on 1 PM, but Thaksin changing red leadership

Hard to keep trace of the fluid situation LOL . Quite possible there will be a lot of body fluids flowing very soon

Its really a circus by now You just keep jumping through those hoops; the ringmaster will take care of you

[Herm]

From my experience, everyone here is corrupt.

In over ten years, I have never had a staight deal. Not once.

Awful place. No natural sence of right and wrong.

I do business with a lot of Thais and have had very few problems with them trying to cheat me and very few complaints. I can not say the some about some of the farangs that I have had to deal with here, but even they are a small minority.

What dhrobertson was trying to say perhaps was refering to politics .

I took it in this context

Yes in business i have done quite a few of them with thais ( malays

and singaporeans as well) and usually thais are ok , though often

very long to get paiement .

Cant compare with the corruption in the Philippines .

Sadly, I refer to all aspects of life here.

I'm an engineer here and not a day goes by without me being offered bribes and backhanders.

Contractors always try to cut corners. Theft is rife.

I get short changed and generally ripped off continually,

Even family are a bunch of liars and cheats if I am to be honest.

Of course politicians here are the epitome of corruption. Just look at the contrast with British politicians It is all very sad.

I understand your frustration, but you should not really put the UK up as an example - British MP's are equally as corrupt as Thai's which was shown more than clearly by the expenses cheating scandal. Basically the largest contradiction in Terms is "an honest politician".

They are a bit like used car salesmen - they have to be able to lie with the bravado of an Oscar winning actor. In reality all that interests them is their own prosperity and power. This is the case everywhere, not only in Thailand. The only difference is that here it is up in your face and goes through all levels of society.

It's simply human nature and there are very few exceptions, none today.

Anyone believing in Democracy fools him/herself. There is no such thing. 85% of the European population did not want the Euro but got it anyway. In a real democracy the people are supposed to have a say .... a foolish notion, but all other political alternatives are even worse.

Abhisit is about as good a politician as Thailand could ever hope to get, but unfortunately he either can't or for some unimaginable reason does not want to rid the capital of this criminal mob.

[rixalex]

I'm an engineer here and not a day goes by without me being offered bribes and backhanders.

Consider yourself lucky you are the one being offered, not the one being asked to give!

I get short changed and generally ripped off continually,

You've been here ten years and are still getting ripped off?! How come?

Even family are a bunch of liars and cheats if I am to be honest.

How sad. You seem to be making some bad choices.

[Deeral]

"ritish MP's are equally as corrupt as Thai's which was shown more than clearly by the expenses cheating scandal. " - add to the collection of rubbish on this thread!

This shows how grossly some people underestimate the extent of nepotism, and corruption in Thai society - from top to bottom - to even consider that the incumbent govt is above this would also be gross stupidity.

[rixalex]

Abhisit is about as good a politician as Thailand could ever hope to get, but unfortunately he either can't or for some unimaginable reason does not want to rid the capital of this criminal mob.

Without the tools, there's not a PM in the world who could deal with this mob.

[Deeral]

"Abhisit is about as good a politician as Thailand could ever hope to get," - this HAS to be the most pessimistic comment on ALL of Thaivisa?