Clashes Continue, Turning Central Bangkok In Virtual Warzone

[ChiangMaiFun]

"The soldiers just opened up on everyone. Old people, women, ambulance crews."

This a tweet from Time journalist Andrew Marshall on the scene now.

http://twitter.com/Journotopia

Can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

oh really? this is the yellow creed now? well yellow is the colour of the yoke I guess so maybe it's fitting - be careful more eggs aren't laid though and waiting to hatch

[jonclark]

Probably quite true I live almost in the heart of Red Country, Nongbulamphu, and many folks are going to head to BKK. I am just keeping my mouth quiet up here. The Red party line rules and there is no other viewpoint.

Soon we will have UDD protesters in every part of Thailand, not only Ratchaprasong and Silom.

so is that red democracy???

[BKjohn]

Abhisit's thugs have killed over 30 protesters thus far. This tends to bring out a bit of anger in the democracy protesters. It really isn't that much of a mystery.

Democracy protesters, are you from Somalia?

yes democracy - that small thing that allows you to vote for government? the thing that has not happened with this government? and you wonder why people are upset and angry? not sure where you come from but let your government apparatus ban political parties and MP's at the drop of a hat - see how you feel.

CMF ... what part don't you understand about voting and parliament in Thailand?

You know ... people vote for MPs ... MPs vote for PM. The people voted. Abhisit is PM.

And when the reds sold their votes to the highest bidder who happened to be the biggest crook Thailand has ever seen, the MAJORITY of the Thai people got pissed off

[Neilly]

I have two points to make,

1, Just because i am not thai or a resident doesnt mean i dont care, or that my worries or opinions are not valid. I live here and contribute to society. As for the FARANG tourists that you seem to dislike so much- they prop up the economy in this country, without them the economy will crash imo. So try to lose the bigotry

2,i have travelled all over the country and i have seen first hand people being TOLD they will vote red or else.... i dont call this support. A lot of my friends are from outside bkk and are poor, they DONT support reds!! Yet some friends of mine in Pattaya who are Thai, and not poor DO support the reds. imho a large proportion of rural people do support red, BUT nowhere near the 50% you are claiming. How can the reds staying here in bkk be helping their families and their crops? The payments will stop as soon as their usefullness runs out, what then for the poorest of these people???? I'm sorry but the reds have to go, the only reds who will profit from this are not the normal truly poor people you are championing, this is all about money and power, not impoverished people from Issan

Agree 100%

[thaibeachlovers]

Did anyone else see the red bandana wearing farang in the crowd? <deleted>!

[seahorse]

It never ceases to amaze me how farangs on thaivisa seem to think they know best about thailand and how to deal with thailands problems.

It never ceases to amaze me that people come on to this forum, whose sole purpose is to discuss things Thai, and say we shouldn't discuss anything because we're farangs and not Thai.

Well, I live in Thailand. I have a Thai girlfriend and a child born here. To say that it is not my problem and that I shouldn't have an opinion about it is absurd. This situation affects everybody in this country.

[siampolee]

Red shirts toughen demands

The red-shirt leaders Friday announced they would no longer compromise with the government and toughened their demands for the administration to comply with.

The red-shirt leaders demanded Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to meet the five demands as following:

1) The government must cease fire immediately.

2) The government must withdraw troops immediately.

3) The government must lift the state of emergency immediately.

4) The House must be dissolved immediately.

5) Abhisit and Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban must resign and must not be in the caretaker Cabinet.

Were do these idiots think they are coming from and going to ?

Credability = zero

Intelligence _ zero

Policy statement = zero

Public support =0 %

International kudos = 0

The list is endless.

Methinks indeed these are desperate people who it would seem apart from shooting themselves in the foot they have plainly shot themselves in what passes for their brains in sympathy with the Mad Major General.

If it wasn't so pitiful set of demands it would indeed be funny .

[ungcas]

Why doe they have to disperse a crowd with live ammunition? I've seen several time hooligans being dispersed with a water canon.

Why do these clashes always have to be so bloody and cause so many casualty's?

Because the red insurgents are using LETHAL weapons, that's why. Duh.

The Abhisit's thugs use live ammunition because they have a history of hanging protesters from trees and using many other forms of intimidation besides Abhisit's main tactic of suppression of free thinking by mass censorship. It is no coincidence that Abhisit's thugs have targeted journalists.

I have just put you on my ignore list as reading your absurd invective is a total waste of bandwidth.

+1! Nothing but a Troll is what i sense.

[alex_aka_P]

Thaksin demanded Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to immediately carry out four things:

1) The government must stop deploying troops and police with lethal weapons to suppress on protesters.

2) The government must immediately lift the state of emergency in all provices.

3) The government must hold a talk with protest leaders immediately to find a political solution.

4) The government must hold talks with all groups in the society to try to bring about reconciliation so that the country will have genuine democracy and justice and can progress.

...said the criminal with Montenegro's passport, couped, wanted at his homeland, intended to go to jail for a VERY serious cases, fled from bail into another country, and running scary from location to location, and now with a BLOOD on his hands caused by his love to money much that love to his folks (as he always tried to show)....and a huge LIAR after all.

Yes, Mr.Takki, your opinion is VERY valuable here and now. Nothing more valuable than this.

Ai na liem, okpai!

[whybother]

I agree reds have lost an opportunity and have made some silly mistakes - BUT Abhisit would have risen in stature had he stuck to the date announced and risen above the furore - but he has set himself LOW standards and then FAILED to achieve them

He may still go with a November 14 election. But the reds aren't accepting that and they're still protesting.

They don't want elections on November 14 so there is no point Abhisit saying that they are going to be then.

[eurasianthai]

So please get your facts right.

Well, the only fact "right" that anybody can get at this stage is that there is some fighting in the streets and that more Thai people will get injured and die.

[Netfan]

Soon we will have UDD protesters in every part of Thailand, not only Ratchaprasong and Silom.

By protesters do you mean armed insurgents?

So thats every single red or just the hardcore ones like yellows, muslims, yanks etc etc

I am not a red nor yellow just a simple farang that lives in bangkok btw. I cant choose a colour as its not my business.

This is a terrible time for all thais and maybe farang thai wannabees jingthing

Good post. Lots of blood thirsty Farangs here I see

yep, they think the reds should turn down offers of an election in november, never fail to support the reds no matter what they resort to- lies, violence, etc., hope that the women and children don't return home, but stay to fight the "elite" alongside seh daengs army..... blood thirsty is right.

[yoshiwara]

Last election, reds got the most votes but NOT EVEN CLOSE to a majority. Next ... Red apologists, please use facts if you have them rather than lies.

OK so for the last 4 elections reds have got the most votes..

Happy now ??

Most is a completely different thing than the MAJORITY in a parliamentary government. Abhisit is the legal PM. He doesn't need to give the violent red thugs anything.

How long did it take the Somchai government to be brought down for doing a cooking show ?? Days..

And now the democrats have been caught taking 258m in illegal donations and the EC commission says they should be disbanded and barred ?? Why isnt it applied with the same zeal ??

Because its one rule for one set of people and entirely another for the other set. Double standards galore.

Hello! Your red mates are running round Bangkok chucking petrol bombs and your sterling contribution is the 'double standards' mantra.

Funny how the word 'illegal contributions' and 'Thaksin' cannot cross your red lipsticked lips.

[seahorse]

I don't know what happened, but for a short period I couldn't access thaivisa.com because of this:

http://www.thaivisa.com/404.0.html

Everytime I clicked something on Thai visa I was getting this message. What was going on???

I had this problem too. System overload?

[IvanDobsky]

Am utterly appalled at the reds. They had such sympathy a month and a half ago, now they are just a bunch of criminals working for their master Thaksin to the detriment of the entire nation. Disgusting.

OK. However, I can't understand any civilized person having any sympathy for them at all after Pattaya Asean and Black Songkran.

are

democracy is what the fight is all about freedom of the people to vote and elect a government of their choice and not the choice of the Armed Forces in Thailand this civil war the only losers are the Thais themselves the Reds fighting for their lives because of the repression they are suffering under the rich and powerful this has been going on for hundreds of years and now they will not give up. The Prime Minister will have to resign in the face charges of the people. This is the work of the New World order and the Bushes and the Blair's Rothschild's and Rockefeller's of this world are destroying democracy. Is it is going to end I think not -- I wish it would . The UK now has a new government Thailand needs one to. don't blame the people who want change is twice the government that was elected have been deposed.

Rothschild, Rockefeller, Shinawatra?

The UK has a new government, because even though Gordon Brown wasn't elected, the UK waited until the election was due. You also couldn't buy a vote for love nor money.

The British didn't form a mono-coloured mob, take to the streets and set up a fortified camp in the heart of London. They didn't storm into hospitals, government property or airports. If they had, they would have been given pretty short shrift.

The red coalition will hopefully splinter into different factions after this yet to be completed fiasco. Hopefully, one of these factions will carry legitimate grievances from the people to parliament, without all the nauseating abuse, (blood) stunts, violence and threats. Hopefully.

[rixalex]

How long did it take the Somchai government to be brought down for doing a cooking show ?? Days..

It wasn't Somchai it was Samak, and it didn't bring the government down, just the PM - and he could have stood back up again.

[ScouseTommy]

As for the FARANG tourists that you seem to dislike so much- they prop up the economy in this country, without them the economy will crash imo.

You seem to thing that Tourism is the main source of income for thais. Its not. Remove yourself from Tourist Thailand and go check the rest of it out......tourist schmourist.

As i stated above i have and still do get out and see Thailand, as for tourist area's - i don't live in one. Do you understand anything about economics? Because if your capital city and economic centre crashes so does the country, who do you think will suffer most if that happens??? The elite and the army, NO it will be the poor people of rural thailand who suffer first and suffer the most. Tourism brings a huge amount of money into the Thai economy, NOTICE i use the word ECONOMY, because without an economy the country will fail not just Bangkok. Check the official government figures, they are online, even from Thaksins time. If the tourists go, the Farang that live here wont be far behind, is that what you want???? No one but thai's in thailand? "we all hate tourists and farang"???? Sounds very much like the point of view an Austrian bloke had in 1939!!. If you'd actually read my post you'd know a lot of my friends are very poor and NOT from tourist Thailand, they dont support the reds at all, are they all wrong??? Will you kick them out of thailand with the farang and tourists if you get your way?????

Rant over...

You are being very alarmist. I understand economics quite well, although I wouldnt class myself as an economist .

You are taking massive leaps from a STRONG thai economy to one that FAILS instantly as 'tourism' levels plumet. As I said in a previous post theres a whole lot more to the thai economy than tourism.

Can you please show me where you get your data that indicates the Thai economy going from its very strong position it has had throughout the WFC to the doom and gloom you are reporting now?

Also, please note, I won't be kicking anyone out of Thailand or jumping up and down yelling out stuff about the sky is falling.

I apologise if i seem alarmist, it was a bit of a rant, and i didnt mean to imply if tourists leave the economy will fail. If thats how it read then sorry. However i am tired of the farang tourist bashing comments. Tourists to contribute massively to the economy here. If they all left then in my opinion, it would be the start of a possible crash. Why would international investors stay here and risk there money? If they pull out Thailand suffers again. Then what will the rich elite do with the money they have invested here? It would be financial suicide for these ruthless (and rich) business men to try and prop up the economy!Thailand was once the economic leader in this area i believe? They are not anymore. Dont get me wrong i am not a fan of the drunken Pattaya brigade, but tourists have a big part to play imo. I am just frustrated that the majority of the reds in my opinion are being used to fill someone else's agenda and they cant or dont see how this IS hurting Thailand and what COULD possibly happen in the future as a direct result of all this.

[somtampet]

Abhisit's thugs have killed over 30 protesters thus far. This tends to bring out a bit of anger in the democracy protesters. It really isn't that much of a mystery.

Democracy protesters, are you from Somalia?

YOU obviously from Bangkok and <snip>.The majority won the vote by whatever means,the rich took the vote back by whatever means.Both corrupt,but the only reason this happens is because the elitist cannot get the vote.

When i read these threads the farangs that call the reds a pack of wolves,undeucated,and all the other shitty racist remarks,when i look where they are from,low and behold,Bangkok.You deserve to be there.

Edited May 14, 2010 by raro
flame removed

[BKjohn]

I have two points to make,

1, Just because i am not thai or a resident doesnt mean i dont care, or that my worries or opinions are not valid. I live here and contribute to society. As for the FARANG tourists that you seem to dislike so much- they prop up the economy in this country, without them the economy will crash imo. So try to lose the bigotry

2,i have travelled all over the country and i have seen first hand people being TOLD they will vote red or else.... i dont call this support. A lot of my friends are from outside bkk and are poor, they DONT support reds!! Yet some friends of mine in Pattaya who are Thai, and not poor DO support the reds. imho a large proportion of rural people do support red, BUT nowhere near the 50% you are claiming. How can the reds staying here in bkk be helping their families and their crops? The payments will stop as soon as their usefullness runs out, what then for the poorest of these people???? I'm sorry but the reds have to go, the only reds who will profit from this are not the normal truly poor people you are championing, this is all about money and power, not impoverished people from Issan

Agree 100%

Me too .. good post - by the way .. a car bomb has just been defused on Ramindra - another present of these peace loving reds - a car bomb is used by terrorists and kills lots of people, women children etc .....

[jcbangkok]

"The soldiers just opened up on everyone. Old people, women, ambulance crews."

This a tweet from Time journalist Andrew Marshall on the scene now.

http://twitter.com/Journotopia

Can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

oh really? this is the yellow creed now? well yellow is the colour of the yoke I guess so maybe it's fitting - be careful more eggs aren't laid though and waiting to hatch

Don't be such a Drama Queen and stop believing what you read on somebody's Twitter account that they heard from some other unnamed person just because it is the only source you can find that fits into your continued support of a violent lawless mob.

EDIT: And stop the VERY ignorant assumption that people who believe enough is enough and it is time to enforce the law against this unruly, lawless and violent mob is a Yellow. I condemned the airport seizure too and believe authorities should have acted quickly to shut that mob down too.

This situation has NOTHING to do with politics or elections. To pretend it does is incredibly ignorant and akin to saying robbing a bank is a politics because the robber was protesting being poor or the fact he has to pay for his drug of choice.

Edited May 14, 2010 by jcbangkok

[TheOldWolf]

"The soldiers just opened up on everyone. Old people, women, ambulance crews."

This a tweet from Time journalist Andrew Marshall on the scene now.

http://twitter.com/Journotopia

Can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

oh really? this is the yellow creed now? well yellow is the colour of the yoke I guess so maybe it's fitting - be careful more eggs aren't laid though and waiting to hatch

"The soldiers just opened up on everyone. Old people, women, ambulance crews." about 1 hour ago via mobile web <LI id=status_13967730694 class="hentry u-Journotopia status">Ruamkatanyu source among crowd on soi off Rama 4 when soldiers opened up. At least 10 injured

He is quoting. He has not seen it himself.

[whybother]

Last election, reds got the most votes but NOT EVEN CLOSE to a majority. Next ... Red apologists, please use facts if you have them rather than lies.

OK so for the last 4 elections reds have got the most votes..

Happy now ??

Most is a completely different thing than the MAJORITY in a parliamentary government. Abhisit is the legal PM. He doesn't need to give the violent red thugs anything.

How long did it take the Somchai government to be brought down for doing a cooking show ?? Days..

And now the democrats have been caught taking 258m in illegal donations and the EC commission says they should be disbanded and barred ?? Why isnt it applied with the same zeal ??

Because its one rule for one set of people and entirely another for the other set. Double standards galore.

Samak should have concentrated on being PM instead of being paid to host a political (cooking) show. And he shouldn't have lied in court.

Thaksin started the "double standards" when he got off his assets case in 2001.

[givenall]

Sorry to blow everyone’s bubble, does anyone know how long this is going to go on?

[ChiangMaiFun]

I agree reds have lost an opportunity and have made some silly mistakes - BUT Abhisit would have risen in stature had he stuck to the date announced and risen above the furore - but he has set himself LOW standards and then FAILED to achieve them

He may still go with a November 14 election. But the reds aren't accepting that and they're still protesting.

They don't want elections on November 14 so there is no point Abhisit saying that they are going to be then.

Yes I know - and what? is he going to be swung here and there by them? I supported his decision to hold in Nov and think the reds are foolish to not accept - BUT - who cares? hold them anyway - can you imagine any other country allowing 6000 demonstrators to alter the date of an election? think about it - it's bizarre! it's Thailand! and it's Amazing!

[neverdie]

Isn't this whole conversation futile? who cares if it is from farangs, or tourist, or the tooth fairy. I am pretty sure a civil war is bad for the economy.

Somewhat indeed.

I am sure a civil war would definately be bad for the entire thai economy, not just the minor ones.

I personally, at this exact moment in time, wouldnt quite call this a civil war, I feel this term has been used rather loosely by some.

Theres definately civil unrest in Thailand, in some areas this has been going on for years but last time I looked outside my window I didnt notice the civil war - please forgive me

[alex_aka_P]

Natthawut announced Thailand will see big tragedy tonight if PM Abhisit does not dissolve House immediately and pull out troops.

OMG, what a WOODENHEADS!!!!!!!!!!

They are REALLY not care even a single life of their shheps!!! It is OVER, Natthawut. THE GAME IS OVER!!!! Save a lives while you can - just bow to the law and stip the show!!

PS: may I see the photo where this so-called "peaseful fighter for a democracy" clashes with the army by his bare hands, in front of his ppl and leading'em forward? He himself, I meant.

I've tired of his bullshit being sent from the nearest VIP room at the nearest hotel, while the sheeps are fighting for his ambitions...

Pls God, pls save the lives of those who is yet innocent but simply brainwashed...save'em while possible....

[peteryeah]

Sorry to blow everyone's bubble, does anyone know how long this is going to go on?

Obviously no one knows. Stay tuned.

[givenall]

Sorry to blow everyone's bubble, does anyone know how long this is going to go on?

Sorry to blow everyone’s bubble, does anyone know how long this is going to go on? Lloks like they are playing chicken with each other

[noel2499rk]

"The soldiers just opened up on everyone. Old people, women, ambulance crews."

This a tweet from Time journalist Andrew Marshall on the scene now.

http://twitter.com/Journotopia

Can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

oh really? this is the yellow creed now? well yellow is the colour of the yoke I guess so maybe it's fitting - be careful more eggs aren't laid though and waiting to hatch

Don't be such a Drama Queen and stop believing what you read on somebody's Twitter account that they heard from some other unnamed person just because it is the only source you can find that fits into your continued support of a violent lawless mob.

If you click on the link it will take you to Andrew Marshall's twitter account who is at the protest and is sending live updates. This is as first hand as information gets.

[LivinLOS]

Because its one rule for one set of people and entirely another for the other set. Double standards galore.

Hello! Your red mates are running round Bangkok chucking petrol bombs and your sterling contribution is the 'double standards' mantra.

Funny how the word 'illegal contributions' and 'Thaksin' cannot cross your red lipsticked lips.

I am not pro red..

But if you cant see the huge gaping double standards, and that those people who are out there chucking petrol bombs (while being shot at) are doing so because of those same double standards.. Perhaps remove the double standards and the petrol bomb problems go away ??