hughben Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Almost every article in the news section seems to have rival posters frothing at the mouth when talking about the current troubles in Bangkok. As a political atheist I have no interest in talking about both sides of the political divide. Correct me if I am wrong, but there is hardly any talk about the tactics both sides are taking. Looking at the excellent Bangkok Dangerous google map updated and started by Richard Barrow, it seems that the reds are gaining more parts of the city. The red areas are expanding. The CRES say they have them contained but it doesn't look like they do. Vehicles are arriving in these areas with tires, food supplies and god knows what. How does the army contain them? You are only as strong as your weakest link and there must be holes all over the place. If the reds allow hundreds of their men contained in the main area out by 3pm Monday, what would stop them from reconvening to another area and starting the process off again? The only way I think the army could succeed is to make mass arrests detain them. And that isn't going to happen. They don't know exactly who they are fighting either. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw25rw Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 A lot of those markers are for single events that happened some time ago. I'm generally sympathetic to their grievance, but it's the hotheads that are left and I think it's time to take off the gloves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaengk Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Both sides? That implies two sides are involved. I'd guess that there about three sides of the military involved, two sides of the police in the shadows, at least four factions loosely grouped as "Reds" and a smattering of other interests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughben Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 So if there are more factions with the red shirts then who is directing operations I wonder? Or is there anyone directing operations? It looks like a free for all from the video footage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaengk Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Abhisit's poor decision to use an badly trained and poorly equiped army to solve a political problem he is frustrated with using a military solution in an urban environment is proving to be a monumental failure under the glare of the international press. Anyone could have told him that his strategy would fail and would unleash mayhem that would lead to the quick demise of his government. But he surrounds himself with politically illiterate wannabes who would better serve the nation by spending their daddies money driving around Ferraris and shopping at the Paragon when it reopens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovelomsak Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 It will all be over by wednesday,it will just take a long time to clean up the mess. So tactics are irrelevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheItaliann Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw25rw Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Apparently there are more protestors arriving and not being aloud in so are setting up camp elsewhere. They should be letting them in, but not letting them take in anything other than the clothes they are wearing. That should force an earlier end to the occupation as their resources run out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughben Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 ^ It sounds like they are in a sinking boat with two small holes, but you can only plug one hole at a time to stop the water from coming in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridian007 Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 The control issue is one that bothers me as well. I'm constantly wondering if Thailand has the troop numbers to deal with this. If you walk around the "border" of the area that's blocked off, you'll just see groups of 4 or 5 soldiers, and patrols of the same. Occasionally there will be groupings of 30 or so, (as seen in the videos), to react to a threat, but generally, they seem spread too thin. I know that troops are needed in other provinces, but they need to bring 20,000 or 30,000 troops here. Set them up around the perimeter, (and tell the obviously red-sympathetic police to go home), to totally close off access. Then they could just close in their ranks, arresting as they go. I think the other tactic that the reds have been successful with is their propaganda that they have no guns, and that the snipers are with the military. Yes, the military has troops with scopes on their rifles, but I'm talking about the hidden snipers. I've seen videos of people who have been shot while they are with the military. The military would not shoot into its own group. I've also read the twitter accounts of people who are with the reds, and have been threatened to not take photos when the reds reveal their guns. I've even seen video that shows that there are still those who have automatic rifles among the reds. This way, they can keep up a victimized front for CNN and the BBC, who fall for it, hook, line, and sinker. Thank god for Youtube and other outlets like Twitter that can show the truth better than these "news corporations". As for it ending on Wednesday, I'm not sure about that. I am worried that the people are starting to feel that if Abhisit cannot deal with the situation, that Anupong would make a better leader than anyone from the red side. I agree, but the cost of reverting back to military rule would be high. It makes me wonder if this was Anupong's plan from the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meom Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Not sure if Anupong is still in charge. On another board somebody was wondering what happened to him since he's not that much in the news anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccw Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Not sure if Anupong is still in charge. On another board somebody was wondering what happened to him since he's not that much in the news anymore. looks like he's been sidelined and this sansern cap is calling the shots. Anupong used to be friendly with thaksin apparrently and had a house bought for him in england. I think Abhisit put him in instead of the man seen to be more yellow, i forget his name sorry, as an attempt to appease the puathai side and show he not a puppet, but it proved a mistake as anupong showd he was unwilling to do his duty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccw Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 (edited) the reds are clearly armed as many photos and videos show; their tactic is to set off these fire crackers when they shoot so press cant tell the shots from the firec rackers, no other reason to set them off in your own area i can think of, and as shown before fire crackers were let off immediately before m-79 attacks on silom bts etc. discrasefull how the bbc and cnnn etc are reporting this; so many vids and photos out there but they keep reporting such naieve ones sided bull. makes one wonder Edited May 17, 2010 by mccw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccw Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 red tactic using their own kids as human shields, fuc_king sickos http://twitpic.com/1ojv9w http://twitpic.com/1ojv9w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw25rw Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 The control issue is one that bothers me as well. I'm constantly wondering if Thailand has the troop numbers to deal with this. If you walk around the "border" of the area that's blocked off, you'll just see groups of 4 or 5 soldiers, and patrols of the same. Occasionally there will be groupings of 30 or so, (as seen in the videos), to react to a threat, but generally, they seem spread too thin. I know that troops are needed in other provinces, but they need to bring 20,000 or 30,000 troops here. Set them up around the perimeter, (and tell the obviously red-sympathetic police to go home), to totally close off access. Then they could just close in their ranks, arresting as they go. I think troop motivation is another problem. They seem to have the same drive as the security guards you see sleeping with their hats over their face.. They could make life easier for themselves by making the protest area smaller and breaking it up into smaller areas. Solve the problem of other protestors arriving by letting them join, but only after confiscating their food/water/phones/money/sanitary items. Try herding them into the park or onto the elevated expressway. After a couple of days they'll be begging to leave on the locked one way train ride to Nong Khai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ijustwannateach Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 As per current policy, thread closed and OP warned, with posting penalty now applied. Some of you will get the message sooner or later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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