Thousands Of Thai Protesters Defy Deadline To Leave

[animatic]

Would you call that boy looking over the tyres a human shield.I suggest you print something factual.My thioughts would have been,he is showing the boy to the soldiers to show that he is there.

NOW

If someone had said the boy should not be there i would have agreed but dont spout crap on here

Carrying a child to a barricade where you are likely to encounter violence and then showing the child IS using the child as a human shield. The child shouldn't be there and the parents should be tried for negligence! If the troops take fire from that area they are now faced with the moral quandry --- return fire knowing a child is there or accept the fire!

Mixing in non-combatants with combatants is the very definition of using human shields.

Since you like to quote definitions, what do you call someone that shoots in the back of the head and kills a person while that person is sitting in the open giving an interview to an internatiaonal reporter?

A casualty of war.

In most wars the officers are targeted early, cut off the head and it's easier to control the body.

He publicly declared war on his fellow soldiers, and was actively working to prevent their

legally closing down the insurgent camp in the center of Bangkok.

It's not "nice" what happened to him, but he brought it on himself.

And it is not even known if it was army, third or even fourth hands that did that deed.

He had created a situation where many, many players wouldwant him out of the picture

A what does that Kuhn T. have to say about it... nothing. Too busy shopping?

Edited May 17, 2010 by animatic

[EarthAlien]

the klong toei stage needs to be dispersed.

the government should also ask for citizens who would like the reds to stop their protest to either organize mass gatherings in quiet parts of the cities (nationwide) or to hang white or blue cloth from the windows or both.

The anti-riot police/army needs vehicles which can be put under electric current, equipped with own internal generators.

Park one of these in the middle of an intersection with 4 snipers inside and the intersection is secure.

Army snipers should be equipped with scopes which take a pic when the trigger is pulled, to avoid unnecessary violence.

This equipment is a dream of mine, but it could be so useful now.

Wow,.. these are some pretty strange notions. I'm still trying to get my head around the electric powered "pic-taking" sniper manned vehicle thingy,.. but never mind.

One problem I can see with the draping of white or blue cloth from either residences or buildings would be that if lawlessness was to expand and the reds were to become more active and perhaps even representing armed militia style dominance in any part(s) of the country then all those poor well meaning folks that hung out their blue and white laundry on "poll day" would be targeted as anti-red and could well expect retribution of some unthinkable nature!

Edited May 17, 2010 by EarthAlien

[jcbangkok]

I also read in numerous reports that when a tire fire (yes, I am American) caught a building on fire, the Red Shirts scrambled and put out the blaze themselves. They are not out to destroy the city or its infrastructure.

That's not what Red leader Arisaman said in his often-posted youtube video. He talked about destroying Bangkok.

Burning it to the ground along with destroying all Muslim mosques and NGO's and bridges and hospitals.

In this speech?

No, in this expanded video one

He seems to want to take on just about every one.

Shameful he includes Siriraj Hospital in the destruction list.

Very serious and sad content but have to LMAO every time I see the cuts to Abhisit early on in the video. I really like him.

EDIT: I believe those shots are him as a teacher.

Edited May 17, 2010 by jcbangkok

[englishoak]

No it didn't benefit him at all. He couldn't get paid. What is the point in having the largest mobile phone company in Thailand if you can't sell it someone, and you are about to have to shell out a ton of money for a 3g network. The other big family that wanted a mobile company had one. Did Singha want one? hel_l no. Red Bull Man? No way. 2bn is in the end of the day a lot of money.

In his business the foreign ownership rules were a pain in the ass, because he could never realise a cash profit and he was going to get squished if he didn't partner up with someone. He is not some family dynasty of mobile phone operators unlike many of the other large families.

Now as for industries that were being slated to be removed from protection. Take your pic. There was a certain bunch of families who apparently he wasn't too keen on since they didn't really back him in his set up of AIS. They didn't like him either because he survived 97 quite well, whilst they and several of their close associates got toasted well and truly.

Add in the fact that he arranged the issuance of the first new license in that industry for decades and you could see that possibly this got the attention of quite a few very powerful people in Bangkok. Some of whom had close family members in the Democrat party and also rather stupidly marched up with Sondhi and his mates the very first time they went into Government house and beat a hasty retreat when they realised that the time wasn't right.

Now this is all simply joining the dots to provide a financial reason why certain people might have wanted Thaksin out. It is all out there in various books and publications. Fortunately I travel a lot, so make a point of picking up books at the airport and have time to try to work out why this is happening to Thailand. Now do we really believe that the real reason for all of this fighting, a coup, legal issues, smashing an admittedly corrupt politicians wealth is all to do with bringing Thailand kicking and screaming into some dawn of clean politics? Clean politics in Thailand? Come on.

Or is it all just about money? I have a policy, that when all confuses me in Thailand, the logical answer is that someone is getting paid. As a policy it is cynical, but it has never failed.

Aye its about time people started doing their own research and look behind the scenes.. The old guard have come up against the new and what they see is not to their taste at all. The usual pawns of the game are the General Thai public. At the same time the stakes have never been higher and so the tactics of both sides play out in front of the world.

On one side you have the current self appointed Government stressing that the "terrorists" cannot be reasoned with and showing various pictures supporting the terrible Reds actions and claiming they are holding the country to ransom.

On the other side you have claims of unjustified force where its sticks stones and handmade weaponry against the might of a modern army with plenty of pictures etc to support it.

Somewhere in all this there lurks the privateers undoubtedly on both sides.

When the yellows blockaded the Airport what was the response of the then government and why wernt similar measure taken as now ? Who had the ability to arrange such a thing even

The city is filled with smoke as is this website full of smoke filled posts and Propaganda on both sides... Somewhere behind all of this are the puppeteers quietly making the calls and pulling the strings.

When all seems in panic and chaos ask yourself WHO really has the most to gain and to lose here ? ( other than the normal Thai people )Look to the history of this country that they don't and will not teach in school, ask why the education system is so controlled and who benefits from it being this way....

Ask the question why in a modern and global world there has been a positive progressive attitude towards protectionism and closing the country down towards foreign investment. Internet site censorship and draconian measures reinstated when most other Asian countries are opening up Thailand is firmly closing itself off.What benefit is this to the general populous of Thailand ? Why would some wish to push their country backwards when all others in the region are surging forward isnt that just crazy ? surely a country that had such a healthy reputation at the beginning of this decade would have continued to build on its success and want to continue to be one of the leaders of the Asian economies.Who could possibly want to change all that and why ? what is there to be lost or gained by doing so ?

Look further than the current TV coverage and do your homework, if you truly care for Thailand in any way you need to research what is at stake and what not only the motives are but what the prize and goal ultimately is.

Wake up there is a whole lot that isnt said or reported but its there if you care to do your homework.

[akaika]

Would you call that boy looking over the tyres a human shield.I suggest you print something factual.My thioughts would have been,he is showing the boy to the soldiers to show that he is there.

NOW

If someone had said the boy should not be there i would have agreed but dont spout crap on here

That's what a human shield is - "don't shoot at us behind standing behind the red barricades because we have brought our children here."

Not even worth a reply if thats what you think a human shield is

That's what EVERYONE thinks a human shield is because that is EXACTLY what a human shield IS.

[jcbangkok]

Yes, this is all backed and set up by the Red Clapper company.

[verygoodgirl]

baby in a warzone is just WRONG!!!!!!!!!! what's up with you red murder!!!!!!

No a baby in a war zone is fine if you are amart (the elite royalist people) because he is only isaan so he is not woth worrying about face up to it that is how the yellows think and dont worry they will be got rid of by the Thai population sooner rather than later.

Where do the elite red shirts and poor yellow shirts fit into your narrow and distorted paradigm?

And yes, using your own child as a human shield is just Wrong. Period. No excuses accepted.

Sad that some people need to be told this.

really really sick _ucks! shame shame shame

what a group of losers

[monkfish]

Would you call that boy looking over the tyres a human shield.I suggest you print something factual.My thioughts would have been,he is showing the boy to the soldiers to show that he is there.

NOW

If someone had said the boy should not be there i would have agreed but dont spout crap on here

Carrying a child to a barricade where you are likely to encounter violence and then showing the child IS using the child as a human shield. The child shouldn't be there and the parents should be tried for negligence! If the troops take fire from that area they are now faced with the moral quandry --- return fire knowing a child is there or accept the fire!

Mixing in non-combatants with combatants is the very definition of using human shields.

Since you like to quote definitions, what do you call someone that shoots in the back of the head and kills a person while that person is sitting in the open giving an interview to an internatiaonal reporter?

A casualty of war.

In most wars the officers are targeted early, cut off the head and it's easier to control the body.

He publicly declared war on his fellow soldiers, and was actively working to prevent their

legally closing down the insurgent camp in the center of Bangkok.

It's not "nice" what happened to him, but he brought it on himself.

And it is not even known if it was army, third or even fourth hands that did that deed.

He had created a situation where many, many players wouldwant him out of the picture

A what does that Kuhn T. have to say about it... nothing. Too busy shopping?

Guess you or Mr Abhisit never go shopping.

[brianb1944]

A real mess indeed. They must be really proud of themselves.

Who exactly must be proud of themselves? the Looting asonist terrorists, whohave brought this country to its knees, or the Government, who, after all else failed, have resorted to force to free the city from this anarchy. The rioters can end the bloodshed by just walkiing away instead of the provocative illegal stance they have taken. All the blood is on the heads of the Red leadership.

[geepipe]

seems they have already played the yellow card already (they did it so we can)

would that make it any less valid of a point?

[yoshiwara]

No it didn't benefit him at all. He couldn't get paid. What is the point in having the largest mobile phone company in Thailand if you can't sell it someone, and you are about to have to shell out a ton of money for a 3g network. The other big family that wanted a mobile company had one. Did Singha want one? hel_l no. Red Bull Man? No way. 2bn is in the end of the day a lot of money.

In his business the foreign ownership rules were a pain in the ass, because he could never realise a cash profit and he was going to get squished if he didn't partner up with someone. He is not some family dynasty of mobile phone operators unlike many of the other large families.

Now as for industries that were being slated to be removed from protection. Take your pic. There was a certain bunch of families who apparently he wasn't too keen on since they didn't really back him in his set up of AIS. They didn't like him either because he survived 97 quite well, whilst they and several of their close associates got toasted well and truly.

Add in the fact that he arranged the issuance of the first new license in that industry for decades and you could see that possibly this got the attention of quite a few very powerful people in Bangkok. Some of whom had close family members in the Democrat party and also rather stupidly marched up with Sondhi and his mates the very first time they went into Government house and beat a hasty retreat when they realised that the time wasn't right.

Now this is all simply joining the dots to provide a financial reason why certain people might have wanted Thaksin out. It is all out there in various books and publications. Fortunately I travel a lot, so make a point of picking up books at the airport and have time to try to work out why this is happening to Thailand. Now do we really believe that the real reason for all of this fighting, a coup, legal issues, smashing an admittedly corrupt politicians wealth is all to do with bringing Thailand kicking and screaming into some dawn of clean politics? Clean politics in Thailand? Come on.

Or is it all just about money? I have a policy, that when all confuses me in Thailand, the logical answer is that someone is getting paid. As a policy it is cynical, but it has never failed.

Aye its about time people started doing their own research and look behind the scenes.. The old guard have come up against the new and what they see is not to their taste at all. The usual pawns of the game are the General Thai public. At the same time the stakes have never been higher and so the tactics of both sides play out in front of the world.

On one side you have the current self appointed Government stressing that the "terrorists" cannot be reasoned with and showing various pictures supporting the terrible Reds actions and claiming they are holding the country to ransom.

On the other side you have claims of unjustified force where its sticks stones and handmade weaponry against the might of a modern army with plenty of pictures etc to support it.

Somewhere in all this there lurks the privateers undoubtedly on both sides.

When the yellows blockaded the Airport what was the response of the then government and why wernt similar measure taken as now ? Who had the ability to arrange such a thing even

The city is filled with smoke as is this website full of smoke filled posts and Propaganda on both sides... Somewhere behind all of this are the puppeteers quietly making the calls and pulling the strings.

When all seems in panic and chaos ask yourself WHO really has the most to gain and to lose here ? ( other than the normal Thai people )Look to the history of this country that they don't and will not teach in school, ask why the education system is so controlled and who benefits from it being this way....

Ask the question why in a modern and global world there has been a positive progressive attitude towards protectionism and closing the country down towards foreign investment. Internet site censorship and draconian measures reinstated when most other Asian countries are opening up Thailand is firmly closing itself off.What benefit is this to the general populous of Thailand ? Why would some wish to push their country backwards when all others in the region are surging forward isnt that just crazy ? surely a country that had such a healthy reputation at the beginning of this decade would have continued to build on its success and want to continue to be one of the leaders of the Asian economies.Who could possibly want to change all that and why ? what is there to be lost or gained by doing so ?

Look further than the current TV coverage and do your homework, if you truly care for Thailand in any way you need to research what is at stake and what not only the motives are but what the prize and goal ultimately is.

Wake up there is a whole lot that isnt said or reported but its there if you care to do your homework.

Pompous drivel.

[englishoak]

Is it ?

[yoshiwara]

Is it ?

Badly wrapped with a nice red bow.

[beejoir]

Shops looted all down Soi Lang Suan, ATMs also broken into.

Well done, you're officially a bunch of thieves.

True colours and all that!

[englishoak]

Is it ?

Badly wrapped with a nice red bow.

I do believe your being paranoid, I take it your not big on history or research then

[Honolulu]

Sorry I can't report many facts about this situation. But I have heard some rumors. Can anyone verify?

1) That the Redshirts are financed by Tacksin. I heard 500bht/day for the typical protester. And 50,000bht payment to the surviving family if a protester is killed.

One real sadness is that both sides have the opportunity, right now, to make a real statement about how much they value a safe and democratic Kingdom. And both are letting it slip through their fingers.

"An eye for an eye, leaves the whole world blind"

[gregb]

No it didn't benefit him at all. He couldn't get paid. What is the point in having the largest mobile phone company in Thailand if you can't sell it someone, and you are about to have to shell out a ton of money for a 3g network. The other big family that wanted a mobile company had one. Did Singha want one? hel_l no. Red Bull Man? No way. 2bn is in the end of the day a lot of money.

In his business the foreign ownership rules were a pain in the ass, because he could never realise a cash profit and he was going to get squished if he didn't partner up with someone. He is not some family dynasty of mobile phone operators unlike many of the other large families.

Now as for industries that were being slated to be removed from protection. Take your pic. There was a certain bunch of families who apparently he wasn't too keen on since they didn't really back him in his set up of AIS. They didn't like him either because he survived 97 quite well, whilst they and several of their close associates got toasted well and truly.

Add in the fact that he arranged the issuance of the first new license in that industry for decades and you could see that possibly this got the attention of quite a few very powerful people in Bangkok. Some of whom had close family members in the Democrat party and also rather stupidly marched up with Sondhi and his mates the very first time they went into Government house and beat a hasty retreat when they realised that the time wasn't right.

Now this is all simply joining the dots to provide a financial reason why certain people might have wanted Thaksin out. It is all out there in various books and publications. Fortunately I travel a lot, so make a point of picking up books at the airport and have time to try to work out why this is happening to Thailand. Now do we really believe that the real reason for all of this fighting, a coup, legal issues, smashing an admittedly corrupt politicians wealth is all to do with bringing Thailand kicking and screaming into some dawn of clean politics? Clean politics in Thailand? Come on.

Or is it all just about money? I have a policy, that when all confuses me in Thailand, the logical answer is that someone is getting paid. As a policy it is cynical, but it has never failed.

It's a good analysis as far as it goes, but yes, I think you are being just a little bit cynical. Did you ever ask yourself why a certain very important person was so adamantly against Thaksin? He certainly didn't care that much about money. There is obviously a different reason for that.

I have a theory. Among Thaksin's many other annoying attributes, he was determined to follow the Western model of debt and credit which turns citizens into debt slaves. He knew getting the poor into vicious debt cycles would make him rich and powerful, and that the poor were gullible enough to fall for it. They do in the West, after all.

Believe it or not, there are truly good people in this country who understand why that is so damaging, and are trying very hard to lay the educational groundwork for the country's future. Educating the population about anything is a slow process of course, but something like, say, the sufficiency economy, is a truly noble gesture that is not designed to help big business or wealthy people at all. It is designed to help the populace. The collapse currently going on in the West has been predicted for decades. It is not surprising to anyone who is well educated and not blinded by greed, and certain caring and extremely influential people didn't want Thailand to descend that path.

Hmm....now who would actually want to help the Thai people I wonder? Well, ask yourself who is the architect of the sufficiency economy?

Thaksin is certainly a greedy, self serving cretin, who most definitely pissed off alot of rich and powerful people, but my opinion is that was not what eventually did him in, nor led to the emerging civil war. Thaksin stepped on the biggest toes in the country while those toes were busy trying to help the Thai people. Like any father protecting his children, that kind of behaviour is not tolerated.

In the end, my opinion is that is what did him in. You can be a greedy bastard in Thailand, but you have to know your place. A father works tirelessly for his children. You don't stab him in the back.

[brianb1944]

If Abhisit made the SAME offer as before, but added you must ALL DISPERSE NOW, do you think the red leaders (now that General Deang is gone) would say yes or no? I don't think they deserve the same offer as before, but curious about whether they would take it or just use it as an excuse to bring in armed reinforcements.

You really think one man makes that big of a deal. They seem to get on just fine without him.

The Reds wrote a blank check to the government and the government ripped it in half.

Can't believe the government is just standing by idly to this nonsense.

Wasnt that the other way round? my understanding is the Govt offered the Reds virtually what they were demanding, then the demands became ridiculous. They defiinitely want martyrs, but not from the executive.

[yoshiwara]

Is it ?

Badly wrapped with a nice red bow.

I do believe your being paranoid, I take it your not big on history or research then

Not the second rate sociology you are peddling.

[geepipe]

Shops looted all down Soi Lang Suan, ATMs also broken into.

Well done, you're officially a bunch of thieves.

True colours and all that!

see this is the kind of sweeping generalisations that keep people nice and closed minded, a small amount of people steal....YES "you're officially a bunch of thieves"

[brianb1944]

Is it ?

It certainly is

[JohnLeech]

Just to comment on this page:

monkfish: As far as I am concerned both the Government and the Red shirts are fools

I agree wih your sentiments, but "fools" is not the word I would have used - the words selfish, greedy, uncompromising and bigoted spring to mind.

jcbangkok: I believe in the early part of April before red shirts stole billions of dollars worth of private and public property from the Thai people.

"stole billions of dollars ...etc" - what on earth are you talking about? They may be responsible for destroying a considerable amount of property (and the future losses to Thailand may ultimately cost billions), but calling this theft is simply ridiculous.

animatic: And it is not even known if it was army, third or even fourth hands that did that deed.

A miracle. I agree with you.

tgw:The anti-riot police/army needs vehicles which can be put under electric current, equipped with own internal generators.

Park one of these in the middle of an intersection with 4 snipers inside and the intersection is secure.

Army snipers should be equipped with scopes which take a pic when the trigger is pulled, to avoid unnecessary violence.

This equipment is a dream of mine, but it could be so useful now.

Why dream? The outside of the British Army's Humber APCs (better known as Pigs) in Northern Ireland could be electrified four decades ago to prevent anyone climbing on them, although it was seldom done. Some police sniper teams are already equipped as you suggest, with the spotter being responsible for the video equipment; the only drawback for equipping a sniper (or any other) rifle with this is the additional weight. There are drawbacks,however, as remaining static is never a good idea, especially in an area with high-rise buildings even in an armoured vehicle, and their domination of the area would only be as good as their view of it, which could be easily obscured.

Honolulu: But I have heard some rumors. Can anyone verify?

1) That the Redshirts are financed by Tacksin. I heard 500bht/day for the typical protester. And 50,000bht payment to the surviving family if a protester is killed.

Yes, those are definitely rumours - and they may even be true in some cases but by no means all. If so, it is no more than what has happened previously with both the reds and the yellows, but it is certainly not true of all those there now or who were there before.

Gregb: Did you ever ask yourself why a certain very important person was so adamantly against Thaksin? He certainly didn't care that much about money. There is obviously a different reason for that.

Yes, I did. I also considered how little I would care about money if I had "sufficient" (and if I had five times as much as Thaksin at his peak that would be more than sufficient).

Edited May 17, 2010 by JohnLeech

[brianb1944]

No it didn't benefit him at all. He couldn't get paid. What is the point in having the largest mobile phone company in Thailand if you can't sell it someone, and you are about to have to shell out a ton of money for a 3g network. The other big family that wanted a mobile company had one. Did Singha want one? hel_l no. Red Bull Man? No way. 2bn is in the end of the day a lot of money.

In his business the foreign ownership rules were a pain in the ass, because he could never realise a cash profit and he was going to get squished if he didn't partner up with someone. He is not some family dynasty of mobile phone operators unlike many of the other large families.

Now as for industries that were being slated to be removed from protection. Take your pic. There was a certain bunch of families who apparently he wasn't too keen on since they didn't really back him in his set up of AIS. They didn't like him either because he survived 97 quite well, whilst they and several of their close associates got toasted well and truly.

Add in the fact that he arranged the issuance of the first new license in that industry for decades and you could see that possibly this got the attention of quite a few very powerful people in Bangkok. Some of whom had close family members in the Democrat party and also rather stupidly marched up with Sondhi and his mates the very first time they went into Government house and beat a hasty retreat when they realised that the time wasn't right.

Now this is all simply joining the dots to provide a financial reason why certain people might have wanted Thaksin out. It is all out there in various books and publications. Fortunately I travel a lot, so make a point of picking up books at the airport and have time to try to work out why this is happening to Thailand. Now do we really believe that the real reason for all of this fighting, a coup, legal issues, smashing an admittedly corrupt politicians wealth is all to do with bringing Thailand kicking and screaming into some dawn of clean politics? Clean politics in Thailand? Come on.

Or is it all just about money? I have a policy, that when all confuses me in Thailand, the logical answer is that someone is getting paid. As a policy it is cynical, but it has never failed.

It's a good analysis as far as it goes, but yes, I think you are being just a little bit cynical. Did you ever ask yourself why a certain very important person was so adamantly against Thaksin? He certainly didn't care that much about money. There is obviously a different reason for that.

I have a theory. Among Thaksin's many other annoying attributes, he was determined to follow the Western model of debt and credit which turns citizens into debt slaves. He knew getting the poor into vicious debt cycles would make him rich and powerful, and that the poor were gullible enough to fall for it. They do in the West, after all.

Believe it or not, there are truly good people in this country who understand why that is so damaging, and are trying very hard to lay the educational groundwork for the country's future. Educating the population about anything is a slow process of course, but something like, say, the sufficiency economy, is a truly noble gesture that is not designed to help big business or wealthy people at all. It is designed to help the populace. The collapse currently going on in the West has been predicted for decades. It is not surprising to anyone who is well educated and not blinded by greed, and certain caring and extremely influential people didn't want Thailand to descend that path.

Hmm....now who would actually want to help the Thai people I wonder? Well, ask yourself who is the architect of the sufficiency economy?

Thaksin is certainly a greedy, self serving cretin, who most definitely pissed off alot of rich and powerful people, but my opinion is that was not what eventually did him in, nor led to the emerging civil war. Thaksin stepped on the biggest toes in the country while those toes were busy trying to help the Thai people. Like any father protecting his children, that kind of behaviour is not tolerated.

In the end, my opinion is that is what did him in. You can be a greedy bastard in Thailand, but you have to know your place. A father works tirelessly for his children. You don't stab him in the back.

ouch, you are treading a very fine line, unless I totally misunderstood the latter part of your speech

[englishoak]

Is it ?

Badly wrapped with a nice red bow.

I do believe your being paranoid, I take it your not big on history or research then

Not the second rate sociology you are peddling.

Sorry but not all of us are susceptible to your constant barrage of repetitive propaganda. I'm just inviting people to ask questions and look for themselves rather than spamming posts with minor distractions all the time.

[Roadman]

No it didn't benefit him at all. He couldn't get paid. What is the point in having the largest mobile phone company in Thailand if you can't sell it someone, and you are about to have to shell out a ton of money for a 3g network. The other big family that wanted a mobile company had one. Did Singha want one? hel_l no. Red Bull Man? No way. 2bn is in the end of the day a lot of money.

In his business the foreign ownership rules were a pain in the ass, because he could never realise a cash profit and he was going to get squished if he didn't partner up with someone. He is not some family dynasty of mobile phone operators unlike many of the other large families.

Now as for industries that were being slated to be removed from protection. Take your pic. There was a certain bunch of families who apparently he wasn't too keen on since they didn't really back him in his set up of AIS. They didn't like him either because he survived 97 quite well, whilst they and several of their close associates got toasted well and truly.

Add in the fact that he arranged the issuance of the first new license in that industry for decades and you could see that possibly this got the attention of quite a few very powerful people in Bangkok. Some of whom had close family members in the Democrat party and also rather stupidly marched up with Sondhi and his mates the very first time they went into Government house and beat a hasty retreat when they realised that the time wasn't right.

Now this is all simply joining the dots to provide a financial reason why certain people might have wanted Thaksin out. It is all out there in various books and publications. Fortunately I travel a lot, so make a point of picking up books at the airport and have time to try to work out why this is happening to Thailand. Now do we really believe that the real reason for all of this fighting, a coup, legal issues, smashing an admittedly corrupt politicians wealth is all to do with bringing Thailand kicking and screaming into some dawn of clean politics? Clean politics in Thailand? Come on.

Or is it all just about money? I have a policy, that when all confuses me in Thailand, the logical answer is that someone is getting paid. As a policy it is cynical, but it has never failed.

It's a good analysis as far as it goes, but yes, I think you are being just a little bit cynical. Did you ever ask yourself why a certain very important person was so adamantly against Thaksin? He certainly didn't care that much about money. There is obviously a different reason for that.

I have a theory. Among Thaksin's many other annoying attributes, he was determined to follow the Western model of debt and credit which turns citizens into debt slaves. He knew getting the poor into vicious debt cycles would make him rich and powerful, and that the poor were gullible enough to fall for it. They do in the West, after all.

Believe it or not, there are truly good people in this country who understand why that is so damaging, and are trying very hard to lay the educational groundwork for the country's future. Educating the population about anything is a slow process of course, but something like, say, the sufficiency economy, is a truly noble gesture that is not designed to help big business or wealthy people at all. It is designed to help the populace. The collapse currently going on in the West has been predicted for decades. It is not surprising to anyone who is well educated and not blinded by greed, and certain caring and extremely influential people didn't want Thailand to descend that path.

Hmm....now who would actually want to help the Thai people I wonder? Well, ask yourself who is the architect of the sufficiency economy?

Thaksin is certainly a greedy, self serving cretin, who most definitely pissed off alot of rich and powerful people, but my opinion is that was not what eventually did him in, nor led to the emerging civil war. Thaksin stepped on the biggest toes in the country while those toes were busy trying to help the Thai people. Like any father protecting his children, that kind of behaviour is not tolerated.

In the end, my opinion is that is what did him in. You can be a greedy bastard in Thailand, but you have to know your place. A father works tirelessly for his children. You don't stab him in the back.

Very well said Gregb.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

Wake up there is a whole lot that isnt said or reported ...<snip>

But we can't, can we? (Rhetorical question.)

[hextac]

<snip>

Wake up there is a whole lot that isnt said or reported ...<snip>

But we can't, can we? (Rhetorical question.)

No you can't. (rhetorical answer)

[Skywalker69]

If we decide to appease the international standard, talk will resume. But given the way that the UDD are behaving, should talk resume and only to be broken down by unbelievable demands again? The funny thing is how the international press (CNN and BBC) are portraying Thaksin as 'only' living abroad and not as a fugitive, what gives, are there too many definition of fugitive? It's these kind of press misinformation that gives Thaksin legitimacy to his claim of innocence.

Now that it's off my chest. Let's get back on topic.

since the govenrment gave the UDD a clear deadline to vacate the premises, then I believe that they are disobeying the law. There should be some punishment for that. The demand by UDD to withdraw the troop is totally outrageous, that would tantamount to 'red' victory. If only the leaders would take off their blindfold (or off any medications) then maybe they'll give realistic demands. But that's too late now. They have now given the gov't every right to use force to disperse the crowd, though I wish that they'll use 'less than lethal' force to do it.

You are so very right, shame on Western media!!!!

[Gallier]

link below gives a short summary of the social/political development in Thailand. Interesting read

http://jinpeili.blogspot.com/2010/05/long-...chaprasong.html

[Neilly]

a very interesting wall they have built from bamboo and tyres.they are very brave people.

Yeah, has just been on BBC World...pots of explosives all wired up inside it...nice