Bangkok: Central World Shopping Mall Destroyed By Fire

[TAWP]

The good people of Thailand do not deserve the viciousness of Thaksin's red horde. May they all rot.

Hey monkey, I'm missing the warrants against Aghisit and his horde for murde innocent people.

Do you have any brain or lost it last night in a bar???

I have yet to see a single innocent murdered in the riots...enlighten us please.

[mommysboy]

The good people of Thailand do not deserve the viciousness of Thaksin's red horde. May they all rot.

Hey monkey, I'm missing the warrants against Aghisit and his horde for murde innocent people.

Do you have any brain or lost it last night in a bar???

I have yet to see a single innocent murdered in the riots...enlighten us please.

Wow! you saw them all!

SUPERMAN!

[TAWP]

PS: See the "Not terrorists. Peaceful protesters" clapping and cheering as Central World burns down.

I think we knew what kind of "people?" - and I use the term very loosely - these Red Shirts are. They feel great because to them they finally got back at the "elites" who they hate even though without the elites there would be no jobs, no civilisation for these scumbags to live in.

what this say to me is no poor people to exploit as cleaner, taxi driver and most important to many here, no poor girls have to work in bars and dance for horrid old falangs

Sorry, but NOBODY can FORCE anybody to work in bars and dance for farangs. If those girls (and boys) had some dignity and pride, if they gave their own value more importance than MONEY, they would not do it. Dancing in bars is an easy way to get a lot of money in short time. There are plenty of factories looking for workers, but it doesn't pay the same as a night in a bar. YOUR choice. Don't blame farangs on that, this business existed BEFORE farangs came to Thailand. The only difference is, that farangs pay a bit better. Again, YOUR choice to work what you want to work. YOUR choice to set priorities between dignity and money. I used to work in a factory for many years and I promise, these girls and boys there would NEVER EVER even THINK about working in a bar. It is not because you are poor that you have to work in a bar, it is because you want to get rich the easy way. Again, YOUR choice.

Few corrections;

one can have pride and dignity and work in a go go place, and have no pride and dignity and work as a banker.

farang does NOT pay better. The best tipping customers are the Japanese, by far.

girls and boys usually don't work in go go bar or massage places since they want to get rich fast but because they have a responsibility to help their parents and have been told from they where young that this was their main purpose - and they are willing to work very hard to do this. Including having 3-5 customers per day (massage places), face the societies stigma regarding the age old profession and then sending most of the money home to their parents and see most of it being spent on alcohol and gambling.

Carry on...

[thaiman]

And then farrangs write from their cosy chairs and judge, when there is fire and protest.

The whole world is judging, not just farangs!

So typical for a Thai to say something like this.

[thaiman]

Including having 3-5 customers per day (massage places), face the societies stigma regarding the age old profession and then sending most of the money home to their parents and see most of it being spent on alcohol and gambling.

Carry on...

The sad truth of course.

[Jaydillon]

Covards. Proves they are terrorist.

Used to symphatize with the red movements but all that is now gone.

I sincerely hope that all foreigners and thais take all this in consideration and do NOT vote for the reds in next election. That would be a clear signal.

Foreigners voting in Thailand?

The only thing foreigners are allowed to do in Thailand is spend money!

110% bang-ON

[lilkitty]

Some photos that probably haven't been seen a lot yet:

[thaiman]

Take a bit of responsibility for once, burning down a bank or bombing a department store is not going to get you democracy or justice, it is going to get you a prison sentence or a rapid cremation ceremony.

Do you really think that the reds want a true democracy? Do they even know what a democracy is or where it was born out of? Or do they just want to follow the words of one fugative who is trying to recapture his lost wealth?

This is Thailand! They'll never come close to ever ruling the world!

[TAWP]

The good people of Thailand do not deserve the viciousness of Thaksin's red horde. May they all rot.

Hey monkey, I'm missing the warrants against Aghisit and his horde for murde innocent people.

Do you have any brain or lost it last night in a bar???

I have yet to see a single innocent murdered in the riots...enlighten us please.

Wow! you saw them all!

SUPERMAN!

Uh, what? I suppose you read all posts with an agenda, so I shall be overly clear:

No reports of any innocent people being murdered has been highlighted, even by red fans, so if you have any other info - even better would be statistics - that would be nice.

Should not be hard to get for the OP since they want arrest warrants for Abhisit for murder of innocent people, so they must have seen the evidence.

[TAWP]

Good pictures, Boston.com always delivers.

The other angle picture of the Canadian journalist and two soldiers severely hurt by the M79-launched grenade is a nice display of carnage too. Peaceful, pfft.

Edited May 19, 2010 by TAWP

[hawker9000]

Do we know 100% of sure if this is to put on the account of the red or black provocators which take profit to play terrorists.

Maybe we juge more quick as the fire burn. No No, I don't accept any terrorists acts of any colour.

This just never ends.

Yeah, right Thaibear - the yellows did it just to make the reds "look bad".

[HaPyro721]

I felt sad When I saw pictures of the destruction of Central World.

[smedly]

The whole thing is a disgrace, organised and paid for by a lunatic, don't these people realise that Thaksin took all thier money, now he's using it to lead these people to destruction........what an evil man, hope he gets arested and deported from his hiding place to face the music

[Beerboo]

:D burn down Central World now it's personal :D :D

[PKWBKK]

The good people of Thailand do not deserve the viciousness of Thaksin's red horde. May they all rot.

Thaksins red horde is a sentence with three words meaning a certain number of thai people

Thai people hurting Thai people

The people of Thailand do not deserve that the people of Thailand beat the people of Thailand

The good people of Thailand.

Which ones are the good ones?

No one is all good or bad - but anger which comes from dissatisfaction (for example when people disagree on politics) can arise in the heart of even the most harmless seeming granny, and cause a person to commit terrible deeds.

Simple good Farmers in red might be convinced that yellow is wrong and simple hard working people in yellow who love their King might be convinced that red is wrong.. that is irrelevant, because there is something wrong,and something right about both perspectives if you look at all the arguments.

It is because of 2 main things that such atrocities and injustices happen;

1. People Hate when they are angry, and get violent when they hate - they get angry when things dont fit with how they want things to be or not be.

People forget to see oneness and start allocating people into sectors and separating themselves.

Red shirts and yellow shirts dont exist really its just an assumption.

In the end there are only Thai People. Thats what was there before and thats what will be there after.

To say "May they rot in hel_l" is also not fair. Because they are Thai people too.

The people who burn things are making the same mistake as the soldiers who shot people.

Thai people too have forgotten this, and have slipped into the us and them mindspace.

They are Us, and we are them... there is no us and them.

The same anger which makes you say "may they all rot" is the anger which made those people burn the city.

If they weren't angry they wouldn't have done it.

Now you find yourself wishing for other living beings to rot - what then is the difference between yourself and others with harmful thoughts towards other beings?

I do understand the anger.. I cannot stand to see Humans being cruel to each other either. And this is what i am seeing.Not red shirts being cruel to yellows.. i see both sides being cruel to each other. And when its over there wont be sides anymore there just be Thai people again.

I've been reading destructive and flaming posts here for about two weeks now. Most of the posts here are shallow, partisan and myopic. This is what has caused these problems in the first place. This post is a class act. When you write something, compare it to this.......Because if we all don't, the world falls down the slippery slope of what we have seen in Bangkok the last few days. We are all the same', warts and all.

Put me on your ignore list

[datum]

If you have a look at the countries in the world with the biggest income inequalities between rich and poor (using the UN Gini index, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count...ncome_equality), you will find that places like Namibia, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic all come up much higher on the list then Thailand. And yet, strangely enough, nobody in those countries is burning down all the banks, shopping malls, and places of the rich. Thailand and Cambodia are actually pretty close in ranking, not to mention culture, geography, etc. and if you have ever been to Cambodia, you can easily see that it is far far poorer than Thailand, and that the PM there and his elite cronies are living in golden palaces and doing little to help the downtrodden (in fact making policies to ensure they stay this way). A friend of mine made the cruel observation once that "it seems on some days that in Cambodia, every guy without an education is a moto dop driver and every girl without one is a prostitute." And yet despite the poor majority being completely disenfranchised from the rich elite, the Cambodians dont seem to be burning all the institutions down in Phnom Penh (and if anyone should know about cruel dictators....). I see some young ladies in Bangkok that work in 7-11's or as domestic servants for a paltry 2-300 baht a day, and yet others choose to work in bars instead. Take a bit of responsibility for once, burning down a bank or bombing a department store is not going to get you democracy or justice, it is going to get you a prison sentence or a rapid cremation ceremony.

First you need to correct the wikipedia link because it points to a wrong page. The right link is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count...income_equality

Second, the Gini for Thailand is no longer 0.42 (Wikipedia data) but it is now about 0.53. The big problem is the the index is worsening than getting better (while in Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala and Equador is getting better; I don;t have data for Namibia). Look what a UN report of 2010 is writing about the Gini coefficient in Thailand:

"Since measurement began around 1960, income inequality in Thailand has tended to get worse. The Gini coefficient rose from around 0.4 to over 0.5. (0 represents perfect equity). According to some theories, worsening inequality is to be expected in the early stages of development, but should be reversed later – at first, only a few benefit, but later others catch up. That has tended to be the pattern in neighbouring countries with fairly similar economies; but in Thailand, the worsening trend continued until recent years."

Third: all of the countries you are mentioning they've had extremely bloody upraises due to, among other issues, inequality and lack of democracy. I mentions some of them:

Guatemala: It was in civil war until 1996. Over 200.000 people were killed in the civil war.

Venezuela: what should I mention here? The October 1945 revolution? The Pérez Jiménez dictatorship? The April 2002 killings?

Equador: The 1966 attack on the Central University in Quito and the dictatorships between 1960-79 count?

Brazil: What about the Revolutionary Movement of October 8 against the 1964-1985 dictatorship?

I just wanted to challenge your "facts" and not your opinion about the Reds so I'll stop my post here.

Edited May 19, 2010 by datum

[hyperdimension]

To say "May they rot in hel_l" is also not fair. Because they are Thai people too.

The people who burn things are making the same mistake as the soldiers who shot people.

Thai people too have forgotten this, and have slipped into the us and them mindspace.

They are Us, and we are them... there is no us and them.

The same anger which makes you say "may they all rot" is the anger which made those people burn the city.

If they weren't angry they wouldn't have done it.

The UDD leaders incited anger and amplified it with their incessant hate speech and calls for violence and insurrection. I have been around the camps during the early hours of the mornings and the speeches just keep on going. These protesters have been severely brainwashed after listening to the hate speeches all day and all night. Think of how Hitler got otherwise innocent German citizens to hate Jews.

In case anyone missed these examples of calls for violence, these are must-views:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M9XiJoWSSs)

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(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2vRhaHRzuo)

Please add to this list if anyone has other good examples of the UDD's hate speech.

[dtarasin]

Oh really? So I guess the people whose lives and jobs have been completely ruined by this two month long "protest" and subsequent burning of their city should take the law into their own hands and go to the villages of these red-shirts and burn that s_hit down, too?

It appears you and my wife are reading from the same playbook.. she is disgusted right now with the "thai" people that did this.. she can't understand how anybody for ONE second that claims to respect the King would ever even consider doing something like is happening in BKK right now. She wondered aloud what would happen if a group of people headed up to KK or Bumfuc_k Nakon to do the same how things would go. Of course she caught herself and said what am I thinking those crazy buggers would shoot us all on site just for being born in BKK... sad sad sad... more so that its so close to the truth for some of these thugs

Indeed my wife mirrors the sentiments of your wife as well - How can people who claim to love Thailand and the King do these things

Well, it seems now they're burning their own villages down. From the Nation

"Government buildings in some other provinces also became targets of arsonist attacks. These included the provincial halls of Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Mukdahan and Ubon Ratchathani, and the official residence of the Chiang Mai governor."

<deleted>???!!!

[Amyji]

I was very saddened to learn of CentralWorld's destruction. This mall has many sentimental memories for me, long back when it was called the World Trade Center, then Zen Central. Before it was remodeled, it was the one mall that wasn't overly crowded and I could have a cool respite from the heat and crowds. I loved shopping there and eating at the See Fah restaurant. My husband and I had our first date there at the beer gardens in November 2003. (sigh)

I've also heard the Apex cinemas at Siam Center were also burned. Is this true? They were old, but good theaters with character and would often play the independent foreign films. Please say it ain't so!

[Considered Opinion]

Covards. Proves they are terrorist.

Used to symphatize with the red movements but all that is now gone.

I sincerely hope that all foreigners and thais take all this in consideration and do NOT vote for the reds in next election. That would be a clear signal.

I don't really understand why anybody would sympathise with the red shirts, who has any understanding at all of democracy.

Whilst I understand their frustration about being the greatest number voting within the democracy, I have a real problem with the fact that they have no understanding of what Thaksin has done, in terms of the simple corruption involved in the sale of its company to Singapore.

If they had a leader who wasn't so utterly corrupt, then I can understand some sympathy, but to even contemplate supporting them, in their efforts to get Thaksin back into power, is beyond my ken. I was discussing with my friend recently just what the red shirts represent, both to Thailand and in all honesty to the rest of the world, and even he opines that Thaksin represents all that is bad in Thai politics, including selling your vote, buying your vote, self-enrichment and possibly worst of all self aggrandisment.

I wish I understood more about why His Majesty has not intervened in some way, as Thailand reels under the impact of what has been done to her.

One really can only wait and hope that things turn out for the better and that somebody with a little bit of brains starts to run the red shirts and show them what Thaksin means to Thailand and what he will cost the country if he is not stopped.

[DaraRai]

What is Thailand coming to?! What in the hel_l were Thaksin's supporters thinking? Thailand must be re-united if it is to remain strong; I hope that this clash between red and yellow shirts will not be Thailand's undoing.

[SanSaiExPat]

Don't worry about it. It was burnt for the insurance money. It was in need of a major renovation anyway. It will all get fixed up "pretty as pink" in 6 months. You Yellow loving Hi So Liberals are all so bloody melodramatic when your shopping venue's are attacked. My advice, calm down...all will be fine.

Latest news on Thai PBS says the building may collapse, and if not, will have to be demolished due to structural weakness. I suggest you take your ignorance somewhere else.

Hmmm, SomTumTiger Jai Ron. Calm down. Insurance or the government will still cover it. But if it doesn't... Hey I have an idea. They could use the money they confiscated from Thaksin to rebuild it.

[toenail]

if there would be rightousness in the system there would be no protest.

If the large majority wouldn't have been kept down on education, chanceless to make a better living than low labour work like the nurturers of the big bumble bee (BKK).

There would be no way of whatever leader (call them corrupt or not) to instumentalize and chanellize the emotions of supression and unjustness for his own goals.

("yeah teach the stupid folks your understanding of democracy")

And then farrangs write from their cosy chairs and judge, when there is fire and protest.

The happenings of the last months should show the so called "elite" - what will happen if they won't change the system to be more just for the poors, the majority of the country - well, would things change without any protest?

Just to add something else you selfrightous folks.

Look at Greece, look at France, ... maybe Germany too ... what happened and will happen, if our dreamworld changes, our money worth nothing anymore ... and if we would be forced to send our children to labor or prostitution to make a living -

One can be suprised how quick thinks move.

If you want rant about my english - do so - I don't care, am no english anyway.

tssssssssssss

If you have a look at the countries in the world with the biggest income inequalities between rich and poor (using the UN Gini index, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count...ncome_equality), you will find that places like Namibia, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic all come up much higher on the list then Thailand. And yet, strangely enough, nobody in those countries is burning down all the banks, shopping malls, and places of the rich. Thailand and Cambodia are actually pretty close in ranking, not to mention culture, geography, etc. and if you have ever been to Cambodia, you can easily see that it is far far poorer than Thailand, and that the PM there and his elite cronies are living in golden palaces and doing little to help the downtrodden (in fact making policies to ensure they stay this way). A friend of mine made the cruel observation once that "it seems on some days that in Cambodia, every guy without an education is a moto dop driver and every girl without one is a prostitute." And yet despite the poor majority being completely disenfranchised from the rich elite, the Cambodians dont seem to be burning all the institutions down in Phnom Penh (and if anyone should know about cruel dictators....). I see some young ladies in Bangkok that work in 7-11's or as domestic servants for a paltry 2-300 baht a day, and yet others choose to work in bars instead. Take a bit of responsibility for once, burning down a bank or bombing a department store is not going to get you democracy or justice, it is going to get you a prison sentence or a rapid cremation ceremony.

***************************************

/Well said. Compare the rural farmer to his neighbor in Laos or in Africa. NOTE To Westerners that haven't traveled much and are judging LOS to their 5 STAR HOTELS...THAILAND IS STILL A DEVELOPING COUNTRY. Though this process of developing (as in the USA back 70,80 years ago) there will be more of a difference of standard of living between the rural and city. As the country develops, there is less poverty. -And Isaan had running water and electricity way before MR. "T" ever was prime minister. Interesting the ones I know from Isaan that are working hard in Bangkok and other cities do not support their "rural cousins" in what they are doing. WHY? Because they chose to come to the cities to work (and they are a bit more "worldly" than if they had stayed in Isaan or the Northern provinces. The government better revamp the whole education system so these people are not so gullible and can think by themselves.

[SanSaiExPat]

The good people of Thailand do not deserve the viciousness of Thaksin's red horde. May they all rot.

Thaksins red horde is a sentence with three words meaning a certain number of thai people

Thai people hurting Thai people

The people of Thailand do not deserve that the people of Thailand beat the people of Thailand

The good people of Thailand.

Which ones are the good ones?

No one is all good or bad - but anger which comes from dissatisfaction (for example when people disagree on politics) can arise in the heart of even the most harmless seeming granny, and cause a person to commit terrible deeds.

Simple good Farmers in red might be convinced that yellow is wrong and simple hard working people in yellow who love their King might be convinced that red is wrong.. that is irrelevant, because there is something wrong,and something right about both perspectives if you look at all the arguments.

It is because of 2 main things that such atrocities and injustices happen;

1. People Hate when they are angry, and get violent when they hate - they get angry when things dont fit with how they want things to be or not be.

People forget to see oneness and start allocating people into sectors and separating themselves.

Red shirts and yellow shirts dont exist really its just an assumption.

In the end there are only Thai People. Thats what was there before and thats what will be there after.

To say "May they rot in hel_l" is also not fair. Because they are Thai people too.

The people who burn things are making the same mistake as the soldiers who shot people.

Thai people too have forgotten this, and have slipped into the us and them mindspace.

They are Us, and we are them... there is no us and them.

The same anger which makes you say "may they all rot" is the anger which made those people burn the city.

If they weren't angry they wouldn't have done it.

Now you find yourself wishing for other living beings to rot - what then is the difference between yourself and others with harmful thoughts towards other beings?

I do understand the anger.. I cannot stand to see Humans being cruel to each other either. And this is what i am seeing.Not red shirts being cruel to yellows.. i see both sides being cruel to each other. And when its over there wont be sides anymore there just be Thai people again.

Yes grasshopper...that is the nature of what it is to be human.

I've been reading destructive and flaming posts here for about two weeks now. Most of the posts here are shallow, partisan and myopic. This is what has caused these problems in the first place. This post is a class act. When you write something, compare it to this.......Because if we all don't, the world falls down the slippery slope of what we have seen in Bangkok the last few days. We are all the same', warts and all.

Put me on your ignore list

[Boon Mee]

I think the reds are basically peacefull,

Gotta be Quote of the Day!

[Spee]

I hope that the owners of this Mall sue the finacial backers of the Red Shirts for every penny they have!

would be great if the red rioters build it back with backbreaking labor through blood, sweat and tears (unpaid) as community service.

Who do you think built it in the first place?!? For a couple baht a day.

Touche.

Edit. Disregard. Misinterpretation.

Edited May 19, 2010 by Spee

[SebD]

Most of us have come across the following quote, attributed (rightly or wrongly) to Edmund Burke (a Paddy like meself), at some time or other:

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men stand by and do nothing".

Great words, you'll agree, so I looked the geezer up and he was a veritable font of such musings. I've included a few that seem (to me) relevant to the current situation in LOS.

"The use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again: and a nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered".

"Our patience will achieve more than our force".

"All who have ever written on government are unanimous, that among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist".

"All government — indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act — is founded on compromise and barter".

"A state without the means of some change is without the means of its [own] conservation".

"Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together".

And finally - perhaps the two most insightful and harrowing of all:

"People crushed by law, have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those who have much to hope and nothing to lose, will always be dangerous".

"I am convinced that we have a degree of delight, and that no small one, in the real misfortunes and pains of others".

Just thought I'd share those (I'm NOT pro-Red. I'm just pro-democracy - and I don't believe any government can either justify or come out well from firing live rounds in order to kill its own citizens when there are so many alternatives).

[bangon04]

Where are the posters, who I will not name, that were posting endlessly that the government should go in blazing and take out the reds?

Well they did what you wanted and now look at the city and nation.

Bangkok could end up gone if this goes on for weeks and months.

You farang fat butts can go home but Thais are stuck here.

Your idea was indeed a very bab bad idea.

Do you see any Farang looting or setting fires? Thai Rak Thai.

[Bub]

Very sad indeed. These people were fighting for what??? Oh yes, democracy. The poor taking on the rich? Now look at all of the poor bastards who work in Bangkok (Centralworld and elsewhere) who will be out of jobs. It is bad enough that the reds were loosing credibility day by day, but now any ounce of creditability that they had left is long long gone.

Geee it's only an horrible fake naff shopping mall defacing what used to be a beautiful equivalent of venice!

I can't condone arson under ANY circumstances. How can anyone be so insensitive?

[edgarfriendly]

destructive and flaming posts here for YEARS now. Most of the posts here are shallow, partisan and myopic. This is what has caused these problems.

ef.