Thai Govt Must Now Deal With The Real Grievances

[Robby nz]

Really?

I can see the tone and breadth of this discussion is narrowing now to a point where ad hominem posts will be the order of the day, splattered with the odd facile argument - but I regret to inform you I'm not going to take the bait.

Kow jai. translation: You have no ideas at all.

Believe it or not there are those of us on this forum who are really interested in seeing this country we have chosen to make our home move forward out of the mess the reds have left in their wake and not just for ourselves and our families but for the ordinary people around us many of whom have suffered because of the occupation

We may have no influance with Govt but to engage in serious discussion and put forward ideas gives us all a better understanding. Those who enter into that with nothing but mud slinging contribute nothing.

[Deeral]

Let me put up some quotes to illustrate why I consider the TV site not up to a satisfactory debate on the current crisis.

"This terrible week will further harden the already brittle divisions in Thai society. On one side, the antigovernment red shirts have a new pantheon of martyrs, a thousand stories about the government and army as brutal killers, and a million reasons for resentment and revenge. On the other, the government and its supporters can point to the fires and looting as proof that the red shirts were just savages all along, and don't deserve to be taken seriously or accorded any mercy. These two refrains are already gaining currency, confirming prejudices and fanning hatred."

.......Those who unconditionally condemn the red shirts need to ask themselves a few questions. Why did this protest attract so many people and stretch on for so long with relatively little violence until the end? Why, as the soldiers approached, were 5,000 people willing to remain in the encampment, announcing they were ready to die?

..........The easy answer traded among those who oppose the red shirts is that they are stupid, uneducated and paid by Mr. Thaksin. This thinking is a way of avoiding questions about what has been happening in Thai society over the past generation, a way of plugging one's own eyes and ears. But it leads nowhere—or to another May 19, sooner or later.

PASUK PHONGPAICHIT.

[Deeral]

...and a small part of my own take......

In Thailand, so much is about “Face” - and all I see or hear in the news is efforts to restore face.

The country is embarrassed – it has been seen by the rest of the world to be undemocratic, run by an elite and the army and unable to establish a reliable political system.

Also now we have the PM coming on TV telling us everything is over – then a clampdown and a nationwide curfew.

People come out a WASH the streets – this is symbolic - but of what? - Putting things back to “how they were”? - the next best thing to sweeping it under the carpet.

In the media Politicians talk of all oF “reconciliation”

what a waste of time!

In fact they will talk about anything that hopefully will restore Thailand's national image except the root causes of the crisis.

It's time Thailand forgot about “Face” and got down to substance.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Deeral