Thai Red Shirts Welcomed Home From Deadly Rallies

[whybother]

hopefully the red shirt "protesters" will tell their stories and quite possibly the truth will come out. The people don't have a clue as to what really happened, they don't seem to remember the soldiers just pushing back and using unbelievable restraint. The army did not just attack the people, and the people found shot in the temple were probably dragged there to safety. I find it very hard to believe that any soldier would shoot into a temple. Drag someone into a temple for safety sounds more feasible. Let the truth be told, flood the tv stations with the truth, start with education, and start with the truth. I've been reading the tweets @taksinlive, and they are not very supportive of him at all. Most are calling him a white shark and for his death. And the beat goes on...

You should read witness testimony from the nurse who got a colleague nurse shot next to her when the shooting occurred, still unclear whether this were sniper shootings (whatever fraction) or army shootings. No dragging to the temple according witnesses

Mrs Porntip, director of forensics came to evaluate the deaths, waiting for her report.

Yes. Read about that nurse. She stood up, and immediately got hit by 2 shots. IMO, a sniper waiting for movement in the Wat.

[toenail]

These are very simple minded people. All countries have them- not just Thailand. The uneducated, rural poor will be fed (again) false stories and propaganda and once again will be used by the "Red thugs". (Not being sarcastic here... Maybe the governement should buy them all refrigerators/ AC's or better yet, a small tractor something materialistic they can see... In the long run, it would be cheaper than the millions of dollars lost from their next rebellion or terrorist acts. )

[DrThomas]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

Hear Hear!

You probably 'hear, heared' the burning of Bangkok as well.

It seems you have misunderstood the sentiment of the post. If Abhisit had called elections a long time ago there would have been no violent protest. There was a prospect for a peaceful way out of this. That is what I say Hear Hear to.

I was very upset to see the events of recent days.

[debcmai]

I like this sentence:

"I am sad that the government can order the shooting of civilians. But at the same time, the people and the world now know what kind of cruel government is in power in Thailand," said 35-year-old Noi Jupp.

With all the info you could read or watch it must be clear that the troops behaved with remarkable restrain. Of course there are deaths (on both sides), but far less than any really 'cruel' government would manage to rake up. The myth of 'bare-handed, innocent, lovable protesters' will not die in Isan for a long time. Propaganda of UDD leaders on PTV have done their damage.

From a taxpayer who generously payed bus-tickets to get these misguided people safely home.

The minute they defied the order to disperse (IE: broke the law) they stopped being civilians an became criminals. I am not even going to start in about when they burned, blew up and otherwise terrorized the city and country (although the majority of that happened after the crackdown, but still.

Refusal to disperse does NOT make one a terrorist. burning buildings, which happened after the crackdown...is....but simply refusing to dispurse does not. It is called protest. Free society. Understand?

[RedRoadRunner]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

...yes...sure!!!!...and give in to these radical corrupted bastards....Great Idea !!!

[RedRoadRunner]

For those of you who have wife/girlfriend who was part of the protesters, I would be interested to know what you would be saying when they get back.

Say nothing - don't want to provoke them?

Cheer them up?

Console them?

How about dump them?

MY wife of 18 years would be out of the door.....no mercy !!!

[wlcart]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

So, what you are saying is, if 1,000; 10,000; 50,000; even 100,000 Red, Yellow, Blue, Green no matter what color do not agree with the Government then should always step down and have new elections. Why even have elections, just have a revolving Prime Minister, just change him ever year. What a wonderful Democracy, nothing will ever be done to move forward.

such an interesting dilemma because both points are absolutely true.

One more failed government in Thailand would not have been that significant given the political history here, but giving in would have been incredibly undemocratic, although it is not like democracy has thrived here anyway.

Regardless, the Reds turn out to be the villains because they attacked innocent people.

The reds made a choice to be part of this, they could have walked away, every last one of them could have left at anytime.

The people who did nothing but live near by or have a business in the path of the red's destruction suffered as victims not of their own doing.

All we hear about is rich vs. poor, but what about the middle class who are not elite but have work hard and sacrificed to gain a little something. It is completely evil and unfair that some of them lost everything they worked for.

One of the saddest things I saw was a woman crying because she lost her little tiny clothe shop in the bottom of center one. She wasn't rich or elite, she wasn't selling Rolex or gold, she was just an honest woman trying to make her way in life and some violent red destroyed her. Terrible and I think pretty unforgivable.

[jayinoz]

>>Tears rolled down the faces of many in the Chiang Mai crowd as they hugged loved ones who had returned safely from weeks of demonstrations, but many expressed anger that troops had shot at protesters in their crackdown.

"I am sad that the government can order the shooting of civilians. But at the same time, the people and the world now know what kind of cruel government is in power in Thailand," said 35-year-old Noi Jupp.

"My heart is with the Red Shirt supporters. They are poor people. What we are fighting for is justice. This is why my heart is with them," she added.<<

Yes poor people who were paid by a cruel deceptive Dictator named Taksin- you can only sympathize with these suposed poor people for so long.

They brought the country to the brink of a civil war, which has been Taksin's intention since being asked to step down in 2006...

This may keep popping up for a decade or 2 to come, until Taksin is done and dusted. This is a temporary retreat- they will say they won the battle this time- not the war.

Don't hold your breath for long term peace- this country is fractured beyond believe now- to blame is Taksin's corruption money that he paid to Red leaders. There is no doubt.

Keep the Terrrorism charges...same fate beholds him as Saddam Assan in the future. The sooner the better IMO.

Imagine if Sadam was stopped in the early 90s, Taksin is like Sadam in the early 90s. Or wishes to be........... Stop him now... Convict him- try him and give him the punishment he deserves and his family and Red leaders. There supporters are like Hilter supporters- it is difficult to condemn the people whom have been tricked by superior minds and money...

[rubl]

As someone now who watches the situation from abroad,why are there so many people on this site that can't remember that the people voted for Thai rak Thai party and it was so called stable for many years, what would have happened if the Military had null and voided the election in America or Britain?As I have pointed out on this site before, some people win the election and some people lose,That is what is called democracy,I voted conservative in the elections when Labour were in,but I accepted that that was the people's choice.Most people would agree that that is the way of the world now?? Why doesn't Thailand?When the next one comes is it all going to be the same again?.

Stability had it costs. 2500+ drugwar deads, 100's down south (Ban Khru, TakBai), muzzling of the press, corruption on large scale by TRT elite and K. Thaksin himself. Rural population heard, but not involved. Hand-outs, no structural, lasting improvements, etc.

K. Thaksin was shopping in Paris while his miguided supporters were dying for him.

What is needed now, is reconciliation. Start talking, discussing, etc. NOW is the time.

[IMA_FARANG]

For both sides:

for god's sake get over it.

It does no good to keep picking at the scab. Go back to your normal lives. Turn down the volume. Both sides have complaints about how they were treated, but just let them go now.

Everybody is in the same country...just learn to accept what happened and go on with a more normal life.

Edited May 21, 2010 by IMA_FARANG

[wlcart]

These are very simple minded people. All countries have them- not just Thailand. The uneducated, rural poor will be fed (again) false stories and propaganda and once again will be used by the "Red thugs". (Not being sarcastic here... Maybe the governement should buy them all refrigerators/ AC's or better yet, a small tractor something materialistic they can see... In the long run, it would be cheaper than the millions of dollars lost from their next rebellion or terrorist acts. )

I am against the reds and what they did, but I think generalizing rural poor may not be so fair. As far as my life experience, I have also met plenty of educated city folk who buy into false stories and propaganda themselves.

We all need to take stock of ourselves that way.

[rubl]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

Next time some-one mugs you, and you go report to the police, their valid answer will be "why were you there in the first place?"

[haybilly]

wonder if we are going to satrt seeing people "dissappearing"

You mean same as happened when their idol, Mr. Thaksin, was in power?

[Throatwobbler]

"100 strong crowd"

Wow ... fantastic support.

As a person they have lost their face and as a Thai they have lost their citizenship

Man you have absolutely no Idea for what they were fighting. I for one feel sorry for them and I am sure this is not the last time we have heard from them.

The problem is the reds on the ground were fighting for a different things than their leaders. I totally support democracy and helping the poor but that was never on the red leaders agenda. Why do you think they turned down the November election. That is why I could never support this red shirt movement.

If they could get together under some new leaders who were fighting for the same thing as the people and were willing to talk and negotiate, not just demand, then that might be different.

[Throatwobbler]

As someone now who watches the situation from abroad,why are there so many people on this site that can't remember that the people voted for Thai rak Thai party and it was so called stable for many years, what would have happened if the Military had null and voided the election in America or Britain?As I have pointed out on this site before, some people win the election and some people lose,That is what is called democracy,I voted conservative in the elections when Labour were in,but I accepted that that was the people's choice.Most people would agree that that is the way of the world now?? Why doesn't Thailand?When the next one comes is it all going to be the same again?.

This might have something to do with it. Massive election fraud and vote buying, hence their dissolution.

[Throatwobbler]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

Hear Hear!

You probably 'hear, heared' the burning of Bangkok as well.

It seems you have misunderstood the sentiment of the post. If Abhisit had called elections a long time ago there would have been no violent protest. There was a prospect for a peaceful way out of this. That is what I say Hear Hear to.

I was very upset to see the events of recent days.

Adhisit offered an early dissolution and elections but this was not good enough for the reds. For me the blame lies with the reds.

[rogera]

As someone now who watches the situation from abroad,why are there so many people on this site that can't remember that the people voted for Thai rak Thai party and it was so called stable for many years, what would have happened if the Military had null and voided the election in America or Britain?As I have pointed out on this site before, some people win the election and some people lose,That is what is called democracy,I voted conservative in the elections when Labour were in,but I accepted that that was the people's choice.Most people would agree that that is the way of the world now?? Why doesn't Thailand?When the next one comes is it all going to be the same again?.

Duangdao, from your name you are Thai, probably from the northeast or north, and I can understand the reasons for your post. I have relatives in the north east and think that the majority of the people there are probably the most sincere and honest people you can find in Thailand. However, you have to consider the reasons why Thaksin was overthrown in a coup because, with all his wealth and ability to buy votes, it was possible that he could have remained in power indefinitely. In retrospect, these fears may have been exaggerated for the reasons laid out below.

It may be that Thaksin was massively elected by over 60% of the vote when he lasted his first full parliamentary term. During that time, many people became totally disillusioned as explained in the next paragraph, and, at the subsequent election in 2005, despite massive vote buying, his share of the vote dropped off dramatically, so much so that the number of votes were fairly evenly split between TRT and the other parties at roughly 12, 400,000 for TRT and 12 million for the other parties. Although he had the largest number of seats and so formed the government, he still had to rely on the smaller parties to ensure that he had a comfortable working majority. In the election of 2007, Thaksin's share of the vote dropped even more to the point where his party could not muster an overall majority, relying on the smaller parties to govern. When, these smaller parties withdrew their support and joined the Democrats, Puea Thai had to relinquish power.

Thaksin was removed for several reasons, not least of which was massive kleptomania, i.e. the wholesale pilfering of the national treasury, a major threat to the continuation of the monarchy, selling Thai land off to Cambodia for lucrative contracts with that country and a massive conflict of interest in dealing with neighbouring countries e.g. Burma. Add to that the stacking of the police and armed forces with people close to him, who were equally corrupt, so much so that even the middle class who had previously supported him felt seriously threatened. There was also the shutting down of the press for publishing articles that Thaksin did not like, the sacking of officials for not bending to his corrupt orders and many other things besides. Thailand was fast becoming a banana republic in the eyes of the world. That was the reason why many, many Thais welcomed the soldiers with flowers. For them it was a great deliverance from what was becoming a parliamentary dictatorship and a fascist state. All this and just giving crumbs to the rural poor.

Whether you like it or not, Thaksin's days are over and it is very likely that if he ever returned, someone would have him killed for what he has done to this beautiful country. The red shirts days may not be over, (but Thaksin's are) but it is highly unlikely that they will be able to mount such a protest in the future again, at least not for a long time to come.

The government's first priority after restoring order and getting the economy going again is to try to reconcile both sides of the social divide. In this sense, if the government succeeds in this difficult task, it may be something that very good may out of this mess through investments in infrastructure projects and the development of the rural areas that provide jobs and a decent standard of living for the rural poor. That must be of the highest priority.

In every country, even in the west, the rural economy is usually slightly less developed than the main cities, but the income gap there is far less than it is in Thailand and part of the solution is to try to make this income gap much, much less here than it is at the present. I would urge you to try to have some hope for the future and try to overcome your negative feelings. In any case, if the so-called elite do not do this, their days are numbered. Thailand and its people are resourceful, hard-working and it is a wonderful place to live. Keep the faith.

[swissmariner]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

mmm, and why should he do that? all people in the government are DEMOCRATICALLY elected MP's including by the people from the North....They are lots of MP's voted by the people from the North in the current government, the whole Newin faction, who chose to go with the Democrat Party.....

and there are not just Red shirt supporters living in this country.......they are just the ones making the noise. there is also a large Middle Class, the ones who pay taxes and earn an often small salary in Bangkok, sending a large part of their income to their parents in the North.....not a good move to shoot/bite/bomb the hand who feeds you.....

mmmmm

[splodger]

Welcome home to the terrorists and arsonists. They claimed they wanted early elections. They won them, then threw it away. Then they burned Bangkok. Good job reds!

Nothing like tarring them all with the same brush for the actions of a sad misguided few who hopefully will pay for their dreadful actions.

Nevertheless,looks like they are going to get those elections in the not too distant future.

bye BYE!

[iciparis]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

Are you that same nutter who we told not to post pictures on twitter??

[tharae]

I know one "Red" who will not be returning to the Udon Thani in a hurry. The wife of Khanchai Prypana, Arphorn Sarakam, who was stopped by Police, at Wat Pathum-wanaram. Hubby is already in custody at Phetchaburi. Anyway, wifey was in the Merc 500 SEL, heading out of town. Guess what the Police found? Diamonds! (did you ever wonder what happened to the merchandise at Central World, it wasn't all Italian brand name clothes that went up in smoke). But wait there is more - they found a stash of weapons.

So what is this about, the "new money" leading the poor, against the "old money"? Very tacky.

Edited May 21, 2010 by tharae

[Tokay]

"100 strong crowd"

Wow ... fantastic support.

Don't knock 100 people. All it takes is 1 or 2 with a lot of determination and a little know-how to create total chaos.

[whybother]

"100 strong crowd"

Wow ... fantastic support.

Don't knock 100 people. All it takes is 1 or 2 with a lot of determination and a little know-how to create total chaos.

That would be the democratic ones, wouldn't it?

Yay for RED DEMOCRACY.

[iciparis]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

...yes...sure!!!!...and give in to these radical corrupted bastards....Great Idea !!!

This poster had before posted pictures of anti- PM t-shirts on twitter and his website http://startrading.net

he's a fake as is all of his wear he sells I guess

Bet he ain't enough yet to fly to Montenegro or Dubai

Edited May 21, 2010 by iciparis

[Ulysses G.]

For those of you who have wife/girlfriend who was part of the protesters, I would be interested to know what you would be saying when they get back.

Say nothing - don't want to provoke them?

Cheer them up?

Console them?

Kick their arse and throw them out?

[iciparis]

For those of you who have wife/girlfriend who was part of the protesters, I would be interested to know what you would be saying when they get back.

Say nothing - don't want to provoke them?

Cheer them up?

Console them?

Kick their arse and throw them out?

Kick them out?? not again!!

[andrewbkk]

I know one "Red" who will not be returning to the Udon Thani in a hurry. The wife of Khanchai Prypana, Arphorn Sarakam, who was stopped by Police, at Wat Pathum-wanaram. Hubby is already in custody at Phetchaburi. Anyway, wifey was in the Merc 500 SEL, heading out of town. Guess what the Police found? Diamonds! (did you ever wonder what happened to the merchandise at Central World, it wasn't all Italian brand name clothes that went up in smoke). But wait there is more - they found a stash of weapons.

So what is this about, the "new money" leading the poor, against the "old money"? Very tacky.

Have you got the source for that?

Not doubting you -- just not read it anywhere else.

[iciparis]

I know one "Red" who will not be returning to the Udon Thani in a hurry. The wife of Khanchai Prypana, Arphorn Sarakam, who was stopped by Police, at Wat Pathum-wanaram. Hubby is already in custody at Phetchaburi. Anyway, wifey was in the Merc 500 SEL, heading out of town. Guess what the Police found? Diamonds! (did you ever wonder what happened to the merchandise at Central World, it wasn't all Italian brand name clothes that went up in smoke). But wait there is more - they found a stash of weapons.

So what is this about, the "new money" leading the poor, against the "old money"? Very tacky.

Have you got the source for that?

Not doubting you -- just not read it anywhere else.

I heared it on the news today but can't find it on internet yet

[tharae]

I know one "Red" who will not be returning to the Udon Thani in a hurry. The wife of Khanchai Prypana, Arphorn Sarakam, who was stopped by Police, at Wat Pathum-wanaram. Hubby is already in custody at Phetchaburi. Anyway, wifey was in the Merc 500 SEL, heading out of town. Guess what the Police found? Diamonds! (did you ever wonder what happened to the merchandise at Central World, it wasn't all Italian brand name clothes that went up in smoke). But wait there is more - they found a stash of weapons.

So what is this about, the "new money" leading the poor, against the "old money"? Very tacky.

Have you got the source for that?

Not doubting you -- just not read it anywhere else.

My wife found it on this website:

http://www.manager.co.th/Crime/ViewNews.as...D=9530000070316

It's in Thai. So unless you're fluent, you will need to get your partner to translate.

Edited May 21, 2010 by tharae

[Bakseedaa]

When PM dissolved the house before, this never happened !

Blaim him for all the unnecessary killings.

What unneccessary killings..? did I miss something.?