Thaksin Puts The Battle On World Stage

[SomTumTiger]

Unmasked: Thailand's men in black

By Kenneth Todd Ruiz and Olivier Sarbil

http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE29Ae02.html

Red lovers please read.

Without having read the article I have to point out that Asia Times Online is owned by Yellow leader, Sondhi Limthongkul....

So, all "news" about Thailand by ATO have to be read with a lot of butter on the toast since it won't be positive for the Reds and not negative for the Yellows

LaoPo

To be fair I think the Asia Times consistently produces interesting copy on Thailand including the piece by Ruiz/Sarbil.Surely it's better to be challenged rather than just have prejudices reinforced.The dirty little secret is that there are few if any heroes in this saga.I cannot think of one person who has emerged with any credit in any of this.Possibly Sukhumband is a candidate, but he's only a bit player.Thaksin has poisoned everything, the old elite has behaved appallingly, the middle classes have been duped by quasi-fascists and the working class by a demagogue.Abhisit had so much potential but his reputation is now in question.

I think your read on the PM's reputation is slightly off, in most circles outside the NE, he is still their man.

[jayboy]

I think your read on the PM's reputation is slightly off, in most circles outside the NE, he is still their man.

Possibly, but that doesn't mean he has come out of this with his reputation enhanced.I agree there's still hope for him and I know he's essentially a capable and decent man.But what counts is whether he's his own man not somebody else's.

[jayboy]

The one saving grace is that amongst the vast majority of the people the division is nowhere near as great. However, the downside of that is that in Thailand polticians lead and people follow

Even with the caveat you add, the first sentence is an encouraging and perceptive comment.

[Ulysses G.]

I think your read on the PM's reputation is slightly off, in most circles outside the NE, he is still their man.

Possibly, but that doesn't mean he has come out of this with his reputation enhanced.I agree there's still hope for him and I know he's essentially a capable and decent man.But what counts is whether he's his own man not somebody else's.

IMHO, if the PM was truly a "puppet", he would have (been ordered to) crush the redshirts within the first week. My guess is that he fought hard to limit the violence used in the crackdown while still getting rid of the protesters and saving the economy.

[ratcatcher]

I wouldn't say that thaksin has put this on the world stage, far from it, thats down to the murdering fascists tyrant despots who gave the orders for the troops to murder innocent civilians. ,

In recent years it would have been swept under the carpet and hidden by that smile.

Not this time, thanks to modern communication technology and embedded journalists , the international community have been informed have made their judgement.

And the amart dont like it .

Wow! That's quite a line of adjectives. Wipe the froth from your lips and take a deep breath. .

[animatic]

Surprised it wasn't a choking mouthful.

And amazingly presumptuous to speak for so many as it it's all fact.

[Publicus]

Unmasked: Thailand's men in black

By Kenneth Todd Ruiz and Olivier Sarbil

http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE29Ae02.html

Red lovers please read.

Without having read the article I have to point out that Asia Times Online is owned by Yellow leader, Sondhi Limthongkul....

So, all "news" about Thailand by ATO have to be read with a lot of butter on the toast since it won't be positive for the Reds and not negative for the Yellows

LaoPo

So why then did the military arm of the Red Shirts admit journalists into the midst of their camp and into their darkened shelters, brandish weapons, allow the journalists to see the guerillas come and go then display the spoils of their raids against the army, and even to observe the "Happy Birthday" execution of bombings via mobile phone as the orders to bomb were given by a Red military commander? Did the Red guerillas in black want the Sondhi owned Asia Times Online to expose them in the media?  You fail to connect the fact the journalists were invited, to your unrelenting bias and campaign - nay, dogma - against the reportage of the ATO. Maybe you should offer your knowledgeable services as a media expert to the Red Shirts on a consulting basis - you know, to save the Reds from themselves.     

The one saving grace is that amongst the vast majority of the people the division is nowhere near as great. However, the downside of that is that in Thailand polticians lead and people follow

Even with the caveat you add, the first sentence is an encouraging and perceptive comment.

The vast majority of Thais I speak with are repulsed by the Reds behaviors and express revulsion over the Reds' placing the government in the position of again having to use the army in Bangkok, because all of this only continues to add more to the recent global image of the country as a profoundly disturbed and dysfunctional place.

The Thais I speak with certainly don't want the army in charge of the government/country and while they had been casual political observers, now are more emotionally involved in the question of who can govern the country. They certainly don't see the Red Shirts as capable of becoming a competent, rational or reasonable national government. 

It sounds to me that come the next election Abhisit and the Democrat party (or its successor in name) will get the most votes in the history of the party relative to the votes of the Reds' parties. The Red Shirts at this point have only set themselves up for a profound repudiation in the next poll, from north central Sukhothai to Had Yai in the South and points in between. Maybe then the Reds will see the reality that they must separate themselves from Thaksin the Terrible. Ordinary Thais want to help other less fortunate Thais and to begin to heal the nation but will do nothing that would advance the self interests of Thaksin, much less his return, which would only fracture and disable the country.    

[zorm999]

Unmasked: Thailand's men in black

By Kenneth Todd Ruiz and Olivier Sarbil

http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE29Ae02.html

Red lovers please read.

Without having read the article I have to point out that Asia Times Online is owned by Yellow leader, Sondhi Limthongkul....

So, all "news" about Thailand by ATO have to be read with a lot of butter on the toast since it won't be positive for the Reds and not negative for the Yellows

LaoPo

The article was written by 2 freelance foreign journalists. Personally, I tend to trust freelance journalists more than journalists who are employed by a large media outlet (hello, BBC?), as they tend to be more independent, less biased and have less reason to skew a story. I agree, the Asia Times may have agreed to print the story because it suits their own political slant, but that doesn't mean there's some truth to the article!