note to moderator

this thread has wondered so far away from the original OP that it is no longer a source of information on the original OP

Now for my opinion Abhist should not have allowed this to go on as long as he did. Two weeks maximum and that would have been generous. The whole nation heard them it was nothing new just a outright attempt to take over the government by a man who is a citizen of another country.

i don't think Apisit had a choice in this, General Anupong, the head of the army, refused to take any action until right at the end. Apisit could have sacked him earlier but perhaps he feared a coup.

i don't think Apisit had a choice in this, General Anupong, the head of the army, refused to take any action until right at the end. Apisit could have sacked him earlier but perhaps he feared a coup.

Abhisit had valiantly made a move on armed forces corruption just before the troubles of last year. Anupong was hurt by this. He even called in a favour from pathologist Pornthip, trashing her professional reputation because of it. I suspect the army only eventually got involved after detailed negotiations about future armed forces budgets, and agreements about the transparency of past budgets .

i don't think Apisit had a choice in this, General Anupong, the head of the army, refused to take any action until right at the end. Apisit could have sacked him earlier but perhaps he feared a coup.

Abhisit had valiantly made a move on armed forces corruption just before the troubles of last year. Anupong was hurt by this. He even called in a favour from pathologist Pornthip, trashing her professional reputation because of it. I suspect the army only eventually got involved after detailed negotiations about future armed forces budgets, and agreements about the transparency of past budgets .

I suspect the army got involved again because the situation with almost daily grenade attacks against non-red-shirts started to get out of hand. Also the disaster of the 10th of April (with militants shooting indiscriminately and lobbing grenades) must have been analysed and a better approach defined, i.e. encirclement and clean-up.

Just like you, dear Simon, IMHO.

Now back to 'Rally at Ratchaprasong'

Abhisit had valiantly made a move on armed forces corruption just before the troubles of last year. Anupong was hurt by this. He even called in a favour from pathologist Pornthip, trashing her professional reputation because of it. I suspect the army only eventually got involved after detailed negotiations about future armed forces budgets, and agreements about the transparency of past budgets .

Hmmmm had anyone else written this you would be saying all kinds of things about conspiracy theories etc.

However, since you added "I suspect" -- clearly showing it to be an opinion (and valid only as such --- an opinion based not on facts but on opinion only) --- it just doesn't matter.

I suspect --- that they handled it exactly the way they planned from the beginning. Then the reds started using violence in a significant way leading to the April deaths. After that it was a matter of eliminating command and control for the reds and stepping up pressure. When they had achieved enough strategically the government sent the army in.

(Strategically the government needed to be seen as trying to work out a non-violent end to the insurgency in BKK --- they needed to be seen as reasonable and willing to listen --- then they needed to be rebuffed by the reds. --- The two offers of early elections, one with a set date (before ###) accomplished this and the reds rejecting it even after the April deaths fulfilled the government's other needs. The anger of the people in BKK had grown to the point that otherwise neutral people were wanting the rally cleared. Finally, it got cleared, and with surprisingly low loss of life considering the reds were armed. The government only dropped the ball in not being prepared for the arson attacks that followed. Had the government and Army been nearly as violence prone as the reds they would have actually had snipers spread out to protect the assets that were destroyed by the redshirt arsonists.) ------

Please remember I started this with "I suspect"

I've noticed recently you're starting quite a few of your posts with "Hmmm" jd mate.

You're not thinking of starting a barbershop quartet and want to practice the opening tone in text form before letting those vocal chords rip to " Goodbye My Ratchaprasong Baby " in reality are you?

I've noticed recently you're starting quite a few of your posts with "Hmmm" jd mate.

You're not thinking of starting a barbershop quartet and want to practice the opening tone in text form before letting those vocal chords rip to " Goodbye My Ratchaprasong Baby " in reality are you?

LOL --- I guess I am stuck back in the days of the song ..... "Things that make you go hmmmmm?"

Yeah. Like " Why is it when I'm busting for a crap the only unoccupied stall in the toilets has a broken lock?" But i suppose that's more a case of " Things that make you go bugger the locks broken"