Red Shirts Rally In Bangkok

[frodo]

As per the other thread, hopefully the honorable Mr. Kaul explained to Thida...

A very revealing interview in the other paper today with ICC Vice-President Hans-Peter Kaul, who is in Bangkok, and who provides a multitude of reasons why this:

Plea To International Criminal Court: Red Shirts Face Bumpy Road

is actually at the end of a dead end road.

Nothing will come of it is his bottom-line.

The honorable Mr. Kaul did explain to Thida at their meeting that the ICC is a dead-end road as far as the Red Shirts are concerned according to a report in the other paper this morning.

An unfazed Thida nevertheless said they would "plea" with "other international agencies."

Additionally, in an apparent realization that the bi-monthly rallies were unsustainable, Thida also said they would cut back to just monthly rallies.

Reds to get Amsterdam to file case against Thai govt

By THE NATION

The red shirts will have lawyer Robert Amsterdam help them take their case against the Thai government to the International Criminal Court, their leader said yesterday.

http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__4162475

Red-Shirts Appoint Thaksin's Lawyer to Sue Govt in World Court

...The red-shirt leaders said the case will be filed to the World Court on January 31, and that an international press conference will be held afterwards.

http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__4162893

I wonder if the spellbinding and captivating international press conference to be held on January 31st, presumably by Robert Amsterdam, will still produce accolades around the world. Good work Robert! You've served the "poor and downtrodden" extremely well by bringing this matter to the ICC.

[asiawatcher]

I liked this part

"Mrs Thida told journalists afterward that the talks focused on assisting people who are abused on human rights and on other issues."

You don't suppose she was talking about all the human beings they abused in there paid for camping trip last spring do you.

.....

Or perhaps she reminded Mr Kaul to be balanced and not be selective in regard to who goes before the court, or in other words, reminded him to ensure that ALL cases of human rights abuses etc., in Thailand are processed by his court, and reminded him that the red shirts will not accept any double standards and will protest forthwith if any doube standards are revealed or if any cases of human rights abuses are not processed, and to therefore remember the several massive human rights abuses by her paymaster.

And perhaps she reminded the journalists on hand about the intimidation of their own profession by her paymaster.

And I'm sure that if her paymaster did return that she and her buddy jatupron would remind him regularly 'no double standards', and regularly remind him about 'equal justice for all', and regularly remind him about 'total respect for the pillars of democarcy'.

On a different slant, One of the members of my Thai family (not a red supporter)was just talking to a friend, the gossip is that the attendance money for today is 1,000Baht.

[Murat]

You just have to love how the foreign press distorts what's going on here. From Welt Online:

Tausende Rothemden demonstrieren in Bangkok

Bangkok (dpa) - In Bangkok haben rund 30 000 Regierungsgegner demonstriert und die thailändische Hauptstadt teilweise lahmgelegt. Die sogenannten Rothemden sammelten sich in der Innenstadt und erinnerten an das gewaltsame Ende ihrer wochenlangen Protestaktion am 19. Mai 2010. Sie verlangten die Freilassung ihrer damals festgenommenen Anführer. Die Bewegung «Vereinte Front für Demokratie und gegen Diktatur» steht dem 2006 gestürzten Ex-Premierminister Thaksin Shinawatra nahe.

erschienen am 23.01.2011 um 11:28 Uhr

Not being a native German speaker, and if you are please correct me if I'm wrong, but what's it's saying loosely is that around 30,000 government opposition demonstrators crippled the Thai capitol today. The so-called Redshirts grouped in the capital today and were reminiscent of the violent end of their week-long protest [oh, it was only for a week???] on 19 May 2010. ...and so on. So did today's rally remind you of the Redshirt's "violent ending"? Come on Die Welt, this is sensational and inaccurate journalism at its worst.

Please forgive me if I didn't get that accurately, German speakers!

http://appl.welt.de/...medium=facebook

The report says that only some "Parts" of the Thai capital were crippled.....not the whole city. Besides it states that the protesters were reminiscent of the violent end of their "several weekS (plural) long protest.

[bulmercke]

I must admit the photo of the guy without a shirt on looks like a photo a photo journalist would like to capture, but to me it looks like a nutter who you would not want to meet down a dark Bangkok soi! To me it makes the point that these demonstrations attract nutters and those who could not give you a reasoned argument as to why the red shirt movement represents the majority of Thais. Most Thais I have talked to regard the reds as an extremist organisation.

MaiChai wrote:"Most Thais I have talked to regard the reds as an extremist organisation."

Go to a lot of PAD rallies - do you?

[jdinasia]

I must admit the photo of the guy without a shirt on looks like a photo a photo journalist would like to capture, but to me it looks like a nutter who you would not want to meet down a dark Bangkok soi! To me it makes the point that these demonstrations attract nutters and those who could not give you a reasoned argument as to why the red shirt movement represents the majority of Thais. Most Thais I have talked to regard the reds as an extremist organisation.

MaiChai wrote:"Most Thais I have talked to regard the reds as an extremist organisation."

Go to a lot of PAD rallies - do you?

He doesn't need to to get that opinion since most Thais would say the same about the PAD. Then again, you were the one telling us the reds were paid

[hanuman1]

Good to see that all demonstrations over the past couple of days have gone off smoothly without any violence.

[rubl]

Good to see that all demonstrations over the past couple of days have gone off smoothly without any violence.

Totally agree. I would almost say give us a few more of those

Edited January 24, 2011 by rubl

[Buchholz]

ICC case? It's all theatre and PR fluff

Does Thailand stand to gain or lose in the face of agitation by the red and yellow shirts? Today the People's Alliance for Democracy will lead the yellow shirts on to the streets in order to pressure the government to meet three demands related to the Thai-Cambodian border dispute.

Meanwhile, the Sombat Boonngam-anong faction of the red-shirt movement will also rally to demand justice and democracy, despite the reds holding a march on Sunday.

Public anxiety goes up a notch when red and yellow rallies converge. The yellow shirts will encamp at Makkhawan Bridge near Government House while the reds will rally at Democracy Monument, about two kilometres away on Rajdamnoen Avenue.

Next week, the mainstream reds led by Thida Thawornseth will finalise legal plans to file a complaint about injustice and last year's bloodshed at the International Criminal Court, in The Netherlands - which has no chance of being heard, but is being done for show.

It is ironic that the red and yellow shirts are treating their country like a punching bag, in order to fight for causes which they believe will bring about a better and stronger Thailand. Under the norms of diplomacy and international politics, border negotiations take place behind closed doors. But the PAD has cited accountability, transparency and freedom of speech to justify its public debate on border issues.

Even though it takes both countries to sort out their common borders, the PAD has curiously focused its attack on the Abhisit Vejjajiva government as if the Thai side alone can make a unilateral decision on where Cambodian territory should be.

The yellow shirts are spearheading an "awareness" campaign over border areas near Preah Vihear Temple and at Sa Kaew, opposite Cambodia's Bantaey Meanchey, to voice concern about the risk of Thailand losing territory to Cambodia.

The yellow shirts have been releasing documents to back up their attack on PM Abhisit for his supposed mishandling of a border dispute, but their arguments could backfire and compromise Thailand's position in any future negotiations on boundary settlement. The belligerent noise generated by the yellow shirts will adversely impact on boundary talks. The two neighbouring countries need an amicable atmosphere to settle their borderline.

Since border agreements are the legacy of the colonial era, Thailand is already in a disadvantageous position. Thai forebears made a painful sacrifice to shed land in order to safeguard independence.

If the yellow shirts are true patriots, then they should carefully weigh the pros and cons of what they are doing, particularly their marshalling of lopsided information on the World Court verdict on Preah Vihear and their reference on the location of border marker No 46 at Sa Kaew.

Of the three demands, the yellow shirts aim to cancel the 2000 memorandum of understanding prescribing negotiations as a way to resolve the borderline. The cancellation of negotiations could end up in military confrontation. But any armed conflict with Cambodia would certainly bring about international intervention. Can the yellow shirts guarantee their fellow compatriots that Thailand will win support from the international community after bullying its smaller neighbour?

Just like the yellow rivals, the red shirts have invoked democracy to justify their struggle. The judicial process has not been exhausted in regard to last year's bloodshed but the red shirts say they want to air their grievances at the International Criminal Court, despite the fact it only ever hears cases such as genocide and crimes against humanity.

Last century, Thais fought hard to overturn extraterritorial jurisdiction imposed by foreign powers. Their descendants, however, claim they can only rely on international courts as they refuse to listen to one another or trust in their own judiciary.

Critics say the reds have no chance of launching a case in the ICC. They overlook the reds' real intent - they just want to embarrass the government.

-- The Nation 2011-01-25