Thai Military Neutral And Ready To Accept Poll Outcome: Prayuth

[jayboy]

You really do need to start studying the background of the army in Thai politics.To attempt to equate one rogue general with the whole apparatus of the Thai army involved with repression over many years is just laughable.

You mean it's not the generals at all, it's just the Thai Army apparatus? It would be the same without any generals?

Poorly expressed I agree.No of course its about the generals.

[jdinasia]

What I was replying to was YOUR post about military being involved in politics "That a Thai general might be aligned to Democrat and elite interests", I find it strange that you don't see the relevance of Seh Daeng (a serving Thai general) ) being openly aligned with the REDS and Thaksin's interests. It might suggest a bias on your part to not see that you mentioned Thai Army generals aligning with one set of elites while failing to regard the open alignment of a Thai army general with another set of elites

So you are saying that no conclusions can be drawn because there are generals like Seh Daeng (before he was killed) aligned with the reds as well as those aligned with the ruling elite?

You really do need to start studying the background of the army in Thai politics.To attempt to equate one rogue general with the whole apparatus of the Thai army involved with repression over many years is just laughable.

Again you are practicing cherry picking or being deliberately obtuse as I pointed out in the initial post that you responded to that the "elite" are not only on one side of this divide in the country and both sides have some backing in the military.

Nobody that I know would deny that

1) There are elements of the military up to and including general staff members that lean heavily to one group of elite OR the other group of elite currently pushing the boundaries in Thailand.

2) There are retired general officers in almost every party leadership and that they are still involved in many ways with active duty general officers.

3) That people currently or in the past that are aligned with PTP/Reds are some of the same people that have practiced the suppression you are attempting to lay at the feet of just one side.

To quote another poster "You really do need to start studying the background of the army in Thai politics"

[jayboy]

What I was replying to was YOUR post about military being involved in politics "That a Thai general might be aligned to Democrat and elite interests", I find it strange that you don't see the relevance of Seh Daeng (a serving Thai general) ) being openly aligned with the REDS and Thaksin's interests. It might suggest a bias on your part to not see that you mentioned Thai Army generals aligning with one set of elites while failing to regard the open alignment of a Thai army general with another set of elites

So you are saying that no conclusions can be drawn because there are generals like Seh Daeng (before he was killed) aligned with the reds as well as those aligned with the ruling elite?

You really do need to start studying the background of the army in Thai politics.To attempt to equate one rogue general with the whole apparatus of the Thai army involved with repression over many years is just laughable.

Again you are practicing cherry picking or being deliberately obtuse as I pointed out in the initial post that you responded to that the "elite" are not only on one side of this divide in the country and both sides have some backing in the military.

Nobody that I know would deny that

1) There are elements of the military up to and including general staff members that lean heavily to one group of elite OR the other group of elite currently pushing the boundaries in Thailand.

2) There are retired general officers in almost every party leadership and that they are still involved in many ways with active duty general officers.

3) That people currently or in the past that are aligned with PTP/Reds are some of the same people that have practiced the suppression you are attempting to lay at the feet of just one side.

To quote another poster "You really do need to start studying the background of the army in Thai politics"

I am content to leave this for forum members to consider.My own view is that while there are factions and differences the policy of the Thai army has been quite clear over the decades.

[jdinasia]

Good, most forum members will recognize that things in Thailand in 2011 are not the same as things in Thailand in 1976 even though some of the names are the same including people in both camps, and be able to see the fact that there are generals (ret) on both sides of the aisle (so to speak), and won't pretend that there is only one group with a voice or power inside the military. The reason we had blood on the streets last April and May --- imho--- had to do mostly with Thaksin wanting his proxies to appoint the next army commander which made elections later than Oct 1. unacceptable to the reds. This wouldn't suggest much accuracy to the argument about the military having ties to only one set of the "elite" in this country.

In fact, shuffling units/commands, inside the military, around to make sure that commanders considered loyal is much of what allowed the successful coup in 2006 to take place.

edit to complete a sentence .... goodness

Edited March 23, 2011 by jdinasia

[hammered]

What I was replying to was YOUR post about military being involved in politics "That a Thai general might be aligned to Democrat and elite interests", I find it strange that you don't see the relevance of Seh Daeng (a serving Thai general) ) being openly aligned with the REDS and Thaksin's interests. It might suggest a bias on your part to not see that you mentioned Thai Army generals aligning with one set of elites while failing to regard the open alignment of a Thai army general with another set of elites

So you are saying that no conclusions can be drawn because there are generals like Seh Daeng (before he was killed) aligned with the reds as well as those aligned with the ruling elite?

You really do need to start studying the background of the army in Thai politics.To attempt to equate one rogue general with the whole apparatus of the Thai army involved with repression over many years is just laughable.

Again you are practicing cherry picking or being deliberately obtuse as I pointed out in the initial post that you responded to that the "elite" are not only on one side of this divide in the country and both sides have some backing in the military.

Nobody that I know would deny that

1) There are elements of the military up to and including general staff members that lean heavily to one group of elite OR the other group of elite currently pushing the boundaries in Thailand.

2) There are retired general officers in almost every party leadership and that they are still involved in many ways with active duty general officers.

3) That people currently or in the past that are aligned with PTP/Reds are some of the same people that have practiced the suppression you are attempting to lay at the feet of just one side.

To quote another poster "You really do need to start studying the background of the army in Thai politics"

I am content to leave this for forum members to consider.My own view is that while there are factions and differences the policy of the Thai army has been quite clear over the decades.

Intra-military factionalism over promotions, budget etc but agreement on maintaining role in society although extreme actions would require most if not all factions to be signed up. Since 32 the military has been a very important player even judging by official history books.

This is not unique to Thailand. Egypts army protected its role in society when it became clear that short of massive massacres Mubarak was history. Quite common in developing countries. I can even remember militaries flexing muscles and running things in Spain, Portugal and Greece before EU wealth inspired democracy saw the light of day and Im not that ancient yet. Thailand has a way to go yet

[softgeorge]

OK