Outrage As Bail Revoked - Some Red Shirts See Opportunity

[webfact]

REDS LEADER BEHIND BAR

Outrage as bail revoked - some reds see opportunity

By Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

Many red-shirt supporters were outraged yesterday when they heard that the bail for two of their leaders, including the charismatic Jatuporn Promphan, had been revoked because a speech they delivered on April 10 was deemed defamatory to the monarchy.

The response about what repercussions this would have on the red-shirt movement and the Pheu Thai Party is quite mixed. Some red-shirt supporters believe that the bail revocation will make the movement's resolve to fight against "injustice" even stronger, while others believe that detaining the two core leaders will weaken the group and make people afraid of delivering political speeches.

"Every bit of pain will be transformed into power," red-shirt leader Natthawut Saikua declared minutes after the court ruled that Jatuporn and Nisit Sinthuprai had violated their bail conditions by making speeches at the red-shirt rally that "confused" people and "led to public unrest".

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) had earlier insisted that Jatuporn had made remarks onstage that could be construed as an act of lese majeste.

The leader of the Red Sunday group, Sombat Boon-ngam-anong, said several red shirts were very upset and were voicing their anger via social media.

"I don't think this is a good sign," he said.

He added that though some were calling for the retaking of Ratchaprasong Intersection, he believed that the movement should be focusing on the upcoming general election instead.

As soon as the Criminal Court made the ruling yesterday, a young red-shirt supporter screamed, "It's worse than Burma!" while another sarcastically yelled: "This is a 'just' country."

Though Thida Thawornseth, who chairs the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship, warned of possible chaos resulting from the ruling, others such as red-shirt leader Kokaew Pikulthong believe that this will only encourage more people to vote for Pheu Thai and make the red-shirt movement even stronger.

"More people will come out on May 19," he said, referring to the first anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the red-shirt protesters, which led to 91 deaths. "Many more will vote for Pheu Thai Party."

Suwit Lertkraimaethee, a core member of the June 24 Democracy group, said he believed the bail revocation was a move to intensify the control on the red-shirt movement.

"This will only have a short-term impact," Suwit opined. "It's simply impossible not to talk about the monarchy."

However, one red-shirt supporter welcomed the development.

Noi, a key member of the red-shirt Democracy Network, whose real name is being withheld because of her job as a middle-ranking bureaucrat, told The Nation that detaining Jatuporn and Nisit was "positive" because now the red shirts will have to think for themselves instead of just following the leaders.

However, she added that many other red-shirt leaders were still free, so the impact on the leadership was minimal. "It's just two, not 10 leaders," she said, adding that the red shirts were quite used to being "unfairly prosecuted".

"I wonder why they did it, because now the votes for Pheu Thai will increase," she said with a laugh.

-- The Nation 2011-05-13

[cdnvic]

Be careful not to post about any Royals in a political context. One post removed for being close to the line.

[lazygourmet]

Let him rot where he belongs to: jail !

[SomTumTiger]

I hope your little pudgy fingers have trouble holding the soap jat - you will get a nice surprise

[mccw]

"it's worse than Burma!" - mmm not really is it -, eesaan isn't being mined and it's villagers burned down or slave labour instituted on large parts of the population

[ballpoint]

"In our fight against injustice we demand that this privileged member of society, up on charges that are transparently obvious, be let out of jail!"

[MaiChai]

Being respectful of the institutions, whether they be royal family, government, police or judiciary is required in any country. Any citizen should respect them. If you don't like the laws, then use the legal and normal channels to change them. That is, put a bill together and get MPs to vote on it. Why do the red shirts (or other coloured shirts) need to break laws to make a statement? Laws are for the greater good of all and should be adhered to and respected.

Can I say that alot of Thais need to respect and adhere to the laws? Certainly the middle class do, and most of them pay their fair share of taxes, which probably goes to those who corrupt the system, don't pay any tax or are not motivated to work and expect government handouts?

[hyperdimension]

The red shirt movement clearly consists of anti-monarchists. Thida herself admitted this fact in her interview 4 months ago: Reds struggling under charter : New chief. Given this fact and the latest speeches by Jatuporn and Nisit that were offensive enough to send them to jail, people who are loyal to the monarchy should now drop their support for Pheu Thai.

[metisdead]

Posts have been deleted for failure to use quote function leading to misunderstanding of who posted what.