Thai Police Suspect They Have Found Bodies Of 169 Missing Red-Shirts

[OzMick]

Exactly...it seems that the first place it appeared was in Robert Amsterdam's Facebook, and it spread through the media from there.

https://www.facebook...236295033074348

As per the other paper this morning, yes, seems now there is a paper trail and local police were aware of the situation for moving the bodies who died in the typhoon.

Which seemingly leaves Amsterdam as the instigator in yet another series of lies and distortions.

A lot of hoopla generated by the Public Relations Consultant to Thaksin.... which has turned out to be much ado about nothing.

.

Public Relations appears to be a mucky way of making a living, but no doubt RA will make up for his faux-pas, with a sincere & heartfelt apology to the previous government for his mistake.

RA is still taking lessons in faking sincerity - not quite there yet, but they are working on reducing the slime on his charisma.

Edited August 20, 2011 by OzMick

[Lite Beer]

More than 160 bodies found in 3 Thai temples

2011-08-20 09:27:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

BANGKOK, THAILAND (BNO NEWS) -- More than 160 bodies have been found in three Buddhist temples in eastern Thailand and police are investigating whether they are missing red shirts, the Bangkok Post reported on Saturday.

The bodies - under the responsibility of the Chumphon-based Buddha Prateep Foundation - were found at three temples in the Klaeng district of the eastern province of Rayong. Police began investigating after a complaint was received alleging there were mass graves at the temples.

Officials said 72 corpses were located in the Wat Klong Ta Kwa temple, 65 at the Wat Huai Yan, and 32 more at the Wat Samor Prong temple. Red Shirt Rayong leader Rapin Pranonsatit said the bodies could belong to missing Red Shirt supporters who went missing during last year's United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) protest against the Democrat-led government of Abhisit Vejjajiva.

According to Buddha Prateep Foundation president Sa-nguan Nilrattanothai, as cited by the Bangkok Post, the bodies had been previously reported to the police with pictures before they were transported to the three temples for burial about a year ago.

The foundation stated most of the bodies belonged to Burmese immigrants who had drowned during the 1989 Typhoon Gay. It also explained that, before transporting the bodies, a report was submitted to then-chief of Lang Suan district police station Supoj Boonchooduang. The police chief later confirmed he had approved the transportation of the bodies.

In addition, head of the Buddha Pratheep rescue team, Thaweesak Longluerit, said the corpses were moved at the request of the Phutthasat Songkroh foundation, which plans to carry out a mass cremation for unidentified bodies next year.

Thailand's Justice Ministry's Central Institute of Forensic Science director Porntip Rojanasunan, meanwhile, said DNA testing would help identify the bodies but not determine when and where they died.

Since last year's mass anti-government protests in April and May, some 60 red shirt supporters have been reported missing, UDD chairwoman Tida Thavornseth said.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-08-20

[Screws]

Even numbers can't always be relied upon when spoken. in Thai, the number 11 sounds almost identical to the number 18.

I suggest you get your hearing tested:

How on earth does Sip Et sound like Sip Paet. And if it does then so does Sip Jet etc.

Enough of the drivel.......

Maidu is correct. Particularly applies if words are mumbled or with background noise.

[jayboy]

Public Relations appears to be a mucky way of making a living, but no doubt RA will make up for his faux-pas, with a sincere & heartfelt apology to the previous government for his mistake.

RA is still taking lessons in faking sincerity - not quite there yet, but they are working on reducing the slime on his charisma.

As usual the usual suspects rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam.However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies.

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.His critics however never address these (or deny them - the reds murdered themselves etc ) preferring personal abuse as we have just seen.

As to his PR activity, all governments do this including Thailand who hired an expensive European PR firm to deal with their lies and obfuscation in the recent German seizure of an aircraft.

[whybother]

As usual the usual suspects rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam.However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies.

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.His critics however never address these (or deny them - the reds murdered themselves etc ) preferring personal abuse as we have just seen.

As to his PR activity, all governments do this including Thailand who hired an expensive European PR firm to deal with their lies and obfuscation in the recent German seizure of an aircraft.

"However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies."

Really? Where did he do this?

[rixalex]

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.

Perhaps his "uncomfortable truths" might resonate a bit louder if he wasn't continually undermining himself (and his employer) with all the uncomfortable porkies.

Perhaps as a child his mum never read him the, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" fable.

[SICHONSTEVE]

"The issue was put under the spotlight after Santhan Chayanon, chief of police legal and affairs litigation, led a team of police to inspect the temples after receiving a complaint about mass graves"."It was reported the inspection was ordered by deputy national police chief Gen Priewpan Damapong, elder brother of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's ex-wife Potjaman na Pombejra. Gen Priewpan yesterday denied any involvement in the matter".

The extended Shinawatra clan are behind this (brother-in-law from his ex-wife) - now why does that not surprise me?????

Edited August 20, 2011 by SICHONSTEVE

[whybother]

This seems to be a non story now so maybe the thread should be closed

There's still time for people to read the first line and make themselves look stupid by posting about how "the Dem government have been caught out".

[jayboy]

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.

Perhaps his "uncomfortable truths" might resonate a bit louder if he wasn't continually undermining himself (and his employer) with all the uncomfortable porkies.

Perhaps as a child his mum never read him the, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" fable.

Care to identify and refute some of the lies, or just continue to stay within the personal abuse comfort zone.

[backtonormal]

I urge those that may jump to conclusions that these are redshirt s to allow the police to investigate as it is quite normal do to a body dump.

That being said, if these people do turn out to be redshirts, the response of some people in TVF will be interesting.

Totally agree. Equally if they are proved not to be red shirts, lets hope all the pro reds stop gobbing off also.

We dont need to gob off we won. If they are proved to be some red shirts in the hole I pray some of the pro useless dem ex gov do stop gobbing off. If some are red how can anybody gob off in support of murderers.

[jayboy]

As usual the usual suspects rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam.However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies.

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.His critics however never address these (or deny them - the reds murdered themselves etc ) preferring personal abuse as we have just seen.

As to his PR activity, all governments do this including Thailand who hired an expensive European PR firm to deal with their lies and obfuscation in the recent German seizure of an aircraft.

"However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies."

Really? Where did he do this?

He tweeted it

[Insight]

As usual the usual suspects rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam.However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies.

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.His critics however never address these (or deny them - the reds murdered themselves etc ) preferring personal abuse as we have just seen.

As to his PR activity, all governments do this including Thailand who hired an expensive European PR firm to deal with their lies and obfuscation in the recent German seizure of an aircraft.

"However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies."

Really? Where did he do this?

He tweeted it

... with his (visible) right hand.

[whybother]

"However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies."

Really? Where did he do this?

He tweeted it

Immediately? A day later ... "Latest reports I am hearing is that it is unlikely that the mass graves discovered in Thailand are disappeared Red Shirts from 2010."

And then follows with "The rumors surrounding the finding of 169 bodies in Rayong underline, once again, the need for a proper investigation into Bangkok Massacre" just to keep the link going.

[slapout]

Amsterdam's public releases/comments remind me of children and their stories, invention of make believe friends, etc. I guess it does tell us a little about the world today, in that people pay money to this type of character and then, it seems a portion of the public believe the stories.

Yes many children create as they grow up, but the majority grown out of the phase. It seems those who continue in their fantasy, either become politicians, lawyers, or pr consultants.

[SICHONSTEVE]

"Buddha Pratheep rescue team head Thaweesak Longluerit refuted the suspicions over the identity of the corpses, saying that while the bodies were unidentified, the foundation knew where they had come from and could confirm they were not red shirts".

and........

"The foundation said most of the bodies were Burmese immigrants who drowned during Typhoon Gay in 1989. The bodies had been kept because they were evidence for legal cases".

At last some light seems to be thrown on the matter to explain as to the likelihood of where they originated from. Seems they are not the bodies of the red-shirts after all. I seem to remember that a high proportion of the early deaths from the protests were not released to the government but kept by the red shirts so perhaps THEY can tell us of the whereabouts of where these bodies are now rather than attempting to make capital of a non-issue!!!!

[hammered]

Amsterdam's public releases/comments remind me of children and their stories, invention of make believe friends, etc. I guess it does tell us a little about the world today, in that people pay money to this type of character and then, it seems a portion of the public believe the stories.

Yes many children create as they grow up, but the majority grown out of the phase. It seems those who continue in their fantasy, either become politicians, lawyers, or pr consultants.

People like Amsterdam are abhorent spin doctors. However, they are part of modern politics too. Those who dont employ them are destined to go down in flames. What a spin doctor says can also be truth, lie or embellishment. Just because it is from a spinner doesnt mean it is always a lie. Politics is all about PR except in the most extreme cases of oppression, but in democracies you need your spin and meme

[rixalex]

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.

Perhaps his "uncomfortable truths" might resonate a bit louder if he wasn't continually undermining himself (and his employer) with all the uncomfortable porkies.

Perhaps as a child his mum never read him the, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" fable.

Care to identify and refute some of the lies, or just continue to stay within the personal abuse comfort zone.

I'm sure you don't seriously mean that the suggestion of a PR guy telling porkies constitutes personal abuse, do you?

As for me caring to identify and refute some of his lies, i also don't think you are seriously suggesting this man has never been guilty of a mistruth, or a bit of deception, or some intentionally misleading information. This entire story is evidence enough for all but the blind or the naive. I take you to be neither.

[SICHONSTEVE]

I urge those that may jump to conclusions that these are redshirt s to allow the police to investigate as it is quite normal do to a body dump.

That being said, if these people do turn out to be redshirts, the response of some people in TVF will be interesting.

Totally agree. Equally if they are proved not to be red shirts, lets hope all the pro reds stop gobbing off also.

We dont need to gob off we won. If they are proved to be some red shirts in the hole I pray some of the pro useless dem ex gov do stop gobbing off. If some are red how can anybody gob off in support of murderers.

Exactly what have the red shirts won???? The lottery??? I cannot see anywhere where they have won something. Please enlighten me as I'm perplexed about this puzzling statement of yours!!

Another thing, are you a "farang red shirt"??? Ha Ha Ha

On the subject of your heroes, my wife pointed out to me some time ago that one of the main "red shirt" leaders "Nattawut Saikua" was born in my adopted home town of Sichon, Nakhonsithammarat - you would simply not believe the hatred for him here as he is viewed as a traitor and is a stain on the town's character and reputation!!!!! Also, he has one of those faces you would like to put pins in (blunt ones)!!!

Edited August 20, 2011 by SICHONSTEVE

[jayboy]

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.

Perhaps his "uncomfortable truths" might resonate a bit louder if he wasn't continually undermining himself (and his employer) with all the uncomfortable porkies.

Perhaps as a child his mum never read him the, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" fable.

Care to identify and refute some of the lies, or just continue to stay within the personal abuse comfort zone.

I'm sure you don't seriously mean that the suggestion of a PR guy telling porkies constitutes personal abuse, do you?

As for me caring to identify and refute some of his lies, i also don't think you are seriously suggesting this man has never been guilty of a mistruth, or a bit of deception, or some intentionally misleading information. This entire story is evidence enough for all but the blind or the naive. I take you to be neither.

There's a difference between lies and spin.I was wondering whether you could be specific about the former: apparently you can't.

The reality is that Amsterdam over time has identified and exposed lies and crimes in Thailand which local media won't touch.To that extent he performs a valuable service.

On one point I do agree namely that someone who has a PR function needs to be treated with a healthy degree of scepticism.He who pays the piper...etc.That's why I can't bring myself to monitor his website though I do follow him on Twitter.

[OzMick]

Public Relations appears to be a mucky way of making a living, but no doubt RA will make up for his faux-pas, with a sincere & heartfelt apology to the previous government for his mistake.

RA is still taking lessons in faking sincerity - not quite there yet, but they are working on reducing the slime on his charisma.

As usual the usual suspects rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam.However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies.

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.His critics however never address these (or deny them - the reds murdered themselves etc ) preferring personal abuse as we have just seen.

As to his PR activity, all governments do this including Thailand who hired an expensive European PR firm to deal with their lies and obfuscation in the recent German seizure of an aircraft.

Ah yes, start a nasty little rumour, then apologise with more reference back to the rumour, and watch the idiots running around like headless chickens about something that only existed in his playbook. Face it - this was a smokescreen to draw attention away from Thaksin's visa, and his servant's uncomfortable position.

Please give examples of his uncomfortable truths - I tend to think they may only be true in the minds of the idiots that believe them. Of course their will be a grain of truth, every good lie needs one, but it will be twisted, distorted, reflected, refracted and reversed into something completely different. ANYTHING this man releases should be taken with a grain of salt roughly the size of the moon.

Everybody else does it is not a valid excuse - only infants and the infantile use it.

[OzMick]

Public Relations appears to be a mucky way of making a living, but no doubt RA will make up for his faux-pas, with a sincere & heartfelt apology to the previous government for his mistake.

RA is still taking lessons in faking sincerity - not quite there yet, but they are working on reducing the slime on his charisma.

As usual the usual suspects rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam.However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies.

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.His critics however never address these (or deny them - the reds murdered themselves etc ) preferring personal abuse as we have just seen.

As to his PR activity, all governments do this including Thailand who hired an expensive European PR firm to deal with their lies and obfuscation in the recent German seizure of an aircraft.

I would appreciate if you would NOT attribute comments to me that were in fact expressed by another poster - whether I agree with them or not, it is still rude and naughty.

[SICHONSTEVE]

"Face it - this was a smokescreen to draw attention away from Thaksin's visa, and his servant's uncomfortable position".

If that was it's pathetic purpose then those elements that perpetuated this rubbish should see that it has failed miserably!! Now that this rubbish story has been put to bed - the Democrats will immediately turn their attention back to keeping the unwanted fugitive out of Thailand (where he doesn't belong or deserve to be). They will get after the foreign minister and hound him until he wishes he hadn't taken on board his post as Thaksin's fascilitator :jap: - clearly nobody told him what THE REAL JOB entails, either that, or he conveniently forgot about it before it began!! Requesting that visa to Japan before the government had revealed their mandate in the form of their ill thoughtout policies to parliament was a school-boy error and extremely unwise, as this constitutes grounds for his impeachment.

Forget Amsterdam!!!, the main men are the Democrat's lawyers, as the government will soon find out to their detriment!!!

[whybother]

Totally ridiculous chain of events. So can we all turn up at temples with 97 dead buddies and no questions asked?

I have to say that I always suspected that a lot more than 92 people died, which included all the deaths from April 10th until the end of May 2010.

I say this because I was staying next to the Marriott Service Apartment on Sathorn Road (corner of Suan Plu), and the maids came up in the early morning talking about all the dead bodies and commotion in the car park of that service apartment next door. I went down with my friend and counted twenty four bodies that were obvious however we suspected several more under a huge army canvess adjacent to the ones in the open. The army would not permit us to walk in any further.

If my memory serves correct this was on the first night of the violence in May. By 8.30 am when I went down to talk with the manager out of shock and some concerns of hygiene and the smell, all the dead had already been cleared. What made me very suspicious is that I think they only announced 19 dead that night.....which included from everywhere such as Aree, Ratchaprasong, Rama 1 etc. and these dead it seemed had been brought to several hospitals.

Maybe you should be talking to someone like Nick Nostitz about these bodies, if you have evidence. It seems that they have nothing to do with the bodies in Rayong, though.

[hammered]

So we have a charity worker saying they are the bodies from cyclone gay and another charity worker saying they are not from cyclone gay or the tsunami but they know who they are. So who are they? There are also different reported arrival times in Thai news. Quite confusing.

[Ricardo]

Public Relations appears to be a mucky way of making a living, but no doubt RA will make up for his faux-pas, with a sincere & heartfelt apology to the previous government for his mistake.

RA is still taking lessons in faking sincerity - not quite there yet, but they are working on reducing the slime on his charisma.

As usual the usual suspects rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam.However as I understand it he immediately clarified the position when it became evident these were not redshirt bodies.

Fact is Amsterdam has drawn attention to several uncomfortable truths about the last government's record.His critics however never address these (or deny them - the reds murdered themselves etc ) preferring personal abuse as we have just seen.

As to his PR activity, all governments do this including Thailand who hired an expensive European PR firm to deal with their lies and obfuscation in the recent German seizure of an aircraft.

You have accidentally attributed my post (the first-line from 'Public' to 'mistake') to Ozmick.

So presumably it's me, that you call "the usual suspects", and say "rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam" ?

I can reassure you, that I'm not raging or foaming, as I'm not a paid rabid twister-of-perceptions, just an ordinary straight observer, who had the sense not to go overboard, but waited for further details, when this story first broke. I have also never claimed that "the reds murdered themselves etc". Do you accept this ?

The current situation here, with the country split down-the-middle, on Thaksin and on how to improve life for the poor, is ill-served by such jumping-to-conclusions, by a paid-hack on another continent or by anyone else. IMO he should be ashamed of himself.

It also bothers me, the effect such propaganda may have had, on the feelings of anyone whose family-member may have gone missing. But perhaps I'm just raging and foaming again ?

Edited August 20, 2011 by Ricardo

[SICHONSTEVE]

So we have a charity worker saying they are the bodies from cyclone gay and another charity worker saying they are not from cyclone gay or the tsunami but they know who they are. So who are they? There are also different reported arrival times in Thai news. Quite confusing.

You didn't expect anything in the way of news to be anything different than confusing, did you?? Come on, this is Thailand - where the word "straightforward" doesn't exist!!! If it did, then it wouldn't really be of any use!!!

[hammered]

So we have a charity worker saying they are the bodies from cyclone gay and another charity worker saying they are not from cyclone gay or the tsunami but they know who they are. So who are they? There are also different reported arrival times in Thai news. Quite confusing.

You didn't expect anything in the way of news to be anything different than confusing, did you?? Come on, this is Thailand - where the word "straightforward" doesn't exist!!! If it did, then it wouldn't really be of any use!!!

Yeah but its pretty worrying that there seems to be no record and nobody seems to know who they are for sure and people working for the same charity have different stories

[SICHONSTEVE]

So we have a charity worker saying they are the bodies from cyclone gay and another charity worker saying they are not from cyclone gay or the tsunami but they know who they are. So who are they? There are also different reported arrival times in Thai news. Quite confusing.

You didn't expect anything in the way of news to be anything different than confusing, did you?? Come on, this is Thailand - where the word "straightforward" doesn't exist!!! If it did, then it wouldn't really be of any use!!!

Yeah but its pretty worrying that there seems to be no record and nobody seems to know who they are for sure and people working for the same charity have different stories

Precisely what I mean!!!

It is claimed that the bodies are those of drowned Burmese attempting to get to Thailand after being hounded out (I presume) by other factions.

[rixalex]

There's a difference between lies and spin.I was wondering whether you could be specific about the former: apparently you can't.

One man's lie is another man's spin.

I would say that suggesting that these bodies were red shirts murdered by the military, with their being not a shred of evidence, was really very little different from telling a lie. Perhaps for you, the fact that he threw in a few "perhaps" and "possiblys", makes all the difference. To me, not so much. BS is BS, and Mr Amsterdam is full of it.

[jayboy]

You have accidentally attributed my post (the first-line from 'Public' to 'mistake') to Ozmick.

So presumably it's me, that you call "the usual suspects", and say "rage and foam about Robert Amsterdam" ?

I can reassure you, that I'm not raging or foaming, as I'm not a paid rabid twister-of-perceptions, just an ordinary straight observer, who had the sense not to go overboard, but waited for further details, when this story first broke. I have also never claimed that "the reds murdered themselves etc". Do you accept this ?

The current situation here, with the country split down-the-middle, on Thaksin and on how to improve life for the poor, is ill-served by such jumping-to-conclusions, by a paid-hack on another continent or by anyone else. IMO he should be ashamed of himself.

It also bothers me, the effect such propaganda may have had, on the feelings of anyone whose family-member may have gone missing. But perhaps I'm just raging and foaming again ?

Sorry about that.Don't quite know what happened.

No I don't think of you as one of the usual suspects, nor do I think you believe the Reds murdered themselves.

I'm fairly agnostic on Amsterdam though I appreciate he drives some into a tantrum.He's shown up some of the abuses of the elite, but he is as you say "paid for".A useful second tier source of info but I would never rely on him.