Democrats Call For End To Intimidation Of Govt Critics By The Red Shirts

[tlansford]

So, no expectation for any change that differs from their 4 years of repeated violence and that none of those in leadership will change their tactics.

Thanks for the clarification.

.

IMO the red shirts have made more of an effort to control the violence from the militant parts of their organization than the PAD has done. And you already know that the Red Shirts are not one organization and never have been one organization. There have always been peaceful factions and radical factions. Some come from the poor north/northeast, others come from the middle class, wealthy, and educated.

As far as timelines go, it was exactly 3 years ago that Thailand was dealing with the violence of the yellow shirts and their **occupation** of the government house. Ah, but wait, since they were the "good guys", they were of course peacefully occupying the government building, were not armed at all, and never instigated any violence even when egged on by their main leaders...

In fact, 3 years ago the then opposition leader, Abhisit, 30 senators, and a general visited the PAD protesters in the Government house, at the time that the police had court orders to disperse the protesters, and were well on their way to doing so without violence, and after the visit the PAD burst out of the government house attacking the police and continued a violent occupation, which eventually led to Oct 7 and black Tuesday, the dissolution of the PPP and - lo and behold - Abhisit becoming PM...

I'm not sure if you're aware or not. Perhaps you've just woken up from a multiyear sleep, but there is no PAD or Yellow Shirt any longer. Not for a long time now.

Also, because people like to reconstruct history. the PAD never committed violence on any day of their demonstrations, that could match the violence the Red Shirts committed on every day of their demonstrations.

talking about being asleep, ... really, you should get out and read more, ... well, outside the TVF, obviously.

[whybother]

Red-shirt Group Wants Reporter Sacked for Offending PM

A small group of red-shirt supporters are calling for Chanel 7 to dismiss its reporter for allegedly posting a biased question to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Less than 10 members of a red-shirt group called the People's Assembly for Change in Thailand gathered at Mor Chit Skytrain station.

The group mailed a letter to Channel 7 news editor, calling for the dismissal of its reporter Somjit Krueasoontorn.

The group claimed Somjit's question to Yingluck's over her real motive behind the planned amendment of the charter was biased.

The group's move was also motivated by Somjit's filing of an official complaint against red-shirt core element in Petchburi, Pornthip Paksanont.

Pornthip sent out an e-mail to fellow red-shirt supporters accusing Somjit of being biased.

Her photo and personal details were revealed in the e-mail.

The group defended Pornthip's action by saying her e-mail was meant to suggest Somjit's question dishonored Yingluck as premier.

The group threatened to call on red-shirt supporters nationwide to boycott Channel 7, its programs and sponsors if the station failed to take action against Somjit.

-- Tan Network 2011-08-30

"Silence your reporters for asking tough questions ... or else".

Yay for Red Democracy.

[KKvampire]

suppression of the Media is high on their list. I give it a year maybe two and there will be Riots and demonstrations and the financial rating of Thailand. BOMBING. Glad I aint got my investments in the Thailand Asylum.

[Crushdepth]

20 reds rally at Channel 7

By The Nation

Some 20 red shirts on Tuesday held a rally at Channel 7 station protesting the work of a reporter and demanding charges be dropped for a red shirt from Phetchaburi involving in press intimidation.

The rally, led by Nopporn Namchiangtai, displayed a number banners critical of the television reporter for posing tough questions to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

After a peaceful rally for about 20 minutes, Nopporn presented an open letter demanding the station management to drop a police complaint filed against the fellow red shirt linked to the chain e-mailing to intimidate the reporter. The crowds voluntarily dispersed.

-- The Nation 2011-08-30

This is a good one.

Red shirts intimidating the press to get them to drop the charges for a red shirt intimidating the press.

oops ... forgot: Yay for Red Democracy.

They didn't throw any grenades, burn anything down or beat anyone up? Must have been worn out, poor souls.

[Siripon]

It is a bit of a classic when those that oversaw the closing of every bot of anti-government media there was and oversaw the freedom of the media in Thailand now call for the government to reign in something that isnt even on the same scale or even near it.

Of course truth is the red, yellow and mainstream media should all be allowed to go about their business unhindered. However, you arent in a good place to say you are standing up for freedom of the media when you spent a couple of years trying to eradicate critical elements of it. The PTP and reds seem to have copied what the Dems and their allies did. Lets hope it ends and soon though

It's not just the Dem's calling for the government to reign in intimidation.

Mind you lots of sides and stations closed before would be closed or charge with hate-spreading in Europe from what I've seen and heard. You're right in that all should allowed to go about their business, but at least a certain level of self-restraint should be observed and the government or a watchbody setup should watch proceedings. I mean to say stick to the truth, embellish if you have to, but try to avoid unfounded rumours and lies. So no 'Abhisit killer, or Thaksin killer'.

Being critical of the government is no problem in it self, only when you start with inserting 'illegal', 'killers', etc., etc. PTV would not be allowed in Europe.

The 'copied like others did' doesn't seem to encompass reconciliation. Maybe that didn't make it as a policy, or got dropped down the list?

Reconciliation whoever says they want to bring it is talking about reconciliation on their terms. For the Dems it is lets all be mates but not include Thaksin. For the PTP its lets forget all the crimes by everyone and bring back the main man and all be mates. For some of the reds it is lets jail Abhisit and Suthep and not have any amnesty as we didnt do anything wrong and all be mates. And that difference between some reds and PTP is going to make it difficult. For the army its lets not have any charges against us and no repealing the coup amnesty thing and we dont want Thaksin back in political power and lets all be mates. For the extreme yellow it is something else and lets all be mates (maybe)

And those not in power think that unless those in power suddenly accept their version of reconciliation it isnt reconciliation. And of course there is no trust. Reality is reconciliation is going to have to involve everyone agreeing to resolve political differences through democracy and respect outcomes and it going to involve lots of people who have committed "crimes" not being punished. Reality is everyone is going to have to accept they wont get everything and they wont like some things that have to happen. The alternative is chaos followed by outright victory of the side that musters the numbers and there is little doubt which side that is, which means they also will get more of what they want than others. realpolitik. In the meantime I notice the security boss wont be changed and the military reshuffle has been sorted.

Apisit is willing to face the court regarding last May. As he said to the senate committee yesterday, he followed the law step by step, he didn't use water cannons as in England recently because the army was facing live weapons, unlike in UK.

Let the law rule, everyone who is charged should go to court. Let's see all the evidence.

An amnesty would be the worst thing for Thailand, those who broke the law must stop acting like children and face the consequences.

But of course that's something Thaksin has never had the courage to do.

[AleG]

Apisit is willing to face the court regarding last May. As he said to the senate committee yesterday, he followed the law step by step, he didn't use water cannons as in England recently because the army was facing live weapons, unlike in UK.

Let the law rule, everyone who is charged should go to court. Let's see all the evidence.

An amnesty would be the worst thing for Thailand, those who broke the law must stop acting like children and face the consequences.

But of course that's something Thaksin has never had the courage to do.

A small correction, they attempted to use water cannons to disperse the Rajaprasong camp, they were tore to pieces by the Red Shirts; it was part of a progression of measures taken to end the occupation of the area.

[TAWP]

Hey - let's not misrepresent the facts here. PPP was dissolved for ELECTORAL FRAUD. Yes, it changed the balance of power in favour of the coalition but that's how the parliamentary system works. If you are not satisfied with that outcome, you should direct your anger against the PPP members who broke the law and thereby destroyed their party. They let their supporters down.

Why complain that people who broke the law got punished? If you can call a five year ban from politics "punishment". It's a pathetically light penalty for trying to subvert the democratic process and put a country of 60 million people under your thrall.

The people have now judged the coalition that came together via legal parliamentary but mandateless methods after PPP was disbanded, and we effectively have the PPP back but with more MPs. That is the final judgement

My point was that some people try to misrepresent the way the coalition's majority was gained and imply that it was illegitimate, which it was not. There a chance that the Australian government will collapse shortly if corruption allegations against *one* MP stick and torch their one seat majority, but you won't see the public howling hysterically about 'illegitimate usurpers' if that puts the opposition into power like you do here!

I don't agree with the use of the term "the people". There is no unified political view of "the people" as you are doubtless aware. It is more realistic to say that PTP has a majority. You can even call it a 'large majority' if you want to include their coalition partners and I won't argue, but "the people" implies that the government has a "mandate" to do as it pleases on any issue, which is the kind of thing that politicians would like us to believe, but isn't really true.

Saying the people have spoken is just use of common parlance by me.

Of course the Dems legally had the right to form the government but it lacked any form of mandate and they really would have been better off going for an election even if they would have lost. They just too many times have done things that are openly known to be siding with shadowy elites and power groups and that just hurts them again and again when it comes to elections.

3 people are MPs in a very small nation.

2 form a coalition. After a year one of the coalition-members change their minds and a vote of no confidence succeeds, while forming a coalition with the third member of parliament.

Why is the latter coalition lacking any mandate when all the MPs was elected as part of the same election and the government formed under the same process?

[nurofiend]

suppression of the Media is high on their list. I give it a year maybe two and there will be Riots and demonstrations and the financial rating of Thailand. BOMBING. Glad I aint got my investments in the Thailand Asylum.

im interested to know....you know this whole thaksin silencing the press accusation, was it just the business with sondhi (who lets face it, some of his accusations were quite loopy) that people are referring to or was there more examples of this silencing the press from thaksin?

could someone show me some reliable information on this question? genuine question as all ive really seen is the stuff with sondhi and the way people like to make it out is that thaksin was censoring any media he didn't like....and i don't mean him avoiding questions etc, i'm taking about censoring and silencing

as i said, i'm not saying this is not the case but i haven't found any evidence of it from impartial sources....could someone help me out?

[Crushdepth]

Apisit is willing to face the court regarding last May. As he said to the senate committee yesterday, he followed the law step by step, he didn't use water cannons as in England recently because the army was facing live weapons, unlike in UK.

Let the law rule, everyone who is charged should go to court. Let's see all the evidence.

An amnesty would be the worst thing for Thailand, those who broke the law must stop acting like children and face the consequences.

But of course that's something Thaksin has never had the courage to do.

A small correction, they attempted to use water cannons to disperse the Rajaprasong camp, they were tore to pieces by the Red Shirts; it was part of a progression of measures taken to end the occupation of the area.

The first attempt by the army to clear Rajaprasong was with *riot gear only*, and the soldiers were met with GRENADES. It's an easily verifiable fact, but you won't hear that from the apologists. They just rant about how the troops went back with guns the next time.

Its pathetic and its sickening.

[Crushdepth]

suppression of the Media is high on their list. I give it a year maybe two and there will be Riots and demonstrations and the financial rating of Thailand. BOMBING. Glad I aint got my investments in the Thailand Asylum.

im interested to know....you know this whole thaksin silencing the press accusation, was it just the business with sondhi (who lets face it, some of his accusations were quite loopy) that people are referring to or was there more examples of this silencing the press from thaksin?

could someone show me some reliable information on this question? genuine question as all ive really seen is the stuff with sondhi and the way people like to make it out is that thaksin was censoring any media he didn't like....and i don't mean him avoiding questions etc, i'm taking about censoring and silencing

as i said, i'm not saying this is not the case but i haven't found any evidence of it from impartial sources....could someone help me out?

He wasn't censoring media, he was suing them into the ground (being a billionaire comes in handy sometimes) to the extent that the media was starting to self censor. You can see the same thing winding up now, with popular Thai discussion boards ramping up their moderation policy.

[nurofiend]

Apisit is willing to face the court regarding last May. As he said to the senate committee yesterday, he followed the law step by step, he didn't use water cannons as in England recently because the army was facing live weapons, unlike in UK.

Let the law rule, everyone who is charged should go to court. Let's see all the evidence.

An amnesty would be the worst thing for Thailand, those who broke the law must stop acting like children and face the consequences.

But of course that's something Thaksin has never had the courage to do.

A small correction, they attempted to use water cannons to disperse the Rajaprasong camp, they were tore to pieces by the Red Shirts; it was part of a progression of measures taken to end the occupation of the area.

The first attempt by the army to clear Rajaprasong was with *riot gear only*, and the soldiers were met with GRENADES. It's an easily verifiable fact, but you won't hear that from the apologists. They just rant about how the troops went back with guns the next time.

Its pathetic and its sickening.

what's also pathetic and sickening is when the red shirt despisers try and say that the army were justified in every act they committed during the riots

there were disgusting acts from both sides

[nurofiend]

suppression of the Media is high on their list. I give it a year maybe two and there will be Riots and demonstrations and the financial rating of Thailand. BOMBING. Glad I aint got my investments in the Thailand Asylum.

im interested to know....you know this whole thaksin silencing the press accusation, was it just the business with sondhi (who lets face it, some of his accusations were quite loopy) that people are referring to or was there more examples of this silencing the press from thaksin?

could someone show me some reliable information on this question? genuine question as all ive really seen is the stuff with sondhi and the way people like to make it out is that thaksin was censoring any media he didn't like....and i don't mean him avoiding questions etc, i'm taking about censoring and silencing

as i said, i'm not saying this is not the case but i haven't found any evidence of it from impartial sources....could someone help me out?

He wasn't censoring media, he was suing them into the ground (being a billionaire comes in handy sometimes) to the extent that the media was starting to self censor. You can see the same thing winding up now, with popular Thai discussion boards ramping up their moderation policy.

ok but i just want to know was it only the business with sondhi that he was taking this legal action against?

because wasn't there some independent sources that said he had a case for these actions against sondhi's accusations

[tlansford]

So, no expectation for any change that differs from their 4 years of repeated violence and that none of those in leadership will change their tactics.

Thanks for the clarification.

.

IMO the red shirts have made more of an effort to control the violence from the militant parts of their organization than the PAD has done. And you already know that the Red Shirts are not one organization and never have been one organization. There have always been peaceful factions and radical factions. Some come from the poor north/northeast, others come from the middle class, wealthy, and educated.

As far as timelines go, it was exactly 3 years ago that Thailand was dealing with the violence of the yellow shirts and their **occupation** of the government house. Ah, but wait, since they were the "good guys", they were of course peacefully occupying the government building, were not armed at all, and never instigated any violence even when egged on by their main leaders...

In fact, 3 years ago the then opposition leader, Abhisit, 30 senators, and a general visited the PAD protesters in the Government house, at the time that the police had court orders to disperse the protesters, and were well on their way to doing so without violence, and after the visit the PAD burst out of the government house attacking the police and continued a violent occupation, which eventually led to Oct 7 and black Tuesday, the dissolution of the PPP and - lo and behold - Abhisit becoming PM...

Hey - let's not misrepresent the facts here. PPP was dissolved for ELECTORAL FRAUD. Yes, it changed the balance of power in favour of the coalition but that's how the parliamentary system works. If you are not satisfied with that outcome, you should direct your anger against the PPP members who broke the law and thereby destroyed their party. They let their supporters down.

Why complain that people who broke the law got punished? If you can call a five year ban from politics "punishment". It's a pathetically light penalty for trying to subvert the democratic process and put a country of 60 million people under your thrall.

not mis-representing the the facts at all. From the little that I understand of those events, it seems pretty clear to me that there was a lot of maneuvering taking place over a longer period of time in order to force this result. Clearly it was the Dem's who were deeply involved in this manipulation along with other actors. I would argue in fact, that the Dem's are the force that undermined the democratic process. The example given above is one event in which the future PM was directly involved in undermining the rule of law.

I would not expect you to agree with that conclusion, however.

Yes it is true that the PPP was dissolved by the judiciary which made it possible for Absihit to become PM.

Cheers, Tom

[Crushdepth]

Apisit is willing to face the court regarding last May. As he said to the senate committee yesterday, he followed the law step by step, he didn't use water cannons as in England recently because the army was facing live weapons, unlike in UK.

Let the law rule, everyone who is charged should go to court. Let's see all the evidence.

An amnesty would be the worst thing for Thailand, those who broke the law must stop acting like children and face the consequences.

But of course that's something Thaksin has never had the courage to do.

A small correction, they attempted to use water cannons to disperse the Rajaprasong camp, they were tore to pieces by the Red Shirts; it was part of a progression of measures taken to end the occupation of the area.

The first attempt by the army to clear Rajaprasong was with *riot gear only*, and the soldiers were met with GRENADES. It's an easily verifiable fact, but you won't hear that from the apologists. They just rant about how the troops went back with guns the next time.

Its pathetic and its sickening.

what's also pathetic and sickening is when the red shirt despisers try and say that the army were justified in every act they committed during the riots

there were disgusting acts from both sides

I'll grant you that, but one side started this by deliberately using force against the authorities. Once grenades and automatic weapons had been used against unarmed soldiers it was inevitable that they would be issued guns and that the conflict would escalate. Of course, that was the intent of the provocateurs. And the red leaders - who "knew nothing" did absolutely zero to root them out.

[nurofiend]

A small correction, they attempted to use water cannons to disperse the Rajaprasong camp, they were tore to pieces by the Red Shirts; it was part of a progression of measures taken to end the occupation of the area.

The first attempt by the army to clear Rajaprasong was with *riot gear only*, and the soldiers were met with GRENADES. It's an easily verifiable fact, but you won't hear that from the apologists. They just rant about how the troops went back with guns the next time.

Its pathetic and its sickening.

what's also pathetic and sickening is when the red shirt despisers try and say that the army were justified in every act they committed during the riots

there were disgusting acts from both sides

I'll grant you that, but one side started this by deliberately using force against the authorities. Once grenades and automatic weapons had been used against unarmed soldiers it was inevitable that they would be issued guns and that the conflict would escalate. Of course, that was the intent of the provocateurs. And the red leaders - who "knew nothing" did absolutely zero to root them out.

well the tear gas and rubber bullets had already been unleashed on protestors before this incident...not during this particular incident but the army hadn't just been using riot gear all around bangkok up to this point

i'm not excusing the grenade attack for a second, but just making the point that it hadn't been just riot gear used by the army around bangkok before this incident, people were already being shot with rubber bullets before this happened...but yes, that act definitely increased the severity of the armies response

[lannarebirth]

A small correction, they attempted to use water cannons to disperse the Rajaprasong camp, they were tore to pieces by the Red Shirts; it was part of a progression of measures taken to end the occupation of the area.

The first attempt by the army to clear Rajaprasong was with *riot gear only*, and the soldiers were met with GRENADES. It's an easily verifiable fact, but you won't hear that from the apologists. They just rant about how the troops went back with guns the next time.

Its pathetic and its sickening.

what's also pathetic and sickening is when the red shirt despisers try and say that the army were justified in every act they committed during the riots

there were disgusting acts from both sides

I'll grant you that, but one side started this by deliberately using force against the authorities. Once grenades and automatic weapons had been used against unarmed soldiers it was inevitable that they would be issued guns and that the conflict would escalate. Of course, that was the intent of the provocateurs. And the red leaders - who "knew nothing" did absolutely zero to root them out.

Did nothing to root them out? Hey, they installed them. It was always their aim to draw blood of Red Shirts, even if they had to do it themselves initially.

[rubl]

While a discussion on the usefulness of rubber bullets (and the Beatles) has it's attractions, the OP is about 'Dem's call for an end of intimidation of Govt critics by the red-shirts'

You know, those peaceful protesters who don't like to be accused of being wrong in any way, or have people ask aggressive questions to their idol, the sweet smiling Ms. Yingluck.

"Some 20 red shirts on Tuesday held a rally at Channel 7 station protesting the work of a reporter and demanding charges be dropped for a red shirt from Phetchaburi involving in press intimidation.

The rally, led by Nopporn Namchiangtai, displayed a number banners critical of the television reporter for posing aggressive questions to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

After a peaceful rally for about 20 minutes, Nopporn presented an open letter demanding the station management to drop a police complaint filed against the fellow red shirt linked to the chain e-mailing to intimidate the reporter."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/08/30/national/20-reds-rally-at-Channel-7-30164063.html

[Buchholz]

While a discussion on the usefulness of rubber bullets (and the Beatles) has it's attractions, the OP is about 'Dem's call for an end of intimidation of Govt critics by the red-shirts'

You know, those peaceful protesters who don't like to be accused of being wrong in any way, or have people ask aggressive questions to their idol, the sweet smiling Ms. Yingluck.

"Some 20 red shirts on Tuesday held a rally at Channel 7 station protesting the work of a reporter and demanding charges be dropped for a red shirt from Phetchaburi involving in press intimidation.

The rally, led by Nopporn Namchiangtai, displayed a number banners critical of the television reporter for posing aggressive questions to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

After a peaceful rally for about 20 minutes, Nopporn presented an open letter demanding the station management to drop a police complaint filed against the fellow red shirt linked to the chain e-mailing to intimidate the reporter."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/08/30/national/20-reds-rally-at-Channel-7-30164063.html

So now, rather than condemning these more volatile elements of the Red Shirts (those assaulting the reporter), we have the Red Shirts defending these thuggish characters.

Also, what happened to Pheu Thai Party's role in this? What happened to the distancing of the two entities? Where is their condemnation of the assaulters and/or directing the Red Shirts to rein them in like Chalerm said he was going to do? The opposite is happening as these renegades (as the apologists call them) are ramping up their outlandish activities, instead of toning it down.

.

[nurofiend]

suppression of the Media is high on their list. I give it a year maybe two and there will be Riots and demonstrations and the financial rating of Thailand. BOMBING. Glad I aint got my investments in the Thailand Asylum.

im interested to know....you know this whole thaksin silencing the press accusation, was it just the business with sondhi (who lets face it, some of his accusations were quite loopy) that people are referring to or was there more examples of this silencing the press from thaksin?

could someone show me some reliable information on this question? genuine question as all ive really seen is the stuff with sondhi and the way people like to make it out is that thaksin was censoring any media he didn't like....and i don't mean him avoiding questions etc, i'm taking about censoring and silencing

as i said, i'm not saying this is not the case but i haven't found any evidence of it from impartial sources....could someone help me out?

He wasn't censoring media, he was suing them into the ground (being a billionaire comes in handy sometimes) to the extent that the media was starting to self censor. You can see the same thing winding up now, with popular Thai discussion boards ramping up their moderation policy.

ok but i just want to know was it only the business with sondhi that he was taking this legal action against?

because wasn't there some independent sources that said he had a case for these actions against sondhi's accusations

just wondering if you know an answer to this crushdepth or anyone else for that matter?

[Buchholz]

.

Reds vow to protect PM, government

"We will act as a bodyguard for the government and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra" : Red Shirt Leader and Pheu Thai Party-list MP Kokaew Pikulthong.

Red shirts will act as the bodyguard for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Pheu Thai government, red-shirt leader Kokaew Pikulthong vowed yesterday.

Critics have said the red shirts, as a political movement, should have dissolved after the victory of the Pheu Thai Party and would bring problems for the government if they continued their role in politics - but Kokaew disagrees.

"The red-shirt movement cannot stop its role. We have three or four goals to achieve and will never stop until the goals have been reached. We want real democracy, one standard judicial system, and national reconciliation. We want Thai people to love each other as before, to turn our country back to the smiling Siam," Kokaew said during an exclusive interview with The Nation.

Kokaew is one of the red-shirt leaders jailed for nine months after the red rally was dispersed last year. He later became a Pheu Thai Party-list MP.

"We also expect the Pheu Thai government to help us to achieve these goals - so we will encourage, support and protect the government to do the job. We could say we will be acting as the bodyguard for the government and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra," he added.

On the day the government delivered its policy last week, a group of red shirts assaulted two students who put a wreath in front of the Parliament. It was an event that hurt the image of the government.

Kokaew, is now a Party-list MP of the Pheu Thai Party, explained there were a number of reasons to keep the red shirts together with the government. He said most red shirts were worried about the situation.

"Although Pheu Thai won victory in the election, it is difficult to anticipate how long the government will last. We cannot trust the situation. It could be something like the government under late Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat,"

The Pheu Thai party-list MP said the existence and presence of the red-shirted group could [make] opponents [think again].

"Some factions in the military who dislike the government might seek opportunities to stage a coup d'etat or they might use extra power to topple the government. I never trust them in this situation. It's better to have a powerful mass like the red shirts. If the red shirts [remain] strong, the military cannot intervene in the government," he said.

Kokaew tried to insist that amnesty for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was not their aim. "Thaksin's opponents might not believe us, but time will give you an answer," he replied with an answer many might say was hard to believe.

Asked about how red shirts could be held responsible to the law, Kokaew said if there was anything in public opinion that could be deemed an improper act or against the law, it was the red-shirt leaders' duty to take control.

He said the leaders had to make red shirts understand that behaving would help reduce the burden on the government.

"We want Yingluck's government to last long, at least to complete its four year term. We will do our best to

protect the government and prevent opponents from using the red shirts as a pretext to attack the government,"

"I think we (the red shirts) all understand we have sacrificed even our lives to install this government, some of us are now still in the prison. We have the government, why don't we do our best to protect it?" he said.

Last week and again yesterday the Yingluck government appointed red-shirt leaders to political positions, including those of adviser and minister's secretary.

Kakaew said the appointments were expected as the red-shirt movement had helped Pheu Thai. The appointments were thus Yingluck's thanks to the red-shirt leaders, in a way.

He said he believed Yingluck wanted to appoint some red shirt leaders as ministers. But she baulked because of the tense political situation and moves to help the country achieve reconciliation.

-- The Nation 2011-08-31

[nurofiend]

see the thing is, the democrats know they can't win by general election...and being the strongest opposition they're the only hope of getting PTP out

it's so obvious there will be a coup or possibly a dissolution before the next G.E

Edited August 30, 2011 by nurofiend

[lannarebirth]

see the thing is, the democrats know they can't win by general election...and being the strongest opposition they're the only hope of getting PTP out

it's so obvious there will be a coup or possibly a dissolution before the next G.E

Of course it is, but why wouldn't be just as obvious that the reason for that will be PTP's ongong flouting of Thailand's election laws?

[nurofiend]

see the thing is, the democrats know they can't win by general election...and being the strongest opposition they're the only hope of getting PTP out

it's so obvious there will be a coup or possibly a dissolution before the next G.E

Of course it is, but why wouldn't be just as obvious that the reason for that will be PTP's ongong flouting of Thailand's election laws?

i think no matter what the PTP do, they'll still be drove out tbh

excuse my ignorance but where is the ongoing flouting of thailands election laws? and in what way are you defining the flouting?

are they breaking laws?

[lannarebirth]

see the thing is, the democrats know they can't win by general election...and being the strongest opposition they're the only hope of getting PTP out

it's so obvious there will be a coup or possibly a dissolution before the next G.E

Of course it is, but why wouldn't be just as obvious that the reason for that will be PTP's ongong flouting of Thailand's election laws?

i think no matter what the PTP do, they'll still be drove out tbh

excuse my ignorance but where is the ongoing flouting of thailands election laws? and in what way are you defining the flouting?

are they breaking laws?

I assume you're aware that banned politicians may not be involved in Thailand politics?

[Roadman]

see the thing is, the democrats know they can't win by general election...and being the strongest opposition they're the only hope of getting PTP out

it's so obvious there will be a coup or possibly a dissolution before the next G.E

Wow. What a wonderful place ThaiVisa is. I learm something new everyday, like now that the Dems are also the Army and are going to call a coup.

The only reason there will be a coup is if this current bunch of thieves fail to follow democratic processes, the same as the master thief failed to do that led to the last coup.

[rubl]

NATIONAL

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Reds vow to protect PM, govt

By Somroutai Sapsomboon

The Nation

Published on August 31, 2011

"We will act as a bodyguard for the government and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra" : red shirt leader and Pheu Thai party-list MP Kokaew Pikulthong.

Red shirts will act as the bodyguard for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Pheu Thai government, red-shirt leader Kokaew Pikulthong vowed yesterday.

Critics have said the red shirts, as a political movement, should have dissolved after the victory of the Pheu Thai Party and would bring problems for the government if they continued their role in politics - but Kokaew disagrees.

"The red-shirt movement cannot stop its role. We have three or four goals to achieve and will never stop until the goals have been reached. We want real democracy, one standard judicial system and national reconciliation. We want Thai people to love each other as before, to turn our country back to the smiling Siam," Kokaew said during an exclusive interview with The Nation.

Kokaew is one of the red-shirt leaders jailed for nine months after the red rally was dispersed last year. He later became a Pheu Thai party-list MP.

"We also expect the Pheu Thai government to help us to achieve these goals - so we will encourage, support and protect the government to do the job. We could say we will be acting as the bodyguard for the government and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra," he added.

On the day the government delivered its policy last week, a group of red shirts assaulted two students who put a wreath in front of the Parliament. It was an event that hurt the image of the government.

Kokaew, is now a party-list MP of the Pheu Thai party, explained there were a number of reasons to keep the red shirts together with the government. He said most red shirts were worried about the situation.

"Although Pheu Thai won victory in the election, it is difficult to anticipate how long the government will last. We cannot trust the situation. It could be something like the government under late Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat,"

The Pheu Thai party-list MP said the existence and presence of the red-shirted group could [make] opponents [think again].

"Some factions in the military who dislike the government might seek opportunities to stage a coup d'etat or they might use extra power to topple the government. I never trust them in this situation. It's better to have a powerful mass like the red shirts. If the red shirts [remain] strong, the military cannot intervene in the government," he said.

Kokaew tried to insist that amnesty for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was not their aim. "Thaksin's opponents might not believe us, but time will give you an answer," he replied with an answer many might say was hard to believe.

Asked about how red shirts could be held responsible to the law, Kokaew said if there was anything in public opinion that could be deemed an improper act or against the law, it was the red-shirt leaders' duty to take control.

He said the leaders had to make red shirts understand that behaving would help reduce the burden on the government.

"We want Yingluck's government to last long, at least to complete its four year term. We will do our best to protect the government and prevent opponents from using the red shirts as a pretext to attack the government,"

"I think we (the red shirts) all understand we have sacrificed even our lives to install this government, some of us are now still in the prison. We have the government, why don't we do our best to protect it?" he said.

Last week and again yesterday the Yingluck government appointed red-shirt leaders to political positions, including those of adviser and minister's secretary.

Kakaew said the appointments were expected as the red-shirt movement had helped Pheu Thai. The appointments were thus Yingluck's thanks to the red-shirt leaders, in a way.

He said he believed Yingluck wanted to appoint some red shirt leaders as ministers. But she baulked because of the tense political situation and moves to help the country achieve reconciliation.

-- The Nation 2011-08-31

Edited August 30, 2011 by rubl

[nurofiend]

see the thing is, the democrats know they can't win by general election...and being the strongest opposition they're the only hope of getting PTP out

it's so obvious there will be a coup or possibly a dissolution before the next G.E

Wow. What a wonderful place ThaiVisa is. I learm something new everyday, like now that the Dems are also the Army and are going to call a coup.

The only reason there will be a coup is if this current bunch of thieves fail to follow democratic processes, the same as the master thief failed to do that led to the last coup.

no you didn't learm (sic) that from my post anyway

where did my post imply that the dems are also the army?

where did i imply that it would be the dems calling the coup?

your post is quite simply, ridiculous, but i'm used to it...wonderful place indeed....once again my mouth is being filled with words i didn't say, i'm surprised i haven't choked yet here.

you think the army want PTP in power? they've said their not going to plan or stage a coup... woah i just got deja vu from 06

also, try and open your mind up just a microscopic bit and do a bit more reading up on the 06 coup... and from impartial sources

[nurofiend]

see the thing is, the democrats know they can't win by general election...and being the strongest opposition they're the only hope of getting PTP out

it's so obvious there will be a coup or possibly a dissolution before the next G.E

Of course it is, but why wouldn't be just as obvious that the reason for that will be PTP's ongong flouting of Thailand's election laws?

i think no matter what the PTP do, they'll still be drove out tbh

excuse my ignorance but where is the ongoing flouting of thailands election laws? and in what way are you defining the flouting?

are they breaking laws?

I assume you're aware that banned politicians may not be involved in Thailand politics?

why don't you just answer my question without being smarmy?

yes your smart-ass assumption is correct

i said excuse my ignorance, so obviously i was looking for you to point out what and who you were talking about...but if you can't engage in conversation without attempting to flame then that's fine by me

[MAJIC]

This is Redshirt Democracy as they see it.

They think they can do whatever they like now,

who would have guessed it?

[janverbeem]

.

Reds vow to protect PM, government

"We will act as a bodyguard for the government and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra" : Red Shirt Leader and Pheu Thai Party-list MP Kokaew Pikulthong.

<snipped>

"Although Pheu Thai won victory in the election, it is difficult to anticipate how long the government will last. We cannot trust the situation. It could be something like the government under late Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat,"

The Pheu Thai party-list MP said the existence and presence of the red-shirted group could [make] opponents [think again].

<snipped>

-- The Nation 2011-08-31

This also could,and actually should, read as :

Although PTP won the election we are afraid that our voters will see early through our lies and false promises,but we would like to remind them that we burned the city before and are ready to do it again.