Bangkok: Huge Turnout Expected At Red-Shirt Rally Today

[gand]

Celebrating a failed coup attempt?

[Gillespie]

A picture is worth a thousand words we are told. This particular image left me speechless,.

Do we now see the true face of the Red Shirt movement appearing led by a despotic character who resides outside of the Kingdom.

Graphic image courtesy of http://www.facebook....35060922&type=1

No, you see the failures of the Thai education system. As exhibited here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042097/Student-Nazi-dress-day-causes-outrage-Thailand.html

and elsewhere...

[SIamYank]

I am no red shirt supporter, but I dont understand the general incredulity with the fact that red supporters are receiving compensation for their time. Certainly this is true of other political groups most other countries around the world, including so called 1st world countries in America and Europe. Political action Groups, Labor Unions, Churches all receive funding either from business interests, or personal contributors and that funding is used to fund rallies, transportation, food and yes pay for the core members and managers. These groups of course tell their members how to vote. It seems petty to claim this is a Thai only political phenomenon.

This type of activity has no correlation with the fact that many red shirts are poor. Poor farmers, poor urbanites, working class, middle class, as well as hi so lawers, media people, developers etc all play the same exact game, all around the world. In this case it just so happens that the consituency of the red shirts is poor. So what?

[webfact]

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:30am Panorama photo looking towards Ratchaprasong intersection during Red Shirt Rally http://bit.ly/JDGQuD

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:36am This photo is looking away from the stage towards Pratunam http://bit.ly/JDHcSc

[rubl]

I like this photo from Richard Barrow today. CentralWorld two years later :-)

http://www.facebook....&type=3

[birdpooguava]

Protest all they want - just don't BURN DOWN ANY DAMNED BUILDINGS

I don't think it is a protest. Rather it is a memorial event for those killed in the Bangkok protests.

"Memorialize" all they want - just don't BURN DOWN ANY DAMNED BUILDINGS

but a lot of insurance money was made

[WhizBang]

Protest all they want - just don't BURN DOWN ANY DAMNED BUILDINGS

I don't think it is a protest. Rather it is a memorial event for those killed in the Bangkok protests.

"Memorialize" all they want - just don't BURN DOWN ANY DAMNED BUILDINGS

I'd rather they didn't disrupt traffic........

I'd rather they just stayed home.

[catweazle]

Don't we all stand in total awe sometimes looking at this country and wondering how everything still somehow works despite all the turmoil and idiotic things coming up on a daily (or should I better say hourly) basis?

[lovetotravel]

Greath! another forcing the prices up in Thailand.

Just let Thaksin come back.

Build casino's so I can play live poker games...

I know it's comming so why not now?

Because in a country like Thailand, with rampant corruption, legalized gambling is the absolutely wrong thing to do. It fosters so much more crime, and will devastate so many families here.

I am no red shirt supporter, but I dont understand the general incredulity with the fact that red supporters are receiving compensation for their time. Certainly this is true of other political groups most other countries around the world, including so called 1st world countries in America and Europe. Political action Groups, Labor Unions, Churches all receive funding either from business interests, or personal contributors and that funding is used to fund rallies, transportation, food and yes pay for the core members and managers. These groups of course tell their members how to vote. It seems petty to claim this is a Thai only political phenomenon.

This type of activity has no correlation with the fact that many red shirts are poor. Poor farmers, poor urbanites, working class, middle class, as well as hi so lawers, media people, developers etc all play the same exact game, all around the world. In this case it just so happens that the consituency of the red shirts is poor. So what?

I think it's kinda like getting paid to vote. Are you voting for PTP because you got paid, or because you like what they stand for? Same with the protests in Bangkok. Are you attending the rallies because you are a fan? Or because it puts money in your pocket and is a big party? I have many relatives that attended the protests in Bangkok. 95% did it for the money and fun. Period.

They did a blind poll last year. Showing the PTP's platform and the Dem's. Most liked what the Dem's were offering better. But they voted PTP. Is that coming back to haunt them???

[gand]

Siege of Bangkok Part Duex?

[WhizBang]

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:30am Panorama photo looking towards Ratchaprasong intersection during Red Shirt Rally http://bit.ly/JDGQuD

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:36am This photo is looking away from the stage towards Pratunam http://bit.ly/JDHcSc

Isn't this how it started last time?

[catweazle]

'Red Army' 'Red Guard' 'Khmer Rouge' 'Red Shirts'

Yupp !!! Isn't red the worst color to chose for so-called "freedom fighters" ??? I am going on about the choice of color as well whenever I discuss this topic with friends. I also believe the photo with the NS swastika on that woman's t shirt says it all - total ignorance and absence of common sense...

[gand]

I guess I better buy a red shirt if I need to go out and about today.

[Skywalker69]

Good for them

Get them off their farms and out of their red villages.

Also, the 500 - 1000 baht they are surely being paid

to attend will help them put food on the table tomorrow.

Not sure how the will pay to feed themselves the day

after though.

Memorial is good, just too bad they still do not realize

their leaders led them in a slaughter, IMO

[Markaew]

Even my red shirt friends in Issan shake their heads, and roll their eyes when I mention Yingluck. I believe they are losing patience with her lack of competence. Let us see how many show up for these rallies. Perhaps it will be a sign of how much support remains for the neophyte.

Maybe the rally is for a switch from Yingluck to her brother.

[geriatrickid]

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:30am Panorama photo looking towards Ratchaprasong intersection during Red Shirt Rally http://bit.ly/JDGQuD

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:36am This photo is looking away from the stage towards Pratunam http://bit.ly/JDHcSc

Isn't this how it started last time?

No.

[catweazle]

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:30am Panorama photo looking towards Ratchaprasong intersection during Red Shirt Rally http://bit.ly/JDGQuD

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:36am This photo is looking away from the stage towards Pratunam http://bit.ly/JDHcSc

Isn't this how it started last time?

Perhaps Bkk is up for another 'Big One' - good timing, since the flood thing by now is over and forgotten, so why give the people in the city of angels a chance to breathe and go on with business as usual if one - as a farmer with obviously too much time on his hands - gets the chance to burn down a few shopping complexes and noodle shops instead and even getting paid for it?

[Skywalker69]

50,000 red-shirt supporters?

Yesterday it was 100,000 then 200,000.

There must be a lot of lost reds somewhere. Check under your beds guys

Thais and mathematics doesn´t go hand in hand.

[geriatrickid]

I guess I better buy a red shirt if I need to go out and about today.

Have a look at the panaroma photos. The attendees are not all wearing redshirts.

[geriatrickid]

Even my red shirt friends in Issan shake their heads, and roll their eyes when I mention Yingluck. I believe they are losing patience with her lack of competence. Let us see how many show up for these rallies. Perhaps it will be a sign of how much support remains for the neophyte.

Maybe the rally is for a switch from Yingluck to her brother.

Well, ot's certainly not a switch to Abhisit who has been MIA this past week.

[Markaew]

Protest all they want - just don't BURN DOWN ANY DAMNED BUILDINGS

Funny how everybody remembers the structural damage rather than the bullet-riddled corpses. There was Facebook memorial page for CentralWorld. Good that BKK-ers have got their priorities right.

Actually quite common here. Thais value possessions more than life.

[Skywalker69]

Protest all they want - just don't BURN DOWN ANY DAMNED BUILDINGS

I don't think it is a protest. Rather it is a memorial event for those killed in the Bangkok protests.

"Memorialize" all they want - just don't BURN DOWN ANY DAMNED BUILDINGS

I'd rather they didn't disrupt traffic........

So you don´t mind them burning down buildings, then?

[otherstuff1957]

A lot of people confuse the Redshirts with communists because of their choice of color. As you can see from this photo, they aren't communists at all!

[Markaew]

We have been over this topic a hundred times. Get over it. The Thais have no clue what this symbol really means. To them it just means power.

A picture is worth a thousand words we are told. This particular image left me speechless,.

Do we now see the true face of the Red Shirt movement appearing led by a despotic character who resides outside of the Kingdom.

Graphic image courtesy of http://www.facebook....35060922&type=1

[Skywalker69]

'Red Army' 'Red Guard' 'Khmer Rouge' 'Red Shirts'

Red sh_t.

[webfact]

Thailand's 'Red Shirts' to rally in Bangkok

Bangkok, May 19, 2012 (AFP) - Tens of thousands of "Red Shirt" supporters were expected to bring central Bangkok to a standstill Saturday on the second anniversary of a deadly crackdown on street protests, city police said.

At least 1,200 officers will be deployed for the 14-hour rally in the retail heart of the city, where the 2010 protests in support of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra descended into the kingdom's worst violence in decades.

Police blocked traffic at the Ratchaprasong intersection, one of Bangkok's busiest junctions, as busloads of Red Shirts from across the country arrived in the city centre a few hours ahead of the rally.

"We expect tens of thousands of them to join the anniversary," Major General Worasak Nopsitthiporn, deputy commander of Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau, said.

"Traffic in front of Central World (a landmark shopping mall) is blocked after they set up the rally stage last night."

Red Shirt leaders expect between 100,000 and 200,000 people at the rally, which will begin with Buddhist prayers for those killed in the 2010 unrest and see a live video link address from Red Shirt hero Thaksin, who lives overseas to avoid arrest in Thailand.

More than 90 people, mostly civilians, died in the 2010 violence, which marked the culmination of a series of rival protests since a 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin.

The Red Shirts and rights groups have called on the new government, led by Thaksin's sister Yingluck, to prosecute soldiers and officials responsible for causing the deaths and injuries, many to unarmed demonstrators.

"We have to seek justice otherwise the use of force to crackdown on protesters may happen again," Red Shirt leader Thida Thavorseth said Friday.

Thailand has seen a string of violent protests since 2005, involving the arch royalist and nationalist Yellow Shirts, the mainly rural working-class Red Shirts and several smaller factions.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-05-19

[gand]

Paid to riot, Paid to vote, Paid if you are a victim. As they say, follow the money.

[MaxLee]

I have to cancel most of my plans today,...

[yeeowww]

Just let Thaksin come back.

I don't get it... Thaksin IS back. He was brought back the past election via his self proclaimed "clone" sister and is calling the shots, pulling the strings & making the decisions for ALL things happening in this government via his sister and his puppets in power. Puah Thai election campaign slogan even admits it, "Thaksin kit, Puah Thai tahm" (What Thaksin thinks, Puah Thai does). My question is this, why the hell then isn't he working his "magic" and making everything wonderful again which is what all of his hyper-ignorant supporters truly believe? What happened to the campaign promise "There will be NO MORE POOR in 6 months!", "I will bring the price of Gold back down", "Drug dealers will cease to deal drugs the moment my plane touches the ground..." And we don't even need to get into the other lame promises of IMMEDIATE nationwide 300 Baht a day wage increase, computer tablets for every student, guarantee major sales price increases for rice farmers, etc, etc... It's been 10 months now and I can tell you that this has been the absolute WORST 10 months of my previous 7 years here. The reality is simply this, Thaksin is nothing more than your typical "Snake Oil Salesman" promising the world, fleecing the public for it's money and then double-talking his way around any prior claims. Let the Red Tshirts crap in one hand and wait for Thaksin promises fulfilled in the other and see which one fills up first.

[LuckyLew]

My dear, the consensus might be that you are indeed excellent however ... one cannot help thinking it might just be a tad possible you don't see the reality. Who would afford to come from, say, Surat, on their own money? There's a reason they are in Surat ...

Ahh, glad that you cleared that up. According to you, all of the UDD supporters in Surat are impoverished. Have you looked at the just who is climbing on board the PTP bandwagon in the past 3 months? I think you are deluded if you don't realize that a great many people are changing sides again. Perhaps one day you will pay attention to the long list of pilgrims to visit Mr. Thaksin and the PTP leadership. If the political winds turn against PTP they'll change sides again. Until then, the tides of power have shifted in favour of PTP.

Yes I see who is climbing aboard the PTP bandwagon

111 people who were banned from politics for various wrong doings

UDD and PTP and Thaksin are forming a new axis of evil