Bangkok: Huge Turnout Expected At Red-Shirt Rally Today

[birdpooguava]

The Reds are currently by far the most important political movement in Thailand and many are bitter about that reality.

[gand]

I guess that explains why the 'red shirts' are still a minority?

[yeeowww]

The Reds are currently by far the most important political movement in Thailand and many are bitter about that reality.

"Important" to who?

And yes, many are very bitter about the reality of thousands of untethered brainwashed fools running around causing severe social unrest and public disruption to support a maniacal despot sociopath.

... or as George Carlin so aptly put it, "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups".

[gand]

Did the 'red shirts' bring M79 grenade launchers, RPGs, AK47s and bottles of petro again, for their so called peaceful protest?

[LuckyLew]

I was just down in the area

and the crowd is growing and they are staying true to form

ignoring traffic lights .... stopping traffic .... signalling cars to

get out of there way, going against the traffic, driving in wrong lanes

same same different day

[webfact]

Red Shirt supporters join 2nd anniversary of protest at Ratchaprasong

BANGKOK, May 19 -- Red shirt supporters started gathering at Ratchaprasong intersection to join activities organized by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) -- the red shirt movement -- to mark the second anniversary of the 2010 protest against the previous Abhisit Vejjajiva-led administration.

Rachadamri road was closed from Ratchaprasong intersection to Pratunam and a stage was constructed similar to the Red Shirt protest in 2010.

Many vendors prepared various merchandises to commemorate the protest by the Red Shirt movement.

The gathering officially started at 2pm with merit making for the Red Shirt supporters who lost their lives during the protest clampdown.

Former prime minister Thakin Shinawatra was scheduled to address the crowd via video link from an unknown location at 8pm.

Robert Amsterdam, the Canadian lawyer for fugitive ousted ex-premier Thaksin and the UDD, was to deliver a brief on the development of the lawsuit asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague to investigate alleged crimes against humanity during 2010's April-May clashes between Red Shirt protesters and government's security forces last year.

The case would cover the death of 91 victims during the protest.

The rally was scheduled to end at 2 am of May 20.

Metropolitan Police Bureau spokesperson Pol Col Preeda Sataworn earlier said the police expected a huge crowd to join the event, so five companies of police--or 1,200 personnel including traffic police, investigative police and bomb squad--would be deployed around the Ratchaprasong intersection.

Col Preeda urged motorists to avoid the roads around Ratchaprasong intersection because traffic was expected to be seriously jammed.

Retail centers nearby the rally site--Big C, Gaysorn Plaza and CentralWorld--which were affected by the protests in 2010 announced that they would open as normal but security was stepped up.

However, there has been only a light turnout of customers. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-05-19

[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

You are claiming they are being paid. Do you have any evidence to support this claim?

I believe you still don't get it. There is a core demographic that supports the UDD, the same way there is a core group that supports Newin or Abhisit.

[webfact]

Thaivisa member report

Traffic completely jammed around central, taxis refusing to go there.

Sukhumvit traffic jammed all the way from Nana bts into the center.

Red shirt vehicles from all over Thailand parked directly on Sukhumvit road.

[Siripon]

i do hope the red shirt speakers will apologise for the 12 deaths the DSI say they are responsible for .

[gand]

Thaivisa member report

Traffic completely jammed around central, taxis refusing to go there.

Sukhumvit traffic jammed all the way from Nana bts into the center.

Red shirt vehicles from all over Thailand parked directly on Sukhumvit road.

Call in the tow trucks.

[webfact]

Rajprasong turns red

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The entire Rajprasong Intersection turned red Saturday afternoon with thousands of red-shirt people occupying the roads to commemorate two years after the killings of their peers by troops.

The red-shirt people started blocking the Rajprasong Intersection since 5 am to set up a stage facing the Rajdamri Road towards Pratunam area.

By 9 am, they started occupying the Rajdamri Road in front of the stage. By noon, the entire Rajdamri Road in front of CentralWorld shopping mall was occupied up to the Pratunam Intersection.

The two roadsides were also occupied with vendors selling foods, drinks and souvenirs, which are political symbols.

Police have been deployed to keep security around the rally site with no violent incident reported so far.

CentralWorld also put up barriers around the mall with security officers guarding the entrances.

Police also set up four security checkpoints around the rally site and security guards of the red-shirt movement also set up their own checpoints to check those who came to join the rally.

The checkpoints were located at the Chidlom Intersection, in front of Mater Dei School, the Pratunam Intersection, Chalermpao Intersection, in front of the Forensic Science Institute, the Rajdamri Intersection and in front of the Police Hospital. Police were also deployed to keep security on flyovers in the area.

Pol Col Saranyu Chamnarnrat, deputy commander of Metropolitan Police Division 5, said about 1,200 policemen were deployed to keep security at Rajprasong.

The red-shirt demonstrators are scheduled to disperse at 2 am on Sunday.

-- The Nation 2012-05-19

[gand]

Where is a monsoon downpour when you need one?

[MaxLee]

Why do I have such a funny feeling that it gets out of control as usual??? Do you really the red shirts will disperse that quickly as promised???

They smelled the blood and they go for it as long as their is no security or laws in place.

[yeeowww]

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

[media=]

[/media]

Rallying from the heart are they? No proof of anyone being paid you say? HAH! Put that in your pipe and smoke it Geriatrick and PhiPhiDon. Your response of denial I expect should be forthcoming, please...

[Thaddeus]

Thaksin is nothing more than your typical "Snake Oil Salesman"

It's worse than that, snake oil is actually quite good for you, he sells poison labelled as an elixir.

[patjem]

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.

I very much doubt they show any remorse for the innocent folk & servicemen that were killed by grenades lobbed by red yobs.

[Skywalker69]

Where is a monsoon downpour when you need one?

[givenall]

i see more cars than people so far and most of people look like grand pas and grand mas going for a day to the town

[gand]

i see more cars than people so far and most of people look like grand pas and grand mas going for a day to the town

The family might be looking for a payout should they be a victim of violence, since the gov't is paying them for the last victims.

[Bagwan]

I saw the 2 red shirt supporters leaving from Surat railway station yesterday. There must have been 100 people cheering and waving them goodbye, strangely none of them were wearing red shirts.

Ahh, so basically you are saying that the support for redshirts is a lot greater than the numbers that show up at any given rally.

Not necessarily. The 100 or so could have been muttering under their breath '<deleted> off, and don't come back."

When I was learning to play the violin all my good hearted neighbours chipped in to amass a fund so that I could continue my studies in Paris, or Rome, or Vienna - or anywhere.

[jungledrums]

I wunder if Red Leader Thaksin will jet in on his bright red US$50m private jet A6-BBD....... A6 is Adu Dhabi! Just google A6-BBD and see where he goes.....

[birdpooguava]

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

[media=]

[/media]

Rallying from the heart are they? No proof of anyone being paid you say? HAH! Put that in your pipe and smoke it Geriatrick and PhiPhiDon. Your response of denial I expect should be forthcoming, please...

What exactly are they being paid for here? Paid for delivering supplies, setting up the stage, rent of speakers,...etc. This proves nothing. The reds openly advertised the payment of travel expenses to travel to the demonstrations. 500 baht per traveller & 3,000 per vehicle owner. During the protests millions of baht were donated every day by individuals, families, companies, organisations. After almost each speaker/performer they read out the pledges and they were substantial. Pledges of hundreds of thousands of baht were common. There was plenty of money to provide food and pay expenses for those people attending who were obviously sacrificing their regular income.

But I have to read the constant frothing about how it was all funded by the evil fugitive, ruthlessly using the ignorant farmers as cannon fodder to satisfy his megalomania.

[kerryk]

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

That's a great question. It is obvious you have not been in Thailand long and certainly not on Thai Visa long. I don't see any great political savvy or understanding of national or international politics on your part. Why are you posting about Thai politics and always anti Red shirts? Why? What do you get out of it? What do you think will be the outcome of you jumping up and down and saying I agree I agree the Reds are bad. You don't say anything new or different. Why do you post? Do you think your actions will accomplish something? Anything? I'm not trying to critique you. I am curious why. Is there a group that funds the Farang anti Red shirts. I know your point about the Reds being paid has some validity but is there also a group that financially contributes to people who are opposed to them?

[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

[media=]

[/media]

Rallying from the heart are they? No proof of anyone being paid you say? HAH! Put that in your pipe and smoke it Geriatrick and PhiPhiDon. Your response of denial I expect should be forthcoming, please...

What exactly are they being paid for here? Paid for delivering supplies, setting up the stage, rent of speakers,...etc. This proves nothing. The reds openly advertised the payment of travel expenses to travel to the demonstrations. 500 baht per traveller & 3,000 per vehicle owner. During the protests millions of baht were donated every day by individuals, families, companies, organisations. After almost each speaker/performer they read out the pledges and they were substantial. Pledges of hundreds of thousands of baht were common. There was plenty of money to provide food and pay expenses for those people attending who were obviously sacrificing their regular income.

But I have to read the constant frothing about how it was all funded by the evil fugitive, ruthlessly using the ignorant farmers as cannon fodder to satisfy his megalomania.

Are they getting paid or not. Would they come to Bangkok if they was´nt paid?

[rubl]

^ #82:

So that's how the government got the list of people who's accounts were frozen for a while, for funding a "peaceful protest, not a terrorist activity".

You're right, clips within or without context are very difficult to judge on value. Ask k. Tarit of the DSI :-)

[kerryk]

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.

You wrote, " 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." Why? That amazes me that a political party can do anything in 10 months good or bad. So what happened to you that the party in power is responsible for?

[kerryk]

I guess that explains why the 'red shirts' are still a minority?

What party is in the majority or has more members then the Red Shirts?

[animatic]

I saw the 2 red shirt supporters leaving from Surat railway station yesterday. There must have been 100 people cheering and waving them goodbye, strangely none of them were wearing red shirts.

Ahh, so basically you are saying that the support for redshirts is a lot greater than the numbers that show up at any given rally.

Not necessarily. The 100 or so could have been muttering under their breath '<deleted> off, and don't come back."

When I was learning to play the violin all my good hearted neighbours chipped in to amass a fund so that I could continue my studies in Paris, or Rome, or Vienna - or anywhere.

Bagwan, remember sarcasm goes over the heads of some respondents here.

[rheinwiese]

I wunder if Red Leader Thaksin will jet in on his bright red US$50m private jet A6-BBD....... A6 is Adu Dhabi! Just google A6-BBD and see where he goes.....

Actually it's not Thaksin's own private jet as he so often claims.

The bird is owned by Empire Avaiation Group, a private jet charter company based in Dubai.

http://www.empire.aero/index.php

As many of the rich and famous you simply rent a jet by the hour or you buy a fractional ownership.

[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.

You wrote, " 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." Why? That amazes me that a political party can do anything in 10 months good or bad. So what happened to you that the party in power is responsible for?

As I recall the Red Tshirt Gang cried the worst when "nothing happened" in the first year under the previous administration. The point is that there were claims made by Thaksin that specifically gave time tables and which were promised in less than 10 months. Please re-read my post and reply specifically to the questions posed before skirting the issues and asking me what makes me sad about this pathetic government.