4 Feb Anti-thaksin Demonstration Thread

[ratcatcher]

The Nation Newspaper: DEMAND FOR THAKSIN’S RESIGNATION: 100,000 rise against PM

The Bangkok Post Newspaper:The rally led by media publisher Sondhi Limthongkul drew at least 50,000 people who showed their anger at Mr Thaksin

My question: Where did the other 50,000 people go when the Bangkok Post counted the crowd?

Edited February 5, 2006 by ratcatcher

[Maestro]

Was the resignation of the Telecommunications Minister announced at the rally?

Here is a translation of an excerpt from an article in a Swiss paper:

During the rally on Saturday a government spokesman announced that the Minister for Telecommunications has resigned. He did not mention the reasons for the resignation.

Source: Neue Zuercher Zeitung, 5 FEB 2006

Original article in German language

I can’t find anything about it in The Nation or the Bangkok Post, nor in this forum.

-----------

Maestro

Edited February 5, 2006 by maestro

[lopburi3]

The Cabinet resignation was the front page news in the Bangkok Post today, along with the demonstration. The wording was over 50,000. The Bangkok Post always have a problem with numbers larger than they can count on both hands.

[Carmine6]

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/...afx2500910.html

Forbes.com in the US carried the story (from AFX) and had this to say:

"... The anti-Thaksin camp was also boosted by the resignation of technology minister Sora-at Klinpratum, who announced he was stepping down Saturday.

The surprise resignation came one day after Culture Minister Uraiwan Thienthong suddenly quit, saying she wanted to maintain 'political ethics'.

Both resignations came at the request of Uraiwan's husband, Sanoh Thienthong, who leads a faction within Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party. ...."

Edited February 5, 2006 by Carmine6

[sriracha john]

Thanks for the Thread on the the Pattaya clan sucking up to the Chonburi mafia, sriracha.

At the time i could not fathom out or understand why not one single person had voiced disapproval to the Pattaya mails 2 page article.

I was totally unaware of T.Visa at the time.

I wanted to personally visit the offices but as a farang and not on the papers " approved photo call list " i,m wiser than to actually do it.

Now i know that you and T.V. members voiced exactly the offence i took from it.

Now i feel better about it so thanks to T.Visa for seeing it thru my eyes, as the saying goes.

Better still you actually named and shamed them which is what i would have done in my post but thought it was to sensitive and a possible threat to T.Visa, so didn,t.

Thanks for the kudos, marsh... I usually try to speak my mind without getting mod warnings, and generally have been successful thus far...

It helps to deal with things in a factual, truthful manner...

Actually, I've inadvertantly heard, separate and away from thaivisa, that perhaps I should "cool it"

in regards to this individual... so I will...

Again i do not apologise for possibly going off topic re. the protest but the context of how it was developing for my humble opinion warranted it and shows again the standards set by the people with influence.

The protest was not a waste of time and if anyone thinks the international community are not taking notice then read and watch there comments and coverage of it all.

Outside Thailand in the places that matter F**s**ns name is totally discredited.

Had it not been for this event no one would have bothered reporting on it showing the discontent

of it all and showing the crook for what he is.

Also i do not think it is luck that stopped any outsiders from starting trouble, they obviously realise it would have made the situation deteriorate further and followed instructions from the " big kamoi in chief " who conveniently left the city.

marshbags

Good insight into the situation.

[sriracha john]

Other than Sondhi's own network ASTV only The Nation has had the balls to cover the event.

To their credit, it seems the Bangkok Post, as well, has done a surprisingly good job of reporting during the past several days. It would be great for them to return to their formerly high level of reliable and open journalism.

From their online site:

Tens of thousands of people dressed in yellow T-shirts and caps, carrying placards and waving flags, gather at the Royal Plaza yesterday during a rally led by Sondhi Limthongkul.

======================

Although one of my favorite photos of the rally is from www.dailynews.co.th:

Edited February 5, 2006 by sriracha john

[chownah]

I haven't heard yet, did Sondhi submit the petition to Prem and did Prem accept it? I thought that before the rally I read the Prem had decided to not accept the petition but to suggest that it be presented directly to some official closer to H.M. The King.

Interesting! What's your sources?

Here's the link:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...&hl=Prem&st=135

This was posted by you. It is post #150 of the "Foreigners Warned of Saturday's Anti-Thaksin Rally". It was from Bangkok Post 2006-02-04. And here is the excerpt in question:

".....

An army source said yesterday that Gen Prem would be in town but he was unlikely to accept the petition himself as he thought it would be more proper if Mr Sondhi submitted it to the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary.

......"

And by the way, does anyone know if Sondhi actually delivered the petition to Prem or not?

[Maestro]

The Cabinet resignation was the front page news in the Bangkok Post today, along with the demonstration.

I’ve now had a coffee, cleaned my spectacles...and now I can see it

-----------

Maestro

[LaoPo]

And by the way, does anyone know if Sondhi actually delivered the petition to Prem or not?

Good point! Anyone who knows?

And: if so, was it handed to the Office of His Majesty?

And: if so, what happens next?

And: if not, why not?

LaoPo

[mittheimp]

[size=3]

Come on, Thais are still in their baby phase of democracy. [...]

[...] You have to remember this dirt poor nation is run by a small hiarchy with massive manipulation of masses of ordinary thais.

Yes, well true this is still a fledgling democracy. What I find interesting though is how once again the middle classes are showing their resentment. But I doubt they give a rat's rectum about 'ordinary Thais' you refer to. I suspected from the beginning this Sondhi thing was a storm in a teacup..and would flop.

The uprisings in Thailand seem to come from this small group of people largely in Bangkok. I suspect many are the sons/daughters of now-disenfranchised civil servants whose families came here from China during the last century to run the civil service. They're p+ssed off that their business class cousins now carry more sway, and they've lost their influence (and skimming rights?).[/size]

Mittheimp writes---

It's not a true democracy when there is no freedom of the press. Thaksin knows he can have total hegemony of the country by owning the media - unless political protests such as the one yesterday galvanise the opposition Thaksin knows he can do as he likes. Thats why he defends it with ridiculous comments such as these ---(source Bangkok Post)

Meanwhile, the prime minister said in his hometown Chiang Mai that the rally-goers did not respect rules and only stupid people would regard a prime minister as a wrongdoer.

''A society led by a bum who is violating the law can't survive. I won't let this happen. Only stupid people think that a person who volunteers to be prime minister does the wrong things. It's so annoying to let stupid people speak too much, so I must speak up. Thais must have a conscience to live with others and respect the rules,'' he said.

A little research into world history might have stopped Thaksin sounding so silly!

Peaceful Political process is a legitimate and essential part of real, mature democracies, something Thaksin can't deal with. At least Tony Blair acknowledged the right of a million protesters to rally against the impending war in Iraq (before ignoring them!). Thaksin has pursued populist short termist policies that know will get him elected but not help the country in the long term. Something, alas that happens throughout the world when most of the electorate are politically illiterate and suffer subsistence living making them totally susceptible to corruption!

[Mobi]

I,m not sure if this is O.T. but relevant.

marshbags

Sadly the Pattaya newspaper didn,t do this and this display sent out the wrong signals by giving the scum convicted creditabilty and an appearance of respectabilty for evil.

This is the core of what,s wrong in the present Thai government and the appearance that it,s o.k. for them to use there privlidged positions for self gain and not for the people who elected them.

This was the thread on the issue:

Sinking Lower than the Lowest

Thanks for the clarification - I now understand and heartily endorse your comments - although I for one wouldn't like to be a newspaper proprietor in Pattaya as long as the dear Kaman is still on the loose. for the record, during the past 3 years or so the B Post has not only continually given a huge amount of space to stories that attack Toxin, corruption and generally inform the public on the scandalous workings of Thailand’s kleptocracy,(Chamber’s concise: Kleptocracy; a government by thieves; a thieves’ regime) but has also attacked him and his cronies almost daily in their "commentary" and leader sections, to say nothing of the mass of anti- Thaksin letters (from Thais and farangs alike) in their postbag. Even their “Outlook” section frequently contains stories of how the government is raping the countryside and destroying the natural resources, or how downtrodden villagers have been killed or driven off their land by gangsters connected with Toxin’s business buddies. Sometimes I have wondered at the audacity of it all and worried for the safety of the columnists. Of course, he eventually tried to buy them out to shut them up, but so far has been foiled by the public outcry of indignation. Anyway most of the so-called 19 million don't read the Bangkok Post so.... back to the thread......

[baht&sold]

And by the way, does anyone know if Sondhi actually delivered the petition to Prem or not?

Good point! Anyone who knows?

And: if so, was it handed to the Office of His Majesty?

And: if so, what happens next?

And: if not, why not?

LaoPo

Army chief receives letter from Sondhi

Published on Feb 05 , 2006

Source: http://203.154.97.18/breaking/read.php?lang=en&newsid=110676

Media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul and his co-host Sarocha Porn-udomsak submitted a letter to Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Sondhi Boonyarataklin at the Army head office at 1:40 am Sunday.

Sondhi spent about 20 minutes talking with the army chief.

After the meeting, the army chief walked Sondhi and Sarocha from the army's compound.

Later at 6:50 am, Sondhi told the demonstrators at the Royal Plaza that the army chief listened to his explanation how Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had allegedly violated the royal power.

Sondhi said he considered the meeting with the army chief as a victory of the anti-Thaksin movement.

-------------

Demonstrators disperse peacefully

Published on Feb 05 , 2006

Source: http://203.154.97.18/breaking/read.php?lang=en&newsid=110677

The anti-Thaksin protesters dispersed peacefully at 7:15 am Sunday after singing the royal anthem in praise of His Majesty.

The demonstration against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra which began Saturday morning ended Sunday morning after Sondhi took the stage at about 6:50 am to brief the crowds what he regarded as the success of the rally.

Sondhi said the facts that the Office of the His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary received a petition to His Majesty Saturday night after office hours and that Privy Council Chairman had his house open to Sondhi to submit a letter; and that the army chief received letter from the movement should be viewed as victories.

Sondhi scheduled another rally against Thaksin at the Royal Plaza on February 11 at 4 pm.

[haha]

I was just thinking about this claim that 19 million thais don't read the bangkok post.

yes. this may be true since many thais don't understand english. but it is hard to believe that the 19 million people who voted for thaksin don't read some newspaper. right?

my guess is that many of these people read the thai language newspaper. ..which means they are aware of the sondhi vs. thaksin issue through that newspaper.

am I incorrect in thinking this way?

I just can't believe that many people in thailand are illiterate.

[Maestro]

Sondhi said the facts that the Office of the His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary received a petition to His Majesty Saturday night after office hours and that Privy Council Chairman had his house open to Sondhi to submit a letter; and that the army chief received letter from the movement should be viewed as victories.

In a victory there is, by definition, a victor and a loser, but Khun Sondhi spoke Thai and perhaps the Nation journalist used the wrong word in English.

Or is the Office of HM’s Private Secretary a loser merely because the staff at that office did their duty and accepted the petition? I think not.

Is the Privy Council Chairman a loser because he did not go in hiding and received a letter regardless whether it was sent through the mail or delivered personally? I think not.

Is the army chief a loser because he behaved civilly and politely by agreeing to speak to a visitor who rang his door bell? I think not.

------------

Maestro

Edited February 5, 2006 by maestro

[Phil Conners]

I think the loser was supposed to be Toxin, isn't that fairly obvious in the context?

[LaoPo]

And by the way, does anyone know if Sondhi actually delivered the petition to Prem or not?

Good point! Anyone who knows?

And: if so, was it handed to the Office of His Majesty?

And: if so, what happens next?

And: if not, why not?

LaoPo

Army chief receives letter from Sondhi

Published on Feb 05 , 2006

Source: http://203.154.97.18/breaking/read.php?lang=en&newsid=110676

Media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul and his co-host Sarocha Porn-udomsak submitted a letter to Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Sondhi Boonyarataklin at the Army head office at 1:40 am Sunday.

Sondhi spent about 20 minutes talking with the army chief.

After the meeting, the army chief walked Sondhi and Sarocha from the army's compound.

Later at 6:50 am, Sondhi told the demonstrators at the Royal Plaza that the army chief listened to his explanation how Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had allegedly violated the royal power.

Sondhi said he considered the meeting with the army chief as a victory of the anti-Thaksin movement.

-------------

Demonstrators disperse peacefully

Published on Feb 05 , 2006

Source: http://203.154.97.18/breaking/read.php?lang=en&newsid=110677

The anti-Thaksin protesters dispersed peacefully at 7:15 am Sunday after singing the royal anthem in praise of His Majesty.

The demonstration against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra which began Saturday morning ended Sunday morning after Sondhi took the stage at about 6:50 am to brief the crowds what he regarded as the success of the rally.

Sondhi said the facts that the Office of the His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary received a petition to His Majesty Saturday night after office hours and that Privy Council Chairman had his house open to Sondhi to submit a letter; and that the army chief received letter from the movement should be viewed as victories.

Sondhi scheduled another rally against Thaksin at the Royal Plaza on February 11 at 4 pm.

See bold above.

I totally miss the 'point' why the rally had to go on during the middle of the night, well into sunday-morning...

Anyone?

LaoPo

[sriracha john]

And by the way, does anyone know if Sondhi actually delivered the petition to Prem or not?

Good point! Anyone who knows?

And: if so, was it handed to the Office of His Majesty?

And: if so, what happens next?

And: if not, why not?

LaoPo

Army chief receives letter from Sondhi

Published on Feb 05 , 2006

Source: http://203.154.97.18/breaking/read.php?lang=en&newsid=110676

Media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul and his co-host Sarocha Porn-udomsak submitted a letter to Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Sondhi Boonyarataklin at the Army head office at 1:40 am Sunday.

Sondhi spent about 20 minutes talking with the army chief.

After the meeting, the army chief walked Sondhi and Sarocha from the army's compound.

Later at 6:50 am, Sondhi told the demonstrators at the Royal Plaza that the army chief listened to his explanation how Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had allegedly violated the royal power.

Sondhi said he considered the meeting with the army chief as a victory of the anti-Thaksin movement.

-------------

Demonstrators disperse peacefully

Published on Feb 05 , 2006

Source: http://203.154.97.18/breaking/read.php?lang=en&newsid=110677

The anti-Thaksin protesters dispersed peacefully at 7:15 am Sunday after singing the royal anthem in praise of His Majesty.

The demonstration against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra which began Saturday morning ended Sunday morning after Sondhi took the stage at about 6:50 am to brief the crowds what he regarded as the success of the rally.

Sondhi said the facts that the Office of the His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary received a petition to His Majesty Saturday night after office hours and that Privy Council Chairman had his house open to Sondhi to submit a letter; and that the army chief received letter from the movement should be viewed as victories.

Sondhi scheduled another rally against Thaksin at the Royal Plaza on February 11 at 4 pm.

To be even more specific:

ThaiDay:

"Sondhi marched to Gen Prem’s Si Sao Theves residence a short distance from the Royal Plaza where he had earlier addressed a huge crowd estimated at more than 100,000 people. Despite his urging the protestors to stay put at the plaza, several thousand protestors followed him on the 30-minute march to Gen Prem’s residence.

The Privy Council president and elder statesman was not at home at the time but was away in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. The petition to His Majesty the King, however, was submitted to Gen Prem’s close aide, Vice Admiral Pajul Traprateep.

After delivering the petition, Sondhi and his supporters marched back to the Royal Plaza where he had promised the protestors that he would continue throughout the night to expose Thaksin and his government’s wrongdoings."

==========================================================

I was just thinking about this claim that 19 million thais don't read the bangkok post.

yes. this may be true since many thais don't understand english. but it is hard to believe that the 19 million people who voted for thaksin don't read some newspaper. right?

my guess is that many of these people read the thai language newspaper. ..which means they are aware of the sondhi vs. thaksin issue through that newspaper.

am I incorrect in thinking this way?

I just can't believe that many people in thailand are illiterate.

Thailand has an illiteracy rate of approximately 7%. Given the "new" census figures from another current thread, that would equate to approximately 4,368,000 Thais that are unable to read nor write Thai.

Keep in mind also that the 19 million voters Thaksin is so fond of referring to voted in an election 12 months ago and it's really been over those same 12 months that oppostion to his tyranical rule has really come out on such a massive scale.

Edited February 6, 2006 by sriracha john

[jezchesters]

And by the way, does anyone know if Sondhi actually delivered the petition to Prem or not?

Good point! Anyone who knows?

And: if so, was it handed to the Office of His Majesty?

And: if so, what happens next?

And: if not, why not?

LaoPo

Army chief receives letter from Sondhi

Published on Feb 05 , 2006

Source: http://203.154.97.18/breaking/read.php?lang=en&newsid=110676

Media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul and his co-host Sarocha Porn-udomsak submitted a letter to Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Sondhi Boonyarataklin at the Army head office at 1:40 am Sunday.

Sondhi spent about 20 minutes talking with the army chief.

After the meeting, the army chief walked Sondhi and Sarocha from the army's compound.

Later at 6:50 am, Sondhi told the demonstrators at the Royal Plaza that the army chief listened to his explanation how Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had allegedly violated the royal power.

Sondhi said he considered the meeting with the army chief as a victory of the anti-Thaksin movement.

-------------

Demonstrators disperse peacefully

Published on Feb 05 , 2006

Source: http://203.154.97.18/breaking/read.php?lang=en&newsid=110677

The anti-Thaksin protesters dispersed peacefully at 7:15 am Sunday after singing the royal anthem in praise of His Majesty.

The demonstration against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra which began Saturday morning ended Sunday morning after Sondhi took the stage at about 6:50 am to brief the crowds what he regarded as the success of the rally.

Sondhi said the facts that the Office of the His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary received a petition to His Majesty Saturday night after office hours and that Privy Council Chairman had his house open to Sondhi to submit a letter; and that the army chief received letter from the movement should be viewed as victories.

Sondhi scheduled another rally against Thaksin at the Royal Plaza on February 11 at 4 pm.

See bold above.

I totally miss the 'point' why the rally had to go on during the middle of the night, well into sunday-morning...

Anyone?

LaoPo

LaoPo! Hi! Your posts are normally incisive and observant - but if there is no observable 'point' to staying through the night, then you have missed the entire sentiment behind the prostest...

Many farang have argued about the similarities/dissimilarities between previous uprisings in Bangkok on this site, but for many of my Thai friends who stayed through the night, the idea was to be there for the beginning of a change.

Right at the beginning.

Something that they believed in, and something that they could pass on to their kids

The kind of people that were there from the start of the tearing down of the Berlin wall, rather than the people that just turned up for the pop concert afterwards...

I'm sure that the debate will continue on this site - many people saying 'I told you nothing would happen' - but something has happened. This is the beginning - hopefully - of the end of Thaksin's reign. The people that don't understand the importance of Feb 4th 2006 should maybe check their history books in 50 years time...

Peace!

Jez

[LaoPo]

LaoPo! Hi! Your posts are normally incisive and observant - but if there is no observable 'point' to staying through the night, then you have missed the entire sentiment behind the prostest...

Many farang have argued about the similarities/dissimilarities between previous uprisings in Bangkok on this site, but for many of my Thai friends who stayed through the night, the idea was to be there for the beginning of a change.

Right at the beginning.

Something that they believed in, and something that they could pass on to their kids

The kind of people that were there from the start of the tearing down of the Berlin wall, rather than the people that just turned up for the pop concert afterwards...

I'm sure that the debate will continue on this site - many people saying 'I told you nothing would happen' - but something has happened. This is the beginning - hopefully - of the end of Thaksin's reign. The people that don't understand the importance of Feb 4th 2006 should maybe check their history books in 50 years time...

Peace!

Jez

Thank you for your answer Jez!

It still doesn't make sense to me why Sondhi took the rally untill those early Sundaymorning hours.

But, of course I'm not Thai and not in Thailand at the moment. I don't think it is considered quite normal, even in Thailand, to deliver a message to the Army Commander-in-Chief at 1.40AM on Sundaymorning, is it?

But yes it is not a normal protestrally, I agree.

That doesn't mean that I am not observant or missing the sentiments behind the prostest rally.

I am observing and trying to understand the sentiments and yes it's the right word you used...sentiments of the Thai people.

What surprised me though, was the absence of.....the University-students but maybe I'm wrong about that.

To compare the Fall of the Berlin Wall with this protestrally however is completely out of the question.

'Berlin' had to do with the occupation of free countries by the Sovjets and started just after WWII; the building of the Wall started in 1961 and ended in 1989.

The tearing-down of the Wall was a result of the 'Glasnost' by President Gorbatsjov and not a result of people fighting for freedom or protestrallies like Sondhi's on Feb 4th 2006.

And, Oh....I don't have to read the historybooks in 50 years time....I won't be here anymore and TS will be long forgotten anyway by that time; except, indeed, in the history books.

Yes, maybe it's time for a new PM....a 'new' Democratic one? WHO?

Is there any 'real' Democratic one in South East Asia?

LaoPo

[Jai Dee]

I haven't heard yet, did Sondhi submit the petition to Prem and did Prem accept it? I thought that before the rally I read the Prem had decided to not accept the petition but to suggest that it be presented directly to some official closer to H.M. The King.

Interesting! What's your sources?

Here's the link:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...&hl=Prem&st=135

This was posted by you. It is post #150 of the "Foreigners Warned of Saturday's Anti-Thaksin Rally". It was from Bangkok Post 2006-02-04. And here is the excerpt in question:

".....

An army source said yesterday that Gen Prem would be in town but he was unlikely to accept the petition himself as he thought it would be more proper if Mr Sondhi submitted it to the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary.

......"

And by the way, does anyone know if Sondhi actually delivered the petition to Prem or not?

Further to this subject...

Sondhi delivers petition to the King

The massive protest against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reached a climax tonight when protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul delivered a petition to His Majesty the King through an aide of Privy Council President Gen Prem Tinsulanonda shortly after 9:30pm.

Sondhi marched to Gen Prem’s Si Sao Theves residence a short distance from the Royal Plaza where he had earlier addressed a huge crowd estimated at more than 100,000 people. Despite his urging the protestors to stay put at the plaza, several thousand protestors followed him on the 30-minute march to Gen Prem’s residence.

The Privy Council president and elder statesman was not at home at the time but was away in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. The petition to His Majesty the King, however, was submitted to Gen Prem’s close aide, Vice Admiral Pajul Traprateep.

After delivering the petition, Sondhi and his supporters marched back to the Royal Plaza where he had promised the protestors that he would continue throughout the night to expose Thaksin and his government’s wrongdoings.

A candlelight ceremony will be held at midnight to honor His Majesty.

Some of the protestors are expected to spend the night at the protest site and together offer alms to monks tomorrow morning.

The five pertinent points in the petition submitted by Sondhi are as follows:

1. In addition to monopolizing power in the House, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has manipulated the Senate and the institutions established under the Constitution. At the same time, he has coerced and controlled the media in an attempt to deny citizens their right to be informed.

2. The prime minister has defrauded the public and taken advantage of his power to manipulate public policy, misappropriating public funds for the benefit of himself and his cronies.

3. The prime minister has sold off national resources and properties, including his own business venture, which grew through the exploitation of national resources, to a foreign country, taking advantage of legal loopholes to avoid paying taxes on the transaction.

4. The prime minister has created a religious and moral crisis in which the fundamental values of the nation have been destroyed and replaced by an ethic of consumerism in total disregard to the principles of a sufficiency economy advocated by His Majesty the King. He has also caused dissent among the Buddhist laity and clergy concerning the status of the Supreme Patriarch and instituted populist policies in an attempt to gain votes by distributing funds under various guises, further fueling excessive consumerism.

5. The prime minister’s lack of knowledge and understanding of the crisis in the three southernmost provinces has led to the resumption of the most serious crisis of the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. The continually wrong assessments of the situation resulting from this lack of knowledge and understanding have led the prime minister’s reliance on civil servants with their own hidden agendas at the local level and his complicity in the elimination of innocent Thai Muslims like Somchai Neelapaichit.

The petition concludes that based on the above, Thaksin Shinawatra has lost all legitimacy to perform his duties as prime minister. This legitimacy has two components. The first is the legitimacy that comes from the power bestowed by the people through the democratic process. The second, which is more essential, is the legitimacy that comes from the exercise of executive power for the benefit of the nation and the people.

Source: ThaiDay - 5 February 2006 13:30

[Jai Dee]

Sondhi's parting words give hope to anti-Thaksin protestors

Following Sondhi Limthongkul’s farewell speech and alms offering to a hundred Buddhist monks early Sunday, protestors left invigorated, expecting to see a significant political fallout from the anti-Thaksin rally over the course of the week.

With a horse voice, Sondhi continued to throw allegations of corruption, cronyism and tax evasion at Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as a crowd of more 1,000 protestors — the majority of whom had spent the night at the Royal Plaza road — continued their support, waving flags and screaming for the PM to “get out.”

“I call him ‘Thaksin,’ not ‘Police Lieutenant-Colonel Thaksin,’ because that title is given by the king and he has offended the king too many times [to hold such a title],” said Sondhi.

After Sondhi’s final speech, the procession of monks from Wat Ornoi Dhamma Isara in Nakhon Pathom province, led by head abbot Luang Poo Buddha Isara, received offerings from senior staff at Manager Media, a company founded by Sondhi.

“We feel proud to be together. If the prime minister resigns, then the feeling will be complete,” Watcharin Sakulthiptear, a project manager at Thai Winner Engineering and Construction, said as he headed home for a few hours sleep. Watcharin spent the whole night awake, listening to speeches and music from various artists.

Watcharin, like many of others, expect the PM to eventually step down, though they admit it will probably not happen within the next week. Protestors argue that Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party will put increasing pressure on the premier this week.

As people parted, they lit incense sticks at the statue of King Rama V, located in the plaza’s center, and temporarily kneeled to make a prayer.

Source: ThaiDay 5 February 2006 14:37

[Heng]

No revolution because of poor media coverage (it couldn't possibly be because not enough people actually want a new government) ?

[Phil Conners]

The kind of people that were there from the start of the tearing down of the Berlin wall, rather than the people that just turned up for the pop concert afterwards...

Excellent quote

[Jai Dee]

Mr. Somsak is gathering details of the recent demonstration to adjust to the govt's work

Labor Minister and Deputy Thai Rak Thai Party leader SOMSAK THEPSUTHIN (สมศักดิ์ เทพสุทิน) will gather information and data collected during the rally led by media firebrand Sondhi Limtongkul, hoping to improve the government's quality of work. Mr Somsak said however that the data he has collected still show the majority of support for the government and that the Thai people still trust in the government's decision.

He referred to WANG NAM YOM faction’s meeting yesterday and the rally on Saturday and said that negative factors related to the government will be improved.

Moreover, he said that members of his faction are satisfied with their current position. He referred to the possibility of cabinet reshuffle after two ministers have resigned from theirs position.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 06 Febuary 2006

[Plus]

Acc. to the latest ABAC poll Taksin is still the best choice for PM. 34 % want him to stay, 38 % have no idea (opinion), and the rest either want him to resign or dissolve the parlament.

I don't know if people at the rally were interviewed for the poll.

Poll results from the Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/02/06...l_19846675.html

Heng, you'll never find enough revolutionaries in Thailand. It has always been people with power acting on behalf of the rest of Thais.

Perhaps 100,000 protesters, or a thousand odd academics, or Democrats, simply don't have any power anymore. Not enough to topple Taksin, at least.

Let's see what happens next. Who'll make the next move. I'd be watching TRT factions starting to assert themselves.

[Mobi]

I was just thinking about this claim that 19 million thais don't read the bangkok post.

yes. this may be true since many thais don't understand english. but it is hard to believe that the 19 million people who voted for thaksin don't read some newspaper. right?

my guess is that many of these people read the thai language newspaper. ..which means they are aware of the sondhi vs. thaksin issue through that newspaper.

am I incorrect in thinking this way?

I just can't believe that many people in thailand are illiterate.

From own observations - and not necessarily accurate – its only the people living in the main city conurbations have access to Thai newspapers, although even in the cities I think you will find there are many who never bother to read anything except maybe the lurid headlines and pics on the front pages of the Thai Rath. However, once you get out of the cities, (where most of the population still live), there are virtually no newspapers whatsoever, and absolutely no-one has access to, or reads newspapers – English language or Thai. All their information comes from government controlled T.V. and radio. I suspect many of them are barely aware of the Sondhi demonstrations, and certainly they will have little knowledge of what Thaksin and his cohorts have really been up to over the past few years. Of course they know the government is corrupt – but what government hasn’t been corrupt? It’s a way of life and they couldn’t care a less. Historically, all government protests have been championed by academics, students, unions, civil right activists and the educated middle classes who do read the newspapers. Not the majority of the 19 million that Thaksin is so proud of quoting

[Jai Dee]

Thai PM shrugs off shares sale protests

Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai prime minister, this weekend declared he would not bow to pressure and step down from office, even as tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Bangkok to demand his resignation.

The protest, the biggest political demonstration in Thailand in more than a decade, came as the information and technology minister resigned from her position, the second member of Mr Thaksin's government to leave in three days.

Mr Thaksin has faced a worsening political crisis since his family sold its 49 per cent stake in Shin Corp, the telecom-to-airline conglomerate he founded, to Temasek, the Singapore state investment agency, for Bt73bn ($1.8bn, €1.5bn, £1bn).

In his weekly national radio address, however, Mr Thaksin - who won a landslide re-election victory just over a year ago - said that only a direct request from Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej could persuade him to leave office.

"If I were to resign, that would mean that I betrayed the more than 19m voters who elected me to the office," the premier said. "Only one person can tell me to resign: his majesty the king. If the king merely whispers to me, 'Thaksin, you resign,' I will resign right away."

Hours after Mr Thaksin's defiant message, tens of thousands of protesters, led by media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, gathered in Bangkok calling for the premier's ouster.

"Over the last five years, Thaksin has run the country just to benefit his firms' listed value," Mr Sondhi told the crowd. A former Thaksin supporter, Mr Sondhi is now one of the premier's fiercest critics.

The rally, with an estimated 50,000 people, was the biggest since protests in May 1992 against a former military dictator, but was still smaller than organisers had hoped.

Many Thais stayed away from the demonstration, fearing violence, but the event passed off peacefully.

The prime minister, who has been dogged by "conflict of interest" allegations throughout his tenure, had hoped the sale of the Shin Corp stake would end criticism that he used hispolitical influence to protect the family business, which was transferred to his children and other relatives shortly before he took office in 2001.

But the deal - the largest corporate takeover in Thai history - appears to have backfired in political terms.

Many Thais see Mr Thaksin, founder of the nationalist Thai Rak Thai (Thais love Thais) party, as having sold strategic national assets to a foreign government, while others are galled that the proceeds of the sale are tax free.

On Friday, Uraiwan Thienthong, Thailand's culture minister and the wife of a leader of a faction within Mr Thaksin's ruling party, resigned from her position, citing her responsibility to uphold good governance.

The next day she was followed by Sora-at Klinpratoom, the information and technology minister and another member of the same rebellious faction. The move could signal further defections from the faction-ridden ruling party.

Source: Financial Times - February 6 2006 02:00

[sriracha john]

Sondhi's parting words give hope to anti-Thaksin protestors

“I call him ‘Thaksin,’ not ‘Police Lieutenant-Colonel Thaksin,’ because that title is given by the king and he has offended the king too many times [to hold such a title],” said Sondhi.

speech continues here:

Bangkok Herald-Examiner

"You also notice I call him Thaksin and not "Dr. Thaksin," because that title is given by an institute of higher education and he has offended common intelligence too many times [to hold such a title]," Sondhi continued.

[sriracha john]

Heng, you'll never find enough revolutionaries in Thailand. It has always been people with power acting on behalf of the rest of Thais.

Perhaps 100,000 protesters, or a thousand odd academics, or Democrats, simply don't have any power anymore. Not enough to topple Taksin, at least.

Let's see what happens next. Who'll make the next move. I'd be watching TRT factions starting to assert themselves.

Interesting that the head of the Army even agreed to accept him at his home. He might have shown total support for Thaksin by shunning this rabble-rouser Sodhi.... but he didn't. Not only accept the letter, but meet with him for 20 minutes in his home. It could have certainly been out of cordiality, but considering the hour, it would have equally been understandable (if he fully supports Thaksin) that he would dismiss Sondhi summarily... but he didn't.

Thaksin has no problem characterizing Sondhi as "stupid et al"... he attempts to completely degrade this opposition and plays down his role in Thailand's future, but the General doesn't seem to share the same loathing attitude for the man.

TRT Party's wall of support has shown gaping holes in the last 2 days....in-fighting has brought down it's previous solidarity. Snoh wields significant influence.

Add in the Army equation..... and what are the possibilities?

If one reads the history of revolutions, be it the American, French, or Filipino... they often start slowly before building into a unstoppable torrent of dissatisfaction.

[Plus]

The Army chief wasn't as smart as Prem.

Prem realised that it's a no win situation - if he accepts petition personally that would be too much honor for Sondhi, if he doesn't meet him, it would be bad manners. So he escaped to Korat.