Time To Ride The Dark Horses, People: Bangkok Gubernatorial Election

[webfact]

VENUS' VISION
Time to ride the dark horses, people
Veena Thoopkrajae



BANGKOK: -- The newsroom says this Bangkok gubernatorial election is boring, and I have felt the same since the election campaign kicked off. Although all the candidates, except incumbent governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, are new faces, this fact helps so little to spice up the election. The polls seem to make reflect how uninspiring the whole thing is, clearly suggesting a two-horse race with more than 50 per cent of voters preferring a candidate running under a party banner. On top of this, as the popularity of Pheu Thai candidate Police General Pongsapat Pongcharoen rose, some even assumed that it could be a one-horse race.

Recently, you may have heard that it is back to a neck-and-neck competition between Pongsapat and Democrat MR Sukhumbhand. Here we go again, a clash of the Titans.

Dominating the campaign is the "either-us-or-them" mindset, and all the same old patterns of the pre- and post-Thaksin Shinawatra era are there to see.

"Vote for us for 'seamless' management," says Pheu Thai, claiming that Pongsapat is the right choice if you want smooth cooperation between the city and the central government.

"Don't let them monopolise the whole country," cries the Democrat Party, which stresses how important it is that voters do not let the capital become the last jigsaw piece in Pheu Thai's (read Thaksin's) desire for complete control.

We are back to where we were again - a neck-and-neck race between the two main rivals.

Still, when a lot of people think the Bangkok election is so dull, it doesn't mean that you need to make it boring too. Perhaps it is time to escape from the old-fashioned battle between the pro- and anti-Thaksin sides. Let's make it a bit more exciting by voting for a dark horse. Okay, I'll help you a bit here by showing you the five reasons you should not vote for either Pongsapat or MR Sukhumbhand.

Don't vote for Pongsapat because:

He is from ruling Pheu Thai Party. Giving him victory means Pheu Thai will take absolute control of the country. The "seamless" campaign could also be interpreted as meaning that there will be no check or balance on any corruption, as many mock it "seamless corruption"!

He is a policeman. Have you ever met a good cop? Enough said.

It sounds ridiculous to have a Bangkok governor whose nickname is "Judie".

Thaksin Shinawatra said that Pheu Thai will win a general election no matter who the party fields for the Bangkok election. The words still echo in many people's ears. "Even if we put up an electricity pole, we would win."

Respectable activist-philosopher, and one of the country's most honest voices, Sulak Sivaraksa, has come out and told all eligible voters not to choose Pongsapat because it will pave the way for absolute control by the "greater" evil, which he directly indicates is PM Yingluck Shinawatra's fugitive brother Thaksin. In his Facebook message, the philosopher and author of books on Buddhism asks his followers not to make Thaksin's dream come true.

Don't vote for MR Sukhumbhand because:

He's from the opposition Democrat Party. Giving him victory means our capital will never receive strong support from a central administration led by its rival. If you can't get a clear picture in your mind, think about the lack of cooperation between the government and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration during one of the capital's worst flooding disasters, over a year ago.

He isn't a policeman. And we have seen that he hardly gets any cooperation from police when mobsters block Bangkok streets.

It sounds so old-fashioned to have a "Mom" (MR is the abbreviation of the minor royal title momrajawongse) as a governor, and every time we address him, we the commoners feel inferior.

The Democrat Party doesn't want to send an "electricity pole", but as the party stubbornly sends MR Sukhumbhand, who is not favoured by many Democrat supporters, the party seems to join its rival in believing that they can win even if they send the least favourite party member.

Sulak Sivaraksa, that lying snake and hypocrite to many, yet dubbed Thailand's leading philosopher, has asked Bangkok voters to vote for the "lesser" evil MR Sukhumbhand, after describing how bad and unreliable the Democrat Party is. He asked us to fight against Thaksin's evil power by voting for the Democrat candidate. His wish is to see Thaksin fail to control the whole country.


-- The Nation 2013-03-02

[NongKhaiKid]

Time to Ride the Dark Horses - who makes this crap up ?

[OzMick]

Those familiar with Revelations may remember that Famine rode the black horse, carrying scales and declaring that the price of grain was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The rider of the red horse was War, often taken as civil war, as the white horseman Conquest covers war and invasion.

Cue music from the Twilight Zone.

Edited March 2, 2013 by OzMick

[tomross46]

This will be the best election money can buy, like all other elections. If you will not be bought we will send the Gestapo to help you decide.

[ratcatcher]

Those familiar with Revelations may remember that Famine rode the black horse, carrying scales and declaring that the price of grain was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The rider of the red horse was War, often taken as civil war, as the white horseman Conquest covers war and invasion.

Cue music from the Twilight Zone.

=

[chainarong]

Anybody asked the horse, a dark horse in medieval times, ment, wealth , notoriety, shrewd, persuasive and demanding, sounds like some one in Dubai.

[OzMick]

Those familiar with Revelations may remember that Famine rode the black horse, carrying scales and declaring that the price of grain was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The rider of the red horse was War, often taken as civil war, as the white horseman Conquest covers war and invasion.

Cue music from the Twilight Zone.

173px-PaleRider.png = Thaksin Shinawatra 5 easy rider.jpg

Ah yes, Death rode a pale horse.

[Skywalker69]

a clash of the Titans

[Skywalker69]

Those familiar with Revelations may remember that Famine rode the black horse, carrying scales and declaring that the price of grain was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The rider of the red horse was War, often taken as civil war, as the white horseman Conquest covers war and invasion.

Cue music from the Twilight Zone.

173px-PaleRider.png = Thaksin Shinawatra 5 easy rider.jpg

Ah yes, Death rode a pale horse.

In this case it could be a pale camel.

[waza]

A dark horse is a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort or a contestant that seems unlikely to succeed..... Maybe they are suggesting an independant candidate will win. However, the article is all about the favourites.

[Locationthailand]

Those familiar with Revelations may remember that Famine rode the black horse, carrying scales and declaring that the price of grain was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The rider of the red horse was War, often taken as civil war, as the white horseman Conquest covers war and invasion.

Cue music from the Twilight Zone.

173px-PaleRider.png = Thaksin Shinawatra 5 easy rider.jpg

What? No red shirts on the motorbikes?

[khunken]

I was hoping to see at least a mention of the dark horses in the article but it tailed off into oblivion.

I'm sure that there are better candidates among the 20-odd (?) dark horses. Unfortunately it's newspapers like the Nation who fail totally to provide some information on their background & what ideas they have for the city.

[khaowong1]

Time to Ride the Dark Horses - who makes this crap up ?

As long as the winner isn't riding a "Pale Horse".. (LOL)

[dcutman]

Those familiar with Revelations may remember that Famine rode the black horse, carrying scales and declaring that the price of grain was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The rider of the red horse was War, often taken as civil war, as the white horseman Conquest covers war and invasion.

Cue music from the Twilight Zone.

173px-PaleRider.png = Thaksin Shinawatra 5 easy rider.jpg

What? No red shirts on the motorbikes?

Nope it looks like everybody will be in pickups (utes) including somebody you would never think of, especially after he vowed and urged his supporters to burn Bangkok and all of Thailand for that matter,

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra launched a caravan of 50 cars and

pickup trucks to rally support and re-emphasize seamless cooperation and added benefits for Pol Gen

Pongsapat Pongcharoen.

Jatuporn Prompan, a core member of the red-shirt United Front for

Democracy against Dictatorship, also joined the caravan.

[Skywalker69]

Time to Ride the Dark Horses - who makes this crap up ?

As long as the winner isn't riding a "Pale Horse".. (LOL)

I would love to se the BB in Dubai riding of in the sunset on a pale camel.

[dcutman]

Jatuporn Promphan as deputy Bangkok Governor

From Manager, February 28, 2013

Thaksin Shinawatra says: Besides being amazed that I can turn a power

pole into a Bangkok governor… They’re going to be even more amazed when

they see the deputy governor I prepare for them.

[The frog is Jatuporn Promphan, one of the key Red Shirt leaders. The

"electric pole" refers to Thaksin's boast that Pheu Thai could even run

an electric pole and beat the Democrats in the Bangkok Governor's

election.

There is a rumor across social networks that if Pol. Gen. Pongsapas

Pongcharoen wins the election, Jatuporn will be appointed deputy

governor. For such an aggressive and controversial Red Shirt leader to

be appointed deputy governor would be seen as a shocking insult to

Bangkokians who were threatened for weeks with Red Shirt occupation in

2009 and 2010.