Anti-peace talks banners surface across Thailand's restive South
By English News



NARATHIWAT, April 22 - Banners against the peace dialogue between the Thai government and insurgent movements have appeared in dozens of districts across Thailand's restive southern border region.

Banners were found along roads in 45 locations in ten Narathiwat districts, 16 locations in Yala's six as well as in Pattani provincial seat on Monday.

The banners carried messages opposing the peace talks between the government and the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN).

Local police collected the banners, while in Pattani, an explosive ordnance disposal unit rushed to defuse what was believed to be a bomb – as explosive stuffed box -- only to learn there were no explosives inside.

In Narathiwat, Army Lt Kraisak Rodkarnthuk was wounded in a bomb blast while supervising a bomb squad unit collecting banners in Sungai Padi district.

Meanwhile, National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Lt-Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut commented today that the recent insurgent attacks and the anti-peace talks banners were the work of other insurgent groups to prove their existence and who might want to join the upcoming peace talks.

The next peace dialogue between the Thai government and the BRN is scheduled to be held in the Malaysian capital April 29.

Gen Paradorn said officials are coordinating with other insurgent groups in case they want to be part of the peace process.

"There might be more bombings until the next peace talk is held but will remain in restricted areas," the NSC chief said.

The BRN representatives are now talking with the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) over possible participation in the peace process, Gen Paradorn added.

He said the main factors for the discussions remain the offering of justice in several criminal cases, reducing violence in the restive south and the timeframe for reducing violence. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-04-22

"The Religion of Peace"
LOL!

Insurgency crackdown heats up as peace dialogues continue
By English News



BANGKOK, April 22 – Peace talks on resolving violence in Thailand’s far South must be conducted in parallel with anti-insurgency operations, Thailand’s defence minister said today.

Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Sukumpol Suwanatat said negotiations and military operations are separate issues as long as the southern unrest remains unresolved.

A Thai security team is scheduled to hold a new round of peace dialogue with leaders of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) and other militant factions in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur next Monday.

He said the peace process will take years, but that the Thai authorities have been clear on the framework for the talks.

“Thailand’s security officials want to speed up the peace process but we have yet to identify (participants attending the dialogues) and make sure they are authorised representatives,” he said.

There are sub-factions in some of the insurgent movements and some militants claimed that their representatives in the talks were not accepted.

“Some militant groups are willing to talk but some are not,” ACM Sukumpol said.

He said he has instructed the Fourth Army Region to be on full alert in light of frequent bombings in the South and a new batch of trained policemen will be dispatched to the troubled region next month.

April 28 marks the ninth anniversary of the Krue Se mosque massacre in which 32 of ethnic Malay Muslims were killed in a government military operation. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-04-22

Caption Competition:

(Bloke on the far right) "Careful, you'll have someone's eye out with that....."

National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Lt-Gen Paradorn Pattanatabut commented today that the recent insurgent attacks and the anti-peace talks banners were the work of other insurgent groups to prove their existence and who might want to join the upcoming peace talks.

"WOW....... you got who to sit down with you because you did what?? Holy camel..... sounds like I should start that Asswad Liberation Front I've always been telling the girls I'm gonna get going and get me a piece of the action! Hey, anybody got any C4?"

"new round of peace dialogue with leaders of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) and other militant factions"

What's this about the 'other militant factions'? I may have missed it, but I thought the new talks would only be with the BRN ?

Looks like it might be up to the Dems to show the way here, Perhaps Abhisit can broker a peace deal , sure would be niece to see.

I love the use of the word restive.

It's like someone having a bad nights sleep. Hardly descriptive is it?

In essence the issues in the south have little to do with religon. Religous conflicts are the effect and not the cause. These terrorist do it simply because they can get away with it. The root cause is a highly deficient and incompotent government and an inadequately trained army alongside a disfunctional corrupt police force. Should they really have the will to protect the soverign rights of Thailand this could be controlled in 3 to 4 months. Truth is that they have neither the ability or the balls to do this.

In essence the issues in the south have little to do with religon. Religous conflicts are the effect and not the cause. These terrorist do it simply because they can get away with it. The root cause is a highly deficient and incompotent government and an inadequately trained army alongside a disfunctional corrupt police force. Should they really have the will to protect the soverign rights of Thailand this could be controlled in 3 to 4 months. Truth is that they have neither the ability or the balls to do this.

Well we all know it is a religious based movement.

It is being carried on all over the world. Some countries they are just moving in and multiplying while they destroy the social services. Others they are using bombs and in others they are being very peaceful because they do not have enough people of the same faith in the country.

Even Nations where they are the predominate religion suffer from there attacks. There is no rhyme or reason to there actions. Just a religion that treats women as second class citizens started by a man who worked for his wife and wrote some books and in one of them before he flew off to heaven on a winged horse he said kill the infidels. Now they like the Christians have divided up into different brands and consider the other ones to be infidels.

If it had not been for Genghis Khans desire to conquer China the problem would not exist today.

In essence the issues in the south have little to do with religon. Religous conflicts are the effect and not the cause. These terrorist do it simply because they can get away with it. The root cause is a highly deficient and incompotent government and an inadequately trained army alongside a disfunctional corrupt police force. Should they really have the will to protect the soverign rights of Thailand this could be controlled in 3 to 4 months. Truth is that they have neither the ability or the balls to do this.

Well we all know it is a religious based movement.

It is being carried on all over the world. Some countries they are just moving in and multiplying while they destroy the social services. Others they are using bombs and in others they are being very peaceful because they do not have enough people of the same faith in the country.

Even Nations where they are the predominate religion suffer from there attacks. There is no rhyme or reason to there actions. Just a religion that treats women as second class citizens started by a man who worked for his wife and wrote some books and in one of them before he flew off to heaven on a winged horse he said kill the infidels. Now they like the Christians have divided up into different brands and consider the other ones to be infidels.

If it had not been for Genghis Khans desire to conquer China the problem would not exist today.

Don't forget the dedication to the black rock they encircle, that fell from the sky that must have come from him, held in the Hajj. But then you really don't need this excuse to bomb, maim and kill innocent people in the name of .... I am all for delivering them back to Malaysia and take their backward beliefs with them. Why is it people need a crutch and accept mindless brainwashing?

A friend of mine sent this to me.

I feel it is very apropos to the situation here in Thailand

It is gives a different perspective on news

Shocked?
Horrified? Grief-stricken? Determined? Yes, Boston
residents who voiced those feelings passed through
the media filters and were interviewed on
camera.

But
angry? Deeply angry at what happened at the
Marathon and ready to give vent to it? The
screeners took a pass.

The

sober sepulchral tones of media anchors, and their
extreme deference to FBI, police, and politicians,
form a hypnotic induction for viewers...and these
leaders don't want to break the spell, which is
exactly what anger does.

Therefore,

it's a no-go.

Anger

is a spark that fires up and spreads. So dampen
it. Ignore it. Don't show it on television news.
Instead, say this: "Step back, everybody, huddle
in your homes, let the pros do their job, they'll
catch the killers, look at the photos they want
you to look at, remain calm, depend on designated
officials."

This

is the new American dream.

If

you don't show anger on the television news, it
doesn't exist. Out of sight, out of mind.

Then,

once in a while, media can point to an angry group
they want to defame: "See, look at those people.
They're angry. They're the only people who are. So
there must be something wrong with them. They're
dangerous. What they stand for must be a threat to
all the rest of us...because they're
angry."

Suppose,

right after the killings in Boston, the major
networks interviewed 50 people who were in a rage.
Viewers would start to wake up. That's not
permitted.

This

engineered absence of anger dovetails perfectly
with the "have a nice day" philosophy. It's all
about "thinking positive thoughts" and immediately
lapsing into a passive invisible state.

A

culture of "anger-is-destructive" has made
enormous inroads on American life. We even have
so-called experts issuing phony statements about
the deleterious physical effects of "negative
emotions."

This

is preposterous idiocy, at best. The key
distinction here is between mindless outrage and
anger directed at those who deserve to be exposed
for their crimes. It's also a distinction between
bottling up, out of naked fear, such specifically
directed outrage, and expressing it.

Unless

you believe the American Revolution was fought by
smiling troops who strolled into battle like
glazed donuts sporting muskets.

Read

Tom Paine's Common Sense, the pamphlet that shook
the Colonies and forced the Declaration of
Independence. If you see no anger there, you're
dead.

In
these modern massacre ops, the media formula works
like this: "See, the perpetrators were brought to
justice; it worked; the citizenry was kept in the
background; nothing negative was expressed; and
all's well that ends well."

Keeping

citizen anger off the front pages and off the
television-news screens is a purposeful pose. It's
really an emotional lockdown of the
country.

The

police not only act as an armed physical surrogate
for the people, they also effect an emotional
transfer. "You folks don't have to get angry, give
us your feelings, we'll do the job, and we never
hate. We're efficient."

This

contributes mightily to the sense that we're
living in a land of androids.

Television

is the universal teacher Communities and cities
learn how to react, should a crisis suddenly
descend on them, from having watched how it worked
in other places---as television showed it, as
television selected it.

"This

is how you're supposed to feel, this is when you
feel it, this is the sequence, these are the words
you use."

In
this artificial ballet, the last people who are
going to doubt the law-enforcement bosses are
those who learn from television.

The

rule of television coverage operates in another
way as well. Suspects in these massacres, if they
survive, rarely if ever speak before cameras to a
national and world audience, before
trial.

The

police don't permit it, and if they did, a
defendant's attorney wouldn't allow it, on the
grounds that prosecutors could use his client's
statements against him in the courtroom. So the
accused are buffered off from the public, kept in
a tight cocoon.

This

contributes to an overall air of extreme caution.
The wheels of the machine are grinding; no humans
appear to be present. The only officials who speak
before cameras are trained to emit bureaucratic
blather.

The

public accepts this. They buy the
presentation---idiot pseudo-scientists using
techno-speak to analyze some species of insect,
while also throwing off gaseous generalities about
the nation, the life of communities, and the
coming together of good citizens.

From

the earliest days of television, the vaunted
anchors who shaped the role for later
generations---Ed Murrow, Chet Huntley, David
Brinkley, Walter Cronkite---gods to the American
audience---affected the air of a reformed drunk
who was always walking close to the edge of doom
and needed to enunciate his concerns carefully,
lest he fall into a pit of actual human experience
where he would drown.

This

became the rhythm, sound, and tempo of
truth.

Now,

Brian Williams, and Scott Pelley, the keepers of
that flame, are practicing in the same school of
understatement, are doing their slow tap dance
around the rim of the cliff, assuring viewers they
are taking them as far as humans can go without
encountering details too sordid for civilized
exposure.

Among

those omissions are the words and outraged
feelings of citizens who demand justice and know
there is a great con in progress, a
charade.

The

lesson was learned in 1963. After that piece of
television coverage, the monarchs of media struck
out on a different path. Americans actually saw
Lee Harvey Oswald, after he was arrested. They saw
his anger. They saw him say, "I'm just a patsy."
They saw his disgust and growing hour-by-hour
understanding that he was going to his end. They
saw he knew he was going to be swallowed up and
disappeared. And finally they saw Jack Ruby shoot
him in an underground garage.

Guilty

or innocent, Oswald transmitted a disquiet that
was corrosive to the public consciousness. That
had to stop.

Television

could not do this anymore. It was too strong, too
real. No one individual could come across that way
again.

The

government and its media machine would have to
build a castle and surround it with armed force in
layers of protection. It would have to develop a
new kind of language to pretend to a humanity that
was on the way out.

That's

what they did, and it worked. It worked, at
bottom, because it created a new audience that
came to expect and demand three-dollar bills, one
after another, standing in for the real
thing.

In

some humans, when you open their souls, you see
fierce joy, oceanic energy and imagination. In
others, you see dust, and a machinery that
pretends to these things.

Knowing

the difference makes all the difference in the
world. The dust-and-machine people can voice the
highest ideals and thoughts, but it's all
prerecorded.

Like

media.

Especially

when it's live.

"I'm
sick in my heart

But
I'm not a fool anymore,

I
know the charade is over.

The
schemers and liars brought us to this
house

In
the middle of the night

And
told us what the world was.

"I'm
sick in my heart

But
I'm not a fool anymore,

I
know the charade is over.

The
sellers and the buyers brought us to our
knees,

But
this is the end of the trance

That
told us what the world was.

"Between
the clouds, the moon comes,

Between
the clouds, the moon races,

New
boiling rivers rush down from the mountains
again."