Anti-government rallies in Thailand gain momentum

[webfact]

Rallies gain momentum
The Nation

Some civil servants join protesters while many others stay home

BANGKOK: -- Anti-government protesters have surrounded provincial halls in the South since Tuesday, calling on civil servants to stop work.

Trang, Songkhla and Satun have seen crowds besiege their respective provincial administrations.

In Surat Thani, Governor Chatpong Chatphuti yesterday met with protesters to acknowledge their demand for a three-day work stoppage.

The provincial governor also agreed to blow a whistle, seen as a gesture in defiance of the central government.

Rally organisers promised to remain peaceful and vowed not to destroy state property, but a number of southern offices were forced to stop servicing the public because of inconvenience caused by the sieges - and some provincial officials were seen joining the protesters.

In Trang, where a crowd camped out inside the provincial-hall grounds, Senator Wichien Kunchong made a speech rallying protesters to oppose the so-called the "Thaksin regime".

Student and protest leader, Preepramote Lertworapat, said he had declared yesterday a public holiday so as to allow provincial officials to stay home. None of Trang's key officials reported to work at the provincial hall.

In Satun, Governor Nueachai Jira-apirak called an urgent meeting to ban protesters from entering the provincial hall, and he allowed all non-essential workers to go home early.

Acting in defiance of Nueachai's order, a group of student protesters stormed the building and turned the provincial hall into their rally site.

They managed to do so without being armed in any way.

In Yala, some 1,000 protesters surrounded the provincial hall, demanding that Governor Dechrat Simsiri acknowledge their call for civil servants to abandon the central government and side with the people.

While a number of protesters voluntarily dispersed after meeting with Dechrat, a splinter group decided to carry on rallying before forcing open the gate of the provincial hall.

In Chumphon, some 5,000 protesters besieged the provincial hall. Their protest was organised by local administration leader Krit Kaewrak.

In Phatthalung, protesters surrounded the provincial hall to demand a work stoppage, while in Songkhla, the provincial hall remained open despite camped-out protesters surrounding its grounds.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, thousands of protesters besieged their provincial hall, and a number of provincial officials were seen leaving work to join the protest. Police were deployed to block protesters from entering the provincial offices.

In Ranong, protesters agreed to rally at the provincial-hall grounds without camping out. Their anti-government rally lasted a few hours before they voluntarily dispersed.

Elsewhere around the country, Saraburi saw crowds marching to and massing outside the provincial hall, but no unruly conduct was reported and they dispersed after rallying for about 30 minutes.

In Khon Kaen, some 300 protesters showed up at the provincial hall to blow whistles. Governor Somsak Suwansujarit said he did not anticipate any violence and remained optimistic that the protest would end before his province's annual "Silk Festival", scheduled for tomorrow.

-- The Nation 2013-11-28

[Thainy Tim]

You can add Korat to that list by 9am this morning. I won't be there but my wife will.

[JRSoul]

"In Satun, Governor Nueachai Jira-apirak called an urgent meeting to ban protesters.........."

Idiot - he should have formed a committee.

[Spare]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

[Smiles]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

You need to learn more about those provinces in Thailand before you make such comments.

[MaxLee]

This is a perfect opportunity to raid those state agencies responsible for water management who screwed their citizens over and let their provinces flood at their expense

[Spare]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

You need to learn more about those provinces in Thailand before you make such comments.

I am just stating the fact from the article. Would anyone counter this fact? I don't write the article.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Spare

[dru2]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

Please elaborate. What provinces are those?

For your information, only four Thai provinces have Muslim majorities, Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and Satun - and the latter is always quiet, with no Malay Muslim nationalist movement to speak of.

So how do you justify your ugly, racist, dangerous claim? Muslim insurgency aside - and it is hardly relevant in a thread about anti Pheu Thai government demonstrations - how are Yala, Narathiwat and Satun MORE to blame than elsewhere in Buddhist majority Thailand?

I'll answer for you. They are not. So please keep your ignorant, uninformed opinion off these pages.

[Spare]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

Please elaborate. What provinces are those?

For your information, only four Thai provinces have Muslim majorities, Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and Satun - and the latter is always quiet, with no Malay Muslim nationalist movement to speak of.

So how do you justify your ugly, racist, dangerous claim? Muslim insurgency aside - and it is hardly relevant in a thread about anti Pheu Thai government demonstrations - how are Yala, Narathiwat and Satun MORE to blame than elsewhere in Buddhist majority Thailand?

I'll answer for you. They are not. So please keep your ignorant, uninformed opinion off these pages.

In order of appearance in the article (repeat, I don't write the article): Trang, Songkhla, Satun, Surat Thani, Yala, Chumphon, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong. Please tell me which province is not Muslim dominated?

And more importantly, please name any more Muslim dominated provinces NOT in the above list. I bet you CANNOT.

[dru2]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

Please elaborate. What provinces are those?

For your information, only four Thai provinces have Muslim majorities, Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and Satun - and the latter is always quiet, with no Malay Muslim nationalist movement to speak of.

So how do you justify your ugly, racist, dangerous claim? Muslim insurgency aside - and it is hardly relevant in a thread about anti Pheu Thai government demonstrations - how are Yala, Narathiwat and Satun MORE to blame than elsewhere in Buddhist majority Thailand?

I'll answer for you. They are not. So please keep your ignorant, uninformed opinion off these pages.

In order of appearance in the article (repeat, I don't write the article): Trang, Songkhla, Satun, Surat Thani, Yala, Chumphon, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong. Please tell me which province is not Muslim dominated?

And more importantly, please name any more Muslim dominated provinces NOT in the above list. I bet you CANNOT.

Then you are an idiot.

Trang, Songkhla, Surat Thani, Chumphon, Phattalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Ranong are all Buddhist majority provinces.

Satun and Narathiwat are Muslim majority provinces not in the above list.

What a complete moron!

Edited November 28, 2013 by dru2

[cornishcarlos]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

Please elaborate. What provinces are those?

For your information, only four Thai provinces have Muslim majorities, Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and Satun - and the latter is always quiet, with no Malay Muslim nationalist movement to speak of.

So how do you justify your ugly, racist, dangerous claim? Muslim insurgency aside - and it is hardly relevant in a thread about anti Pheu Thai government demonstrations - how are Yala, Narathiwat and Satun MORE to blame than elsewhere in Buddhist majority Thailand?

I'll answer for you. They are not. So please keep your ignorant, uninformed opinion off these pages.

In order of appearance in the article (repeat, I don't write the article): Trang, Songkhla, Satun, Surat Thani, Yala, Chumphon, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong. Please tell me which province is not Muslim dominated?

And more importantly, please name any more Muslim dominated provinces NOT in the above list. I bet you CANNOT.

Just Yala is predominantly Muslim, even Satun has a good mix..

So you scored about 11% ?

Fail

[dru2]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

Please elaborate. What provinces are those?

For your information, only four Thai provinces have Muslim majorities, Yala, Narathiwat, Pattani and Satun - and the latter is always quiet, with no Malay Muslim nationalist movement to speak of.

So how do you justify your ugly, racist, dangerous claim? Muslim insurgency aside - and it is hardly relevant in a thread about anti Pheu Thai government demonstrations - how are Yala, Narathiwat and Satun MORE to blame than elsewhere in Buddhist majority Thailand?

I'll answer for you. They are not. So please keep your ignorant, uninformed opinion off these pages.

In order of appearance in the article (repeat, I don't write the article): Trang, Songkhla, Satun, Surat Thani, Yala, Chumphon, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong. Please tell me which province is not Muslim dominated?

And more importantly, please name any more Muslim dominated provinces NOT in the above list. I bet you CANNOT.

Just Yala is predominantly Muslim, even Satun has a good mix..

So you scored about 11% ?

Fail

I'm sorry - I got carried away by my irritation:

Trang, Songkhla, Surat Thani, Chumphon, Phattalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Ranong are all Buddhist majority provinces.

Satun and Narathiwat are Muslim majority provinces not in the above list.

This should, of course, have read: PATTANI and Narathiwat are Muslim majority provinces not in the above list.

[Denim]

This has clearly moved beyond being an anti government protest. It has progressed to being an anti democracy protest and what Suthep is now proposing totally ignores the constitution and advocates rule by a chosen clique , just not the Thaksin one.

As bad an inept as this government is, throwing the baby out with the bath water is hardly an improvement.....unless you are one of the new chosen few. Still, the lumpen idiots following Suthep don't realy care. They have only one thing in their minds. destroy Thaksin and to hell with anything else.

Still.....with such an idiotic agenda maybe Sutheps real goal is merely to create an environment where another military coup would come as a blessed relief and make the army ( and Suthep ) smell of roses.

[SOTIRIOS]

This is a perfect opportunity to raid those state agencies responsible for water management who screwed their citizens over and let their provinces flood at their expense

...hopefully the Thai people have had enough of all those scam programs that saw trillions allocated.....and sent...nobody knows where..

...as the farmers still wait to get paid.....etc...

[slipperylobster]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

Nope..have some problems up in Udon Thani too.... Municpal Hall.

[tingtongteesood]

Thailand can never move forwards whilst Thaksin and his cronies are involved regardless of who is 'in charge'.....

[fasteddie]

Sound like trouble only in Muslim dominated provinces. How typical.

not true, grow up.