NSC: Emergency decree will be necessary on Jan 13

[dinom]

Well, for selfish reasons, I would very much enjoy another (peaceful) coup, like the last one When the military was in power, there were hardly any police roadblocks and it was a pleasure to ride my bike everywhere, without paying the "road tax". As an added bonus, they actually did some road construction up here, which of course turned to S*&t, as soon as Thaksin's puppet got in and all the road construction money, was used to line peoples fat pockets again.

I would much rather see a benevolent dictatorship, than a useless, so-called democracy anyways.

Personally, I would like to see the military in power, with the King, as the head of State. That way, we would get rid of hundreds of politicians and their aids and cronies, who have their hands in everybody's pockets. (I am talking about both sides, not just Thaksin)

I would like to remind everyone here that until Thaksin came to power n'er a penny or a baht was spent in Chiang Mai, the North and the Northeast were wastelands and no political party paid attention to the plight of the farmers. No electricity in my village in Sansai until 1986,no telephones until 1994 and no water until 2004. Ask yourselves why? and then try to understand that the only person, the only person who ever gave them anything was Thaksin, how sad of you not to remember or if you are ignorant about the situation or didn't realize that it was that bad just close your mouth and let the locales get on with their ballet.

Thaksin founded the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party in 1998 and became Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 until 2006. So are you sure it was him who brought electricity in 1986 and telephones in 1994 to that village?

[garyk]

I'm sure when Thaksin asked his little sister to take up the reins of government, he told her everything will be just fine, I will guide you through. You will do just fine little princess.

I've thought the same thing many time in the last few days!

[BuddyPinkham]

Ha ha, the Defence Minister can't get the Army to do what she wants. Classic. The writing is on the wall.

Well the army is not kicking her out, that is already an achievement.

YET!

[metisdead]

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[Cuchulainn]

Thank you.

[tezzainoz]

This will then be a good reason to postpone the election :

_ A poll can be delayed by 30 days via royal decree if there is civil unrest, floods, fire or other eventualities (according to Article 78 of the 2007 Constitution's organic law on elections);

Obviously an emergency decree will only be needed if there is civil unrest.

What good is delaying it by 30 days going to do?

Its quite clear that the Government have no intention of yielding to the demands of Suthep, and it is clear that Suthep is not going to accept anything but his vision. Originally they wanted her to call an election which she did, and then the goal posts just kept be shifted. Why would any party anywhere on earth simply hand over power to someone else who is neither part of a political party, or in anyway elected to represent the people in the country?

Sounds like Da Ja Vu

I remember the same with the Red shirt protest

seems they had a good teaching byt the last protest

[kingstonkid]

Could you see this happening in a commonwealth country or do you think someone else might step in and bang some heads

[culicine]

From other news;

"Red Shirt leaders call mass rally Jan 13 to counter anti-govt Bangkok shutdown; urge army not to stage coup /MCOT"

So we will have an emergency decree, with police and army out in full force, together with likely the most amount of PDRC and also Red protestors ever seen together in Bangkok. It's going to be messy...

Yes the redshirts urge for no coup, yet they are coming to BKK to, most likely, face-off with anti-government protesters. That is the ONE thing that will give rise to a cup! From the activities in recent weeks that neither the police (look at the recent protests by low ranking officers) nor the army really want to become pawns in these small minded politicians game.

[fish fingers]

It's just a matter of time before the red shirts do something bad, be it a bomb attack etc. Then the army will come in.

[silent]

Could you see this happening in a commonwealth country or do you think someone else might step in and bang some heads

Sure about that? Is there a difference between the red coats and red shirts coming ?

[hellodolly]

Ha ha, the Defence Minister can't get the Army to do what she wants. Classic. The writing is on the wall.

Did you notice she is not worried about it until her red shirts get here.

She knows what they are like and is looking for help on controlling them.

[winstonc]

the redshirts will be their own downfall if they descend on bangkok...cant wait till the 13th,wife,s got her rucksack ready,ticket booked,a lot of anti-government people going from ubon...no there not yellow/dems/thugs,or terrorists..

[Scamper]

Bangkok has been in a state of emergency in some form or another since August, and I dare say, no one has noticed much of any difference. For those who are witnessing it, these are peaceful protests, including women, and spanning all generations, though they have been frequently the objects of random shootings. And for those who have been following this carefully, the army's reticence to play ball is very telling, but certainly consistent and unsurprising. They are known to be no friend of this administration, and the recent actions of the administration in the last few months have pretty well taken the ambiguity out of whatever their stance was. They are likely appalled at the actions of the police. What the administration does not want to do is to ratchet up the game. Unfortunately, that seems to be their intent. As thousands of peaceful protesters take to the streets - this administration will achieve nothing by the use of force. In fact, it will achieve everything it doesn't want to achieve by the use of force. As with everything about this administration, its determination to prevail by sheer imposition of will has been its own undoing. It is in large part why the protests are taking place.

[rebelplatoon]

This will then be a good reason to postpone the election :

_ A poll can be delayed by 30 days via royal decree if there is civil unrest, floods, fire or other eventualities (according to Article 78 of the 2007 Constitution's organic law on elections);

Obviously an emergency decree will only be needed if there is civil unrest.

What good is delaying it by 30 days going to do?

Its quite clear that the Government have no intention of yielding to the demands of Suthep, and it is clear that Suthep is not going to accept anything but his vision. Originally they wanted her to call an election which she did, and then the goal posts just kept be shifted. Why would any party anywhere on earth simply hand over power to someone else who is neither part of a political party, or in anyway elected to represent the people in the country?

Here we go again for the ignoranus amongst us that keep talking about an honest elected Government that the people wanted , please for once just read it will ya? It does not even take into account the vote buying just the way it was "arranged":

Some people don't seem to understand why the Democrats and yellow shirts do NOT WANT elections right now. It is NOT because Suthep wants to control anything else but the WAY elections are being held. During the Mr. "T" regime the constituencies have been altered to fit the TRT party. Very large constituencies with large numbers of voters would give one party only one seat (These they changed and were Democratic strongholds) much smaller constituencies, with much fewer people were divided up in several constituencies with one seat each. This means that even when people did not vote a 100% for the TRT they would still have a "glorious victory" over the Democrats. It was all made to match the TRT.

In numbers: The TRT and Dems had respectively: 15,744,190 and 11,433,762 people vote for them. A difference in % of the population of resp. (TRT, Dems) 48.41% and 35.15%. (say 13%) This was NOT reflected in the seats in Parliament by the self dividing rule of the TRT who changed the constituencies. (TRT/ Dems) 265 seats against 159 seats or in seats 106 (!!). If this had been in the range of anything like 225 to 196 this would have been a fair and acceptable result. (the difference being about 13%) or in seats 29. Read that again: The difference in what would have been an acceptable and fair divide in seats was 29 but it became 106 !!! This would have allowed (just an example) the Democrats to team up with some other parties and still form a Government. Besides in the opposition it would have given them lots more control.

Then due to certain constituents differences it could have been anything in the range of 210 to 235 for the TRT and 190 to 220 for the Dems and it would be acceptable, justifiable and explainable.

NOW do we understand why this system is unacceptable and nothing near free and fair elections?

Mind you, I do not agree with an interim Government and all that, unless it would be an agreed upon (by both parties) Business Government to boost the country back on the map first. But that would demand restraint, patience and understanding. Values that are the foundation of Buddhism, but are hard to be found in politricks.

[kirk0233]

What is Suthep's plan to reform the military? A few days ago the supreme commander spoke of the possibility of a coup, a treasonous offence, and now today he refuses to follow the orders of the defense minister and PM. Democratic government rule, rule by the people, is not possible when the military is not accountable to the civilian authorities. PTP is corrupt, but there was enough transparency to see the corruption. The military is not at all transparent. In the few instances when corruption has been found it has been serious, as in the recent slavery story. Then of course the military initiates legal action against a newspaper that ran the story. PTP has been bad, but nothing like slavery. These people are untouchable, immoral and unaccountable to anyone. They certainly should not be running the country, but they have the guns. Of course, Suthep is quiet on this issue.

[FangFerang]

Strategically, both sides are trying to play the ends against the middle. Neither side has given specific, actionable methods and mechanisms for reform. Both sides want to slant the game so their side can retain power indefinitely. This stalemate is far from over. Even the conceived end games are not end games. If the PT win, an election is held, and they again win a majority, that will not end the protest movement. If the PRDMSTC (or whatever name they have this week) wins and installs an interim government to oust the current caretaker government, and the entire Shinawatra family quits politics and leaves the country, that will not stop the redshirts or their allies.

This scenario has never played out before because this is just a continuation of previous refusals to share power. It has been one, long scenario, and started in the seventies before most of us ever came here (except you old farts that make old fart me look young).

Resume rants, and good luck with those punts.

[hellodolly]

What is Suthep's plan to reform the military? A few days ago the supreme commander spoke of the possibility of a coup, a treasonous offence, and now today he refuses to follow the orders of the defense minister and PM. Democratic government rule, rule by the people, is not possible when the military is not accountable to the civilian authorities. PTP is corrupt, but there was enough transparency to see the corruption. The military is not at all transparent. In the few instances when corruption has been found it has been serious, as in the recent slavery story. Then of course the military initiates legal action against a newspaper that ran the story. PTP has been bad, but nothing like slavery. These people are untouchable, immoral and unaccountable to anyone. They certainly should not be running the country, but they have the guns. Of course, Suthep is quiet on this issue

Can you refresh my memory on what Yingluck told the Army to do and they refused to do?

[thaigold]

Yes ... Please, Kuhn Suthep, please close down Bangkok. After all, it's your own constituency. You are managing to make Thailand the laughing stock of East Asia. Keep it up. Yes, please close down Bangkok - you are a political genius. We are impressed.

[Old Man River]

Well, for selfish reasons, I would very much enjoy another (peaceful) coup, like the last one When the military was in power, there were hardly any police roadblocks and it was a pleasure to ride my bike everywhere, without paying the "road tax". As an added bonus, they actually did some road construction up here, which of course turned to S*&t, as soon as Thaksin's puppet got in and all the road construction money, was used to line peoples fat pockets again.

I would much rather see a benevolent dictatorship, than a useless, so-called democracy anyways.

Personally, I would like to see the military in power, with the King, as the head of State. That way, we would get rid of hundreds of politicians and their aids and cronies, who have their hands in everybody's pockets. (I am talking about both sides, not just Thaksin)

I would like to remind everyone here that until Thaksin came to power n'er a penny or a baht was spent in Chiang Mai, the North and the Northeast were wastelands and no political party paid attention to the plight of the farmers. No electricity in my village in Sansai until 1986,no telephones until 1994 and no water until 2004. Ask yourselves why? and then try to understand that the only person, the only person who ever gave them anything was Thaksin, how sad of you not to remember or if you are ignorant about the situation or didn't realize that it was that bad just close your mouth and let the locales get on with their ballet.

I am just curious and not trying to be argumentative. Did Thaksin bring electricity to Sansai in 1986 and telephones in 1994? The fact is, Thai governments have neglected many parts of the country for many years, not just the north. This is why NGO's and charitable organizations, to this day, work all over the country on projects which the government (no matter who is in power) should be doing, but don't.

[PJcm]

Well, for selfish reasons, I would very much enjoy another (peaceful) coup, like the last one When the military was in power, there were hardly any police roadblocks and it was a pleasure to ride my bike everywhere, without paying the "road tax". As an added bonus, they actually did some road construction up here, which of course turned to S*&t, as soon as Thaksin's puppet got in and all the road construction money, was used to line peoples fat pockets again.

I would much rather see a benevolent dictatorship, than a useless, so-called democracy anyways.

Personally, I would like to see the military in power, with the King, as the head of State. That way, we would get rid of hundreds of politicians and their aids and cronies, who have their hands in everybody's pockets. (I am talking about both sides, not just Thaksin)

I would like to remind everyone here that until Thaksin came to power n'er a penny or a baht was spent in Chiang Mai, the North and the Northeast were wastelands and no political party paid attention to the plight of the farmers. No electricity in my village in Sansai until 1986,no telephones until 1994 and no water until 2004. Ask yourselves why? and then try to understand that the only person, the only person who ever gave them anything was Thaksin, how sad of you not to remember or if you are ignorant about the situation or didn't realize that it was that bad just close your mouth and let the locales get on with their ballet.

Thaksin founded the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party in 1998 and became Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 until 2006. So are you sure it was him who brought electricity in 1986 and telephones in 1994 to that village?

You don't get it. Why would a main suburb of Chiang Mai, the one Thaksin's mother comes from; didn't have electricity nor telephone service until the dates stated above. You don't seem to understand that this was a wasteland the suburbs of Bangkok had electricity in 1968, why did it take so long for the parties in power to supply a basic need, could it be they didn't care about the country bumpkins? They are now paying for their folly and you should understand and have a better understanding of the people of this country, I moved here in 1968, you reading this I think I know what has been going on with first hand experience, please either educate yourself or do yourself a favor and watch the ballet that begins shortly and the catalyst that waits in the wings (read between the lines) will bring back Thaksin

[Bignose]

Bangkok has been in a state of emergency in some form or another since August, and I dare say, no one has noticed much of any difference. For those who are witnessing it, these are peaceful protests, including women, and spanning all generations, though they have been frequently the objects of random shootings. And for those who have been following this carefully, the army's reticence to play ball is very telling, but certainly consistent and unsurprising. They are known to be no friend of this administration, and the recent actions of the administration in the last few months have pretty well taken the ambiguity out of whatever their stance was. They are likely appalled at the actions of the police. What the administration does not want to do is to ratchet up the game. Unfortunately, that seems to be their intent. As thousands of peaceful protesters take to the streets - this administration will achieve nothing by the use of force. In fact, it will achieve everything it doesn't want to achieve by the use of force. As with everything about this administration, its determination to prevail by sheer imposition of will has been its own undoing. It is in large part why the protests are taking place.

Unlike several previous members on this thread, I don't benefit from any long term knowledge or experience of Thai politics. Even so it is pretty much self evident that the present administration is losing it's remaining credibility on an hourly basis. It may well retain huge support from the northern regions, but as a functional administration it is just about dead and gone. Unfortunately that does not mean we are heading for change and a "New Dawn" in Thai politics, this self serving administration has no intention of relinquishing power or going away quietly. There will be planning, scheming and subterfuge of Machiavellian proportions just to keep themselves in control and in power (however tenuous that control may be) It is not only the high profile leaders (either abroad or at home) who are intent on playing the game, but also the multiple layers of family, friends, cronies and acquaintances who are feeding at the trough. Like the Marcos, Aquino and Mugabe regimes (and countless others to) they have too much invested, with the rewards far too high to just walk away.

I may be banging this drum too often but the choices for the people of Thailand are fairly poor, it's either the present administration who have already shown themselves to be inept and wasteful, or the egotistical opposition who have shown themselves to be without substance or any clear, well defined direction. What's left is an alternative that won't be listed on any ballot paper, a government with uniforms who are loyal only to the Monarch.

[mudscrubber]

Bangkok has been in a state of emergency in some form or another since August, and I dare say, no one has noticed much of any difference. For those who are witnessing it, these are peaceful protests, including women, and spanning all generations, though they have been frequently the objects of random shootings. And for those who have been following this carefully, the army's reticence to play ball is very telling, but certainly consistent and unsurprising. They are known to be no friend of this administration, and the recent actions of the administration in the last few months have pretty well taken the ambiguity out of whatever their stance was. They are likely appalled at the actions of the police. What the administration does not want to do is to ratchet up the game. Unfortunately, that seems to be their intent. As thousands of peaceful protesters take to the streets - this administration will achieve nothing by the use of force. In fact, it will achieve everything it doesn't want to achieve by the use of force. As with everything about this administration, its determination to prevail by sheer imposition of will has been its own undoing. It is in large part why the protests are taking place.

"What the administration does not want to do is to ratchet up the game. Unfortunately, that seems to be their intent."

Typically confused comment.

[whybother]

Red Shirt leaders call mass rally Jan 13 to counter anti-govt Bangkok shutdown; urge army not to stage coup /MCOT

That's a pretty good reason for the government to declare a state of emergency.

Sent from my phone ...

[whybother]

Well, for selfish reasons, I would very much enjoy another (peaceful) coup, like the last one When the military was in power, there were hardly any police roadblocks and it was a pleasure to ride my bike everywhere, without paying the "road tax". As an added bonus, they actually did some road construction up here, which of course turned to S*&t, as soon as Thaksin's puppet got in and all the road construction money, was used to line peoples fat pockets again.

I would much rather see a benevolent dictatorship, than a useless, so-called democracy anyways.

Personally, I would like to see the military in power, with the King, as the head of State. That way, we would get rid of hundreds of politicians and their aids and cronies, who have their hands in everybody's pockets. (I am talking about both sides, not just Thaksin)

I would like to remind everyone here that until Thaksin came to power n'er a penny or a baht was spent in Chiang Mai, the North and the Northeast were wastelands and no political party paid attention to the plight of the farmers. No electricity in my village in Sansai until 1986,no telephones until 1994 and no water until 2004. Ask yourselves why? and then try to understand that the only person, the only person who ever gave them anything was Thaksin, how sad of you not to remember or if you are ignorant about the situation or didn't realize that it was that bad just close your mouth and let the locales get on with their ballet.

Thaksin was in power in 1986?????

Sent from my phone ...

[wanderluster]

it is called "coup day"

[KOZMO]

Ha ha, the Defence Minister can't get the Army to do what she wants. Classic. The writing is on the wall.

Well the army is not kicking her out, that is already an achievement.

Not yet anyway??

[DMG333]

it is called "coup day"

13012014 black Monday......another movie in the making may be......this time round we get to watch it live first

Edited January 2, 2014 by DMG333

[oldthaihand99]

I'm sure when Thaksin asked his little sister to take up the reins of government, he told her everything will be just fine, I will guide you through. You will do just fine little princess.

Whereas really he knew things could get very sticky and potentially destroy her life..... What a selfish bigot you are Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra.

She was a nobody with no life before he elevated her & gave her the opportunity to try to reconcile the country. Nobody even knew she existed. Now she's an adult a big girl no longer playing with barbie dolls & can make her own decisions with her own brain.

Edited January 2, 2014 by oldthaihand99

[oldthaihand99]

From other news;

"Red Shirt leaders call mass rally Jan 13 to counter anti-govt Bangkok shutdown; urge army not to stage coup /MCOT"

So we will have an emergency decree, with police and army out in full force, together with likely the most amount of PDRC and also Red protestors ever seen together in Bangkok. It's going to be messy...

Yes the redshirts urge for no coup, yet they are coming to BKK to, most likely, face-off with anti-government protesters. That is the ONE thing that will give rise to a cup! From the activities in recent weeks that neither the police (look at the recent protests by low ranking officers) nor the army really want to become pawns in these small minded politicians game.

The red shirts might be better off in BKK staying out of trouble, out of the way, and keeping the airport from being occupied by Suthep's gang.

[mumjokmok]

Well, seems it's now all down to vested interests. Really set up for a mess, the coup might even look like the people's choice once you get both sets of protesters greeting each other in the streets.