Thai government fears coup plan in the works

[kimamey]

My country has never had a government as corrupt and incompetent as this one. If it did, I'd want a coup there too.

Not sure where you come from but many countries had their share in corruption but for sure for incompetence. Where you see the corruption (more than before) incompetence I agree!

Why you think a military coup is the best solution and not a election? Do you really think a military coup will change the system it will only put it on hold and than it will be back to square one may be with different actors. Sustainable changes can be only done with democratic tools as you can see from the past in Thailand where each coup brought also changes in the constitution.

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'Many' countries eh? Sure list them out and explain why they as bad or worse as compared to this one.

This country has gone through elections, protests, mobs and then coups and then rinse and repeat. You really think another election is going to solve things? PTP wins the February elections. Hurrah for democracy! Then what? More protests, more mobs. And even if things were peaceful now, there would just be more unrest a couple of years down the road. A change is needed. If another coup happens, we won't know if things will get better or not, we weren't know if things will change or not but then, with things as bad as they are now, it's worth trying don't you think?

Thailand tried Military coups many times. The last one ended up with a Constitution which did never came out of the draft stage. Why you think that a coup would be better than before. It will end of that the military ruling will serve more interest of the present opposition. But it will not solve the problem which is there the split of the Thai society. As long as the Democrats are not addressing the problems of the "rural" people in their program the will leave this field to people like Thaksin. Even eliminating the Shin clan from ruling will not solve the problem as somebody else will come. Thailand has to understand that also the people in the North are Thai people with their right for education healthcare etc. Even the famous rice price scandal is nothing which is unknown to other countries is called subsidizing very common in the European Union.

The present government is not worse than the previous ones. The problem is more that the opposition does not accept their role as opposition. Each working democracy has a working opposition which monitors the performance of the government. If every time an opposition is not happy with the performance of the government is asking for a military coup than only Generals would rule the world.

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The Dems do need to address the problems of the rural people and probably did in the south which is why there is more support for them down there. I believe they did have a scheme to help rice farmers as well which didn't cost as much as this one. But you're right they need to do better.

The current rice scheme is nothing like the subsidies in Europe. They may have their problems but the subsidies are far more complex than the one here.

The Dems were the opposition and engaging in all the usual arguments and court cases. It was the blanket amnesty which covered the non elected leader of the PTP and upset even the red shirts that sparked the protests.

[EyesWideOpen]

The sooner the better regarding a coup. With the looting going on right now, with the rice scam

being the crown jewel, there will be nothing left of Thailand to recover unless something is done.

The military has proven itself to be a poor leader, but hopefully they have no plans to indenture

the country for 50 years with the madness of the 2 trillion baht " transportation" bill.

Of course they do keep talking about a submarine......

[Spalpeen]

The sooner the better regarding a coup. With the looting going on right now, with the rice scam

being the crown jewel, there will be nothing left of Thailand to recover unless something is done.

The military has proven itself to be a poor leader, but hopefully they have no plans to indenture

the country for 50 years with the madness of the 2 trillion baht " transportation" bill.

Of course they do keep talking about a submarine......

.

Google 'Thai Navy Aircraft Carrier' for a good example of how to waste money.

[Prbkk]

a pragmatist would say that amnesty offers a way out for all parties. Abhisit is a complete irrelevance. Suthep is a distraction. Only 2 players of consequence left at the table, both with an interest in amnesty and events fixed in time for later this year.. Amnesty would be a win/win. Cynical but accurate

Edited January 7, 2014 by Prbkk

[Mackie]

a pragmatist would say that amnesty offers a way out for all parties. Abhisit is a complete irrelevance. Suthep is a distraction. Only 2 players of consequence left at the table, both with an interest in amnesty and events fixed in time for later this year.. Amnesty would be a win/win. Cynical but accurate

I am delighted that you have no say when it comes to Thai politics. An amnesty for Thaksin would start an all out civil war in Thailand. Your statement is every bit as nonsensical as it is cynical.

[robblok]

a pragmatist would say that amnesty offers a way out for all parties. Abhisit is a complete irrelevance. Suthep is a distraction. Only 2 players of consequence left at the table, both with an interest in amnesty and events fixed in time for later this year.. Amnesty would be a win/win. Cynical but accurate

No amnesty needed let the law sort it out. Of course the man in Dubai should come back and go to jail and all the other cases against him can proceed.

I am sure honorable men would not have a problem with a trial. Abhisit seems to have no problems ans Suthep also not.. Only coward is the one that left the country.

[Prbkk]

clueless

[phuketsub]

Hub of coup's, sounds like something new for TAT to promote.

Not as absurd as you might think; I have seen tour guides taking small groups of tourists to never-ending protests in front of out Sala Klang here in Phuket. For some tourists, especially those from China, the chance to witness such a thing is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...but for us here it's just another retarded barrier to traffic flow

[FLHR]

Thai government fears coup plan in the works

Just a distraction from the real intentions...On the contrary, It can only work IN FAVOR for Thaksin, because,... IF the yellows oust again, then the entire red shirt brigade of Thailand will make Suthep's Bangkok shutdown look like a fancy-nancy Bangkok-ONLY-Bangkok-VIP party,...

... in THIS case,... Bangkok and its few million Anti-government protesters along with many innocent people will be annihilated like trillion kachillian tsunamis, with a vengeance in the near future....

DemoThaksin-ocracy

Sad, but I don't think you're far off there. Pull the tanks out & put the Dems (not sure why they call themselves democrats) in office could very likely end up very bad, very quickly. A lot of people are seeing red (not referring to shirts) here already.

[anon467367354]

All the posters from western democracies when they get to Thailand chuck it out the window in support of coups, forgetting about their own roots. They are the worst kind of hypocrits!

I think a coup in the United States is long over due. Who are you calling "hypocrits"

Perhaps you've never heard of 1776.

The current government is not for the people and is totally corrupt and destroying the country,

that's pretty darn obvious I would think.

I really doubt the anti government protestors are going to create violence by attacking their own

just to put a coup into action.

What does make sense, and what the warnings have been, is the pro government people that have the

most to lose, or so they think will start the violence again.

This is not a pro Suthep movement, it's an anti Taksin movement again.

[Alwyn]

I'd be worried if te army said there will not be a coup, then you'd know for sure there will be one. I have a question, can anybody tell me please? What about the airforce and navy? Do they not get a shout in this and is the army a seperate entity which is not a part of the group that is the country's armed forces?

[Koen DW]

Wow Now there is democracy for you. If the minority can't win an election then stage a coup and take control against the majority.

Elected means representing the WHOLE country, not just give everything to the provinces that elected you and piss on the rest... May I remind you that the PT Thai Government CANCELLED the Convention centre that was to be build in Phuket. When the Democrat MP asked why, she was answered by MINISTER Plapordasop elected by the people to represent the people , quote, 'your province didn't vote for us, so you are not getting it'.

This convention centre was planned and budgeted by Abhisit government, they approved TWO, one in Chiang Mai, which was build and opened, and one in Phuket, cancelled by this government and the money that was earmarked for this channeled to some other project in Isaan.

If an elected government just STEALS tax payers money for their own enrichment and ONLY for their support base, from those that pay all the tax and bring in the revenue there is NO legitimacy anymore. A majority or not, it is a bought majority, you call that democracy ??

[klauskunkel]

Thailand’s democratically elected government fears the country’s powerful military will be lured into staging a coup

How to lure a powerful military into staging a coup:

Heeere kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, come on follow me, here's a fish head, smells good, ok around the corner now....very good and action.

[MaxLee]

Thai government fears coup plan in the works

Just a distraction from the real intentions...On the contrary, It can only work IN FAVOR for Thaksin, because,... IF the yellows oust again, then the entire red shirt brigade of Thailand will make Suthep's Bangkok shutdown look like a fancy-nancy Bangkok-ONLY-Bangkok-VIP party,...

... in THIS case,... Bangkok and its few million Anti-government protesters along with many innocent people will be annihilated like trillion kachillian tsunamis, with a vengeance in the near future....

DemoThaksin-ocracy

if the red thugs want to attempt that they WILL face the full force of the army,

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Either way, Bangkok is gonna be annihilated at the cost of EACH opposition leaders' ecentric egoistic self serving GREEEEEEED

[Spalpeen]

Wow Now there is democracy for you. If the minority can't win an election then stage a coup and take control against the majority.

Elected means representing the WHOLE country, not just give everything to the provinces that elected you and piss on the rest... May I remind you that the PT Thai Government CANCELLED the Convention centre that was to be build in Phuket. When the Democrat MP asked why, she was answered by MINISTER Plapordasop elected by the people to represent the people , quote, 'your province didn't vote for us, so you are not getting it'.

This convention centre was planned and budgeted by Abhisit government, they approved TWO, one in Chiang Mai, which was build and opened, and one in Phuket, cancelled by this government and the money that was earmarked for this channeled to some other project in Isaan.

If an elected government just STEALS tax payers money for their own enrichment and ONLY for their support base, from those that pay all the tax and bring in the revenue there is NO legitimacy anymore. A majority or not, it is a bought majority, you call that democracy ??

.

Actually this is EXACTLY how politics works in America. They call it 'pork barrel politics', or 'pork' for short. Congressmen routinely and openly sell their votes on bills in exchange for federal spending in their states. Then when the next election comes around the voters are pleased with the new airport/highway/arms factory, and all the new jobs, and they vote for him again. It's called politics. Same in every other western democracy.

Often the system works badly but you don't see the American army staging a coup every four years.

[brewsterbudgen]

Wow Now there is democracy for you. If the minority can't win an election then stage a coup and take control against the majority.

Elected means representing the WHOLE country, not just give everything to the provinces that elected you and piss on the rest... May I remind you that the PT Thai Government CANCELLED the Convention centre that was to be build in Phuket. When the Democrat MP asked why, she was answered by MINISTER Plapordasop elected by the people to represent the people , quote, 'your province didn't vote for us, so you are not getting it'.

This convention centre was planned and budgeted by Abhisit government, they approved TWO, one in Chiang Mai, which was build and opened, and one in Phuket, cancelled by this government and the money that was earmarked for this channeled to some other project in Isaan.

If an elected government just STEALS tax payers money for their own enrichment and ONLY for their support base, from those that pay all the tax and bring in the revenue there is NO legitimacy anymore. A majority or not, it is a bought majority, you call that democracy ??

.

Actually this is EXACTLY how politics works in America. They call it 'pork barrel politics', or 'pork' for short. Congressmen routinely and openly sell their votes on bills in exchange for federal spending in their states. Then when the next election comes around the voters are pleased with the new airport/highway/arms factory, and all the new jobs, and they vote for him again. It's called politics. Same in every other western democracy.

Often the system works badly but you don't see the American army staging a coup every four years.

You are quite right. But the blinkered "anti democracy" lot seem to think Thailand's political problems are somehow uniquely Thai!

[chainarong]

Gee this has brought everyone out of the wood work, if there was a coup ,you can bet your bottom dollar that the PTP will be the first to know, that's something they don't want to know ,as they could be in trouble.

[brewsterbudgen]

Wow Now there is democracy for you. If the minority can't win an election then stage a coup and take control against the majority.

Sir

May i say how correct you are.No party is innocent and to say one is worse than the other is so so silly.The vote chooses who is democraticaly elected,so why do non thais get involved with silly comments and straNge posts. If the people want another party they will vote for them.

I don't think you've been paying attention.

There are a lot of extreme views being thrown around and many of them but not all are coming fro Suthep which is why he should stick to rallying protesters and let someone else do the thinking.

The original spark behind the protests was Thaksin's amnesty and for many that's still the case plus the corruption from whatever side. I don't know what proportion of the protesters support Suthep's ideas completely but it probably isn't the majority. In the same way as many people voted for Thaksin's party even though they didn't like him. They just didn't want the Dems.

The thing is Thaksin seems to be controlling much of what the government does but he wasn't elected which is why there is a need for reform first. Has anyone suggested a complete end to elections? Not as far as I know.

You might notice that it's not non Thais who are protesting in general.

It's his Party why shouldn't he have some control? If the 'people' don't like it they can vote for an alternative. Most political parties have wealthy patrons who finance the party because it suits their ends. I wish it wasn't so, but the demonisation of Thaksin is ridiculous.

Edited January 7, 2014 by brewsterbudgen

[gbswales]

More stuff and nonsense from the government who are terrified that if they cannot get elected they will be exposed for what they are.

It is quite the reverse - the opposition do not want an election because they fear (with some justification) that the government would get re-elected. Until the opposition do something to win he hearts and minds of the North of Thailand they are unlikel to ever gain power legally. Thaksin was clever enough to realise that concessions and benefits for poorer areas was a vote winner - I cannot understand why the Dems (so called) cannot see this and promise more and better. There are plently of wealthy people in Bangkok who could afford higher taxes to support the poor

[tezzainoz]

ok a coup ..... new election and the Red will still be elected as it has been for the last 20 years .... Democrats never won any election for a long time ... so what next ? coup after coup ....

On the same topic

The thaskinites have never won an election where the educated people are the majority

If your a chess players thats

STALEMATE

[Thai at Heart]

Wow Now there is democracy for you. If the minority can't win an election then stage a coup and take control against the majority.

Elected means representing the WHOLE country, not just give everything to the provinces that elected you and piss on the rest... May I remind you that the PT Thai Government CANCELLED the Convention centre that was to be build in Phuket. When the Democrat MP asked why, she was answered by MINISTER Plapordasop elected by the people to represent the people , quote, 'your province didn't vote for us, so you are not getting it'.

This convention centre was planned and budgeted by Abhisit government, they approved TWO, one in Chiang Mai, which was build and opened, and one in Phuket, cancelled by this government and the money that was earmarked for this channeled to some other project in Isaan.

If an elected government just STEALS tax payers money for their own enrichment and ONLY for their support base, from those that pay all the tax and bring in the revenue there is NO legitimacy anymore. A majority or not, it is a bought majority, you call that democracy ??

.

Actually this is EXACTLY how politics works in America. They call it 'pork barrel politics', or 'pork' for short. Congressmen routinely and openly sell their votes on bills in exchange for federal spending in their states. Then when the next election comes around the voters are pleased with the new airport/highway/arms factory, and all the new jobs, and they vote for him again. It's called politics. Same in every other western democracy.

Often the system works badly but you don't see the American army staging a coup every four years.

You are quite right. But the blinkered "anti democracy" lot seem to think Thailand's political problems are somehow uniquely Thai!

If Thai's bothered to learn from the accumulated global history on this type of stuff, they would realise that there have been perfectly well created solutions globally to these problems already.

But of course, that would need someone to bother making a bit of sacrifice for the counry and realising that nothing is ever uniquely Thai.

[brewsterbudgen]

ok a coup ..... new election and the Red will still be elected as it has been for the last 20 years .... Democrats never won any election for a long time ... so what next ? coup after coup ....

On the same topic

The thaskinites have never won an election where the educated people are the majority

If your a chess players thats

STALEMATE

"educated people"???? How patronising can you get! Next thing you'll be saying the current whistle blowing mob are "educated" and therefore somehow more legitimate!

[tezzainoz]

Funny how the PDRC, who sees themselves as ultra-royalists, goes against the decree by the king that elections are to be held on February 2:nd.

Defamation if there ever was?

If you had a reasonable education

you would understand the word rubber stamping

Please leave the King out of you political references

this is again TV rules

[tezzainoz]

If the government is too weak and ineffectual to deal with the protestors then for sure a coup is the only way to fix that problem. Pro-Shinawatras can blame Suthep all they want but it was Poo's useless and corrupt government that allowed the situation to become so bad in the first place.

Now they can't disperse the crowds because the Shinawatra police are just as useless as their masters and they refuse to resign because they want to cling onto power. The army won't help them either. Right now, the only way this problem is going to be solved is with a coup with a military junta in charge for a couple of years while they try to force the Dems and the PTP to work together without Shinwatra interference.

Agree, if they hadn't brought up the amnesty bill to get Thaksin back, non of this would probably never happen.

Now I don't see any other solution than a coup to stop chaos and anarchy in Bangkok and hopefully get rid of the Shinawatra mafia in thai politics once and for all

No, the amnesty proposal was widely discussed BEFORE the last election( and with many of the 'key players' since). Looking at it from this chaos, amnesty ( for all) looks pretty good to me.

Thank goodness what you think has no value

I not agree with my Thai wife on many things

But this time I agree with her and her value

and this is her country

Not yours or mine

we are just guests with opinions that do not count

[bking43]

Wow Now there is democracy for you. If the minority can't win an election then stage a coup and take control against the majority.

If you really know what democracy is all about you wouldn't make a comment like that.

The guy is being sarcastic. Good to have some humor reading through these comments.

[tezzainoz]

Sunisa Letphakkawat, a spokeswoman for the government, has raised suspicions about a “secret” plan by anti-government leaders to organise a small violent attack on protesters during the shutdown, which would set a coup in motion.

Fortunately for us, kuhn Sunisa was able to ferret out this important story just in time. In the event of an attack we may have believed that it was black shirts or red shirts, or just plain hooligans attacking the protesters. But, now we know the rest of the story, they are going to attack them selves, what a nefarious plot.

They satrt a rumor saying the protestors will attack themselves

so when they do the attacking like the last time they can say

We told you so

this is called reverse propoganda

[Ozymandias]

All the posters from western democracies when they get to Thailand chuck it out the window in support of coups, forgetting about their own roots. They are the worst kind of hypocrits!

I could not agree more. Can all the western expats pro-coup/Suthep here answer one question: would you support an '18 month 'break' from democracy in your own country or military intervention in the democratic system of YOUR country?

Btw, I am British, a democrat & support all people's right to self-determination through democratic, free & fair elections. Vote-buying should not happen in any democracy but stock answers that the PTP succeed by buying votes fail because a) all Thai parties buy votes surveys time & time again show that most Thai people take the money & vote how they were going to without the bribe. I am no fan of PTP but research shows they have won every election contested over the last two decades because their policies deliver (or promise to deliver) benefits to large numbers of the electorate. This is exactly what sways the vote in every democracy under the sun. Please be consistent in your views & identify yourself if you are anti-democracy.

[Ozymandias]

All the posters from western democracies when they get to Thailand chuck it out the window in support of coups, forgetting about their own roots. They are the worst kind of hypocrits!

My country has never had a government as corrupt and incompetent as this one. If it did, I'd want a coup there too.

Can you identify your country so we can check whether or not we agree?

[chooka]

Wow Now there is democracy for you. If the minority can't win an election then stage a coup and take control against the majority.

If you really know what democracy is all about you wouldn't make a comment like that.

The guy is being sarcastic. Good to have some humor reading through these comments.

Thailand has more coups than any other country

[MunterHunter]

Wow Now there is democracy for you. If the minority can't win an election then stage a coup and take control against the majority.

Sir

May i say how correct you are.No party is innocent and to say one is worse than the other is so so silly.The vote chooses who is democraticaly elected,so why do non thais get involved with silly comments and straNge posts. If the people want another party they will vote for them.

I don't think you've been paying attention.

There are a lot of extreme views being thrown around and many of them but not all are coming fro Suthep which is why he should stick to rallying protesters and let someone else do the thinking.

The original spark behind the protests was Thaksin's amnesty and for many that's still the case plus the corruption from whatever side. I don't know what proportion of the protesters support Suthep's ideas completely but it probably isn't the majority. In the same way as many people voted for Thaksin's party even though they didn't like him. They just didn't want the Dems.

The thing is Thaksin seems to be controlling much of what the government does but he wasn't elected which is why there is a need for reform first. Has anyone suggested a complete end to elections? Not as far as I know.

You might notice that it's not non Thais who are protesting in general.

It's his Party why shouldn't he have some control? If the 'people' don't like it they can vote for an alternative. Most political parties have wealthy patrons who finance the party because it suits their ends. I wish it wasn't so, but the demonisation of Thaksin is ridiculous.

cos hes a convicted fellon, on the run/self exile for corruption cases with a 'shopping list' of other charges to face the very day he re-enters Thailand.