No winner as Bangkok heads for shutdown

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No winner as Bangkok heads for shutdown
Tulsathit Taptim

BANGKOK: -- Here's my belated Happy New Year to you all, but 2014 is picking up where 2013 left off. Which means, if you were able to celebrate the countdown at all, welcome straight back to the eternal political nightmare. And forget the usual "Fasten your seat-belts" cliche. Assume crash position, people.

So, whose shoes would you want to be in now? Yingluck Shinawatra's and you could become a lame-duck prime minister at best and another political exile at worst. Suthep Thaugsuban's and you would be treading that super-thin line separating hero from traitor, the latter with a "lunatic" label and a mountain of legal problems to contend with. Tarit Pengdit's might be a good choice if you fancy playing a two-headed spy whom nobody trusts.

Thaksin Shinawatra's could leave you exasperated but philosophical about what money can and cannot do. Abhisit Vejjajiva's and you would be wondering how you went from a political whiz kid to a man maligned by the foreign media and someone barely hanging onto the helm of your political party. Adul Saengsingkaew's would make you curse your teachers for not being thorough on "serve and protect".

Sukhumbhand Paribatra's and the "Bangkok shutdown" would tear your conscience apart. Prayuth Chan-ocha's and you would want everybody to leave you alone, but would probably start to believe their assumption that you were up to something. Jatuporn Prompan's and you would be torn between the raw urge to smack them all and the fear of that backfiring badly. And despite being considerably wealthy, he, Nuttawut Saikua, Arisman Pongruangrong and the likes have all but kissed "middle-class" shopping malls goodbye. So if you love Starbucks, don't choose their shoes.

How about the local media's? You would be taking sides, or accused of taking sides. The foreign media are no better off. In their shoes you would be chided for having blind faith in Athens-era democracy. You would be asked why you overlook certain things while similar things committed by the other side made you scream from the top of your lungs in protest.

You might like to be in whistle-makers' shoes, or election campaign poster-makers'. They are smiling, obviously, although their products are serving absolutely contrasting purposes. If you were Thaksin's strategists or lobbyists, you would probably be laughing, too. Crises are making them indispensable. Not only is he unlikely to change horses in midstream, he will also make sure the horses are well-fed.

Who else is chuckling? If you want to be happy, the shoes of Singapore's or Vietnam's leaders are the place. With the launch of the Asean Economic Community just around the corner, surely they cannot believe their luck. A joke is already doing the rounds about Thailand's hoped-for role in the economic bloc: "How will the Thais lead regional integration when they don't even know who should lead them?"

Some Thais say they can't wait to vote. Be in their shoes and you would find out that you would not actually be voting for your own benefit, but for something that makes you think you are voting for your benefit. The same goes for those boycotting the election. Be in their shoes and you would be full of the kind of ambivalence that haunts that woman in the "Phantom of the Opera".

The election commissioners are being threatened with imprisonment, and so are many other people. Therefore, you wouldn't want to be in their shoes, apparently. Political Facebookers look cool, but if you hate "unfriending" or being "unfriended", you don't want to be them. Remember this: "Likes" never mean you are "right"; they only mean you are lucky that Facebook doesn't have a "dislike" button.

The same goes for bloggers. In fact, the same goes for every "We know better" individual, whose shoes you might not want to be in. Compliments come cheap in the Thai political divide, so for every "thumbs up", who knows how many "thumbs down" are out there?

It can be fun to be in trolls' shoes. But then again, if you weren't paid you could get bored quickly. This is not taking anything away from resolute lone warriors out there, though. You would have a sense of purpose being them. That's one of the few good things about the Thai crisis. It has preoccupied many souls.

With January 13, the Bangkok shutdown day, approaching, you might want to own a 7-Eleven store. Stuff should fly off the shelves this weekend. You would get a good business head-start for 2014. It's funny, isn't it? 7-Eleven, emptied during the 2011 flood disaster and the political violence a year earlier, is set to be raided again. And all because humans, no matter how ideologically different they think they are, have to eat.


-- The Nation 2014-01-08

[CelticBhoy]

Written by a 10-year-old?

[Thailand]

Written by a 10-year-old?

Ignoring the content the title is spot on "No winner as Bangkok heads for shutdown"

[GazR]

Right on the money IMO.

[Mampara]

The limits of debate in this country are established before the debate begins and everyone is marginalised, it might be that powerful people may get together and have a plan.

[tomyummer]

Wow, pretty good assessment across the board. I can only say it's too bad Abhisit didn't take the chance to separate himself from Suthep when the door was open. I think it was his crappy criminal team in the background that brought him his own demise. It should have been Abhisit and Korn as 'one and two' and bring in the Governor Sukhumbhand as number three. Every time Abhisit spoke to the media with Suthep behind him, I got an itch on the behind.

[canuckamuck]

Regardless, it will be an interesting year.

[Ulic]

All these politicians should be banished to a small island and forced to live together there. The pox on all of them.

None have the moral of ethical high ground. Equally corrupt and self serving.

[canuckamuck]

Thailand really needs to look into outsourcing their government positions. Currently they seem very unclear on the concept. 80 years attempting democracy and not one step closer to achieving it.

[sam sen]

All these politicians should be banished to a small island and forced to live together there. The pox on all of them.

None have the moral of ethical high ground. Equally corrupt and self serving.

or the fletcher memorial home

[AbuBacon]

And the winners are.....neighbors.... Sad as it is the rest of ASEAN is having a good laugh thanks to the current bout of madness.

Sent from my Lenovo A516 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[JetsetBkk]

Regardless, it will be an interesting year.

It will be an interesting few days or weeks until the bloodshed becomes too much even for the reluctant generals.

[JetsetBkk]

Thailand really needs to look into outsourcing their government positions. Currently they seem very unclear on the concept. 80 years attempting democracy and not one step closer to achieving it.

Spot on. As I said 6 years ago...

Thailand is not ready for democracy. God knows - or Buddha - what it is ready for. Just more of same nonsense until the masses get educated.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/149327-65-of-voters-ready-to-sell-votes/page-5#entry1618507

[MegaRanter]

Good piece.

[Bpuumike]

I hate to repeat myself, but enter Chuwit.

Yes, I know his history, but he has made his money already. I truly believe he is the one person capable of uniting the country and moving Thailand forward.

I have not heard anyone from either side speak a bad word against him... unless he becomes a serious contender.

[Just1Voice]

I hate to repeat myself, but enter Chuwit.

Yes, I know his history, but he has made his money already. I truly believe he is the one person capable of uniting the country and moving Thailand forward.

I have not heard anyone from either side speak a bad word against him... unless he becomes a serious contender.

Now, THAT'S a thought. Here's a man who was a dirty as they come, then "came clean", divorced himself from his past, trying to do some good now, and isn't afraid to call a Spade a Spade, or name names.

He'd get my vote - if I was allowed to vote, that is.

Edited for spelling error

Edited January 8, 2014 by Just1Voice

[stoffel45]

All these politicians should be banished to a small island and forced to live together there. The pox on all of them.

None have the moral of ethical high ground. Equally corrupt and self serving.

or together in a tent in Dubai - forever.

[Bpuumike]

I hate to repeat myself, but enter Chuwit.

Yes, I know his history, but he has made his money already. I truly believe he is the one person capable of uniting the country and moving Thailand forward.

I have not heard anyone from either side speak a bad word against him... unless he becomes a serious contender.

Now, THAT'S a thought. Here's a man who was a dirty as they come, then "came clean", divorced himself from his past, trying to do some good now, and isn't afraid to call a Spade a Spade, or name names.

He'd get my vote - if I was allowed to vote, that is.

Edited for spelling error

He would certainly have mine if I could.

[Bpuumike]

All these politicians should be banished to a small island and forced to live together there. The pox on all of them.

None have the moral of ethical high ground. Equally corrupt and self serving.

or together in a tent in Dubai - forever.

A small island but no tent, no water and oh, no ATM.