Thai capital braces for 'shutdown' by protesters

[backtonormal]

At the movement's rally site near the government headquarters, former soldier-turned-protester Anan Jandontree has produced about 1,000 homemade flak jackets filled with layers of used hospital X-ray film in preparation for the showdown."We will fight our best, because we have made all these, so we will fight and we will succeed," he said.

Sounds like a peaceful movement.

People are dying, because Suthep will not accept any proposals for negotiation.

It's absolutely sick that his plan is to incite violence.

It is also absolutely sick that Yingluk will not postpone the election when everyone seems to be advising her to do so

I think you will find its only those aligned to this mutiny that want the election called off.

[orosee]

He said 6 million at one point, which was pretty much the number of votes the Democrats got in the last election. Pretty amazing, huh?

Even if 6 million did come out, what gives them the right to tell the other 50 million what to do? Oh yeah, they are "elite" and "high so". Sorry, forgot.

Apparently 14 million votes can tell 60 million what to do

And I'm sure you're just being crass by halving the Dem's vote but that surprises me not.

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Hmm...Barak Obama polled just under 70 million votes in a country of 314 million.

Seems in a 'democracy' the minority DO tell the majority what to do!

Here, this should help you with your next argument:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_presidential_elections

Basic election 101

[Yunla]

Turned out, our goals and point of view were not that awful different, but he still wanted to pick a fight with me. Poor guy, must be close to a veritable stomach ulcer the way he looked so angry..

Your post excellently illustrates the dangers of "divisive politics" in the sense that this man would probably have found another way to act brutish and engage you on a physical level, but the divisive nature of politics here has given him a perceived legitimate reason to tell you that this bar is for Red Party Only.

It is disgraceful behaviour by this individual, but ultimately the political leaders are to blame because they are (generally) highly educated and should know better than to inspire factionalism within social groups, and to encourage street-based confrontations too, which also plays into the hands of those who prefer to show solidarity using their boots rather than their mouths.

Edited January 12, 2014 by Yunla

[DMG333]

To DMG333:

My critique wasn't against you but against Ozymandias, who cought up the AD1995 story about the 401 (?) title deed case, that led to the democrats government taking responsibility and resign. Compared to Taksin or his clone Yingluck Khun Chuan Leekpai was a political gentleman!

And please note, I don't mind if you have a different oppinion, only if somebody is twisting history to make it fit his intentions.

On that issue, I get the feeling here at ThaiVisa and other places as well is, that the Taksinistas are much more narrowminded, accepting only their point of view. That is as if they feared to get off the path of being true supporters. All the same I get uneasy, if I see people, who look as if they were brainwashed and straightened out just like the Nazi mass organizations of SA, Hitler-Youth etc. It is a wonderful way to cope with inferiority, maybe, but it's something that scares me. After all we are humans and no machines, so let's use our own brain instead of others tell us what to think. And do.

The other day I was sitting in an open air pub, when a farang, obviously a Taksinisto, came up to me and told me to leave, because that place was a red shirt place. In fact it isn't and he isn't the owner either, but he wanted me to leave immediately or he would kick me out by force. I've never seen that guy before and vice versa, but he was so angry looking, it seemed he was convinced to do the only tright thing. Turned out, our goals and point of view were not that awful different, but he still wanted to pick a fight with me. Poor guy, must be close to a veritable stomach ulcer the way he looked so angry..

BTW, talking about history, does anybody remember, when Sunthorn, the guy behind Suchinda, died a few years ago? His two wives were figthing over a 2 billion Baht inhertiance and the word on the street was, that that was from Taksin to get the ThaiCom satelite concession... But then again, that is over 20 years ago.

Hence we should be objective driven not emotional

[prvtdetdave]

Ozymandias mentioned:

...

Interesting repetition except this time round he is positioned on the opposing side......so let's see how the prejudiced crowd go from 13.

If you pick out what happened 20 years ago, what follies did YOU commit back 20 years ago? If you don't change in 20 years, you are a living dead, my boy! So allow Suthep to change as well.

Nobody here says Suthep is a saint.

But then Taksin is a non-saint of much bigger proportions.

I always get the feeling, the Reds never realize, that their mudslinging leaves then with much more dirt on their face then on their opponents face...

And I'm waiting for the day, when the Reds start talking about content, not about persons.

Are they for or against corruption? Suthep's follower are against it.

Are they for or against votebuying and election rigging? The demonstrators are against it.

Are they for or against a fair share of wealth for all Thais? The demonstrators are definitely for it.

Are they for or against an improoved education system? The demontrators are fro the improvement.

Are they for or against being taken for a ride and lied to and cheated by their own leaders? The demonstrators detest liars. And broken promises.

Are they for or against a government, that is working from within Thailand or from a not-elected guy in a foreign country? The demonstrators prefer to have the person in charge to be here, right in the center, not even on permanent vacation in Chiang Mai or Dubai/Hong Kong/Montenegro.

So in my humble oppinion, if the Reds weren't only listening to their leaders but instead ask for and demand substance, the leaders would since long be standing alone out in nowhere...

Sam

Your full of more stuffing than a Christmas Turkey. (lol)

[prvtdetdave]

You've got to be a bit weird to want to live in overcrowded, smelly, rip-off bkk anyway.

Love from Issan.

I love living in Issan. All the tam pu pla, khao nieow, gai yang that I can eat. Sitting on my patio, watching the sun go down, the paddy farmers returning home to shrieks of delight from their little ones.

I do also enjoy Bangkok. The occasional cheese fondue at Chesa's, pork knuckle at Bei Otto, home brewed beer at Tawan Daeng, nice steaks, sashimi, Korean BBQ, pizza and pasta, curried crab, river prawns (those with the big, juicy, succulent heads)....... Oh, not forgetting that my company pays me to stay and work here as well.

OK. I agree with everything except "nice steaks" where in the hell did you find nice steaks in Thailand?

[prvtdetdave]

A group of brainwashed stupid people led bu an egomaniac who is basically a criminal. They are going to ruin the lives of Millions of Thai people. It won't effect the majority of farangs. Simply move back home or on to one of many other beautiful places one can stay or holiday. When things clear up, simply return at your own wish. That won't help the millions who rely on income from tourists

Are you referring to a man in Dubai? He is definitely an egomaniac, and he is most definitely the criminal. Convicted one. I'm certain that you are aware that Thailand lost 6 billions USD in 2010, 100,000 plus Thais lost their jobs in 2010 (small business not included, many people went bust), not to mention dead people and carnage around Bangkok, and the very same people who were responsible for it UDD/Red shirt leaders such as Jatuporn, Nattawut, Kwanchai, Arisman etc...etc...instead of being locked up for a long time were rewarded with well-paid jobs. That was a dangerous precedent. Some of us warned that letting them off the hook will encourage others to follow their path. Unfortunately, we were proven right. The country which allows proven terrorists to occupy public functions has no future. Either Thailand cleanses the whole political scene of the rubbish they've been hiding under the rug for far too long or the country will simply cease to exist. As simple as that.

Like the yellow shirts Airport takeovers?

[GentlemanJim]

At the movement's rally site near the government headquarters, former soldier-turned-protester Anan Jandontree has produced about 1,000 homemade flak jackets filled with layers of used hospital X-ray film in preparation for the showdown."We will fight our best, because we have made all these, so we will fight and we will succeed," he said.

Sounds like a peaceful movement.

People are dying, because Suthep will not accept any proposals for negotiation.

It's absolutely sick that his plan is to incite violence.

It's absolutely sick that last night (and other nights), people ride in on motorcycles and shoot protestors while they are sleeping.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I slept at home. Nobody shot me. I wonder why?

Wife says its because I didn't piss anyone off continuously for the past 2 months. I wonder if she's right.

I doubt she is right, after all you have done a pretty good job of it on TV for the last 2 months

[77Dan]

TallGuyJohninBKK

"The report isn't especially politically neutral or balanced."

Which bits do you think are biased in favour of Thaksin? The report notes that he has been convicted of corruption but balances it by saying Thaksin contends the conviction was politically motivated. It also notes Yingluck is accused of corruption.

Nobody disputes Thaksin remains hugely popular in the northern half of the country or that the protesters want to appoint an unelected council.

The report doesn't mention that Suthep and Abhisit are facing murder charges and that Suthep has many corruption scandals behind him, so you could argue in fact it is biased in favour of the protesters.

It might underestimate the turnout but police said 140,000 and Suthep's figure of millions was obviously not true. Estimating crowd sizes isn't easy.

The point is that news agencies are always accused of being biased, by one side or the other, whichever country they work in, because there are always people on either side who want them to be more supportive of their own views.

If there is one area in which Western media are biased, then it would be towards democracy or against mob violence. Yes that's probably true. But news agencies have no reason to be biased towards Thaksin, who vehemently dislikes many Western media that covered his war on drugs etc in the past.

[Baerboxer]

He said 6 million at one point, which was pretty much the number of votes the Democrats got in the last election. Pretty amazing, huh?

Even if 6 million did come out, what gives them the right to tell the other 50 million what to do? Oh yeah, they are "elite" and "high so". Sorry, forgot.

Go on treat yourself. Check how many votes each party got in the last election. Very easy to find.

Or you can pretend as usual.

Clue - the number of votes recorded for PTP was not anywhere near 50 million, but very near to the number that voted for the Democrats. You might want to check the population of Thailand too.

You are right - all governments in a democracy should respect the minority view, govern in accordance with the laws, and not cheat parliamentary process.

Now, who has dissolved parliament because they didn't do that, and believed their own mantra that they could do whatever they wanted to?

[Old Man River]

At the movement's rally site near the government headquarters, former soldier-turned-protester Anan Jandontree has produced about 1,000 homemade flak jackets filled with layers of used hospital X-ray film in preparation for the showdown."We will fight our best, because we have made all these, so we will fight and we will succeed," he said.

Sounds like a peaceful movement.

People are dying, because Suthep will not accept any proposals for negotiation.

It's absolutely sick that his plan is to incite violence.

It's absolutely sick that last night (and other nights), people ride in on motorcycles and shoot protestors while they are sleeping.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I slept at home. Nobody shot me. I wonder why?

Wife says its because I didn't piss anyone off continuously for the past 2 months. I wonder if she's right.

You asked your wife why nobody is shooting at you?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[indyuk]

"I don't think the election is going to take place because those who are in the judiciary are mostly siding against the Yingluck government," said Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand.

​Thank you Paul Chambers I too have noticed that the Thai judiciary are corrupt in that they swing Judgements in favour of the Elite which no doubt they recognise as Peers.

[Prbkk]

So now some protesters are threatening to take over air traffic control....does suthep denounce this?

[Johnniey]

Wonderful Thailand; one of the reasons I moved here 25 years ago was becsuse of the mayem and disorder.

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