Gen Prayuth concerned over security on Jan 13

[AryanicAristocrat]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

[Thait Spot]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

Yawn....

If you have some proof of this, please provide it.

If not, then please frame your toxic conjecture as an opinion and refrain from promoting violence which, it has to be said, comes more to some than it does to others.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[marko kok prong]

this would be a perfect opportunity for rebels in the south to plant a massive car/truck bomb and kill a lot of people,lets just hope this has not occured to them ,as it would be simple in the current chaos,but it is a terrifying new angle that i think has been overlooked.

[Sunisalom]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

Which ruling government? Have you been on holiday for 3 months?

The masses are out... to remove it and all its lower ranking sc**bags, and the army chief is pragmatic until the end... forced by yours truly... your mummy, in crocodile outfits out shopping.

Dream on... it's over... (as for 'si luang'...... your jacksy is also 3 years removed.)

-mel.

[MikeThaison]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

I guess you never heard of Egypt before have you?

[MobileContent]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

Well said. If I were Yingluck, I would remove this yellow banana a long time ago. In any functioning civilian government the chief of the Army would be sacked asap. But this is Thailand and the army is above the law and in fact they are to be blamed for the current and past stand-off's.

[h90]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

A good one....

would have saved us most of the wars.

thinking of the general saying to Hitler: Sorry mate, the army is an independent body we won't attack anyone.

....Sorry there is nothing we can do in Vietnam/Afghanistan/Iraq we'll stay at home and play gulf instead.

[h90]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

Well said. If I were Yingluck, I would remove this yellow banana a long time ago. In any functioning civilian government the chief of the Army would be sacked asap. But this is Thailand and the army is above the law and in fact they are to be blamed for the current and past stand-off's.

In many countries, for good reason the chief of the Army can't be sacked easily (recently in Austria they had to reinstall the sacked one). Because the Army should protect the country. If they can be sacked easily every new government would place their cronies there and it would be the private army of the PM.

[Zao]

To say this is a Bangkok elitist fight against rural farmers is a smack to every hard working class southern thai that supports the Dems and has traveled up to Bangkok. I think a lot people don't realize that Thailand is more than Isaan and Bangkok. There is an entire southern region. They aren't Bangkok elitistests. They don't vote for PTP. Of course its a power struggle, its a struggle to control trillions of baht loans and mega-projects. Sure there is waste and corruption on both sides. PTP bribed the rural farmers with subsidies at the expense of everyone else in Thailand. The rubber farmers have been feeling the squeeze for the last few years and when they ask the gov. for help, Nothing from the current gov. Just my few thoughts.

You really don't have a handle on Thailand. Suthep is an old-time career politician from Surat Thani, the heart of the southern provinces to which you refer.

The "rubber farmers have been feeling the squeeze"? Are you serious? Do you even know how rubber plantations work? Huge swaths of land are owned by wealthy landowners. They and they alone have been squeezing farm laborers, and have done so for decades. Rubber farm laborers do not own their land. Wealthy landowners do, and pay them squat.

The only reason rubber farming has become an issue is that landowners converted their plantations to rubber in a roll of the dice when the commodity's prices were high, and the over-supply bit them in the ass.

Rice farmers, by contrast, are largely small-plot, individual farmers. They don't roll the dice hoping for a big payout on the back of farm laborers. They do the work themselves. And they receive almost nothing for the effort, after costs, except whining from privileged Bangkok Thai's that the cost of their food has increased.

The reason you see lots of southern farm laborers in BKK is that they are transported there, fed, sheltered, and entertained, and paid a daily wage to be there.

Suthep is a well known career politician from the 1990s. As Minister of Transport and Communications in the administration Thaksin displaced, he was prosecuted for land corruption and bank embezzlement in Surat Thani. This is nothing but an elitist temper tantrum over the spoils of office. Get real.

[icare999]

Anyone who feels the army is on the fence should contact me about real estate in Florida. The Army is on the protesters' side. It speaks more to the truth to say that the army is acting like it's on the fence.

In the event that a coup does happen, I just hope that there is plentiful video taken of the masses of [cough] Democrats cheering and celebrating news of the coup as incontrovertible evidence of what radical hypocrites they really are. For posterity's sake.

i hope your right since it was/is possible Taksin had even bought the army. That seems unlikely so one of greatest dangers hopefully is gone and

taksin will have to go to Plan B to try and become total dictator

Anything to rid Thailand of the Taksin cancer and if that means army take over so be it

Ill be cheering day as loudly as any dems if Taksin is defeated

[Loles]

The most powerful man in the land has wisely done what someone in his situation should do and that is to make sure they are comfortably sitting on the fence with a full view of everything around them.

It also seems to lay to rest (for the time being) the assumption by some posters that a coup is imminent and that somehow the dems will be handed power by the army!

As both Suthep and more recently Yingluck has tried to get the army on their side. I hope Gen Prayuth stays on the fence. I also hope neither sides causes violence in the hope this would bring out the army!

Too much hope. The life is stronger.

[Longtooth]

The stage is set..

Yingluck and her government has been neutered by Suthep in record time with masterful, military-like precision.

Army General making cryptic statements the other day. Yingluck has been warned and held accountable before anything's even happened.

Yingluck's Police force on the ground will be unarmed.

Suthep says if it spirals into violence, which he knows it will and the plan actually counts on it, he will tell the masses to go home; knowing they will be replaced by the Army.

It's a coup without calling it a coup because that would be unacceptable to the international community. Public safety is totally acceptable. Brilliant.

I normally dislike this kind of speculative post, but I think this one is pretty plausible. The issue that I do have with what you say here is not whether it's possible/likely but that your implication is that this is an 'endgame', when in fact it will more likely lead to an escalation of Thailand's bitter divide. Remember that many in the army are PTP sympathisers (some high ranking) and won't be happy with what will still be seen as a coup; remember also what happened the last time there was a coup - Thai Rak Thai was no more and Pheua Thai was born from its ashes, the cycle beginning again.

It won't matter long-term if PTP are gone, because a similar entity will replace them; it won't even matter if the Shinawatra's are broken, because now that the power of the rural vote is recognised, another political party will step into the vaccuum. In short:

• the Bangkok elite don't want their power drain away to the provinces
• they don't seem to have any plan to deal with it apart from street protests and coups
• the majority who don't live in the capital will continue to vote for parties who give/promise them a better life
• the elite/Dems won't do this, because it means redistributing resources and wealth which hits their own pockets
• those in the north & Isaan don't trust the Dems anyway, so are unlikely to vote for the party of the BKK elite
• sooner or later, power will be decentralised and the old elite will lose to a new elite who have more enlightened politics
• if the above does not happen peacefully, it will come about through civil war, possibly one that ends in the division of the country

Any thoughts on this?

Yep, I think if the country split into an "Elite" portion, and a "Rural/Farmer" portion, both "Portions" would become the lesser for it! "A house divided cannot stand". "Honest" Abe Lincoln. Not a bad guy. Maybe the whole world is "waking up" around now, because of the internet. Good Morning!.

[icare999]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

Well said. If I were Yingluck, I would remove this yellow banana a long time ago. In any functioning civilian government the chief of the Army would be sacked asap. But this is Thailand and the army is above the law and in fact they are to be blamed for the current and past stand-off's.

WELL THANK GOODNESS SHE CANNOT AND COULD NOT AND HOPEFULLY NEVER OWULD BE ABLE TO

otherwise Thialand would already be totally controlled by Taksin as dictator and new president and of course you could then totally forget about any elections

The Army is only thing here that keeps things in check and you think the most corrupt self serving awful evil government should have power over it

[FWIW]

The Army is only thing here that keeps things in check and you think the most corrupt self serving awful evil government should have power over it

And if you think the army is some monolithic, single purpose entity, you are sadly mistaken.

[choff56]

The most powerful man in the land has wisely done what someone in his situation should do and that is to make sure they are comfortably sitting on the fence with a full view of everything around them.

The army started this mess with the mistake of the 2006 coup. Things didn't turn out they way they wanted. Now their bad karma has caught up.

wise? hardly.

2006 coup wasn't the problem. The ineffective Surayud government and the faulty constitution was.

If they would made much stronger laws against corruption/vote buying and on the other hand cut out all the nonsense laws which just cloak the system than the courts would have fixed half the mess already and we would have complete new parties instead of all the old dinosaurs.

You got that right, they missed the boat in 1932!

[bigbamboo]

now come on generals let's move fast your big chance is here at last

on 13 go out and get those reds cos the only good red is on that's d***

you know peace can only be won when you blow them all to kingdom come

That sounds remarkably like that old Thai folk rock number by Isan Somchai and the Tubtims.

[Prbkk]

now come on generals let's move fast your big chance is here at last

on 13 go out and get those reds cos the only good red is on that's d***

you know peace can only be won when you blow them all to kingdom come

That sounds remarkably like that old Thai folk rock number by Isan Somchai and the Tubtims.

Country joe McDonald and fish...I'm old

[Prbkk]

Oh, you too

[noitom]

The most powerful man in the land has wisely done what someone in his situation should do and that is to make sure they are comfortably sitting on the fence with a full view of everything around them.

The army started this mess with the mistake of the 2006 coup. Things didn't turn out they way they wanted. Now their bad karma has caught up.

wise? hardly.

2006 coup wasn't the problem. The ineffective Surayud government and the faulty constitution was.

If they would made much stronger laws against corruption/vote buying and on the other hand cut out all the nonsense laws which just cloak the system than the courts would have fixed half the mess already and we would have complete new parties instead of all the old dinosaurs.

I am surprised at this comment from someone with a lot of Thai experience. The 2006 coup wasn't the problem nor was Thaksin a former friend and business partner of Sondhi. The problem was the threat to the establishment, which is the fundamental cause of all the military coups for the past 80 years, the military repression, and the oppression of the poor, that is keeping them in their place. Anesthetizing them, and squandering all the wealth in the 15% with limited reciprocal investments in education, infrastructure, and training. The other part of the problem is how the top 15% utlilize the law and the police to proliferate their status. That is avoidance of law and its application depending on rank in society. So the problem began long before Thaksin was even born.

[erobando]

To say this is a Bangkok elitist fight against rural farmers is a smack to every hard working class southern thai that supports the Dems and has traveled up to Bangkok. I think a lot people don't realize that Thailand is more than Isaan and Bangkok. There is an entire southern region. They aren't Bangkok elitistests. They don't vote for PTP. Of course its a power struggle, its a struggle to control trillions of baht loans and mega-projects. Sure there is waste and corruption on both sides. PTP bribed the rural farmers with subsidies at the expense of everyone else in Thailand. The rubber farmers have been feeling the squeeze for the last few years and when they ask the gov. for help, Nothing from the current gov. Just my few thoughts.

You really don't have a handle on Thailand. Suthep is an old-time career politician from Surat Thani, the heart of the southern provinces to which you refer.

The "rubber farmers have been feeling the squeeze"? Are you serious? Do you even know how rubber plantations work? Huge swaths of land are owned by wealthy landowners. They and they alone have been squeezing farm laborers, and have done so for decades. Rubber farm laborers do not own their land. Wealthy landowners do, and pay them squat.

The only reason rubber farming has become an issue is that landowners converted their plantations to rubber in a roll of the dice when the commodity's prices were high, and the over-supply bit them in the ass.

Rice farmers, by contrast, are largely small-plot, individual farmers. They don't roll the dice hoping for a big payout on the back of farm laborers. They do the work themselves. And they receive almost nothing for the effort, after costs, except whining from privileged Bangkok Thai's that the cost of their food has increased.

The reason you see lots of southern farm laborers in BKK is that they are transported there, fed, sheltered, and entertained, and paid a daily wage to be there.

Suthep is a well known career politician from the 1990s. As Minister of Transport and Communications in the administration Thaksin displaced, he was prosecuted for land corruption and bank embezzlement in Surat Thani. This is nothing but an elitist temper tantrum over the spoils of office. Get real.

I'm not sure of the point of this tirade.

MikeThaison's point still stands that this is a power struggle that doesn't fit the "Bangkok elite vs. Rural poor" characterization. Not everyone in Southern Thailand is a rich rubber plantation owner but that's not that important, either. Check the election results... PTP does much beter in Central Thailand (including Bangkok) than in the South. That doesn't mean that the South is better or worse but it's a fact and ignoring this fact will always lead to a misunderstanding of the political battles here in Thailand. Yes, the Yellow Shirts are essentially pawns of an Old Guard political establishment (which for recent historical reasons get support from the South) and the Red Shirts are essentially pawns of a New Guard political elite orchestrated by Thaksin. Yeah, segments of both Yellow Shirts and Red Shirts might have some some other ideas or goals but non of the eilites any any side of the fight particularly care about those details. Do you think the last coup was because the military didn't want farmers in Isaan getting affordable healthcare? No, the coup came about because Thaksin attempted to restructure the miltary to solidify his own power.

Thailand's political struggles are still about people, not about policy. The TRT/PPP/PTP would have been able to stay in power indefinately if their primary interests (and actions) were to improve the lives of poorer citizens.

[erobando]

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

Militaries in most developing countries are separate political entities from from civilian or official governments.

And as FWIW points out, there are typically factions with their own political interests rather than a monolithic entity.

[celso]

 

Which army chief in the world behaves like he is an independent body and dose not come under the ruling government? Which army chief in the world condones c apital shutdown by protesters and says that no violenece should directed atthe protesters by security authorities.

This army chief is basically a Suthep sympathiser or has an agenda of his own. The masses should come out and remove him, all lower reanking soldiers who belong to the masses should revolt and eradicate all their yellow generals in the army.

A good one....

would have saved us most of the wars.

thinking of the general saying to Hitler: Sorry mate, the army is an independent body we won't attack anyone.

....Sorry there is nothing we can do in Vietnam/Afghanistan/Iraq we'll stay at home and play gulf instead.

A post comparing someone you dislike to Hitler. How original.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

[Sunisalom]

The most powerful man in the land has wisely done what someone in his situation should do and that is to make sure they are comfortably sitting on the fence with a full view of everything around them.

The army started this mess with the mistake of the 2006 coup. Things didn't turn out they way they wanted. Now their bad karma has caught up.

wise? hardly.

2006 coup wasn't the problem. The ineffective Surayud government and the faulty constitution was.

If they would made much stronger laws against corruption/vote buying and on the other hand cut out all the nonsense laws which just cloak the system than the courts would have fixed half the mess already and we would have complete new parties instead of all the old dinosaurs.

I am surprised the problem began long before Thaksin was even born.

So that gives the right for propensity? Your wife puts her finger in the fire, and you follow suit because all the family do?

[Richard W]

 

thinking of the general saying to Hitler: Sorry mate, the army is an independent body we won't attack anyone.

....Sorry there is nothing we can do in Vietnam/Afghanistan/Iraq we'll stay at home and play gulf instead.

A post comparing someone you dislike to Hitler.

No, H90's point is that the Second World War would have been avoided if the German Army had been as independent as the Thai army is.

I don't know about Vietnam, but I don't recall any evidence that the US Army opposed invading Afghanistan or Iraq (Round 2).

[espinoza]

The international recognised legally elected government of Thailand should sack this bloke. He do not carry out his obligations to the government of the kingdom Thailand. Do not give him the pay check this month.

[VegasVic]

The stage is set..

Yingluck and her government has been neutered by Suthep in record time with masterful, military-like precision.

Army General making cryptic statements the other day. Yingluck has been warned and held accountable before anything's even happened.

Yingluck's Police force on the ground will be unarmed.

Suthep says if it spirals into violence, which he knows it will and the plan actually counts on it, he will tell the masses to go home; knowing they will be replaced by the Army.

It's a coup without calling it a coup because that would be unacceptable to the international community. Public safety is totally acceptable. Brilliant.

I normally dislike this kind of speculative post, but I think this one is pretty plausible. The issue that I do have with what you say here is not whether it's possible/likely but that your implication is that this is an 'endgame', when in fact it will more likely lead to an escalation of Thailand's bitter divide. Remember that many in the army are PTP sympathisers (some high ranking) and won't be happy with what will still be seen as a coup; remember also what happened the last time there was a coup - Thai Rak Thai was no more and Pheua Thai was born from its ashes, the cycle beginning again.

It won't matter long-term if PTP are gone, because a similar entity will replace them; it won't even matter if the Shinawatra's are broken, because now that the power of the rural vote is recognised, another political party will step into the vaccuum. In short:

• the Bangkok elite don't want their power drain away to the provinces
• they don't seem to have any plan to deal with it apart from street protests and coups
• the majority who don't live in the capital will continue to vote for parties who give/promise them a better life
• the elite/Dems won't do this, because it means redistributing resources and wealth which hits their own pockets
• those in the north & Isaan don't trust the Dems anyway, so are unlikely to vote for the party of the BKK elite
• sooner or later, power will be decentralised and the old elite will lose to a new elite who have more enlightened politics
• if the above does not happen peacefully, it will come about through civil war, possibly one that ends in the division of the country

Any thoughts on this?

Division of the country is an interesting idea, if they could get a fair price from Malaysia then Thailand should just set its southern border just south of Prachuap Khiri Khan and sell the southland, thereby ridding itself of the muslim problem and the suthep problem at the same time! On a more realistic note I think that the Military elite know that if they try another coup, this time around they might just have a popular uprising. So for many here who seem to be hoping for a military coup, be very careful what you wish for

[tilac2]

The stage is set..

Yingluck and her government has been neutered by Suthep in record time with masterful, military-like precision.

Army General making cryptic statements the other day. Yingluck has been warned and held accountable before anything's even happened.

Yingluck's Police force on the ground will be unarmed.

Suthep says if it spirals into violence, which he knows it will and the plan actually counts on it, he will tell the masses to go home; knowing they will be replaced by the Army.

It's a coup without calling it a coup because that would be unacceptable to the international community. Public safety is totally acceptable. Brilliant.

I normally dislike this kind of speculative post, but I think this one is pretty plausible. The issue that I do have with what you say here is not whether it's possible/likely but that your implication is that this is an 'endgame', when in fact it will more likely lead to an escalation of Thailand's bitter divide. Remember that many in the army are PTP sympathisers (some high ranking) and won't be happy with what will still be seen as a coup; remember also what happened the last time there was a coup - Thai Rak Thai was no more and Pheua Thai was born from its ashes, the cycle beginning again.

It won't matter long-term if PTP are gone, because a similar entity will replace them; it won't even matter if the Shinawatra's are broken, because now that the power of the rural vote is recognised, another political party will step into the vaccuum. In short:

• the Bangkok elite don't want their power drain away to the provinces
• they don't seem to have any plan to deal with it apart from street protests and coups
• the majority who don't live in the capital will continue to vote for parties who give/promise them a better life
• the elite/Dems won't do this, because it means redistributing resources and wealth which hits their own pockets
• those in the north & Isaan don't trust the Dems anyway, so are unlikely to vote for the party of the BKK elite
• sooner or later, power will be decentralised and the old elite will lose to a new elite who have more enlightened politics
• if the above does not happen peacefully, it will come about through civil war, possibly one that ends in the division of the country

Any thoughts on this?

Division of the country is an interesting idea, if they could get a fair price from Malaysia then Thailand should just set its southern border just south of Prachuap Khiri Khan and sell the southland, thereby ridding itself of the muslim problem and the suthep problem at the same time! On a more realistic note I think that the Military elite know that if they try another coup, this time around they might just have a popular uprising. So for many here who seem to be hoping for a military coup, be very careful what you wish for

Interesting idea about 'selling the southland', thus dealing with the muslim insurgency and Suthep. After that, the problem would remain of what to do with Mr Abhisit, but maybe he could be shipped back to Oxford. I hear they need a lecturer in the Department of Abdicating Responsibility.

More seriously, that's an interesting post from Ozymandias about whether this is an endgame or not. You suggest there's a certain inevitability about what is to come, and I'd agree that I can't see the N and NE going back to the pre-Thaksin situation. Probably that's why the elites and so many diehard elitist farangs hate Thaksin: because he has opened the floodgates of change in Thailand. I myself can't see the Genie being put back in the bottle.

Maybe 55Jay you think Suthep will win. I'd say 'unlikely in the long run' as feudalism doesn't play well in the modern world.

[whimsy]

More insightful comments on this thread than any other political topic I have seen here for a looooooong time. IMHO, unemotional, balanced analysis of how this is likely to play out (not just this week, but coming years) is much more useful to those who live here than all the hundreds of pages of debate about the rights and wrongs, the meaning of democracy, who is corrupt and who is responsible for this mess.

Perhaps the impending 'shutdown' has focussed members on the realpolitik being played out. All the rest is just window dressing.

[gerrythepoet]

If the General can bring about a peaceful end to this bizarre situation in Thai Politics then he should be nominated for the Noble Peace Prize and perhaps be the first Military head to receive such a prestigious honour. Truly would raise Thailand's profile with the International audience.

[55Jay]

The stage is set..

Yingluck and her government has been neutered by Suthep in record time with masterful, military-like precision.

Army General making cryptic statements the other day. Yingluck has been warned and held accountable before anything's even happened.

Yingluck's Police force on the ground will be unarmed.

Suthep says if it spirals into violence, which he knows it will and the plan actually counts on it, he will tell the masses to go home; knowing they will be replaced by the Army.

It's a coup without calling it a coup because that would be unacceptable to the international community. Public safety is totally acceptable. Brilliant.

I normally dislike this kind of speculative post, but I think this one is pretty plausible. The issue that I do have with what you say here is not whether it's possible/likely but that your implication is that this is an 'endgame', when in fact it will more likely lead to an escalation of Thailand's bitter divide. Remember that many in the army are PTP sympathisers (some high ranking) and won't be happy with what will still be seen as a coup; remember also what happened the last time there was a coup - Thai Rak Thai was no more and Pheua Thai was born from its ashes, the cycle beginning again.

It won't matter long-term if PTP are gone, because a similar entity will replace them; it won't even matter if the Shinawatra's are broken, because now that the power of the rural vote is recognised, another political party will step into the vaccuum. In short:

• the Bangkok elite don't want their power drain away to the provinces
• they don't seem to have any plan to deal with it apart from street protests and coups
• the majority who don't live in the capital will continue to vote for parties who give/promise them a better life
• the elite/Dems won't do this, because it means redistributing resources and wealth which hits their own pockets
• those in the north & Isaan don't trust the Dems anyway, so are unlikely to vote for the party of the BKK elite
• sooner or later, power will be decentralised and the old elite will lose to a new elite who have more enlightened politics
• if the above does not happen peacefully, it will come about through civil war, possibly one that ends in the division of the country

Any thoughts on this?

Nice one. I was speculating more on how Suthep has performed his role well, as part of a larger plan, to accomplish unfinished business from 2006.

I don't disagree with what you have offered however, when I try to think too far ahead about what Thailand will look like after this current round of situation normal, a significant wild card gets in the way; one not able to be discussed freely here.