Anger and violence rock voting in Bangkok, South

[animatic]

" Most polling stations in the South and 90 per cent of venues in Bangkok were completely shut down, he said. "

Thaksin's cousin : But most polling went smoothly. "The government insists that the election (on February 2) will go on as planned. Only 10 per cent were disrupted "

Should it never be said that Newtonian physics fazed Surapong ! But for those who still live on a planet where gravity is no longer an issue of controversy - Surapong faces an impossible task. As the Yingluck administration sues the EC, as the police look the other way while people are being gunned down in broad daylight, as the EC says - as of yesterday - that there will not be a parliamentary quorum as a result of this election - all forms of reason have left Pheu Thai, as they scramble to stage the worst election in Thai history, under an illegally imposed caretaker emergency decree and zero police presence.

OK be honest and tell us why? Don't lie.

Essentially because Thaksin's ego won't allow losing to anyone at any time.

[animatic]

Thailand is a fledgling democracy...the democratic protestors are wanting to destroy the elected government...that is called anarchy...notwithstanding...they appear to have valid grievances surrounding the lack of integrity among Thai leadership...

Yes...there is rampant corruption...that is why the "rule of law" is seldom taken seriously...more often used to advance one's agenda...pad the bank account...

My guess is...Thailand will never have a stable form of democracy...it is not in the DNA of the history and culture of the people...

Turmoil...protest...corruption...graft...greed...is a way of life...personally don't think it is possible to change Thai culture...

After more than 2 years of putting up with the Thai treatment of farangs...opted to move on...happy I did so...

Some of you have dug-in your heels...and nothing is going to shake your resolve to look at Thailand as a wonderful place...

Good Luck!

I think the coming of age of the internet generation of Thais will turn the cultural tide, if npt the DNA, of the country and allow them to become more attuned to actual democracy as it functions world wide in most cases. They are the generation that has not been stopped from gathering other opinions and possibilities about how to run Thailand. They will gradually replace the dinosaurs from the feudal times, and gradually clean up the messes they have made. The current debacle is an indication of that gradual change over. Communications has been the great game changer in old school countries, and will be also for Thailand.

Edited January 27, 2014 by animatic

[Emptyset]

This will be a election to reinforce what we already know, that Pheu Thai listens to no-one but Thaksin. Despite the obvious, they persist in forcing their agenda in the most unreal of circumstances. Trumpeting the law as an excuse not to postpone, now they are clear to postpone, and suddenly ignore that defuser. And then have the temerity to call themselves the 'for Thai' party.

Why should they postpone if Suthep and co refuse to negotiate? It's the EC that's being unrealistic. They're now talking about a 6 month delay. How can you have a caretaker govt for that long? Only option now is to go ahead with the election, I think. If the other side were willing to commit to dialogue, a delay could be a solution. But they aren't.

[falangadang]

Whichever way you look at it, this election will fail.

1) If it goes ahead (seems inevitable) then we have a situation where the major opponent to Govt (Suthep's PDRC) are not represented in the election,.. and neither are the dems

2) The enrolled candidates wont be able to get a full response from the Thai public because of the blockages to the election. Many will abstain to avoid violence.

So in the end, whoever wins wont be able to claim a fair democratic victory,.. and the opponents of the winners will make this clear.

Once again we would have a government not really representing the democratic will of the nation.

[Thaiready]

They should be used to it in the South......bombs and killings are a daily fact of live.

[HKChris]

Whichever way you look at it, this election will fail.

1) If it goes ahead (seems inevitable) then we have a situation where the major opponent to Govt (Suthep's PDRC) are not represented in the election,.. and neither are the dems

2) The enrolled candidates wont be able to get a full response from the Thai public because of the blockages to the election. Many will abstain to avoid violence.

So in the end, whoever wins wont be able to claim a fair democratic victory,.. and the opponents of the winners will make this clear.

Once again we would have a government not really representing the democratic will of the nation.

Is the PDRC a registered political party? I would have thought that with all the historical and current legal issues Suthep has, he would be disqualified from leading any registered political party.

[HerbalEd]

Amazing! These idiot Democrats (so called) proclaim democracy while they disallow people to vote in a free election.

BTW, I'd love to see Yinluck and her brother fully defeated, but I can't at all abide what the Demos are now doing.

[Loles]

Any sign of the police? No. Any sign of the army? No.

Lets face it, Thailand is a failed state run by a mob of what...thugs?...children in adult bodies who throw tantrums when they don't get their own way?....psychopathic prancing primadonnas?....mindless fascists?....you name it, im bored of it...

Are you crazy? This was an extremely dangerous place. Police and army don't like it, they are scared. They like the situation only when they are ten times bigger mob and can use guns.

Other way I had luck to this very "huge" mob (300 people ) yesterday but they made a really huge traffic jam. I was lucky cause I hadn't gun, if had may be I'm in the news today also.

I'm fed up 100% these idiots.

[Mr Yim]

Once the PTP have been re elected, they will have a mandate to govern and take control of the situation. The government will be a much stronger position to remove the demonstrators, arrest Suthep and put him on trial on a whole host of charges and make changes to the military and judiciary.

[VINCENT2012]

Any sign of the police? No. Any sign of the army? No.

Lets face it, Thailand is a failed state run by a mob of what...thugs?...children in adult bodies who throw tantrums when they don't get their own way?....psychopathic prancing primadonnas?....mindless fascists?....you name it, im bored of it...

Maybe you should leave

A lot of us are leaving, but we won't stop hoping that the country gets its act together.

i join the group. i want to sell "my" ....no not mine.....sorry ...legaly my wife property that i paid anyway and also leave ....with her of course.

the politic situation is a disaster and the laws for foreigners slangily called always farang too

[gamini]

This will be a election to reinforce what we already know, that Pheu Thai listens to no-one but Thaksin. Despite the obvious, they persist in forcing their agenda in the most unreal of circumstances. Trumpeting the law as an excuse not to postpone, now they are clear to postpone, and suddenly ignore that defuser. And then have the temerity to call themselves the 'for Thai' party.

In a democracy the majority hold sway and that's the way it should be in any country.

You mean like Hitler and Mussolini and other dictators who were elected democratically

[Skint]

More drivel from the nation.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[JAG]

Thailand is a fledgling democracy...the democratic protestors are wanting to destroy the elected government...that is called anarchy...notwithstanding...they appear to have valid grievances surrounding the lack of integrity among Thai leadership...

Yes...there is rampant corruption...that is why the "rule of law" is seldom taken seriously...more often used to advance one's agenda...pad the bank account...

My guess is...Thailand will never have a stable form of democracy...it is not in the DNA of the history and culture of the people...

Turmoil...protest...corruption...graft...greed...is a way of life...personally don't think it is possible to change Thai culture...

After more than 2 years of putting up with the Thai treatment of farangs...opted to move on...happy I did so...

Some of you have dug-in your heels...and nothing is going to shake your resolve to look at Thailand as a wonderful place...

Good Luck!

I think the coming of age of the internet generation of Thais will turn the cultural tide, if npt the DNA, of the country and allow them to become more attuned to actual democracy as it functions world wide in most cases. They are the generation that has not been stopped from gathering other opinions and possibilities about how to run Thailand. They will gradually replace the dinosaurs from the feudal times, and gradually clean up the messes they have made. The current debacle is an indication of that gradual change over. Communications has been the great game changer in old school countries, and will be also for Thailand.

For once I agree with you in principal, although I think that a more informed population will ( and does now ) favour an elected government, for all its flaws, over the appointed one demanded by the dinosaurs of whom you spoke.

I think that the game is changing fast, faster than many on here think, and faster rhan the political old guard can grasp.

To illustrate my point, we may well be at the point this time next week where a political party has been given a clear mandate in an election, but is being prevented from forming a government by a combination of judicial and extra judicial manipulation of the electoral system.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited January 27, 2014 by JAG

[Lucie]

This will be a election to reinforce what we already know, that Pheu Thai listens to no-one but Thaksin. Despite the obvious, they persist in forcing their agenda in the most unreal of circumstances. Trumpeting the law as an excuse not to postpone, now they are clear to postpone, and suddenly ignore that defuser. And then have the temerity to call themselves the 'for Thai' party.

Yes, They have their own law and rules. Whatever they want them to be.

My prediction.

Yingluck will tell the EC that the election will go ahead on Feb 2. There will be some announcement that there is no need to cancel because disturbances are a figment of the medias imagination.

The election results will be a Pheu Thai majority (what else would be expected in a single party election).

There will be insufficient MP's to convene parliament.

They will then announce that their interpretation of the constitution lets them appoint MP's, or fill the seats with party list MP's assigned to the constituency, or maybe that the 95% rule doesn't apply for some reason. There will be tears as they tell everyone they have no choice but to convene parliament for the good of the people. Anything the courts say will be ignored.

Among the very first things they will do will be to resurrect the amnesty bill, have a perfunctory debate (since every one is a Pheu Thai MP, no need to discuss) and then pass it into law unanimously. Then Thaksin can stop skyping and give instructions in person when the government and cabinet need help thinking.

PPS. While I sympathize with the protestors and their convictions, and am concerned about the level of violence they will be meeting over the next few days/weeks, I also think that the Democrats made an error by boycotting the election, by not having a clear platform, etc. On the other hand, the protest technique worked for the Red Shirts in 2010, so what do I know.

Yes and yes. Predictions very likely to come true, though with more disruption and violence than ever. And your last paragraph is perfect - the Democrats should never have started this - they should have concentrated on a really good election campaign over the next year or so until the next scheduled election date, and they could have won. The rice scheme was already going horribly wrong, so there's a load more potential Democrat voters, and if they made the effort they could have convinced a large proportion of the voting public, who are increasingly getting bored with the Shinawatrs. It's such a shame.

[Lucie]

" Most polling stations in the South and 90 per cent of venues in Bangkok were completely shut down, he said. "

Thaksin's cousin : But most polling went smoothly. "The government insists that the election (on February 2) will go on as planned. Only 10 per cent were disrupted "

Should it never be said that Newtonian physics fazed Surapong ! But for those who still live on a planet where gravity is no longer an issue of controversy - Surapong faces an impossible task. As the Yingluck administration sues the EC, as the police look the other way while people are being gunned down in broad daylight, as the EC says - as of yesterday - that there will not be a parliamentary quorum as a result of this election - all forms of reason have left Pheu Thai, as they scramble to stage the worst election in Thai history, under an illegally imposed caretaker emergency decree and zero police presence.

OK be honest and tell us why? Don't lie.

Essentially because Thaksin's ego won't allow losing to anyone at any time.

The same can be said for Suthep.