Anti-govt mass rally on poll day, PDRC vows complete Bangkok shutdown

[Richard Hall]

The events generated by the PDRC sound amazingly like the events generated by NSDAP in Germany in the 1930s, whose ultimate objective was also the complete obliteration of the democratic processes. It succeeded there; why not here?

Khun Suthep ain't Austrian.

[Jip99]

Further actions of this kind seem to be to provoke civil war to the extent that the army is forced into action .

People should understand that the Thai armed forces are not a fighting force to protect Thailand and her people .

They are to protect the King , to enhance royal prestige , a show of armory , to make a display on colourful parades .

Give Suthep and his followers enough rope and they will hang themselves .

A military coup does not equal civil war. Stop being so dramatic.

[theslime]

Further actions of this kind seem to be to provoke civil war to the extent that the army is forced into action .

People should understand that the Thai armed forces are not a fighting force to protect Thailand and her people .

They are to protect the King , to enhance royal prestige , a show of armory , to make a display on colourful parades .

Give Suthep and his followers enough rope and they will hang themselves .

A military coup does not equal civil war. Stop being so dramatic.

Especially, in the Land Of Coups.

[webfact]

Staunch protester Suthep throwing anti-election hook Sunday
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, Jan 30 - Thailand's anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) is leading a three-day march in the capital, starting today, as a prelude against Sunday's general election, according to protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban.

He told protesters on stage at his Pathumwan rally site that PDRC members from all of Bangkok's rallies will be out to urge the public to continue pressing the caretaker government to resign and demanding a national reform before the election.

The government has insisted that the snap poll must be held on Sunday and ordered the Election Commission (EC) to organise the nationwide polls accordingly.

If the caretaker prime minister and her Cabinet refuse to resign, a massive show of force will be inevitable and the entire capital will be paralysed on Sunday, said the PDRC secretary general.

He said Thai people should not worry about losing their future voting rights if they do not cast their ballots on Sunday.

The law imposes that a general election must be held simultaneously in a single day but it is evident that balloting will be impossible in several areas especially the South, the North and central region including Bangkok, he said.

He predicted that the election will be declared invalid - similar to the incident in 2005.

Thaworn Senneam, a PDRC leader, said the anti-government movement's members agreed to boycott the election though they would lose their political rights to run in future elections.

Polling boxes and ballots have yet to be delivered to various southern constituencies which have been blockaded by protesters, he said.

He said the PDRC will not disrupt the election but demonstrators will organise a major rally in Bangkok on Sunday.

Mr Thaworn will lead about 500 protesters from the Victory Monument this morning to join Mr Suthep's group at On-nut station of BTS Skytrain to start the march along Sukhumvit Road to Asoke intersection.

He said two PDRC lawyers will today petition the Senate's anti-corruption sub-committee against the caretaker government for failing to investigate 23 cases of attacks and violence during the three-month protests which killed five people and injured more than 300 others.

Mr Thaworn said the Civil Court is scheduled to announce its ruling today on his complaint, asking the government to revoke the Emergency Decree.

"Whatever the court decides, I'll respect the verdict," he said. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-01-30

[pipkins]

They are not the only ones rallying. They are the only ones the media like to push though

[tom21]

"The Army has sent its soldiers to help maintain peace and security for both officials and protesters."

What about protection to voters from the protestors.

The Thai army is a creature of Thai "officials" and designated protesters masquerading as a democratic protest. protecting average ordinary Thai people is not their normal charter. Just look at the number of deaths and injuries in the Thai south, and you can see the Thai army's diligence, willingness, and competence in protecting ordinary Thai people or voters.

Surely it's the job of the police not the army? The army is there to protect the country from outside attacks etc, not to protect idiots who willingly put themselves in harms way by denying their neighbours and fellow countrymen the right to vote

The army is to protect the country from both foreign and domestic enemies

Edited January 30, 2014 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[rct99q]

Jesus Christ.. Thailand has 400 000 Policemen?? What a gigantic number!

I just checked on Wiki... My home country of Germany has 220 000, with a larger population (82 mln)

... And the last time I looked, they managed their job slightly better than their collegues here in the LOS.

Thailand has all sorts of police forces, Immigration, Municipal, Border, Tourist, etc. Traffic as well as the Royal Thai Police. I think the number 100 000 may not be far off the mark.

You sometimes get what you pay for. In Canada I do believe the average salary for a member of the RCMP is around $55,000 per year. This is equal to about 1,650,000 baht. The average Thai Police person salary is about 10,000baht per month. or about 130,000baht per year (not including the 'extras").

So for one RCMP officer you can hire about 10-12 officers here. So I look at the cost of the quality versus cost of living. An RCMP officer can live very well in Canada on his/her salary. If just looking at base salary of the average Thai Police officer the standard of living here in Thailand is low, very low .

So If say you paid the average RCMP officer a yearly wage of $9,000CAD, do you believe you would get what you pay for?

[Zolt]

"Don't regret losing your rights"

That sentence sums up Suthep's goals pretty well.

[DGIE]

So there will be no buses on Sunday? I cannot go to Lotus

[BlueNoseCodger]

Staunch protester Suthep throwing anti-election hook Sunday

By Digital Content

Polling boxes and ballots have yet to be delivered to various southern constituencies which have been blockaded by protesters, he said.

Looks like they're going for an administrative coup.

PDRC supporters, have been told the election is rigged, and you should be able to see that this is true. It is, clearly. It's rigged to be yellow. From the failure to register, to the endless polling excuses, to the current 'it may take 4 months to count the vote' trick.

So when Dems were in power last time, and they won lots of votes, and that's really not believable now. And you can see in the south, that the election process is corrupt as hell down there, because they don't even hold registrations or polls on Suthep's demands:

He says "close the polls" and the polls close, he says "don't register candidates" and candidates aren't registered. The protestors don't stop this, the failure to even move the venue or remove the protestors does this.

So what would happen if he said "give me 8000 votes more than the opposition"? You see the issue.

So the Democrat stronghold isn't really their stronghold. It's more like Little Sicily down here, with Suthep Vito Corealone as its leader, and elections optional whenever the result is inconvienient.

'It's not the people who vote that count; It's the people who count the votes' - Joseph Starlin

Edited January 30, 2014 by BlueNoseCodger

[BlueNoseCodger]

Whilst I supported Sutheps goals to begin with, he is now becoming an embarrassment for all who followed him..

It has become obvious (though not to him) that continued protests are not really achieving that much, as the government has the combined intellect of a 3yr old.

If he just stood aside and let the people of the country vote, he might be surprised at the results ??

You just realised this? OK how will he be surprised? There is only one party that will come up trumps here and that is the PTP. And yes the Army should be protecting the people not the protestors as they do not have the right to carry out there intended actions. Your a sick man Suthep.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE 8.2 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I think the world has already seen what a puppetry the current is.

I've heard from a few red friends of mine (I mean, die hard reds) that they are now voting #8 ? I have no idea, but it's pretty clear that the only reds left are the thugs being bought.

Oh, that and the random ThaiVisa member that see's only the word "Democracy" and seems to think the Red's actually won by it and will employ it.

There's an inconsistency in your claim:

Your red friends are voting #8 in sentence one, yet the election is rigged in sentence #2 (actually won by it and will employ it). So if your friend's votes are bought by PT, why are they voting against PT? On the other hand, if the election is rigged what does it matter how they vote?

Edited January 30, 2014 by BlueNoseCodger

[tartempion]

Suthep just invented a new type of procession.

I refer to the Echternach procession: 3 steps ahead, 2 steps back.

Suthep procession: 3 steps ahead, 5 steps back.

[airconsult]

Staunch protester Suthep throwing anti-election hook Sunday

By Digital Content

Polling boxes and ballots have yet to be delivered to various southern constituencies which have been blockaded by protesters, he said.

Looks like they're going for an administrative coup.

PDRC supporters, have been told the election is rigged, and you should be able to see that this is true. It is, clearly. It's rigged to be yellow. From the failure to register, to the endless polling excuses, to the current 'it may take 4 months to count the vote' trick.

So when Dems were in power last time, and they won lots of votes, and that's really not believable now. And you can see in the south, that the election process is corrupt as hell down there, because they don't even hold registrations or polls on Suthep's demands.

So the Democrat stronghold isn't really their stronghold. It's more like Little Sicily down here, with Suthep Vito Corealone as its leader.

'It's Not the People Who Vote that Count; It's the People Who Count the Votes' - Joseph Starlin

That has to worry the former democrat mps in the south.

If they don't vote at all (even a no vote is a vote) then they will not be eligible to stand for election next time. That assumes they fail in paying enough to have the election declared invalid.

You'd be looking at nobody in all the south having the right to stand for election next time - pretty funny really - the one downside of a secret ballot is we won't be able to see that suthep's brothers probably will manage to register their vote anyway.

[Lingba]

Burn Bangkok burn

[CIHUAHUA]

Groundhogs-day will have a new meaning in Thailand after this sunday feb 2nd. Will the political winter in Thailand run long or will there be an early spring?

[Scamper]

" He said that advance voting was held without any incidents in more than 80 per cent of the polling stations. He expected a similar situation, largely without violence, this Sunday when eligible voters go to the polls at 93,535 voting stations in all 77 provinces. "

This official statement from the police is remarkable. 45 of 50 polling districts in Bangkok were closed during advance voting, along with eleven Southern provinces. How can eligible voters in all 77 provinces vote when 8 do not have any candidates ? 250,000 police deployment for the country sounds like a lot, but that comes to an average of less than 3 police per polling station in the country. As the weight of those numbers is clearly intended for Bangkok and the South, however, those numbers will still be woefully insufficient to the task. This was never a question as to how many people would be deployed. It was always a question of what they would do once there. And it is becoming clear that there is going to be a lot of violence, as the objectives of the protesters and the objectives of the police are so clearly out of sync with each other. This may be the tipping point many feared, because the question was - if the police came out very forceful, and deployed weapons - what would the army do ? The answer will be apparent quite soon.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Scamper

[boggle]

And this man has the Gaul to include the word DEMOCRACY in his party yet is now prepared to prevent THE RIGHT TO VOTE for the people of Thailand this Sunday. I hope that once the new government is elected and we all know the outcome already that they have the courage to place this guy under arrest for the damage he has caused to the good folk of Thailand. I would love to see him exported for a couple of weeks to North Korea or to the salt mines of Russia Goodbye and Good riddance Suthep !!!

Jesus, Dont some of the posters Read, After the Election a Government cannot be formed as there aren,t enough Ministers . Shortly after this the caretaker government will be Kicked out of Parliment for trying to Usurp the Constitution. Any vote is just a sham, to show the people that yes, we won the Election but can,t sit as most of us are Criminals. United Dupes of Democracy sounds more like it

Ok. If this is the case why stop the people from voting? If it is a sham all the better for Suthep, I would think. Go figure!

[BlueNoseCodger]

" He said that advance voting was held without any incidents in more than 80 per cent of the polling stations. He expected a similar situation, largely without violence, this Sunday when eligible voters go to the polls at 93,535 voting stations in all 77 provinces. "

This official statement from the police is remarkable. 45 of 50 polling districts in Bangkok were closed during advance voting, along with eleven Southern provinces. How can eligible voters in all 77 provinces vote when 8 do not have any candidates ? 250,000 police deployment for the country sounds like a lot, but that comes to an average of less than 3 police per polling station in the country. As the weight of those numbers is clearly intended for Bangkok and the South, however, those numbers will still be woefully insufficient to the task. This was never a question as to how many people would be deployed. It was always a question of what they would do once there. And it is becoming clear that there is going to be a lot of violence, as the objectives of the protesters and the objectives of the police are so clearly out of sync with each other. This may be the tipping point many feared, because the question was - if the police came out very forceful, and deployed weapons - what would the army do ? The answer will be apparent quite soon.

It's a two vote system, you vote for the politics you want (like Democrats or Republicans or Tea Party or whatever) the so called 'party list', and you vote separately for the candidate locally.

So they still vote for their political grouping, even if they don't have local candidates yet. This is normal anyway, candidates die, resign, etc. so a by-election to elect the local politician is common.

I think the system was designed to create a divided house of representatives, so that the 'elite' could rule by playing one side off against another. A PM could be PM but not control the house. But after the last Democrat government, this all went spectacularly wrong for them, when Yingluk won both the popular vote and control of the house of representatives. Seats controlled by yellows flipped red.

Since then there's been lots of people come forward calling for a mob to eject her, this isn't even Sutheps first rabble rousing attempt against this grovernment.

Democracy is a real problem for them, because the 'elites' control of Thailand, required Thailand be dividied with them holding the casting 'vote'*. But if Thailand isn't divided then their casting vote is worthless.

"250,000 police deployment for the country sounds like a lot..."

250000 police isn't enough sure. The EC has given the protestors a tip off that if any one of the polling stations are blocked, then it won't give a result. So only a small group of protestors are needed to kill democracy here, with the EC refusing the declare the vote result if they can block any one station of 93535 stations.

Edited January 30, 2014 by BlueNoseCodger

[pauleddy]

A Thai guy who swims in my condo pool informs me that his girlfriend's parents in Esaan have already been paid 500b + 500b to vote a certain way. They were paid around 10 days ago.

I have known this guy 2-3 years and I trust what he says.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Eddy

[BlueNoseCodger]

A Thai guy who swims in my condo pool informs me that his girlfriend's parents in Esaan have already been paid 500b + 500b to vote a certain way. They were paid around 10 days ago.

I have known this guy 2-3 years and I trust what he says.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Eddy

Then report it to the EC. At the last election, they wouldn't even promise to fill the potholes in the road, they were so afraid of being banned by the EC if they promised anything (parents are Udon Thani).

[boggle]

"The Army has sent its soldiers to help maintain peace and security for both officials and protesters."

What about protection to voters from the protestors.

The Thai army is a creature of Thai "officials" and designated protesters masquerading as a democratic protest. protecting average ordinary Thai people is not their normal charter. Just look at the number of deaths and injuries in the Thai south, and you can see the Thai army's diligence, willingness, and competence in protecting ordinary Thai people or voters.

Surely it's the job of the police not the army? The army is there to protect the country from outside attacks etc, not to protect idiots who willingly put themselves in harms way by denying their neighbours and fellow countrymen the right to vote

The army is to protect the country from both foreign and domestic enemies

Is that right? I think you may find the armed forces of most countries, are, by the raining constituion forbidden to be used against their own people. Mainly, in their home country, they are utilised for humanitarian and disaster relief. Police are for domestic issues.

The military should NEVER be used against their own people.

[LomSak27]

This is News?

They've been demanding complete shutdowns for 2 months. Of course The Nation has to put out the party line. Oh for some new news sources here on TV

[culicine]

A Thai guy who swims in my condo pool informs me that his girlfriend's parents in Esaan have already been paid 500b + 500b to vote a certain way. They were paid around 10 days ago.

I have known this guy 2-3 years and I trust what he says.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Eddy

Why need to pay if no Democrats are running anyway? Or perhaps that to ensure they don't vote for a minor party. Will be interesting to see just how many votes the red can garner, given the rice scam.

[DocN]

Again?

[spermwhale]

I'm getting bored with these douche bags.

[airconsult]

I just had a good laugh...

If you don't vote, you cannot stand as a candidate in the next election.

Suthep's goal - remove shinawatra family from politics.

Suthep's actions - prevent voting in the south.

Suthep's result - his 2 brothers (former democrat mps) cannot stand as candidates in the next election. Thaugsuban family removed from politics.

Priceless!!!!

[DocN]

I just had a good laugh...

If you don't vote, you cannot stand as a candidate in the next election.

Suthep's goal - remove shinawatra family from politics.

Suthep's actions - prevent voting in the south.

Suthep's result - his 2 brothers (former democrat mps) cannot stand as candidates in the next election. Thaugsuban family removed from politics.

Priceless!!!!

Hmmmm...I suddenly have an idea, what the "reforms" could be about....

[spermwhale]

This time I mean it......REALLY...Really I do.! Putz

[pipkins]

This is News?

They've been demanding complete shutdowns for 2 months. Of course The Nation has to put out the party line. Oh for some new news sources here on TV

We should all tweet and share pics more. It is much more informative over there. These days i only come on here to get the opposition view so I cannot be accused of Bias. It speaks volumes of the supplicance of the media, journos and sutheps followers. Suthep has their votes not, in a much worse way than they ever accused Thaksin on.

what I see though is just propaganda, thats to be expected, and ignorance.. I expected that, but not on this level.

These Thais are basically giving up thier own rights, to Suthep, for as long as he deems necessary, to do as he wishes. He won't accept any critisim of his plan, but many marching with him dislike parts of it. Said it before... it is not "Pick N Mix". That is shocking ignorance.

They have therefore sold him their votes for all time to do with as he wishes. Anybody complains about him and the thugs are sent round. remember, they started killing each other after the 2006 (sorry it that is 4 years before the start of most peoples knowledge of Thailnad) Coup. One of the leaders Sondhi, copped 100 bullets in his car. None of his friends, family of the Dems, blamed the reds. He had upset one of his own. Suthep will have his supporterd beaten senseless for anything other than total obedience.

That would be acceptabe, if not for them wanting to give everybody elses rights to him. This is why there can be no let up in the fight against fascism. We've seen it rise, and we've seen it fall. The rise of most Fascists is with the backing of ignorant people that later come to regret it.

This coup though there is factionalism. Splits in the forces and even in the Elites. There are now so many offspring of Elites with old connections that they don't all have the same opinion. As there are so many of them now, they need more corruption to feed themselves and their families as they have no intention of joining the middle classes from their lofty positions.

Not a failed state,,,, its an old corrupt ruling clique that has overstretched and is fighting one last battle. They have been beaten so many times at the ballot box and now may have to be removed from interfering in Thailand.

Oh for the 50's when they could all have been dealt with silently. This internet is so inconvenient to them.

[spermwhale]

I just had a good laugh...

If you don't vote, you cannot stand as a candidate in the next election.

Suthep's goal - remove shinawatra family from politics.

Suthep's actions - prevent voting in the south.

Suthep's result - his 2 brothers (former democrat mps) cannot stand as candidates in the next election. Thaugsuban family removed from politics.

Priceless!!!!

That's a GREAT observation!