Thailand in international headlines

[Lite Beer]

ELECTION
Thailand in international headlines
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The clash of anti-government protesters and pro-election people in Bangkok on Saturday became international news headlines.

At least seven people were injured in daylight gun battle between protesters seeking to block the distribution of ballots in Bangkok and would-be voters demanding that protesters cease their attempts to obstruct national elections on Sunday.

Under the headlines "Gun Battle in Bangkok Escalates Election Protest", New York Times said "Ignoring pleas by the United States and the European Union to respect the democratic process — and stoking the anger of many Thais eager to vote - the protesters have blocked the distribution of ballots in parts of Bangkok and southern Thailand, a stronghold of the opposition." It also quoted James Nachtwey, an American photojournalist who suffered a minor gunshot wound to his leg during Saturday's clashes, as saying that shooting was coming from both sides. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/world/asia/gun-battle-in-bangkok-escalates-election-protest.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0)

Larry Jagan, Al Jazeera’s freelance correspondent and political analyst based in Bangkok, wrote an opinion piece titled "Thailand’s democracy under siege", saying "Thailand’s democracy is at a crossroads, as Thais go to the polls on February 2 with much resting on the outcome. These elections are critical to the country’s political future, even though they will not immediately resolve the current crisis."

(http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/thailand-democracy-under-siege-201421101921303461.html)

In BBC News, "The shots were fired as demonstrators blockaded a building where ballot papers are being stored, in an attempt to prevent their distribution. Protesters want the government replaced by an unelected "people’s council"." BBC News’ correspondent in Bangkok, John Sudworth, said The violence was intense and, although localised, it gives a glimpse of the potential for this election to descend into chaos.(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25997318)

In Washington Post, "The exchange of fire was the latest flare-up in a monthslong struggle by protesters to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's beleaguered government, which they accuse of corruption. The turmoil raises the prospect of more violence Sunday, when polls open for an electoral contest that has devolved into a battle of wills between the government and protesters - and those caught in between who insist on their right to vote." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/fear-of-violence-grips-thai-capital-on-eve-of-vote/2014/02/01/13e6186e-8b14-11e3-a760-a86415d0944d_story.html)

Under the headlines "Gunmen open fire in protests ahead of Thailand’s national election", CNN said "The lasting political instability has created fears of chaos in Thailand, which was shaken by severe bout of violence four years ago. The concerns have already hurt the country’s lucrative tourist industry and undermined investment in one of Southeast Asia’s main economies." (http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/01/world/asia/thailand-gunfire/)

-- The Nation 2-14-02-02

[Somtamnication]

There will be more news today.

This is not going away anytime soon.

[Roadman]

At least some of these papers were able to be correct with both parties armed and attacking each other. Makes a change that the world is getting a more correct picture than the distortion on here that it is only one lot who are violent in Bangkok this time.

[chooka]

Well the international media must really think Suthip is a complete lunatic by now. Last Wednesday he is telling them he supports the elections and will not block or deter anyone from voting, now his thugs are in battles with voters to prevent them voting by any means even if that means death.

[MaiChai]

The west judges the current situation on the assumption that a stable, just, democracy exists. This is not the case. Thus the foreign press incorrect reports the situation, and paints the anti government protestors as the bad guys. The reality is these protestors are middle class, educated and largely non violent people who are fed up with a corrupt and dictorial government.

[Kimagure]

When will they start calling this the beginning of "Asian Spring"?

[NongKhaiKid]

Please don't tell me that some Thais could be happy at making worldwide headlines over a situation like this.

[LomSak27]

Aristocrat caught between her class and Thai upheaval

Great article by the New York Times last week

Although as this does not follow The Nation and TV's storyline, you have to find it yourself

[ggold]

At least some of these papers were able to be correct with both parties armed and attacking each other. Makes a change that the world is getting a more correct picture than the distortion on here that it is only one lot who are violent in Bangkok this time.

No doubt the person in question will be along later to refute the OP. The one sided view put forward by a couple posters boarders on Propaganda IMO!

[Suriya4]

At least some of these papers were able to be correct with both parties armed and attacking each other. Makes a change that the world is getting a more correct picture than the distortion on here that it is only one lot who are violent in Bangkok this time.

Thaksin's Red shirt armed with sticks.

Suthep's Yellow armed with hand guns, rifles, Israel made machine gun bought by the Thai army.

Want to see photos of any of these? Glad to provide.

[tomyummer]

The way it's titled it's like little old Thailand is proud to make the international news. Like winning a spelling bee or Guinness Book of World Records entry.

[englishoak]

Thailand hub of international headlines.... for the wrong reasons

[jollyman]

Are the immature Thai people prepared to wait a 70-100 years for real reform? That is how long it will take the change/reform this place

Everyone of the Thai institutions will bitterly resist change/reform

*The civil service, slow/corrupt/ arrogant will resist all changes

*The Police like wise will resist all change

*The army will not even discuss it

*The courts will not even think about it

*The ? , ah well we cant talk about that

NO CHANGE/REFORM FOR THE LAND OF SMILES ANY TIME SOON

[tezzainoz]

Today there are many blind fools who are demanding their right to vote

But what are they voting for ?

How can you vote for democracy. When their is only 1 party to vote for

Todays vote is for democracy or dictatorship

If today you vote in a government that has no opposition only one party in power it is a dictatorship not democracy

The protestors have learnt

you can good some Thais all of the time

But you can no fool all Thais all of the time

[LivinLOS]

The west judges the current situation on the assumption that a stable, just, democracy exists. This is not the case. Thus the foreign press incorrect reports the situation, and paints the anti government protestors as the bad guys. The reality is these protestors are middle class, educated and largely non violent people who are fed up with a corrupt and dictorial government.

No they are fed up that their corrupt and dictatorial government loses every time !!!

Just look at Sutheps history, then talk about corruption.. The only reason they seem less corrupt, is they haven't had their snouts in the trough for a while.

[love1012]

Well the international media must really think Suthip is a complete lunatic by now. Last Wednesday he is telling them he supports the elections and will not block or deter anyone from voting, now his thugs are in battles with voters to prevent them voting by any means even if that means death.

well............maybe they dont - maybe they have a balanced correct view. Maybe they see the reason behind the protest and not just the red village green propaganda!! - I see YOU havent got to that stage yet and are still one sided and not open to the TRUTH TODAY!!

[love1012]

At least some of these papers were able to be correct with both parties armed and attacking each other. Makes a change that the world is getting a more correct picture than the distortion on here that it is only one lot who are violent in Bangkok this time.

Thaksin's Red shirt armed with sticks.

Suthep's Yellow armed with hand guns, rifles, Israel made machine gun bought by the Thai army.

Want to see photos of any of these? Glad to provide.

Hey I know - Ill swap them with you for photos of black shirts from Cambodia and M79 grenade explosions and you only have to look around this forum to see red shirts with POLICE handguns and policemen standing next to them - Lets have a balanced view - lets have the TRUTH TODAY!!

[umbanda]

Thailand is also today on the news because this....and it is very sad that it is also happening on 3 of the world's "emerging" economies, India, Russia and China...Are we going back to colonial times?

Estimated number of population in modern slavery

The Global Slavery Index also provides insight into the estimated absolute numbers of people in modern slavery, in 162 countries. When the estimated number of enslaved people is considered in absolute terms as a single factor, the country ranking shifts considerably.

The countries with the highest numbers of enslaved people are India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Taken together, these countries account for 76% of the total estimate of 29.8 million in modern slavery.

The country with the largest estimated number of people in modern slavery is India, which is estimated to have between 13,300,000 and 14,700,000 people enslaved. The India country study suggests that while this involves the exploitation of some foreign nationals, by far the largest proportion of this problem is the exploitation of Indians citizens within India itself, particularly through debt bondage and bonded labour.

The country with the second highest absolute numbers of enslaved is China, with an estimated 2,800,000 to 3,100,000 in modern slavery. The China country study suggests that this includes the forced labour of men, women and children in many parts of the economy, including domestic servitude and forced begging, the sexual exploitation of women and children, and forced marriage.

The country with the third highest absolute number in modern slavery is Pakistan, with an estimated 2,000,000 to 2,200,000 people in modern slavery.

[chooka]

Well the international media must really think Suthip is a complete lunatic by now. Last Wednesday he is telling them he supports the elections and will not block or deter anyone from voting, now his thugs are in battles with voters to prevent them voting by any means even if that means death.

well............maybe they dont - maybe they have a balanced correct view. Maybe they see the reason behind the protest and not just the red village green propaganda!! - I see YOU havent got to that stage yet and are still one sided and not open to the TRUTH TODAY!!

How any times to I have to say this, I think Thaksin and his band of merry men are just as equally scum and tarred with exactly the same brush. People still have a right to vote and some scumbag shouldn't take that right away from them as they may not vote for Yingluks crew anyway.

[LivinLOS]

How any times to I have to say this, I think Thaksin and his band of merry men are just as equally scum and tarred with exactly the same brush. People still have a right to vote and some scumbag shouldn't take that right away from them as they may not vote for Yingluks crew anyway.

Perfectly said.. I wouldnt vote for Thaksin.. But far far worse than not getting the party I voted for in power, is not having a chance to vote.

Let the rice scheme screw up, show their faults, expose their corruption.. Create an alternative option and platform that benefits rural voters also. You know.. Campaign to win, not protest to win.

[Dogmatix]

Jonathan Head of the BBC had better be more cautious in his comments on the Thai judicial system. His comment this morning that the Thai courts have been notoriously hostile to the government with added inuendo that they are planning a sort of judicial coup are verging on contempt of court and appear to support the Pheua Thai and red shirt position that they don't recognise the authority of the Constitutional Court. He was lucky that the lese majeste case against him a few years ago was dropped. Perhaps he should learn from that. He might not be so lucky next time if he continues to push his luck. Even being an old boy of the same public school as Anand Panyarachun might not help him.

Time for the BBC to replace him with someone with less baggage or just cease its Southeast Asia coverage. It is now such poor quality and so biased that it won't be missed. Pension off Red Jono and screen more programmes about the arts instead please. The programme about DH Lawrence was great.

[falangadang]

Well the international media must really think Suthip is a complete lunatic by now. Last Wednesday he is telling them he supports the elections and will not block or deter anyone from voting, now his thugs are in battles with voters to prevent them voting by any means even if that means death.

well............maybe they dont - maybe they have a balanced correct view. Maybe they see the reason behind the protest and not just the red village green propaganda!! - I see YOU havent got to that stage yet and are still one sided and not open to the TRUTH TODAY!!

How any times to I have to say this, I think Thaksin and his band of merry men are just as equally scum and tarred with exactly the same brush. People still have a right to vote and some scumbag shouldn't take that right away from them as they may not vote for Yingluks crew anyway.

I agree with both comments.

Chooka is right when he points to the instability of Suthep's words and deeds.

I'm not a Thaksin fan at all and I am in favor of change for the betterment of the country and had initially hoped that Suthep would be the catalyst for change but you can't deny the disturbing fact that Suthep has clearly shown that he is NOT a man of his word and keeps changing his tune to suit himself. He's evidently just making it all up as he goes along.

The end game will happen when someone stops Suthep, and unless that happens he will just keep marching all the way to absolute supreme power and then they'll be no stopping him as we will have replaced "Thaksinism" with "Suthepism"!

[noitom]

Please don't tell me that some Thais could be happy at making worldwide headlines over a situation like this.

Yes, Thais are happy with this. They get larked out to see themselves in photos or news especially international news. They have little sense as to positive or negative.

[noitom]

The Nation seems to be larking out over this international news as if it's some sort of positive karma for Thailand.

[noitom]

Maybe the plethora of news is the result of managing editors ringing up their stringers in Bangkok's FCCT. Maybe they were inquiring if their correspondents could find the time to write a piece on Thailand and interrupt their drinking at the club.

[DoctorG]

Today there are many blind fools who are demanding their right to vote

But what are they voting for ?

How can you vote for democracy. When their is only 1 party to vote for

Todays vote is for democracy or dictatorship

If today you vote in a government that has no opposition only one party in power it is a dictatorship not democracy

The protestors have learnt

you can good some Thais all of the time

But you can no fool all Thais all of the time

Be great if you tried to post something different. Just doing a copy/paste and dropping it into a new thread is not that original. At least you could have fixed up your initial spelling mistake.

[Scamper]

An opportunity to truly get to the heart of the conflict here will likely allude international attention, as it yet again seeks to fit a historically complex narrative into a thirty-second soundbite that ill serves its topic.

[pipkins]

The west judges the current situation on the assumption that a stable, just, democracy exists. This is not the case. Thus the foreign press incorrect reports the situation, and paints the anti government protestors as the bad guys. The reality is these protestors are middle class, educated and largely non violent people who are fed up with a corrupt and dictorial government.

however they judge the underlying problems (which affect every Thai and is self imposed) of corruption, they got the right angle on the storyies and the pics prove.

Suthep is the figurehead of a final elitest putch - for reasons we cannot go into.

That this Elite/Amart/Army/Courts are quite prepared to let armed militia run the streets in order to get what they want.

Number painfully low and falling

Suthep is an unstable, two faced fascist who will spew dictats from the stage based on his mood at the time. What is very scary is that this is the way policies will be formed under the 300 good Poodles Council.

The anti-fascist organisations in the west are picking up on it... I know, I've talked with some and they will pressure gov and media in the west to fight against Suthep.

He can't win now, even if the army went mad and rolled out the tanks, they could do nothing.

[chainarong]

They sure are and for all the wrong reasons.

[LomSak27]

Jonathan Head of the BBC had better be more cautious in his comments on the Thai judicial system. His comment this morning that the Thai courts have been notoriously hostile to the government with added inuendo that they are planning a sort of judicial coup are verging on contempt of court and appear to support the Pheua Thai and red shirt position that they don't recognise the authority of the Constitutional Court. He was lucky that the lese majeste case against him a few years ago was dropped. Perhaps he should learn from that. He might not be so lucky next time if he continues to push his luck. Even being an old boy of the same public school as Anand Panyarachun might not help him.

Excellent reporting By Mr Head. Yes they usually would try and silence journos in Thailand by a lese majeste charge when they speak a little too much of the truth that the yellows, PDRC, Dems and Royals would like to keep covered up

BBC needs to give him a raise Kudos Jonoathan