Suthep leads protesters to defend Government House

[webfact]

Suthep leads protesters to Government House

By Digital Content

BANGKOK, Feb 18 -- Anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban led Peoples Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) supporters to Government House this morning in an attempt to prevent caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from entering to her office.

PDRC secretary general Suthep and PDRC protesters joined the allied groups of the Network of Students and People for the Reform of Thailand (NSPRT) and the People's Democratic Force to Overthrow Thaksinism (PEFOT) at Government House for the second day.

He earlier said that the protesters would occupy the area in order to prevent Ms Yingluck from working at Government House after the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO) announced its intention to retake the five rally sites including the Government House.

Mr Suthep admonished the protesters not to carry any weapons and to not resist if the police crack down on them, but instead sitting down to chant or perform prayers.

Metropolitan police deputy commander Pol Gen Vorapong Chewpreecha said the police would use 15,000 personnel in their operation to retake the protest sites while 10,000 police are prepared to backup the operation.

The police successfully regained the Energy Ministry compound and removed the protest stage at the PTT state petroleum company headquarters. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2014-02-18

[webfact]

Suthep leads protesters to defend Government House



BANGKOK: -- Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban led a protest procession to the Government House this morning to reinforce protesters who were already there since Monday to prevent caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to get in to work.

The procession of thousands of marchers and motorists moved out of Hua Chang bridge in Ratchathevi at about 7 a.m. into Petchaburi and Phitsanuloke roads and has already arrived at the Government House.

Gas masks and other protective gears against tear gas have been distributed to protesters in case police decide to use tear gas to break up the protest. Bunkers have also been strengthened around the Government House.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/suthep-leads-protesters-defend-government-house/


-- Thai PBS 2014-02-18

[Why ask]

This could be the final showdown, where he is captured.

[patjem]

This could be the final showdown, where he is captured.

I would actually wager against that happening.

However, these protests are only a side-show and irritation to the failed government (read rice scam), and not a decisive game-changer in the current deadlock..... I wonder if Yingluck will cry like a baby in court, the same as her brother did..... or will she run before making an appearance (read rice farmers and parliament), just like her brother also did.

[Nickymaster]

25,000 police personnel is used to try to keep this corrupt government going.....

[Nickymaster]

This could be the final showdown, where he is captured.

I would actually wager against that happening.

However, these protests are only a side-show and irritation to the failed government (read rice scam), and not a decisive game-changer in the current deadlock..... I wonder if Yingluck will cry like a baby in court, the same as her brother did..... or will she run before making an appearance (read rice farmers and parliament), just like her brother also did.

Yingluck has already stated many times that she hopes the court will give her a fair trail. She is convinced she didn't do anything wrong.

Words of a real Thaksin.

[Nickymaster]

This could be the final showdown, where he is captured.

I would actually wager against that happening.

However, these protests are only a side-show and irritation to the failed government (read rice scam), and not a decisive game-changer in the current deadlock..... I wonder if Yingluck will cry like a baby in court, the same as her brother did..... or will she run before making an appearance (read rice farmers and parliament), just like her brother also did.

Yingluck has already stated many times that she hopes the court will give her a fair trail. She is convinced she didn't do anything wrong.

Words of a real Thaksin.

Happening just now: PM, on TV, defends rice scheme, vows not to bow to attempt to politicize it, and rejects corruption claim.

[dwcrist]

Oh please. This is just getting old now. Isn't it obvious that his protests and unthought-out plans for his ambiguous form of "reformed" government are just not going to happen? His numbers are dwindling and the government is now even less closer to giving up than before. Stop getting in the way! Let the caretakers do their job and let the courts and the voters decide what to do with everything. Seriously, if he was beating a dead horse before, now he is just wailing on its skeleton.

[aussieinthailand]

AJ news report, Well your "peaceful protesters have just shot a policeman at government house, volleys of shots fired from the protesters,

so police move back and your "peaceful protesters are moving in after them, so if any protesters are hurt now, I say if you throw rocks at a dog, don't bitch when you are bitten.

[bkkdave1220]

Reuters, BBC all reporting it and it was unlucky that bluesky and channel 11 happened to catch it as some thais now realise that PDRC have machine guns, assault rifles as well.

bluesky and suthep can spin all they like, but these people have to hang for this. it is full insurection, treason, attempted murder.

Do the Army have the stomach to protect them much longer?

[55Jay]

It's gotta be humiliating to be Chalerm, but times like these, it's just gotta suck!

[bkkdave1220]

Oh please. This is just getting old now. Isn't it obvious that his protests and unthought-out plans for his ambiguous form of "reformed" government are just not going to happen? His numbers are dwindling and the government is now even less closer to giving up than before. Stop getting in the way! Let the caretakers do their job and let the courts and the voters decide what to do with everything. Seriously, if he was beating a dead horse before, now he is just wailing on its skeleton.

if this is anything other than a last try for a coup, suthep would already have names for Pm, cabinet etc.

what a creditable uprising would have now is a form of shadow cabinet so we can see who the good people are who want to rule.

now after 4 months - nothing, nobody no policy, not even first draft of ideas.

hope i can see him nailed on live tv.

[rijb]

He's just there to measure for his new office furniture and matching drapes.

[dwcrist]

Oh please. This is just getting old now. Isn't it obvious that his protests and unthought-out plans for his ambiguous form of "reformed" government are just not going to happen? His numbers are dwindling and the government is now even less closer to giving up than before. Stop getting in the way! Let the caretakers do their job and let the courts and the voters decide what to do with everything. Seriously, if he was beating a dead horse before, now he is just wailing on its skeleton.

if this is anything other than a last try for a coup, suthep would already have names for Pm, cabinet etc.

what a creditable uprising would have now is a form of shadow cabinet so we can see who the good people are who want to rule.

now after 4 months - nothing, nobody no policy, not even first draft of ideas.

hope i can see him nailed on live tv.

Very good point. I agree totally. I have no love for YL but the biggest reason I side with her on this issue of not stepping down is because of the disorganized, undemocratic, and politically self-serving nature of Suthep's demands. I think a lot more people would side with Suthep if he and his party were to make more organized, compromising, and realistic demands. But as you said, this is just a last try for a coup. They should really have formulated a detailed plan for the benefit of the entire country that most Thais can believe in and get behind, instead they have shown and said that they are not willing to talk or compromise. Anyone or group like that should be kept from acquiring power at all costs.

In my opinion, the PDRC had a really good chance to one-up Pheu Thai Party amidst their unpopular amnesty bill and the botched rice scheme to win back the hearts of the majority of Thais by proposing detailed reforms for policy and corruption that have a clear definable (and explainable) benefit to all. And they totally blew it. Instead of proposing a more legitimate government, they proposed a less legitimate one. That is why their cause is not supported by the majority. In effect they only weakening themselves and are causing people to continue to support a government that needs reforms. It is a dis-service to the country and those who want REAL change and REAL democracy.

[ramrod711]

Poor Chalerm, Suthep gets all the credit for leading his troops. Chalerm was leading his troops as well, not exactly from the front, but he had a good view of the television in the cocktail bar.

[smedly]

if the police had been doing their job over the last weeks protecting legal protestors from armed assailants on a daily basis the protestors would not have needed to arm them selves for self protection, now the government and police are using an illegal SOE to attack protestors with live rounds and tear gas - what sort of response would you expect from protestors

Everything this PTP joke of an administration does and has been doing for the last two and a half years has been biased - corrupt - illegal - abuse of power - thieving - lies - financial irregularities - and now using an Illegal SOE to abuse legitimate people protesting they have had enough of it

It's time the army stepped in and ended this charade - Thkasin got his money back at the expense of the rice farmers now he wants his face back which involves revenge on the Thai people for doing what they did - this evil tyrant needs stopped now

[Scamper]

" Mr Suthep admonished the protesters not to carry any weapons and to not resist if the police crack down on them, but instead sitting down to chant or perform prayers. "

If this strategy is truly carried out - as what appears to have been the case in at least one site this morning - the protest movement will not only survive but thrive. When the police were faced with sitting and praying this morning, they responded with tear-gas. That was their decision, and they have to live with that. But as long as the media is there to record the images, the PDRC survives provided - and this is key - that they are passive. If the police have to carry the protesters onto the paddy wagons, they will be able to successfully clear the streets. But it will be shameful image, and one that will reflect far worse on the administration. These are Thai men and women. They have the right to occupy the streets of their own country. And they have the right to protest this administration.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Scamper

[bobmac10]

I would love to see this clown carried off in handcuffs.

Elsewhere in the civilised world he would have been arrested weeks ago.

Enough is enough.

Get elected or get lost.

[Stradavarius37]

While i do not like Suthep all that much, I give him credit - he is out on the front lines, risking assassination, for his cause. He is not a coward running from water bottles, or cowering in his palace in Dubai. I hope he wins, on shear moxy alone...

[Basil B]

This could be the final showdown, where he is captured.

Is that Chalerm in disguise, (to the left, behind) with the Baseball cap, dark glasses and a false beard???

[rreddin]

Reuters, BBC all reporting it and it was unlucky that bluesky and channel 11 happened to catch it as some thais now realise that PDRC have machine guns, assault rifles as well.

bluesky and suthep can spin all they like, but these people have to hang for this. it is full insurection, treason, attempted murder.

Do the Army have the stomach to protect them much longer?

There are those who believe, as I do, that these protests are for two purposes. The first is to hide the real power struggle that is going on; and the second is to get a government sympathetic to "the side" Suthep and his backers support. That the protests are turning into an armed insurection is a sign that the second objective cannot be achieved by any other means.

The army are in a difficult position because their ranks are divided in their support for the players in the real power struggle and they do not want to be seen to have been backing the losing side. The army also knows that an open show of support for Suthep and PDRC will not be acceptable to a large part of the population of this country who will see such involvement as being anti-democratic. Providing medical personnel to treat the injured on all sides is about as involved as the army dares to get.

It is also high time they did so, but will the Democratic Party disassociate themselves from Suthep's mob?

[empireboy]

Everything is arithmetic... Sutep simply does not have the numbers!

[rickirs]

This could be the final showdown, where he is captured.

I would actually wager against that happening.

However, these protests are only a side-show and irritation to the failed government (read rice scam), and not a decisive game-changer in the current deadlock..... I wonder if Yingluck will cry like a baby in court, the same as her brother did..... or will she run before making an appearance (read rice farmers and parliament), just like her brother also did.

Wasn't Thaksin tried in absentia?

[rickirs]

While i do not like Suthep all that much, I give him credit - he is out on the front lines, risking assassination, for his cause. He is not a coward running from water bottles, or cowering in his palace in Dubai. I hope he wins, on shear moxy alone...

You forgot he is also surrounded by 10-20 armed guards and a freverent devoted crowd of followers who have shown they will turn to violence even when it came to blocking civilian voters from polling places.

[Tedhead]

Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform when the Democrat party was buying votes in Hat Yai? Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform after the Democrat government was brought down when Suthep himself handed out prime land to Democrat supporters on Phuket? Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform after he was disqualified from office for, well, corruption?

Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform when the Electoral Commission recommended that the Democrat party be dissolved for egregious and continual corruption?

Could it be Suthep cares less about corruption and a pristine state of democracy and more about getting around that tricky problem of losing election after election after election. If democracy gives you the wrong result, the answer seems to be get rid of democracy. Very high-minded.

[Stradavarius37]

While i do not like Suthep all that much, I give him credit - he is out on the front lines, risking assassination, for his cause. He is not a coward running from water bottles, or cowering in his palace in Dubai. I hope he wins, on shear moxy alone...

You forgot he is also surrounded by 10-20 armed guards and a freverent devoted crowd of followers who have shown they will turn to violence even when it came to blocking civilian voters from polling places.

You can rant all you like, cause I don't have a dog in this fight - he's got more balls than Thaksin though

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Edited February 18, 2014 by Stradavarius37

[CIHUAHUA]

The camera man got a clear shot of Suthep.

[hellodolly]

Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform when the Democrat party was buying votes in Hat Yai? Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform after the Democrat government was brought down when Suthep himself handed out prime land to Democrat supporters on Phuket? Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform after he was disqualified from office for, well, corruption?

Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform when the Electoral Commission recommended that the Democrat party be dissolved for egregious and continual corruption?

Could it be Suthep cares less about corruption and a pristine state of democracy and more about getting around that tricky problem of losing election after election after election. If democracy gives you the wrong result, the answer seems to be get rid of democracy. Very high-minded.

Fill in your own answers your not interested in the truth any how.

The point is he is doing it now.

What are you doing about it except trying to denigrate him?

[hellodolly]

While i do not like Suthep all that much, I give him credit - he is out on the front lines, risking assassination, for his cause. He is not a coward running from water bottles, or cowering in his palace in Dubai. I hope he wins, on shear moxy alone...

You forgot he is also surrounded by 10-20 armed guards and a freverent devoted crowd of followers who have shown they will turn to violence even when it came to blocking civilian voters from polling places.

You can rant all you like, cause I don't have a dog in this fight - he's got more balls than Thaksin though

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Also 20 or 30 guards would be nothing for a black shirt. You might say he has brass balls. A quantity completely lacking in this country when it comes to standing up and facing corruption and it's practitioners.

Where is the Prime Minister?

She seems to be pretty busy hiding from farmers and appointing the national laughing stock not sure what you call an ear medicine addict Chalerm to take care of things.

any one seen or heard from Thaksin lately. last I heard he and his ex were in Myanmar suck holing at temples for Buddha to get them out of this.

[h90]

Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform when the Democrat party was buying votes in Hat Yai? Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform after the Democrat government was brought down when Suthep himself handed out prime land to Democrat supporters on Phuket? Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform after he was disqualified from office for, well, corruption?

Why wasn't Suthep agitating for anti-corruption democratic reform when the Electoral Commission recommended that the Democrat party be dissolved for egregious and continual corruption?

Could it be Suthep cares less about corruption and a pristine state of democracy and more about getting around that tricky problem of losing election after election after election. If democracy gives you the wrong result, the answer seems to be get rid of democracy. Very high-minded.

The land case (1995??) was clean....no court and common sense could find anything wrong at it.

Sure the Democrats aren't free of corruption, sure someone take 5-10%....but nothing like Thaksin or his sister (Yaowapha not Yingluck).