Suthep talks to military at Chaeng Wattana

[unanimosity]

Read my lips again.....and it is not because I agree with this...but....

.......the Military will "persuade" Yingluck to go....and better sooner than later...I hope will be fair elections some time after that....

Fair elections, Thailand needs to bar from office the corrupt and filtering them out is going to be difficult as they have accused their accusers of being corrupt the person in the street does not know who to believe.

I can see only one answer to this and that is their should be a royal commission to see over all things constitutional and "proper" that has the power to bar or remove persons who have misused public office from public office, the head of state (with guidance of his privy council) should be responsible for upholding the constitution, therefore holding office over all other offices within the Kingdom.

Your solution is Suthep's solution. Let the good old boys that know what is best for Thailand have all the privilege and wealth and power of appointments and send those Sakdina institutionalized unequals barefoot back to their country homes to follow the dictates of the privileged few that Suthep characterized when he said, "We are the owners of Thailand" during an interview.

[hansnl]

The sufferers of Thaksinitis and Thaksinphobia should be reminded of their own widespread corruption and parliamentary dictatorship.

The military should act straightforwardly that they are for the people of rule of law and not people of lawlessness. The government had returned power to the people therefore the demands and activities of the dem and its pdrc/pcad are undemocratic, unconstitutional, anti election and had violated section 68. They also violated the constitutional rights of others and abused their constitutional rights.

Wow!

Remains the fact that the protesters are legally and constitutionally doing what they are doing.

And it is also a chrystal clear fact the "government of the day" was, and is, doing a lot of illegal and unconstitutional things.

It remains a question of debate where, eventually, the real blame can be deposited.

My guess is the Shainawatra clan.

[Acharn]

Stupid question, I know... But, Suthep was not arrested at the meeting?

I wouldn't think so. The Army does not consider itself obliged to follow the orders, or even honor the requests, of the elected government.

[hansnl]

Stupid question, I know... But, Suthep was not arrested at the meeting?

i dont think would dare,gerry adams,and martin mcguiness strolled about n.ireland pretty freely if you recall,presuming your english ofcourse,if not i apologise.

Totally different tactics in NI and well thought out. You can take the likes of Adams and Mcguiness off the streets very easily, but that does not ease the issue, it compounds it, as their supporters rally to protect.

The way it was done in NI was to use undercover SAS working with the Royal Marines who were the blockbusters, to eat away at the roots of the tree that was Adams snd Mcguiness. In other words take out the roots and the tree will surely die. And notice, the roots were nearly almost in "bandit country such as Armagh, crossmaglen, Londonderry and the likes" where they thought they were safe" they weren't and I know, as I was there.

Now please tell me how the hugely inferior Thai military can even dream of doing such things without embarrassing themselves ??

Then we have the next issue can anyone tell me who the Thai Army answers to ? If it's the government who are their bosses, then it's not sensible to bite the hand that in this case over feeds you, if it's to the royal family, the that's another open question.

Hugely inferior Thai military?

You might be surprised!

Maybe the national service troops are not really up the scale, but I assure you the professional parts are up to scale.

Oh yes, there are of course, some soldiers which are surprisingly very much up to scale and very much able to operate without embarrassing themselves.

Last time I looked I got the impression even the hereford branch of the British army (which can now be fitted into Wembley Stadium) was embarrassed hugely.

The Thai army has a very different role meted out to it by the constitution as European armies.

[Acharn]

Wow!

Remains the fact that the protesters are legally and constitutionally doing what they are doing.

And it is also a chrystal clear fact the "government of the day" was, and is, doing a lot of illegal and unconstitutional things.

It remains a question of debate where, eventually, the real blame can be deposited.

My guess is the Shainawatra clan.

Well, we'll just have to wait. There's an old saying, "History is written by the winners."

Personally, I don't think the rich people behind these protests are going to win in the long run. They may manage to install their regressive anti-democratic governmtne for a few years, but I believe eventually democracy will return, as it did after the reactionary and bloody counter-revolution of October 1976.

Edited February 19, 2014 by Acharn

[max72]

Read my lips again.....and it is not because I agree with this...but....

.......the Military will "persuade" Yingluck to go....and better sooner than later...I hope will be fair elections some time after that....

This would change nothing.

The undem..will never win.

Thais dont want them.

And if a new PM from a third party one day will come out as winner and he will do something for the people, Suthep and his criminals will be here again threating to kill him or abduct his children.

This will never end, until all big guys from both sides are jailed, but a millionaire never goes to jail in Thailand, right ?

This is only for people who can t buy his way out.

Thais from North to South should reunite to get rid of ALL those guys, red and yellow whatsoever and end these divisions once at all. That s the only way to come out from this mess

Edited February 19, 2014 by max72

[max72]

Wow!

Remains the fact that the protesters are legally and constitutionally doing what they are doing.

And it is also a chrystal clear fact the "government of the day" was, and is, doing a lot of illegal and unconstitutional things.

It remains a question of debate where, eventually, the real blame can be deposited.

My guess is the Shainawatra clan.

Well, we'll just have to wait. There's an old saying, "History is written by the winners."

Personally, I don't think the rich people behind these protests are going to win in the long run. They may manage to install their regressive anti-democratic governmtne for a few years, but I believe eventually democracy will return, as it did after the reactionary and bloody counter-revolution of October 1976.

But after that small phase of democracy, the elite managed to get the power again by massacring thousands, than new democratic movement and new horrible massacre in 1992 with Gen Suchinda Kaprayoon who has never spent one day in jail and nobody seems complain about this.

Than, a new democratic spell with Chuan Leekpai and again the elite using his mercenary Suthep to bring down the Leekpai government because he tried to limit the influence of the army (terrible sin in Thailand). Suthep than transformed the Democratic Party into an authoritarian party puppet of the army (that was said by Chuan Leekpai also, this is not my invention).

Than Thaksin came, he built a brand new airport in 5 years (the military government had promised it for more than 30 years stealing all the money of studies and researches without setting a single stone), brought social security for the people and started to put in jail the drug leaders thus ruining the business of some guys with uniform. So, the elite and the army decided it was too much and tzaaz...end of democracy again...

and today, here we are again...

Thailand has never been a democracy, the army has always dominated since the 1932 revolution, the brief democratic periods have just been brief interludes, but the army has never lost the control.

[SaamBaht]

If only the protests weren't led by corrupt scumbags...

Thailand needs to stick with the process of elections and all the bad that comes with them. I can't see anything different in this 'coup in process' than the other two dozen or so coups.

[wolfmanjack]

This is not about corruption and it is not about reform. Suthep and Abhisit had two years to institue reforms and clean up corruption with zero resistance from anybody.

The question you have to ask is why is it so important to implement reforms now when they had every opportunity and all the necessary power a couple of years ago?

What you have, like it or not, are a smattering of Democrat bimbos that are not smart enough to win an election whining and sniveling like car park attendants with their whistles insisting that the elections they can't win be stopped and their place in government be mandated. Well, now that seems fair.....NOT.

It sounds like you think the Dems had a majority on their own and coule do anything they wanted. The Dems did not have a majority on their own.

They had a coalition of several parties that Abhisit had to keep happy including Newin and 4 other PPP coalition parties so I do not think they had the necessary power.

None of us know if this coalition would have held together if he tried to reform anything. In my opinion one of the reasons he was not as effective as he should have been is the fact he had to keep this coalition together.

If I remember correctly Abhisit stated the need to keep the coalition together as the reason he could not stop all of the corruption.

[Cnxforever]

hahaha...he is talking to the Thai military about government corruption!!!

There is nothing more corrupt in this country than the military!

[visionchaser45]

Read my lips again.....and it is not because I agree with this...but....

.......the Military will "persuade" Yingluck to go....and better sooner than later...I hope will be fair elections some time after that....

What good will "fair" elections do? The last election was fair and this very vocal minority was not satisfied with that. I guess the only truly "fair" election is the one that comes out the way you want it to?

[tx22cb]

This is not about corruption and it is not about reform. Suthep and Abhisit had two years to institue reforms and clean up corruption with zero resistance from anybody.

The question you have to ask is why is it so important to implement reforms now when they had every opportunity and all the necessary power a couple of years ago?

What you have, like it or not, are a smattering of Democrat bimbos that are not smart enough to win an election whining and sniveling like car park attendants with their whistles insisting that the elections they can't win be stopped and their place in government be mandated. Well, now that seems fair.....NOT.

It sounds like you think the Dems had a majority on their own and coule do anything they wanted. The Dems did not have a majority on their own.

They had a coalition of several parties that Abhisit had to keep happy including Newin and 4 other PPP coalition parties so I do not think they had the necessary power.

None of us know if this coalition would have held together if he tried to reform anything. In my opinion one of the reasons he was not as effective as he should have been is the fact he had to keep this coalition together.

If I remember correctly Abhisit stated the need to keep the coalition together as the reason he could not stop all of the corruption.

"Abhisit stated the need to keep the coalition together as the reason he could not stop all of the corruption"

May be true.

But could Abhisit not have stopped the corruption within his own party during that period at least? I assume that doing so should not have had an effect on the coalition?

Disclosure - I was not around in those days, so my assumption could be wrong.

[hellodolly]

I think he should drop the word "mass " maybe the word miniscule is more appropriate now .

They are honest hard working citizens and can not afford to stand around for months. So yes you are right as far as physical goes. But when it comes to moral support he has an army behind him. That is what scares the PTP.

Read my lips again.....and it is not because I agree with this...but....

.......the Military will "persuade" Yingluck to go....and better sooner than later...I hope will be fair elections some time after that....

I agree with you but to have fair elections they will need new guide lines with severe penalties in them. With out that elections would just be another item on the road to national destruction.

[hellodolly]

This is not about corruption and it is not about reform. Suthep and Abhisit had two years to institue reforms and clean up corruption with zero resistance from anybody.

The question you have to ask is why is it so important to implement reforms now when they had every opportunity and all the necessary power a couple of years ago?

What you have, like it or not, are a smattering of Democrat bimbos that are not smart enough to win an election whining and sniveling like car park attendants with their whistles insisting that the elections they can't win be stopped and their place in government be mandated. Well, now that seems fair.....NOT.

It sounds like you think the Dems had a majority on their own and coule do anything they wanted. The Dems did not have a majority on their own.

They had a coalition of several parties that Abhisit had to keep happy including Newin and 4 other PPP coalition parties so I do not think they had the necessary power.

None of us know if this coalition would have held together if he tried to reform anything. In my opinion one of the reasons he was not as effective as he should have been is the fact he had to keep this coalition together.

If I remember correctly Abhisit stated the need to keep the coalition together as the reason he could not stop all of the corruption.

"Abhisit stated the need to keep the coalition together as the reason he could not stop all of the corruption"

May be true.

But could Abhisit not have stopped the corruption within his own party during that period at least? I assume that doing so should not have had an effect on the coalition?

Disclosure - I was not around in those days, so my assumption could be wrong.

Personally I don't believe he could. I don't think any leader could completely stop the corruption in their own party. Man will always find a way.

How ever when Abhist took over the PM office corruption was rising very fast and he did manage to stop the rise. After he left office it once again started upwards again.

One thing that most people over look and has been mentioned here is that Abhist had a minority and needed other parties. One of them that was critical was Newin who brought a very necessary 20 votes with him. All of them were deserters from Thaksin led parties. Now I am not saying that made them corrupt but they defiantly came from a corrupt way of doing politics.

[hellodolly]

When is suthep ever going to come and tell who would be acting PM and who would be in the cabinate of his PEOPLE"S COUNCIL???????? The reason he has not is because he can not and why because there would be no one in it as there would be a dictatorship with suthep as dictator.

Source please?

[SICHONSTEVE]

hahaha...he is talking to the Thai military about government corruption!!!

There is nothing more corrupt in this country than the military!

You are confusing the military with the RTP.

[hellodolly]

View looking down on protesters at Office of Permanent Secretary for Defence on Chaeng Wattana Rd (Pic @) http://t.co/uM79Tejx7U

A few old ladies in wheel-chairs, according to Moonao, Prbkk, Dave and clan.

wonder just how many of them are actually protesters and how many are police and army?????

<deleted> does it matter how many were police, how many were army, how many were illegal immigrants? The fact is that the Shin dynasty is in its dying throes. Yingluck still doesn't know how to say "Hey folks, we made a big error here and are really sorry. We had the good intentions towards the rice farmers, but somehow it all went wrong" Not going to happen Shinawats are never wrong.

By Songkran we will either be getting soaked and having fun or we will be in a civil war because in the eyes of the red shirts Thaksin can do no wrong.

Tomorrow more farmers arrive with a convoy of tractors and farm equipment.

Enjoy the show..

One thing that I can not understand is how the red shirts who are not on the payroll can remain red shirts when the farmers are getting shafted.

Many of the red shirts depend on the farmers to make their living.

It is not just the farmers themselves who are being robbed their is a large percentage of the business that depend on them. All ready I have heard rumors the millers are unhappy with the government.

Edit

Bad spelling

Edited February 19, 2014 by hellodolly

[BlueNoseCodger]

Voice your bitterness, grievances or problems but be careful not to be used and exploited by the dem and its pdrc/pcad. These and some 'old elite' power opposed the rice pledging scheme and have been trying to 'murder' it. Their number at protest sites are few grannies as human shield and their numbers now at permanent secretary for defence on Chaang Wattana Road are rice farmers whom they have been oppressing, denigrating, belittled, name called, treated as not equal to BKKians.

The PDRC/PAD protesters have been declining as there is no new galvanising issue, but the ineptitude of the PTP led administration has created a new set of protesters - apparently today about 10,000 farmers.

The main protesters came out on to the streets because of the arrogance of the amnesty bill manipulation - and the protesters were not just Bangkok elites or southern agitators, there was a broad cross section of business people, health workers, civil servants and working people.

The farmers are now on the streets because of lies about subsidy payments - and they have woken up to the fact that this is purely down to administrative incompetence, and are growing even more angry at the arrogance of branding them "fake" farmers

I confidently expect that the government will screw up again in the near future adding more disaffected constituents when they run out of money to support their other schemes, but what it will be yet nobody knows, they continue to surprise with the inventiveness of their f*** ups, nationalising the banks to get their loan monies perhaps.

There is no excuse for incompetence and stupidity, which is now the hallmark of this administration, and there is no excuse for apologists who only wish to troll.

Photo please of the 10000? Otherwise I call troll on your post.

BNC - How would crobes post be trolling???

Many media outlets have stated a 10,000 strong crowd.

you are a legend in your own mind!

trolling: posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

I did an estimate here, 700-2500 max.

I also explained how I got to that number.

Where's the 10000?

[SICHONSTEVE]

Well done!!! we are indebted to your research carried out in your own time at no expense - and no. I didn't bother to look at your calculation method

[Patpending]

dont get more damning. from Obamas propaganda arm.

what do you think suthep/elites/dems will do in the real world with sanctions and embargoes

note Armed Insurection appears again in this article. 5th I have seen this week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/world/asia/thailand.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

[noitom]

The US has not condemned violendce publicly in Thailand. But the US has condemned violence in Ukraine. Very hypocritical wouldn't you say?

[ourmanflint]

I think he should drop the word "mass " maybe the word miniscule is more appropriate now .

View looking down on protesters at Office of Permanent Secretary for Defence on Chaeng Wattana Rd (Pic @) http://t.co/uM79Tejx7U

A few old ladies in wheel-chairs, according to Moonao, Prbkk, Dave and clan.

sure maybe 5,000? 10,000 at most? no 6m just a WIDE angle lens lol

PS taken probably lunch time too

Sure wide angle lenses actually add people to an image. 5000 for a 28mm, 10000 for a 24mm and a whopping 30000 for a 14mm.

Its a fact!

Edited February 19, 2014 by ourmanflint

[hgma]

Read my lips again.....and it is not because I agree with this...but....

.......the Military will "persuade" Yingluck to go....and better sooner than later...I hope will be fair elections some time after that....

Again...how can ANYBODY find some sense in all this.

We can form an opinion,but as arena and playing field changes with the people who create this environment, i stick to my coffee, horrified by shootings, bombs and live amunition on public roads in thailand.(bangkok)

Whatever and Whoever decides anything is up to them,as Thainess clearly promotes Thai4Thai first and now Thai vsThai we should stay within our bounderies and let ThaivsThai be a Thainess thing, not ours!

[darren84310]

I think he should drop the word "mass " maybe the word miniscule is more appropriate now .

There were at least 10,000 surrounding the building, where the mentioned meeting was being held, today. I wouldn't say that was "miniscule".

Okay, beaten to it.

Compared to the "millions" Suthep keeps going on about, 10,000 is very miniscule. Have you seen the other protest sites? There might be 100 people left at Asoke.

There are a couple of big differences between the Red Shirt protests of 2010 and the ones you are seeing now.

1. The protesters now are not getting paid 500 baht a day to be there.

2. They have jobs to go to.

Thaksin only needs to organise a protest outside the rice season and they are free to months and not earning anything else.

[SICHONSTEVE]

I think he should drop the word "mass " maybe the word miniscule is more appropriate now .

There were at least 10,000 surrounding the building, where the mentioned meeting was being held, today. I wouldn't say that was "miniscule".

Okay, beaten to it.

Compared to the "millions" Suthep keeps going on about, 10,000 is very miniscule. Have you seen the other protest sites? There might be 100 people left at Asoke.

There are a couple of big differences between the Red Shirt protests of 2010 and the ones you are seeing now.

1. The protesters now are not getting paid 500 baht a day to be there.

2. They have jobs to go to.

Thaksin only needs to organise a protest outside the rice season and they are free to months and not earning anything else.

Valid point.