Thai army chief cautions nation may 'collapse' as violence escalates

[Stradavarius37]

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Coup Coup CA Chu... name that familiar tune of Thailand.
This time I for one welcome green shirts.

T.I.T.

And that's the intent of the violence. Get the public scared and weary of the ongoing violence.

Sabotage the civil government by preventing the civil authorities from dispersing the protestors and by legislating from the bench.

Then they will welcome the benevolent smiling generals.

Don't be a patsy.

You sir have done your homework and I will grade your post "A."

Seems there are two camps here on Thai Visa.

One camp reads the Thai papers (and believe it) and the other camp has schooled up and read the stuff that is being blocked & kept away from the masses.

ANU-Australia National University Asian Studies would be a good start to getting up to speed on the political issues in Thailand.

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/category/thailand/

Only 2? Yet another black and white answer from a black and white worldview poster...

[Stradavarius37]

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The army chief is playing with a straight bat.

Block, block, block. While thinking; "7,6,5 months to retirement, just hold on and it will be someone else's problem" Block, block, block.

(For the Americans and Europeans this is a cricketing analogy)

Ahh, cricket - named after a bug....

[SABloke]

So our posts are getting graded now! God help us! I already did my time at school and university Prof.

[slipperylobster]

If it collapsed any more than we would have to designate a new "Black Hole" in the Universe.

[Thait Spot]

The army chief is playing with a straight bat.

Block, block, block. While thinking; "7,6,5 months to retirement, just hold on and it will be someone else's problem" Block, block, block.

(For the Americans and Europeans this is a cricketing analogy)

Ahh, cricket - named after a bug....

Beats being named after a carpenter I guess.

Bug is the most ubiquitous Welsh word

I think the name came from the word crick meaning a wooden club

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[ice4351]

In a democracy the majority rules. Is this always a good thing--no! However, it is sometimes is the price you pay to live in a free democratic country. Blocking streets and government building is not what I would call a peaceful demonstration. Trying to shut down a city like BKK is not what I would call peaceful. There is no guarantee that any form of new government would be any less corrupt than the present regime. There are many people dead and wounded already. Past history suggests that regardless of who is ruling the country. there would be continued political unrest and the problems will start all over again. If the Thai people was a free democratic government, then they will have to learn to live with the election results now and in the future!

[phutoie2]

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The army chief is playing with a straight bat.

Block, block, block. While thinking; "7,6,5 months to retirement, just hold on and it will be someone else's problem" Block, block, block.

(For the Americans and Europeans this is a cricketing analogy)

Ahh, cricket - named after a bug....

and you sir would field at silly point. For obvious reasons.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies deleted.

Deliberate and provocative spelling of politicians' names are being deleted as well.

[Asiantravel]

The problem is the red shirts have declared very firmly they will not accept it if there is another coup this time.

According to the website global fire power the total manpower in the military is 306,000 active frontline personnel and 245,000 active reserve personnel.

In an article in the Bangkok Post today entitled “Fomenting a culture of absolute hate “ the author wrote that a red-shirt leader told his supporters that there are as many as 10 million guns in the country, ready for Thais to defend themselves.

I think this is what Thailand's army chief meant when he warned about the country risking "collapse"

[eeworldwide]

Everybody loses if there is more violence. Violences begets violence. Its as simple as that.

Its been said repeatedly in this thread, and I have to agree, Thailand is just not mature enough to grasp the basic core principles of democracy.

However - most of these home-cooked headlines are really just sensationalist and we're speculating.

Expect the best and prepare for the worst.

Personally, I don't believe that the violence will escalate into a full blown civil war, it just won't happen. There are too many major forces behind the scenes that can stop that. Nobody wants it - even though it may seem possible.

I believe we may well see small pockets of violence like the kind we have already seen to date - hand grenades being thrown and people being injured, and people losing lives - but not on a grand scale.

Even in the protests of 2009, which was far more violent and inflammatory - it never escalated fully out of control - even with the burning buildings etc, and the atmosphere and enforced curfew was very different to what we are seeing today.

There is obviously something happening behind the scenes that we are not yet aware of. Yingluck is holding on - she's waiting - for something... she's been told to stay put..... for what? She's had a huge amount of pressure put on her to leave - but she has to stay, so she doesn't lose face.... but it seems that something else major is about to come to light.

But I don't think that the violence will spread out enough to create a civil war.

lets hope Im right!

[Credo]

The military is in a quandary. The military basically back the protesters, as they did the yellow shirts and the elites. If they stage a coup, they will have to clear the streets, but they will be clearing the streets of the people they back. They will then have to depose an elected (but caretaker gov't), which will be met with resistance from it's backers.

The Thai military does not answer to the gov't.

The Thai military is not united on what they should do and many of the conscripts would be considered 'watermelons.'

It's a difficult situation.

[BuddyPinkham]

Yingluck spent Monday inspecting local produce in a province 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of Bangkok.

WOW! such an important thing to do when the country is falling apart!

[stickylies]

If this conflict sadly evolves into long term protracted civil war, myself and I suspect

a whole lot of other people will be out of here in short order.

my sea kayak and survival kit are on "standby" !

[marko kok prong]

But if there is a coup, did the redshirts not state,they will fight it,then there really could be some major violence and loss of life, i wonder where this would leave the majority of us expats here,what if we have the civil service and immigration disrupted.

[falangadang]

Thai army chief cautions nation may 'collapse' as violence escalates

&lt;deleted&gt;,.... just roll out the tanks, enact a coup and clean up the streets and government buildings of all the thugs possessing them before this ends up in a civil war!

[Pui]

The question not being ask is how can an M79 shoulder-held launcher can be used in the centre of a capital city like Thailand on a Sunday afternoon without someone witnessing it. Especially with the heavy Police and Military presence due to the political rallies. This has happened before recently so said government bodies should be on high alert. The fact that nobody is in custody suggests that someone from afore mentioned government body was involved or they are all completely incompetent.

Civilians shopping with their children at Big-C at the weekend should not have the threat of grenade attach.

If you can't find the culprit, disband the any Police or Military on duty that day i nthat area. As someone is covering up.

Military Coup may be the only way.

[HD 205]

No matter what people think about Thaksin, the coup of 2006 has turned out to be the worst decision in modern Thai history.

But hindsight is 20/20 unfortunately.

I don't think it was.

If they hadn't gotten rid of him, he would consolidated his power and right now, he probably would control the judiciary and the military also. That's everyone. And then Thailand would have joined the ranks of the Phillipines, Zimbabwe, Russia, South Sudan, among others. Countries who voted a dictator into power. This country would have been so screwed up. Scary thing is, there's still a chance of that happening if the Shinawatras get their way.

But, they haven't got rid of him.

That's part of my point.

I think people exaggerate Thaksin's aspirations, sometimes comparing him to the likes of Hitler.

He didn't need to control everything, as he already had the strongest democratic mandate in Thai history! (AFAIK)

I don't think anyone could argue that the military doesn't need some sort of stronger regulation and not have so much power also.

Apparently he did need to control everything, as he did everything he could to put his own people in charge of both military and police and he did everything he could to dismantle checks and balances.

And yes, someone like me could argue that with the ridiculously low quality of politicians in Thailand, and an extremely gullible population, a strong and independent military is needed to take over when the politicians convince large parts of the population that it is a good idea to ruin everything.

So you support a coup over democracy? Why not just say it in plain English?

[marko kok prong]

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The army chief is playing with a straight bat.

Block, block, block. While thinking; "7,6,5 months to retirement, just hold on and it will be someone else's problem" Block, block, block.

(For the Americans and Europeans this is a cricketing analogy)

Ahh, cricket - named after a bug....

and you sir would field at silly point. For obvious reasons.

220px-Close_fielders.jpg

don,t you mean silly mid off.

[HD 205]

I think people exaggerate Thaksin's aspirations, sometimes comparing him to the likes of Hitler.

He didn't need to control everything, as he already had the strongest democratic mandate in Thai history! (AFAIK)

I don't think it's possible to exaggerate Thaksin's "aspirations".

You are absolutely correct that in 2001 Thaksin gained the biggest popular mandate ever, he had a free hand to do virtually anything. What many people also forget is that he gained a considerable number of votes from people in Bangkok - many times I heard people say they voted for him because he was already so rich he would perhaps not be so greedy as the usual "Politicians" in Thailand.

At that time he had no need to beg for favours from the usual rabble of "kingmakers" in Thai politics. If he truly had Thailands interests at heart and not just his own he could have changed the face of Thai Politics and Governance, even Society, forever, simply by discarding patronage and appointing Ministers and Heads of Departments - including the Police and Military - with professionals; individuals qualified and experienced in their particular fields.

Of course he did not and we had the same old corrupt faces appointed to Ministries etc., with instructions to make sure Thaksin received a greater than usual percentage of what they could skim.

Then and now he only ever has his own interests at heart.

Patrick

And who doesn't?

[SOTIRIOS]

.......with all operating funds GONE......

....with the Government IN HIDING.....

....while 'mystery Government backers' hurl grenades and bombs...and kill and maim unarmed citizens at will.....UNCHECKED....

...it seems like this may be the very intention of certain scoundrels.....

...then they will have made off with ALL THE MONEY....and never have to pay back one satang.....

...(that is one way a psycho might payback/destroy a country)....

...talk about 'tough love'.......sick.....sick.....SICK....

[jpeg]

A Thai/Chinese friend told me it was better that the Military controlled Thailand as the Thais were to immature/greedy to rule themselves. I was taken aback at the time, but seventeen years later I believe he was right.

[soalbundy]

In a way, for the long run, its better for this idiotic stalemate to continue so that there are some real consequences for this behaviour

Are expats allowed to be truthfully selfish?

Because those "real consequences" could well mean actual civil war and us expats OUT OF HERE.

For some, no big deal.

For others, devastating.

I won't go anywhere unless it turns into a Burma or African style conflict, or mass random violence against foreigners starts to happen. Then again, by the time any of that happens, it may be too late.

This place is going to go tits up eventually. Everyone knows it but none of us really want to admit it or even discuss it as a real possibility. It's just a matter of when.

All of you talking about "The end times" and "going tits up" obviously live in Bangkok. Bangkok is not Thailand. I live in a village in Isaan,its peaceful,no demonstrations,no hate speeches,people just get on with their lives. If it wasn't for the delayed rice payment the people here wouldn't even be the slightest bit bothered by the situation,in fact most dismiss it as a "Bangkok thing". If there is civil war it will only take place in Bangkok for a short time. Kick out the foreigners ? i think some imaginations are running wild. I'm here for the long haul no matter what happens,i don't expect a bunch of crazed machete wielding fanatics to turn up outside my house.

[affen02]

I have been following the discussion on T visa about the present political unrest in Thailand for months now. What suprises and angers me is the name calling, insinuations, totally unbelievable presenting of things without shred of evidence. And this among farangs both living here and outside Thailand. If one does not agree with Suthep, then imidiatly branded by some as a red, supporter of corruption and even insinuation of being paid from Dubai. I am neither red nor yellow,but i definatly dont believe in any peoples committe manned by so called neutral persons of good standing. I strongly suspect that a peoples committe is just another way of grabbing power unconstitutionally.The only way out of this bloody mess, is a new election, with the army as garantor for free and fair elections. The army as garantor for people not being hindered to deliver their vote. Hunt down the killers on both sides, because there are killers on both sides, and prosecute them according to law. The election could be held with foreign observers to avoid election fraud, as have been done in so many other countries before. Respect the result of election, and first priority of a new government, pay the farmers what is owed to them, because the farmers are the backbone of this country, like it or not. The army would in such senario, be seen as protecting the people, i think a move like this from the Thai army would also be looked at positiv from foreign governments. I am sure the army has to play a role in stopping the present madness, but a coup d etat would just make things worse. There has to be give and take on all sides in this conflict, and i hope an understanding of this comes sooner than later. And i hope the name calling in this site stop. No need to call each other idiots because of different political believes. Those of us who lives here wants no more than the situation not to escalate, and that we can live our lives here in peace and tranquility, together with our families and the Thai people.

[Lupatria]

army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha warned in a rare televised live speech.

At least he is not communicating with the common folks over facebook.

[Thaiready]

Win in a Election......until then shut the freak up

[NHT]

Karma - Thailand will get what it deserves. Not even the amazingly arrogant "kingdom" will be spared of getting to feel Karma.

You can't just keep shitting on humanity, and at the same time "request" to be respected!

[jpeg]

many times I heard people say they voted for him because he was already so rich he would perhaps not be so greedy as the usual "Politicians" in Thailand.[uNQUOTE]

I too heard this. There aren't so many countries on the planet that aren't ruled by the already obscenely wealthy. How stupid are people, really.

BTW, TV get your site sorted out. Posting quotes and formatting is sporadic.

[NHT]

A Thai/Chinese friend told me it was better that the Military controlled Thailand as the Thais were to immature/greedy to rule themselves. I was taken aback at the time, but seventeen years later I believe he was right.

That is very soft spoken, man!

But I certainly agree on immature/greedy.

[Artisi]

Come on military, time to step-in, close the borders for a few days, come down with a very heavy hand and round up all the corrupt politicians and hanger on's. Lets cut-out the bullshit and finish it once and for all and get Thailand back onto a road to recovery.

[silent]

When the general speaks, everyone gets nervous. But if the violence does escalate, the army will intervene to prevent the nation from 'collapsing'. So a coup seems likely.

On another note, it was nice of AFP to mention Yingluck. I'm glad the PM is serving the country in it's time of need by inspecting produce.

But if she wasn't doing anything else, she'd be criticized for that too, wouldn't she Gerry.

It's kind of really like a bad marriage, except in this case with so many armchair critics that can collectively make something out of nothing, doesn't it show a bit more intelligence to be looking for something productive instead of just spouting and pouting on TV.