Suthep to unblock Bangkok and return traffic space to Bangkokians Monday

[webfact]

POLITICS
Suthep to unblock Bangkok and return traffic space to Bangkokians Monday
The Nation


File photo

BANGKOK: -- In what he called re-adjusting strategy to bring down Thaksin Regime and return traffic space for Bangkokians, rally leader Suthep Thaugsuban on Friday declared the end of Bangkok Shutdown from Monday.

However pressure on Shinawatra businesses will be increased, he said. All rally sites at Rajprasong, Pathumwan and Asoke will be dissolved and moved to Lumpini Park where there are buildings and meeting rooms, Suthep said.

However he did not mention about a rally site at Government Complex on Chang Wattana Road which is supervised by a senior monk; Phra Buddha Issara.

"We will stop closing Bangkok and give every intersection back to Bangkokians. We will stop closing Bangkok from Monday. I have to apologise business operators for disruptions to their activities and Bangkokians for making more traffic congestion during the Bangkok Shutdown," he said.

He hoped that after all roads are returned, Bangkokians will rethink how important what we are doing for the country and join us.

To do this did not mean that we gave up our fights to eradicate Thaksin Regime, we instead will raise the level of our rallies after this. "We will escalate our shutdown of government ministries and Shinawatra businesses. I do personally hope the game will be over by March," Suthep said.

The decision that surprised many came after series of attacks on the rally sites have escalated, claiming many lives and injuring many others.

He invited his supporters to join big cleaning day at any rally sites they prefer and later participate in the opening of Lumpini rally on Sunday. At Lumpini, there will be more concerts, food is as good as it used to be. There we will brainstorm on how to close down Shinawatra’s businesses, he said.


-- The Nation 2014-03-01

[terryp]

getting ready for the coup more like

[Dr Bruce]

I hope he has enough people left to be able to move all his stuff. They will have to do several trips each.

I am glad to see that he has been beaten at last.

Now we need to finish the elections and move on.

[arthurboy]

The only thing that is certain about this current mess is the uncertainty that every day brings.

It's a wheels within wheels situation as the fat cats continue to plot and plan for their own nefarious ends.

*deleted*

[zydeco]

Finally. Frankly the protest numbers had dwindled to the point they were no longer meaningful. I really wish Suthep had ended them a couple of weeks ago. Because the Shins days are numbered. Once the legal process started, the Shins were finished. The protests became unnecessary. Let the legal mechanism shut down YL and the PTP.

[fleeing]

I hope he has enough people left to be able to move all his stuff. They will have to do several trips each.

I am glad to see that he has been beaten at last.

Now we need to finish the elections and move on.

Errrm. Perhaps you should ask the red-shirts who are going to blockade the EC about that.

As much as I'd like to see a solution to this stand-off, I think you may have to be patient a little longer than you think.

[Somtamnication]

Tanks cannot move quickly with the crowd there.

[Thailand]

"We will stop closing Bangkok and give every intersection back to Bangkokians. We will stop closing Bangkok from Monday. I have to apologise business operators for disruptions to their activities and Bangkokians for making more traffic congestion during the Bangkok Shutdown," he said."

No doubt he will be compensating everyone who lost money from the donations that were made to his "war chest"

[lostinsurin]

Suthep declares "big cleaning day!!!!!"

[tx22cb]

So this weekend is our last chance to stroll roads along Sukhumvit/Asoke/Rajprasong?

Better'd take some photos of the sites as souvenirs first.

Hope Suthep does not get the clever idea to raise funds by (instead of dismantling) selling the stages and the light/sound systems at these sites, as-is, to the Reds ...

[LindsayBKK]

I hope he has enough people left to be able to move all his stuff. They will have to do several trips each.

I am glad to see that he has been beaten at last.

Now we need to finish the elections and move on.

Nice try! :lol:But that isn't what it/he said. Giving in far from it, campaign will increase pressure focusing on Shin business interests like has happened in the last week stock values of Mr.T businesses down. Dr.T is the main objective.

But YL said she is unable to do TV debate, as we all knew, so we'll see if this opens the door for negotiations. Moo is just a puppet so anything she says on TV will only be from script. Thailand does not want/need a President T:angry:

Edited March 1, 2014 by LindsayBKK

[bluesmith]

Far from over I think making the way for the men in Green

[JoeThePoster]

No surprise - fewer and fewer people want to live in tents surrounded by the stench of their own urine.

[millwall_fan]

The big shutdown failed dismally - as have every street protest campaign by the PAD/PDAC/PDRC and whatever other acronyms the Ruling Elite have used since 2006 in various attempts to bring down the elected government so that they could get their snouts back into the trough.

Now they will let the judiciary mount a coup and get rid of the elected government for the third time.

[Tatsujin]

The big shutdown failed dismally - as have every street protest campaign by the PAD/PDAC/PDRC and whatever other acronyms the Ruling Elite have used since 2006 in various attempts to bring down the elected government so that they could get their snouts back into the trough.

Now they will let the judiciary mount a coup and get rid of the elected government for the third time.

Stick to football, not politics. The protests have been disbanded because the elections will be declared invalid shortly.

[smileydude]

Hardly the end but just the beginning. We are seeing the awakening of awareness to rampant high level corruption (rice plegding scheme for example) and also the inherent weakness of the democratic system to abuse and tyranny by the majority (http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Ochlocracy)

[focus27]

What's with all the flag-waving in the other thread on this news item?

Just another day as the clock runs down on the caretaker gov. Not long now.

Let's see if the army moves all its Bangkok bunkers. I don't think they are in place for the protests - they are there waiting for the redshirt reaction to yet another elected government being bundled out.

Thing is, after the wind is taken out of everyone's puffed up hubris, how are the elite going to design an electoral system in which they don't lose time after time?

How to design a system so that the trough is at such an angle that the swill naturally flows to the fattest pigs?

Given the cyclic nature of Thai politics, this article is still relevant: http://www.cfr.org/thailand/thailand-democratic-failure-its-lessons-middle-east/p24485

This ain't over by a long stretch...

[OutToGetYou]

The big shutdown failed dismally - as have every street protest campaign by the PAD/PDAC/PDRC and whatever other acronyms the Ruling Elite have used since 2006 in various attempts to bring down the elected government so that they could get their snouts back into the trough.

Now they will let the judiciary mount a coup and get rid of the elected government for the third time.

I take it that this is your first year in Thailand because you clearly don't know how it works here yet.

This protest has been a massive success.

It has forced the PM into fleeing the capital and probably setting her up for fleeing the country soon. It has torn the government apart and put them in caretaker mode with a very soon expiry date.

It has cost the Shins probably well over 100 billion baht and rising daily.

It has raised awareness of corruption and everything that is wrong about politics in Thailand.

It has woken millions of people up across the land to all the badness of politicians and shown them that it doesn't need to happen.

They brought Thaksin down in 2006 and they have brought his sister down in 2014, and you say that is a dismal failure?.... lol

Man.... Something big is about to happen and one massive drama bomb is about to land in someone's lap and Suthep has almost certainly been told about it.

It is possibly a guaranteed coup or a court ruling that will see this government gone for good.

I would in fact call this protest a resounding success.

I looki forward to hearing you bleating and cursing when you are forced to come to terms with the REAL failing of your camp over the coming period.

Hope you can take defeat like a man and stop whining like a stuck pig.

[brewsterbudgen]

The big shutdown failed dismally - as have every street protest campaign by the PAD/PDAC/PDRC and whatever other acronyms the Ruling Elite have used since 2006 in various attempts to bring down the elected government so that they could get their snouts back into the trough.

Now they will let the judiciary mount a coup and get rid of the elected government for the third time.

I take it that this is your first year in Thailand because you clearly don't know how it works here yet.

This protest has been a massive success.

It has forced the PM into fleeing the capital and probably setting her up for fleeing the country soon. It has torn the government apart and put them in caretaker mode with a very soon expiry date.

It has cost the Shins probably well over 100 billion baht and rising daily.

It has raised awareness of corruption and everything that is wrong about politics in Thailand.

It has woken millions of people up across the land to all the badness of politicians and shown them that it doesn't need to happen.

They brought Thaksin down in 2006 and they have brought his sister down in 2014, and you say that is a dismal failure?.... lol

Man.... Something big is about to happen and one massive drama bomb is about to land in someone's lap and Suthep has almost certainly been told about it.

It is possibly a guaranteed coup or a court ruling that will see this government gone for good.

I would in fact call this protest a resounding success.

I looki forward to hearing you bleating and cursing when you are forced to come to terms with the REAL failing of your camp over the coming period.

Hope you can take defeat like a man and stop whining like a stuck pig.

I take it you've never been to Thailand! You're certainly living in Cloud Cuckoo-land if you believe the protests have been a resounding success!

[thhMan]

Im surprised Iron Man didn't fly in and put a stop to this nonsense!

[OutToGetYou]

"We will stop closing Bangkok and give every intersection back to Bangkokians. We will stop closing Bangkok from Monday. I have to apologise business operators for disruptions to their activities and Bangkokians for making more traffic congestion during the Bangkok Shutdown," he said."

No doubt he will be compensating everyone who lost money from the donations that were made to his "war chest"

Erm....

Why would you have to compensate someone for making a donation?

The rallys are continuing, only the intersections are to be reopened.

Their donations have been well invested in the fact that this government is now dead n the water.

Read my post above.

Yet another who will be squealing like a stuck pig in a week or two.

[millwall_fan]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

What's with all the flag-waving in the other thread on this news item?

Just another day as the clock runs down on the caretaker gov. Not long now.

Let's see if the army moves all its Bangkok bunkers. I don't think they are in place for the protests - they are there waiting for the redshirt reaction to yet another elected government being bundled out.

Thing is, after the wind is taken out of everyone's puffed up hubris, how are the elite going to design an electoral system in which they don't lose time after time?

How to design a system so that the trough is at such an angle that the swill naturally flows to the fattest pigs?

Given the cyclic nature of Thai politics, this article is still relevant: http://www.cfr.org/thailand/thailand-democratic-failure-its-lessons-middle-east/p24485

This ain't over by a long stretch...

An interesting article! Little could the authors have predicted about what actually happened in Thailand or Egypt or Tunisia since 2011.

The problem for the middle classes is that they forget about the poor and economic inequality and in the case of the Middle East, the political power of religion.

The only ways that the middle class can regain power in Thailand in the longer term are to either remove democracy entirely which is what Suthep was ordered to try and achieve or they could be more populist than Thaksin - offer the poor a stake in the country's prosperity. Abhisit kind of tried this when he introduced universal old age pensions - but it was too little, too late. The Democrat party can no longer be the vehicle for this - it is too wedded to the Ruling Elite. They need a new party with new leaders that can play Thaksin and his friends and family at their own game. Only then can they legitimately wrest power from the Shinawatras.

[OutToGetYou]

The big shutdown failed dismally - as have every street protest campaign by the PAD/PDAC/PDRC and whatever other acronyms the Ruling Elite have used since 2006 in various attempts to bring down the elected government so that they could get their snouts back into the trough.

Now they will let the judiciary mount a coup and get rid of the elected government for the third time.

I take it that this is your first year in Thailand because you clearly don't know how it works here yet.

This protest has been a massive success.

It has forced the PM into fleeing the capital and probably setting her up for fleeing the country soon. It has torn the government apart and put them in caretaker mode with a very soon expiry date.

It has cost the Shins probably well over 100 billion baht and rising daily.

It has raised awareness of corruption and everything that is wrong about politics in Thailand.

It has woken millions of people up across the land to all the badness of politicians and shown them that it doesn't need to happen.

They brought Thaksin down in 2006 and they have brought his sister down in 2014, and you say that is a dismal failure?.... lol

Man.... Something big is about to happen and one massive drama bomb is about to land in someone's lap and Suthep has almost certainly been told about it.

It is possibly a guaranteed coup or a court ruling that will see this government gone for good.

I would in fact call this protest a resounding success.

I looki forward to hearing you bleating and cursing when you are forced to come to terms with the REAL failing of your camp over the coming period.

Hope you can take defeat like a man and stop whining like a stuck pig.

I take it you've never been to Thailand! You're certainly living in Cloud Cuckoo-land if you believe the protests have been a resounding success!

Been here full time for 8 years and have 3 businesses here.

Pay plenty of tax, that this bunch of &lt;deleted&gt; steal.

Please pick anything out of my post that is not accurate and we can debate it like adults instead of one line insults which always seem to come from the vanquished.

They have been a success and they are continuing. Just with traffic flow.

[millwall_fan]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The big shutdown failed dismally - as have every street protest campaign by the PAD/PDAC/PDRC and whatever other acronyms the Ruling Elite have used since 2006 in various attempts to bring down the elected government so that they could get their snouts back into the trough.

Now they will let the judiciary mount a coup and get rid of the elected government for the third time.

I take it that this is your first year in Thailand because you clearly don't know how it works here yet.

This protest has been a massive success.

It has forced the PM into fleeing the capital and probably setting her up for fleeing the country soon. It has torn the government apart and put them in caretaker mode with a very soon expiry date.

It has cost the Shins probably well over 100 billion baht and rising daily.

It has raised awareness of corruption and everything that is wrong about politics in Thailand.

It has woken millions of people up across the land to all the badness of politicians and shown them that it doesn't need to happen.

They brought Thaksin down in 2006 and they have brought his sister down in 2014, and you say that is a dismal failure?.... lol

Man.... Something big is about to happen and one massive drama bomb is about to land in someone's lap and Suthep has almost certainly been told about it.

It is possibly a guaranteed coup or a court ruling that will see this government gone for good.

I would in fact call this protest a resounding success.

I looki forward to hearing you bleating and cursing when you are forced to come to terms with the REAL failing of your camp over the coming period.

Hope you can take defeat like a man and stop whining like a stuck pig.

With 9 posts, maybe you need to do a bit more reading Mr. Newbie, before you post. I first came to Thailand 20 years ago, have lived in Thailand full-time for almost 10 years, am married to a Thai, owned a business in Thailand and am now a tax paying employee in Thailand. I'm not saying you aren't entitled to your view, but maybe you'd like to tell us a little about yourself and how you are so much better qualified than me to make your assertions.

[brewsterbudgen]

The big shutdown failed dismally - as have every street protest campaign by the PAD/PDAC/PDRC and whatever other acronyms the Ruling Elite have used since 2006 in various attempts to bring down the elected government so that they could get their snouts back into the trough.

Now they will let the judiciary mount a coup and get rid of the elected government for the third time.

I take it that this is your first year in Thailand because you clearly don't know how it works here yet.

This protest has been a massive success.

It has forced the PM into fleeing the capital and probably setting her up for fleeing the country soon. It has torn the government apart and put them in caretaker mode with a very soon expiry date.

It has cost the Shins probably well over 100 billion baht and rising daily.

It has raised awareness of corruption and everything that is wrong about politics in Thailand.

It has woken millions of people up across the land to all the badness of politicians and shown them that it doesn't need to happen.

They brought Thaksin down in 2006 and they have brought his sister down in 2014, and you say that is a dismal failure?.... lol

Man.... Something big is about to happen and one massive drama bomb is about to land in someone's lap and Suthep has almost certainly been told about it.

It is possibly a guaranteed coup or a court ruling that will see this government gone for good.

I would in fact call this protest a resounding success.

I looki forward to hearing you bleating and cursing when you are forced to come to terms with the REAL failing of your camp over the coming period.

Hope you can take defeat like a man and stop whining like a stuck pig.

I take it you've never been to Thailand! You're certainly living in Cloud Cuckoo-land if you believe the protests have been a resounding success!

Been here full time for 8 years and have 3 businesses here.

Pay plenty of tax, that this bunch of &lt;deleted&gt; steal.

Please pick anything out of my post that is not accurate and we can debate it like adults instead of one line insults which always seem to come from the vanquished.

They have been a success and they are continuing. Just with traffic flow.

Nothing about my post was insulting. I just disagree that the protests have been "a resounding success". Try telling that to all those who have died because of the protests.

[LindsayBKK]

yes it failed

But hang on didn't Suthep raise ฿20mil in one day for the farmers legal expenses & who is still in a caretaker government YL & would the farmers have had an easier time waiting for a failed rice scheme funds. You can't have your cake & eat it to. All the people will/already moved to Lumpini where they can keep people from danger but I suspect more street marches to Shin Co. interests are on the cards so road closures may continue.

Remember what happened when the red shirts ran a muck & tried to destroy Bangkok. Suthep's PDRC I would not call a fail.

Pollution levels will be back to normal Mon don't worry.

Anyway it's not over yet the end game is unknown.

Edited March 1, 2014 by LindsayBKK

[coma]

A strategic re-grouping is a smart thing. They have learnt that they can do more good doing less. I wouldn't want to be holding any shares tied to the Shin clan.

Edited March 1, 2014 by coma

[ultramarine]

It's good the shutdown is over. I don't see how anyone can argue it was a success, especially since the courts will decide the fate of the PM and her govt. Did Suthep need to cause untold damage to the Thai economy for the past four months in order to influence the outcome of the judicial process? The courts will decide what they decide regardless of how many people are blowing whistles.

Thailand desperately needs to find a better way of handling conflict. The culture of conflict avoidance has left most people without the means to deal with such crisis situations.

It will be hard to put the democratic genie back in the bottle. Will the red shirts accept a HK system of guided democracy where only half of the seats in parliament are elected? Doubt it. I agree the Democrats should dissolve and reform under a new leader. They do not understand mass politics. If you keep losing elections, you should change your platform and your leader. That is how it works these days. But they somehow feel they don't have to. That has elite entitlement written all over it.

[smutcakes]

The big shutdown failed dismally - as have every street protest campaign by the PAD/PDAC/PDRC and whatever other acronyms the Ruling Elite have used since 2006 in various attempts to bring down the elected government so that they could get their snouts back into the trough.

Now they will let the judiciary mount a coup and get rid of the elected government for the third time.

Stick to football, not politics. The protests have been disbanded because the elections will be declared invalid shortly.

Lol invalid because they were blocked by the opposition.

Nw i wonder if i was in the PTP or UDD what i would be contemplating for the next election if i thought i could not win.......................

[dominique355]

That is so cruel, Suthep! What excuse has Yingluck now to avoid a public debate with you?