Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters march in Bangkok

[Eric Loh]

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Suthep announces intention to fight to eliminate Thaksin's regime

BANGKOK: -- People's Democratic Reform Committee spokesman secretary general Suthep Thaugsuban made an announcement at the Royal Plaza to reaffirm the PRDC's commitment to fight to eliminate the Thaksin regime.

He said the regime was a danger of the country. He said the PDRC would join hands with the people to fight to reform the country so that the nation would have genuine democracy for the real benefits of the people.

-- The Nation 2014-03-29

Didn't he said that 4 months ago?

And what's wrong with it?

Really he should said that he will fight to eliminate Taksin regime by beating them at the polls.

[Publicus]

so how many against 20mln voters and millions, who were prevented from voting?

You mean the 20 million of which around 50% voted NO, and the rest were a couple of million for assorted parties and 8 million buffalos for the PTP.

The ones obstructed were not PTP strongholds and I think the 2% in some provinces that turned out in the re-runs says it all really.

The real majority are speaking.

Not the 8 million MINORITY!!!!!!!!!

The other 40 MILLION VOTERS!

Well over a million on the streets, and the rest voted with their feet.

Of the 40 million in un-obstucted areas, 20 million did not even bother to vote. 10 million who did voted NO and the other 8 million who didn't get the chance to vote would be pretty much all NO votes, and not a single vote would have been PTPO anyway.

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it pal.

and your 4th post after registration. The rest posts of the posts are also on politics.

Well the way I read your reply is you agree with him but haven't got the gut's to admit it or refute it with facts.

There are some excellent remedial reading programs.

https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=Ar7EgMx6vxoVfzMNqjpaafObvZx4?fr=yfp-t-901-s&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&p=remedial%20reading%20programs

[Trouble]

So another protest march. It is immaterial how many turn out. Those who turn out only represent themselves and not necessarily a larger body.. What counts is election results. If Suthep is so confident at his turnout he should be welcoming elections. He claims to want reforms before elections. Exactly what are they? It would sure make things a lot more clear and show how will his reforms help his constituency and deny the PTP its representation. What the PTP should be doing is demanding him to outline his reforms. Bottom line is still the fact that without amending the constitution there is still one vote per person. How is he to get around that. Whether the PTP wins or the democrats win it all boils down to winning over voters. Street demonstrations only show how afraid the democrats are of having an election. I personally don't care who wins as neither side will conduct itself without corruption. However, that being said, I am not for mobs dictating political outcomes. That is not democracy.

[bigbamboo]

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So, in a country with a population of approx 66.7million, if he is lucky to get 1 million (.015%), he thinks he speaks for the "majority" of the Thai people?

Gotta love Thai logic and "new math". alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

Back to school for some math would be a good idea: 1,000,000 / 66,700,000 x 100% = 1,499 % !!! and NOT .015% !!!

That IS redschool math.

[smedly]

So another protest march. It is immaterial how many turn out. Those who turn out only represent themselves and not necessarily a larger body.. What counts is election results. If Suthep is so confident at his turnout he should be welcoming elections. He claims to want reforms before elections. Exactly what are they? It would sure make things a lot more clear and show how will his reforms help his constituency and deny the PTP its representation. What the PTP should be doing is demanding him to outline his reforms. Bottom line is still the fact that without amending the constitution there is still one vote per person. How is he to get around that. Whether the PTP wins or the democrats win it all boils down to winning over voters. Street demonstrations only show how afraid the democrats are of having an election. I personally don't care who wins as neither side will conduct itself without corruption. However, that being said, I am not for mobs dictating political outcomes. That is not democracy.

have you been sleeping over the winter ?

I'll give you an update of what the majority of Thai people want in 4 easy steps

Thakisns PTP Gone - Reforms - referendum - Election

In that order

[scorecard]

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So another protest march. It is immaterial how many turn out. Those who turn out only represent themselves and not necessarily a larger body.. What counts is election results. If Suthep is so confident at his turnout he should be welcoming elections. He claims to want reforms before elections. Exactly what are they? It would sure make things a lot more clear and show how will his reforms help his constituency and deny the PTP its representation. What the PTP should be doing is demanding him to outline his reforms. Bottom line is still the fact that without amending the constitution there is still one vote per person. How is he to get around that. Whether the PTP wins or the democrats win it all boils down to winning over voters. Street demonstrations only show how afraid the democrats are of having an election. I personally don't care who wins as neither side will conduct itself without corruption. However, that being said, I am not for mobs dictating political outcomes. That is not democracy.

"Those who turn out only represent themselves and not necessarily a larger body"

How's that?

[AleG]

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Suthep announces intention to fight to eliminate Thaksin's regime

BANGKOK: -- People's Democratic Reform Committee spokesman secretary general Suthep Thaugsuban made an announcement at the Royal Plaza to reaffirm the PRDC's commitment to fight to eliminate the Thaksin regime.

He said the regime was a danger of the country. He said the PDRC would join hands with the people to fight to reform the country so that the nation would have genuine democracy for the real benefits of the people.

-- The Nation 2014-03-29

Didn't he said that 4 months ago?

And what's wrong with it?

Really he should said that he will fight to eliminate Taksin regime by beating them at the polls.

That's nice, but how do you propose that to work in reality? because Thaksin's strategy has been to promise immediate reward policies (feasibility be darned) to trump all other parties. Case in point the Rice Scheme, the Democrats had a system that would had paid IIRC around 12.000 Baht directly to the farmers, PTP saw that and said "15.000! I'll give you 15.000 no questions asked! (no, seriously, don't ask)"

How do you beat that? counter promise 20.000 and set the country in a death spiral of unsustainability? or campaing to reform the system so that kind of shenanigans (and many others) don't happen?

[GunterChiangMai]

Rely on potatoes, not on rice. Rice means trouble. I have been close to leading potato farmers for about 30 years. I call Mr. Potato a friend. No rice no cry. Potatoes mean democracy, rice does not. Think about that and do not forget to chant the mantra: Luang Poo........it will make you happy.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[ggt]

so how many thousands against 20mln voters, millions, who were prevented from voting and millions intimidated by armed and violent mob?

These are more civilized and orderly than Red Shirt. It shows the level of education. for my money I rather the educated people make decisions than uneducated at anytime

Education does not necessarily = Integrity...Corruption is at all education levels...

[poweratradio]

Suthep expresses belief more than one million demonstrators join rally

BANGKOK: -- Suthep Thaugsuban, secretary general of the People's Democratic Reform Committee, expressed his belief Saturday that more than one million people have come out or will later join the mass rally.

He was speaking on Blue Sky Channel at 10:30 am while leading the march.

-- The Nation 2014-03-29

OH BOY ANOTHER THAI PRIDE PARADE. DOESN'T ANYONE WORK IN THIS COUNTRY. SO HELLBENT ON SELF DISTRUCTION. THESE NO MINDS NEED TO READ THE ECONOMIC REPORTS AND WHAT THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS IS REPORTING ABOUT THIS COUNTRY AND HOW IT IS ON A PATH TO IMPLOSION.

[tilac2]

Most people up my way (Thais), could not give a s**t about the PDRC protests down there in Bangkok. You guys can argue to and fro all night. The consensus here is that once the protests are over and another election is held, the country's most popular party will be in power again. The Dems need to change their whole character and become a proper opposition so the peoples north of Bangkok have a real choice of who to vote for. No choice for them at the moment especially when the largest opposition party boycotts he elections. They can eventually win if they play the game fairly and not keep trying to cheat through the courts. They just have to except the fact they will not win the next election. If they play their cards right they may win the one after that. Use the next 4 years to try and connect with the opposition supporters and offer them some real hope for their financial future and inclusion in the political sphere. They can do it if they really try.

This is the best comment I have seen for a long while.

This Thai situation should be all about 'normal politics' where parties try to attract votes by developing policies that appeal to the voters. So why don't the Democrats get it? Why don't they develop appealing policies and go on the campaign trail? Who knows. Could it be that they are bunch of total muppets, not to say tosser*?

Here's an idea. Get on a plane, Mr and Mrs Democrat, visit one of the world's functioning democracies (Germany, France, Sweden, UK, USA, New Zealand - many others) and see how they do it.

It ain't rocket science. So you are trying to defeat Peua Thai. Are these the leading players in the world of politics? I don't think so. So stop wanking around, stop the corruption and just start to behave like politicians who can 'do the job'. A first step would be to offer some reasonable, not freeloading, benefits for the poor.

[tilac2]

So another protest march. It is immaterial how many turn out. Those who turn out only represent themselves and not necessarily a larger body.. What counts is election results. If Suthep is so confident at his turnout he should be welcoming elections. He claims to want reforms before elections. Exactly what are they? It would sure make things a lot more clear and show how will his reforms help his constituency and deny the PTP its representation. What the PTP should be doing is demanding him to outline his reforms. Bottom line is still the fact that without amending the constitution there is still one vote per person. How is he to get around that. Whether the PTP wins or the democrats win it all boils down to winning over voters. Street demonstrations only show how afraid the democrats are of having an election. I personally don't care who wins as neither side will conduct itself without corruption. However, that being said, I am not for mobs dictating political outcomes. That is not democracy.

have you been sleeping over the winter ?

I'll give you an update of what the majority of Thai people want in 4 easy steps

Thakisns PTP Gone - Reforms - referendum - Election

In that order

Gosh, you seem very confident. In that order too?

Can you remind us when the Thai people voted for those 4 easy steps? Just the approximate date would do.

[Publicus]

Most people up my way (Thais), could not give a s**t about the PDRC protests down there in Bangkok. You guys can argue to and fro all night. The consensus here is that once the protests are over and another election is held, the country's most popular party will be in power again. The Dems need to change their whole character and become a proper opposition so the peoples north of Bangkok have a real choice of who to vote for. No choice for them at the moment especially when the largest opposition party boycotts he elections. They can eventually win if they play the game fairly and not keep trying to cheat through the courts. They just have to except the fact they will not win the next election. If they play their cards right they may win the one after that. Use the next 4 years to try and connect with the opposition supporters and offer them some real hope for their financial future and inclusion in the political sphere. They can do it if they really try.

This is the best comment I have seen for a long while.

This Thai situation should be all about 'normal politics' where parties try to attract votes by developing policies that appeal to the voters. So why don't the Democrats get it? Why don't they develop appealing policies and go on the campaign trail? Who knows. Could it be that they are bunch of total muppets, not to say tosser*?

Here's an idea. Get on a plane, Mr and Mrs Democrat, visit one of the world's functioning democracies (Germany, France, Sweden, UK, USA, New Zealand - many others) and see how they do it.

It ain't rocket science. So you are trying to defeat Peua Thai. Are these the leading players in the world of politics? I don't think so. So stop wanking around, stop the corruption and just start to behave like politicians who can 'do the job'. A first step would be to offer some reasonable, not freeloading, benefits for the poor.

Mark you know was born and raised in the UK.

We're talking Eton. Oxford.

After that, and what Abhisit has recently shown himself to be, there's no hope for him at all, none whatsoever. Or for the Democrat Party as long as he leads it. He's lost serious credibility at home and all credibility abroad.

He must have learned a lot from Sinn Fein back then.

[Bangmod]

so how many thousands against 20mln voters, millions, who were prevented from voting and millions intimidated by armed and violent mob?

The redshirts intimidate people with their armed and violent mob, and even want to have a vote???

[brianP]

so how many thousands against 20mln voters, millions, who were prevented from voting and millions intimidated by armed and violent mob?

Whatever it takes to get the lesser of two evils in control!

[brianP]

So another protest march. It is immaterial how many turn out. Those who turn out only represent themselves and not necessarily a larger body.. What counts is election results. If Suthep is so confident at his turnout he should be welcoming elections. He claims to want reforms before elections. Exactly what are they? It would sure make things a lot more clear and show how will his reforms help his constituency and deny the PTP its representation. What the PTP should be doing is demanding him to outline his reforms. Bottom line is still the fact that without amending the constitution there is still one vote per person. How is he to get around that. Whether the PTP wins or the democrats win it all boils down to winning over voters. Street demonstrations only show how afraid the democrats are of having an election. I personally don't care who wins as neither side will conduct itself without corruption. However, that being said, I am not for mobs dictating political outcomes. That is not democracy.

have you been sleeping over the winter ?

I'll give you an update of what the majority of Thai people want in 4 easy steps

Thakisns PTP Gone - Reforms - referendum - Election

In that order

Gosh, you seem very confident. In that order too?

Can you remind us when the Thai people voted for those 4 easy steps? Just the approximate date would do.

Are you referring to paid votes, which is not legal?

[wellred]

This is so January 2014. Can't they just get over it palllleeease. If people really want them out they will vote them out.

[Dr Bruce]

so how many against 20mln voters and millions, who were prevented from voting?

You mean the 20 million of which around 50% voted NO, and the rest were a couple of million for assorted parties and 8 million buffalos for the PTP.

The ones obstructed were not PTP strongholds and I think the 2% in some provinces that turned out in the re-runs says it all really.

The real majority are speaking.

Not the 8 million MINORITY!!!!!!!!!

The other 40 MILLION VOTERS!

Well over a million on the streets, and the rest voted with their feet.

Of the 40 million in un-obstucted areas, 20 million did not even bother to vote. 10 million who did voted NO and the other 8 million who didn't get the chance to vote would be pretty much all NO votes, and not a single vote would have been PTPO anyway.

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it pal.

Wow

With numbers like that the PDRC must be so excited by the chance of a new election, they are bound to win.

They are not in the race dum dum. Pay attention. Do you just automatically hook onto negativity with out bothering to see what the issue is.

No need for Dum Dum comments, you are right that they are not in the race, but if they are claiming that they are supported by a majority then they should put it to a vote. For me, the issue has always been that the PDRC are trying to take over the country and mould the constitution so that they can stop the people from voting for anybody that agrees with Taksin.

[Dr Bruce]

So another protest march. It is immaterial how many turn out. Those who turn out only represent themselves and not necessarily a larger body.. What counts is election results. If Suthep is so confident at his turnout he should be welcoming elections. He claims to want reforms before elections. Exactly what are they? It would sure make things a lot more clear and show how will his reforms help his constituency and deny the PTP its representation. What the PTP should be doing is demanding him to outline his reforms. Bottom line is still the fact that without amending the constitution there is still one vote per person. How is he to get around that. Whether the PTP wins or the democrats win it all boils down to winning over voters. Street demonstrations only show how afraid the democrats are of having an election. I personally don't care who wins as neither side will conduct itself without corruption. However, that being said, I am not for mobs dictating political outcomes. That is not democracy.

have you been sleeping over the winter ?

I'll give you an update of what the majority of Thai people want in 4 easy steps

Thakisns PTP Gone - Reforms - referendum - Election

In that order

I will give you an update on what I think the majority of the Thai people want.

Election. in that order.

If you and I disagree on what the majority want, I think the best way of deciding would be an Election.

Then we would know what the majority want.

[Pimay1]

Oops how about this. See if you can post a link to your original post " 66.5 million people show their support for democracy and the elected government by boycotting Suthep's silly little parade"! I don't know if English is your first language or not but I will give you the benifit of the doubt. Boycotting and absent have two different meanings.

.

Not sure what 'English' has got to do with it, given that Boycott is an Irish word and practice....as most educated people know. (Note, benefit, not 'benifit')

Thanks for the Irish language lesson and correcting my typo. Most educated people know the difference between people boycotting an event and people being absent from an event.

[Chupup]

"Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters march in Bangkok"

>This is not anti-Govt.

>This is anti-democracy

>This is pro-coup

>Those seeking to power their way into governance via non-electoral means, are not protesters....Protesters by definition are 'against something"...These people are 'for' something.

That said, it is pitiful seeing them run about the streets, when very obviously should be expressing themselves at the ballot box and in parliament.

Everyone to their own I guess. To see an electoral minority seek to assert itself over an electoral majority is folderol.

Without playing the numbers game with these people today, it can be safely said they would be dwarfed by the electoral majority should they gather at one place, on one particular day.

Calgary speaks...... so it must be true ......

[scorecard]

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

So another protest march. It is immaterial how many turn out. Those who turn out only represent themselves and not necessarily a larger body.. What counts is election results. If Suthep is so confident at his turnout he should be welcoming elections. He claims to want reforms before elections. Exactly what are they? It would sure make things a lot more clear and show how will his reforms help his constituency and deny the PTP its representation. What the PTP should be doing is demanding him to outline his reforms. Bottom line is still the fact that without amending the constitution there is still one vote per person. How is he to get around that. Whether the PTP wins or the democrats win it all boils down to winning over voters. Street demonstrations only show how afraid the democrats are of having an election. I personally don't care who wins as neither side will conduct itself without corruption. However, that being said, I am not for mobs dictating political outcomes. That is not democracy.

have you been sleeping over the winter ?

I'll give you an update of what the majority of Thai people want in 4 easy steps

Thakisns PTP Gone - Reforms - referendum - Election

In that order

I will give you an update on what I think the majority of the Thai people want.

Election. in that order.

If you and I disagree on what the majority want, I think the best way of deciding would be an Election.

Then we would know what the majority want.

You say the majority want an election now. On what evidence do you make this assumption / opinion?

And please don't rehash the numbers, they have been rehashed a hundred times on these threads, it's well established they they don't prove anything conclusively.

And you ignore the right for people to protest the proven fact that this fake government will just buy any further election in the current circumstances.

Reform before election is the only way.

[Chupup]

Well it's clear that you have nothing better to do than trying to count people on a picture. And now that you showed everybody your amazing skills can you tell me what point you try to make?

Or are you still p*ssid of that the pro goverment demonstraters can not get more than 2000 - 3000 people to show up?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I thought that was obvious.

1) I firstly wanted to see how big the protest was, to gauge if Suthep has backing. No he doesn't.

2) I wanted to them compare that to the claims, 1 million, 3 million?... from this I can show the basic dishonesty of these people.

3) I wanted to describe the basic mob counting techniques, so people have their own tools for estimating, independent of me.

4) I wanted to put the size of the mob in perspective. i.e. Yingluk won 59400 votes per seat on average at 2011 election, hence this group at 14k is 25% of one seat.

I also wanted to point out that in a metro city of 14.5 million people, 14,000 / 14.5 million = 0.097%, all these people are just a hop away from the protest and yet they didn't back Suthep.

99.9% of Bangkok people did not go to that protest.

I'm suggesting that the backers of Suthep had better realize this coup has no future, and they would be ill advised to go through with it.

One more point, and this should be obvious to everyone.

Bangkok is supposed to be a Democrat yellow stronghold. Yet 99.9% of Bangkok did not go to these protests.

Bangkok will be Pheu Thai seats at the next election.

Not in the next election or in your life time Blue nose ..........BUT, maybe ,just maybe. In your Dreams .....

[binjalin]

there were so few... nowhere near as many as there was before

what a massive FAIL

[razer]

"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education." F.D.Roosevelt

on the other hand ...

"In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme." Plato

In these quotes I see the conflict.

[bobonzo]

has anyone seen a list of the 'reforms' required before elections are 'allowed' ? I mean other than YL leaving the country.

[Snig27]

Almost 2 hours in since the front marchers took off and there are still hundreds of thousands of marchers still waiting at Lumpini to start marching.

The wife is still waiting to get into the park area let alone start in the procession.

This is going to be the biggest yet.

Nice to hear a bunch of them went to Nontaburi and booted the red terrorist out from the NACC... Lets hope they hold that area till at least Tuesday.

Ahh.. no. Even the incredibly yellow tainted Bangkok Post put the number at max 30k - so 64 million, nine hundred and seventy thousand of Thailand's 65m decided to give it a pass. Your hundreds of thousands seem to have evaporated into the early morning BKK smog. Good try at making things up though, only caught out by cameras and maths.

[Siripon]

has anyone seen a list of the 'reforms' required before elections are 'allowed' ? I mean other than YL leaving the country.

The Democrats have put forward 7 areas of reform, some before, some for after the next election.

1. Tougher anti corruption measures.

2. Reform of the justice system, greater equality under the law.

3. Narrow the income gap, introduction of a property or land tax

4. Reform and update the educational system

5.Decentralisation.

6. Reform of the police force.

I'm sorry, I can't remember number 7.

[Eric Loh]

has anyone seen a list of the 'reforms' required before elections are 'allowed' ? I mean other than YL leaving the country.

The Democrats have put forward 7 areas of reform, some before, some for after the next election.

1. Tougher anti corruption measures.

2. Reform of the justice system, greater equality under the law.

3. Narrow the income gap, introduction of a property or land tax

4. Reform and update the educational system

5.Decentralisation.

6. Reform of the police force.

I'm sorry, I can't remember number 7.

7 should be the reform of the military. Anyway the 6 reforms are something Thais talk about for ages including the time when the Dem was the government twice over. Let's see some details as they are so general.

[bushwacker]

Will this stuff never end? I keep reading it every day and it is the same old shit. I would really like to know, what these reforms would be. What would they look like. For anybody that has worked in big business or government, they know that to make small changes takes forever. Here they are talking about major reform, that will make sweeping changes and all within a reasonable time frame like 12-18 months. I think not. For this kind of overhaul to be real and effective would take generations.

What would these reforms look like. Would it be a set of rules. Like Thou shall not steal. Thou shall be honest and work hard for the people or else. Surely these rules exist in some form or another. Or would it be the establishment of Super Audit group to oversee the government. They already have this. ................ So, I am confused what this council would establish in a year that would reform the government/country.

I'm thinking it is just scheme to make the playing field more slanted and make the corruption harder to see.