Arrest warrants lifted for 18 PDRC leaders

[Tatsujin]

A significant ruling, and a turn in the tide. CAPO and the DSI had really overdone it with Suthep. They got so carried away that they eventually ran out of charges and had to invent new ones. Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges. This was a case of the DSI going absolutely nuts. And it didn't end with charging the PDRC leaders. It involved arbitrarily freezing the accounts of people who may have just spoken on a PDRC stage, and even went so far as to release the names of companies who may have expressed support for the movement. It was completely mad and completely out of control. It was also a cautionary education. It answered the hypothetical question - what would happen when a man of Chalerm's bearings had unlimited power to direct a whole agency to go after people he didn't like, where he could simply charge whomever he pleased for any imaginable infraction - real or imagined ? Well, it's no longer a hypothetical. And it should never happen again. The Criminal Court, the Civil Court and the Constitutional Court deemed the PDRC both legal and constitutional. They had a right to express their views. Pheu Thai is in the habit of not paying attention to court rulings. But if they had in this case they might have got the message that free expression is a tenet of a free society.

Whilst I agree with you 100%, in the interests of fairness I should point out that similar things happened (freezing of accounts, investigations, charges etc) in 2010 under Abhisit's watch.

With regards the DSI, they are as corrupt as they come and should be disbanded and a new agency set up.

[Rich teacher]

A significant ruling, and a turn in the tide. CAPO and the DSI had really overdone it with Suthep. They got so carried away that they eventually ran out of charges and had to invent new ones. Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges. This was a case of the DSI going absolutely nuts. And it didn't end with charging the PDRC leaders. It involved arbitrarily freezing the accounts of people who may have just spoken on a PDRC stage, and even went so far as to release the names of companies who may have expressed support for the movement. It was completely mad and completely out of control. It was also a cautionary education. It answered the hypothetical question - what would happen when a man of Chalerm's bearings had unlimited power to direct a whole agency to go after people he didn't like, where he could simply charge whomever he pleased for any imaginable infraction - real or imagined ? Well, it's no longer a hypothetical. And it should never happen again. The Criminal Court, the Civil Court and the Constitutional Court deemed the PDRC both legal and constitutional. They had a right to express their views. Pheu Thai is in the habit of not paying attention to court rulings. But if they had in this case they might have got the message that free expression is a tenet of a free society.

"Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges"

Hmmm, I guess you are saying that any person can call for the illegal detention of an acting PM and MP's and tell them to make arrangements for their wives and children in case of trouble, that's not advocating violence now is it? In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago, I'd also suggest the same would be in America, and England, New Zealand, etc, etc, but hey TIT...

I do sometimes read some of your post's as often they are well thought out, but hey this one is not quite there I feel, I'm just saying.

"Natthawut Saikuar and Jatuporn Promphan should really come I don't know these popcorn vendors but I really love them." Suthep

I hope the paralysed old man loves them too, you criminal a'hole!

[harkish]

Game inside of Games

Thai power politics played out through the courts and government institutions. Who is appointed by who, who is yellow or whatever you call the Suthep crowd now, who is red? And btw, I wish they would just stick with the colors, it makes the differentiation clear. Yellows = Bangkok Elite, Rich and Military Heads. Reds = Upcountry, Majority, Poor and Thaksin. There, simple. This is what it boils down to. Justice? Ha! It is not about justice, for those of you naive enough to believe that in this system. It is about power, and who appoints who, who controls what. Yingluck will be kicked out, found guilty of something, because that is how it will work. And then the yellows will take control, but reds will respond. And eventually, someday, there will be an election, and the reds will come back, but under a new constitution that gives more to the yellows. And the reds will fight that, seek to change the constitution, whatever it is, and the battle for power will continue. This is not just in Thailand, it is the nature of man. But in well functioning societies the elites and the masses reach some sort of accord. Here, the sands are shifting, making governance difficult and no accord in sight, so the stability of the system is shaky. Perhaps eventually a greater balance will be found, but that will take years.

[thesetat2013]

Does this mean that the violence when the police attacked the protesters to arrest them was illegal as well and therefore the police/dsi can now be charged with murder?????? for the protesters that were killed in their abortive attempt to muscle them..........

No! The police and dsi were only following orders. Those charges are for YL and Chalerm in the near future

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Imale]

Looking at it dispassionately, they broke a law at the time, so even though the SOE has been lifted, they should still face a charge.

Revoking the charges will only inflame the Red Tide and lead to more grief.

Yes, ignore the courts and kowtow to the 'Red Tide' or else you will get violence visited on you. You may look at it dispassionately but the 'Red Tide' doesn't. They are daily whipped into a blood frenzy. I don't want to be governed by a 'Red Tide' but by rule of law as interpreted by the courts and not hotheads.

The problem is that the courts seem to be ignoring their own rulings and making it very easy to allege double standards.

The websites closed down under the State of Emergency declared by the Abhisit government's CRES in 2010 remain closed down to this day, almost 4 years after the SOE was lifted. One website sued the CRES asking them to show cause why their constitutional right to freedom of expression was violated. The Court of First Instance said the Emergency Decree allows anything including suspension of rights without show of cause (this time around, the same Court decided that gatherings of 5 or more for political purposes could NOT be banned by the SOE because of the constitutional right to freedom of assembly). This was appealed and 3 years later the Appeal Court ruled that since the SOE was lifted and the CRES no longer existed, the suit was invalid.

I am afraid that court interpretations are far from consistent (and are overwhelmingly in favour of those opposed to the current government) and we cannot assume that a judicial ruling does in fact represent the 'rule of law'.

[Thai at Heart]

So ones legality or illegality depends on whether an emergency decree is or isn't in power.

The land of the bizarre. Yesterday you were legal, today you aren't but the fact you broke a law can be scrubbed from the record. Amazing Thailand.

[issanaus]

Game inside of Games

Thai power politics played out through the courts and government institutions. Who is appointed by who, who is yellow or whatever you call the Suthep crowd now, who is red? And btw, I wish they would just stick with the colors, it makes the differentiation clear. Yellows = Bangkok Elite, Rich and Military Heads. Reds = Upcountry, Majority, Poor and Thaksin. There, simple. This is what it boils down to. Justice? Ha! It is not about justice, for those of you naive enough to believe that in this system. It is about power, and who appoints who, who controls what. Yingluck will be kicked out, found guilty of something, because that is how it will work. And then the yellows will take control, but reds will respond. And eventually, someday, there will be an election, and the reds will come back, but under a new constitution that gives more to the yellows. And the reds will fight that, seek to change the constitution, whatever it is, and the battle for power will continue. This is not just in Thailand, it is the nature of man. But in well functioning societies the elites and the masses reach some sort of accord. Here, the sands are shifting, making governance difficult and no accord in sight, so the stability of the system is shaky. Perhaps eventually a greater balance will be found, but that will take years.

OK so you have Reds and Yellows - but what about the 60% of the population that support neither. dont for a moment think that Isaan is totally supportive of the Shin dynasty. In 2010 it was close to that but the red villages have been bleeding (more so in the last year).

In one way the Yinluck (mal)administration should be grateful to those who had the charges drop by the courts. Without those protesters there would have been a lot more farmer willing to protest in BBK, but the farmers in my family and their friends said that they did not want to be used as pawns by the yellow shirts. However when they are asked they say that they were not disenfranchised by the protests but they have been disempowered by the Yinluck government.

The Buddha taught that you can not step back into the same stream twice.

Welcome to 2014

edit for spelling

Edited April 4, 2014 by issanaus

[rametindallas]

Looking at it dispassionately, they broke a law at the time, so even though the SOE has been lifted, they should still face a charge.

Revoking the charges will only inflame the Red Tide and lead to more grief.

Yes, ignore the courts and kowtow to the 'Red Tide' or else you will get violence visited on you. You may look at it dispassionately but the 'Red Tide' doesn't. They are daily whipped into a blood frenzy. I don't want to be governed by a 'Red Tide' but by rule of law as interpreted by the courts and not hotheads.

The problem is that the courts seem to be ignoring their own rulings and making it very easy to allege double standards.

The websites closed down under the State of Emergency declared by the Abhisit government's CRES in 2010 remain closed down to this day, almost 4 years after the SOE was lifted. One website sued the CRES asking them to show cause why their constitutional right to freedom of expression was violated. The Court of First Instance said the Emergency Decree allows anything including suspension of rights without show of cause (this time around, the same Court decided that gatherings of 5 or more for political purposes could NOT be banned by the SOE because of the constitutional right to freedom of assembly). This was appealed and 3 years later the Appeal Court ruled that since the SOE was lifted and the CRES no longer existed, the suit was invalid.

I am afraid that court interpretations are far from consistent (and are overwhelmingly in favour of those opposed to the current government) and we cannot assume that a judicial ruling does in fact represent the 'rule of law'.

I don't disagree with any of your facts and I am aware of most of the abuses of the courts and civil rights by the Abhisit government. None of that addresses the point of my post that says threats and intimidation are NOT the way to get the courts to decide your way. Promising grief, trouble, violence, blocking entrances to and lobbing grenades at the NACC is not a productive way to either get your way or to get your point across. If the choice is bad courts or mob rule, I choose bad courts. That's all I'm saying. I have zero like for Suthep, BTW.

[Thai at Heart]

Game inside of Games

Thai power politics played out through the courts and government institutions. Who is appointed by who, who is yellow or whatever you call the Suthep crowd now, who is red? And btw, I wish they would just stick with the colors, it makes the differentiation clear. Yellows = Bangkok Elite, Rich and Military Heads. Reds = Upcountry, Majority, Poor and Thaksin. There, simple. This is what it boils down to. Justice? Ha! It is not about justice, for those of you naive enough to believe that in this system. It is about power, and who appoints who, who controls what. Yingluck will be kicked out, found guilty of something, because that is how it will work. And then the yellows will take control, but reds will respond. And eventually, someday, there will be an election, and the reds will come back, but under a new constitution that gives more to the yellows. And the reds will fight that, seek to change the constitution, whatever it is, and the battle for power will continue. This is not just in Thailand, it is the nature of man. But in well functioning societies the elites and the masses reach some sort of accord. Here, the sands are shifting, making governance difficult and no accord in sight, so the stability of the system is shaky. Perhaps eventually a greater balance will be found, but that will take years.

OK so you have Reds and Yellows - but what about the 60% of the population that support neither. dont for a moment think that Isaan is totally supportive of the Shin dynasty. In 2010 it was close to that but the red villages have been bleeding (more so in the last year).

In one way the Yinluck (mal)administration should be grateful to those who had the charges drop by the courts. Without those protesters there would have been a lot more farmer willing to protest in BBK, but the farmers in my family and their friends said that they did not want to be used as pawns by the yellow shirts. However when they are asked they say that they were not disenfranchised by the protests but they have been disempowered by the Yinluck government.

The Buddha taught that you can not step back into the same stream twice.

Welcome to 2014

edit for spelling

The issue as far as the yellows/democrats is concerned is that whilst not everyone in is a an will vote red/ptp , according to you, but that they definitely won't vote yellow/democrat.

The so called elite (although many are just as corrupt as the so called really corrupt politicians) are firmly in a minority now , politically. The only way to for them to gain political influence to keep the status quo is to intervene judicially.

Yingluck and Thaksin don't help by always being open to accusation of corruption. Just imagine how long ptp would be in power if they were clean.

[Pops]

Strange, that no single case against PDRC seems to stick but most or almost all cases against the "interim government" and "the reds" seem to stick fairly easily.

[ikke]

Suthep his reform started, the courts are fully corrupt on his side, next the Police and the Army, reforms successful !

[wprime]

More evidence that a shift in power is about to happen.

[rabas]

Game inside of Games

Thai power politics played out through the courts and government institutions. Who is appointed by who, who is yellow or whatever you call the Suthep crowd now, who is red? And btw, I wish they would just stick with the colors, it makes the differentiation clear. Yellows = Bangkok Elite, Rich and Military Heads. Reds = Upcountry, Majority, Poor and Thaksin. There, simple. This is what it boils down to. Justice? Ha! It is not about justice, for those of you naive enough to believe that in this system. It is about power, and who appoints who, who controls what. Yingluck will be kicked out, found guilty of something, because that is how it will work. And then the yellows will take control, but reds will respond. And eventually, someday, there will be an election, and the reds will come back, but under a new constitution that gives more to the yellows. And the reds will fight that, seek to change the constitution, whatever it is, and the battle for power will continue. This is not just in Thailand, it is the nature of man. But in well functioning societies the elites and the masses reach some sort of accord. Here, the sands are shifting, making governance difficult and no accord in sight, so the stability of the system is shaky. Perhaps eventually a greater balance will be found, but that will take years.

OK so you have Reds and Yellows - but what about the 60% of the population that support neither. dont for a moment think that Isaan is totally supportive of the Shin dynasty. In 2010 it was close to that but the red villages have been bleeding (more so in the last year).

In one way the Yinluck (mal)administration should be grateful to those who had the charges drop by the courts. Without those protesters there would have been a lot more farmer willing to protest in BBK, but the farmers in my family and their friends said that they did not want to be used as pawns by the yellow shirts. However when they are asked they say that they were not disenfranchised by the protests but they have been disempowered by the Yinluck government.

The Buddha taught that you can not step back into the same stream twice.

Welcome to 2014

edit for spelling

I believe that was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who is famous for his insistence on ever-present change in the universe, as stated in the famous saying, "No man ever steps in the same river twice".

I think Buddha would say,

"If you are unhappy because your feet keep getting wet, it's because you want to keep stepping into the same river."

Edited April 4, 2014 by rabas

[mikemac]

A significant ruling, and a turn in the tide. CAPO and the DSI had really overdone it with Suthep. They got so carried away that they eventually ran out of charges and had to invent new ones. Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges. This was a case of the DSI going absolutely nuts. And it didn't end with charging the PDRC leaders. It involved arbitrarily freezing the accounts of people who may have just spoken on a PDRC stage, and even went so far as to release the names of companies who may have expressed support for the movement. It was completely mad and completely out of control. It was also a cautionary education. It answered the hypothetical question - what would happen when a man of Chalerm's bearings had unlimited power to direct a whole agency to go after people he didn't like, where he could simply charge whomever he pleased for any imaginable infraction - real or imagined ? Well, it's no longer a hypothetical. And it should never happen again. The Criminal Court, the Civil Court and the Constitutional Court deemed the PDRC both legal and constitutional. They had a right to express their views. Pheu Thai is in the habit of not paying attention to court rulings. But if they had in this case they might have got the message that free expression is a tenet of a free society.

"Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges"

Hmmm, I guess you are saying that any person can call for the illegal detention of an acting PM and MP's and tell them to make arrangements for their wives and children in case of trouble, that's not advocating violence now is it? In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago, I'd also suggest the same would be in America, and England, New Zealand, etc, etc, but hey TIT...

I do sometimes read some of your post's as often they are well thought out, but hey this one is not quite there I feel, I'm just saying.

......................"In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago".....................................

Rubbish !

It hurts me to say so but your home country is also the one I came from, and I do know a little bit about how the place works.

As far as Suthep being jailed a long time ago for advocating violence goes it would never have come to that simply because in Australia a pack of criminals like the Shinawatra family would never have been voted in because vote buying is against the law and even if they did manage to get into power they would all be serving long prison sentences by now. So Suthep would have no reason to organize protests, let mind advocate violence.

Please change your TV moniker, it is giving us Aussies a bad name.

Edited April 4, 2014 by mikemac

[aussieinthailand]

A significant ruling, and a turn in the tide. CAPO and the DSI had really overdone it with Suthep. They got so carried away that they eventually ran out of charges and had to invent new ones. Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges. This was a case of the DSI going absolutely nuts. And it didn't end with charging the PDRC leaders. It involved arbitrarily freezing the accounts of people who may have just spoken on a PDRC stage, and even went so far as to release the names of companies who may have expressed support for the movement. It was completely mad and completely out of control. It was also a cautionary education. It answered the hypothetical question - what would happen when a man of Chalerm's bearings had unlimited power to direct a whole agency to go after people he didn't like, where he could simply charge whomever he pleased for any imaginable infraction - real or imagined ? Well, it's no longer a hypothetical. And it should never happen again. The Criminal Court, the Civil Court and the Constitutional Court deemed the PDRC both legal and constitutional. They had a right to express their views. Pheu Thai is in the habit of not paying attention to court rulings. But if they had in this case they might have got the message that free expression is a tenet of a free society.

"Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges"

Hmmm, I guess you are saying that any person can call for the illegal detention of an acting PM and MP's and tell them to make arrangements for their wives and children in case of trouble, that's not advocating violence now is it? In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago, I'd also suggest the same would be in America, and England, New Zealand, etc, etc, but hey TIT...

I do sometimes read some of your post's as often they are well thought out, but hey this one is not quite there I feel, I'm just saying.

......................"In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago".....................................

Rubbish !

It hurts me to say so but your home country is also the one I came from, and I do know a little bit about how the place works.

As far as Suthep being jailed a long time ago for advocating violence goes it would never have come to that simply because in Australia a pack of criminals like the Shinawatra family would never have been voted in because vote buying is against the law and even if they did manage to get into power they would all be serving long prison sentences by now. So Suthep would have no reason to organize protests, let mind advocate violence.

Please change your TV moniker, it is giving us Aussies a bad name.

Well I think you need to have a little look at Australian laws regarding threats to PM and ministers and their families, making public calls for his followers to detain (Kidnap) the PM and ministers and telling them to make arrangements for their wives and kids, is NOT an illegal act??? you think that is well within the law,

think again,,, but ok well if you say so it must be true huh,

Also I'm quite happy to be an Aussie, and If I don't agree with your view I don't tell you to change your "moniker" cause it give Aussie's a bad name.

cause that would be a really UN AUSTRALIAN thing to say... and so is condoning and supporting these criminal requests.

[smutcakes]

A significant ruling, and a turn in the tide. CAPO and the DSI had really overdone it with Suthep. They got so carried away that they eventually ran out of charges and had to invent new ones. Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges. This was a case of the DSI going absolutely nuts. And it didn't end with charging the PDRC leaders. It involved arbitrarily freezing the accounts of people who may have just spoken on a PDRC stage, and even went so far as to release the names of companies who may have expressed support for the movement. It was completely mad and completely out of control. It was also a cautionary education. It answered the hypothetical question - what would happen when a man of Chalerm's bearings had unlimited power to direct a whole agency to go after people he didn't like, where he could simply charge whomever he pleased for any imaginable infraction - real or imagined ? Well, it's no longer a hypothetical. And it should never happen again. The Criminal Court, the Civil Court and the Constitutional Court deemed the PDRC both legal and constitutional. They had a right to express their views. Pheu Thai is in the habit of not paying attention to court rulings. But if they had in this case they might have got the message that free expression is a tenet of a free society.

"Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges"

Hmmm, I guess you are saying that any person can call for the illegal detention of an acting PM and MP's and tell them to make arrangements for their wives and children in case of trouble, that's not advocating violence now is it? In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago, I'd also suggest the same would be in America, and England, New Zealand, etc, etc, but hey TIT...

I do sometimes read some of your post's as often they are well thought out, but hey this one is not quite there I feel, I'm just saying.

......................"In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago".....................................

Rubbish !

It hurts me to say so but your home country is also the one I came from, and I do know a little bit about how the place works.

As far as Suthep being jailed a long time ago for advocating violence goes it would never have come to that simply because in Australia a pack of criminals like the Shinawatra family would never have been voted in because vote buying is against the law and even if they did manage to get into power they would all be serving long prison sentences by now. So Suthep would have no reason to organize protests, let mind advocate violence.

Please change your TV moniker, it is giving us Aussies a bad name.

Suthep would of probably been in jail for 20 years already, so i agree i dont think he would have been in a position to organize the protests!

[binjalin]

judicial coup moving along nicely... be careful what you wish for

[aussieinthailand]

A significant ruling, and a turn in the tide. CAPO and the DSI had really overdone it with Suthep. They got so carried away that they eventually ran out of charges and had to invent new ones. Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges. This was a case of the DSI going absolutely nuts. And it didn't end with charging the PDRC leaders. It involved arbitrarily freezing the accounts of people who may have just spoken on a PDRC stage, and even went so far as to release the names of companies who may have expressed support for the movement. It was completely mad and completely out of control. It was also a cautionary education. It answered the hypothetical question - what would happen when a man of Chalerm's bearings had unlimited power to direct a whole agency to go after people he didn't like, where he could simply charge whomever he pleased for any imaginable infraction - real or imagined ? Well, it's no longer a hypothetical. And it should never happen again. The Criminal Court, the Civil Court and the Constitutional Court deemed the PDRC both legal and constitutional. They had a right to express their views. Pheu Thai is in the habit of not paying attention to court rulings. But if they had in this case they might have got the message that free expression is a tenet of a free society.

"Suthep had never advocated violence, and therefore had not earned these charges"

Hmmm, I guess you are saying that any person can call for the illegal detention of an acting PM and MP's and tell them to make arrangements for their wives and children in case of trouble, that's not advocating violence now is it? In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago, I'd also suggest the same would be in America, and England, New Zealand, etc, etc, but hey TIT...

I do sometimes read some of your post's as often they are well thought out, but hey this one is not quite there I feel, I'm just saying.

......................"In my home country Suthep would have been jailed a long time ago".....................................

Rubbish !

It hurts me to say so but your home country is also the one I came from, and I do know a little bit about how the place works.

As far as Suthep being jailed a long time ago for advocating violence goes it would never have come to that simply because in Australia a pack of criminals like the Shinawatra family would never have been voted in because vote buying is against the law and even if they did manage to get into power they would all be serving long prison sentences by now. So Suthep would have no reason to organize protests, let mind advocate violence.

Please change your TV moniker, it is giving us Aussies a bad name.

Well I think you need to have a little look at Australian laws regarding threats to PM and ministers and their families, making public calls for his followers to detain (Kidnap) the PM and ministers and telling them to make arrangements for their wives and kids, is NOT an illegal act??? you think that is well within the law,

think again,,, but ok well if you say so it must be true huh,

Also I'm quite happy to be an Aussie, and If I don't agree with your view I don't tell you to change your "moniker" cause it give Aussie's a bad name.

cause that would be a really UN AUSTRALIAN thing to say... and so is condoning and supporting these criminal requests.

I suggest you take a look at: 26.1.2014 ----- criminal law consolidation act 1935.

detain,-- detention is not limited to forcible restraint but extends to any means by which a person gets another to remain in a particular place or with a particular person or persons,,,, It continues, but hey you say it's not an offence well YOUR WRONG MATE FACT... something you need to get right before you say some one else is wrong... I hope you like apples mate.

Edited April 4, 2014 by aussieinthailand

[mrfill]

This means the court aqctually did not know who they wanted arrested or not. Great work the number one judges. Maybe you all should find another job where you will fit in better. Maybe as <deleted> on the rail.

I have said it before

Welcome to Thailand

Remember if you can not stand the heat in the kitchen

You can always leave

In Thailand you need to bend like a willow tree in the wind

I hate cliches. I avoid them like the plague

[dundee48]

Game inside of Games

Thai power politics played out through the courts and government institutions. Who is appointed by who, who is yellow or whatever you call the Suthep crowd now, who is red? And btw, I wish they would just stick with the colors, it makes the differentiation clear. Yellows = Bangkok Elite, Rich and Military Heads. Reds = Upcountry, Majority, Poor and Thaksin. There, simple. This is what it boils down to. Justice? Ha! It is not about justice, for those of you naive enough to believe that in this system. It is about power, and who appoints who, who controls what. Yingluck will be kicked out, found guilty of something, because that is how it will work. And then the yellows will take control, but reds will respond. And eventually, someday, there will be an election, and the reds will come back, but under a new constitution that gives more to the yellows. And the reds will fight that, seek to change the constitution, whatever it is, and the battle for power will continue. This is not just in Thailand, it is the nature of man. But in well functioning societies the elites and the masses reach some sort of accord. Here, the sands are shifting, making governance difficult and no accord in sight, so the stability of the system is shaky. Perhaps eventually a greater balance will be found, but that will take years.

OK so you have Reds and Yellows - but what about the 60% of the population that support neither. dont for a moment think that Isaan is totally supportive of the Shin dynasty. In 2010 it was close to that but the red villages have been bleeding (more so in the last year).

In one way the Yinluck (mal)administration should be grateful to those who had the charges drop by the courts. Without those protesters there would have been a lot more farmer willing to protest in BBK, but the farmers in my family and their friends said that they did not want to be used as pawns by the yellow shirts. However when they are asked they say that they were not disenfranchised by the protests but they have been disempowered by the Yinluck government.

The Buddha taught that you can not step back into the same stream twice.

Welcome to 2014

edit for spelling

The issue as far as the yellows/democrats is concerned is that whilst not everyone in is a an will vote red/ptp , according to you, but that they definitely won't vote yellow/democrat.

The so called elite (although many are just as corrupt as the so called really corrupt politicians) are firmly in a minority now , politically. The only way to for them to gain political influence to keep the status quo is to intervene judicially.

Yingluck and Thaksin don't help by always being open to accusation of corruption. Just imagine how long ptp would be in power if they were clean.

Very true but fortunately it just isn`t in their nature to be clean.