Don't use Thailand as a pawn in political games

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE
Don't use the country as a pawn in political games
Kornchanok Raksaseri

BANGKOK:-- Thailand's colour-coded political rallies can be compared to School Sports Day, when teams of different colours pit themselves against each other. And it appears that the stakeholders leading these games over the past nine years seem to be having a lot of fun.

For instance, on Sunday night, Jatuporn Promphan, chairman of the pro-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), challenged the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) to match the number of its red-shirt supporters. The red-shirt rally in support of caretaker PM Yingluck Shinawatra will be held on the day the Constitutional Court is expected to rule on her status.

"We will be [rallying] on different roads and want the world to see whose numbers are bigger. The group that has the biggest gathering will win the country!" he declared.

PDRC secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban accepted the challenge, saying: "This is for real. No rehearsal."

The PDRC has been rallying for more than five months now - marching to and from different Bangkok landmarks, occupying roads in the commercial district and government offices. Many of these rallies were declared "final", only to be followed by yet another.

Meanwhile, after bloody clashes late last year, the red shirts have been sticking to the provinces in a move to minimise the impact on Yingluck's administration - which shifted to the caretaker status after the House of Representatives was dissolved on December 9.

After the caretaker government's hopes to be voted in on February 2 somewhat fizzled out, the red shirts launched a mass rally on February 23 to gag independent agencies. On March 21, the Constitutional Court nullified the election.

The red-shirt rally on Saturday appeared to have been the largest so far and was held closer to the capital. Also, there seem to be some changes in the hierarchy. The red shirts are once again being led by Jatuporn, UDD secretary-general Nuttawut Saikuar and Veerakarn Musigapong, like they were in 2010. This is probably why people feared violence when Jatuporn declared that he expected 500,000 demonstrators to join the Saturday rally. Luckily nothing like that happened.

Also, Jatuporn announced a few days before the Saturday rally that this was only a rehearsal and that the next gathering would be the "real" one. All this while independent agencies - namely the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Constitutional Court - consider Yingluck's status.

Meanwhile, in real life, especially on social media, "size (of the rally) does matter" because many people were interested in finding out about the turnout at the UDD and PDRC weekend rallies.

Also, every comment, be it from a rally leader or a guest speaker - including foreigners like Robert Amsterdam, the Canadian lawyer of fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra - gets a reaction.

For instance, when I re-tweeted a colleague's message on Saturday night urging Thais to stop fighting, I almost immediately got a rude message back from a complete stranger.

Likewise, Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha was slammed when he made a remark about how far an employee can go against his boss. Though the actual meaning of his remark still needs to be decoded, I don't think his critics are being fair by calling him a slave of the Shinawatras.

After all, Thailand is hardly a corporation and the real owners are the people, not the administrators.

When taking sides in this colour-coded game, people often forget the real role they play and instead just focus on attacking the other side. Many people in this so-called political "game" appear to be forgetting their real goal. Perhaps they should stop and gauge exactly what they are fighting for? Is it democracy, transparency, the country's development or people's happiness?

Also, do these stakeholders know for sure whether they will be happy or if the country's problems will be truly solved if they get what they are fighting for?

Manipulating the country's future should never be fun and games.

Before getting involved in these political games and becoming someone else's tool, people should stop and see whether what they are doing is really worth the risk.


-- The Nation 2014-04-08

[NongKhaiKid]

It's an unfortunate reality that no matter the cause there is almost always a vested interest involved even if not readily apparent.

Gaining power here means control of the country, its resources, in fact everything it has to offer and abuses are lined up waiting to happen.

[WoopyDoo]

So while Suthep is being berated for allegedly attempting to take sovereign status for the people by purportedly wanting to nominate a PM for royal endorsement to set the stage for reforms.

Jatuporn wants to take the country as a prize in a pissing contest.

Only in LOS

Edited April 8, 2014 by WoopyDoo

[notmyself]

It may seem complicated but in reality it is not. Skimming off the cream is the norm in Thai politics but the PTP want the milk under it also, this is the problem. Everything else is just adornments and baubles.

[chainarong]

The comment in the editorial "After all the real owners are the People", well, give it back to the people, let them decide, hold a referendum on reforms before or after elections, the people have then well and truly spoken and any back lash brought about by their political masters , the people can wear it, after all in a democracy the politicians are the employee's of the people , in Thailand you sort of get the message that it is the other way around.

[WoopyDoo]

Wanted to add.

If Jatuporn wants to win the country if his is bigger than Suthep's.

What is he prepared to forfeit when when Suthep pulls out his whopper?

Like Frank Zapper once said.... There is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.

[Fryslan boppe]

One thing about these opinion pieces in the anti-UDD/RS media, which to PAD-Dem's think represent normative thought, they have nuggets in them that jump out as being adversarial to someone coming from the other side of the political divide....They certainly stimulate discussion and help focus on the real issues.

The following quotes are an example:

>>>Thailand's colour-coded political rallies can be compared..."

It is in the interests of anti-democrats to continually frame these political alternatives in that of affinity clothing and paraphernalia.....That way they can hide their anti-Democratism....If political oriented descriptors were used, it would be more difficult to avoid being characterized as anti-democratic....If there are pro-electoral and Parliamentary Movements, their obviously must also be the opposite.....Best to stick with yellow and red, they strategize.

>>>After the caretaker government's hopes to be voted in on February 2 somewhat fizzled out,

Stated as if they would not have been voted in had that election not been derailed by the anti-democrats, with the assistance of their anti-electoral Commission....They didn't fizzle out..It is one of the reasons Amsterdam called the PDRC/DP Thailand's Taliban.....The just completed election in Afghanistan was severely threated by the Taliban....It is just that they were unsuccessful, while they were succesful in Thailand.

>>>red shirts launched a mass rally on February 23 to gag independent agencies

Again, an attempt to 'normalize the abnormal", and demonizing the Pro-Democracy Movement in the process....Everyone knows their role in trying to thwart Democracy. Using this terminology, gagging the PDRC/DP and these so-called Independent Agencies is all in the same vein. They all come from the same side of the political divide.

>>>size (of the rally) does matter

Absolutely...This writer got that right....It is good to focus on a minority trying to usurp power over the majority, and is why the election noted above needed to be 'derailed'....But never mind.....As long as people realize who these rallies represent...No matter how much the DP and UDD manage to incite their people to attend political rallies, the size of these rallies don't matter....It is who they represent is what matters...One represents the electoral minority, the other one a majority...This is not just theoretical talk....It is proven very objectively and measurably every election.

>>>what they are fighting for? Is it democracy, transparency, the country's development or people's happiness?

The anti-Democrats try to obscure at every opportunity to hide singular intentions.....Talk about the country's development, peoples happiness, transparency, undefined reform stuff, etc. is all just smoke.....It is clearly a choice between Electoral and Parliamentary Democracy and a Civilian Dictatorship which Mr. Suthep so clearly has described. And kudos to him for doing that.......His musings in this regard helped to put things in stark relief.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Fryslan boppe

[noitom]

The Thai press should start calling a spade a spade here and stop pandering to the nonsensical Thai politics. It's a charade, a fake system, manipulated by fake leaders. The press should call it out instead of feeding into the cloak and dagger gamesmanship.

[allan michaud]

...instead, use it for personal gain.

[Valentine]

The comment in the editorial "After all the real owners are the People", well, give it back to the people, let them decide, hold a referendum on reforms before or after elections, the people have then well and truly spoken and any back lash brought about by their political masters , the people can wear it, after all in a democracy the politicians are the employee's of the people , in Thailand you sort of get the message that it is the other way around.

I rather think the people have been working for the politicians & overlords all throughout their history.

[chainarong]

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

The comment in the editorial "After all the real owners are the People", well, give it back to the people, let them decide, hold a referendum on reforms before or after elections, the people have then well and truly spoken and any back lash brought about by their political masters , the people can wear it, after all in a democracy the politicians are the employee's of the people , in Thailand you sort of get the message that it is the other way around. width=32 alt=coffee1.gif>

I rather think the people have been working for the politicians & overlords all throughout their history.

Very correct ,that's why the old dinosaur has reached its use by date, this system is now horribly out of touch with modern thinking, trends and tec. Question is, how do the people change it without blood shed., cause the establishment wont let go.

[Nickymaster]

One thing about these opinion pieces in the anti-UDD/RS media, which to PAD-Dem's think represent normative thought, they have nuggets in them that jump out as being adversarial to someone coming from the other side of the political divide....They certainly stimulate discussion and help focus on the real issues.

The following quotes are an example:

>>>Thailand's colour-coded political rallies can be compared..."

It is in the interests of anti-democrats to continually frame these political alternatives in that of affinity clothing and paraphernalia.....That way they can hide their anti-Democratism....If political oriented descriptors were used, it would be more difficult to avoid being characterized as anti-democratic....If there are pro-electoral and Parliamentary Movements, their obviously must also be the opposite.....Best to stick with yellow and red, they strategize.

>>>After the caretaker government's hopes to be voted in on February 2 somewhat fizzled out,

Stated as if they would not have been voted in had that election not been derailed by the anti-democrats, with the assistance of their anti-electoral Commission....They didn't fizzle out..It is one of the reasons Amsterdam called the PDRC/DP Thailand's Taliban.....The just completed election in Afghanistan was severely threated by the Taliban....It is just that they were unsuccessful, while they were succesful in Thailand.

>>>red shirts launched a mass rally on February 23 to gag independent agencies

Again, an attempt to 'normalize the abnormal", and demonizing the Pro-Democracy Movement in the process....Everyone knows their role in trying to thwart Democracy. Using this terminology, gagging the PDRC/DP and these so-called Independent Agencies is all in the same vein. They all come from the same side of the political divide.

>>>size (of the rally) does matter

Absolutely...This writer got that right....It is good to focus on a minority trying to usurp power over the majority, and is why the election noted above needed to be 'derailed'....But never mind.....As long as people realize who these rallies represent...No matter how much the DP and UDD manage to incite their people to attend political rallies, the size of these rallies don't matter....It is who they represent is what matters...One represents the electoral minority, the other one a majority...This is not just theoretical talk....It is proven very objectively and measurably every election.

>>>what they are fighting for? Is it democracy, transparency, the country's development or people's happiness?

The anti-Democrats try to obscure at every opportunity to hide singular intentions.....Talk about the country's development, peoples happiness, transparency, undefined reform stuff, etc. is all just smoke.....It is clearly a choice between Electoral and Parliamentary Democracy and a Civilian Dictatorship which Mr. Suthep so clearly has described. And kudos to him for doing that.......His musings in this regard helped to put things in stark relief.

Very interesting. You are quoting Thaksin's lawyer and lobbyist Robert Amsterdam. The guy that get's paid by Thaksin to discredit Thailand. Says a lot about you.

Even though your posts are pure red propaganda, something so disgusting it could make people sick, we both agree that the rule of law must be adhered too. I understand that you are bitter because your hero Thaksin wasn't cleared of all his crimes but for democracy to survive, we need the rule of law. Yes, even mighty Thaksin has to follow a few laws.

And 8 million people is not a majority. That is the amount of votes PT got during the last election. Soon (after much needed reform has been implemented) there will be be fair and free elections and then let's see if PT/Thaksin can still get 8 million votes.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Nickymaster

[Evolare]

Rumors says that Yingluck has left the country with 40 pieces of luggage seems a little excessive. If this is true maybe she is running out of useful pawns that will keep her out of prison and does a Thaksin and slides left and makes run for Dubai!?

[antimedia]

One thing about these opinion pieces in the anti-UDD/RS media, which to PAD-Dem's think represent normative thought, they have nuggets in them that jump out as being adversarial to someone coming from the other side of the political divide....They certainly stimulate discussion and help focus on the real issues.

The following quotes are an example:

>>>Thailand's colour-coded political rallies can be compared..."

It is in the interests of anti-democrats to continually frame these political alternatives in that of affinity clothing and paraphernalia.....That way they can hide their anti-Democratism....If political oriented descriptors were used, it would be more difficult to avoid being characterized as anti-democratic....If there are pro-electoral and Parliamentary Movements, their obviously must also be the opposite.....Best to stick with yellow and red, they strategize.

>>>After the caretaker government's hopes to be voted in on February 2 somewhat fizzled out,

Stated as if they would not have been voted in had that election not been derailed by the anti-democrats, with the assistance of their anti-electoral Commission....They didn't fizzle out..It is one of the reasons Amsterdam called the PDRC/DP Thailand's Taliban.....The just completed election in Afghanistan was severely threated by the Taliban....It is just that they were unsuccessful, while they were succesful in Thailand.

>>>red shirts launched a mass rally on February 23 to gag independent agencies

Again, an attempt to 'normalize the abnormal", and demonizing the Pro-Democracy Movement in the process....Everyone knows their role in trying to thwart Democracy. Using this terminology, gagging the PDRC/DP and these so-called Independent Agencies is all in the same vein. They all come from the same side of the political divide.

>>>size (of the rally) does matter

Absolutely...This writer got that right....It is good to focus on a minority trying to usurp power over the majority, and is why the election noted above needed to be 'derailed'....But never mind.....As long as people realize who these rallies represent...No matter how much the DP and UDD manage to incite their people to attend political rallies, the size of these rallies don't matter....It is who they represent is what matters...One represents the electoral minority, the other one a majority...This is not just theoretical talk....It is proven very objectively and measurably every election.

>>>what they are fighting for? Is it democracy, transparency, the country's development or people's happiness?

The anti-Democrats try to obscure at every opportunity to hide singular intentions.....Talk about the country's development, peoples happiness, transparency, undefined reform stuff, etc. is all just smoke.....It is clearly a choice between Electoral and Parliamentary Democracy and a Civilian Dictatorship which Mr. Suthep so clearly has described. And kudos to him for doing that.......His musings in this regard helped to put things in stark relief.

Do you have two appendages? You can't be that air brained just playing with one.

[soalbundy]

Use the country as a pawn? Get real,there is nothing left to use, it self destructed in 2010 and the pieces are still on the floor.

Edited April 8, 2014 by soalbundy

[soalbundy]

Rumors says that Yingluck has left the country with 40 pieces of luggage seems a little excessive. If this is true maybe she is running out of useful pawns that will keep her out of prison and does a Thaksin and slides left and makes run for Dubai!?

Rumours? your mate down at the pub again?

[chotthee]

Thailand belong either to Thaksin or Suthep.

Let's not vote on it.

[Scamper]

It is hard at first to see the advantage of any crisis, especially in the present moment. But the advantage of this one is that people are actually talking about matters of import. One of the great stumbling blocks is that for too long people were resigned to a kind of apathy. They had long given up hope of being able to make their voice heard. They knew that three weeks before any election they would see local candidates visit them, promise the moon, and walk off - never to be seen or heard of again. Until the next election. They knew that the corrupt practices of politicians were so ingrained - so systematized - that they believed they would never change. People have adapted well to apathy. They are not so apathetic now, and that's a sea-change.

The premise of this article is well-founded. It could indeed be said that all politics is a power struggle. But here the struggle appears more visceral, simply because the democracy is still young. What people tend to forget is that it is a developing democracy. Even in the West, democracy continues to grow and evolve, becoming more receptive to the people and their needs. Democracy is never a finished project. It is never a destination. It is always a process. Democracy lives not on paper but in the daily application of it. Democracy has many faces. Democracy is the right to vote, yes. But democracy is also adherence to the constitution and the rule of law. Democracy is protected by the legal checks and balances. Such institutions should be strengthened, not diminished. Democracy is not something that happens only once during a single day every four years. Democracy is a daily process. It is holding politicians to account, not just one day every four years, but indeed every day. Democracy is a living process.

[Thai at Heart]

It is hard at first to see the advantage of any crisis, especially in the present moment. But the advantage of this one is that people are actually talking about matters of import. One of the great stumbling blocks is that for too long people were resigned to a kind of apathy. They had long given up hope of being able to make their voice heard. They knew that three weeks before any election they would see local candidates visit them, promise the moon, and walk off - never to be seen or heard of again. Until the next election. They knew that the corrupt practices of politicians were so ingrained - so systematized - that they believed they would never change. People have adapted well to apathy. They are not so apathetic now, and that's a sea-change.

The premise of this article is well-founded. It could indeed be said that all politics is a power struggle. But here the struggle appears more visceral, simply because the democracy is still young. What people tend to forget is that it is a developing democracy. Even in the West, democracy continues to grow and evolve, becoming more receptive to the people and their needs. Democracy is never a finished project. It is never a destination. It is always a process. Democracy lives not on paper but in the daily application of it. Democracy has many faces. Democracy is the right to vote, yes. But democracy is also adherence to the constitution and the rule of law. Democracy is protected by the legal checks and balances. Such institutions should be strengthened, not diminished. Democracy is not something that happens only once during a single day every four years. Democracy is a daily process. It is holding politicians to account, not just one day every four years, but indeed every day. Democracy is a living process.

Democracy is a living thing, democracy grows and changes . bla bla bla. Thailand is only a so called developing democracy because the army has repeatedly skewered it and because there is enormous corruption involved with parties. Thai politicians have NO concept of public service whatsoever. The Thai people have been lied to by their leaders for decades.

Why weren't the checks and balanced put in place decades ago? Because it has suited all sides to leave them weak because all sides are corrupt to greater or lesser degree.

Thailand is not some little screaming infant taking its first steps into the real world and so deserving of some dispensation in the eyes of the world. Its time for Thailand to grow up and sort its s**t out, or it will suffer in its ability to deal with the rest of the world.

The process of democracy doesn't involve building the foundation repeatedly and putting up shoddy pillars. Although I have seen plenty of Thai houses built that way.

Opportunity is knocking, time to clean house and sweep ALL the mess out of the door.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Thai at Heart

[Sheryl]

Various inflammatory/sarcastic/unhelpful posts have been removed.

Flamefest is officially over (you know who you are).

[Halion]

This nation feigns democracy in the same manner that it feigns road safety,environmental control,urban and city planning,waste disposal justice and a myriad of other social necessities and has done for decades. True democracy does not and can not exist in a culture that has neither the will or intellect to understand what it represents and that is why the few in Thailand can manipulate the many for their own personal gain. Everything in this country is broken and will remain so unless the voting public develop a sense of the common good on behalf of the country and not on behalf of individual interests .Education ,culture and attitude are the tripping stones which are impeding Thailand from real social development as the vast majority are being subjugated by the very system they allowed to be put in place.

[bigbamboo]

Politics is a 'game' here.

Maybe when the Thai politicians start taking it seriously others will too.

[Mentors]

True Democracy will never work in Thailand as long as it is forbidden to speak free.

[manstr23]

One thing about these opinion pieces in the anti-UDD/RS media, which to PAD-Dem's think represent normative thought, they have nuggets in them that jump out as being adversarial to someone coming from the other side of the political divide....They certainly stimulate discussion and help focus on the real issues.

The following quotes are an example:

>>>Thailand's colour-coded political rallies can be compared..."

It is in the interests of anti-democrats to continually frame these political alternatives in that of affinity clothing and paraphernalia.....That way they can hide their anti-Democratism....If political oriented descriptors were used, it would be more difficult to avoid being characterized as anti-democratic....If there are pro-electoral and Parliamentary Movements, their obviously must also be the opposite.....Best to stick with yellow and red, they strategize.

>>>After the caretaker government's hopes to be voted in on February 2 somewhat fizzled out,

Stated as if they would not have been voted in had that election not been derailed by the anti-democrats, with the assistance of their anti-electoral Commission....They didn't fizzle out..It is one of the reasons Amsterdam called the PDRC/DP Thailand's Taliban.....The just completed election in Afghanistan was severely threated by the Taliban....It is just that they were unsuccessful, while they were succesful in Thailand.

>>>red shirts launched a mass rally on February 23 to gag independent agencies

Again, an attempt to 'normalize the abnormal", and demonizing the Pro-Democracy Movement in the process....Everyone knows their role in trying to thwart Democracy. Using this terminology, gagging the PDRC/DP and these so-called Independent Agencies is all in the same vein. They all come from the same side of the political divide.

>>>size (of the rally) does matter

Absolutely...This writer got that right....It is good to focus on a minority trying to usurp power over the majority, and is why the election noted above needed to be 'derailed'....But never mind.....As long as people realize who these rallies represent...No matter how much the DP and UDD manage to incite their people to attend political rallies, the size of these rallies don't matter....It is who they represent is what matters...One represents the electoral minority, the other one a majority...This is not just theoretical talk....It is proven very objectively and measurably every election.

>>>what they are fighting for? Is it democracy, transparency, the country's development or people's happiness?

The anti-Democrats try to obscure at every opportunity to hide singular intentions.....Talk about the country's development, peoples happiness, transparency, undefined reform stuff, etc. is all just smoke.....It is clearly a choice between Electoral and Parliamentary Democracy and a Civilian Dictatorship which Mr. Suthep so clearly has described. And kudos to him for doing that.......His musings in this regard helped to put things in stark relief.

Are you an associate of Robert Amsterdam ? Because all the BS can not come from a person living in Thailand. You are also to organised for the average poster. Elections are fine, they have elections in Cuba, N. Korea, Zimbabwe, even in neighboring Cambodia, which is the model that your employers client is striving for. Then he has every thing under control just like Hen Sen.

[rayfork]

It should be used as case study in how not to run a country.

[rayfork]

I don't understand how posters can get serious with replies with this farce going on.