Mother Denounces PCAD Guards' Brutal Assault On Her Son

[rubl]

Can we stop with this immature name calling? Can we also stop to pretend to understand what a 'real' Buddhist is and would think?

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.

This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

Damn, beat me to it.

You are most wise on the topic

ps. anyone who orders people to shoot and beat up people are thugs, regardless of their wardrobe choice

You imply that Buddha Issara ordered his guards to beat up and shoot people. Please provide some evidence of that.

[Morch]

Not condoning guards behavior at all, but few issues do pop into my head

1. Mother has returned the money? So she initially accepted the money and now changed her mind?

2. With the amount of attacks on anti gov camp, you can see why guards would over react seeing someone dismantling road cones

3. When asked if she would settle out of court, mother refused to comment because she has appointed lawyer already? this is in total contradiction to what she said earlier as earlier she stated she did not care about money and only wanted those responsible prosecuted,

If i had to guess, larger sum of money is being sought here and in my opinion, much larger sum should be paid, as 50 000 hardly covers decent hospital bill, not to mention pain and suffering

Doesn't mean she received the money, normally would be sent with a representative/lawyer from the other side, and can be turned down without "accepting".

The guards may have reasons for being jumpy, but that doesn't matter much to the injured party. The guards have no jurisdiction and their actions are quite probably illegal.

Refusing to comment about future legal proceedings shows she got some decent legal advise from her lawyer, nothing more nothing less.

Speaking to reporters in a pres conference at the police station, Col. Witthawat's mother Bang-onrat Wattanakul said she has returned the compensation money to the PCAD through the army staff because her son's life "cannot be bought with money".

Does not mean she did not receive the money

I wonder who paid for the lawyer and suggested the lawyer

Guessing they're not dirt poor with these officer ranks, and probably getting some assistance from the Army anyway.

I find the question of whether she technically received the money immaterial. The point is she returned it.

[Morch]

This must be a mistake, the courts said they were unarmed and peaceful. And can we stop calling that thug a monk, it is insulting to real Buddhists

Can we stop with this immature name calling? Can we also stop to pretend to understand what a 'real' Buddhist is and would think?

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.

This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

Umm, considering your posting style, I wouldn't have suspected you to be an expert on Buddhist conduct.

Wonders never cease.

[TimCM]

Can we stop with this immature name calling? Can we also stop to pretend to understand what a 'real' Buddhist is and would think?

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.

This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

Damn, beat me to it.

You are most wise on the topic

ps. anyone who orders people to shoot and beat up people are thugs, regardless of their wardrobe choice

You imply that Buddha Issara ordered his guards to beat up and shoot people. Please provide some evidence of that.

He is the leader of a group that hires armed guards to control an area of public property, despite admitting guilt in the basis of this thread, he still harbors them so is at least complicit, but as a so called leader wold be responsible. Using your logic, you must think PT is clean as I have not seen evidence yet.

As for the previous comment, I agree they should be allowed to protest, just not assault people, extort businesses, storm government departments and take over the country cause they think they have the right over the whole country.

Any real reform movement would destroy this government in an election, but most Thai's can see Suthep for what he is and he does not have the support. Hence no desire for elections.

One day Thailand, I know it will get better

[moonao]

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

This must be a mistake, the courts said they were unarmed and peaceful. And can we stop calling that thug a monk, it is insulting to real Buddhists

Can we stop with this immature name calling? Can we also stop to pretend to understand what a 'real' Buddhist is and would think?

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.
This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

Umm, considering your posting style, I wouldn't have suspected you to be an expert on Buddhist conduct.

Wonders never cease.

i lived in a thai temple for almost 1 year, and im sure if the question was asked in the buddhist forum, there are probably a few ex-monks that will confirm the rules

[rubl]

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.

This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

Damn, beat me to it.

You are most wise on the topic

ps. anyone who orders people to shoot and beat up people are thugs, regardless of their wardrobe choice

You imply that Buddha Issara ordered his guards to beat up and shoot people. Please provide some evidence of that.

He is the leader of a group that hires armed guards to control an area of public property, despite admitting guilt in the basis of this thread, he still harbors them so is at least complicit, but as a so called leader wold be responsible. Using your logic, you must think PT is clean as I have not seen evidence yet.

As for the previous comment, I agree they should be allowed to protest, just not assault people, extort businesses, storm government departments and take over the country cause they think they have the right over the whole country.

Any real reform movement would destroy this government in an election, but most Thai's can see Suthep for what he is and he does not have the support. Hence no desire for elections.

One day Thailand, I know it will get better

Buddha Issara said the guards involved would submit to the police. That should be enough unless you would like him to order other guards to physically apprehend those (five?) guards? A monk issuing orders to use violence?

As for 'elections before reforms', reasoning from a (Western) democratic understanding hardly applicable to Thailand. Slowly even a majority of Thai seem to understand that. Difficult to grasp for some of our farang posters though.

Well, at least we moved away from the name calling, thank you

[Pralaad]

Not condoning guards behavior at all, but few issues do pop into my head

1. Mother has returned the money? So she initially accepted the money and now changed her mind?

2. With the amount of attacks on anti gov camp, you can see why guards would over react seeing someone dismantling road cones

3. When asked if she would settle out of court, mother refused to comment because she has appointed lawyer already? this is in total contradiction to what she said earlier as earlier she stated she did not care about money and only wanted those responsible prosecuted,

If i had to guess, larger sum of money is being sought here and in my opinion, much larger sum should be paid, as 50 000 hardly covers decent hospital bill, not to mention pain and suffering

Doesn't mean she received the money, normally would be sent with a representative/lawyer from the other side, and can be turned down without "accepting".

The guards may have reasons for being jumpy, but that doesn't matter much to the injured party. The guards have no jurisdiction and their actions are quite probably illegal.

Refusing to comment about future legal proceedings shows she got some decent legal advise from her lawyer, nothing more nothing less.

Speaking to reporters in a pres conference at the police station, Col. Witthawat's mother Bang-onrat Wattanakul said she has returned the compensation money to the PCAD through the army staff because her son's life "cannot be bought with money".

Does not mean she did not receive the money

I wonder who paid for the lawyer and suggested the lawyer

Guessing they're not dirt poor with these officer ranks, and probably getting some assistance from the Army anyway.

I find the question of whether she technically received the money immaterial. The point is she returned it.

I strongly disagree. This point is very material and makes a huge difference. If money was indeed accepted, what or who made her change her mind? AND why would she NOW not comment if she would settle out of court, providing she already stated it WAS NOT about the money.

[rickirs]

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Col. Witthawat Wattanakul, a staff officer at the Royal Thai Armed Force Headquarters, was taken to hospital after he was beaten and shot by a group of "guards" working for the anti-government People's Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King As Head of State (PCAD) on Chaeng Wattana Road in the early morning of 25 April.

The ironic thing is, he was probably shot with army bullets from army guns.

His boss did nothing, the PDRC guards can shoot soldiers it seems, but I bet if the soldiers shot the guards, he's do something.

The irony may be even greater as many of the PDRC guards are active military.

[fab4]

She added, "I would like to thank the PCAD for merely beating up my son instead of murdering him and dumping his body into a river. It's already such a great mercy on their part. And I would like to warn all citizens not to go near PCAD-occuied areas unless they absolutely have to."

pretty much sums it up.

people still defending these groups have put their blind hatred of Thaksin above any common sense

II walk past almost daily as my office is on RamaIV. Till now I haven't felt any insecurity. Mind you, I'm also not (trying to) remove barricades, walk around armed, drive around at night and so.

With the other anti-government protesters It was different. Those grenade attacks were aimed at non-red-shirts and luckily I passed Dusit to BTS Saladaeng a few hours before grenades rained down.

Just knew you'd get that grenade story in somewhere, no matter how irrelevant and off topic.

What's up rubl, you normally back up the army soldiers when they are found responsible for shooting unarmed civilians, yet here you are suggesting the soldier was asking for it sorry, deserved to feel "insecure" (presumably by "insecure" you mean being at risk of a severe beating and being shot at), because he had the temerity to remove "barricades", (actually traffic cones), walk (he was driving a car and got out to remove the cones) around armed (there are no reports in the media that I can find that say he was armed - I'm not sure that his work as a Deputy Director of the International Relations division under the Directorate of Joint Intelligence would require him to be armed) then you say he was driving at night (didn't realise this was not allowed in Bangkok).

Now why is that rubl, why the change of heart? Oh wait a minute, this is your latest cause to support, isn't it, anything/anyone as long as it is not Thaksin, the PTP or the UDD.

Oh well, nothing like a good embellishment to take one's mind off embarrassing facts.

[rickirs]

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"The most serious injury Col. Witthawat has received was the wound he received from a PCAD guard who swung a wooden stick at his head, narrowly missing his eyes, Ms. Bang-onrat said."

And we were all told he was shot in the foot/feet?

The wounds to his feet were caused by shrapnel so it's entirely probable that the head injury caused by a lump of wood is more serious. In any event, what does it matter: he was attacked by hired goons in the direct employ of the maniacal monk. The sooner he's carted off to jail, the better.

How were his feet damaged by shrapnel. Did a grenade go off!

Any violence is reprehensible. But correct information is required where possible. Any link to the part about shrapnel ..I read "shot in the foot "

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

His wife is a civilian. All she knows is that he was hit in the foot as a result of a gunfire. So she calls it "shrapnel." Frankly you show your own ignorance not to know that bullets can fragment on hitting hard objects, even by bones LIKE IN A FOOT, to create "shrapnel." She may have been more accurate than you realize.

[Thaiisnotrequired]

This must be a mistake, the courts said they were unarmed and peaceful. And can we stop calling that thug a monk, it is insulting to real Buddhists

Can we stop with this immature name calling? Can we also stop to pretend to understand what a 'real' Buddhist is and would think?

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.

This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

Show me a direct reference to politics in Pali scripture.... if you please.. or Theravada for that matter!

[fab4]

"The most serious injury Col. Witthawat has received was the wound he received from a PCAD guard who swung a wooden stick at his head, narrowly missing his eyes, Ms. Bang-onrat said."

And we were all told he was shot in the foot/feet?

The wounds to his feet were caused by shrapnel so it's entirely probable that the head injury caused by a lump of wood is more serious. In any event, what does it matter: he was attacked by hired goons in the direct employ of the maniacal monk. The sooner he's carted off to jail, the better.

How were his feet damaged by shrapnel. Did a grenade go off!

Any violence is reprehensible. But correct information is required where possible. Any link to the part about shrapnel ..I read "shot in the foot "

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

One of the descriptions suggested a ricochet. That would mean a possibly deformed bullet or a fragmented bullet. One may wonder if the guards gave a warning shot firing just before the Colonel, or they may just be lousy shooters.

BTW as observation on some posts here, I'm really surprised to see someone refer to a "maniacal monk". Somehow the accusations get more and more bizare the more someones cause seems to be forced into a (close to) last ditch defence.

A warning shot . Is that standard procedure for PDRC guards, rubl, is that what ex Democrat Party MP, now PDRC Armed Guards Boss, Thavorn Senniam teaches them? Guess all that work as a Democrat MP finally paid off.

Still, like you say perhaps they were just lousy shooters eh rubl, could have killed him otherwise, that would have been awkward , wouldn't it?

[fab4]

This must be a mistake, the courts said they were unarmed and peaceful. And can we stop calling that thug a monk, it is insulting to real Buddhists

Can we stop with this immature name calling? Can we also stop to pretend to understand what a 'real' Buddhist is and would think?

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.

This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

95% of Thai Buddhists follow the Theravada school it seems. Not sure the Buddha really cared about politics though.

Anyway, we are talking about democratic anti-government protests which have been heavily politicised since the Yingluck government pushed through their blanket amnesty bill (which just by chance covered their first two years of governing as well).

So, back to civil conduct, please

BTW

"Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school. Nearly 95% of Thailand's population is Buddhist of the Theravada school, though Buddhism in this country has become integrated with folk beliefs[1] as well as Chinese religions from the large Thai-Chinese population"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Thailand

Well spun rubl, still using the "telling everybody else that they're off topic whilst slipping in the odd off topic comment yourself" tactic, I see

Anyway, we are talking about democratic anti-government protests which have been heavily politicised since the Yingluck government pushed through their blanket amnesty bill (which just by chance covered their first two years of governing as well).

Do democratic anti government protests normally involve severe beatings and euphemistic "warning shots" for people who have the temerity to remove traffic cones that are illegally blocking roads?

[rickirs]

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"The most serious injury Col. Witthawat has received was the wound he received from a PCAD guard who swung a wooden stick at his head, narrowly missing his eyes, Ms. Bang-onrat said."

And we were all told he was shot in the foot/feet?

The wounds to his feet were caused by shrapnel so it's entirely probable that the head injury caused by a lump of wood is more serious. In any event, what does it matter: he was attacked by hired goons in the direct employ of the maniacal monk. The sooner he's carted off to jail, the better.

How were his feet damaged by shrapnel. Did a grenade go off!

Any violence is reprehensible. But correct information is required where possible. Any link to the part about shrapnel ..I read "shot in the foot "

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

His wife is a civilian. All she knows is that he was hit in the foot as a result of a gunfire. So she calls it "shrapnel." Frankly you show your own ignorance not to know that bullets can fragment on hitting hard objects, even by bones LIKE IN A FOOT, to create "shrapnel." She may have been more accurate than you realize.

CORRECTION - His mother...

[casualbiker]

This must be a mistake, the courts said they were unarmed and peaceful. And can we stop calling that thug a monk, it is insulting to real Buddhists

Can we stop with this immature name calling? Can we also stop to pretend to understand what a 'real' Buddhist is and would think?

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.

This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

So in 475BCE The Buddha closed down any discussion of politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path ... really?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rickirs]

I do hope the officer fully recovers and receives whatever civil compensation and justice that he is entitled to from this criminal attack. But the real issue is not whether he should be compensated as a civil matter but that the acts of criminal assault be brought to justice.

The mother has some inkling of the criminal issues. "If Buddha Issara is a true man, he has to accept whatever wrongdoing he has done," It is understood that the guards were under the command of PCAD leader Buddha Issara. He knew his guards are armed with live ammunition as witnessed by several previous PDRC guard attacks against the public. He offers five of the ten guards to turn themselves in.

Issara has no court authority to decide who is complicit or guilty in the attack, and that includes himself as a possible suspect. He has no police authority to conduct an investigation. He has though by his on-scene presence and actions after the attacks contaminated a crime scene. Did witnesses come forward or sought out and interviewed by police? Who is to say the guards he "promises" to turn themselves in were involved or even guards at all? He identified ten guards in the group that attacked the colonel - where and who are the five remaining guards that are not turning themselves in? If the five guards do turn themselves in (and they have not), that is not an admission of guilt. The State still needs to prove their guilt and, if the guards do not confess, what is the evidence against them?

Even if Issara did not himself shoot, his negligence as leader of the protest and supervision of the guards not to provide adequate instructions and safeguards to his guards to prevent indiscriminatory, criminal acts makes him complicit in a criminal act. So if Issara is a true man, he should be the first to turn himself in to the police authorities. Let's see Issara recognize the rule of law.

[moonao]

@cb, yes but check your dates

Edited May 4, 2014 by moonao

[geriatrickid]

"The most serious injury Col. Witthawat has received was the wound he received from a PCAD guard who swung a wooden stick at his head, narrowly missing his eyes, Ms. Bang-onrat said."

And we were all told he was shot in the foot/feet?

A head injury tends to be more serious than a bullet wound to the extremities. This is due to the fact that most people have functioning brains. As per the your post, the impact was close to the eyes. A blow to the eyes can result in the loss of vision.

[geriatrickid]

I strongly disagree. This point is very material and makes a huge difference. If money was indeed accepted, what or who made her change her mind? AND why would she NOW not comment if she would settle out of court, providing she already stated it WAS NOT about the money.

She did not accept the money. The military did so and then attempted to pass it along to her.

Lost in the discussion is the integrity of this elderly woman, In a forum where we so often hear of Thais being driven by money, here is an example of a person who puts her principles before money. Admirable quality and one heck of a mum. I bet some of the people criticizing her resent that someone has a mum like that.

[rubl]

The Buddha explicitly closed down any discussion on politics as not relevant to the Buddhist path. These are the theravada scriptures, the ones Thai monks live by.

This monk is a fake one, a thugish one, and an absolute disgrace to Thai buddhism

95% of Thai Buddhists follow the Theravada school it seems. Not sure the Buddha really cared about politics though.

Anyway, we are talking about democratic anti-government protests which have been heavily politicised since the Yingluck government pushed through their blanket amnesty bill (which just by chance covered their first two years of governing as well).

So, back to civil conduct, please

BTW

"Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school. Nearly 95% of Thailand's population is Buddhist of the Theravada school, though Buddhism in this country has become integrated with folk beliefs[1] as well as Chinese religions from the large Thai-Chinese population"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Thailand

Well spun rubl, still using the "telling everybody else that they're off topic whilst slipping in the odd off topic comment yourself" tactic, I see

Anyway, we are talking about democratic anti-government protests which have been heavily politicised since the Yingluck government pushed through their blanket amnesty bill (which just by chance covered their first two years of governing as well).

Do democratic anti government protests normally involve severe beatings and euphemistic "warning shots" for people who have the temerity to remove traffic cones that are illegally blocking roads?

Not well spun, my dear fabs, just the truth.

I was responding to some name calling which included calling Buddha Issara's activities political. Now that's incorrect, so I explain those are democratic and anti-government. I also give some background information, the blanket amnesty bill and it's extended coverage period. Now that may annoy you, but that undemocratic activity was the last drop in an already full bucket.

Furthermore the daemonising of the anti-government protesters, the name calling, the near nightly attacks with guns and grenade launchers and the ineptitude of the police have created a situation where the protesters needed to protect them self. With a few fools driving around Lumpini and firing fireworks, with seemingly drunk individuals removing traffic barriers, any thing can happen.

To answer your question, no normally democratic anti-government protesters have no need to guard against attacks by 'unknown' grenade lobbiers.

[Bluespunk]

Col. Witthawat Wattanakul, a staff officer at the Royal Thai Armed Force Headquarters, was taken to hospital after he was beaten and shot by a group of "guards" working for the anti-government People's Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King As Head of State (PCAD) on Chaeng Wattana Road in the early morning of 25 April.

The ironic thing is, he was probably shot with army bullets from army guns.

His boss did nothing, the PDRC guards can shoot soldiers it seems, but I bet if the soldiers shot the guards, he's do something.

Evidence? And no the link in blue is not evidence. Just conjecture on your part.

[rubl]

She added, "I would like to thank the PCAD for merely beating up my son instead of murdering him and dumping his body into a river. It's already such a great mercy on their part. And I would like to warn all citizens not to go near PCAD-occuied areas unless they absolutely have to."

pretty much sums it up.

people still defending these groups have put their blind hatred of Thaksin above any common sense

II walk past almost daily as my office is on RamaIV. Till now I haven't felt any insecurity. Mind you, I'm also not (trying to) remove barricades, walk around armed, drive around at night and so.

With the other anti-government protesters It was different. Those grenade attacks were aimed at non-red-shirts and luckily I passed Dusit to BTS Saladaeng a few hours before grenades rained down.

Just knew you'd get that grenade story in somewhere, no matter how irrelevant and off topic.

What's up rubl, you normally back up the army soldiers when they are found responsible for shooting unarmed civilians, yet here you are suggesting the soldier was asking for it sorry, deserved to feel "insecure" (presumably by "insecure" you mean being at risk of a severe beating and being shot at), because he had the temerity to remove "barricades", (actually traffic cones), walk (he was driving a car and got out to remove the cones) around armed (there are no reports in the media that I can find that say he was armed - I'm not sure that his work as a Deputy Director of the International Relations division under the Directorate of Joint Intelligence would require him to be armed) then you say he was driving at night (didn't realise this was not allowed in Bangkok).

Now why is that rubl, why the change of heart? Oh wait a minute, this is your latest cause to support, isn't it, anything/anyone as long as it is not Thaksin, the PTP or the UDD.

Oh well, nothing like a good embellishment to take one's mind off embarrassing facts.

My dear chap, I was responding to the sarcastic part of the quote "And I would like to warn all citizens not to go near PCAD-occuied areas unless they absolutely have to."

Now, pray tell how my reply can be seen as off topic or 'grenade' inspired?

BTW initial reports indicate "Buddha Issara said he'd been told the colonel acted intoxicated' and "his superior admitted that the colonel acted as if intoxicated'.

The rest of your post is just baiting for me to go off topic or lose my temper. Forget it,

[rubl]

One of the descriptions suggested a ricochet. That would mean a possibly deformed bullet or a fragmented bullet. One may wonder if the guards gave a warning shot firing just before the Colonel, or they may just be lousy shooters.

BTW as observation on some posts here, I'm really surprised to see someone refer to a "maniacal monk". Somehow the accusations get more and more bizare the more someones cause seems to be forced into a (close to) last ditch defence.

A warning shot . Is that standard procedure for PDRC guards, rubl, is that what ex Democrat Party MP, now PDRC Armed Guards Boss, Thavorn Senniam teaches them? Guess all that work as a Democrat MP finally paid off.

Still, like you say perhaps they were just lousy shooters eh rubl, could have killed him otherwise, that would have been awkward , wouldn't it?

My dear, dear chap, why ask me? I speculated a bit on the shooting. I thought that was obvious for all to read and understand.

BTW the Democrat party and PDRC as just as identical as Pheu Thai and UDD.

As for your last question, no that would not have been awkward. Just plain criminal.

Of course Buddha Issara offered sincere apologies which in this more-and-more politisized climate are taken depending on ones position. Note that if the colonel had been shot and died, I'm sure all of the anti-government protesters would call for one minute silence on one or two days. Now that a bit more like normal humans than rejoicing in the death of innocent children.

[noitom]

Mrs. Bang-onat seems to have the basic idea here unlike any of the current Thai leaders. That Thailand will not survive if wrongdoers are not punished. Maybe Mrs. Bang-onat should run for election, she seems to have the law and order portion of the reform platform.

[gangrel]

i lived in a thai temple for almost 1 year

yeah, right.

sure, you did.

Edited May 4, 2014 by gangrel

[Tatsujin]

She added, "I would like to thank the PCAD for merely beating up my son instead of murdering him and dumping his body into a river. It's already such a great mercy on their part. And I would like to warn all citizens not to go near PCAD-occuied areas unless they absolutely have to."

pretty much sums it up.

people still defending these groups have put their blind hatred of Thaksin above any common sense

II walk past almost daily as my office is on RamaIV. Till now I haven't felt any insecurity. Mind you, I'm also not (trying to) remove barricades, walk around armed, drive around at night and so.

With the other anti-government protesters It was different. Those grenade attacks were aimed at non-red-shirts and luckily I passed Dusit to BTS Saladaeng a few hours before grenades rained down.

Just knew you'd get that grenade story in somewhere, no matter how irrelevant and off topic.

What's up rubl, you normally back up the army soldiers when they are found responsible for shooting unarmed civilians, yet here you are suggesting the soldier was asking for it sorry, deserved to feel "insecure" (presumably by "insecure" you mean being at risk of a severe beating and being shot at), because he had the temerity to remove "barricades", (actually traffic cones), walk (he was driving a car and got out to remove the cones) around armed (there are no reports in the media that I can find that say he was armed - I'm not sure that his work as a Deputy Director of the International Relations division under the Directorate of Joint Intelligence would require him to be armed) then you say he was driving at night (didn't realise this was not allowed in Bangkok).

Now why is that rubl, why the change of heart? Oh wait a minute, this is your latest cause to support, isn't it, anything/anyone as long as it is not Thaksin, the PTP or the UDD.

Oh well, nothing like a good embellishment to take one's mind off embarrassing facts.

Thinking back to happier, more lighthearted days, I wonder what would have happened to the Police, Army or even a civilian 4 years ago if someone had the temerity to try remove some cones or barricades in front of the red shirt compounds in Bangkok. The guards then I am sure would have quietly informed them to please not do so. Oh, no, wait, that's not what actually happened, they either shot them or threw petrol bombs or grenades at anyone who went near "their" areas.

So, yes, a terrible incident, but tempered with a little understanding that given the amount of attacks the protestors have been on the receiving end of I can understand them (possibly) being concerned about (for example) a car bomb being brought in to the area and/or also being concerned about anti-Govt protestors dressing up in uniforms of forces they don't belong to.

[chooka]

It is understood that the guards were under the command of Buddhist monk and hard-line PCAD leader Buddha Issara.

What a low life piece of scum this thing is and who does this filthy piece of excrement answer to? I wonder is it is the angel and messiah sent from above, the dog face Suthep.

Throws on some robes and thinks he is free to do as he pleases and is untouchable.

[Thai at Heart]

This woman deserves a medal.

If only more people took a principled stance , the country would be better for it. 50 k .

Cheap Charlie's

[gabruce]

She added, "I would like to thank the PCAD for merely beating up my son instead of murdering him and dumping his body into a river. It's already such a great mercy on their part. And I would like to warn all citizens not to go near PCAD-occuied areas unless they absolutely have to."

pretty much sums it up.

people still defending these groups have put their blind hatred of Thaksin above any common sense

II walk past almost daily as my office is on RamaIV. Till now I haven't felt any insecurity. Mind you, I'm also not (trying to) remove barricades, walk around armed, drive around at night and so.

With the other anti-government protesters It was different. Those grenade attacks were aimed at non-red-shirts and luckily I passed Dusit to BTS Saladaeng a few hours before grenades rained down.

Just knew you'd get that grenade story in somewhere, no matter how irrelevant and off topic.

What's up rubl, you normally back up the army soldiers when they are found responsible for shooting unarmed civilians, yet here you are suggesting the soldier was asking for it sorry, deserved to feel "insecure" (presumably by "insecure" you mean being at risk of a severe beating and being shot at), because he had the temerity to remove "barricades", (actually traffic cones), walk (he was driving a car and got out to remove the cones) around armed (there are no reports in the media that I can find that say he was armed - I'm not sure that his work as a Deputy Director of the International Relations division under the Directorate of Joint Intelligence would require him to be armed) then you say he was driving at night (didn't realise this was not allowed in Bangkok).

Now why is that rubl, why the change of heart? Oh wait a minute, this is your latest cause to support, isn't it, anything/anyone as long as it is not Thaksin, the PTP or the UDD.

Oh well, nothing like a good embellishment to take one's mind off embarrassing facts.

The guy should NOT have been shot. The guards should not have beaten either, definitely.

Driving at night is relevant since most attacks (at least reported in the media) take place at night, so the guards are probably a bit more on edge and doing anything to get the guards concerned about an attack is STUPID. However stupidity is no reason to shoot someone.

[gabruce]

It is understood that the guards were under the command of Buddhist monk and hard-line PCAD leader Buddha Issara.

What a low life piece of scum this thing is and who does this filthy piece of excrement answer to? I wonder is it is the angel and messiah sent from above, the dog face Suthep.

Throws on some robes and thinks he is free to do as he pleases and is untouchable.

Wow! Have a beer or something and cool off! Please also exercise a little restraint and politeness. Inflammatory name-calling isn't particularly helpful, useful, or pleasant.