Thailand: What the martial law entails

[Tokay]

"The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!" by The stuttering parrot.

The people of Thailand wouldn't recognise democracy if it slapped them on the face.

This martial law declaration is a joke as it is going to be applied one-sidedly and locally. It actually is already.

They have the best democracy money can buy.

[Tokay]

I also would not feel too confident about being critical of the army during a state of martial law.

A lot of farangs actually have connections with army officials, through their Thai families (I am one) and they may well take an exception to such comments.

Perhaps it is best then not to show them Thai Visa. We wouldn't want all the farang who have top brass family members to have big pomp-pems.

[rreddin]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

The people who build steam engines know there has to be a safety valve. In modern societies, the safety valve is a democratic election. Thailand's safety valve has been deliberately shut off, but pressure is still building. I only hope that the army does not ingnore the pressure guage.

[Cnxforever]

Seems to me there is more information than has been revealed about the seizure of the white Mazda full of M16's up North. Can it be coincidence that Martial Law have been declared just a day later or is it to nip in the bud a major armed uprising ? Not scaremongering; just putting two and two together.

Please provide link that says white Mazda was "full of M16's". I'm not saying you are wrong, but the reports I read didn't say anything about the car being "full of" M16's.

If you can't provide a link, then my other thought is that you are merely "embellishing" the story for your own agenda.

it was two rifles - hardly a "major armed uprising"! Almost every Thai poitician carries weapons in his car - remeber the MP who shot his wife "accidentally" while handling a submachine gun during a lunch break along a highway? Unbelievable!

Edited May 20, 2014 by Cnxforever

[somjitr]

The army declared martial law without consultation with the civilian government. A total breach of a very fundamental democratic principle (civilian control of the government) as far as I know.

Sometimes I feel bad that I hope for a foreign intervention on my own country.

[Tywais]

Complete Martial Law Act of B.E. 2457 .pdf

[MGP]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

Strange timing? Do you want more people to die due to the incompetence of the Police and the CAPO?

[sfokevin]

Best thing to do in the circumstances...

Stock up on Diet Coke & Miracle Whip...

[Just1Voice]

hmmm...first martial law, then probably a new PM appointed by the Senate...this is all playing out nicely and more or less as expected.

In fact, it means no such thing. The govt remains in office even in the context of martial law. This simply removes from the streets the groups in conflict.

First of all, there is no legitimate Government, at the moment. Secondly, declaring martial law, pulled the last few teeth (CAPO and the ability of the Reds to mobilize) from Thaksin and his cronies. The logical next step, is for the Senate to appoint a Prime Minister (who of course will not be a paid puppet of the man in Dubai)

Looks like you have your choice of either the Upper House (Senate) or the military making the decisions, but it will definitely not be the past Government (Thaksin)

"First of all there is no legitimate Government at the moment" Really? They why did the General say the government will continue as normal?

"Secondly, declaring martial law pulled the last few remaining teeth from Thaksin and his cronies" I tend to agree with you on this one, but only to a degree.

The next logical steps is for the Senate to appoint a Prime Minister" Even if they have to violate the law to do it, as they themselves have clearly stated they would do? How is that "logical"?

"(who of course will not be a paid puppet of the man in Dubai)". True. More than likely he would be a "Royalist, Elitist" who feels they have the god given right to rule the "Ignorant Masses"

[antimedia]

Congratulation on both Anti and Pro-government, you and any other innocent bystander have officially lost your rights for a peaceful democratic life for the next centuries.

Both sides including their greedy leaders got what they asked for, to the dismay if us innocent bystanders.

Do we need any permission to go to the toilet or for grocery shopping?

There'll be a curfew, and we get attacked because we didn't know?

Drama Queen, building a mountain out of a molehill. When has there ever been a peacefull or just plain democratic life in this country?

[Publicus]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

Red TV is still running, so there is your first red supporter lie.

I also would not feel too confident about being critical of the army during a state of martial law.

A lot of farangs actually have connections with army officials, through their Thai families (I am one) and they may well take an exception to such comments.

Who appointed you a Mod.

[h90]

The army declared martial law without consultation with the civilian government. A total breach of a very fundamental democratic principle (civilian control of the government) as far as I know.

Sometimes I feel bad that I hope for a foreign intervention on my own country.

The Thai army has this right. And they do it when necessary. As it seemed yesterday the government directly supplies gun to the terrorists.

Foreign intervention: Hun Sens way of democracy? Or prosperity and democracy like Libya or Iraq after intervention?

[geriatrickid]

when the current govt(ptp) are supplying arms to the red terrorists to kill and maim other thais so they can perform their masters bidding it is way past time for the army to step in, especially when the police are also allowing all these killings to happen with impunity. The army hopefully will stop all this sh*t and we might see some sense start to return, capo and their bullsh*t are finally gone which is a great start and we may now see the rule of law start to take full effect, we can only hope.

The source of the weapons has yet to be established, nor has the illegality of their possession been established either.

Thailand is a gun culture and unfortunately, far too many irresponsible idiots are allowed to carry automatic weapons for dubious legal reasons.

[coma]

- Enforce curfews;

[ginjag]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

Red TV is still running, so there is your first red supporter lie.

I also would not feel too confident about being critical of the army during a state of martial law.

A lot of farangs actually have connections with army officials, through their Thai families (I am one) and they may well take an exception to such comments.

Who appointed you a Mod.

You guys will either soften or fade, your choices are getting thinner. I laughed at some of the PTP MPs with super glue on their trousers.

[brewsterbudgen]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Someone elsewhere spoke of rumours of another momentous event that sparked this.. I hope not.

Unfortunately I think you could be right. There are plenty of rumours flying around my Bangkok office.

[coconutbar]

"martial law in thailand" this cant be good for business.......

[somjitr]

The army declared martial law without consultation with the civilian government. A total breach of a very fundamental democratic principle (civilian control of the government) as far as I know.

Sometimes I feel bad that I hope for a foreign intervention on my own country.

The Thai army has this right. And they do it when necessary. As it seemed yesterday the government directly supplies gun to the terrorists.

Foreign intervention: Hun Sens way of democracy? Or prosperity and democracy like Libya or Iraq after intervention?

I understand that there is an outdated 100-year-old law (passed when Thailand was an absolute monarchy) that grants the army this power. However, this tradition is very anti-democratic. In a democracy, we have a civilian government. period. If you don't believe in democracy, then we just have to agree to disagree.

The facts about "supplying guns to the terrorists" haven't been sufficiently established. Also, the army didn't use this as a reason to declare martial law in its statement.

You just cherry-picked the bad interventions. Japan fared quite well after the US intervened. I'm not asking for a military intervention or anything. Maybe economic sanctions from the free world until we have a civilian government.

Edited May 20, 2014 by somjitr

[Gunna]

Congratulation on both Anti and Pro-government, you and any other innocent bystander have officially lost your rights for a peaceful democratic life for the next centuries.

Both sides including their greedy leaders got what they asked for, to the dismay if us innocent bystanders.

Do we need any permission to go to the toilet or for grocery shopping?

There'll be a curfew, and we get attacked because we didn't know?

I think your reaction is a bit OTT

[mijan24]

The OP details what martial law entails very well.

I would like to see more TV posts discussing the legal contortions involved declaring this particular state of martial law

How did they do it, and on who's authority, legally?

What is the legal framework used to get a state of martial law declared?

Obviously, the situation in Thailand is quite unique. Most developed countries would have the government inform the military that martial law has been declared and instruct them to carry out their duties as required by law. What's the deal here?

Isn't this really a coup? (If it walks like a duck?)

How did they do it, and on who's authority, legally? It says they need a Royal Decree to end Martial Law so this should tell where the authority came from.

Legal framework - what planet are you from - We are talking Martial Law - Cast your mind back to the Phillipines - the legal framework is the Authority to take back control for the good of the country.

Now you say Thailand is a developed country - if this is correct why do they still receive AID ?? in reality a 2nd class 2nd world country at best teeting on the brink of returning to a 3rd world country if things continue as they are .

[ezzra]

How about first sending every body home and vacating all the protests sites,

red and yellow and every other mongrels out there, that will be a good place

to start...

[Estrada]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

It is the Thai Army's duty to evoke Martial Law if the Government MPs are "intimated" in order to protect the acting government. As Suthep started chasing caretaker ministers around Bangkok waving resignation papers to sign under mob intimidation the Army had to act. Furthermore the Army probably recognises that the Judiciary are acting against the interests of peace and order by releasing leaders of the demos on both side on bail as soon as they are arrested. Under Martial Law the leaders can be arrested by a military court and held indefinitely, so expect arrests of the agitators on both sides. The Army General's businesses have been hit hard in the past 3 months as the demonstrations have lost the Thai Economy 1 Trillion Baht since 1st January.

[Johnnie99]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

When payments for votes in the countryside were made, democracy in Thailand was hijacked, according to many.

Not now when the military has decided to act.

[Publicus]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

Red TV is still running, so there is your first red supporter lie.

I also would not feel too confident about being critical of the army during a state of martial law.

A lot of farangs actually have connections with army officials, through their Thai families (I am one) and they may well take an exception to such comments.

Who appointed you a Mod.

You guys will either soften or fade, your choices are getting thinner. I laughed at some of the PTP MPs with super glue on their trousers.

"You guys will either soften or fade, your choices are getting thinner."

I hadn't know posters were the issue or the focus in all that's been happening in Thailand.

The conversation had in fact been going well in respect of the army's actions today, so your presumptuous lecture and warning is inconsistent with the trend of the postings and the observations of posters. A Mod had already spoken to the point. Why do you feel the need to brandish arrogant threats generally to the threads? Who had spoken out of line - that is, as far as your presumptuous self might be concerned.

You are the one thumping his way through the threads.

The military ruling council has been calm and low key and so have the TVF posters been calm and low key. Your threats are unnecessary and in fact are provocative. You anyway are posting to the posters rather than discussing the issues. You might want to mend that tear in your already too tight britches.

[thaimat]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

The people who build steam engines know there has to be a safety valve. In modern societies, the safety valve is a democratic election. Thailand's safety valve has been deliberately shut off, but pressure is still building. I only hope that the army does not ingnore the pressure guage.

That goes to the crux of the biscuit-it's not much of a safety valve when it is bought, paid for, and controlled by one man, and a convicted felon on the lam, at that.

[gabruce]

The army declared martial law without consultation with the civilian government. A total breach of a very fundamental democratic principle (civilian control of the government) as far as I know.

Sometimes I feel bad that I hope for a foreign intervention on my own country.

The Thai army has this right. And they do it when necessary. As it seemed yesterday the government directly supplies gun to the terrorists.

Foreign intervention: Hun Sens way of democracy? Or prosperity and democracy like Libya or Iraq after intervention?

I understand that there is an outdated 100-year-old law (passed when Thailand was an absolute monarchy) that grants the army this power. However, this tradition is very anti-democratic. In a democracy, we have a civilian government. period. If you don't believe in democracy, then we just have to agree to disagree.

The facts about "supplying guns to the terrorists" haven't been sufficiently established. Also, the army didn't use this as a reason to declare martial law in its statement.

You just cherry-picked the bad interventions. Japan fared quite well after the US intervened. I'm not asking for a military intervention or anything. Maybe economic sanctions from the free world until we have a civilian government.

What a truly bad idea!!!

Have you seen what happens when effective economic sanctions are put in place. The people suffer. Why would you wish that on the poor people of Thailand?

Relax and wait and see how things go over the next few hours, days, weeks. I'm hoping that Thailand will be having elections in August.

[WhizBang]

Very strange timing for the army to enforce martial law.

The talks are deadlocked but they have been for months now so I wonder why now?

Maybe suteps threat for his last final push to get a million on the streets which was just another hollow threat however the reds reaction of heading to bangkok might have swayed them to act but why now?

Quite clearly the bias is once again been shown by the army shutting the red tv channel while the yellow channels are free to operate .

The reaction from the reds is going to be interesting as sutep has been allowed free reign in bangkok for 6 months now and all his allies or what he thought were allies in the end did not back so it upped the ante once again.

I don't know why the military moved now as I don't see what's going to achieve in the long run instead of making a bad situation worse.

The people of Thailand once again see demroracy hijacked.!

Well if CAPO was actually about ensuring peace and order, instead of constantly issuing threats and intimidation against the people and independant agencies, and if it were run by truely neutral people, instead of just being an arm of the red propaganda machine, then perhaps the military would not have had to act.

My guess is that the military got intel telling them the armed reds were on the move and decided to short circuit the situitation before it got outta hand.

Democracy hijacked? Seriously? What democracy? Thailand has not been a democracy for years, if indeed, ever.

[mijan24]

Please listen this should answer all or at least most of your questions.

http://soundcloud.co...red-in-thailand

[mijan24]

The OP details what martial law entails very well.

I would like to see more TV posts discussing the legal contortions involved declaring this particular state of martial law

How did they do it, and on who's authority, legally?

What is the legal framework used to get a state of martial law declared?

Obviously, the situation in Thailand is quite unique. Most developed countries would have the government inform the military that martial law has been declared and instruct them to carry out their duties as required by law. What's the deal here?

Isn't this really a coup? (If it walks like a duck?)

How did they do it, and on who's authority, legally? It says they need a Royal Decree to end Martial Law so this should tell where the authority came from.

Legal framework - what planet are you from - We are talking Martial Law - Cast your mind back to the Phillipines - the legal framework is the Authority to take back control for the good of the country.

Now you say Thailand is a developed country - if this is correct why do they still receive AID ?? in reality a 2nd class 2nd world country at best teeting on the brink of returning to a 3rd world country if things continue as they are .

http://soundcloud.co...red-in-thailand

[pkspeaker]

THAT'S GOING TO BE THE BIG ISSUE!

On the one hand, if there is martial law then the EC/military has no excuse not to proceed with election, the election will be protected by martual law, that means no election sabotage unless the military floats the ridiculous notion that we can't have an election becase not even they can protect it..

On the other hand CAPO was backing the current caretaker govt against this senate appointed non-sense, with CAPO replaced by CRES-what happenes if the senate proceeds and then CRES backs the senate-that's civil war time or at least another big central bkk red rally to insist the senate PM authorize a snap election (2010 again)

hmmm...first martial law, then probably a new PM appointed by the Senate...this is all playing out nicely and more or less as expected.

In fact, it means no such thing. The govt remains in office even in the context of martial law. This simply removes from the streets the groups in conflict.