Ghosts of Tak Bai still haunt us 10 years on

[rametindallas]

Who was the PM at that time? Maybe the red cheerleaders or Mr. Amsterdam's forum bashers care to answer that question.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed regret for the deaths but said there had been no wrongdoing by military personnel

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

Other histories:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~mctanano/sawadee/currently.htm

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/thailand0807/5.htm

Ironically Mr T eventually paid the price by in 2005 appointing Sonthi Boonyaratglin as Chief for the armed forces. He was handpicked by Mr T because he was from the south and a muslim!!

A year later Gen Sonthi paid back the trust by staging a coup!!

Karma is a bitch!!

So, you think the coup settled Thaksin's account with Karma? It will take ten lifetimes for Thaksin to pay for his bad Karma. He needs to have some terrible shitting disease that doesn't kill him for twenty years as a start.

[rametindallas]

Tak Bai and the Drug War, two events that stain Thaksin's Premiership, but just how much of the blame should truly rest with him?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country - what should we good people think of individuals who hold those particular views?

Tak Bai and the Drug War, two events that stain Thaksin's Premiership

Two events among hundreds. Minimize the evils of Thaksin, much?

but just how much of the blame should truly rest with him?

100% because it was all his idea and the police were in his pocket to do with any way he wanted. Brown nose apologist, much?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country

What was the rate of death from drugs before Thaksin's Drug War? What was the rate of death during Thaksin's Drug War? You got a lot of <deleted> nerve to quote morons and amoral lackeys (that's what I think of individuals who hold those particular views) that the Drug War actually saved lies. I'm going to include YOU as one of those individuals who hold the view that lives were saved or else you wouldn't have posted such claptrap. Excuse mass murder, much?

BTW, 'Some say' that Stalin and Pol Pot were nice people who were just misunderstood. How about you stop quoting 'Some say' and give your own opinion instead of hiding your own opinion behind 'Some say'. 'Some say' is YOU.

I've been following your posts and they make me sick.

[mrtoad]

Should be haunting that Desert Criminal.

[Bluespunk]

Tak Bai and the Drug War, two events that stain Thaksin's Premiership, but just how much of the blame should truly rest with him?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country - what should we good people think of individuals who hold those particular views?

How much blame should rest with thaksin?

How about all of it?

Yep, that works for me.

To each their own.

How about the last bit, what works for you there?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country - what should we good people think of individuals who hold those particular views?

The drugs war was nothing but extra judicial butchery. Many of those executed were not involved or just poor sods whose lives were ruined by drug addiction.

Anyone who thinks this was a good thing is an idiot.

Clear enough.

[jayboy]

Who was the PM at that time? Maybe the red cheerleaders or Mr. Amsterdam's forum bashers care to answer that question.

Seriously? You use this rather decent editorial from the Nation (that in itself is enough reason to celebrate - they are rare) to pursue your blinkered agenda? Some people want to put the country back together, whereas you seem want to be part of the problem.

Try telling this 'blinkered agaenda' to the relatives of those who died in this atrocity, To solve Thailand's recent political problems and to move on we need to go back in time and start prosecuting those that were and still are responsible for the mess we've landed in. And the main culprit is that pathetic little billionaire residing in a desert country that start with 'Du' and ends with 'ai'.

The relatives of those who died in this appalling tragedy know full well who were the murdererers at Tak Bai.the responsibility fell squarely on the shoulders of the Thai army - always unaccountable for its crimes.

For all of Thaksin's heartless comments at the time he was not the culprit - though a more honourable man might have resigned given he was PM.

[KevinB]

Ratcatcher - Thanks for posting the Videos. We can blame Thaksin - but I still think, like so many other massacre in WWII, the Vietnam War and Bosnia (and hundreds of other conflicts), it is always the Military on the ground getting out of hand either due to the natural violence and cruelty of the troops - driven by their own lack of understanding of cultural norms or racial insensitivity and importantly - the poor command structure or conversely sadistic and particularly cruel nature of the officer corps in charge.

We can hardly blame the President of the USA for the Mai Lai massacre or what happened at Abu Grav prison - sick soldiers who lacked the humanity to understand that they were dealing with humans (possibly because of their and a command structure that lost touch with what was happening.

But thanks again for two part video presentation - it is something we should never forget and we should also remember that some of the smug officers watching they troops do they "duty" are around today and someone in civil society should identify them and name them.

The importance of Tak Bai is that it partly explains the current violence it the South and some of the callous bombing campaigns the insurgents have carried out - so often now-a-days (post 9-11) is that we strongly condemn Muslim terrorists without remembering that in some ways WE started it.

[Denim]

It was the Army that was on the ground and responsible for these deaths. Ultimately it can be argued that the Prime Minister and/or Minister of Defence, nominally in charge of the Army was responsible, but do you think that any politician of whatever political persuasion is going to go up against the military. Nineteen military coups in recent history is a stark reminder of who is the boss, and therefore don't have to answer for their actions to anyone.

True. The military are a law unto themselves ( as we have recently seen ) and whoever is prime minister has to cover for them.

Abhisit found this out with the Rohingya.

They have done some truly terrible things on ' their own initiative ' such as the red drum killings where hundreds were said to have been burnt alive in oil drums on trumped up charges of being communists at Phattalung. All the locals got by way of apology was a memorial.

[Robespiere]

Tak Bai and the Drug War, two events that stain Thaksin's Premiership, but just how much of the blame should truly rest with him?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country - what should we good people think of individuals who hold those particular views?

Tak Bai and the Drug War, two events that stain Thaksin's Premiership

Two events among hundreds. Minimize the evils of Thaksin, much?

but just how much of the blame should truly rest with him?

100% because it was all his idea and the police were in his pocket to do with any way he wanted. Brown nose apologist, much?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country

What was the rate of death from drugs before Thaksin's Drug War? What was the rate of death during Thaksin's Drug War? You got a lot of <deleted> nerve to quote morons and amoral lackeys (that's what I think of individuals who hold those particular views) that the Drug War actually saved lies. I'm going to include YOU as one of those individuals who hold the view that lives were saved or else you wouldn't have posted such claptrap. Excuse mass murder, much?

BTW, 'Some say' that Stalin and Pol Pot were nice people who were just misunderstood. How about you stop quoting 'Some say' and give your own opinion instead of hiding your own opinion behind 'Some say'. 'Some say' is YOU.

I've been following your posts and they make me sick.

Morons and amoral lackeys, excusing mass murder - I agree wholeheartedly.

Some say is not me, do a little research.

2,500 deaths is a small price to pay.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Robespiere

[Robespiere]

Tak Bai and the Drug War, two events that stain Thaksin's Premiership, but just how much of the blame should truly rest with him?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country - what should we good people think of individuals who hold those particular views?

How much blame should rest with thaksin?

How about all of it?

Yep, that works for me.

To each their own.

How about the last bit, what works for you there?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country - what should we good people think of individuals who hold those particular views?

The drugs war was nothing but extra judicial butchery. Many of those executed were not involved or just poor sods whose lives were ruined by drug addiction.

Anyone who thinks this was a good thing is an idiot.

Clear enough.

I agree with your post, but I'm not sure you realise who you're calling an idiot.

[jayboy]

How much blame should rest with thaksin?

How about all of it?

Yep, that works for me.

To each their own.

How about the last bit, what works for you there?

Some say that the Drug War actually saved lives and therefore was a good thing for the country - what should we good people think of individuals who hold those particular views?

The drugs war was nothing but extra judicial butchery. Many of those executed were not involved or just poor sods whose lives were ruined by drug addiction.

Anyone who thinks this was a good thing is an idiot.

Clear enough.

I agree with your post, but I'm not sure you realise who you're calling an idiot.

Excellent point.Well meaning but ignorant foreigners who have been primed to loathe Thaksin and his influence often invoke crimes like Tak Bai and the drugs "war" in the hope of blackening further their bete noir's reputation (as if there were not enough personal missteps by Thaksin in other areas to make a critical case).

Thaksin's policy for the South was hopeless but didn't differ from that of the Thai establishment in important essentials.The army was given a free hand with the results at Tak Bai and elsewhere that are familiar to all.

The drugs war in particular is often mentioned presumably because of the high body count, in their eyes a key and necessary point in their indictment of Thaksin because unlike one of his successors he did not preside over the deaths of civilians on the Bangkok streets.As you delicately point out those who want to tie Thaksin alone into this "war" may not realise the wide support for it within the Thai establishment, including some current players.If these foreigners had the wit to observe and understand, they might notice that even the most fervent high level Thai enemies of Thaksin do not talk much about the drugs war or (to a lesser extent) Tak Bai.This isn't an accident.There is a reason for it - their own support or even complicity

[fab4]

It was the Army that was on the ground and responsible for these deaths. Ultimately it can be argued that the Prime Minister and/or Minister of Defence, nominally in charge of the Army was responsible, but do you think that any politician of whatever political persuasion is going to go up against the military. Nineteen military coups in recent history is a stark reminder of who is the boss, and therefore don't have to answer for their actions to anyone.

True. The military are a law unto themselves ( as we have recently seen ) and whoever is prime minister has to cover for them.

Abhisit found this out with the Rohingya.

They have done some truly terrible things on ' their own initiative ' such as the red drum killings where hundreds were said to have been burnt alive in oil drums on trumped up charges of being communists at Phattalung. All the locals got by way of apology was a memorial.

Hundreds? Try 3000 odd between 1972 and 1975 - and it's not hearsay.

[billd766]

Who was the PM at that time? Maybe the red cheerleaders or Mr. Amsterdam's forum bashers care to answer that question.

Seriously? You use this rather decent editorial from the Nation (that in itself is enough reason to celebrate - they are rare) to pursue your blinkered agenda? Some people want to put the country back together, whereas you seem want to be part of the problem.

Was he correct in what he said or not?

The PTP don't seem to want to help to put Thailand back together and won't participate in helping as it is not "their" agenda.