Rushing democracy is anything but 'wise'

[MaxYakov]

The editorial does not cite the sources for statements that were allegedly made through official statements. I did find this:

US State Department "Coup Thailand" Press Statement - Secretary of State John Kerry - May 22, 2014

The first sentence uses the word "unjustified" in reference to the coup and not to potential future elections:

"I am disappointed by the decision of the Thai military to suspend the constitution and take control of the government after a long period of political turmoil, and there is no justification for this military coup."

Does anyone have knowledge of official US government statements referring to potential future elections in Thailand?

Update: Apparently, the editorial is based on a statement by a "spokesperson" (described as "Washington") for the US State Department according to this: Reuters Article dated 12/23/2014

Edited December 27, 2014 by MaxYakov

[Bob12345]

the bottom line is 'we are not ready for elections yet, until we have put right the wrongs and cleaned up the mess sanctioned by the past governments.' I ask you with hat in hand, how can we go forward with life as it was in the past? we were like the blind leading the blind across a busy intersection,

Rumble. you are dead right.... " we were like the blind leading the blind".. and that is why Thailand is NOT ready for the ballot box. Thailand needs clever smart and "honest" business peoples to lead this country. Not the shambles of present politicians that we all know so well.. ie, Chalerm .. who could not tie his shoelaces... Yinluck.. too worried about how she looked... Thaksin, trying to bribe everyone always...

Almost to the man, the last government did not have a person with a real University degree. Bought degrees and stupid degrees every last one of them. Pigs to the trough the whole bunch. Almost No MPs attend the house.. unless ordered by Mr T. Too busy with their many Mia-nois . And wine-tasting parties... Can Thailand not find some scholars/businesspeoples to lead this wonderfull country along an honest path.

Until that can happen the Junta will stay put... not the best for sure , but at present the only path to follow. Where are the young people of Thailand.. Time for them to stand up and be counted. Thailands smart,clever young peoples have gone overseas to study and DON'T want to return... Don't want to come back to this cesspit of corruption and prostitution.. And can anyone blame them... Rant finished... Good day to all TV posters...

Painfully ignorant.

Every country needs "smart and honest people to lead", but how do you plan on measuring if someone is "smart" or "honest"? Most countries settled for checks and balances, you know, those things that the junta is now trying to remove (no independent court, journalists get scolded for asking questions, etc).

You seem to equate being smart to having university degrees. Guess you never went to university as that would probably change your mind. And funny how you do seem to support the junta. Where did the current PM get his university degree? Oh wait ....

Remarkable how you are able to mention some of the bad politicians, but only give examples of one side. Did you forget the other side by accident or is it part of your agenda to only highlight one side? Your summary of the "shambles of present politicians" is pathetic by the way and in no way based on facts.

[jpeg]

Until that can happen the Junta will stay put... not the best for sure , but at present the only path to follow. Where are the young people of Thailand.. Time for them to stand up and be counted.

Um, they tried that - three finger salutes/reading 1984 in public/eating sandwiches , and were promptly arrested. By the junta. Way to go for those proclaiming they 'welcome opinions from the public'. Aka, the Thai CITIZENRY.

[RubbaJohnny]

Isnt a political system to represent the interests of the greatest number it can? To do the greatest good it can. Who says a democratic system does this? China's comments that the US is interventionist is absolutely true. The US's interventionist policy under the auspices of democracy, especially its military interventionist policy of invasion, has taken more civilian lives throughout history than any other political system, far from doing the greatest good. I havent seen China do this, nor does history show China having killed so many innocents or invaded anywhere as near as many countries. The truth of who is really representing the interests of the greatest number of people is there ... if we bother to look instead of read. We are 7 billion people ... not just a couple hundred million ... and most of us do not want war imposed on us by any government system. I wouldnt rush into democracy in its current practice either. Look at America, its gone from In God We Trust to now In Guns We Trust. imo.

China has invaded and occupied

Tibet

Eastern Turkmenistan

Korea and Vietnam in my lifetime

Having lived there you also learn of the wicked KMT who killed so many communists standing up for wicked democracy and may well of have saved China until stabbed in the back by the western democracies in 1949 and 1973 when Nixon recognised communism.

What they don't teach in Nanda is the Great leap backwards the gang of four and the starvation running at 25-44 million during the mad Maoist schemes by my professor.

Wiki describes at the largest mass slaughter in history forget the so called deaths of a few jesw russians or germans this was more than all of these combined and a direct result of an assualt on their own people.

The Great Leap Forward (simplified Chinese: 大跃进;traditional Chinese: 大躍進; pinyin: Dà yuè jìn) of thePeople's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China(CPC) from 1958 to 1961. The campaign was led byMao Zedong and aimed to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a communistsociety through rapid industrialization andcollectivization. The campaign caused the Great Chinese Famine.

Chief changes in the lives of rural Chinese included the introduction of a mandatory process ofagricultural collectivization, which was introduced incrementally. Private farming was prohibited, and those engaged in it were labeled as counter-revolutionaries and persecuted. Restrictions on rural people were enforced through public struggle sessions, and social pressure, although people also experienced forced labor.^[1] Rural industrialization, officially a priority of the campaign, saw "its development ... aborted by the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward."^[2]

The Great Leap ended in catastrophe, resulting in tens of millions of deaths.^[3] Estimates of the death toll range from 18 million^[4] to 45 million,^[5] with estimates by demographic specialists ranging from 18 million to 32.5 million.^[4] Historian Frank Dikötterasserts that "coercion, terror, and systematic violence were the very foundation of the Great Leap Forward" and it "motivated one of the most deadly mass killings of human history".^[6]

[CarlTyson]

Soon as I read the headline I knew it was from The Nation.

Anti democracy, just like the army and pathetic Thai elite class.

[Krataiboy]

Wonder why this editorial is anonymous. Maybe someone was just taking dictation?

[rickirs]

Thailand hasn't had a real democracy for the last eighty years interspersed with 13 military coups, so I wouldn't say that the USA is asking Thailand to rush to democracy.

[rickirs]

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

Isnt a political system to represent the interests of the greatest number it can? To do the greatest good it can. Who says a democratic system does this? China's comments that the US is interventionist is absolutely true. The US's interventionist policy under the auspices of democracy, especially its military interventionist policy of invasion, has taken more civilian lives throughout history than any other political system, far from doing the greatest good. I havent seen China do this, nor does history show China having killed so many innocents or invaded anywhere as near as many countries. The truth of who is really representing the interests of the greatest number of people is there ... if we bother to look instead of read. We are 7 billion people ... not just a couple hundred million ... and most of us do not want war imposed on us by any government system. I wouldnt rush into democracy in its current practice either. Look at America, its gone from In God We Trust to now In Guns We Trust. imo.

China has invaded and occupied

Tibet

Eastern Turkmenistan

Korea and Vietnam in my lifetime

Having lived there you also learn of the wicked KMT who killed so many communists standing up for wicked democracy and may well of have saved China until stabbed in the back by the western democracies in 1949 and 1973 when Nixon recognised communism.

What they don't teach in Nanda is the Great leap backwards the gang of four and the starvation running at 25-44 million during the mad Maoist schemes by my professor.

Wiki describes at the largest mass slaughter in history forget the so called deaths of a few jesw russians or germans this was more than all of these combined and a direct result of an assualt on their own people.

The Great Leap Forward (simplified Chinese: 大跃进;traditional Chinese: 大躍進; pinyin: Dà yuè jìn) of thePeople's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China(CPC) from 1958 to 1961. The campaign was led byMao Zedong and aimed to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a communistsociety through rapid industrialization andcollectivization. The campaign caused the Great Chinese Famine.

Chief changes in the lives of rural Chinese included the introduction of a mandatory process ofagricultural collectivization, which was introduced incrementally. Private farming was prohibited, and those engaged in it were labeled as counter-revolutionaries and persecuted. Restrictions on rural people were enforced through public struggle sessions, and social pressure, although people also experienced forced labor.^[1] Rural industrialization, officially a priority of the campaign, saw "its development ... aborted by the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward."^[2]

The Great Leap ended in catastrophe, resulting in tens of millions of deaths.^[3] Estimates of the death toll range from 18 million^[4] to 45 million,^[5] with estimates by demographic specialists ranging from 18 million to 32.5 million.^[4] Historian Frank Dikötterasserts that "coercion, terror, and systematic violence were the very foundation of the Great Leap Forward" and it "motivated one of the most deadly mass killings of human history".^[6]

it wasn't so much that Nixon recognized communism per se than recognizing “There is no place on this small planet for a billion of its potentially most able people to live in angry isolation” (Nixon after the 1968 election) and alignment with superpower China would serve as a counterbalance to the imperialism of the Soviet superpower. That's the old "enemy of my enemy is my friend" ploy. And Nixon also saw a billion Chinese consumers isolated economically from the world as a potential American trading partner.

[15Peter20]

Thai Democracy is - and will be - no Democracy at all. The other institutions of the land depend on this being so.

Edited December 27, 2014 by 15Peter20

[ggold]

I wonder how much interest there really is in creating a working democratic system in Thailand. When you have a caretaker PM making deals with other countries for infrastructure projects rather than concentrating on bringing that democracy to the country. Was it not the same problem before where they said signing a contract which a future civilian government might be committed to something that in reality is not good for the country because it will take future generations years to pay of the debt.

The idea that Thailand is rushing into democracy is joke. Until they actually imprison politicians for miss deeds and clean up the whole corrupt system there will never be democracy. Because these politicians actually think it is their right to literally rule over the population, when it is they who should be serving the population. Also there really doesn't seem to be any real desire for private enterprise, IMO the government control too much of what is being produced rather than relying on market forces.

in short there will never be democracy without a massive attitude change, which won't happen any time soon.

[harryfrompattaya]

Perhaps the American government concern should be the state of their own "democracy" before they worry about governments in other countries.

Yes American has so many problems as a Black Man I know but do you know the Country that most of the world poor black wish they live in I will you hint not Thailand Russia Japan or Thailand It is America they want to live in

Please do not make fun of them for wanting to live in America

[samii]

Veera is now writing for The Nation as well?

[rubl]

Poor timing, not ready for democracy, vote buying, Thai style democracy etc etc. Real cop out excused 18 times over. Always work as reasons when a coup is needed. Repeating this over and over again is insanity and still hope for an answer. Ludicrous and the yellow buying all these reasons whole sale. Allow democracy to flourish and mature and voters will learn the power in their hands to kick out the corrupt governments and bad policies. Look no further than Indonesia which thankfully have their last coup in the '60s and a dictator kicked out by people revolution and now basking in a people choice President, political stability and economic growth. What Thailand need is for the establishment to take their greedy hands off the state affairs, accept that coups are outdated and subscribed to the people mandate.

Somewhat off topic, but if you mention the last coup in Indonesia in the 60's, you should also mention that there was no further coup as the junta was still present till 1998

[kriswillems]

I wonder what the author of this article is going to write in February 2016 ...

Another delay is necessary so we can a better democracy?
Or
See, I was right back then?

Edited December 27, 2014 by kriswillems

[Strangebrew]

Rush hasn't this been on going years now? It's like dragging an unruly child by the hand. One must understand the concept of democracy before having one.

[Eric Loh]

Poor timing, not ready for democracy, vote buying, Thai style democracy etc etc. Real cop out excused 18 times over. Always work as reasons when a coup is needed. Repeating this over and over again is insanity and still hope for an answer. Ludicrous and the yellow buying all these reasons whole sale. Allow democracy to flourish and mature and voters will learn the power in their hands to kick out the corrupt governments and bad policies. Look no further than Indonesia which thankfully have their last coup in the '60s and a dictator kicked out by people revolution and now basking in a people choice President, political stability and economic growth. What Thailand need is for the establishment to take their greedy hands off the state affairs, accept that coups are outdated and subscribed to the people mandate.

Somewhat off topic, but if you mention the last coup in Indonesia in the 60's, you should also mention that there was no further coup as the junta was still present till 1998

No junta. The coup was crush by Sukarno and Suharto was appointed as vice President by Sukarno and latter as President. Trying to add a bit of shine to the current junta?

[John1thru10]

Excuses from a govt. controlled propaganda machine. "Leisurely return to democracy"...that's extremely offensive.

[kriswillems]

I think in the long term Thailand will return to some kind of pseudo democracy.

I think however that the schedule for this returns might depend on factors we can not discuss here.

[Baerboxer]

Old uncle sam still teaching democracy

What's the old saying "those that can do, those that can't do teach" ?

Seems like do as we say, even though our system is broken and is now all about money and control by the rich elite.............. eh, wait a minute................

[drand11]

Kinda comical..that they say that the last election went so poorly. Well yes, if you allow a hoodlum like Suthep blockade/ interrupt polling stations... I hardly say it was a bad election, It was simply a bad apple. Election would have been won by Yingluk.. and of course, military/ Dems & Suthwp could have none of that!!

[djjamie]

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

One could also suggest that yingluck in her capacity of defense minister knowing full well she would get decimated at the polls (which was shown through the votes that were counted and the no votes and the non voter turn out in the north where there were no protests) did not instruct her army to protect the polling stations. She sent out 10 000 police in Bangkok yet a protest leader was shot and killed by a red shirt 5 minutes from a police station and no police turned up conveniently until the red shirts escaped.

Trust me if under yingluck's watch the PTP could pass a an amnesty bill at 4am allowing her corrupt brother to return to Thailand she would have no problems holding an election on the 2nd of February if she really wanted to. She didn't want to because she knew she would get decimated and she was right.

And in fact your argument inadvertently highlights that rushing elections will bring violence. Had the elections in February been delayed until all issues had been resolved as all independent organizations requested and the EC advised then maybe, just maybe we would have a functioning elected government now. But no, as you said above the voting was blocked. No police anywhere in hot spots and the army sitting around doing nothing because the defense minister did not order them out.

So now some want to do exactly the same thing again and again and again without actually learning from the past. If people love violence that is only stopped by coups then by all means have an election tomorrow. The majority don't like violence though and these people that you said will only tolerate until the next poll was also the same people that some said would not tolerate it after the failed 2nd Feb election and the same people that would not tolerate another coup. Well guess what? They have and they will continue to. Because this majority like all majorities around the world love stability and peace because they have families and all they want to do is put bread rice on the table and live their lives.

The majority want to see democracy post elections and that is what they will patiently wait for. I have about 200 polls and a failed 2014 election that show this majority agree with me. What do you have? A 2011 election result.

Thank you for highlighting that rushing elections is not a good idea.

Edited December 27, 2014 by djjamie

[city]

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

sure they would have lost the polls, because they don't have enough money to do the vote buying like the man in Dubai.

H90..... Would you like a link to several references (on this forum) of a senior Democrat admitting (in a radio interview) his party spent more than Thaksins and yet still lost the election. I know I pasted it several times. The truth is millions of unsolicited, unpaid, educated people vote for the boss and thats why Abhisit cannot win an election...he has zero charm and appeal and he is associated with all the things that are bad about Thailand

[gchurch259]

Old uncle sam still teaching democracy

Uncle Sam no longer has a "True Democracy" if they ever had one. I was born, raised and lived in U.S. until 11 years ago. The Founding Fathers establish a Republic. The last two or three generations of liberals who believe in "Instant Gratification" and "The Government Owes Me" are destroying our country. Also, when more people vote than are registered that is not a fair election.

You are right, get your own house in order before you tell others how to run their country.

[city]

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

One could also suggest that yingluck in her capacity of defense minister knowing full well she would get decimated at the polls (which was shown through the votes that were counted and the no votes and the non voter turn out in the north where there were no protests) did not instruct her army to protect the polling stations. She sent out 10 000 police in Bangkok yet a protest leader was shot and killed by a red shirt 5 minutes from a police station and no police turned up conveniently until the red shirts escaped.

Trust me if under yingluck's watch the PTP could pass a an amnesty bill at 4am allowing her corrupt brother to return to Thailand she would have no problems holding an election on the 2nd of February if she really wanted to. She didn't want to because she knew she would get decimated and she was right.

And in fact your argument inadvertently highlights that rushing elections will bring violence. Had the elections in February been delayed until all issues had been resolved as all independent organizations requested and the EC advised then maybe, just maybe we would have a functioning elected government now. But no, as you said above the voting was blocked. No police anywhere in hot spots and the army sitting around doing nothing because the defense minister did not order them out.

So now some want to do exactly the same thing again and again and again without actually learning from the past. If people love violence that is only stopped by coups then by all means have an election tomorrow. The majority don't like violence though and these people that you said will only tolerate until the next poll was also the same people that some said would not tolerate it after the failed 2nd Feb election and the same people that would not tolerate another coup. Well guess what? They have and they will continue to. Because this majority like all majorities around the world love stability and peace because they have families and all they want to do is put bread rice on the table and live their lives.

Thank you for highlighting that rushing elections is not a good idea.

I am right in thinking you really dont know anything.

[Thai at Heart]

"However, it if (sic) for the people of Thailand to decide exactly when an election should be held."

So just when do "the people" get to decide?

The argument is always the same and also a false arguement.

The excuse is always the people are not ready for democracy etc etc since there is no such thing as a people that are ready in a society for any major change that comes to pass it is a false argument. There are always some who will never be ready or disagree, the first reason is the intended failure of successive governments to make the people more ready and lift up the standard of education to the masses, the second reason is those in control do not wish to give up the power they wield and will do everything in their power to maintain their status quo rather than have it diluted.

The masses are never the engineers of change it is always a key few that ignites any movement, the people merely get behind a movement and provide the numbers later as it grows. Certain well educated individuals and groups understand this very well and continue to reset the rules, constitution etc and goalposts. Rather than let a change run its course and go through the necessary mistakes and growing pains and get to the learning phase Thailand always resets at the first hurdle.

As a nation ​it cannot move beyond because TPTB refuse to make the sacrifices necessary to progress.

A very good Thai documentary called paradoxacracy and Thai history since the first coup through to present day, its available in both Thai and with English subtitles. An interesting watch and points of view from some well respected Thai academics and historians deals with this again revisited paradox about readiness, freedoms, democracy and the Thai people.

It always surprises me how Thailand appears terrified of freedom of thought and choices for the people.

All over the world people rejoiced at being given increased freedoms. Thais however appear petrified at the possibility of anything other than the "right" result.

Whatever the may be.

[djjamie]

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

One could also suggest that yingluck in her capacity of defense minister knowing full well she would get decimated at the polls (which was shown through the votes that were counted and the no votes and the non voter turn out in the north where there were no protests) did not instruct her army to protect the polling stations. She sent out 10 000 police in Bangkok yet a protest leader was shot and killed by a red shirt 5 minutes from a police station and no police turned up conveniently until the red shirts escaped.

Trust me if under yingluck's watch the PTP could pass a an amnesty bill at 4am allowing her corrupt brother to return to Thailand she would have no problems holding an election on the 2nd of February if she really wanted to. She didn't want to because she knew she would get decimated and she was right.

And in fact your argument inadvertently highlights that rushing elections will bring violence. Had the elections in February been delayed until all issues had been resolved as all independent organizations requested and the EC advised then maybe, just maybe we would have a functioning elected government now. But no, as you said above the voting was blocked. No police anywhere in hot spots and the army sitting around doing nothing because the defense minister did not order them out.

So now some want to do exactly the same thing again and again and again without actually learning from the past. If people love violence that is only stopped by coups then by all means have an election tomorrow. The majority don't like violence though and these people that you said will only tolerate until the next poll was also the same people that some said would not tolerate it after the failed 2nd Feb election and the same people that would not tolerate another coup. Well guess what? They have and they will continue to. Because this majority like all majorities around the world love stability and peace because they have families and all they want to do is put bread rice on the table and live their lives.

Thank you for highlighting that rushing elections is not a good idea.

I am right in thinking you really dont know anything.

Your inability to articulate a constructive rebuttal only strengthens my argument.

Thank you.

[selftaopath]

Rule of Law is to democracy. How long does it take to implement that ? IMO Thai's really don't want REAL democracy. They want to whatever they want whenever they want. They are undeveloped children... basically. No one takes responsibility for themselves and could not care less about the good of the country. It's ALWAYS me me me with Thais.

[hanuman2543]

"However, it if (sic) for the people of Thailand to decide exactly when an election should be held."

So just when do "the people" get to decide?

The argument is always the same and also a false arguement.

The excuse is always the people are not ready for democracy etc etc since there is no such thing as a people that are ready in a society for any major change that comes to pass it is a false argument. There are always some who will never be ready or disagree, the first reason is the intended failure of successive governments to make the people more ready and lift up the standard of education to the masses, the second reason is those in control do not wish to give up the power they wield and will do everything in their power to maintain their status quo rather than have it diluted.

The masses are never the engineers of change it is always a key few that ignites any movement, the people merely get behind a movement and provide the numbers later as it grows. Certain well educated individuals and groups understand this very well and continue to reset the rules, constitution etc and goalposts. Rather than let a change run its course and go through the necessary mistakes and growing pains and get to the learning phase Thailand always resets at the first hurdle.

As a nation ​it cannot move beyond because TPTB refuse to make the sacrifices necessary to progress.

A very good Thai documentary called paradoxacracy and Thai history since the first coup through to present day, its available in both Thai and with English subtitles. An interesting watch and points of view from some well respected Thai academics and historians deals with this again revisited paradox about readiness, freedoms, democracy and the Thai people.

Can you provide a link, because on YouTube I can find only a version in Thai and no subtitles.

[rubl]

Poor timing, not ready for democracy, vote buying, Thai style democracy etc etc. Real cop out excused 18 times over. Always work as reasons when a coup is needed. Repeating this over and over again is insanity and still hope for an answer. Ludicrous and the yellow buying all these reasons whole sale. Allow democracy to flourish and mature and voters will learn the power in their hands to kick out the corrupt governments and bad policies. Look no further than Indonesia which thankfully have their last coup in the '60s and a dictator kicked out by people revolution and now basking in a people choice President, political stability and economic growth. What Thailand need is for the establishment to take their greedy hands off the state affairs, accept that coups are outdated and subscribed to the people mandate.

Somewhat off topic, but if you mention the last coup in Indonesia in the 60's, you should also mention that there was no further coup as the junta was still present till 1998

No junta. The coup was crush by Sukarno and Suharto was appointed as vice President by Sukarno and latter as President. Trying to add a bit of shine to the current junta?

What with Maj-Gen. Suharto taking 'his' armed forces to counter the coup and oust Pres. Sukarno and play 'puppetmaster', may I be excused for this obviously bad example of what history learns us about democratic regimes

[Cthulhu]

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

One could also suggest that yingluck in her capacity of defense minister knowing full well she would get decimated at the polls (which was shown through the votes that were counted and the no votes and the non voter turn out in the north where there were no protests) did not instruct her army to protect the polling stations. She sent out 10 000 police in Bangkok yet a protest leader was shot and killed by a red shirt 5 minutes from a police station and no police turned up conveniently until the red shirts escaped.

Trust me if under yingluck's watch the PTP could pass a an amnesty bill at 4am allowing her corrupt brother to return to Thailand she would have no problems holding an election on the 2nd of February if she really wanted to. She didn't want to because she knew she would get decimated and she was right.

And in fact your argument inadvertently highlights that rushing elections will bring violence. Had the elections in February been delayed until all issues had been resolved as all independent organizations requested and the EC advised then maybe, just maybe we would have a functioning elected government now. But no, as you said above the voting was blocked. No police anywhere in hot spots and the army sitting around doing nothing because the defense minister did not order them out.

So now some want to do exactly the same thing again and again and again without actually learning from the past. If people love violence that is only stopped by coups then by all means have an election tomorrow. The majority don't like violence though and these people that you said will only tolerate until the next poll was also the same people that some said would not tolerate it after the failed 2nd Feb election and the same people that would not tolerate another coup. Well guess what? They have and they will continue to. Because this majority like all majorities around the world love stability and peace because they have families and all they want to do is put bread rice on the table and live their lives.

Thank you for highlighting that rushing elections is not a good idea.

I am right in thinking you really dont know anything.

Your inability to articulate a constructive rebuttal only strengthens my argument.

Thank you.

Frankly mate your preposterous drivel is not worthy of a rebuttal. It's got more holes in it than a Swiss cheese. Talk about standing reality on its head.

When it comes to re-writing history with unsupported assertions you really are in a class of your own.

Tell us, "Why does a 25 year old Aussie spend his days singing the praises of an authoritarian military junta whose only legitimacy is the control of lethal force?"