Army 'needs martial law to shield itself'

[rijb]

I think the positive forecasts are based on predictions for a stronger global economy... not on anything the government has done so far.

[Skywalker69]

It also appeared that the red shirt "elite" thought they were invincible with their "mandate" from the people to trample over due process which eventually led to the coup.

You miss my point. Taksin could have been voted out. No chance other than one faction within another deposing a military dictatorship. Aka, Junta .

You miss my point. Taksin could have been voted out.

When?

[watcharacters]

Oh, dear. He has to choose between his brother and his buddy. How stressful that must be. Maybe everyone should just back off and give the poor guy room to breathe.

Why? How much room or time does a person need to set the country right? Anyone with an ounce of sense knows what is happening so using the same old I need time to make change happen doesn't cut it with people.

The holding on to power and keeping peoples freedom and liberties at bay is all to do with massing as much power as possible, changing the way politics can happen here, so there will never be a 'true democracy' in Thailand

Sad.

I'm curious to know Gravy what you think is the obvious thing this guy should do. I am absolutely sincere and not winding you up.

[scorecard]

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

Anyone remember this story from a month ago? alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/army-chief-reacts-coolly-gen-chavalits-counter-coup-remark

Wow some real zingers in that story from Chavalit..... So guess elections in his eyes

are a bad thing ? No wonder Thailand is in such trouble.

"He viewed that if the prime minister comes from election or elected by the people, then it might breach the power of the king as past appointments came from royal commands."

Chavalit is well known for his intelligence, as prime minister he wanted all signs, road direction signs etc in Thai only, sod the tourists.

Plus, after the 1997 crisis his plan (he was pm) was to start thousands of Thai restaurants abroad and send the profits home and that would fix everything.

Never mind that not that many restaurants make big money.

Never mind that they would be managed by a Thai gov't agency with little ability to grow profits etc.

Never mind that controlling cost / ensuring no leakage would be difficult and very costly.

Never mind that the overall proceeds sent home would be, in terms of the costs of running a country, very small indeed.

Never mind that this would not create sorely needed large numbers of jobs at home.

Edited January 3, 2015 by scorecard

[mikemac]

So martial law is for the benefit of the military not the country ?

" Unexpected problems that may arise " can cover simply anything that's not approved of.

If the PM is under too much pressure it's self inflicted injury as he didn't seek the role and the pressure, he took it.

I wish he had not taken the role on, would have been much better if he stepped back and let the entire population, including the north-eastern people, turn on the Shins.

It was beginning to happen and would have been much more fun to watch.

(I truly believe the main reason the coup happened was because of the redshirts killing innocent people on the streets)

Mike, there is none so blind as he who will not see.

All your posts offer excuses for this pathetic farce which gets more pathetic by the day.

There never will be a better way to allow the Thai people to work out how their democracy will work than letting them elect their own governments.

All this is doing is keeping the military and their masters in power at the expense of the people.

Your feeble attempts to bring the "shins" into every post as some sort of excuse to justify this ongoing (20 coups) interference by the military in Thailands burgeoning democracy are transparent.

Read your history.

bob, do you honestly believe the people had any say in what was going on before the military stepped in ?

Stop posting bs about my posts, they certainly do not offer excuses for the junta, I would be as happy as anyone else if there was an honest, democratic government in power, but I am yet to see that so far.

Your spreading lies about other TVF members will get you nowhere.

You are right about being blind, as you seem to to be blind to the fact that is a lot more to democracy than having elections.

[rickirs]

"There are uncertainties in the Army. The decision-making is done from many sources of power in the Army."

Civilians incorrectly view the military as a monolithic organization that is insulated from societal influences such as those that affect civilian decisions. It isn't.

When one gets into officer country, internal politics rule the organization in a fashion that is much more similar to a fraternity than to any elected civilian government. Long term personal friendships, loyalties, and personal agendas become more important than ideology. It's more about who you can trust. While the military publicly abhors the conflict of interests it sees as "corruption" in civilan governance such as political party favoritism or nepotism, it is no less internally with its own brand of conflict of interests.

If you look closely at the NCPO you'll see derisiveness among the ranks. Gen. Prayuth is its Chief most likely by concensus that is not necessarily confined to NCPO/military membership. He does not necessarily dictate the activities of its flag officers nor does he solely provide its strategic direction. While his decision to occupy the prime minister position preserves direct military control over rebuilding civilian governance, it also created a partition with the NCPO that allows the NCPO deniability for any of his "missteps," ie., the economy, the electoral system, censorship. It is probable that, unless his policies become immensively successful, on Prayuth's one-year anniversary as prime minister he will "retire" to be succeeded by another NCPO member - essential another coup.

[how241]

Don't be surprise if Thailand does not become a military state. Or maybe it has already.

Many Thais don't really care about such things as long as it doesn't affect their money.

[DaffyDuck]

Oh, dear. He has to choose between his brother and his buddy. How stressful that must be. Maybe everyone should just back off and give the poor guy room to breathe.

And the military government is different from the government of Thaksin how exactly? .

Oh, the usual 'somtam experts' will tell you "elections" - albeit, when pressed backpedal that "it's not all elections" - essentially, talking with these confused, uninformed people is like attempting to have a discussion with Libertarian kids in the USA - good luck getting them to actually clarify their positions, or explain how their utopia is to allegedly to be arrived at.

You'll keep getting the same scripted chorus - "elections" or "barrel of a gun". Come to think of it, it's almost identical to talking to Libertarians. Wouldn't surprise me if most of them had the same utopian leanings.

[EnglishJohn]

This thread is so full of BS and monstrous double-standards, it's not true.

I followed events very closely and what happened to cause the coup was pretty straightforward:

Pheu-Thai refused point blank to allow any political reform before a new election. They were 100% prepared to use every means in their power to prevent it. This slid into open terrorist attacks against innocent protestors of the WORST kind : grenades being firing randomly into crowds.

As things were getting more desperate, Prayuth got them all together (a deliberate act) and gave them a chance to back away from the killing. They refused and so he took control. They refused because they had no power to agree : that decision was taken from a luxury hotel room in Dubai long before the meeting.

The rest is all just a consequence of that decision. Once Prayuth had made the decision, he had no choice but to follow the current path, and to commit to it 100%.

I have no reason to prefer one side over another. I form my opinions by following the news over time and things become pretty clear if your glasses are not tinted red or yellow.

Nobody wants this Junta, but all you people whining about it are blaming the wrong people. Of course, there's nothing new there. I've met very few Thais who will accept the consequence of their actions : they always blame somebody else.

[brucec64]

The army has M16's field guns,tanks, modern fighter aircraft and they need a shield to protect themselves ?

Quite correct and a pertinent point.

They use martial law as their weapon because unlike the UDD and PTP backed they refuse to use their war weapons on the people of Thailand.

Where were you in 2010? Or 1992?

[heybruce]

If it's not bad enough this bloke with the mood swings taking over the via the barrel of a gun now we have the military in possible conflict with itself .

As for the army needing martial law to shield itself that's just another excuse to keep the boot on the throats of the thai people while they rort the system to keep the true peoples government out.

Where is this barrel of a gun you keep mentioning?

He saved the country from the barrel of a gun. He saved the majority who do not like violence from the 7% that thrive on it to further their political agenda.

Remember the daily terrorist attacks pre coup? Do you remember? That was not fought with flowers.

Then on the day of the coup Prayut brought all parties together and asked them to sort their differences out. He didn't shot anyone, didn't hurt anyone, didn't kill anyone, didn't maim anyone. He asked them to sort their differences out. Guess what? With their fate in their own hands they told Prayut they will not sort those differences out. So he removed them and the barrel of the gun vanished ergo the terrorist attacks stopped.

I wonder what your views would be had the army killed 28 and injured over 700 innocent people over a 7 month period and the PTP came in and stopped it.

Good PTP I assume.

The Junta need martial law because the innocent blood on the streets of Bangkok and Trat are still fresh on their minds. The majority need it because they do not hold violence in a good light.

I see you're back to tossing out numbers without references again. Where does you 7% come from? And on the subject of "the 7% that thrive on it to further their political agenda", do you think the junta doesn't have a political agenda?

"I wonder what your views would be had the army killed 28 and injured over 700 innocent people over a 7 month period and the PTP came in and stopped it."

Actually that's a low casualty count considering the number of protesters determined to topple the elected government and stop future elections. How many innocents were killed or injured during the New Year's weekend? Should the military have used martial law to stop all New Year's festivities?

[yellowboat]

This thread is so full of BS and monstrous double-standards, it's not true.

I followed events very closely and what happened to cause the coup was pretty straightforward:

Pheu-Thai refused point blank to allow any political reform before a new election. They were 100% prepared to use every means in their power to prevent it. This slid into open terrorist attacks against innocent protestors of the WORST kind : grenades being firing randomly into crowds.

As things were getting more desperate, Prayuth got them all together (a deliberate act) and gave them a chance to back away from the killing. They refused and so he took control. They refused because they had no power to agree : that decision was taken from a luxury hotel room in Dubai long before the meeting.

The rest is all just a consequence of that decision. Once Prayuth had made the decision, he had no choice but to follow the current path, and to commit to it 100%.

I have no reason to prefer one side over another. I form my opinions by following the news over time and things become pretty clear if your glasses are not tinted red or yellow.

Nobody wants this Junta, but all you people whining about it are blaming the wrong people. Of course, there's nothing new there. I've met very few Thais who will accept the consequence of their actions : they always blame somebody else.

Interesting; so both parties are equally to blame, and because there was no enforcement of civil order there was a coup ? I thought this all came about because of a pardon for Thaksin Shinawatra.

[EyesWideOpen]

This thread is so full of BS and monstrous double-standards, it's not true.

I followed events very closely and what happened to cause the coup was pretty straightforward:

Pheu-Thai refused point blank to allow any political reform before a new election. They were 100% prepared to use every means in their power to prevent it. This slid into open terrorist attacks against innocent protestors of the WORST kind : grenades being firing randomly into crowds.

As things were getting more desperate, Prayuth got them all together (a deliberate act) and gave them a chance to back away from the killing. They refused and so he took control. They refused because they had no power to agree : that decision was taken from a luxury hotel room in Dubai long before the meeting.

The rest is all just a consequence of that decision. Once Prayuth had made the decision, he had no choice but to follow the current path, and to commit to it 100%.

I have no reason to prefer one side over another. I form my opinions by following the news over time and things become pretty clear if your glasses are not tinted red or yellow.

Nobody wants this Junta, but all you people whining about it are blaming the wrong people. Of course, there's nothing new there. I've met very few Thais who will accept the consequence of their actions : they always blame somebody else.

Interesting; so both parties are equally to blame, and because there was no enforcement of civil order there was a coup ? I thought this all came about because of a pardon for Thaksin Shinawatra.

And 25,000 other corruption cases that were going to be dismissed as well... :-)

[heybruce]

I've watched every one of Dear Leader's Friday spiels. There's nothing in the world like them. Last night was his shortest yet, 30 minutes. and the major topic, bike lanes. But consider his dilemma, he had no photo-ops to show us and can't bring up the subject of the tanking economy. What next week? 20 minutes of garlic chicken recipes?

The Thaitanic sails on.

Can't bring up the subject of the tanking economy? What!!! He could talk for hours on the economy.

The SET couldn't be stronger under the Junta? Look at the graph here. Look at Thailand inflation rate here. That is going in the right direction as well. Look at the GDP growth rate here. Thats looking pretty good as well heay. Consumer confidence has gone through the roof here. Couple that with consumer spending here that is looking very health. Business confidence is plodding along nicely here.

In fact take a look at all the graphs and they are similar to any countries that was healing after being crippled by a rotten entity.

Unlike the majority on here that are retired I actually work and have a Thai crew. Pre coup we were working for an Aussie mine in Laos because the work was drying up in Thailand due to the instability. We are currently in Sudan after a small break back home over xmas because of the rippling effect of this pre coup instability, but mark my words since the 22nd of May and the slow recovery after the UDD and PTP backed violence has stopped the work is mounting up back home. My crew are itching to come home to work now. My crew vote as well. My crew love stability ergo they respect what the Junta are achieving. My crew reflect what the majority are echoing.

And all the economic indicators back up what my Thai crew reflect as well. It is this narrative the Junta cannot control that hold them in a good light.

Cheers from my crew!

The World Bank is predicting that Thailand will remain the slowest growing economy in southeast Asia through 2016 http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/10/thailands-economy.

Your Laos and Sudan references gives a possible reason for your fondness for military government, it seems you prefer to work with totalitarian governments.

[yellowboat]

This thread is so full of BS and monstrous double-standards, it's not true.

I followed events very closely and what happened to cause the coup was pretty straightforward:

Pheu-Thai refused point blank to allow any political reform before a new election. They were 100% prepared to use every means in their power to prevent it. This slid into open terrorist attacks against innocent protestors of the WORST kind : grenades being firing randomly into crowds.

As things were getting more desperate, Prayuth got them all together (a deliberate act) and gave them a chance to back away from the killing. They refused and so he took control. They refused because they had no power to agree : that decision was taken from a luxury hotel room in Dubai long before the meeting.

The rest is all just a consequence of that decision. Once Prayuth had made the decision, he had no choice but to follow the current path, and to commit to it 100%.

I have no reason to prefer one side over another. I form my opinions by following the news over time and things become pretty clear if your glasses are not tinted red or yellow.

Nobody wants this Junta, but all you people whining about it are blaming the wrong people. Of course, there's nothing new there. I've met very few Thais who will accept the consequence of their actions : they always blame somebody else.

Interesting; so both parties are equally to blame, and because there was no enforcement of civil order there was a coup ? I thought this all came about because of a pardon for Thaksin Shinawatra.

And 25,000 other corruption cases that were going to be dismissed as well... :-)

So much for Thai law and universal sufferage.

[heybruce]

This thread is so full of BS and monstrous double-standards, it's not true.

I followed events very closely and what happened to cause the coup was pretty straightforward:

Pheu-Thai refused point blank to allow any political reform before a new election. They were 100% prepared to use every means in their power to prevent it. This slid into open terrorist attacks against innocent protestors of the WORST kind : grenades being firing randomly into crowds.

As things were getting more desperate, Prayuth got them all together (a deliberate act) and gave them a chance to back away from the killing. They refused and so he took control. They refused because they had no power to agree : that decision was taken from a luxury hotel room in Dubai long before the meeting.

The rest is all just a consequence of that decision. Once Prayuth had made the decision, he had no choice but to follow the current path, and to commit to it 100%.

I have no reason to prefer one side over another. I form my opinions by following the news over time and things become pretty clear if your glasses are not tinted red or yellow.

Nobody wants this Junta, but all you people whining about it are blaming the wrong people. Of course, there's nothing new there. I've met very few Thais who will accept the consequence of their actions : they always blame somebody else.

"Pheu-Thai refused point blank to allow any political reform before a new election. "

Why should an elected government surrender power to a street mob? What was wrong with holding elections and letting the people resolve the political gridlock by voting?

Oh yeah, there was a minority party that refused to accept the results of monitored elections. Shouldn't the military have taken action against this group?

[heybruce]

Oh, dear. He has to choose between his brother and his buddy. How stressful that must be. Maybe everyone should just back off and give the poor guy room to breathe.

Didn't some of the excuses for the coup involve charges of nepotism and cronyism in the old government?

I have a sudden urge to play "Won't be fooled again" by The Who very loud.

[Thai at Heart]

I had been under the impression that martial law was imposed to protect the country from upheaval,or civil strife. While this itself is debatable, this article now tells us that martial law is needed to somehow " protect the army".. From what, the article does not tell us, though it does tell us there may be rivalaries wthin the military which could lead to conflict. Unwittingly, the article thereby provides the ultimate argument for democratic elections as the only sustainable means of reglme change in the world of politics. As the article implies, military coups and martial law only breed more military coups and martial law - and that a recipe for disaster.

You had a very wrong impression than. Which upheaval ?

The one CREATED ad hoc to justify the coup ?

The upheaval was the first stage of the incoming coup. Even Suthep said so.

I see how 80 years and 18 coups are still not enough for people to understand that IT IS ALWAYS THE SAME STORY.

When will you realize it ? In the 2050 after the coup number 32 or 33 ?

Costa Rica is the happiest country in the planet because it has no army at all. End of the problems. It doesn't even need a big income to make people happy. No army no cry.

There are still some people believing that democracy can be improved by destroying it, rather than improving it. Very funny indeed. If you can name a single country in the world which is prosper and free thank to its army and coups .....Do you search, take your time,I am waiting....wake me up when you find an answer...thanks

Indeed, the apparent intervention caused by orchestrated protests and the eventual coup to prevent corruption only to be replaced by this lot?

Out of the frying pan into the fire.

Until the judicial system is freed of political interference, nothing is going to change. I promise.

[heybruce]

So martial law is for the benefit of the military not the country ?

" Unexpected problems that may arise " can cover simply anything that's not approved of.

If the PM is under too much pressure it's self inflicted injury as he didn't seek the role and the pressure, he took it.

I wish he had not taken the role on, would have been much better if he stepped back and let the entire population, including the north-eastern people, turn on the Shins.

It was beginning to happen and would have been much more fun to watch.

(I truly believe the main reason the coup happened was because of the redshirts killing innocent people on the streets)

"would have been much better if he stepped back and let the entire population, including the north-eastern people, turn on the Shins.'

I have been posting since shortly after the coup that a July election, when Yingluck and the PTP were at a low point in popularity, would have been an excellent opportunity to reduce or remove the Shinawatra political influence democratically. Starry eyed Prayuth fans, who regarded him as the savior of Thailand, objected to the idea.

Weren't you (Aren't you?) one of those starry eyed Prayuth fans?

[Thai at Heart]

This thread is so full of BS and monstrous double-standards, it's not true.

I followed events very closely and what happened to cause the coup was pretty straightforward:

Pheu-Thai refused point blank to allow any political reform before a new election. They were 100% prepared to use every means in their power to prevent it. This slid into open terrorist attacks against innocent protestors of the WORST kind : grenades being firing randomly into crowds.

As things were getting more desperate, Prayuth got them all together (a deliberate act) and gave them a chance to back away from the killing. They refused and so he took control. They refused because they had no power to agree : that decision was taken from a luxury hotel room in Dubai long before the meeting.

The rest is all just a consequence of that decision. Once Prayuth had made the decision, he had no choice but to follow the current path, and to commit to it 100%.

I have no reason to prefer one side over another. I form my opinions by following the news over time and things become pretty clear if your glasses are not tinted red or yellow.

Nobody wants this Junta, but all you people whining about it are blaming the wrong people. Of course, there's nothing new there. I've met very few Thais who will accept the consequence of their actions : they always blame somebody else.

John, as much as you might like it, the politics of mob rule aren't a practical way to run a country. Hence why this junta banned them

How many people might turn out to demand the removal of the junta if they were allowed?

[heybruce]

You guys are missing what is really going on. There will be a seismic power shift occurring in

a few years in Thailand. Thus the military wants to be sure they are in the proper spot so as

to not get shut out. The old cycle was the piggies getting too greedy at the feeding trough, a coup

to throw out the piggies for around a year, then vote buying elections, and then fresh piggies at the

trough. The military learned its lesson from the coup of 2006, when after the coup was over a

Thaksin surrogate was right back in the driver's seat. So that will not be happening again..

The military will be running the government for years to come. Hence the constant evasion

when he is asked about elections. When Prayut first took power, I was pretty impressed with

his seeming crackdown on corruption. Only realized later that what appeared to be a crackdown

was really a purge of specific people with the wrong connections. The other corrupted people

are still in power, and still have mansions with Ferraris in the garage........ Pongpat with his

60 billion baht of money stolen from the Thai people was just a tiny peek behind the curtain

of what is really going on in this country.

"You guys are missing what is really going on. There will be a seismic power shift occurring in

a few years in Thailand. Thus the military wants to be sure they are in the proper spot so as

to not get shut out."

Correct, the western press is finally figuring what many in Thailand knew from the start. I'd post a few links, but they would result in the post being deleted.

"Only realized later that what appeared to be a crackdown

was really a purge of specific people with the wrong connections."

Really? You didn't see that right away?

[DoctorB]

This thread is so full of BS and monstrous double-standards, it's not true.

I followed events very closely and what happened to cause the coup was pretty straightforward:

Pheu-Thai refused point blank to allow any political reform before a new election. They were 100% prepared to use every means in their power to prevent it. This slid into open terrorist attacks against innocent protestors of the WORST kind : grenades being firing randomly into crowds.

As things were getting more desperate, Prayuth got them all together (a deliberate act) and gave them a chance to back away from the killing. They refused and so he took control. They refused because they had no power to agree : that decision was taken from a luxury hotel room in Dubai long before the meeting.

The rest is all just a consequence of that decision. Once Prayuth had made the decision, he had no choice but to follow the current path, and to commit to it 100%.

I have no reason to prefer one side over another. I form my opinions by following the news over time and things become pretty clear if your glasses are not tinted red or yellow.

Nobody wants this Junta, but all you people whining about it are blaming the wrong people. Of course, there's nothing new there. I've met very few Thais who will accept the consequence of their actions : they always blame somebody else.

Unfortunately for this narrative you've left out the key player; yes, Suthep and his barmy army.

For six months they blocked the traffic, caused immense disruption to ordinary people going about their business, were guilty of just as much violence as the PTP people and ultimately obstructed and caused the abandonment of free elections. On the basis of Suthep's subsequent comments it is almost certain that the whole point of the exercise was to bring about the coup; ie he was simply acting as an agent provocateur for the military.

Your version of events is rather like the Second World War without Hitler.

[whybother]

The army has M16's field guns,tanks, modern fighter aircraft and they need a shield to protect themselves ?

I would think that is a perfect reason why they need martial law. Would you prefer them to use their armoury instead?

[Thai at Heart]

The army has M16's field guns,tanks, modern fighter aircraft and they need a shield to protect themselves ?

I would think that is a perfect reason why they need martial law. Would you prefer them to use their armoury instead?

But as John higher up mentioned, apparently whenever there is a mob a government is suppose to cave in. Apparently this govt according to him.intervened because of the attacks on the protesters. And terrible they were too.

I presume in another time, this govt would be just as accomodating of a mob protesting their overthrow. I mean, its not as though the army has any experience of shooting its own people.

[mikemac]

So martial law is for the benefit of the military not the country ?

" Unexpected problems that may arise " can cover simply anything that's not approved of.

If the PM is under too much pressure it's self inflicted injury as he didn't seek the role and the pressure, he took it.

I wish he had not taken the role on, would have been much better if he stepped back and let the entire population, including the north-eastern people, turn on the Shins.

It was beginning to happen and would have been much more fun to watch.

(I truly believe the main reason the coup happened was because of the redshirts killing innocent people on the streets)

"would have been much better if he stepped back and let the entire population, including the north-eastern people, turn on the Shins.'

I have been posting since shortly after the coup that a July election, when Yingluck and the PTP were at a low point in popularity, would have been an excellent opportunity to reduce or remove the Shinawatra political influence democratically. Starry eyed Prayuth fans, who regarded him as the savior of Thailand, objected to the idea.

Weren't you (Aren't you?) one of those starry eyed Prayuth fans?

heybruce, you are at least as misguided as your mad uncle jayboy. Calling me a starry eyed Prayuth fan who regarded him the savior of Thailand really shows how out of touch you are.

But if flaming me makes you feel better go ahead, they are only words, and nobody takes much notice anyway. . And remind uncle to take his nasty pills will ya ?

[DoctorB]

You guys are missing what is really going on. There will be a seismic power shift occurring in

a few years in Thailand. Thus the military wants to be sure they are in the proper spot so as

to not get shut out. The old cycle was the piggies getting too greedy at the feeding trough, a coup

to throw out the piggies for around a year, then vote buying elections, and then fresh piggies at the

trough. The military learned its lesson from the coup of 2006, when after the coup was over a

Thaksin surrogate was right back in the driver's seat. So that will not be happening again..

The military will be running the government for years to come. Hence the constant evasion

when he is asked about elections. When Prayut first took power, I was pretty impressed with

his seeming crackdown on corruption. Only realized later that what appeared to be a crackdown

was really a purge of specific people with the wrong connections. The other corrupted people

are still in power, and still have mansions with Ferraris in the garage........ Pongpat with his

60 billion baht of money stolen from the Thai people was just a tiny peek behind the curtain

of what is really going on in this country.

"You guys are missing what is really going on. There will be a seismic power shift occurring in

a few years in Thailand. Thus the military wants to be sure they are in the proper spot so as

to not get shut out."

Correct, the western press is finally figuring what many in Thailand knew from the start. I'd post a few links, but they would result in the post being deleted.

"Only realized later that what appeared to be a crackdown

was really a purge of specific people with the wrong connections."

Really? You didn't see that right away?

The western press is not "finally figuring what many in Thailand knew from the start". The Economist magazine figured it out within about a week of the coup. Needless to say the article was rapidly blocked.

Most Thais know what the coup was about; they just daren't talk about it. That is the ultimate folly; a ruling elite that is not willing or confident enough to prepare its own people for the biggest change of their lifetime.

[Thai at Heart]

You guys are missing what is really going on. There will be a seismic power shift occurring in

a few years in Thailand. Thus the military wants to be sure they are in the proper spot so as

to not get shut out. The old cycle was the piggies getting too greedy at the feeding trough, a coup

to throw out the piggies for around a year, then vote buying elections, and then fresh piggies at the

trough. The military learned its lesson from the coup of 2006, when after the coup was over a

Thaksin surrogate was right back in the driver's seat. So that will not be happening again..

The military will be running the government for years to come. Hence the constant evasion

when he is asked about elections. When Prayut first took power, I was pretty impressed with

his seeming crackdown on corruption. Only realized later that what appeared to be a crackdown

was really a purge of specific people with the wrong connections. The other corrupted people

are still in power, and still have mansions with Ferraris in the garage........ Pongpat with his

60 billion baht of money stolen from the Thai people was just a tiny peek behind the curtain

of what is really going on in this country.

"You guys are missing what is really going on. There will be a seismic power shift occurring in

a few years in Thailand. Thus the military wants to be sure they are in the proper spot so as

to not get shut out."

Correct, the western press is finally figuring what many in Thailand knew from the start. I'd post a few links, but they would result in the post being deleted.

"Only realized later that what appeared to be a crackdown

was really a purge of specific people with the wrong connections."

Really? You didn't see that right away?

The western press is not "finally figuring what many in Thailand knew from the start". The Economist magazine figured it out within about a week of the coup. Needless to say the article was rapidly blocked.

Most Thais know what the coup was about; they just daren't talk about it. That is the ultimate folly; a ruling elite that is not willing or confident enough to prepare its own people for the biggest change of their lifetime.

The riduclous bit is the expats on here claiming that the coup was to rid Thailand of the so called evil shins and so a coup was justified.

All absolute nonsense and this particular coup may well roll Thailand back about 50 years in terms of freedoms.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Thai at Heart

[soalbundy]

The army has M16's field guns,tanks, modern fighter aircraft and they need a shield to protect themselves ?

I would think that is a perfect reason why they need martial law. Would you prefer them to use their armoury instead?

It was meant to be taken with humour. I remember a man moaning about his wife's engagement for the protection of the grizzly bear,''They weigh 450 pounds, can kill a man with a single blow of its paw and they need protection'' ?

[candide]

I've watched every one of Dear Leader's Friday spiels. There's nothing in the world like them. Last night was his shortest yet, 30 minutes. and the major topic, bike lanes. But consider his dilemma, he had no photo-ops to show us and can't bring up the subject of the tanking economy. What next week? 20 minutes of garlic chicken recipes?

The Thaitanic sails on.

Can't bring up the subject of the tanking economy? What!!! He could talk for hours on the economy.

The SET couldn't be stronger under the Junta? Look at the graph here. Look at Thailand inflation rate here. That is going in the right direction as well. Look at the GDP growth rate here. Thats looking pretty good as well heay. Consumer confidence has gone through the roof here. Couple that with consumer spending here that is looking very health. Business confidence is plodding along nicely here.

In fact take a look at all the graphs and they are similar to any countries that was healing after being crippled by a rotten entity.

Unlike the majority on here that are retired I actually work and have a Thai crew. Pre coup we were working for an Aussie mine in Laos because the work was drying up in Thailand due to the instability. We are currently in Sudan after a small break back home over xmas because of the rippling effect of this pre coup instability, but mark my words since the 22nd of May and the slow recovery after the UDD and PTP backed violence has stopped the work is mounting up back home. My crew are itching to come home to work now. My crew vote as well. My crew love stability ergo they respect what the Junta are achieving. My crew reflect what the majority are echoing.

And all the economic indicators back up what my Thai crew reflect as well. It is this narrative the Junta cannot control that hold them in a good light.

Cheers from my crew!

The World Bank is predicting that Thailand will remain the slowest growing economy in southeast Asia through 2016 http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/10/thailands-economy.

Your Laos and Sudan references gives a possible reason for your fondness for military government, it seems you prefer to work with totalitarian governments.

That's right. Some important indicators have been omitted (quote from The Economist):

"This year it is likely to grow by only about 1%, far less than in 2013 (see chart). Consumer spending has recovered somewhat since the coup. But investment, tourism, exports and industrial output are all down."

Anyway the whole reasonning is based on the assumption that a "neutral" Junta has stopped confrontation between two opposing political sides. But Junta and PDRC are just different modalities of the same political movement. Suthep's mobs failed (at least directly) as the number of protesters has regularly decreased since Feb 2014, the judicial coup failed (could get rid of YL, but not of the caretaker government), so the only modality left was the military coup.

So this political movement, through different modalities, is responsible for 3% to 4% GDP loss in 2014 (1% or less compared to forecast of 4 to 5.2%), that is between around THB 400 billion and THB 500 billion

List of initial forecasts here (including IMF and Worldbank)

http://www.mfa.go.th/business/contents/files/eco-factsheet-20131220-100445-235435.pdf

[bobmac10]

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I had been under the impression that martial law was imposed to protect the country from upheaval,or civil strife. While this itself is debatable, this article now tells us that martial law is needed to somehow " protect the army".. From what, the article does not tell us, though it does tell us there may be rivalaries wthin the military which could lead to conflict. Unwittingly, the article thereby provides the ultimate argument for democratic elections as the only sustainable means of reglme change in the world of politics. As the article implies, military coups and martial law only breed more military coups and martial law - and that a recipe for disaster.

You bring up a good point; why is martial law needed to protect the army?

Under normal circumstances the army already has its own justice system. If they have internal problem it will come for a military court no matter if there is martial law or not.

The reason they need to keep martial law is either that they will clean up the civilian justice system (unlikely given their track record) or they will walk over basic human rights soon again, which can involve civilian courts, and they have no plan whatsoever to take responsibility for it.

I'm not for this Mob at all , but i can see why they don't want to relax Marshall law , If they relax it and everything turns to pooh in a few months you could find a secondary coup being on the cards. Also if they are forever relaxing it and then imposing it when things start to go tits , it will lose its significance

As things begin to go pear shaped and the hoped-for boost in the economy has not happened, the blame game begins between the various factions in the military.

Yes the people are very angry and they are just cooling their heels, that's why martial law remains.

Dear leader is now beginning to see what a can of worms he has opened, it's not as easy as it looks.

The people of Thailand are a lot more politically savvy than they were even ten years ago and they are waiting for the chance to have their say at the ballot box again.

No the yellows won't stand a chance, they are too integrated into the Bangkopk power elite and everone knows it.

So the old general has to try to hang on, save face and somehow extricate himself from this mess.

As Bunuel says, coups and martial law only breed more military coups and martial law, trying to hold back the tide.

What will it take for them to wake up?