Thai year-old coup imposes superficial calm but little else

[The Deerhunter]

There are many benefits from having Law and Order restored.

I can cross Bangkok without having to worry about being shot or bombed by a red-shirted terrorist.

Business owners and shopkeepers can get on with their liveliehoods without fear of being maimed or killed by political protesters.

Yes we can isolate a few, frankly not very important other than to a very small number of people, areas - but plenty of people are reading the Bangkok Post which is clearly anti-Junta aren't they.

Hopefully the Government will really tackle the methods used by vote rigging, vote buying would be MPs. When they are caught they should be banned from public life in any capacity for life along with all who helped them. Their Parties should be fined out of existence.

If we do not stamp out political corruption and vote buying - we will never get rid of the Shinawatra plagues.

Did you ever try to remove a cone from Lumpini at night?

The odd think was I walked through many parts of Bangkok, I was never afraid, I was smart though, when they said the protest areas were volatile places to be, I took that as my cue of staying the F away from them.

Nice to see the vote buying cropping up again, despite it being a total red herring, Abhist and Korn don't whine about this as much as Farangs do, They have the right to cast a vote, the cry baby farangs... well, dry your eyes, cause you don't!!

Want to beat vote buying? simples, have something in common with the people you want to vote for you, and have better policies than ALL the other candidates.

Quote 1. "The odd think was I walked through many parts of Bangkok, I was never afraid, I was smart though, when they said the protest areas were volatile places to be, I took that as my cue of staying the F away from them." Yeah, smart is right FH. You just gotta know where it is safe to wear that red tee-shirt and where to stay the f away from when you are. Same with yellow shirts. Bangkok under siege in 2010 or 2014 was a scary place, except I think for someone (not you or me) who might have been in the middle of a big yellow parade unless they were passing under a motorway overpass, of course.

Quote 2. "Want to beat vote buying? simple, have something in common with the people you want to vote for you, and have better policies than ALL the other candidates." Yes Thaksin did just that...... then the megalomania took control, and he turned out to be a bigger robber & crook than the ones he supplanted. Mate, he had it all, and blew it. Face up to the truth & get over it. Of course up north, there are misguided millions who still believe he was/is Robin Hood & Lee Kwan Yew rolled into one! Very sad. He could have been, but greed and power seduced him, not to mention the pushing from behind.

Edited May 23, 2015 by The Deerhunter

[Thaidream]

I would tend to agree that the UK has a much better form of Democracy than the United States and yes there are exceptions. However, do you really believe this student can ever be a Minster or Prime Minister? Possibly in the UK. Absolutely impossible in the United States. Democracy is a dying system. There just is no replacement- Yet.

[LivinLOS]

I'll take a "superficial calm" any day over what was about to happen.... an all out civil war with the likely deaths of thousands and a splitting of the country into "Thaksinland" and the rest of Thailand....

What nonsense.. One side just needs to learn, when you lose an election you retreat, design new policy platforms and campaign..

The yellows simply wont accept that they are a minority and cant have their way.

10% lives in bangkok (and gets 70% of the countries tax revenue)

30% lives in Isaan and gets 6% of the revenue..

And its the rural poor who ask for too much !!

[Thaidream]

The poster has a good point. There is no doubt the Reds have a case to make. However, their methods are flawed. They need a new leader who is charismatic and can negotiate with the other side in good faith. No one that I know wants to return to the days of mobs -from either side- roaming about. Most of the Thais I speak to are tired of either side. The same attitude that exists in the United States. Is there anyone out there who can step forward and grab the mantle?

[Fat Haggis]

I'll take a "superficial calm" any day over what was about to happen.... an all out civil war with the likely deaths of thousands and a splitting of the country into "Thaksinland" and the rest of Thailand....

And your basis of this was what? your opinion only?

Not a single Country put out a danger warning calling for all it's citizens to flee the Kingdom due to civil war being imminent

Not a single Intelligence agency believed civil war was about to unfold.

There has already been a civil war ongoing for the past 10 years in the South.

There was never the logistical support to launch a civil war, what were they going to use weapons wise?

Who was going to go to war? All the reds against all the yellows?

Why was the whole of the Royal Thai Army not on a war footing, Ports and Airports under Military control?

Thaksinland and the rest of Thailand? Do you mean the whole of the country against Bangkok?

What makes you think the Thais have the stomach to go all out and engage each other where thousands will have been killed?

By stating there would have been an all out civil war, it would be safe to say you believe the "yellows/Non Thaksin" elements to be sufficiently armed to protect themselves, and at some stage go on the offensive?

Do you honestly believe the RTA would have been able to function after mass desertions with lots of soldiers returning home to defend their families from reds/yellows/and greens?

How much military knowledge do you posses, to be able to begin to fathom how much logistics, from basics like Ammunition, Vehicles and POL (fuel) required to mobilise even 1,000 hardcore fighters on both sides? considering the magic number of 7% keeps getting mentioned as to the strength of the UDD, that by the way is a whopping 4.5 MILLION people, I doubt the Chinese Army could mobilise this much at short notice.

Who would command the sides considering you still have Army officers within the RTA who are loyal to Thaksin in some shape or form..

So the claims/boast of having a million guns (by your PTP/UDD/TCP heroes) was a totally responsible and therefore completely benign and unthreatening porkie?

Not my heroes, but if you care to show in all of my 3000 odd posts where I've declared any support for the Reds, be my guest, unlike you, I don't do heroes in Thailand, all my heroes were friends and colleague who bled and died in Iraq and Afghanistan, there isn't a single Thai worthy of that sort of worship. I'll leave that up to the fan boys here

Personally I think Thaksin and the PTP and the UDD are a shower of intimate female anatomy.

But the claims of having a million guns? Yep an exaggeration, and a headline grabber, tell me Inspector Clouseau, has a million guns been recovered in all these arms seizure, which pretty much dried up after the first few months of the coup, and at best, in total, there wasn't enough to outfit a Battalion (6-700 men) and certainly not enough to wage and maintain a civil war, which if you've read up on generally last 5+ years.

You are familiar with how much ammo would be needed to go along with these million guns? And how much would be needed to wage and conduct any sort of war, never mind a civil one?

So yeah based on my own experiences in a semi civil war, nope, I didn't rate the UDD capable then, and even less capable now.

didn't your heroes keep stating things like, we will have a million on the streets, and "this is the final push" ad nauseum !!

Didn't one of your heroes also state "there will be no coup" .... what about those porkies?

[metisdead]

Off topic deflection posts and replies have been removed.

[Baerboxer]

"...and no input from the Pheu Thai party it toppled or their supporters, who likely still represent a majority of the electorate."

Nothing but junta propaganda polls say any different.

PTP have never ever represented a majority of the electorate.

Typing that lie in bold won't turn it into truth either.

[ThaiUser]

What is better - a superficial calm or a deep, bleeding cut? Thailand and its people are unfit for democracy. As soon as Prayut steps back, the kerfuffle will start again, with some loud, superficial idiots ranting on stages, common people acting as they were police or army, red shirts burning down the capital with their superficial leaders also ranting on stage, etc... it will never end until all Thai people agree to keep their holes shut for the 4 years any party has been elected into government and the parties agree to get votes through good governance and solid programs, but not by buying them.

Since all that are things Thais would never follow suit, because they are "oh, so free", I fear that democracy (if there ever was a true democracy in Thailand) will never return, especially not in times where such a mountain of odds and such an array of possible negative outcomes are blocking the path.

Everyone, including the human rights commissioners, who has better ideas on how to govern under the given circumstances should approach Prayuth and provide his idea for solutions. I believe I even read in a much older thread that he asked people to come forward with ideas. If the people don't grab this chance they also have none to very little right to rant about nothing being done or moan about superficial achievements.

Honestly, I don't envy Prayuth for the position he is in. Id' say it's a catch 22.

Again here we have a vile runt against the Thai people and no surprise here your endorsement that they are unfit for democracy. I have lived a long time abroad and have seen demonstrations there that were peaceful but also ones that ended in violence. Common people that acted as they were police also were employed, normally called security guards but some of them and their behaviour certainly showed similarity to the Thai guards you mention.

Gagging people (you called it to keep their holes shut) isn’t a way in a democracy but is fit for systems that a Pinochet or a Franco run; two generals that also installed their brand on democracies onto their countries.

There is a one thing Thai have to learn and that is not to allow the political mercenaries paid by their masters to infiltrate their demonstrations. These people are paid to do the dirty work for their leaders and in that respect red and yellow are guilty of it.

The problems in Thailand with ideas placed in front of the people that govern the country and go contrary to what they want are going to be rejected, which is another facet of Thai politics. No compromise because it could be regarded as weakness.

Still there is hope, because prior to the coup I have seen local councils that had PT and Democrat representatives discuss local politics and come to a consensus and arrive at a decision.

Maybe the elites that have ruled the country for decades should take a look at the local level how democracy had worked instead of repeating mistakes by installing democracy from the top.

[Pinot]

I think he's done a fantastic job.

Here in Phuket the beaches have never looked better. There has been a serious dent in the cesspool of corruption that was Phuket last year.

The progress here in Phuket would have been unimaginable without the coup. I'm a big supporter of the General and hope he stays in office forever. Who needs democracy?

Good to see you got your priorities straight: good looking beaches > voting rights, human rights, free press, democracy.

I suppose you were being sarcastic, but that is often hard to detect as some people type similar messages as you just did and actually mean it. So just to be sure you weren't serious, can you give some examples of the progress that has been made in the past year (specifics about the cesspool of corruption that have now been cleared up) in Phuket excluding some window dressing that happens under every government every year?

One perfect example is Surin Beach. An incredible, world class beach that was sold off to clubs and restaurants to the point where it was unrecognizable as the King's favorite beach. The General came in and laid down the law, "No Business on the King's Beach" and the word went out all over Phuket. They military demolished every business that encroached on every beach in Phuket. That is a milestone.

There is many other examples of the incredible progress that's been made here. Things like an orderly taxi cue at the airport. It was a third world cluster eff last year.

The stealing of national park land. Everything was up for sale in Phuket for a price. That shit has come to an end.

Yes, more could be done but I'll take what we've been given. The progress this year was unimaginable last year.

I was on the front lines trying to stop the encroachment on the beaches. Taking photos and trying to get the local rags to point out what was happening. It was like trying to stop a tsunami with a sponge.

There has been incredible progress and it could only have been accomplished with a coup. I fear the day Thailand goes back to the way it was before. Eff democracy, I'm serious!

How about renewing a visa at the Phuket Immigration shithole? That's all changed. Bribes are no longer standard operating procedure.

Anybody else got other examples? Things have changed for the better, but everyone knows the future is tentative.

Edited May 23, 2015 by Pinot

[northernjohn]

I'll take a "superficial calm" any day over what was about to happen.... an all out civil war with the likely deaths of thousands and a splitting of the country into "Thaksinland" and the rest of Thailand....

all true

The really galling thing about it was every one knew it could not go on the way it was going. Prayut called a conference with all the parties involved for the next day to work it out. They All showed up and they all said the same thing they would not do any thing to change it. He gave them an hour to talk it over and they still maintained they would not do any thing to stop it. It was at that point when he informed them the situation had to change they were unwilling to do it. So they would not have to worry about it any more he would do it for them.

Pretty sad when your elected officials sanction violence like that. There refusal to try and change it amounted to sanctioning it.

[northernjohn]

I think he's done a fantastic job.

Here in Phuket the beaches have never looked better. There has been a serious dent in the cesspool of corruption that was Phuket last year.

The progress here in Phuket would have been unimaginable without the coup. I'm a big supporter of the General and hope he stays in office forever. Who needs democracy?

Good to see you got your priorities straight: good looking beaches > voting rights, human rights, free press, democracy.

I suppose you were being sarcastic, but that is often hard to detect as some people type similar messages as you just did and actually mean it. So just to be sure you weren't serious, can you give some examples of the progress that has been made in the past year (specifics about the cesspool of corruption that have now been cleared up) in Phuket excluding some window dressing that happens under every government every year?

One perfect example is Surin Beach. An incredible, world class beach that was sold off to clubs and restaurants to the point where it was unrecognizable as the King's favorite beach. The General came in and laid down the law, "No Business on the King's Beach" and the word went out all over Phuket. They military demolished every business that encroached on every beach in Phuket. That is a milestone.

There is many other examples of the incredible progress that's been made here. Things like an orderly taxi cue at the airport. It was a third world cluster eff last year.

The stealing of national park land. Everything was up for sale in Phuket for a price. That shit has come to an end.

Yes, more could be done but I'll take what we've been given. The progress this year was unimaginable last year.

I was on the front lines trying to stop the encroachment on the beaches. Taking photos and trying to get the local rags to point out what was happening. It was like trying to stop a tsunami with a sponge.

There has been incredible progress and it could only have been accomplished with a coup. I fear the day Thailand goes back to the way it was before. Eff democracy, I'm serious!

How about renewing a visa at the Phuket Immigration shithole? That's all changed. Bribes are no longer standard operating procedure.

Anybody else got other examples? Things have changed for the better, but everyone knows the future is tentative.

Not to mention the number of police that have been transferred out of the positions they had while they are being investigated and the number of arrests for corruption. It is only the beginning. It will take years to get it all in as good an order as any country can. This is what Prayut said when he first stepped in. He said there would be an election and there would still be work to do after it.

Only two kinds of people can't figure out why every thing is not perfect now. Thaksinites and idiots.

[bobmac10]

I like it calm

Don't miss the red shirts shooting or burning down something

Or the yellowshirts barricading themselves inside the international airport and halting all flights, out bound and inbound, causing huge damage to the tourism industry.

[bobmac10]

I think he's done a fantastic job.

Here in Phuket the beaches have never looked better. There has been a serious dent in the cesspool of corruption that was Phuket last year.

The progress here in Phuket would have been unimaginable without the coup. I'm a big supporter of the General and hope he stays in office forever. Who needs democracy?

Good to see you got your priorities straight: good looking beaches > voting rights, human rights, free press, democracy.

I suppose you were being sarcastic, but that is often hard to detect as some people type similar messages as you just did and actually mean it. So just to be sure you weren't serious, can you give some examples of the progress that has been made in the past year (specifics about the cesspool of corruption that have now been cleared up) in Phuket excluding some window dressing that happens under every government every year?

One perfect example is Surin Beach. An incredible, world class beach that was sold off to clubs and restaurants to the point where it was unrecognizable as the King's favorite beach. The General came in and laid down the law, "No Business on the King's Beach" and the word went out all over Phuket. They military demolished every business that encroached on every beach in Phuket. That is a milestone.

There is many other examples of the incredible progress that's been made here. Things like an orderly taxi cue at the airport. It was a third world cluster eff last year.

The stealing of national park land. Everything was up for sale in Phuket for a price. That shit has come to an end.

Yes, more could be done but I'll take what we've been given. The progress this year was unimaginable last year.

I was on the front lines trying to stop the encroachment on the beaches. Taking photos and trying to get the local rags to point out what was happening. It was like trying to stop a tsunami with a sponge.

There has been incredible progress and it could only have been accomplished with a coup. I fear the day Thailand goes back to the way it was before. Eff democracy, I'm serious!

How about renewing a visa at the Phuket Immigration shithole? That's all changed. Bribes are no longer standard operating procedure.

Anybody else got other examples? Things have changed for the better, but everyone knows the future is tentative.

Not to mention the number of police that have been transferred out of the positions they had while they are being investigated and the number of arrests for corruption. It is only the beginning. It will take years to get it all in as good an order as any country can. This is what Prayut said when he first stepped in. He said there would be an election and there would still be work to do after it.

Only two kinds of people can't figure out why every thing is not perfect now. Thaksinites and idiots.

Nice one John, we can always count on you for the brownshirts view of life.

You would have been one of the "idiots" waving and clapping Hitler because he brought stability to Germany?

[northernjohn]

I think he's done a fantastic job.

Here in Phuket the beaches have never looked better. There has been a serious dent in the cesspool of corruption that was Phuket last year.

The progress here in Phuket would have been unimaginable without the coup. I'm a big supporter of the General and hope he stays in office forever. Who needs democracy?

Good to see you got your priorities straight: good looking beaches > voting rights, human rights, free press, democracy.

I suppose you were being sarcastic, but that is often hard to detect as some people type similar messages as you just did and actually mean it. So just to be sure you weren't serious, can you give some examples of the progress that has been made in the past year (specifics about the cesspool of corruption that have now been cleared up) in Phuket excluding some window dressing that happens under every government every year?

One perfect example is Surin Beach. An incredible, world class beach that was sold off to clubs and restaurants to the point where it was unrecognizable as the King's favorite beach. The General came in and laid down the law, "No Business on the King's Beach" and the word went out all over Phuket. They military demolished every business that encroached on every beach in Phuket. That is a milestone.

There is many other examples of the incredible progress that's been made here. Things like an orderly taxi cue at the airport. It was a third world cluster eff last year.

The stealing of national park land. Everything was up for sale in Phuket for a price. That shit has come to an end.

Yes, more could be done but I'll take what we've been given. The progress this year was unimaginable last year.

I was on the front lines trying to stop the encroachment on the beaches. Taking photos and trying to get the local rags to point out what was happening. It was like trying to stop a tsunami with a sponge.

There has been incredible progress and it could only have been accomplished with a coup. I fear the day Thailand goes back to the way it was before. Eff democracy, I'm serious!

How about renewing a visa at the Phuket Immigration shithole? That's all changed. Bribes are no longer standard operating procedure.

Anybody else got other examples? Things have changed for the better, but everyone knows the future is tentative.

duplicate post

But while I am here

bobmac10

You are obviously unaware of what has been going on in Thailand. Finally we are starting to see the beginning of a new and freer Thailand. I wasn't there when Hitler took over but I do know that what they had was unacceptable it was out of control. They needed a change and they picked the wrong man. Thailand did not have to choose one a Hero stepped forward and stopped the senseless killing. Not sure how you link him to Hitler. Did you learn your history in a Thai school?

Edited May 23, 2015 by northernjohn

[ThaiUser]

I'll take a "superficial calm" any day over what was about to happen.... an all out civil war with the likely deaths of thousands and a splitting of the country into "Thaksinland" and the rest of Thailand....

And your basis of this was what? your opinion only?

Not a single Country put out a danger warning calling for all it's citizens to flee the Kingdom due to civil war being imminent

Not a single Intelligence agency believed civil war was about to unfold.

There has already been a civil war ongoing for the past 10 years in the South.

There was never the logistical support to launch a civil war, what were they going to use weapons wise?

Who was going to go to war? All the reds against all the yellows?

Why was the whole of the Royal Thai Army not on a war footing, Ports and Airports under Military control?

Thaksinland and the rest of Thailand? Do you mean the whole of the country against Bangkok?

What makes you think the Thais have the stomach to go all out and engage each other where thousands will have been killed?

By stating there would have been an all out civil war, it would be safe to say you believe the "yellows/Non Thaksin" elements to be sufficiently armed to protect themselves, and at some stage go on the offensive?

Do you honestly believe the RTA would have been able to function after mass desertions with lots of soldiers returning home to defend their families from reds/yellows/and greens?

How much military knowledge do you posses, to be able to begin to fathom how much logistics, from basics like Ammunition, Vehicles and POL (fuel) required to mobilise even 1,000 hardcore fighters on both sides? considering the magic number of 7% keeps getting mentioned as to the strength of the UDD, that by the way is a whopping 4.5 MILLION people, I doubt the Chinese Army could mobilise this much at short notice.

Who would command the sides considering you still have Army officers within the RTA who are loyal to Thaksin in some shape or form..

So the claims/boast of having a million guns (by your PTP/UDD/TCP heroes) was a totally responsible and therefore completely benign and unthreatening porkie?

Not my heroes, but if you care to show in all of my 3000 odd posts where I've declared any support for the Reds, be my guest, unlike you, I don't do heroes in Thailand, all my heroes were friends and colleague who bled and died in Iraq and Afghanistan, there isn't a single Thai worthy of that sort of worship. I'll leave that up to the fan boys here

Personally I think Thaksin and the PTP and the UDD are a shower of intimate female anatomy.

But the claims of having a million guns? Yep an exaggeration, and a headline grabber, tell me Inspector Clouseau, has a million guns been recovered in all these arms seizure, which pretty much dried up after the first few months of the coup, and at best, in total, there wasn't enough to outfit a Battalion (6-700 men) and certainly not enough to wage and maintain a civil war, which if you've read up on generally last 5+ years.

You are familiar with how much ammo would be needed to go along with these million guns? And how much would be needed to wage and conduct any sort of war, never mind a civil one?

So yeah based on my own experiences in a semi civil war, nope, I didn't rate the UDD capable then, and even less capable now.

didn't your heroes keep stating things like, we will have a million on the streets, and "this is the final push" ad nauseum !!

Didn't one of your heroes also state "there will be no coup" .... what about those porkies?

You are entitled to your opinion about us Thais and your judgment of worthiness when it comes to heroes. Still before doing it you should asked the people in Iraq and Afghanistan how they feel about your heroes and what was left of their countries after you and your colleagues left them or as the case in Afghanistan going to leave.

[heybruce]

"Thailand's junta argues it is working to create the foundation for a stable democracy, and while it does, liberties and freedom of speech that could sow division must be curtailed. "We need an environment that is conducive to dialogue, where people can speak to one another," said Maj. Gen. Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak, a junta spokesman."

Did a junta spokesman really make these two contradictory statements?

[mango66]

correctly !!

nothing have been done to end this corrupt dynastie !

They are all still alive !

[Jim walker]

A few more citizen’s arrested and they might need adjustments made prior to release so they know who to vote for in the next election.

[wowfactor10]

Its true,

The guy never ever did anything about reconciliation except locking people up..

I think all can see tensions are rising and happiness never will come.

[NongKhaiKid]

I think he's done a fantastic job.

Here in Phuket the beaches have never looked better. There has been a serious dent in the cesspool of corruption that was Phuket last year.

The progress here in Phuket would have been unimaginable without the coup. I'm a big supporter of the General and hope he stays in office forever. Who needs democracy?

Good to see you got your priorities straight: good looking beaches > voting rights, human rights, free press, democracy.

I suppose you were being sarcastic, but that is often hard to detect as some people type similar messages as you just did and actually mean it. So just to be sure you weren't serious, can you give some examples of the progress that has been made in the past year (specifics about the cesspool of corruption that have now been cleared up) in Phuket excluding some window dressing that happens under every government every year?

One perfect example is Surin Beach. An incredible, world class beach that was sold off to clubs and restaurants to the point where it was unrecognizable as the King's favorite beach. The General came in and laid down the law, "No Business on the King's Beach" and the word went out all over Phuket. They military demolished every business that encroached on every beach in Phuket. That is a milestone.

There is many other examples of the incredible progress that's been made here. Things like an orderly taxi cue at the airport. It was a third world cluster eff last year.

The stealing of national park land. Everything was up for sale in Phuket for a price. That shit has come to an end.

Yes, more could be done but I'll take what we've been given. The progress this year was unimaginable last year.

I was on the front lines trying to stop the encroachment on the beaches. Taking photos and trying to get the local rags to point out what was happening. It was like trying to stop a tsunami with a sponge.

There has been incredible progress and it could only have been accomplished with a coup. I fear the day Thailand goes back to the way it was before. Eff democracy, I'm serious!

How about renewing a visa at the Phuket Immigration shithole? That's all changed. Bribes are no longer standard operating procedure.

Anybody else got other examples? Things have changed for the better, but everyone knows the future is tentative.

Not to mention the number of police that have been transferred out of the positions they had while they are being investigated and the number of arrests for corruption. It is only the beginning. It will take years to get it all in as good an order as any country can. This is what Prayut said when he first stepped in. He said there would be an election and there would still be work to do after it.

Only two kinds of people can't figure out why every thing is not perfect now. Thaksinites and idiots.

There have been a lot of transfers for alleged corruption etc and a list of officials prepared for the scrutiny of one man with another list being readied but how many actual arrests have there been ? We can all celebrate when people start appearing in court and not simply sidelined despite the spin being put on that and hope too that arrest and court action will be across the board and not selective.

Can we ever think that names of military personnel will appear on any ' hit list ' ?

There was a Pol General of course who had been doing very well for himself completely unhindered for years but it would be disingenuous to claim his arrest as a junta success as there were other compelling factors which can't be discussed.

[fareastguy]

I liken Thailand to some of the Middle Eastern countries, they have a such a long history of fighting and corruption, a history of never conceding an inch or ever agreeing with another party & will kill each other at the drop of a hat!!!

REDS/YELLOWS are a mirror image of each other... like siblings in a dysfunctional family who cannot be in the same room together for 5 minutes without scrapping, wanting to take what the other one has while their own pockets are full to bursting point, not because they really want it or even need it, just to stop the other one from having it .

They couldn't see above the edge of the trough they were feeding at... however while they were squabbling over the spoils of being in charge of the country the rest of the population were trying to earn a living to stay alive on a daily basis, earn a few hundred baht to eat & send their children to school, while the fat cats were getting richer with populist policies the poorer were getting poorer.

So a coup ensued to try to restore order to an out-of touch & out-of control government... yes a ceasefire if you like to use the term.

Ceasefires are usually enforced by military or out-side peace keepers, to give time to hot heads on either side to cool down a bit before doing something really stupid like letting a country slip into a full blown civil war and ripping itself apart for years to come.
Someone had to stand up and draw a line and say enough of this blind hatred, enough of the years of failed governments & failed promises.

Thailand had to pull itself above the petty personal vendettas which were being played out at the highest levels.

Peace had to be restored to the streets & corridors of power, a truce so that stability could return to the streets where people could return to work.

Slowly but surely the fractures & hatred could subside enough so that international bodies might show an interest in long term development & investment

returning the country to prosperity.

I think the vast majority of Thai society has benefited from the last year of peace, allowing the majority to go back to a normal life.

Sure there are "die-hards" on every side who want to return to the old ways, because when a country is in turmoil they can do as they please, it's the only way they can succeed as leaders..

But now after a year of calm outside interests are looking to invest in long term businesses and infrastructure improvements, this will in turn increase the business options to the areas which will benefit the Thai people for years to come, not a one-off populist policy to get cheap votes.

Thai people will eventually see that the old ways were crippling the country both from within & from outside.

Thai people will start to see the benefits in their pockets & will hopefully start to realise they can make money for themselves instead of waiting for scraps to be thrown to them from the government dining table!

Long may calm continue I say,

yes long may Prayut or who-ever it takes to do the job of pulling Thailand out of the mess it was in.

Long may the die-hards of either colour stay quiet & let peace reign and not return Thailand to social dysfunction hatred & greed !

[kingalfred]

Keep governing General Prayuth . The mindless who shout "democracy" dont know the meaning of the word. Idiots who worship a criminal and care little about the rule of law!

Edited May 23, 2015 by kingalfred

[hugh2121]

There are many benefits from having Law and Order restored.

I can cross Bangkok without having to worry about being shot or bombed by a red-shirted terrorist.

Business owners and shopkeepers can get on with their liveliehoods without fear of being maimed or killed by political protesters.

Yes we can isolate a few, frankly not very important other than to a very small number of people, areas - but plenty of people are reading the Bangkok Post which is clearly anti-Junta aren't they.

Hopefully the Government will really tackle the methods used by vote rigging, vote buying would be MPs. When they are caught they should be banned from public life in any capacity for life along with all who helped them. Their Parties should be fined out of existence.

If we do not stamp out political corruption and vote buying - we will never get rid of the Shinawatra plagues.

I see you don't mention also being able to fly in and out of the country freely.

As for vote buying, even the stupidest person can work out that if somebody offers 500 baht for their vote, they can take the money and vote for who they please. Nobody knows where they actually put their X.

[Toscano]

I thought the people of Thailand were already made happy , under strict order from the general . What happened to the smile that has been wiped off people's faces .

[DevZerO]

i hear nothing but a #UN, #US, #EU banana smoker!!! Ask the general people. everyone is happy with the situation. Keep smoking that Banana, it will do you good. Nothing has ever come out good when the west want to infiltrate sovereign nations

[baboon]

i hear nothing but a #UN, #US, #EU banana smoker!!! Ask the general people. everyone is happy with the situation. Keep smoking that Banana, it will do you good. Nothing has ever come out good when the west want to infiltrate sovereign nations

It reads to me that you are the one doing the smoking. Everyone is happy with the situation? Rubbish.

[hawker9000]

There are many benefits from having Law and Order restored.

I can cross Bangkok without having to worry about being shot or bombed by a red-shirted terrorist.

Business owners and shopkeepers can get on with their liveliehoods without fear of being maimed or killed by political protesters.

Yes we can isolate a few, frankly not very important other than to a very small number of people, areas - but plenty of people are reading the Bangkok Post which is clearly anti-Junta aren't they.

Hopefully the Government will really tackle the methods used by vote rigging, vote buying would be MPs. When they are caught they should be banned from public life in any capacity for life along with all who helped them. Their Parties should be fined out of existence.

If we do not stamp out political corruption and vote buying - we will never get rid of the Shinawatra plagues.

Did you ever try to remove a cone from Lumpini at night?

The odd think was I walked through many parts of Bangkok, I was never afraid, I was smart though, when they said the protest areas were volatile places to be, I took that as my cue of staying the F away from them.

Nice to see the vote buying cropping up again, despite it being a total red herring, Abhist and Korn don't whine about this as much as Farangs do, They have the right to cast a vote, the cry baby farangs... well, dry your eyes, cause you don't!!

Want to beat vote buying? simples, have something in common with the people you want to vote for you, and have better policies than ALL the other candidates.

Oh yes. IOW, have policies to handout more money than the opposition. Outbid them. What a distorted view of democracy. He who can offer the biggest govt giveaways, wins... Well, to be honest, it's been working pretty well in the West for some time now.

[LivinLOS]

"...and no input from the Pheu Thai party it toppled or their supporters, who likely still represent a majority of the electorate."

Nothing but junta propaganda polls say any different.

PTP have never ever represented a majority of the electorate.

Typing that lie in bold won't turn it into truth either.

Erm.. yes they did in 2006..

Thaksin was the first politician to go full term and return to an election in the countries modern history.. and second term he won 460 or 500 seats in that aspect and 61% of the vote..

Explain how by any measure those are not majorities ??

It was that amazing popularity which freaked the generals out, perhap he would even have had the power to restructure the military and bring it under civilian control ?? Given Thailands history of military meddling isnt that exactly what a strong democracy actually needs ?? Instead of the opposite which is being served.

[LivinLOS]

The poster has a good point. There is no doubt the Reds have a case to make. However, their methods are flawed. They need a new leader who is charismatic and can negotiate with the other side in good faith.

Given he or his poxys have won every fair election for the last 14 years.. Why is it them that needs to look for a new leader ??

[LivinLOS]

I think he's done a fantastic job.

Here in Phuket the beaches have never looked better. There has been a serious dent in the cesspool of corruption that was Phuket last year.

The progress here in Phuket would have been unimaginable without the coup. I'm a big supporter of the General and hope he stays in office forever. Who needs democracy?

Good to see you got your priorities straight: good looking beaches > voting rights, human rights, free press, democracy.

I suppose you were being sarcastic, but that is often hard to detect as some people type similar messages as you just did and actually mean it. So just to be sure you weren't serious, can you give some examples of the progress that has been made in the past year (specifics about the cesspool of corruption that have now been cleared up) in Phuket excluding some window dressing that happens under every government every year?

One perfect example is Surin Beach. An incredible, world class beach that was sold off to clubs and restaurants to the point where it was unrecognizable as the King's favorite beach. The General came in and laid down the law, "No Business on the King's Beach" and the word went out all over Phuket. They military demolished every business that encroached on every beach in Phuket. That is a milestone.

There is many other examples of the incredible progress that's been made here. Things like an orderly taxi cue at the airport. It was a third world cluster eff last year.

The stealing of national park land. Everything was up for sale in Phuket for a price. That shit has come to an end.

Yes, more could be done but I'll take what we've been given. The progress this year was unimaginable last year.

I was on the front lines trying to stop the encroachment on the beaches. Taking photos and trying to get the local rags to point out what was happening. It was like trying to stop a tsunami with a sponge.

There has been incredible progress and it could only have been accomplished with a coup. I fear the day Thailand goes back to the way it was before. Eff democracy, I'm serious!

How about renewing a visa at the Phuket Immigration shithole? That's all changed. Bribes are no longer standard operating procedure.

Anybody else got other examples? Things have changed for the better, but everyone knows the future is tentative.

Ahh but he makes the trains run on time.. Is a standard strongman argument.. Cleaning a beach or sorting a taxi rank doesnt exactly match up against the incredible loss of economic activity, the missguided poverty being imposed on the huge poor populations in the NE the cutting of the second rice crops, etc etc etc..