Student protests in Thailand

[buksida]

MUSIC FEST SHUT DOWN AFTER ARTISTS SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH PROTESTS
Health authorities on Monday insist they ordered a popular music festival in Khao Yai to close down early due to concerns over the coronavirus, though government critics suspect politics played a bigger role.

The two-day Big Mountain Music Festival was instructed to shut down by 10pm on Sunday – just hours after its scheduled time of their last performance – by officials who cited a lack of mask-wearing at the venue. But many remain convinced that the festival came under government retaliation for its political messages that reference the ongoing protests.

“They’re not afraid of COVID spreading, but they’re afraid of the spread of democratic ideas that will destroy their dictatorship regime,” Move Forward MP Rangsiman Rome tweeted Sunday night.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/cri ... -protests/

Anyone want to wager that we get another curfew and full lockdown in 2021 because of "Covid fears"?

[buksida]

Behold, the greatest police force in the world
This past weekend, Thai police violently arrested unarmed protesters, took high school students into custody, and abducted a student from his dormitory at midnight.

They didn’t even charge the student they abducted, just said they wanted to bring him in as a witness. At midnight. From his dormitory.

This isn’t particularly a new troubling development as far as the Royal Thai Police are concerned. Since the military junta took power in 2014 and reshuffled the police force, the commanders have been a willing baton for the government to beat their political opposition with.

Under former Police Chief Chakthip Chaijinda, the Thai police arrested dissidents, peaceful protesters, and protected the military government.

It has continued under his successor, Suwat Jangyodsuk, with heavy handed tactics and unethical conduct the new normal.

...

But the cherry on the cake is not the heavy-handedness of the police force, that is actually to be expected.

It is the racketeering and organized crime that the Thai police have either been involved in or turned a blind eye to that makes them so darned awful.

The police have plenty of time to arrest students in the middle of the night but when it comes to illegal casinos and gambling dens, they don’t care.

...

The problem is not if the Thai police are terrible, they are. The question is what can we do?

How does one create a policing force that has morals, ethics, does things by international standards and that wont participate in organize crime?

Can you reform the Thai police? Or should you defund it?

What is clear is that as long as the current government are in power, these questions will never be answered. The police have eagerly served their pay masters and will continue to do so.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/22975/opin ... the-world/

saying it how it is ...

[caller]

I see the protests have resumed in Bkk today. A very important one for democracy in Thailand. I was surprised some of the leaders were allowed into Parliament for discussions. Elsewhere the Police raised some sort of firearms at peaceful protesters. Wisely, no demands about Royalty were raised. So it's safe to link to Thai Enquirers twitter site, which I think they take from elsewhere in any case and can be edited.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ThaiEnquirer

[Thailightzone]

I see the protests have resumed in Bkk today. A very important one for democracy in Thailand. I was surprised some of the leaders were allowed into Parliament for discussions.

I was suprised to see Rung take the stage. I am certain one of the conditions of her & Penguins release was that they wouldn't take part in such activities.

[caller]

I was suprised to see Rung take the stage. I am certain one of the conditions of her & Penguins release was that they wouldn't take part in such activities.

I think it was to not include the King in the protests. But happy to be corrected.

[Thailightzone]

I was suprised to see Rung take the stage. I am certain one of the conditions of her & Penguins release was that they wouldn't take part in such activities.

I think it was to not include the King in the protests. But happy to be corrected.

It was definitely that, true, but it also extended to the things they were charged for in the beginning - inciting civil disturbance etc. You know even though the media have made it sound this way, they never asked for removal of the king or anything similar - just a separation of monarchy from justice & democracy. They never disliked monarchy.

Yes I hear all your cries of laughter at me, I am not naive, just saying that's what they demand. I know the truth in Thailand is to follow the money, and there is your answer/challenge lay.

[hhfarang]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/anti-governm ... 55601.html

[Lost]

Brave or stupid?

Screenshot_20210718_182635.jpg (154.15 KiB) Viewed 1340 times

[buksida]

There is a lot of coverage on the social media feeds from the more progressive outlets such as Khaosod - while the two major English language rags (Post and Nation) have virtually nothing.

https://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
https://twitter.com/ThaiEnquirer

Not a huge turnout, but their message was very clear - the junta has its priorities ...

The government has been more coordinated, decisive, and active in one afternoon against unarmed protesters than for the last 7 months against Covid-19 ...

[handdrummer]

There is a lot of coverage on the social media feeds from the more progressive outlets such as Khaosod - while the two major English language rags (Post and Nation) have virtually nothing.

https://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
https://twitter.com/ThaiEnquirer

Not a huge turnout, but their message was very clear - the junta has its priorities ...

The government has been more coordinated, decisive, and active in one afternoon against unarmed protesters than for the last 7 months against Covid-19 ...

The military has more knowledge and experience in controlling humans than they have in controlling virus's.

After years of training they don't have to think about what to do. Anything that involves thinking is far too difficult for them.

There's also the related problem of decision making and face losing. Make the wrong decision and lose face, lose face, be shamed, be shamed, don't get reelected, don't get reelected, lose power, lose power, lose face, etc., etc.

[buksida]

They were never 'elected' in the first place.

[migrant]

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/protest ... -protester

[handdrummer]

They were never 'elected' in the first place.

You know that "They" took over via a coup in 2014 and were elected, regardless of the legitimacy of the election, in 2018.

[caller]

Interesting video debate from Al Jazeera about the impact of the protests in Thailand - They are not just student protests anymore. The three guests are from Thailand, two Thai's, including Pravit Rojanaphruk from Khaosod, and an American professor, who was in the news a few months back, when his contract was terminated by the university he had been associated with for many years, probably under pressure.

Nothing here that is controversial.

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/insid ... for-reform

[buksida]

There is a lot of coverage of yesterday's big protest on Khaosod English and their social feeds - virtually nothing in the Post as expected.