Red shirt mass rally on Wednseday ... who cares?

[The understudy]

Good Afternoon to you all my friends, fellas and Homies of The HHAD Clique!!!

First of All I have to commend Sandman for his very exact perspective from Farang who owns a Business here in Thailand!

The Reds, and Thais in general, have the political education and sophistication of an Accrington Housebrick. The words "democracy", "coalition government", and "economics" are therefore meaningless.

They cant count...so 10,000 becomes 300,000....and 75% of the population against them is a minority.

Thais have sod all powers of logical deduction and no concept of cause and effect.

Exactemundo Sandman
with the exeption of Thais who had lived abroad and haven't assimilated mentally into the General Thai Public, cause many of those Reds leaders had education abroad in the UK, France, Germany ect. but during the course of Time they have dumbed down mentally to the level of General Thai Public.
That's why I like to rotate my living location once in a while to keep myself mentally sharp and to constantly keep in mind that Thailand is not the Center of the world so to speak!

None of it really matters in the long run because if the reds get what they want and Thaksin returns the country will be worse off because there are so many people from the bottom of the Thai social hierarchy to the top that hate him. It'll also open the doors to any politician in future that wants to blatantly abuse his power and rip off the state, especially if they amend the charter again and acquit him of any wrongdoing as they intend to.

Buksida you are Spot ON: Further more P'Thaks also gets old and as he will eventually pass on the Spoon of Power to His DAughter's and Sons so they can rip off the state for their own benefits even more.

Well one solution would be that all the factions of dispute stop actin like know it all nosey Children and come together sit down discuss it all out if still no Solution can be found then let A Team of neutrals should mediate then til you come to solution.

BUt TIT A Land full of MEN of CHILDS Attitudes!!!

Your's The understudy!!!

[sandman67]

Understudy

I should have qualified that rather sweeping statement:

Back west we have had these democratic systems for a lot longer, and they are tailored for our needs.

Thailand on the other hand has had a baptism of fire...democracy in a box inflicted on it in a rapid manner.

what we see when that happens is the mess Thailand is in, the mess Iraq is in, the mess Afghanistan is in....the list goes on.

In eastern cultures, and particularly Thailand with its traditional culture and society, democracy in a box, especially accelerated implementation of it, just doesnt work. Thai culture and western democracy are completely incompatible.

What Thailand needs to do is stop aping the UK and US systems and work out one that works here...and that will take you at least another 50 years or so before it starts running smoothly....in the UK we have only had full democracy since the end of the 1920s....we've had 80 odd years of full democracy and the system is still being tweaked.

What the so called educated leaders of the Reds and Yellows do, however, is exploit the loopholes and gaps between "democracy in a box" and Thai culture for their own very small and selfish gains.

On the streets the rabble rousers play on the Thai love of gossip and rumor, spreading lies and half truths, fueling unfounded fears, and deceiving the less educated and gullible public. They exploit the basic inability of any Thai official to take responsibility and make decisions, running rings around them.

In the House, their shirt and suited cronies the PT Party launch endless barrages of time wasting impeachment and censoring motions....3 a week at least by my count for the last two months. This tanglefoots the government and stops them working...as when they are allowed to work they get the job done. Parliamentary rules of privileged protection of speech is exploited and used to allow unfounded allegations to be made with no fear of subsequent legal address, guaranteed national airtime, turning Parliament into a 3 ring circus full of clowns.

Your print and news media are a joke by any standards. The concepts of investigative journalism, corroboration of facts, and refusal to print unfounded rumor or unqualified statements are alien to Thai journalists. Its easier to take what the Puhyai says and print it without question nor qualification.

And meanwhile, the vast majority of Thai citizens, who are really getting screwed by these thugs, sit on their complacent backsides muttering Mai Pen Rai whilst they watch their country get flushed down a toilet by the minority of the population. This group includes police officers too idle or stupid to arrest thugs who block the access of government vehicles and openly attack the passengers.

For gods sake....how do you think it looks when your police and security teams cant even protect your Prime Minister?

Mr Joe Shmo tourist sitting at home sees that and thinks: "Christ...if they cant protect him they wont protect me....sod that Im off to Vietnam."

Best thing you can do: Make sure your kids NEVER say Mai Pen Rai or Puhyai. If they do....crack them across the head and tell them to WAKE UP!!!!

Have a good Songkran 2009 Thailand....cos next year you will have a whole lot less to celebrate, and a lot less money to do it with.

Som Nam Na

[STEVE G]

You can watch the whole incident here.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/special ... &cateid=13

If I was an ASEAN summit leader heading to Pattaya I would seriously consider the security aspect after watching that. How on earth does the PM get into a situation like that, with no security, no police car front and back, only two or three pc plod's in attendance and doing next to f'all to stop the situation. It either smacks of total ineptitude from the PM's security team, (you have to envisage that they knew the red shirts were going to be demonstrating), or it was a set up by the PM's own office.

Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and the Keystone Cops comes to mind.

That is a crazy situation to get into, but if you watch that video carefully the reason the car is stopped is because there is a what looks to be a Honda Wave jammed under the front wheels.
Where it does descend into farce is when a protester manages to simply pull open the drivers door and it looks like at least one of the red shirts goes for the keys!

[sandman67]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevnin Hua Hin

This is Radio Sandman broadcasting all the news direct into your frontal lobes...

This in from our man on the spot on Bangkok, Bangkok Barry....so Bazza...hows it shaping up?

Interesting Sandy.....the two teams are assembled, and the hot hot sun is cooking them nicely. By this evening we expect lots of hot and sweaty red on brown action here in the capital....

Sounds like an average night in Patpong there mate!

Sure does Sandy, but a lot less pretty and probably more expensive!

So no developments then?

Not yet Sandy, but then again the sheep herder, His Holiness Thaksin the First, has yet to add his fuel to the fire....should be a good one!

Heres hoping Bazza. Stay frosty.... now here's today's "Soundtrack For Your Life", which we will play continually in the vain hope someone with a brain is listening out there....Seplutura's classic Chaos AD.....hurt me boys.....!

Chaos A.D.
Tanks on the streets
Confronting police
Bleeding the Plebs
Raging crowd
Burning cars
Bloodshed starts
Who'll be alive?!

Chaos A.D.
Army in siege
Total alarm
I'm sick of this
Inside the state
War is created
No man's land
What is this shit?!

Refuse/Resist
Refuse

Chaos A.D.
Disorder unleashed
Starting to burn
Starting to lynch
Silence means death
Stand on your feet
Inner fear
Your worst enemy

Refuse/Resist
Refuse/Resist

[buksida]

I don't think we'll need to wait for the crowds to disperse, they'll all bugger off back to issan for the Songkran weekend!

[hhfarang]

Sandman,

You've definitely missed your calling. I'm not sure what it is but it may be a writer, disc jokey, sports announcer, humorist, or news caster, but it's definitely not whatever you are doing here.

I think you may have a talent being wasted!

[sandman67]

I still harbor a mad wish Ive had since childhood to be David Attenborough

Mate.....on broadcast media in this country Id last less than a week....Puhyai hate it when people get in their faces...and Im English so that comes naturally.

Dispersing crowds like this takes a little thought and some cheap technology.... its taking off in the UK at the moment to stop "hoodies" congregating

Its a small ultrasonic speaker that sends out a signal just about at the edge of our hearing range...sounds like a mosquito whine.....30 seconds of that sees off even half deaf hoodies. Triggers the "flight response" in your brain.

Get a big version, point it at the crowds, let loose...leave it running all night so they get no sleep.

Failing that a few hours of death metal at 3 am broadcast at 114 decibels should see em off....works on the little prat opposite me who thinks its ok to wail crap karaoke at 7am.....a few doses of Sepultura through my mates bass amp in response soon sorted that issue out.

Radio Sandman.....Honesty Is Our Only Excuse

[The understudy]

GUten Tag everyone

The situation in Bangkok just a degree hotter Now them Taxi drivers had blocked Off All entrances to Victory Monument and traffic in BKK Area near the Victory Monument is like a Madhouse read this from the Nation Online!

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04 ... 100055.php

Nad here's the Bangkokpost version of events
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews ... ds-in-city


The understudy's ffod of thought:DAmn those Reds are getting me really on my nerves. This admnistration is getting work done at least and with another ASEAN Summit on the way in Patts. now them Reds wanna distrupt these as well. WTF is worng with those Red shirted people ain't we have enough problems allready?
Well after The Attack on PM Abhisits Motorcade in recent response around 40 Chartered Flights form S. Korea, Japan and Taiwan had been cancelled for this Songkran festivities.

Your's The understudy!

[STEVE G]

I’m afraid that many people predicted that this would be the inevitable result of the PAD’s tactic of refusing to enter into party politics, but instead relying on protests to bring the government down.
They have just paved the way for everybody else to try the same thing.

[buksida]

They have just paved the way for everybody else to try the same thing.

True but by giving in to them and letting them bring back Thaksin with full amnesty will just pave the way for current and future leaders and politicians to openly and blatantly steal from the state because they know they can get away with it.

There is no solution to this one aside from having a split Kingdom as Korea has done - Issan and the North as one and Bangkok and the South as another!

[Spitfire]

Both of you are right or there-abouts. Maybe democracy is just too much off a tall order for them and they(Thai politicians) should stop wallowing in denile that it's possible and just go back to what they are more comfortable with, which is, an autocracy/feudal system.

They have obviously and hopelessly failed the test of becoming a modern progressive state or even being one that is developing into one. Too much resistance from vested interests.

The country is blatantly divided between the "haves" and the "have nots" and they are not ready to change convincingly yet.

It(delusions of democracy) is all just "lip service" to the west and we all know why.

Sorry to sound negative but this vicious circle will continue.

[Wanderlust]

I have to say that while I think the end result of the PAD protests was the best thing for Thailand, their methods were completely wrong. While us farangs obviously have no say in any of this, a 'victory' for the UDD and the red shirts would be disastrous for the country, and I do believe that this demonstration should be crushed, preferably without anyone getting hurt but of course that is unlikely, and Thaksin's broadcasts denied. The softly softly approach didn't work before and it won't work now. As buksi says it will just lead to an endless cycle of elections, demonstrations and the crippling of the Thai economy; maybe I should be for that as it might weaken the baht?

[squire]

I have to say that while I think the end result of the PAD protests was the best thing for Thailand, their methods were completely wrong. While us farangs obviously have no say in any of this, a 'victory' for the UDD and the red shirts would be disastrous for the country, and I do believe that this demonstration should be crushed, preferably without anyone getting hurt but of course that is unlikely, and Thaksin's broadcasts denied. The softly softly approach didn't work before and it won't work now. As buksi says it will just lead to an endless cycle of elections, demonstrations and the crippling of the Thai economy; maybe I should be for that as it might weaken the baht?

I totally concur.

I'm living in Sukhumvit Soi 31, about 100 metres from the Prime Minister's home. It was justed reported on local news that the Reds are going t congregate outside his house. The police numbers are being bolstered now. Rumour is that red taxi drivers are going to grid-lock our soi in the morning.

Based upon the pathetic efforts of the Pattaya police in protecting the PM earlier this week... I expect a fair bit of property damage may occur as the police idly watch the goings on and not intervene.

I'm unlikely to be able to leave our condo on Friday and head to the office...I think I'll keep my trust 3 wood handy in case violence erupts.

Hope it doesn't get out of hand and the police end up doing their job in protecting the PM...I have a hotel booking in Cha-am for Songkran so I'm keen to get out of BKK and relax far from worries.

[STEVE G]

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has declared Friday a national holiday as he stands firm against the red-shirt protesters who caused traffic turmoil in Bangkok on Thursday.
The Nation.
http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/09/ ... 100055.php

[margaretcarnes]

Totally agree with Wanderlust there, but fearing the worst now I'm afraid. The combination of Songkran, an extra day public holiday, Asean summit in Pattaya, and Red Shirt demos certainly doesn't bode well for LOS.
Who cares? (OP) - a lot of us do. I would like to see Songkran end without bloodshed but the chances of that seem to be fading as we speak.