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

[Chas]

I watched the interviews live on CNN and BBC ( they led the nightly news ) and it was a hoot watching Taksin dodge the interviewer's questions. The term "slimy politician" came instantly to mind. He was stammering and tongue tied and for a supposedly educated "leader" it turns out that he speaks very poor English. His responses were painful to watch. The contrast when Abihist came on was striking. No contest. Anyone watching the pair on the telly, not knowing the background etc would wonder why anyone would support Taksin for anything. Also, it was fun to watch BBC blow Taksin's cover. Remember that the govt said they didnt know what country he was in?
The Taksin interview was labled "Live from Dubai!"

[norm]

Now that it is supposedly all over.

What if anything did the red shirts achieve besides making LOS look bad and lose heaps of money.

well I guess they did get Songkran extended for 2 days for gov't employees.

[faq2mfh]

Red shirts achieved the as the yellow shirts did….

[buksida]

There is some good analysis on today's Asia Times, it seems that even the residents and locals were sick of the red shirts and helped the military to disperse them ...

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_ ... 5Ae01.html

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_ ... 5Ae03.html

I reckon they'll be back though, Thaksin's embittered battle for revenge knows no bounds.

[Vital Spark]

I watched the interviews live on CNN and BBC ...... Taksin's responses were painful to watch. The contrast when Abihist came on was striking. No contest.

Agree with you totally Chas. Taksin looked tired and shabby - and I think the lovely lass who was interviewing him was getting a tad annoyed at his response to her questions. Khun Abhisit was both eloquent and polite with his replies. Chalk and cheese.

Thank goodness that it's all calmed down (for now...). I just wish that the PM had a bit more back-bone and wasn't quite as nice. We had a Thai ex-student at our place today and she said that one of the ring-leaders of the Reds in Pattaya was the wife of the Chief of Police there. That might explain a thing or two...

VS

[johnnyk]

Generally the police are more aligned with Toxin (he was one of them and rewarded cronies). = Red
The army is more aligned with the establishment. =Yellow

[miked]

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04 ... 100549.php

have a look at this link from the Nation. no doubt in my mind that Thaksin will stop at nothing to get what he wants. i thought something was going to happen when his family left Thailand just before the trouble started. a warrant has been issued for his arrest, incitement to riot. if he comes back now he will be arrested at the airport.
IMO he has played all his cards and lost. he is finished.
miked

[redzonerocker]

from the article . . .

He had his red shirts set fires around Bangkok just as Neptune overshadowed the Sun - a bad omen.

yep, he failed to do his research properly

i doubt that this will be the end of it all, there's still a lot for the present administration to do before that's the case.
it's now a good time & the ideal opportunity for the current PM to get the country moving in the right direction.
in the current economic climate & with the huge social & political divisions in the country, it will be a huge task.

outside influences are a no no, so it will be down to the thai people to determine their own destiny.
hopefully it will be a bit of stability after the chaos of recent times.

[STEVE G]

Some reasonable comments from today’s Bangkok post:

The Abhisit administration may have won the first major battle with the red shirts but the seeds of discontent have taken root. The strength of the resistance — both those who support Thaksin for who he is and those who support him for what he is fighting against — should prompt whoever is thinking they can control it by force, to think twice. These people can’t be dismissed. The government must find a way for their grievances to be taken into account, their cries for change heard and heeded, or it faces a long and belligerent war.

[Nereus]

http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx ... ame=565580


Thailand revokes Thaksin's passport
15th April 2009, 16:53 WST

Thailand has revoked the passport of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra for allegedly inciting protests that disrupted a major Asian summit, a government spokesman says.

Asian leaders were forced to flee the summit in the coastal resort of Pattaya by helicopter on Saturday after pro-Thaksin demonstrators stormed the venue in an international embarrassment for the government.

"The foreign ministry has cancelled his passport," government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told AFP on Wednesday.

"The incident on the 11th is the reason."

"The decision to cancel his passport was based on passport issuing regulations, which state that the ministry can cancel or recall a passport if it can prove that a person has caused damage to the country," he said.

Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and lives in exile to avoid a two-year jail term for a corruption conviction. He has made a series of speeches to his supporters in Thailand by videolink and phone in recent weeks.

A Thai court issued an arrest warrant for Thaksin and 12 of his key supporters on Tuesday over anti-government protests in Bangkok that left two people dead the previous day.

The demonstrators abandoned a three-week vigil outside Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's offices on Tuesday to avoid a threatened military crackdown.

AFP

[The understudy]

Some reasonable comments from today’s Bangkok post:

The Abhisit administration may have won the first major battle with the red shirts but the seeds of discontent have taken root. The strength of the resistance — both those who support Thaksin for who he is and those who support him for what he is fighting against — should prompt whoever is thinking they can control it by force, to think twice. These people can’t be dismissed. The government must find a way for their grievances to be taken into account, their cries for change heard and heeded, or it faces a long and belligerent war.

Exactly STEVE G Abhisits current Government must address those grievensesfrom the other side of the Political divide which I see Essential to bring reconsiliation to this bitterly divided country. The main problem is the rampant inequality of People and Socieaty and the Sadinah that lets the middle class struggle while having moved to the Hi SO and ain't being accepted at all. And the poorest of the poor the downrodden have nothing to say at all while being the modern day slaves of the classes above.

Your's The understudy!

[PeteC]

Exactly STEVE G Abhisits current Government must address those grievensesfrom the other side of the Political divide which I see Essential to bring reconsiliation to this bitterly divided country. The main problem is the rampant inequality of People and Socieaty and the Sadinah that lets the middle class struggle while having moved to the Hi SO and ain't being accepted at all. And the poorest of the poor the downrodden have nothing to say at all while being the modern day slaves of the classes above. Your's The understudy!

That's exactly what Thaksin did US and was successful at it, except for the part about bringing reconciliation to both sides.

I think we have to define 'middle class' and I can't do it as I think there are at least 2-10 levels of what the middle class is here these days.

What happened in 1973? Then the middle class and upper level students gave their lives to get rid of a dictator. They learned nothing as 36 years later the benefits of that struggle have not passed down to those who are allied to Thaksin now. They want to bring a potential dictator back into power.

That old middle class and perhaps their offspring current students seem to be content. None of them have learned from the past. If they did Thaksin wouldn't have been elected in the first place years ago, the poor would have already been content and felt they were part of the country and spurned money thrown at them by Thaksin. Blame Sakdina or blame a middle class who gave up a dream of real democracy after they achieved what they did in 1973. Pete

[Nereus]

WTF:

Thaksin has Nicaraguan passport
By: BangkokPost.com
Published: 16/04/2009 at 10:45 AM

The Nicaraguan government said it has made fugutive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra an "ambassador on a special mission" and issued him a diplomatic passport.

The announcement was made after the Thai government said on Wednesday it had revoked his ordinary passport because he incited the Saturday rioting which forced the cancellation of the weekend Asean Summit in Pattaya.

Nicaragua said in a statement on Wednesday that Thaksin had been appointed an "ambassador on a special mission" so he could help attract investment to the poor Central American country, reports said.

The passport was issued in January when Thaksin visited the country, and was given to him in February, when he met Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Thaksin's Thai passport was recelled on Sunday, a day after his red-shirt followers stormed the summit venue at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort hotel.

The government later declared a six-hour state of emergency in Pattaya to allow the evacuation of the Asean leaders and delegates and their dialogue partners from China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

[Spitfire]

Nicaragua? Well, we are running out of places to hide and find sanctuary, aren't we Mr Taksin.

[The understudy]

Hmmm.... Nicaragua huhhh!

Daniel Ortega and Thaksin Shinawatra bussm Buddies
I wouldn't thought so but after readn Nereus;s News Bulletin!

Then again WTF. He should face the Death Metal music here in Thailand which are Court trials!!!

Your's The understudy!!!