Is this the start of another Coup?

[sargeant]

SM pllleeease they are paying every rioter 1000 baht + a shirt for the three days, they were recruiting in Hua Hin last week so if i am reading it correctly its disgustingly criminal to buy a vote or million but paying 30,000 people 1,000 Bt to riot is ok
plus read JDs post he is exactely correct who do you think is going to be appointing this new appointed govt if PAD win. And more to the bleedin point who is going to appoint the people that will do the appointing
AAhhh of course we can trust the PAD leaders to appoint democratically

[sandman67]

Sarge

as PAD do not pretend to be a political party, or to be democratically elected, then whether they accept or pay bribes to protesters is irrelevant to what I said....which is you dont accept buying votes or corrupt elected officials.

Thailand is not a democracy by any chalk. It is about on the same level of democracy as Zimbabwe. There violence controls votes, here it is the baht.

When I read comments about the so called Bangkok elite that makes me laugh too. Lets look at the former careers of PPP MPs....hmmm,,,,,film actor....TV actor.....talk show host.....lifelong politician......civil servant......hmmm strange....so no rice farmers, rubber farmers, fruit farmers, etc...... well theres a turn up eh? The sodding PPP are all societal elite members....thats why they are in politics.

So yes....sod it. Lets face the truth. Thailand is not ready for democracy so scrap the farce that is elections and democracy here and just impose a junta or Privy Council that is stable and gets on with business.

In this climate of political stalemate, inactivity, chaos and corruption then get rid of elections till Thais stop selling their votes to some TV soap opera actor conning them he gives a toss and has ANY qualifications to say he is fit to run the country.

Balls to democracy, bring back the junta.

[sargeant]

I can see the foreign investors queing at the door
and every rice farmer taking the cuts in living standards praying for more of PAD democracy as rice farmers are appointed to the govt
i also see the farangs living here being tckled pink
yyyeeeaaah rrrhhhight

Sorry my crystal ball is clearing i see BIG BBIIIGGG problems for all
Mind you of course the UK labour party and the conservative and liberal parties and the democrats and republicans are up to their veritable tits in rice farmers so all is fine

[Spitfire]

I remember that news thread on 'Violence in Udon'. Good job Mrs Lomuamart doesn't read this.

Sorry Mr L, couldn't resist it.

[STEVE G]

SM, just righting off elections on the basis of the fact that corruption goes on is ignoring the fact that there are very large numbers of people in rural areas who do genuinely support rival political parties.
If you just right off this considerable percentage of the population by imposing rule upon them you are going to cause some very dangerous problems.

Also when the term “Bangkok elite” is used in matters of Thai politics it usually refers to organizations like the Privy Council and the Judiciary, and those influencing them, who traditionally think they have a right to run the country in any manner they think fit without regard to anyone else. It has nothing to do with whether you were born as a farmer or not.

[Super Joe]

What I don't understand from the anti-government people is, what is the point of condemning the government of the day when the next one that comes in will be just as corrupt.
I agree they are corrupt, self-serving ********, but aren't they all the same ? Did you see the pile of weapons left behind/confiscated from these 'pro-democracy' supporters!?!?

We did decide to settle in a corrupt country after all. They're all the same to me.

SJ

[sargeant]

SJ i could not agree more in my 25 years involved with this lovely country politics and corruption is about the only stable thing in it it doesnt matter what party or individual as far as corruption is concerned you couldnt get a fag paper of difference between them

[sandman67]

Sarge

if the bangkok elite are the Judiciary and Privy Council then maybe they should run the country, as they seem to be above the mud slinging and corruption... unlike the pond scum in parliament. They get the job done.

When you let a large percentage of the population sell their votes and elect incompetent money grubbing swine into power because they are so naive that they believe a TV show actor cares a toss about them, or has one iota of understanding about their lives, or intends representing their interests, then this chaos is what you get.

You get a Prime Minister who, when not picking his nose on TV before an international audience, lies constantly, supports a previous PM who is now a wanted criminal, and makes speeches condemning the democratically "elected party in Burma whilst lauding a brutal military junta. A loose cannon who has caused runs on banks, financial crises, has been shown to be deep in cronyism and nepotism, and is in all likelyhood going to be convicted and imprisoned when his appeal fails next month.

Since these fools voted SadSak in the Thai stock market has lost 23% of its value, the economy is on the slide, and crises go unadressed. Political polarisation has increased, whilst little or nothing gets done.

These so called farmer fools dont even see they are getting worse off under this shambles of a government....rice prices, fuel prices, utility prices.....all shot to hell. Throw em a few hundred baht tho, and knock some satang off the leccy bills and hey presto...loyal voters. Hold an election tomorrow and they will still vote for the same idiots and thieves. The same idiotic mindset that the UK had in the 50s, 60s and 70s where class dictated who you voted for.

So yes, scrap the whole idea and appoint a state management that does the jobs that need doing.

Democracy hasn't worked, and wont until the electorate and parliamentarians learn what its for, not how much they can make off it.

It all comes down to this:

Do you want to see Thailand run, or just run into the ground?

heres a couple more slogans the Democrats should try:

(photos of candidates holding brooms)

"Democrats....cleaning out The House"

"Democrats....a new broom sweeps clean."

or my fave

PPP = PISS POOR POLICIES

[buksida]

Agree with SM in principle on this one, what we have right now is a bloody mess, "democratically elected" or not, and something needs to be done about the farcical idiots that are currently at the helm.

I'm not sure though that a bunch of right wing elitists are the best people to do it - it should come direct from the population. The problem is that the majority of the population don't really give a hoot about politics, more often than not due to lack of education on the matters involved, the ones that do are donning yellow shirts and protesting.

Many refer to this division as 'Bangkok vs Issan" but many also forget that pretty much every province south of the capital is also anti-government.

More unrest is ahead until Thailand gets a government that puts the people (all of them, not just Issan) and the country before its selfish greed. We have a long wait, and yes I agree - they're all the same!

[sargeant]

the ones that do are donning yellow shirts and protesting.
dont forget the 1,000 baht for 3 days work buksi

[Super Joe]

But is there a better party/option out there ?
Voters throughout the world are 'offered things' for their vote, it's usually a lie and they/we never get it.
At least Thai voters actually get their 100 Baht

SJ

[buksida]

dont forget the 1,000 baht for 3 days work buksi

Where did you read that? "Samak Daily" or the "Issan Express"?

If its good enough for PPP to win an election doing it, it should be good enough for their opposition to try and kick em out doing it - after all money is the only thing that really gets peoples attention in Thailand.

[sargeant]

SM
if the bangkok elite are the Judiciary and Privy Council then maybe they should run the country, as they seem to be above the mud slinging and corruption...

Would that be the pro Mr T judiciary before the coup
Or the Junta appointed judiciary in now

They are all the same the Thais will sort it themselves and the poor will suffer the fallout as the greedy corrupt on all sides of govt beat it to death I have been watching it happen for 25 years and buggeral changes

I just find it to be sheer hypocricy to bitch and moan about a thai farmer taking 100 Bt for his vote (which he would prbably have made anyway)and and taking pleasure at people rioting for 1,000 they are both wrong

[STEVE G]

A point to bear in mind is that a process is already going through the judiciary that is pretty much certain to mean the end of the present government. Having already shown that it has the mettle to get rid of Thaksin, they should have no problem with the rest of his people.
In a way the process is working, if perhaps at a slow pace.

What the PAD is trying to do is change the whole system of government by seizing power for themselves before that happens, and changing the constitution to make sure that no election can remove them from power afterwards. I have a feeling that these self serving reasons are why they are getting so little support from the population; there are only ten or twenty thousand supporters on the streets today, not the 300,000 they were predicting.

The main problem with the idea of getting rid of democracy is that those that would end up in power would be there pretty much for ever, up until the point where they become so power corrupted that they cause a revolution.

[buksida]

and changing the constitution to make sure that no election can remove them from power afterwards.

I think you'll find that its Samak that is trying to change the constitution back to the one that allows politicians to own businesses and become filthy rich while in power.

The main problem with the idea of getting rid of democracy is that those that would end up in power would be there pretty much for ever, up until the point where they become so power corrupted that they cause a revolution.

This is essentially what has been going on for 70 odd years, the last revolution was in 1932 ... but we can't really talk about that on here.

Either way I do agree that PAD may have overstepped the mark this time, there is a good summary here:

http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JH27Ae02.html