cozza wrote:Just to add my 2 cents...I think you really need to step back and have a look at what this discussion is about and what everyone has been saying. I dont think politics is an honest game in the 1st world let alone the 3rd world so I truly think its a waste of time debating whos the more honest to a certain degree.
I think we all know the way the law works in Thailand, when it works its manipulated by those with power against those without. This happened to Thaksin when the Dems were in and now its happening to Abhisit. Im not going to pretend I know everything about Thai politics, but I do know that Thaksin and Abhisit were both corrupt. Certain land deal and the Palm oil fiascos are the first but not only things that come to mind. Its a funny place Thailand, I have never seen a place where teachers and educators are so arrogant and willing to take advantage of their less educated neighbours, but I'll leave that for another debate.
I have read and followed very closely as much of the news as possible from the demonstrations (Im even calling them demonstrations). What I did find interesting was that the reporters on the ground who I would call non-partisan, both Thai and Foreign (Voranai Vanijaka and Michael Yon) reported that most of the demonstrations were peaceful...MOST...and only mostly in the day. Now, Voranai lives around where the demonstrations were and Michael Yon was embedded and he spent time with Abhisit and he has friends in the Red Shirts apparently too, what Michael reported was:
"This man is not a wild-eyed murder. I saw the combat first hand, and the Thai Army and Police operated with honor, from everything I saw. The Thai authorities operated with great restraint. If not, thousands would have died. Many of the casualties were not caused by the Army. That is a fact.
Anyone who has read my work for a few years knows that I will not hesitate to say if it were otherwise. I was there with my camera, and if the Thai Army were doing something wrong, I and about a thousand other people would have been lining up for our Pulitzer photos.
This is political. I took one trip with Prime Minister Abhisit a couple of years ago. Nothing about him or his people was evil. Some of my close friends are red shirts, so they might get angry that I am writing this, but let's be truthful; Abhisit did very well in a terrible crisis.
Truth really is important. Some people hate Abhisit, but truth remains important. PM Abhisit was not a murderer. I respect his courage and intelligence. Now my red shirt friends will be angry tomorrow, but at least I told the truth.
Long Live the Kingdom of Thailand!".
I think regardless if you are a Red supporter, Yellow supporter or fence sitter...you have to agree that if you were in Abhisit's shoes and you were PM for that time you would have done what was needed and a decision had to be made along with showing internationally that the law will be upheld while the demonstrations remained as peaceful as possible...in this case people were shooting at the authorities, so they fired back and things got escalated from there. If you think Abhisit should be charged I would like to hear what you would have done differently even with the advantage of hindsight?
Excellent post Cozza, and probably the most intelligent post in this entire thread. I too would like to hear from others who might think the government could have handled it differently. If I remember correctly, scheduled elections were only a couple of months away when those protests started. Could the reds not have simply waited until then? Was it really necessary to hijack the country's capital? They knew the current government would be elected, so they could easily have waited for a few months.
These are the same people who are complaining about lack of schooling; lack of jobs, etc, etc, etc. However, they could afford to have a jolly good camp out for a few months, and I wonder how many of their kids missed their classes as a result.
I'm a parent with kids in school, and as such, there's just no way I could go away camping in Bangkok for a few weeks, unless of course I was will to stoop low enough to drag my kids into it as well.
So, in a nutshell, I agree with the reporter you've quoted in your post.
On a slightly different note.........I wonder if the ex PM is also planning to flee the country. My guess is he'll stay and face the music, and accept whatever verdict the courts give.
Don't try to impress me with your manner of dress cos a monkey himself is a monkey no less - cold fact
