Gaybutton Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 Wednesday, April 8 is "D-Day" for the Red Shirt Thaksin supporters. Prime Minister Abhisit says there will be no bloodshed or use of force, but the government also will not tolerate rioting. Meanwhile up to 500,000 protesters are expected in Bangkok. Thaksin has said there will be no civil war. We'll see. The Bangkok Post says, "On the eve of mass rallies by red-shirt protesters, the prime minister promises in a special TV speech to the nation that there will be no civil war on his watch: 'State officials will not use force against the people, but at the same time they will make sure the situation does not get out of hand.'" The following appears in THE NATION: _____ A Lot at Stake on D-Day Published on April 7, 2009 Tomorrow is D-Day for the red-shirted protesters' version of the "people's revolution", with their leaders expecting at least 300,000 to 500,000 protesters. The government as well as the police and the military will not block the protesters. Instead, they will use existing laws to handle the matter. The government and concerned agencies have made it clear they will not use violence to crack down on the protesters or disperse them as they realise that acting first might put them at a disadvantage. The government understands that if it blocked the protesters, it might be accused of having double standards, and there will be comparisons with the yellow-shirted protesters. The police do not want to be much involved and are merely doing their duty of maintaining law and order. They are afraid of a repeat of the violence of last October 7. On that day, police fired tear gas at People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters when they besieged Parliament to block the Somchai Wongsawat government from delivering its policy address. The incident led to two deaths and hundreds of injuries. And police were blamed for the violence. The military are also too worried about taking any action now as it might be viewed as interference in politics, lending credence to recent accusations against them by fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. So, they may choose to remain still until the situation goes out of control. More importantly, soldiers are now severely divided into groups. They are allied with different groups in the political conflict. Despite claiming it is confident of handling the D-Day protests, the government has its share of worries, especially that of a strong red-shirt movement. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of keeping order and security, seemed to be mobilising support from citizens loyal to the monarchy by urging them to stand up against and help protect the institution. "Those who think of overthrowing the constitutional monarchy are dreaming. I'm confident that Thais will not let anyone overthrow the revered monarchy or touch the King. I can speak for the rural people because I used to serve as a village head and have been an MP for 30 years, so I'm not concerned. I believe that when the majority takes a clear stance on this matter, a smaller group of a few tens of thousands will fade out," Suthep said. Suthep's remark came after Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda said that Thaksin's motive in attacking people who serve His Majesty the King was likely to sabotage the revered institution. When Prem was asked by reporters whether he believed Thaksin wanted to sabotage the monarchy by attacking people who serve the King, the Privy Council chief said "probably". The battle is likely to be prolonged and unlikely to end easily. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva showed his optimism by pleading with Thais to be patient and wait for the full truth to be revealed, then the situation would eventually ease. Earlier, the PAD, which staged its protests for about three years and successfully brought down Thaksin's regime, vowed to reunite its yellow-shirted supporters and renew its massive rallies if the red-shirted protesters caused any violence. If the threat is realised, the capital risks becoming a battleground for the reds and the yellows. Quote
Guest Patexpat Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 about 2-300 red shirts have just driven past my office on third road in Pattaya - this, the ASEAN summit and Songkran means it's just gonna be a GREAT couple of weeks here ... not! Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 They've reached Pratamnak Road now. There's reports of about 40 cars and trucks full of red shirt protesters are on their way up Pratamnak Hill towards the Royal Cliff Hotel where the Cabinet meeting is taking place. Quote
Guest lvdkeyes Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 about 2-300 red shirts have just driven past my office on third road in Pattaya - this, the ASEAN summit and Songkran means it's just gonna be a GREAT couple of weeks here ... not! Luckily, I will be escaping on 12th and returning on 20th. Quote
Gaybutton Posted April 7, 2009 Author Posted April 7, 2009 protesters are on their way up Pratamnak Hill towards the Royal Cliff Hotel where the Cabinet meeting is taking place. I wish they would hold their meetings at the Ambassador Hotel, which is on Sukhumvit a few miles south of town and is set up for just such meetings, where protests or anything else would have little or no effect on the people of Pattaya. I find it very annoying when a relatively small group of politicians don't have any problem at all about snarling traffic and inconveniencing the people of an entire city. Quote
Guest GaySacGuy Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 Published on April 7, 2009 Tomorrow is D-Day for the red-shirted protesters' version of the "people's revolution", with their leaders expecting at least 300,000 to 500,000 protesters. The government as well as the police and the military will not block the protesters. Instead, they will use existing laws to handle the matter. ......... Earlier, the PAD, which staged its protests for about three years and successfully brought down Thaksin's regime, vowed to reunite its yellow-shirted supporters and renew its massive rallies if the red-shirted protesters caused any violence. If the threat is realised, the capital risks becoming a battleground for the reds and the yellows. I find this story almost laughable if it wasn't so serious. There are no existing laws or even force that will "handle the matter" if there are really 500,000 protestors! That is a lot of people, and I don't think any government is ready to handle that kind of protest if it goes violent. Let's hope that cooler heads prevail! Quote
Guest Patexpat Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 BREAKING NEWS: http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/13...ally-in-pattaya Quote
Gaybutton Posted April 7, 2009 Author Posted April 7, 2009 BREAKING NEWS: MCOT also published the following: _____ UDD Red Shirts Block Entrance to Pattaya Cabinet Venue PATTAYA, April 7 (TNA) - Red-shirted anti-government demonstrators blocked access to a top hotel in this seaside beach resort where Thailand's weekly Cabinet meeting is being held on Tuesday, launching verbal attacks against the nearly four-month old government. Hundreds of shields-equipped police have been deployed around the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel to ensure security. Carrying the ongoing political protest into the heart of the kingdom's tourist industry, the protesters reasserted the seriousness of their challenge to the government. Chonburi governor Suraphol Pongpitakgul urged the protesters to remain peaceful and not break into the hotel premises. Protesters assaulted the government with truck-mounted loudspeakers, demanding that the prime minister and foreign minister resign. Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, whom the pro-Thaksin protesters accuse of being behind the 2006 coup ousting prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was also a prime target. The hotel is also the venue of this weekend’s three-day summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its dialogue partners from other regions including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand starting on Friday. Thailand currently holds the chairmanship of ASEAN under a rotating system. ASEAN's 10 members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (TNA) _________________________________________ Actually, the goings on in Pattaya are much more far-reaching than the news articles would make you think. I've never seen anything like it before in Pattaya. Entire areas of the city are blocked off, barricaded, set to forced one-way, etc. Remember the phrase "you can't get there from here"? Well, you really can't. All I can say is I'm sure glad I live on "The Dark Side." Out here, you wouldn't know anything is going on at all. Everything is functioning normally out here and there are no more traffic delays than usual. But once you get into the city, look out! Quote
Guest lvdkeyes Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 With this horrific rain I hope the protesters came prepared with heavy duty rain gear. Actually, I hope not. Quote
fedssocr Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 It seems like the numbers keep getting revised downwards. First it was 500,000 then 300,000 then 100,000 now tens of thousands. I guess without an official count no one will ever know and it would be disputed even if there was one. I've been reading a lot lately. There's a very good editorial in The Nation I believe by a political science professor. The question is, what do the red shirts really want? It's hard to imagine that all of them want Thaksin back. Of course his aim is to use these people to get his power and money back. But I have a hard time seeing how he could really regain power. I saw the speculation that the "mediator" might give him a royal pardon but I also have a hard time believing that one, especially after all of the things he has said about Prem and the Privy Council the last couple of weeks. The PAD and it's elitist cohorts need to understand that the "people" need to have more say. This rift has taken time to come about and it's not going to be healed very quickly. Some sort of resolution needs to take place of Thailand will just keep going backwards which won't be good for anyone. Unfortunately it's hard to see how bloodshed won't happen at this point. Be careful all of you who are over there. Quote
Gaybutton Posted April 8, 2009 Author Posted April 8, 2009 It seems like the numbers keep getting revised downwards. I guess it's no fun to go out and protest in the rain . . . Quote
Guest lvdkeyes Posted April 8, 2009 Posted April 8, 2009 I guess it's no fun to go out and protest in the rain . . . Is it raining in BKK? We can only hope so. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted April 8, 2009 Posted April 8, 2009 Is it raining in BKK? Not yet, but the heavens opened yesterday in the late afternoon and the forecast is for more thunderstorms. Quote
Gaybutton Posted April 8, 2009 Author Posted April 8, 2009 Meanwhile, according to news reports, the Red Shirts are waiting for another link-up to a live speech from Thaksin. If he incites a riot, I think this would be the first time in history someone incited a riot remotely, while present in another country. Rumor has it that Thaksin is now in Cambodia, which is infuriating the Thai government, especially in light of the temple dispute going on at the Thai-Cambodian border. In Pattaya, a high level government meeting was held yesterday, which caused such a traffic nightmare. The Prime Minister's car was attacked and damaged, with him in it! ( See: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/08...cs_30099865.php ) Obviously the police were not able to do much to prevent or stop it. And the ASEAN conference begins in Pattaya two days from now. The weather forecast is for heavy rains both in Pattaya and Bangkok today. As of noon, Thailand time, no rains have yet started in Pattaya, but it is clouding up heavily and rapidly. I don't expect all that much in the way of protests in Pattaya today anyhow. I expect to see a new round of it on Friday, when the ASEAN conference is scheduled to begin. I had to go to a few places in Pattaya this morning and so far traffic seems to be flowing normally. As a matter of fact, traffic was unusually light, at least where I was. Quote
Guest lvdkeyes Posted April 8, 2009 Posted April 8, 2009 We certainly got the heavy rains in Pattaya this afternoon. Maybe the same happened to the protesters in BKK. Quote
Guest GaySacGuy Posted April 8, 2009 Posted April 8, 2009 Ubon still quiet and dry. Nice summy warm days, cool evenings! No protest. Just relax!! Quote
Guest Astrrro Posted April 8, 2009 Posted April 8, 2009 Things are at a critical stage. I think it's time for the one man who has the respect of the people to speak up. Quote
Bob Posted April 8, 2009 Posted April 8, 2009 I think it's time for the one man who has the respect of the people to speak up. Don't hold your breath. I thought it was that time when the yellowshirts grabbed the airport.....but the silence was deafening. Quote
Gaybutton Posted April 8, 2009 Author Posted April 8, 2009 Gentlemen, I don't know what I need to say to make it clear. I just had to delete two posts from this thread. I've said it before and I'll say it again: There will be NO posts permitted that make any kind of reference to any member of the royal family at all, not even by subtle hint, innuendo, or anything else. I ask all of you not to place me in a position in which I end up wearing the black hat by deleting posts. But if you put me in that position anyhow, I'll wear it. Quote
