Gaybutton Posted April 16, 2010 Posted April 16, 2010 An embarrassing fiasco for govt By THE NATION Published on April 17, 2010 Arisman Pongruangrong and other red-shirt leaders on a wanted list could not be apprehended when they were in full public view in the middle of the city, so what convinced Thai police that they could catch them by storming a hotel that once belonged to Thaksin Shinawatra? From the embarrassing shambles left in their wake, not only did the police think they could do so - they must have presumed they could do it with one eye closed. When overweight Arisman, who must also be afraid of heights, staged a clumsy cable-descending stunt in front of local and international media from the SC Park Hotel's third-floor balcony to safety, the humiliation of Thailand's highly questionable police force was complete. Not to mention that two senior officers were taken by the red mob from the hotel to the Rajprasong rally site to "guarantee" the escapees' safe return. How come what was supposed to be a pre-dawn sting operation ended with Arisman staging the escape just before 10am and mobs accompanying all the police targets back to Rajprasong at noon? Everything was so fishy that Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who around 9am had proudly announced that Arisman and at least a couple of others were now in police custody, lost his cool and virtually everyone on the government side lost patience with his excuses. A probe into what went wrong was pledged, but the damage had been done and half the world was already laughing. An embarrassing fiasco for govt SC Park Hotel back in the headlines By THE NATION Published on April 17, 2010 The SC Park Hotel on Praditmanutham Road became a scene of high drama yesterday morning. Hundreds of policemen entered the hotel to arrest six red-shirt leaders - Arisman Pongruangrong, Suporn Atthawong, Payap Panket, Sangiem Samranlak, Wanchana Kerddee and Yoswarit Chuklom, aka Jeng Dokchik. However, two of the six escaped by lowering themselves from the third floor via electrical cabling. The other four were apprehended, but were almost immediately released when red-shirt demonstrators descended on the area. SC Park Hotel back in the headlines Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted April 17, 2010 Posted April 17, 2010 An embarrassing fiasco for govt Don't you mean, yet another in an increasingly long list of embarrassments for the government? Quote
Smiles Posted April 17, 2010 Posted April 17, 2010 " ... Don't you mean, yet another in an increasingly long list of embarrassments for the government? ... " I think there's a great load of embarrassment to go around on both sides. Were only my eyeballs rolling when I witnessed the long lines of thousands of Red Shirts holding up their arms to give blood, then to see it all splashed over government buildings, fences, and the odd soi dog. Embarrassing and shameful rolled into one. A day doesn't go by that I don't witness video clips of the most screeching, maniacal outpourings from the Red opera stages. Hardly a moment goes by that my guy doesn't sit glued to the TV and registers total disdain for both sides when he translates some other nonsensical talking-head pronouncement from one more Top Cop or High General or ugly well-fed Politician ... undoubtedly the same ugly well-fed Pol being pulled down a rope escaping from the 2nd floor back porch of the hallowed halls of their own Parliament building. An utter (but deadly, now) farce by any reasonable measure ... on both sides. Quote
