Taxi drivers block roads at Victory Monument

[Chatty]

Song kran might get extended til Friday...

that will be a lot of money down the drain. sure I love having time off from work, but it's really really not good for business.

Yes it's not good for business.. my work place open 24 / 7, I don't think I have to get back to work April 16 as before, hrrrrrrrr...

last night on CNN, they said something like 8.3 billion USD was the damage done when the yellow shirts closed down the airport. i wonder how much it will be this time for the red shirts?

Red Shirts didn't close airport, they just burnt some buses (40 buses++), stole gas tanks, killed some innocent ppl... destroyed Songkran Happiness. oohhh!! and screwed up Asian Summit +3 +6 lol how many countries in Asian who wanna solve problem by this... Just a few mistake

[laragirl]

Red Shirts didn't close airport, they just burnt some buses (40 buses++), stole gas tanks, killed some innocent ppl... destroyed Songkran Happiness. oohhh!! and screwed up Asian Summit +3 +6 lol how many countries in Asian who wanna solve problem by this... Just a few mistake

is there some sort of contest here on who did the most damage? listing all the bad things red shirts did that was way more than the 8.3 billion USD airport closure will not make things any better right?

i mean, if red did more damage, it will not erase the fact that yellow did a significant damage as well.

[melted012345]

Red Shirts didn't close airport, they just burnt some buses (40 buses++), stole gas tanks, killed some innocent ppl... destroyed Songkran Happiness. oohhh!! and screwed up Asian Summit +3 +6 lol how many countries in Asian who wanna solve problem by this... Just a few mistake

No where near PAD. As PAD did that sort of things too, which is not included in the price of the airport closure. The cost from shutting Asean summit is not big. Monetary wise. The reupation of Abhisit just got big hit. Hehe

[Chatty]

Red Shirts didn't close airport, they just burnt some buses (40 buses++), stole gas tanks, killed some innocent ppl... destroyed Songkran Happiness. oohhh!! and screwed up Asian Summit +3 +6 lol how many countries in Asian who wanna solve problem by this... Just a few mistake

is there some sort of contest here on who did the most damage? listing all the bad things red shirts did that was way more than the 8.3 billion USD airport closure will not make things any better right?

i mean, if red did more damage, it will not erase the fact that yellow did a significant damage as well.

Sorry Lara, seriously I don't think about damage contest... if you wanna know who lost, it was me... and Thai people and the country...

and darn, i have to work 16-17 April no holiday :roll:

[melted012345]

The same way as government was accused of attacking against PAD by secret mobs, who knows who is the reds that has been being violent, or these "local citizens". Paid by the current government maybe! Who knows who are the motorcycle ppl who killed two at the Nang Lerng Market....can't trust no one in this country. The people at Nang Lerng Market asked police for their help, they did not do their duty. I called last night police as I saw a group of people beating a man and a woman. Police did not answer and not a single Thai onlooker that I pleaded for help and call police did so. They said only "that we don't call police". But as my friend reminded me: you are living in an underdeveloped country, what you expect.

[melted012345]

Army using blanks against a bus.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=19406701001

But notice how few in these pictures there are protestors. The reds with their change and the songran has really dispersed them.

Why there are so few casualties? Where the injured are being taken to?

Only few hooligans seems to be out on the streets, in a way similar to any other country during street protests that start peacefully, the anarchists wreck havoc ultimatly staining public image and many like people here wrongly connect the anarchists to the main group. You have to remind that in the same way that for example anti-globalisation activists are peaceful, unfortunatly human nature is such that few anti-social people use these opportunities to break things, steal and be violent. These people are NOT part of the protest movement. Just check any place and you can see it.

The thai government is blocking several websites, that are supporting Red Shirts, or criticizing the government or the army.

Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) is blocking :

thaienews.blogspot.com Couple of pics of bullet holes in a taxi caused by military blanks

www.justin.tv/nationsiam

http://uddtoday.ning.com Videos

Use www.hidemyass.com to access. Or UltraSurf.

[Chris]

Apart from the Clancy interview, is it also obvious to a lot of people that CNN is very biased in favor of their advertiser (SC Assets?). Maybe people ought to send them some feedback on their reports that only seem to drag Thailand down.

[LasseDK]

Reading here and listening to people who lives in thailand, it seems that the attitude are anti-red - reading newspapers, watching news almost across the whole line seems to be pro red - or at least portrait it as a legitime reason they have to do what they do.

Thats very odd.....

[melted012345]

You listen and read wrong people, hence the anti-red thing that you are picking up.

ps. American prison economy has spiraled as the price of pack of cigarettes has first time surpassed two handjobs and one piece of beef jerky! ONN

[LasseDK]

You listen and read wrong people, hence the anti-red thing that you are picking up.

Meaning that i should believe the media ?

[Chris]

The international media tends to dramatize things. They also don't provide in-depth reports on all aspects of the situation. Thai are lovely people all across the country. CNN would have you believe that whole BKK is a battlefield.

It is also good to keep in mind that Thaksin is a long-time advertiser on CNN. Because of that I doubt that we will ever again see an interview like Clancy had with him, putting him on the spot and pointing out all of his wriggling and half-truths.

The thing with western media is: the moment they hear a few words: 'democratically elected', 'ousted', 'democracy' then you are automatically the good guy. It also helps if you have some cash to burn to help decorate your facade.

If you want to know how it really is you will have to move here ;-).

[Chris]

You listen and read wrong people, hence the anti-red thing that you are picking up.

ps. American prison economy has spiraled as the price of pack of cigarettes has first time surpassed two handjobs and one piece of beef jerky! ONN

I'm sure you condone terrorizing the city the likes we've seen the last few days.

BTW, your last sentence shows what kind of references we should give full credence to right?

[LasseDK]

You listen and read wrong people, hence the anti-red thing that you are picking up.

ps. American prison economy has spiraled as the price of pack of cigarettes has first time surpassed two handjobs and one piece of beef jerky! ONN

Well dont believe he is funding all media in the world and cannot see any motive ex. a danish meda has to potray him and his followers in a better light, and i do know the first victim in this is truth. And its tough really to know up and down when power comes to those who are willing to initiate a coup.

The governement & opposition should - cast out a public vote - the governement came to power by military force, would be appropriate to let the people decide who should be in power, and let this vote be overseen by inspectors from the international community.

[Ngairo]

The international media tends to dramatize things. They also don't provide in-depth reports on all aspects of the situation. Thai are lovely people all across the country. CNN would have you believe that whole BKK is a battlefield.

It is also good to keep in mind that Thaksin is a long-time advertiser on CNN. Because of that I doubt that we will ever again see an interview like Clancy had with him, putting him on the spot and pointing out all of his wriggling and half-truths.

The thing with western media is: the moment they hear a few words: 'democratically elected', 'ousted', 'democracy' then you are automatically the good guy. It also helps if you have some cash to burn to help decorate your facade.

If you want to know how it really is you will have to move here ;-).

Exactly.....just look at what's going on in Fiji right now.....thrown the constitution.....every foreign journalist removed.....military allowed to shoot on the spot....big run on the currency today.......good night Fiji.......no power for the people anymore....unless you want a bullet....

[Chris]

The fact is... Thailand is divided. The former 2 governments were less interested in everyday problems and rushed to amend the constitution for self-serving purposes. This upset their opponents who pushed harder to get them out. Now that those oponents are in the seat of power and are overall more interested in helping the country get better, there is opposition from the other side that try every means possible to get this government unseated, which would damage the country even further.

What this country needs is a government that

- solves the economic problems first

- tries to bridge that divide between the two groups

- stays in power long enough to have some of their plans realized

Bridging the divide has proved to be the most difficult and the current government has made some not so smart moves (Kasit for one and the snail pace of the PAD process that has yet to start) but they have been very active on other things that benefit the country.

I will repeat what I have said before. The reds have been allowed to do the same thing (though a few levels worse) than the yellow camp some time ago. In typical fashion a compromise will probably be sought where neither camp will have to go to jail (for long). This lets the yellow camp off the hook and the reds should not complain at all because they brought urban guerilla warfare to the city.

Next step will be a democratic reform process (which was already being studied by an academic institution for about a month). Completion of that will result in new elections.

That is why I said that all this 'fight for true democracy' though it will be important to some people, is mostly just a call to arms by a former mecenas. The 76 billion baht (or was it 78?) frozen assets are up for review and that is the true reason why they turned Bangkok into a battlefield. Money and power. Nothing less.

The yellow group shot themselves in the foot with their stupid statement that some people should not have the right to vote. This is ridiculous and together with occupying Suvarnabhumi has led to a mass exodus of their supporters.

The red group who claimed to have the moral high ground committed virtual suicide the moment they tried to kill the PM, terrorize citizens by threatening to explode gas tanks in front of building and the likes.

Law enforcement had to act the way they did and they did a pretty darn terrific job from what we have seen. It was the last opportunity to make sure that some sort of law and order prevails because you don't fight for democracy with anarchy.

So at this point colors are not important anymore. There is a status quo in the broad sense. It's just a power play around money and power.

Let the whole process play out and keep your mind open and be tolerant. Once we can try to understand each other's viewpoints we are one step closer to a solution.

[MisterMatlock]

@chris: Excellent summary. Both groups have lost ALL credibility. Surprisingly (to me), Abishit has done an excellent job of handling the protests (considering how violent they were.) Maybe there's hope yet.

[Karnie]

You listen and read wrong people, hence the anti-red thing that you are picking up.

Meaning that i should believe the media ?

i dont trust thai media esp since these mess had started. We, thai, all know that government and army have move power on them. How can we know that who shoot who? Moreover, the army has special talent to hide death body... Has anyone watch local tv about few women red shirts had stronge argue with some people? I saw it on every thai channel, but the thing is thai media has not report or show the picture of a man who wore green t-shirt had pull the hair of these woman then drag her hair (she collapsed on the ground and was on her hands and knee position) toward him till reached to those army were standing... I just saw the said ugly scene on tv... Australia tv!

[Karnie]

oh...and Thaksin given interview was like a stupid talk show indeed.

[Chris]

It puzzles me if there were so many dead bodies like T-Bag claims, .. why haven't their families come out to claim them? Or were they orphaned in the war on drugs?

[Karnie]

You listen and read wrong people, hence the anti-red thing that you are picking up.

Meaning that i should believe the media ?

i dont trust thai media esp since these mess had started. We, thai, all know that government and army have move power on them. How can we know that who shoot who? Moreover, the army has special talent to hide death body... Has anyone watch local tv about few women red shirts had stronge argue with some people? I saw it on every thai channel, but the thing is thai media has not report or show the picture of a man who wore green t-shirt had pull the hair of these woman then drag her hair (she collapsed on the ground and was on her hands and knee position) toward him till reached to those army were standing... I just saw the said ugly scene on tv... Australia tv!

[MisterMatlock]

@Karnie

It puzzles me if there were so many dead bodies like T-Bag claims, .. why haven't their families come out to claim them? Or were they orphaned in the war on drugs?

I agree. As shitty and useless as the Thai media is, the claims of massive numbers of deaths is little more than hearsay and conjecture at this point...

[Karnie]

It puzzles me if there were so many dead bodies like T-Bag claims, .. why haven't their families come out to claim them? Or were they orphaned in the war on drugs?

many years ago when the army had step their feet in politic (again!) there were lots people death and some of their family claim missing but the medid has not pay attention and just let the time pass so that everyone will forget about it and it does.

[Chris]

I think in this day and age it will be easy for them to talk to CNN or BBC since they seem to be more than willing to listen so we'll see what comes about.

I think this operation has been overall very clean with a lot of restraint from law enforcement. I think most people would even have accepted casualties on the protesters' side. After threatening to blow up buildings with people inside they are no longer 'harmless protestors' but crossed the lines and became terrorists.

I am all for an open media and honest investigations so I would suggest that he brings his proof, pictures, names, addresses forward and we will see who was telling the truth. I'm glad that at least someone at CNN had the courage to stand up and ask pressing questions and the answers quickly dried up to: " No, Yes, well, but, if, maybe, you see, when, let me tell you that.... ".

And just like you, I think coups should be avoided. We have that in common for sure ;-)

Happy Songkran Karnie.

I hope Thailand will recover soon

[LasseDK]

The fact is... Thailand is divided. The former 2 governments were less interested in everyday problems and rushed to amend the constitution for self-serving purposes. This upset their opponents who pushed harder to get them out. Now that those oponents are in the seat of power and are overall more interested in helping the country get better, there is opposition from the other side that try every means possible to get this government unseated, which would damage the country even further.

What this country needs is a government that

- solves the economic problems first

- tries to bridge that divide between the two groups

- stays in power long enough to have some of their plans realized

Bridging the divide has proved to be the most difficult and the current government has made some not so smart moves (Kasit for one and the snail pace of the PAD process that has yet to start) but they have been very active on other things that benefit the country.

I will repeat what I have said before. The reds have been allowed to do the same thing (though a few levels worse) than the yellow camp some time ago. In typical fashion a compromise will probably be sought where neither camp will have to go to jail (for long). This lets the yellow camp off the hook and the reds should not complain at all because they brought urban guerilla warfare to the city.

Next step will be a democratic reform process (which was already being studied by an academic institution for about a month). Completion of that will result in new elections.

That is why I said that all this 'fight for true democracy' though it will be important to some people, is mostly just a call to arms by a former mecenas. The 76 billion baht (or was it 78?) frozen assets are up for review and that is the true reason why they turned Bangkok into a battlefield. Money and power. Nothing less.

The yellow group shot themselves in the foot with their stupid statement that some people should not have the right to vote. This is ridiculous and together with occupying Suvarnabhumi has led to a mass exodus of their supporters.

The red group who claimed to have the moral high ground committed virtual suicide the moment they tried to kill the PM, terrorize citizens by threatening to explode gas tanks in front of building and the likes.

Law enforcement had to act the way they did and they did a pretty darn terrific job from what we have seen. It was the last opportunity to make sure that some sort of law and order prevails because you don't fight for democracy with anarchy.

So at this point colors are not important anymore. There is a status quo in the broad sense. It's just a power play around money and power.

Let the whole process play out and keep your mind open and be tolerant. Once we can try to understand each other's viewpoints we are one step closer to a solution.

Thanks chris, that made some sense here. Almost to the point where i could see the argument for letting a minority ( dont know if its the minority today ) be in power vs the majority.

But will follow it with an open mind, and hope the best for Thailand.

[zeusbheld]

@Karnie

It puzzles me if there were so many dead bodies like T-Bag claims, .. why haven't their families come out to claim them? Or were they orphaned in the war on drugs?

I agree. As sh*tty and useless as the Thai media is, the claims of massive numbers of deaths is little more than hearsay and conjecture at this point...

the thing is, it wasn't just the thai media who was on it like oldies on bargirls. if the footage on TV is anything to go by (and yes, in this case it is) the international media was all over it (unless you think that the whiteys with $20,000 video cameras you see accompanying hte soldiers in all the footage were Abhisit's sock puppets, in which case you'd need to be fitted for your tinfoil hat).

the part of toxin's interview had me laughing/crying/throwing stuff at my TV screen/vomiting was when Frank invited the international media to see the 'atrocities' and trucks full of dead bodies... after BBC showed footage of a) red shits chasing the international press out of their buffet in pattaya and press, toting cameras and video cameras, were all over every shot, and in some cases you could even recognize them.

he seems not to have gotten the memo that people who watch bbc tend to watch news every now and then, and maybe, just maybe... might see through his gamesmanship.