A Thai primer re. Reds vs Yellows, Taksin etc.,

[El_hefe]

For those of us who don't live in LOS or understand the daily political situation with Taksin & the Police & the Army & the Reds & the Yellows & the King... this video explains & breaks things down nicely. Even if one doesn't agree 100% with all conclusions, I felt it put current events into a context that is understandable. Especially since some of us spend regular amounts of time in the kingdom but are hazy about whats going on now.

Basically it's implying that the health of the aged monarch, who all parties claim to revere & who has been in the hospital for quite some time, should he prove his mortality, that would set the stage for a power vacuum that will be decided along the red/yellow fault line, probably an unpleasant event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJHJG...eature=channel

I watch this group's videos (Journeyman Pictures) regularly & quite enjoy them.

I would be interested in other bm's opinions about this, esp. those who are expats there. The fact that the Yellows easily closed the airport for a couple of weeks & Reds now occupy the Chidlom area without any precipitating events make me wonder about the conseqeunces of a traumatic trigger event in Thai society.

[Bumpa STIKKA]

[manarak]

why do they spend so much time on the lèse majesté law?

And what I absolutely cannot stand is the way the speaker pronounces lèse majesté. It sounds like "lésé majest" - my hairs stand up every time.


And the vid is very very pro Thaksin.
No word on his "deals", killings, etc.
At the end it sounds like the reds just came out because they want democracy.


Democracy is when 2 wolves and a lamb vote on what's for dinner.
(Benjamin Franklin, I think)

[jadeite]

Cannot view from Thailand, it says:

This video contains content from Journeyman Pictures, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.

[rxpharm]

Here's a very insightful opinion piece from the Bangkok Post by Voranai Vanijaka

Thailand's current political climate isn't an easy thing to comprehend. You may stay updated with the news, you may talk to various sources and you may construct different scenarios - but the truth of the matter is the decision and direction of this country will be made in the backrooms, from behind the curtains, behind the scenes.

It's the phone calls, the intermed-iaries and the deal makers buzzing between Thaksin Shinawatra's camp, Abhisit Vejjajiva's camp, the army's camp, the elite establishment's camp and any other camp that might be involved. When compromises are made, deals are hammered out and mutual benefits are reassured, then Thailand will return to stability _ if only momentarily _ while the loser retreats to lick his wounds and prepares himself to fight another day.

The most recent news is that Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban has been replaced by army chief General Anupong Paojinda as head of the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situations (at least its military operations), after Friday's botched attempt to arrest red shirt leaders at a city hotel. This is seen as a measure to force the procrastinating army chief, who will retire in a few months, to take action. But will there be action? That's anyone's guess.

But if past acts are any indication, whether it's the fiasco of the crackdown on the night of May 10 or the debacle in the attempted arrest of UDD leaders on the morning of May 16, then perhaps no action is the best action.

After all, if those failures tell us anything, it's that _ given all the factions within the police and the army _ the security forces as a whole aren't even sure which side they're on. Not to mention the fact that the colonels and generals may want one thing, but what about the rank and file?

Jatuporn Prompan then announced that the 24 core leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) will surrender to the authorities on May 15. But so what? Once upon a time People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders Chamlong Srimuang and Sondhi Limthongkul surrendered. If I was a betting man the 24 core leaders of the UDD will suffer the same fate as the leaders of the PAD _ which is nothing.

There is no double standard in Thai law. It's just all about incompetence, pure and simple. The reason the law is incompetent to the point of impotence is that mutual benefits have yet to be agreed upon, that's all. The rival factions are still jockeying behind the scenes, the phones are still buzzing _ while all the factions feed us empty news to keep the public entertained.

Though at the end of the day, whoever stands the victor, the status quo will stay. The buzz words of the month, ''class struggle'', will still be empty, and the ''double standards'' will remain.

Last Saturday, I had an interesting conversation with a lady taxi driver on the way from Lat Phrao to downtown.

Me: Sister, where are you from?

Her: Isan.

Me: Sister, what do you think of all this supposed class struggle business?

Her: Struggle for what? None of this will end up changing the lives of the poor. What do the common, everyday people know about class struggle? Nothing.

Me: Well sister, Thaksin did give the poor one million baht per village. Perhaps he's a friend of the poor?

Her: And everyone went out to buy cell phones, TVs and gamble the rest away. How did that alleviate the standard of living of the poor? He didn't even give his own money. He used the people's money to give to the people. And they loved him for it. All they know is, Thaksin gives us money, Abhisit doesn't - and that's that. That's why Abhisit has been trying to give handouts to so many people since he became prime minister.

Me: If there's a general election, sister, do you think the Puea Thai party will win? Who will the Isan people vote for?

Her: I don't know who will win, but the people will vote for whoever the nai (bosses or masters in the provinces) tell them to.

Me: But wait a second sister, if this is a class struggle, why would the people vote blindly as the nai commands? Shouldn't they be struggling against the nai? Shouldn't they protest against the nai in their provinces?

Her: You think people want to get killed? Besides, it's the nai who brought them to Bangkok to protest.

That's pretty much the status quo of feudal Thailand. The amataya (the nobility, or old establishment) get all the headlines, but it's the nai who are instrumental in sustaining the feudal status quo. So whether it's the amataya or the nai who end up lording it over this Kingdom, the ''double standards'' in this country will remain. Not double standards of the law, mind you. The law is only words on paper, but it's the interpretation and execution of the law which is reflective of society's attitude, the attitude that has shaped modern Thailand.

This has always been a nation divided. Stand on the balcony of your high-rise condominium and look at the slum down below. Look out the tinted window of your luxurious European car and see poverty in the streets. What's more, to privileged Bangkokians, most of the rest of Thailand even speak in a dialect they can hardly understand _ it's a nation divided.

They look different. They act different. They talk different.

Of course, there's always the rich and the poor in any society, especially one that follows the capitalist democracy model, however well or however poorly. But it's the culture of kowtowing, the nai and the prai (peasants) and the grossly disproportionate income distribution that make the ''double standards'' of Thailand unacceptable, at least to someone like me who is in search of the elusive ideal of ''equality''. Back to the conversation with the taxi driver.

Me: Sister, what do you think will change the lives of the poor for the better?

Her: Education. Everybody knows that. Talk to everyone and they'll say it's the education. Even dumb people know that.

Me: Well then sister, didn't Thaksin give the rural schools free computers?

Her: Many of the schools didn't even have electricity, and he gave us computers? The kids don't even have proper books, clothes. But Abhisit gave us free education.

Me: But sister, free or not, it's the same education we have been getting since forever. How would that change anything?

Her: I don't know. Do you? Does anyone?

There is no perfect solution in the real world. Perhaps we should come to terms with the past and focus, good or bad, on the future with this question: Between Thaksin Shinawatra and the new elites _ and Abhisit Vejjajiva and the old elites _ which camp do we believe can best lead Thailand into the future, struggling and bumbling along the way as we will surely be? Which camp is our best bet?

Or perhaps a third-party prime minister will be appointed? After all, the phones are still buzzing in the backrooms.

But at the end of the day, the most interesting question is: How can we take the decision and direction of this country out of the backrooms and into the open in the democratic process? That can't be answered unless we first learn how to bridge the gap between the two Thailands.

Personally I see the leaders of the Red Shirts as no better or perhaps even worse than the Yellow Shirt leaders - and if the Red Shirts "win", the average red shirt demonstrator or supporter will get nothing out of it.

[Ivor Biggun]

This is well worth a view and not blocked in Thailand yet.

[Stingray]

That 101 East is spoiled by the silly bitch who keeps trying to get arguementative with Kraisak before he's been able to answer the question she has asked.

Very poor interview, I felt I just missed what he had to say and therefore it removed my understanding of whether I agreed with him or not.

Anyone remember his father?

[Ivor Biggun]

I'm not concerned with her interview technique, more with what Kraisak and Thaksin's former Deputy PM DID say.

The yellows are at it again now as well. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8628169.stm

Glad I'm well away from it in sleepy hollow.