Thailand To Jail Foreigners At Political Rallies

#201 jdinasia

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Posted 2010-03-10 15:51:37

johncitizen, on 2010-03-10 15:37:46, said:

Perhaps it will go on longer than 3 days then

Btw. you are wrong about the ONE REGION. There will be international journalists (including from CNN, Al-Jazeera, and a French television station) embedded in the incoming convoys from 5 different regions (including the South.) A sixth group will be coming from Ayutthaya via a flotilla along the river. The journalists will bear witness that the UDD's intentions are truly peaceful, and will also be filming any attempts at suppression by the military or "third-parties."

Core supporters of the UDD attending the rally have each been issued with ID's. And as of 12:30pm today, I know that almost 50 000 from Bangkok ALONE have already registered. And there's still 4 more days to go...

JD: Save your bluster, mate. I already offered to meet with you in person to discuss all of this with you. If you think I'm going to fire off sources over the MICTnet, you're wrong.

Again no source .....

As I am in CNX within shouting distance of the "red" enclave here I am guessing that you must not be able to understand Thai language for all these things you hear, because they certainly are only propaganda and nothing else.

IP addresses are quite telling

edit to change what city I am actually in (after living in BKK for years it is habit to type that instead of CNX

Edited by jdinasia, 2010-03-10 15:53:36.

#202 anotherpeter

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Posted 2010-03-10 15:56:20

johncitizen, on 2010-03-10 15:24:22, said:

anotherpeter, on 2010-03-10 10:27:04, said:

There is lots of talk about non-reds dressing up as reds and causing violence, but I wonder if the opposite might be true too. The reds may also turn up in other colours and agitating them to make it look like others started it.

You would have to be open to the possibility of this happening.

There is no need for the government to CRUSH the reds. As soon as the money runs out they will whither away.

Fine for the foreign media to be there to report it in an unbiased way, but unless you are foreigner supporting bringing Thaksin back, then it's far safer to leave it to the media.

Do you actually think that these people want to be killed? The reason they are aiming at such a high turnout is precisely because they DON'T want violence to occur. Think about it. With one million people, you wouldn't need to inflict violence to bring down the government- you would just need to "sit down in the street" so to speak. Peaceful non-compliance will be their greatest weapon.

Violence only becomes a risk when groups of reds get separated from the main crowd, where they are easier targets for agitators or military suppression (again, targeting smaller groups was the same tactics used in 1992.)

And you are on the wrong track about the money- the Thaksin well dried up long ago, thus the asset seizure case hasn't worked out as well as the government had hoped. The UDD is now large enough to fund itself, through merchandising (ie. shirts, hats, bags, sunnies, I've even seen UDD brand rice cookers and bottles of water), competitions, concerts and fundraising. Richer red shirts are sponsoring poorer red shirts, and everyone brings everything they need with them to the rallies. For those of you who have been to one of the mass rallies before, you would know it's like a portable city has just popped up out of nowhere.

The people protesting don't want to be killed.  I don't think the red leaders seem to care either way.

I agree with you that IF they were able to get a million then they wouldn't need to be violent.  The number that they are expecting is dropping well below that though.  I did see a quote of a red leader in a newspaper article this morning (on TV) that they were expecting 100,000.  But who believes the quotes in newspapers (<- serious comment ... semi-serious anyway).

I just don't see how inciting violence helps the government's cause.  They want it to be peaceful.  Then it can be ignored.  Particularly because it won't be a million people.

It's the red leaders that have been inciting the violence in their speeches.  There is much more international media impact if there is violence.  The reds will use that to try and show what the "army dictatorship" (or how ever they want to describe the current government and the army) is like.

If (When) there is violence, there will ofcourse be all the rhetoric that it was blues/greens(army)/yellows dressed as reds doing all the violence, but it's a pretty good chance that it will just be reds dressed as reds, or reds dressed as blues/yellows/greens.

#203 Netfan

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Posted 2010-03-10 16:14:22

johncitizen, on 2010-03-10 15:37:46, said:

Perhaps it will go on longer than 3 days then

So the international media already know what they are going to report? Funny, because last time out - April, which you have never bothered to address, the media filmed Reds going wild in the streets. No leadership, just drunken mayhem. But it will be different this time? Why? Because the Reds say so? They have a track record and it does not match up with what they are saying.

#204 neverdie

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Posted 2010-03-10 16:28:01

Moonrakers, on 2010-03-10 00:49:42, said:

Rainman.

I seem to recall you saying that the yellows should be attacked, shot and even killed whilst they were protesting. Funny that you should be concerned about human rights now.

The words pot and black kettle spring to mind.

Thats the best thing about being in the middle of something like this, I dont like either side and have my reasons for it. So sitting on the 'fence' I always find it amusing when a Red poster like Rainman starts jumping up and down about this and that. He does seem very concerned about human rights now, strangely enough he doesnt have any of those concerns when issues get brought up about how thousands were unlawfully killed in drug wars when his almight mate was the PM.....doubt very much human rights concerned him too much then.

Its easy to pick and chose when you want to get all moral on something, isnt it

#205 elcent

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Posted 2010-03-10 17:22:37

johncitizen, on 2010-03-10 10:15:50, said:

Ricardo, on 2010-03-10 09:59:44, said:

WinnieTheKhwai, on 2010-03-09 21:34:48, said:

I'm still planning to go check out the rally this weekend

johncitizen, on 2010-03-09 23:14:55, said:

I will be supporting the red shirts at their rallies on the weekend.

Stay safe please, guys.

Thaksin pulling-out his family is a clear sign, if ever there was one, that this 'peaceful-protest' is not going to stay peaceful.

As I said earlier- having the protest stay peaceful is not part of the government plan. The aim of the game is to crush the red-shirts by an means necessary. And that is exactly why a very large foreigner/foreign media presence is vital. The UDD already have orders for everyone to bring cameras, and they will be filming suspected blue-shirt/special forces moles and turning them over to police. But make no mistake, this government will get away with murder unless their international reputation is on the line.

Here's how it will play out: First the police lines will "collapse" (planned), then the Army will open up with rubber bullets. If the Reds retaliate (which, if enough of them turn up, they might very well try) then the Army will switch to live rounds. 1992 all over again!

There were no rubber bullets in 1992. When they first appeared there was nothing in their guns at all. The second time when they came back they just had them fire into the crowd, apart from the snipers.