siampolee

Sorry Percy.

As I lay asleep in Non'buri
There came a voice from over the Sea,
And with great power it forth led me
To witness Red Democracy.
I met Murder on the way -
He had a mask from old Chiang Mai -
Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
Seven blood-hounds followed him:
All were fat; and well they might
Be in admirable plight,
For one by one, and two by two,
He tossed the human hearts to chew
Which from his wide cloak he drew.
Next came Fraud, and she had on,
Like Jatuporn, a scarlet gown;
Her big tears, for she wept well,
Turned to mill-stones as they fell.
And the little children, who
Round her feet played to and fro,
Thinking every tear a gem,
Had their brains knocked out by them.

Driving around Bangkok the last few days, I have noted the vast numbers of cranes in every direction as more and more new skyscrapers are built. I am reminded of 1996-97 when from my office window I counted one day 200 cranes visible with the naked eye. A that time I thought " this is madness". The same feelings are coming over me today, although the cost of money is certainly a lot less today.

jonclark, on 2012-05-25 08:30:56, said:

The only bit that's "sensationalist and apocalyptic" is the last part about debt rising to 80%, the rest is a pretty accurate assessment in my opinion. Too many 'ifs' as someone else noted. Given the track record of politicians on all sides the chances of Thailand investing intelligently and taking a lead role in ASEAN seem very unlikely. I have yet to see this govt make one sensible well thought out policy. Their rice policies are driving Thai companies abroad and other dumb things like the Chinese ipads are just laughable. The 300baht wage rise is also going to impact greatly on development and investment. Thaksin's efforts to get the IMF debt moved sideways will also have a big impact on all this. I do not see Thailand heading remotely in the right direction and can't help feeling its all about getting snouts into this very large trough.

Wot, another crackdown??

Another way to look at the Thaksin saga is to look at what is now happening in Chiang Mai. There are a couple of billionnaire families that control this city. They are all friendly with the Shianwatras. The moment the PTP 'won' this election, money from the government coffers started pouring into Chiang Mai. All the big players were in place: Land had been acquired for the development of shopping malls and moo baans; projects that had previously been on 'hold' burst back into life, a new ring road from Hang Dong to Mae Rim was announced: not surprisingly the Thaksinites has already acquired land along the route, thus doubling, tripling (and so on) the value of this land in no time. Its about money. And Thaksin's red shirt movement, for Thaksin at least, is about acquiring the support, through force and menace, to enable him to continue piling cash into his already overful bank accounts. Democracy was simply a useful word that would pull these red shirts into one movement behind him. Thaksin is not a democrat. His actions over the years have proved that time and time again. The majority of reds have no idea what democracy is. But there is a small movement that believe and understand democracy and I guess that these guys know what a scam the rest of the movement is. Another way to develop a movement is by finding a common enemy (in other countries it could be blacks, jews and so on( and in this case it was the 'elite'). This elite is actually the same people who have their snouts in the trough as being demonstrated in Chiang Mai even as you read this. As I see it the Democrat Party is composed, partly, of humanitarians, people who have education and understand the world a little bit more than the average red; it is comprised of academics, intellectuals and people in general who have jai dee. Abhisit had a rough time with some of his own people who had their fingers in the pie but he was well meaning, he held back when the reds were bent on tearing the capital city apart. He knew that the venom would be turned on him with the carefully orchestrated lies and deceit of that master of illusion who now lives in Dubai. But he stood his ground and held his head up high in spite of the pressue that he was under and the lies spread about him by Thaksin, Amsterdam and repeated by Jatuporn, Arissman and the other Kwais in there for the ride. Some posters here (not too many of them thank goodness) seem to ignore these simple truths and prefer to be dragged along by the fake democrat. But in all of these situations over history there have always been a small minority who prefer the notoriety of siding with the bad guys often at the expense of the poor and downtrodden. Lord Haw Haw in the UK is a great example. Sadly, Thai politics cannot change - at least not in my lifetime. Good governance could do so much for this country and the poor sods who still have to manage on 150 baht a day, if they can get work at all. If this was another country we could widen the debate a bit more but I believe that there were very powerful forces that intervened at some point to help save the country but sadly this was not to be and the battle will continue. 'Reconciliation', like 'democracy' is another buzz word designed to create a diversion from what is really happening. Some Thaksinites (here on TV) may be easily fooled by these illusions but thankfully I sense that on TV, at least, there is a body of good people, people who care about others, who truly understand this stuff. They are the kind of people who can make a difference in this world.

MaiChai, on 2012-05-22 06:22:13, said:

A great miscarriage of lost face.

jonclark, on 2012-05-23 07:05:44, said:

"Now Kiratikan ran between them and tried to keep them apart,
And Surathin, he pushed her aside and a rock cake caught him underneath his heart.
And he looked up in pained surprise and the concrete hardened crust,
Of a stale pork pie caught him in the eye and Surathin bit the dust".

http://lyricsplaygro...inthewest.shtml

nice guy, if he wanted to stay in power he needed to be a bit more Peua Thai orientated, competency is irrelevant in this post.

Let me hear from the red shirts that they killed innocent people.

Let me hear from them that Thaksin should be held to account from Tak Bai and other deaths.

If they don't accept equality in the law they have no idea what reconciliation is.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Thaivisa Connect App

Thai Federation of Red Shirt Villages for Democracy, the Democratic Front of Red Shirt Villages, and National United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD)

If you remember Life of Brian, think what fun Monty Python could have with these turkeys. All the strutting and squabbling to be the head turkey, without enough brains to realise he's still just a turkey.

This struggle is not about democracy; it's about the hate for them and the love for us. - Voranai Vanijaka

I suggest you all read today's column by Voranai Vanijaka in "The Other Newspaper".  He lays out the entire sordid affair clearly.  Its all gray areas.  Both sides are right - and both sides are wrong. The problem is that the TV red shirts - Phi, and others, refuse to see that their "side" is wrong in any degree, while the TV yellow shirts see everything the red shirts do as evil and having a hidden agenda from Thaksin.  Therein lies the problem  No compromise means no progress.  

The army killed red shirts - yes
The red shirts killed army - yes
Thaksin paid red shirts - yes
The army used live ammunition and killed innocents - yes
The red shirts fired RPG rounds and used human shields and parked NGV trucks near residential areas - yes
The yellow shirts invaded the airport and forced its closure - yes
The red shirts invaded a meeting of world leaders and forced its closure - yes
The red shirts burned down lots of buildings and invaded a hospital - yes

All these things happened.  Not just some of them.  ALL are at fault.  ALL need to try to restore a sense of balance.  I actually think Thaksin understands that.  It seems the TV red shirts do not, TV Yellow shirts, and anyone else who constantly refuses to view both sides of the issue are at fault - which is most of us.

Lite Beer, on 2012-05-19 20:13:46, said:

And so, the victors write the history books.

All Ive ever seen with this mob is violence and playing the victim.

They won, they got their way and they have their man in power as the PM. I dont see why they are allowed to bring central Bangkok to a standstill yet again, especially when they are 100% responsible for every death and act of destruction during the riots in Bangkok, and all of the deaths and destruction around the country during that time.

Well, its obvious WHY they are allowed to, its just a kick in the face for any regular person who was here at the time and had these terrorists affecting their life for a month, and all for the sake of a promised 500 baht which a lot of them never got.

phiphidon, on 2012-05-19 15:28:01, said:

Absolutely. The downward spiral continues. I was actually hoping for good things after the "clone" was seated... but I was mistaken. My business has posted it's worst numbers in 6 years and no relief in sight. But I suppose you retirees who sit around and do little to nothing each day don't really resonate with the severity of the situation. So where is the Thaksin redemption promised? No where. It's all empty drivel and I am suffering tremendously because of all this Shinawatra stupidity and lunacy. He can deliver nothing to the masses and the sooner he evaporates the better off this country will be.

Ianatlarge, on 2012-05-16 12:14:41, said:

More useful would a card that allows you to avoid tea money. "This card confirms the owner has already paid a lifetimes supply of tea money directly to the Thai govt and is therefore exempt from being ripped off by ANY Thai officials" Now I'd consider buying that.