philw

I guess if Sonthi does "unlock the Nation"..........long... long.... long... way back for the dems

PM me if you guys require an efficient relocation company

OzMick, on Yesterday, 15:20 , said:

I can hardly imagine the enormity of the task that  Mrs. OzMick & Mrs Bulcholz would have cleaning up the froth off the floor if PT or TRT had been let off on a technicality in a case in which they were blatantly guilty!

geriatrickid, on 2012-05-27 11:44:45, said:

I stopped reading there because if it is cowardice then the rest display extreme stupidity for staying.
For What? To then leave at a predetermined date?
I have never heard such ignorance as to spend lives with a predetermined exit date.

This will end the same as all incursions into that region....Lives wasted

PS: I am not French

Huayrat, on 2012-05-26 19:08:45, said:

Pathetic comment to be honest, but sadly typical of the average Sun reader mentality. Congratulations to the new French Prime Minister for putting the interests of his countrymen before the interests of American drug barons. Setting an example to the rest of the European poodles who are slavishly getting down on their knees. No wonder America is held in such contempt by the rest of the educated civilised world. "Change we can believe in!" What a laugh! Pass the sick bag.

What do you call a frothing forum? A frothel?

gemini81, on 2012-05-26 20:26:00, said:

can i get some tickets to your show, or do you give all your comedy gems away for free?

noitom, on 2012-05-26 10:51:38, said:

Man, you are missing the anti-Yingluck narrative on TV...facts don't matter....the important thing is to rail against everything Shinawatra....if it's a feel good piece say, about a blind lady recovering her sight, you have write on TV that Yingluck, ordered to by Thaksin, blinded her by throwing acid in her face...it's a sort of nasty cult religion....

Buchholz, on 2012-05-22 05:51:48, said:

are you asking me to do that? i can't edit your posts
it's you that broke the rules, so you fix your post... anyway, i don't actually care and i wouldn't be saaaaaaad enough to report the post

hyperdimension, on 2012-05-22 16:33:31, said:

First of all - i do not ignore the elites at all. As you can see, in a recent post i was accused of having flown to dubai to photograph Thaksin in his home for a major German news magazine. I have talked with many members of all side's elites. Nevertheless - as long as i cannot properly corroborate the tales they feed me with - i will remain suspicious.
You mentioned Crispin - this writer is the perfect example of what i talked about. He is never in the field, he only gathers his information by a few elite contacts. The result are stories that are like a lottery - sometimes correct, and sometimes absolutely wrong. I remember, for example, how he predicted after the 2008 airport occupation that the Red Shirts and Thaksin would fizzle away, never to return (there is somewhere a video of this, but i am too lazy to look for it). There were more such stories, such as when in 2009 he described the attack on Nipon Promphan in the interior ministry as a hidden attack against a member of the royal family with whom Nipon is reputedly close to. Oh, if Crispin would just have been in the field, and would have seen the chaos of the attack, the attackers only looking for Abhisit, no clue about who Khun Nipon was, or his royal connections. There is loads more, such as his regular "sources in the diplomatic community". Anyone who knows the diplomatic community knows that it is about as divided about the situation as anyone here is, so when you need "a source from the diplomatic community" for whatever point you are trying to make, you just pick and choose. That's one of the little tricks of our dirty little business of journalism...

I do not have any respect for any journalist writing about this Red/Yellow conflict who is not working it in the field. That doesn't mean that this is solely worked from the field - all of us will have also our talks, chats, lunches and dinners with elite level players. We get information, and then we see if it is correct information or not. One thing lots of people don't seem to know - the elites are about as depending on, and spreading rumors as you old neighborhood market lady.

The relations ship between Thaksin and the Red Shirts is far more complex than you make it out here (and i do not have the time to go too deeply into this here right now). Thaksin may look at the Red Shirts as his own street protest group, so what? The Red Shirts define themselves slightly differently, as you can see right now, where there is widespread discontent on all levels with what Thaksin said on Saturday. Also Asia Update has quite openly reported on this discontent, has given much coverage to main proponents of this discontent, such as Payao - Nong Kate's mother. But yes, of course Asia Update is a propaganda TV station (i have used those exact words when i described this TV station in my second book, by the way).
I would suggest though to once a while have a look at Blue Sky TV - the new Democrat Party propaganda station - the hate speech there is quite beyond believe, far beyond Asia Update, and even of ASTV.

This conflict isn't just about elite machinations, of good against bad - we are in the middle of massive social transformations. It's a dirty fight, by all sides.

You seem to put much weight on "Sopons" predictions, as if would be gospel. Well, it was not too difficult to predict that the longer the 2010 protests take, the more risk for violence breaking out. I have done the same. Just is Sopon's piece nothing but a little propaganda piece without any insight at all other than floating on the surface, and completely ignoring the violent tactics of the side that writer has openly supported all along.

This is the same problem with many posters here, including you - you ignore, obfuscate or outright deny all crimes committed by the side you support. Many posters of your side even go so low to massively discredit any writer that does not agree with their views, even as low as questioning professionalism and ethical conduct. I have never denied the violent nature of many groups in the Red Shirts, yet i am called "biased" when i have written about the exact same violence by the PAD, members of the Democrat Party, or by the military. I am called a liar when i described soldiers having shot at unarmed protesters, journalists and bystanders - even if it happened in front of my eyes, with photos provided, and at times even videos by others supporting what i have written.

Who really is biased? I have countless times offered to look at evidence you guys can provide me countering what i wrote. So far - nil, zilch.

You accuse me of ignoring elite level players. I have spoken with Thaksin, Yingluck, Abhist, countless Ministers of the past three or four governments, all Red Shirt leaders, most Yellow Shirt leaders, countless MP's of the Democrats and Puah Thai, generals of the military and of the police - and that is the exact reason why i am convinced that the far more exiting political transformations are driven by the grassroots level's rise of political awareness. Elites scheme and play politics - but this conflict is far beyond mere politics. You may not see that now - but in a few years you will realize this.

Wow thanks I've lived in the Pai valley nearly 10 years now and had no idea it was so dangerous here.

It is a beautiful place to die though since we all have to.

Great news. Everyone was skeptical about the subway and sky train and it worked out well. I would like to hear from people who are positive and not doom day wishers.

This is what Thailand needs. Think positive for a better Thailand not wishing or hoping everything goes wrong.

Since 1989 I have been here through 2 military coups, when a PM only lasted 2 years at most. Building contracts had to be renegotiated after regime change and nothing got done. Thailand has changed a lot since then and a government more in touch with the people. I can go on and on but in short the government has changed for the better in the last 10 years. Is more needed, yes. The high speed rail is a step in the right direction.

Randy

Nice to have a government of action and not only words.
300 baht...tablets...high-speed rail...beats hot air balloons, submarines & wars with our neighbours!

Since Yingluck and everyone in her government are totally incompetent, then this must mean that Thaksin rigged these figures from Dubai via sinister bribes to unsuspecting economists using government money. As every anti-redshirt on Thaivisa knows, the real economy actually tanked during Q1 declining by a massive 88%, and everybody became unemployed and cannot buy anything because everything is so expensive now (apart from Thaksin's corrupt cronies who really run the country and were able to carry on stealing and now have all the money in the country which they send to Thaksin via wire transfer every Monday morning)

KunMatt, on 2012-05-20 22:46:46, said:

You can assume all you like and judging by your posts that is not a skill you are deficient at.

I was not in Bangkok at the time of the riots and am thankful for that. Why? Because it does mean that I can observe, read articles, take part in forums etc without that chip of "I was there at the Bangkok Riots, I'm a victim too" consistently blurring my insight.

I understand that there are some non Thais on here that were genuinely personally affected by the events in Bangkok in 2010. I have read of westerners who hate Thaksin because they lost their job/money in a telecom business he set up, another whose wife gave birth prematurely because a red shirt "literally" threw her out of bed whilst looking for snipers in Chulakorn Hospital, yet another whose cousins' sister (or something like that) gave birth in a taxi because of traffic jams caused by red shirts setting up roadblocks, there's even one guy on here who posts regularly about how he's liquidating his considerable fortune (I say considerable, because he's been "liquidating" it for over a year now) in the fear of Thaksin coming back to Thailand and yet at least one more that has promised to leave Thailand the minute Taksin appears.

OK, I understand your stance. What I don't understand are members who diss anything they don't agree with. Case in point, Why is the Guardian or CNN or any other western media so laughable as a source? Have you fed into the belief that Thais are inscrutable (they are to an extent, but not totally) and that no westerners will ever understand. To the contrary the average westerner (if they wish to) has a far more vast access to knowledge regarding the situation than the average Thai. Certain banned articles are accessible, with their associated risks.

To rely on local sources (including this forum) is to deny yourself knowledge. Why do you think the economist is not distributed within Thailand on occasion? We can't even discuss the situation fully on any public forum in Thailand. Any media source associated with the UDD was shut down (only in some cases for genuine "threat" reasons). This left State (and in some cases Army run) TV to transmit what they wanted.Did you query the army spokesman when he stated that no live bullets were fired, the army was not responsible for any deaths, the 500 men in black?. When Suthep stated that the photographs and videos clearly showing soldiers on the tracks above the Wat were taken on the 20th May, not the 19th May?

No, all that is said is the red shirts are armed and deserved to be shot dead.

So, yes, I am biased towards the UDD but I'm upfront with it and provide examples why where I can. You, you were in Bangkok "when they tried to burn it down" and were inconvenienced for a month.

rixalex, on 2012-05-21 08:50:11, said:

There is another reason why it is much easier to form personal relationships with Red Shirts than with the other side. While the Red Shirts are much more open to western journalists and also to criticism, the Yellow Shirts from the start have been not overly welcoming and can be vile when faced with criticism.
Let me give you a few examples: already the backstage design of PAD 1 and 2 was such that there were several perimeters. Journalists were not allowed into the inner perimeter. Especially during PAD 2 there were whole areas which were completely closed off to us, especially during the government house occupation. During Red Shirt rallies we can freely mingle everywhere, and that was so from the beginning. It is much easier to meet Red Shirt leaders for background chats than Yellow Shirt leaders. These things improved though during the PAD rallies in 2011 in front of Government House, but by then the PAD was a spent force already and quite irrelevant.
As to criticism - after i wrote my story on the Oct. 7 incident, the PAD derided me from the stage, and accused me of having accepted a huge bribe from Thaksin, which made my life very difficult for quite some time. For a month i even needed a bodyguard when going out in public.
In many of my stories i have been critical of the Red Shirts as well, i have, for example, never bought the peaceful movement talk. That led to discussions with Red Shirt leaders, but nothing else. I have strongly criticized the Red Shirts for permanently occupying Rajaprasong, and told several leaders at the time that i will be critical over this action. This again led to discussion, but not to be shunned or accused of bribery and such.
It is more difficult for Thai journalists as they will get problems from both sides, yet if you ask the regular crowd of Thai political Thai journalists that work in the field, they will tell you that nevertheless, it is a much more pleasant experience to work in the Red Shirts than under their opponents, even though at times they have to work under very difficult conditions in the Red camp.

There are a few Yellow leaders with whom i have a very good relationship, especially with the Thai Patriot Network leaders, such as Chaiwat, etc.

And a basic point here: i am not in the habit of pretending to be somebody i am not. My ideals and values are formed by being a westerner, with all the luggage of humanism, the belief that all humans have an inherent equal worth, etc. The Yellow side's philosophy is quite opposed to many of those values. Their views on Thai society and where it should go in the future are, lets say, quite reactionary, and to a large part they reject western political systems and philosophy. This is made quite clear not just in speeches but also in personal conversations.

Nevertheless, i do go to Yellow rallies whenever they are taking place. In 2011 i have spent more time at Yellow rallies than at Red rallies - i just didn't have the time to write about them, yet. Don't forget - i do not get paid for my stories on New Mandala.

I don't know who you are, and naturally, i do not blame you for staying anonymous, given the extreme nastiness that get thrown at people who do take a position. Taking a position, by the way, is perfectly acceptable in journalism, and very different from being biased, and only a natural development when one works a subject intensively. One has to take utmost care though to stay objective and factual. And i have always done so. As i said already, i am in close contact with many people that help me to constantly re-evaluate my position, many of those people have extensive experience in the field, others are theoretically far more knowledgeable than i am.
There is a lot involved by working such a complex subject matter, far more than you and others see. It is not just running to a protest, getting quotes, write some stuff and that's it. You say that i may not know what your experience regarding the protests are. Well, i am sorry, but judging from all you have written here, these experiences do not seem to be very extensive, as most posters here. Which is OK, why should you or anyone spend that much time with this mess anyhow? That is what people like I are for.

What is unacceptable though are the consistent personal accusations i have to bear with. Criticize me factually, where i am wrong, give me facts that challenge mine, and it helps me to do better work. Whenever i have asked for facts though here on this forum from my critics, they disappeared with flimsy excuses, or, as it turned out, have not even be anywhere near the events they criticize my accounts over.