First read this:
"Former Left-Right Alliance against Globalization and America
by Thongchai Winichakul
28 July 2008
Article
Almost all Thai rightists I interviewed for my recent research perceived that the threats to Thailand today are capitalism and America. Even lifelong anti-communist ‘Phor’, an alias used for this research, who has tenaciously held the idea of national security being under threat from two strands of communism, sees that Thailand has to be cautious of the CIA interfering and agitating groups of Thai people to the point of being a threat to security. Of course, they were well aware that the threats from capitalism and America are not one and the same as the communist threat.
The rightists’ discourse of capitalist threat obviously differs from the leftists’ Maoist anti-capitalist discourse of 30 years ago. These rightists speak pretty much the same anti-neo-liberalism and anti-globalization language which Thai intellectuals and activists have adopted since after Oct 6, 1976.
Although all the interviews were done years after the 1997 economic crisis, the pain caused by the capitalist crisis was still alive in their memories. Their discourse on the cause of the crisis turned out to be nationalist and against ‘farang’ or western capitalism, pointing to western capitalist giants led by the US bullying emergent smaller capitalist nations. For the ease of digestion and propagation, it was made a story of conspiracy among a handful of global political and financial figures, often including George Soros in particular. The ‘Washington Consensus’ was understood simply as a plot by western capitalist neo-conservatives to destroy smaller states. With the calamity besetting Thai nationalist capital which had eagerly embraced globalization over a decade earlier, globalization has become undesirable. Their discourse against western capitalism was therefore not of a socialist bent, but was outright nationalist, against those ugly farangs abusing decent Thais.
Most of the interviews were done during the years of Thaksin administration which was seen as representing the evil western capitalism, subsequently labelled as ‘vicious or immoral capital’. The exasperation against Thaksin and globalization and the global anti-American sentiment fed into one another. Among the rightists I interviewed then, only one person liked the Thaksin government, and the rest were suspicious of Thaksin because he was pushing the agenda of globalization.
--MORE--"Why must the Amerikan MSM LIE ABOUT EVERY STINKING THING?
"Protesters force Thailand to cancel Asian conference; Demonstrators aimed to 'catch' prime minister" by Thomas Fuller, New York Times | April 12, 2009
Oh, the New York Times! That explains everything.
PATTAYA, Thailand - A summit meeting of Asian nations was abruptly canceled yesterday after hundreds of protesters forced their way past security forces into a convention center where leaders were preparing to discuss the global economic crisis.
About half of the leaders at the meeting were evacuated by helicopter, including those of Vietnam, Burma - also known as Myanmar - and the Philippines, Thai officials said. Some officials fled by boat.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, the embattled Thai prime minister who has faced a week of large-scale street demonstrations, declared a state of emergency to secure the departure of leaders from Southeast Asia, China, South Korea, and Japan. The emergency decree was lifted once the leaders had safely left Pattaya, a resort town about 90 miles east of Bangkok, officials said.
The cancellation of the meeting, involving leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was deeply embarrassing for Thailand and a missed opportunity for Asian leaders to discuss the severe economic downturn that is causing some of the region's export-dependent economies to contract.
Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations; Robert B. Zoellick, president of the World Bank; and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, were among those scheduled to attend the meeting over the weekend.
Abhisit apologized for the cancellation of the meeting but did not take responsibility for the breach in security, which he said was "not the act of the government."
Shouting "Abhisit get out! Abhisit get out!" protesters entered the compound in the early afternoon by pushing past the thousands of military and police personnel guarding the resort. Once inside, the demonstrators paraded through the hallways of the site, the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, chanting, cheering, blowing whistles, and waving Thai flags.
Diplomats and other officials fled at the sound of shattering glass.
A small group of demonstrators reached the section of the complex where leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were eating lunch. Videos showed protesters there being stopped at gunpoint by commandos and dropping to their knees.
Arisman Pongruengrong, one of the protest leaders, said the goal was to force the resignation of Abhisit, who took office in December. In a measure of the animosity between the government and its opponents, Arisman said he had instructed his followers to "catch" the prime minister. "When you see him, catch him and do whatever you like to him."
Oh, U.S.-BACKED PROTESTERS FOMENTING VIOLENCE?
You gotta be kidding!!!!
The East Asia summit, as the gathering is known, might be rescheduled for later in the year, officials said. In addition to the 10 members of ASEAN the meeting was to include Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.
The prime ministers of China and Japan and the president of South Korea were in hotels several miles from the venue when the meeting was to begin. Protesters successfully blocked their paths on the way to the meeting. They allowed them to drive to a nearby airport once the meeting was canceled.
"If you compare it to a boxing match, we won the first round," said Prasong Hassanoi, a 55-year-old cabdriver from northeastern Thailand, who drove his taxi to the protest.
--more--"
100,000 Tamil supporters march through London
Yup, HUNDREDS are COVERED while THOUSANDS are IGNORED!!!
Can you say AGENDA-PUSHING, readers?
Tired of the MSM SELECTIVITY, DISTORTIONS, and LIES yet?
