That is what I thought right from the start.
Related: The CIA's Thailand Tentacles
Boston Globe Color Blind When it Comes to Thailand
Their one-sided, agenda-pushing prism proves it again and again.
"Thai prime minister offers pact, fall elections" by Associated Press | May 4, 2010
BANGKOK — Thailand’s prime minister, facing calls for new elections, yesterday proposed a Nov. 14 date for the vote if antigovernment protesters accept his reconciliation plan and peace and stability is restored.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva made the offer in a live speech last night on all television channels — eight weeks into a tense standoff in the capital that has cost 28 lives.
He said he would proceed with his reconciliation plan even if the Red Shirt protesters occupying central Bangkok rejected it, but in that case he could not set a date for the election.
The Red Shirts contend that Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the help of the army. They have called for Parliament to be dissolved within 30 days. An election must be held within 60 days of Parliament being dissolved.
A Red Shirt protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan, said the group would hold a meeting to discuss Abhisit’s offer and give its response today.
Abhisit spelled out a five-point reconciliation plan that he said takes into account the main grievances of the protesters, whose occupation of major streets in the capital since mid-March has caused economic havoc and further polarized the country. Thailand saw unity fade away after a 2006 coup ousted the elected prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin was ousted after protesters accused him of corruption and abuse of power....
Which protesters would those be, MSM?
"Thai leader makes offer to dissolve legislature; Protesters push for specific date" by Grant Peck, Associated Press | May 7, 2010
BANGKOK — Thailand’s prime minister said yesterday that he would dissolve Parliament in September, paving the way for new elections demanded by antigovernment protesters, if they end their crippling occupation of Bangkok’s commercial district.
But in a sign of the deep mistrust between the opposing sides, the demonstrators said they would not go home until the government made its promise official and specified a date for the legislature’s dissolution.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also faced opposition from activists who see his peace offering as a capitulation to the protesters.
The Globe and AmeriKan MSM really are colorblind.
The nearly two-month standoff in Bangkok has paralyzed vital areas of the capital, hammered the economy, decimated the tourist industry, and ground government machinery to a near halt. Clashes with soldiers and other violence have killed 27 people and injured nearly 1,000.
On Monday, Abhisit unveiled a proposal that included new elections on Nov. 14 — about a year before his term would end — if the protesters left their barricaded encampment in the heart of the Thai capital. The Parliament must be dissolved at least 45 days before the elections.
Leaders of the antigovernment movement, known as the Red Shirts, initially welcomed that plan, which takes into account their main grievances. It includes respect for the monarchy, changes to resolve economic injustice, media reforms, independent investigations of violence connected with the protests, and amending the constitution to be more fair to all political parties.
But the date of the dissolution of Parliament has since become a sticking point, with the Red Shirts insisting it be specified and Abhisit saying only it would happen in time for the November election.
The timing is crucial because a key reshuffle of top military posts is scheduled for September, and the protesters don’t want Abhisit at the helm then. It’s not clear whether a caretaker government, which would run the country after Parliament is dissolved, would be allowed to make the appointments.
“If you are playing hard to get about the dissolution date, we will continue our protest,’’ said Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader. “We can remain here for three or four months. No problem.’’
Meanwhile, Abhisit is insisting on the opposite order of events.
“If they don’t go home, I’m not going to dissolve Parliament,’’ Abhisit said on ASTV. Other Thai media quoted Abhisit as saying the dissolution could take place Sept. 15 to 30.
“I repeat, I am not negotiating with anybody,’’ Abhisit said in the interview, but added he was inviting everyone into a reconciliation process.
The military holds tremendous power in Thailand, and the Red Shirts, who draw most of their supporters from the rural and urban poor, view Abhisit’s government as the illegitimate product of back room deals and military pressure on legislators.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn sought to play down the disagreements, saying both sides were working to persuade their supporters to back the compromise plan.--more--"
"Thailand suspends plan to cut water, electricity; Protesters vow to stay in capital" by Grant Peck, Associated Press | May 13, 2010
BANGKOK — The Thai government suspended its plan to cut water and electricity supplies to antigovernment demonstrators camped in a posh central Bangkok neighborhood, heeding pleas from residents and foreign diplomats who live and work there.
But it also withdrew its offer to hold elections in November, bringing Thailand’s months-old political crisis back to square one, days after it appeared that a compromise was imminent....
A government blockade of the Red Shirts’ barricaded protest zone in central Bangkok was supposed to start yesterday at midnight, but water and electricity were available as usual this morning in the upscale Rajprasong area.
Thousands of Red Shirt protesters are camped on the streets and parks in that area, which is home to several embassies, shopping malls, hospitals, and upmarket apartments.
Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the spokesman of an agency in charge of suppressing the protest, said late yesterday that the plan to choke off essential services to the Red Shirt demonstrators was put on hold because of the repercussions it would have on other residents....
Sansern said security forces would “not use force at this stage,’’ but left open the possibility of more violence if the protesters do not disperse.
With the government’s tougher tone, chances of a negotiated settlement appeared almost doomed, just days after the two sides had agreed in principle to a reconciliation plan. Panitan Wattanayagorn, government spokesman, said Abhisit’s offer to hold November elections — a year before his term expires — was now off the table because the protesters had not budged.
From behind their barricades, leaders of the Red Shirts were defiant.
And stinking of CIA.
“Firstly, we are using our own electricity generators, so we are not dependent on the public power source,’’ said one, Jatuporn Prompan. “Secondly, if the government decides to cut water . . . this will also affect half of the city. So we do not care about the government’s threat.’’
Another leader, Nattawut Saikua, told reporters: “We have made a decision to hold our ground here to call for justice for our people. We are going to stay here no matter what happens.’’
--more--"Related: Rogue Thai general shot in head (By Thomas Fuller and Seth Mydans, New York Times)
The CIA's general was taken out by a sharpshooter while talking to reporters, huh?
Hey, what you give is what you get.
More: Troops fire on rioting protesters in Thailand (By Seth Mydans, New York Times)
Umm, my print paper carried AP article and I do not read NYT filler as a matter of principle these days.
"Thailand defends deadly crackdown on protesters" by Vijay Joshi, Associated Press | May 16, 2010
BANGKOK — Thailand’s leader defended the deadly army crackdown on protesters besieging the capital’s heart, saying yesterday that the country’s very future was at stake.
Protesters dragged away the bodies of three people from sidewalks — shot by army snipers, they say — as soldiers blocked major roads and pinned up notices of a “Live Firing Zone.’’
One way to clear a crowd of CIA.
“I insist that what we are doing is necessary,’’ Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a defiant broadcast on national television, making it clear he would not compromise. “The government must move forward. We cannot retreat because we are doing things that will benefit the entire country.’’
Yesterday, protesters launched a steady stream of rudimentary missiles at troops who fired back with live ammunition in several areas around a key commercial district of Bangkok.
Compare this coverage to Israel and Gaza and.... oh, forget it.
The glare is blinding me.
Army snipers were perched with high-powered rifles atop tall buildings, viewing the action below through telescopic sights. Thick black smoke billowed from tires set ablaze by demonstrators as gunfire rang out.
The spiraling violence has raised concerns of sustained, widespread chaos in Thailand — a key US ally and Southeast Asia’s most popular tourist destination that promotes its easygoing culture as the “Land of Smiles.’’
I heard they were cutting trade deals with China and thus the CIA activated their red shirt cells.
“The situation right now is getting close to a civil war each minute,’’ Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader, told reporters....
Some can only hope, anyway.
Since Thursday, the once-bustling commercial and shopping district has become a war zone with Red Shirt protesters firing weapons, throwing homemade explosives, and hurling rocks at troops firing live ammunition and rubber bullets.
The violence ignited after the army started forming a cordon around the protesters’ encampment and a sniper shot and gravely wounded a rogue general reputed to be the Red Shirts’ military adviser....
How come the American MSM obfuscates the fact that he is CIA?
This is the most prolonged and deadliest bout of political violence that Thailand has faced in decades despite having a history of coups — 18 since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.
The protesters have occupied a tire-and-bamboo-spike barricaded, 1-square-mile zone in one of the capital’s ritziest areas, Rajprasong, for about two months to push their demands for Abhisit to resign immediately, dissolve Parliament, and call new elections.
The crisis had appeared to be near a resolution last week when Abhisit offered to hold elections in November, a year early. But the hopes were dashed after Red Shirt leaders made more demands.
A HALLMARK of CIA TOOLS, sorry!
The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia’s second largest.
That is ANOTHER WAY of bringing down a government!
Abhisit, in his first comments since Thursday, said the protesters have “held the people of Bangkok hostage’’ and described them as “armed terrorists’’ who attacked security forces.
“Officers on duty have the right to defend themselves,’’ he said....
CERTAINLY ISRAEL would AGREE there!
Actually, U.S. criticism is pretty muted here as well.
Did the CIA already cut its assets loose?
The fighting is taking place in the no man’s land between the encampment and the army cordon, a normally bustling area with hotels, businesses, embassies, shopping malls, and apartments. Most of them are now shut and public transport is off the roads.
The army said its cordon has been effective, and the number of protesters at the encampment has dwindled by half.
Actually, it has been steadily dropping; however, the agenda-pushing AmeriKan MSM once again obscures the fact and gives the impression that the protests are still massive.
Water and power also were cut off to the area Thursday.
They were still getting some?
What the hell kind of government siege is this?
The Thais need to take lessons from Israelis on how to do it right and really grind down a people.
And WHO is FUNDING all this anyway?
"Thai protesters agree to U.N.-monitored talks, but government rejects conditions" by Blaine Harden, Washington Post | May 17, 2010
TOKYO -- Protesters in Thailand said Sunday that they were willing to participate in U.N.-monitored talks with the government if the military ends a four-day-old crackdown that has turned parts of downtown Bangkok into a war zone.
One Thai official described the offer as a "positive sign" and asked for more details, as the government backed away from a threat to impose a curfew in Bangkok, a city renowned for its rowdy nightlife.
But the government quickly rejected any mediation by the United Nations and said that if the "red shirt" protesters are serious about negotiations, they should set no preconditions....
CIA calling on the UN to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation?
It was unclear Sunday night whether the red shirt offer -- coming amid a determined military effort to seal off the protesters' encampment -- might break a two-month-old cycle of chaos on the streets of Thailand's capital....
Talks between the government and the protesters have a history of collapsing. A deal to end the violence was so close a week ago that some protest leaders had begun preparing to go home....
But that deal foundered on last-minute demands from leaders of the red shirts.
What the CIA instructed them to do.
Differences between protest leaders and the government now seem all but irreconcilable, according to some diplomats and academics in Bangkok....
Many of these elites view billionaire and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is now in exile and who is helping to fund the red shirts, as a corrupt thug.
Yes, IN EXILE in LONDON (why left out?)!
So THAT is where the $$$ is coming from!
But Thaksin's populist policies have had an enduring political impact on Thailand, energizing the red shirts and awakening the rural majority to the idea that they can and should control the country's political destiny....
I'm tired of MSM distortions and lies, and that is why we are moving fast and cleaning up.
Do you think the decision to switch to lower-case letters for Red Shirts means anything?
After all, the Washington Post is the CIA's newspaper.
When red shirts marched into Bangkok in March, their one demand was for swift new elections.
I think you guys have been cut loose; CIA has raised the red, 'er, white flag on this one. Coup aborted!
For all the disorder they have since created -- crippling the tourist industry, paralyzing parts of central Bangkok and sparking violence that has killed at least 54 people and injured about 1,640 -- the red shirts kept their focus....
Yes, I do believe they have been cut loose.
A week ago, protest leaders appeared to be on the brink of accepting the government's promise that it would hold an election in November. Many analysts predict the red shirts could win a free and fair vote.
But a sticking point in the election negotiations was the fate of red shirt leaders whose behavior has been ruled by the government to be criminal.....
A majority of the red shirt leadership voted last weekend to accept the government's deal, clear the streets and go home to prepare for a fall election, according to a diplomat who was privy to the negotiations.
But the red shirt leadership does not make decisions based on a majority vote, the diplomat said....
Wait a minute!
They are CALLING FOR DEMOCRACY and NEW ELECTIONS but they WILL NOT RECOGNIZE the DEMOCRACY in their RANKS?!!
Yeah, these are the "hardcore CIA," folks!!!
The ones who voted to GO HOME are the AVERAGE THAI that is being MANIPULATED.
The areas of Bangkok where violence is occurring have expanded in recent days, as protesters try to stake out new encampments and soldiers attempt to clear them out....
In the spreading mayhem, occasional gunfire has encroached on the U.S. Embassy. It closed last week, but U.S. officials have not ordered a mandatory evacuation of embassy employees or their dependents.
Well, when CIA is running the uprising where is the need to worry?
Heck, CIA STAFFS STATE!
How interesting that the Boston Globe website censors and removes what is in my printed paper, no?
Related:
Printed paper: Thai protesters steely in the face of deadly conflict (By Andrew Higgins, Washington Post)
Web site: Thai protesters say they’re ready to negotiate (By Vijay Joshi, Associated Press)
"Thai troops open fire in Bangkok crackdown; Strong push is made to clear protest zone" by Denis D. Gray and Jocelyn Gecker, Associated Press | May 19, 2010
BANGKOK — Thai troops opened fire today into the fortified encampment of antigovernment protesters in downtown Bangkok, tearing down a part of its tire-and-bamboo barricade in what appears to be a final crackdown after a week of deadly clashes.
Yeah, I've never seen a government so patient with provocateur protesters. Must be the Buddhism in 'em.
Four armored personnel carriers entered the encampment, punching a hole in the tire-and-bamboo barricades and driving in with troops behind them. About 100 troops took up positions along the wall of central Lumpini Park and trained their guns inside. The armored personnel carriers provided the troops cover.
The troops moved past smoldering fires, apparently set by retreating protesters.
An Associated Press reporter who followed the troops into the encampment saw the bodies of two men with gunshot wounds.
The assault marked the first significant push into the protest zone in the crackdown that began before today.
Associated Press reporters saw the troops firing automatic rifles from an overpass overlooking the encampment. Groups of soldiers also fired from crouching positions on the tracks of an elevated light rail system that runs over the encampment. Police reported four people wounded, including one shot in the chest.
“This is D-Day,’’ said one soldier when asked if this was the final push to clear the protest zone.
Thick black smoke from a mountain of burning tires darkened the skies today, billowing over the skyscrapers of this Asian metropolis of 10 million that has descended into chaos over the last week, with at least 39 killed, most of them civilians.
The violence in Bangkok, a popular stop for tourists heading to Thailand’s world-famous beaches, has caused concern internationally and raised doubts about the stability of this Southeast Asian nation....
The so-called Red Shirt demonstrators marched into Bangkok in mid-March to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dissolution of Parliament, and immediate elections.
They created an encampment in Bangkok’s posh downtown Rajprasong district in April, surrounding themselves by a barricade of tires and bamboo spears, some of which appeared to be in flames today.
An estimated 3,000 people were believed to be inside the 1-square-mile protest zone, which has taken over several blocks of downtown Bangkok’s toniest shopping and tourism district.
THAT'S IT?
"Down from 5,000 on Sunday and 10,000 last week" (was cut)?
And from the alleged 100,000 when they first started?
That's not a whole nation like the AmeriKan MSM was making ou... ooooh!
Even as the armored vehicles had massed around the encampment before the assault, Red Shirt leaders continued to give speeches to some 3,000 supporters gathered around them. The crowd appeared to be unaware that the army was tightening the noose, and their leaders did not talk about the troops’ advance.
--more--"
Maybe a crack in the head will get their attention.
"Chaos spreads after Thai crackdown; Leaders of protest forced to surrender" by Thomas Fuller and Seth Mydans, New York Times | May 20, 2010
BANGKOK — A bloody crackdown in Bangkok by the Thai military set off rioting and arson attacks yesterday in several places across Thailand, threatening to expand unrest and further aggravate the deep rifts that have hobbled Thai society for the past four years.
Then it is mission accomplished for the CIA, 'eh?
Troops and armored military vehicles overcame grenade-wielding militants allied with antigovernment protesters in Bangkok, forcing the movement’s leaders to turn themselves in to the police.
But even as the government declared victory in quashing a debilitating protest that had shut down parts of Bangkok for two months, the rampage across Bangkok and in at least three provinces in the country’s populous northeastern hinterland raised concerns about the conflict spreading and the future of the current government....
The CIA paper says with fingers crossed, wishing, wishing, wishing!!!!
Arsonists in Bangkok set fire to almost 30 buildings, the government said, including the country’s stock exchange, a massive shopping mall, two banks, a movie theater, and a television station. Two city halls were torched in the provincial capitals when thousands of protesters reacted to news of the Bangkok crackdown.
Yeah, but when it is CIA and their stooges it isn't terrorism.
It was a measure of Thailand’s spiraling political violence that the death toll in the crackdown — around 12 people killed and more than 60 injured — was less than the bloodbath that many had feared.
Central Bangkok, the heart of one of Asia’s most cosmopolitan cities, was a militarized zone in the early hours today, with well-armed troops patrolling streets deserted by the curfew. The subway system remained shut, and embassies told their citizens living across this sprawling metropolis of about 15 million people to stay indoors.
The leaders of the Red Shirts, who had roared into Bangkok on March 12 demanding fresh elections and calling for what they said was true democracy for the country, surrendered to the police yesterday afternoon to face charges of terrorism.
As they IGNORE DEMOCRACY in their OWN RANKS, huh?
Their arrests and the dispersal of the crowd were rare victories for the embattled government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. But the volatile, defiant mood of the crowd yesterday also signaled a possible radicalization of a movement that leaders found difficult to control....
Translation: The CIA is going to OPEN UP the COVERT OPS BAG!!!
Soldiers clashed with militants, some of whom were armed with assault weapons.
Where did they get those?
As troops approached, anxiety spread through the protest zone, which was in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Bangkok and home to corporate headquarters, high-end shopping malls, luxury hotels, and high-rise apartment buildings.
I was told above they were oblivious to it all!
WTF is with the LIES, MSM?
Thai news outlets reported that one of the more militant protest leaders, Arisman Pongruengrong, fled the protest zone in disguise. Arisman made headlines last month when he evaded arrest by climbing from a window as the police raided the hotel where he was staying. He was captured last evening by the police and taken to a military base outside Bangkok.
Around noon, seven protest leaders announced that they would turn themselves in.
Soon afterward, the shooting intensified. Two protesters were killed, and several journalists were shot or injured by shrapnel. An Italian news photographer was killed, according to Thai news media, and two foreign journalists and a Thai photographer were wounded.CIA always goes down with its guns blazing.
--more--"
BANGKOK — As soldiers mopped up pockets of resistance and the government declared it was back in control, fears grew yesterday that the tentative quiet restored to Thailand’s capital after a bloody crackdown on protests may just be a respite from violence and political polarization that could continue for years.
Leaders of the antigovernment Red Shirt movement vowed a return as they were taken into custody.
“I think this is a new beginning for the Red Shirts,’’ said Kevin Hewison, a Thailand specialist at the University of North Carolina. “It will be a darker and grimmer time of struggle and less-focused activities. By no stretch of the imagination is the movement finished.’’
So EXPECT a lot of CIA-sponsored terrorism, Thailand.
************
Troops roamed the city on foot and in Humvees and exchanged gunfire with scattered Red Shirt holdouts, who fought near the city’s Victory Monument and torched a bank, bringing to 40 the number of buildings set aflame after the military push sent the protesters retreating from their demonstration site....
Why no criticism of the CIA tools for the wanton property destruction?
Thailand’s Finance Ministry estimated the economic damage to the country at $1.5 billion. Continued security concerns led officials to extend a nighttime curfew in Bangkok and 23 other provinces for three more days.
Even so, Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, army spokesman, said the government was in charge.
“Overall, we have the situation under control,’’ he said.
Residents, meanwhile, moved carefully to resume their routines.
With military checkpoints closing, city workers removed debris and collected piles of garbage left in the streets. Residents in protest areas were able to leave home to shop. Electricity was restored in many areas.
But many of those who ventured into the streets were still deeply shaken by the violence.
“This really worries me — this shouldn’t happen to Thailand,’’ said Somjit Suksumrain, a construction company manager. “Thailand should not end up like this.’’
Need to KICK the CIA OUT then.
By late yesterday, authorities had taken into custody most of the senior Red Shirt leaders.
Three surrendered yesterday after five others gave themselves up the previous day and were flown to a military camp south of Bangkok for interrogation.
“I’d like to ask all sides to calm down and talk with each other in a peaceful manner,’’ Veera Musikapong said after being taken into custody yesterday. “We cannot create democracy with anger.’’
Not all were as conciliatory.
Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, another Red Shirt leader, said the movement was simply regrouping. “Initially, independent movements of the masses in Bangkok and the regions will begin, then riots will ensue,’’ he said. “For Thailand in the long term, there will be major changes due to the crisis of faith.’’
The government described the mayhem as organized terrorism. Officials also said the arson and looting after the troops quashed the main protest were “anticipated aftershocks’’ that did not represent deeper trouble.
Still, Panithan Wattanayagorn, government spokesman, acknowledged that the protesters had sympathizers among the broader populace, and said the rioting was sparked by disappointment, hopelessness, and anger. But he said it was only as large as it was because of “prior organized planning.’’
By WHO?
--more--"
"Thailand’s prime minister calls for unity" by Eric Talmadge, Associated Press | May 22, 2010
BANGKOK — Saying order has been restored after a spasm of violence, Thailand’s prime minister made an emotional appeal to the nation yesterday to heal the political wounds that divide it. But one of his senior advisers said the rifts are increasing pressure on him to call elections to prove he has the public mandate.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the focus has shifted from securing the country to restoring normal routines, particularly in Bangkok, where a two-month confrontation between his government and so-called Red Shirt protesters who want him to resign left at least 84 dead....
Bangkok remains in a state of emergency and under a nighttime curfew through the weekend, its first since a pro-democracy uprising against a military government in 1992. But with the sound of gunfire and explosions silenced, a major bank and department store announced it will open 92 branches today. The curfew in Pattaya, a beach resort, was lifted yesterday.
In Bangkok’s Chinatown, many of the gold and food shops reopened and the streets were teeming with life and traffic. Many other businesses, train services, and schools stayed shuttered as cleanup operations continued to clear the streets where the worst fighting took place.
Troops and police in the capital conducted searches of high-rise buildings and hotels to check for bombs or boobytraps left behind by the demonstrators, whose main encampment in an upscale commercial quarter of Bangkok was cleared in a bloody military operation Wednesday that left 15 dead and more than 100 injured.
Acting like Israel, aren't they?
Thai media reported that grenades were found in front of an office building, along with a gas container attached to a truck parked near a bridge. If it had detonated, the reports said, it could have caused the bridge to collapse.
The HALLMARK of CIA TERRORISM!
Pornthip Rojanasunand, director of Thailand’s Central Institute of Forensic Science, told the Associated Press a body was found in the fire-gutted Central World shopping mall, which was among dozens of buildings torched as the demonstrators retreated after the crackdown, blackening the city skyline.
A scorched earth retreat, 'eh?
Sure to win hearts and minds.
--more--"
"Thailand court issues warrant for ex-leader; Thaksin accused of role in protests" by Seth Mydans, New York Times | May 26, 2010
BANGKOK — Thailand’s criminal court approved an arrest warrant yesterday on terrorism charges against the fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, accusing him of involvement in deadly street protests that ended last week and left more than 85 people dead.
Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in 2006, is abroad evading a prison term on an earlier conviction for corruption, and the government has been trying for years to secure his extradition.
From LONDON, folks!!!
The government said it believed that the terrorism charge would make it easier to gain the cooperation of foreign governments in sending Thaksin home.
Officials also appeared to be moving on several other fronts to tighten control over the government’s opponents.
Yesterday the government announced an extension of a late-night curfew for four more days. It is moving aggressively against members of the protest movement, known as the Red Shirts, by arresting people who participated or helped and extending the detention time of several opposition leaders. It has banned financial transactions by people it says backed the protests, closed down antigovernment radio stations, and removed four governors in areas where protesters burned down city halls.
Thaksin has been a figurehead of the protests, which paralyzed parts of Bangkok for more than two months, and he is accused by many people of helping orchestrate and finance them.
I think we all sensed that even if unspoken by the MSM.
But there has been no public proof of this, and Thaksin has denied any direct involvement....
The UDD is the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, the antigovernment political association that has been behind the protests. The government has filed terrorism charges against several of its leaders.
The front has asserted that it is a peaceful movement and has denied any connection with violence, but recent statements have called that assertion into question.
The line between peaceful prodemocracy action and violent confrontation has blurred....
SINCE WHEN?
Speaking by telephone with the Reuters news agency, Thaksin seemed to add a veiled threat, saying, “There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment, and these resentful people will become guerrillas.’’
--more--"
Yup, EXPECT TERRORISM that the PEOPLE DO NOT WANT!
"Thousands pray for peace as a tenuous calm settles on Bangkok" by Denis D. Gray, Associated Press | May 27, 2010
BANGKOK — Thousands of residents gathered at dawn yesterday to pray for peace at sites across the city where people were killed and high-rise buildings torched in two months of the worst political violence in the country’s modern history.
Yeah, isn't that funny?
ORDINARY PEOPLE ALWAYS HATE VIOLENCE and WARS!!!
The chants of 1,000 Buddhist monks mingled with the prayers of Muslim imams, Christian priests, and the Hindu faithful at 10 areas, including the charred hulk of one of Asia’s largest shopping malls.
Notice a faith missing?
“We are reciting a very powerful prayer to summon the Lord to help our country. Things are quiet now, but there is fear still within us because none of us know what can happen in the future,’’ said Sumitr Khorana, a Hindu community leader, reflecting a general anxiety that Thailand’s turmoil is far from over.
I'm with you on that one!
One spark of further political strife might have been set off Tuesday when Thai authorities accused Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister, of terrorism, issuing an arrest warrant on charges that carry a possible death sentence for his alleged role in the deadly street protests.
It seems like people would APPLAUD that!
Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile but still has wide support among the so-called Red Shirts whose protests were violently ended by the military last week, responded that....
Who cares what liars have to say?
The charges are likely to intensify the political rift between those who support Thaksin — mostly the urban underclass and rural poor — and the conservative establishment and many in the middle class who agreed with the 2006 military coup that saw him ousted from power.
Oh, FINALLY an ALLUSION to the TRUE SITUATION among the PEOPLE!
Thaksin, who fled abroad ahead of a corruption conviction he says was politically motivated, is accused of being a key force behind the protesters who occupied areas of Bangkok for two months....
--more--"
Related: Official says order restored in capital
Update:
"An underground cabal of Red Shirt supporters remains active....
Sponsored and directed by you-know-who and its assets.
--more--"
