The Mask is Off Thailand Today. by Robert M. Ormond is licensed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/">Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
THE MASK IS OFF THAILAND TODAY
Once readily described as the Land of Smiles, the kingdom of Thailand inhabitants are much more than frowning at the present state of affairs ongoing. None of the major Asian & World press corps has described accurately what is taking place in the ‘Jewel of SE Asia’ now !
You need not to have attended the present PM’s alumni, Oxford University, to understand what is going on now in his charge (???) , Thailand. A week & a half ago he publicly stated that only the Thai Military could declare Martial Law. Then a week ago he declared Martial Law in 15 provinces north of Bangkok which are overwhelmingly politically ‘Red Shirt’ in affiliation. Then several days ago he added 5 more provinces to the list !
He offered the protestors ( “not terrorists” ) the same election date of November 2010 in his official government mediating proposal. The same offer he made before the protests began, which in fact is nothing more than an extension of 11 months of the original scheduled elections one year after his political allies & the Thai Military placed him in power along with the members of the senate in Thailand. Does anyone reading this begin to think that this sounds more & more like Thailand’s neighbor to the west Myanmar (formerly Burma ) , where the military openly runs & controls the population & government ? Read some more, the facts beg you to ! The Thai government controls the broadcast media, and influences the two English daily newspapers there. They had given the UDD ( Red Shirts ) their own channel, but that has been taken of the air.The former Thai PM, Thaksin called for a military pull back and reopening of dialogue. Followed by a similar request by the head of the United Nations several days later. But all this is falling on deaf ears in Thailand, PM, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva has outruled any more dialogue. I think that his handlers have actually convinced him that he has power in all this. When he refused the originally scheduled elections because several key members of the military were scheduled to retire this spring and take their pensions with their successors assuming their duties (???). Does anybody think this is the rhetoric is in any way, shape or form how a democracy governs ? One has the same ‘sick’ feeling watching the Thailand Supreme Court issue its findings on the assests of the former PM Thaksin when they conveniently took over approximately half of his in country assests, To say they appeared damned if they do, damned if they don’t, it isn’t much of a reach to imagine what a controlling military does to persons who do not follow their desires.
This is the same military that was to be revamped when their convenient scapegoat, the former PM Thaksin was attending the U N General Assembly and had returned to his beloved Thailand. That must have shaken them out of their boots, they seized power, leveled these ongoing charges against him and every election his party or similar political parties won, they created ways to discredit the results !
I have not seen any of it ,but have heard from very reliable thai eye witnesses that the death toll in this ongoing battle for democracy was as recently as last Saturday , the daily account of dead was 20-30 persons, when in reality the dead were being placed in thai army trucks and taken to only where the good lord knows where
but the total was 200 dead ! Last Saturday Alone.
Thais telling me their beloved country is just like Burma !
Even before this horrible escalation the UDD ( Red Shirts ) had won the war. It might not have been this week, this month or even this year but all the points had been won and it is just a matter of time before the open honest elections will be held. The Prime Minister & the Senate will reflect the peoples majority votes ! This violence is just the powerful’s greediness being expressed, hopefully for the final time. How much Mr. Abhisit is responsible for all this, by his actions or inactions will be determined when it all winds down.
This is the follow up article to my previous article on the subject several months ago. I am writing & posting this from Singapore not Thailand.
Prior Article
21 st Century Simon Bolivar - ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra
The former PM had his power & position usurped while attending the yearly General Assembly of the United Nations by a military which was pending to be restructured upon his return from the U.N. Leading to a disastrous Thai military led government headed by ethnic thai minority muslims. The main crux of their public argument was the sale of a so-so satellite by his family members who controlled his personal finances while he was the Prime Minister of Thailand. In subsequent years his land dealings were the reported cause of his legal difficulties in Thailand. At present he is viewed as a fugitive from justice by the present court appointed government in Thailand. Astonishingly though, there have been credible newspaper reports of a government plot to assassinate the former PM ! Does anybody still think proposed revamping such a military is a outlandish ?
The pedigree of the present PM is not in question in this piece, yet the lack of promised elections certainly does cause one to wonder. As an Ex-Pat American here the causes & effects for such delay does not really cause me much discomfort in my lifestyle. Unsure how the average thai citizen feels about it, afterall it is their country and the implied lack of communication to non thai speaking individuals is not automatically conclusive of anything good or bad. But the former PM, and his Red Shirt Political Party ( opponent yellow shirts, not to be confused with Thailand Monarchy Gold as the wonderful King of Thailand has reportedly grown tired of perpetual domestic political instabilities ) are overwhelming winners ( 80 % + )at the ballot box everytime there is a national vote taken. Which the yellow shirted opposition are quick to take the results into the thai legal system to have them outlawed. Surprising ? Not when you take into account that the Red Shirt Party traditionally represents the Farm, blue collar workforce throughout the kingdom, while the Yellow Shirt Party represents most of the entrepreneurs, educators, legal profession, medical professionals located mostly in Bangkok.
The one year anniversary of the yellow shirt parties militant protests which began at Government House in Bangkok, spreading to the beautiful new international airport ( along with support roadway improvements and extension of a Bangkok SkyTrain to the new airport all begun by former PM T. Shinawatra ), the former int’l airport located just north of Bangkok , Don Muang, closing all at the height of the ‘busy’ season here in Thailand. Forcing the government to house all the tourists stranded in country until they could get everything up an running again.
Chang Mai airport, well north of Bangkok still operated throughout all the protesting, the former PM T. Shinawatra accomplished many new modernization programs in that area of the Kingdom and was apparently planning on moving Government House from Bangkok to that location. The Thai government used it as a temporary seat of government during all the protests . Of course it is not a great reach to see that his futuristic planning would have eliminated any group, large or small, from disrupting government in the country.
Utapao airport on the south eastern seaboard area of the country, situated conveniently near one of the countries largest tourist areas was utilized and reportedly to be upgraded as a medium size airport in this well populated area south of the present two Bangkok airports.
Now one year on and it has not been done, nor is it in the process of being done !
The recent appointment of Mr. T. Shinawatra as an economic advisor to Cambodia leads me to believe that we could be potentially be witnessing the morphing of the former PM into a more potent economic force in the southeast asian peninsula. Tho denied this day in the official world press by Sri Lanka government officials, it has been reported they also would like to hire Mr. T. Shinawatra as an economic advisor. One will have to wait-an-see how that plays out in this part of the world.
The jewel of the SE Asia Peninsula is Thailand, none of its neighbors come even remotely close to its infrastructure ! The road system, especially in well used tourist routes, public transportation, modern day accommodations readily available, ATM & money changer facilities, state of the art Medical facilities, though not all entirely attributable to Mr. Thaskin Shinawatra’s political accomplishments, most of which are ! And , certainly there are many of his future plans put on hold until the government can get a handle on them. But the Government of Thailand’s reaping the rewards of such improvements does not give them exclusive rights to the man or his vision for his beloved home country.
Laos, Viet Nam, Republic of the Union of Myanmar ( Burma ), and others can and should use Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra’s expertise incorporating the modern economic model into the ways & culture of this ancient civilized region. The areas inhabitants will only benefit, as will the rest of us. Outside of Thailand he currently & correctly viewed as a ‘political victim’. He has much to offer this part of the world, tho not with his small army like Simon Bolivar centuries before in South America . But rather with his economic vision for his home country and what can and will be successful in this emerging part of the world for all the countries.
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Based on a work at emeraldgreenenterprises.com.
