Posted on 05/23/2014 7:33:32 PM PDT by LeoWindhorse
I only ask because EVERYTHING obama does either:
a) Weakens America/AmericansI have yet to have anyone raise a single substantive counter example in several years of posting this.
b) Distances America's allies
c) Strengthens America's enemies
d) Serves Islam
e) Harms Israel
Or some combination of the above.
The Disney movie "Frozen" features the oh-so-popular song "Let it go". This song has been performed in dozens of languages, most of which seem to be available on Youtube, with english translation subtitles.
The song (for those who don't know) is about a young woman who has led a very controlled life, constantly guarding her behavior; then she breaks free and behaves more like her true self. In English, one line of the song is "That perfect girl is gone".
There is a subtitle for the Thai version which blatantly says: "The good girl is worthless".
Which I think is tremendously funny (sad too) when you think about Thailand.
So even Disney is promoting that being bad is liberating?
And by the way, I really dislike Disney.
Misstep? It was totally on purpose
Prime Minister Flank Shinawatra?
Wrong. So far the curfew does apply in Pattaya and Phuket too. It has been observed mostly nationwide. Even 7-11's are closed up by 10. Pretty shocking cause I can't recall seeing an actual 7-11 closed in Thailand. I've seen the beer coolers boxed over on holidays and elections and early voting, but never actually closed.
Still, Thai's and tourists adapt. Now everything just opens earlier.
Curfew won't last long outside of hotspots though. Pattaya, Phuket, etc, will be back to normal inside a week or less.
With reform coming before any further elections, this sounds like a complete victory for Suthep and the Yellows.
There is no danger to going to Thailand as a tourist despite all the media blather. Stay away from protests, don't take sides and get involved in their politics, use common sense as you always should, carry identification if out outside curfew hours or near police/military checkpoints, and anyone can still have a great visit.
You are probably right
Their is low level fighting in the southern provinces against Muslim terrorists pretty much all the time. This is a military government now which is obviously not afraid to demonstrate their power, but I think this is the one area both sides generally agree. There was fighting against Islamic insurgency under the deposed government, and there will be under this one as well. This really doesn't effect tourists or most Thai's, its really just a plague on the people of the southernmost provinces.
tahaan on the streets in Pattaya !? In all the coups I ever experienced I never saw that . I thought they mai sohnjai falang town ....
Sutep , the one advocating for a Khmer Rogue like reform , is the model of success for this ? My God ! what next....red flags and little red books ?
what do you think of Sutep’s oft pronounced proposals and demands for an unelected ‘ peoples committee’ to take power organize ‘ a new government ‘ ?
reminds me of what went on up in Nepal
Very little military presence in Pattaya, but the boys in brown are taking their orders from the military now and were pretty strict about shutting everything down at 10. Apparently the Navy occupied the Pattaya police station searching for some police colonel allied with the Reds. Walking Street was a ghost town, and I hear you could even take a walk on beach road without being accosted by roving packs of katoys.
Suthep isn’t a communist. I heard countless speeches by him as I was stuck at the Asok intersection during the protests in January. He’s a royalist and has done his job. He effectively blocked/annulled the Feb 2 elections and drew violent reactions from the Reds which gave the excuse the military needed to step in.
I hear Yingluck is under arrest and her mobile/tablet taken away. No way for her to communicate with her brother hiding out in Dubai to find out what to do next.
Eh, it’s Thai business to work out for themselves. Mai Pen Rai.
Well, he, and the middle/business/southerners, are trying to come up with a way to prevent wanna-be dictators like Thaksin from buying votes via government freebies. You know, kinda like here. Thailand would be a basketcase like Venezuela if the producers, educated and middle/business/upper/royalists didn't step in to stop the Reds.
Granted though, if they held a fair election today, whatever incarnation of Thaksin's party led by his sister or whoever else he blesses would win. That just means every country isn't always ready for representative Democracy.
so is Sutep to be the Thai Mil’s appointed PM ?
If they want to help out Pattaya , they should conscript all
the katoeys and send them south to look for IED’s set by the PULO pigs
I thought Thailand was seen to have a Kleptocracy ....
It doesn’t matter who it is , as soon as they consolidate coalition and power , the stealing and cronyism begins .
Who is immune to this . I once thought it was taksin because he came in with big money and didn’t necessarily have a goal to make more . Goes to show : never enough....
Perhaps the Supreme Patriarch ?
Nah, I believe he is still locked up to. In the interest of "fairness" the military grabbed up the leaders of both sides. I'm sure Suthep is getting right better treatment than many of the PTP party officials though.
I think Prayuth intends to remain acting PM. The Senate and judiciary are still intact as well as the lower level administrative functionaries - so I guess they will carry on with whatever the military tells them to do. There isn't much use for the constitutional court or election commission anymore, so they'll go dark (happily).
If they want to help out Pattaya , they should conscript all the katoeys and send them south to look for IEDs set by the PULO pigs
Not a bad idea. Some of those katoys are pretty rough, they could probably do some serious damage against the Islamic separatists. Get a gang of them together and they can be downright scary.
Eh, this gets into the intricacies of Thai politics that is as complicated as anything I’ve encountered. North versus South, rich versus poor, educated versus rice farmer, democracy versus monarchy, etc.
I lived in Thailand when Thaksin was elected and the problem is he was promising all sorts of socialist programs for the northern poor (who do constitute the majority). Aside from some of them flirting with communism many years back, the rural poor never felt they had anyone looking out for them. Thaksin filled that role. Unfortunately, he filled it much like Chavez did in Venezuela. Add to that that he and his family and friends are pretty corrupt (though to be fair, as you pointed out, that is par for the course).
I think the elite basically felt like Thaksin was positioning himself to, effectively, be the new King of Thailand when the current King dies. He’s like 86 and in ill health, so he won’t be lasting too much longer. I guess, in the end, that is what scared the elite and royalists most.
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