Posted on 05/19/2014 4:08:39 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The army in Thailand has announced the imposition of martial law amid political crisis "to keep law and order".
The army has also granted itself wide-ranging powers to enforce its decision.
The military said it had taken the action to preserve peace and order.
The move comes after a long-running political crisis, and escalating tensions between the government and the opposition.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Just to be clear, are you saying the army definitely did this in defense of the yellow shirt protesters? I assume your reference to RS means Red Shirts (pro-Thaksin forces defending the caretaker government).
Having lived in Bangkok and traveling back there often I think we all assumed the military would declare martial law and probably stage a coup at some point, but I am not clear at this moment whether they've officially thrown in with one side or the other. I guess it is still possible they will take over, restore order since the Yellows/protesters don't trust the police, and work with the election committee to determine a new election date. I am not so clear yet that the military has sided with Suthep and will insist on reforms before the next ballot (which I hope is the case since I detest Thaksin and all the incarnations of his TRT party).
It's bit more like the heavily populated rural North versus Bangkok and the South (which is the domain of the Democratic party). The northern poor (and business interests aligned with the party that represents them; think crony capitalists) continue to vote for the quasi socialist parties that Thaksin effectively runs from exile (the current one had his sister, Yingluck, as the figurehead). Once upon a time large swaths of Northern Thailand were actually under communist control. All of this blew up when Yingluck tried to give amnesty to Thaksin (who is leader of the Northern Reds).
The opposition uses street demonstrations and the courts to undermine the governing party which is still able to win the elections when they are held.
Correct. And if the current pro-Thaksin redshirt government could run again today they'd probably win. That isn't a good thing. It's kinda like Venezuela. No matter how corrupt Chavez and his party are, no matter how much power they try to gobble up, the poor masses support him because he offers them free stuff. The Yellow shirts call it vote buying, which it really is (not so different than the left buying votes via dependency here). Still, you are right that the opposition doesn't have the majority of public support once you get north of Bangkok.
The protesters at that time were the middle class of Central Thailand. The government was populist, crony capitalist and centered in the North and Northeast. The governments obsession was the bring back Thaksin Shinawatra by voiding criminal charges against. He is the richest Thai but had the poor convinced he was their only friend by instituting socialized medicine, giving money to every small town, and so on. After he was overthrown in a coup by the Army, several years of unrest and one incident of burning the shopping centers at Bangkok’s city center lead eventually to his supporters gaining power and his sister being made prime minister.
The sister overreached with a scheme of buying on credit rice farmers entire production and promising a high price to the farmers. The plan collapsed and the rice farmers were left destitute except in Thaksin’s home region. The sister has been removed by the courts for corruption and will face charges for the rice scheme. This satisfied no one and demonstrations have resumed with anti government protesters being killed and with confrontations between the two factions likely. So, now the Army has moved in and it remains to be seen if condition improve or not.
Everything is complicated in Southeast Asia. I’m sure someone will complain that I’ve oversimplified or misrepresented the situation and emphasize the the sister (Yingluck) was elected as was Thaksin in much the same way Obama has been elected twice.
What the martial law entails
The Nation May 20, 2014 7:16 am
Military commanders in troubled areas have the authority to enforce martial law, if it looks like war or riots may break out.
Martial law gives military officers the power to:
- Take action against war or riots;
- Use arms to suppress unrest;
- Search, confiscate or occupy any premises or vehicles;
- Censor information;
- Block, search and control postal services;
- Activate the military court to judge on crimes within the area under
martial law;
- Mobilise civilians to help the military;
- Procure resources such as vehicles or logistical materials to support
military operations;
- Prohibit public gatherings, publications, broadcasting, transport,
communication, travel, the movement of people or any action that the
Defence Ministry deems necessary;
- Enforce curfews;
- Destroy, remove or adjust any premise or location for the purpose of
military operations;
- Arrest and detain suspects for a maximum of seven days.
- People are not entitled to any compensation for damage incurred during such military operations;
- Martial law can only be ended with a Royal Decree.
PDRC spokesman Akanat Promphan posted on his facebook at 6.50am Tuesday that the PDRC will cancel their marching schedule today to evaluate the situation after the army invoked the martial law.
Now, the “Domino Effect” will finally occur.
Reacting to the martial law declaration, Jatuporn Prompan announced that the red shirts would continue their rally at the Utthayan Road.
2 Promphans ?
mai mee prom prom pran
No, you got it pretty much exactly right and put it very well for a short explanation. That is it in a nutshell, though I would say Yingluck's attempt at amnesty for her corrupt brother (which was her and her PTP parties goal all along) was the initial trigger that brought the Yellow's back out on the street.
It sounds like you live or travel to Thailand a lot to have such a firm grasp of the situation. I was living in BKK when Thaksin was elected and still visit regularly. Was there this January when the 'Shutdown Bangkok 2014' protests were in full force. Let me tell you, getting past the Asok intersection was a nightmare. One night I was trying to get up to Soi 24 going through the checkpoints and Yingluck declared a state of emergency. Troops running up and down securing the skytrain and other key areas was a bit intimidating. The good thing was it drove the police back who the protesters don't trust because they view them as in the pocket of Thaksin's goons. A few weeks later we had pointless elections that were annulled and the whole thing has simmered since. I really think that Yingluck might have rode this thing out, but the constitutional court tossed her out leaving the current vacuum and an opportunity for Suthep to demand reforms before the next vote.
I don’t know, I haven’t been following this.
But it seems this move has been telegraphed for a few days now.
“The sister overreached with a scheme of buying on credit rice farmers entire production and promising a high price to the farmers. The plan collapsed and the rice farmers were left destitute except in Thaksin’s home region.”
OK....
WHY does this sound like exactly the kind of proposal that would come from the Radical Academic Socialists surrounding Obama??
That’s my opinion as well. Thaksin and Obama would get along well.
We just got off the phone with relations in Northern Thailand. Thaksin supporters are arming militias in Chiang Mai and Phrae. These are the guys that went to Bangkok and burnt the World Trade Center Mall and other malls and businesses down. They are intent on bringing Thaksin back as a authoritarian leader and taking revenge on their enemies. We have relatives on both sides.
Oh I remember that. Stupid move on the Reds part, they lost a lot of good will with those end-of-the-line arson stunts. Burning down the mall for spite really pissed off the Bangkok middle and business classes.
I will say one thing, and this is coming from a Yellow shirt supporter, the guards at the Red sites a few years back were actually very friendly and genuinely interested in conversing with us farang. This past January I got the exact opposite vibe from the Yellow shirt guards. These guys were completely masked and were fairly intimidating for no real reason. I understand they don't trust the police and there had been some grenade attacks on them, but lining up farang in queues and searching us fairly roughly wasn't a good way to win support of those who didn't know what was going on. I was already sympathetic to the Yellow protests, but they could use one giant lesson in public relations - at least the lot I ran into around Asok trying to get to upper Sukhumvit.
Now the audience was a completely different story. The 'Shutdown Bangkok 2014' protests were mostly sparsely attended during the day, but in the evening the numbers would increase dramatically as the Bangkok office workers filed out of work for the day and joined the protests. All of those people were friendly and seemed to agree the guards were overkill and doing their cause a disservice.
Pretty gal.
Doesn’t look like she wants America’s first queer Preezy touching her, either.
“Nothing in the US news about it. Do they never cover serious events like this?”
No. They want to surprise us when the Democrats do it.
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