Tempers must have run very high because yesterday a monk was attacked by demonstrators of the (red shirt) People's Radio for Democracy Group (PDRG).
The monk had just attended a funeral service when he saw a man being attacked by some demonstrators. He tried to calm things down, after which the brawlers turned on him. The monk then fled to a nearby shop and the police intervened.
The sordid incident occurred when fifty supporters of the PDRG marched to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) office in Nonthaburi.
The anti-government demonstrators who were there to support the committee were forced to leave.
With a truck and a pickup, the PDRG men demolished police barricades [no details] and began a blockade of the office. The staff left the building; only police and soldiers were left to guard it. The PDRG says it wants to stay there until March 31.
That is the deadline for Prime Minister Yingluck to defend herself against the accusation that, as chair of the National Rice Policy Committee, she did nothing against corruption in the rice mortgage system. If the NACC finds her guilty of negligence and dereliction of duty, a impeachment procedure and she has to leave the field.
The PDRG points out that the NACC uses double standards, because other studies are not getting along. For example, the commission is investigating corruption in the construction of 396 police stations and other irregularities during the reign of the Abhisit government, but those cases are still unfinished.
The impending impeachment of Yingluck prompted Secretary of State and red shirt leader Nattawut Saikuar to announce the names of the people who would like to become interim Prime Minister when Yingluck has to step down at a press conference yesterday. He named nine "suspects," including army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha.
Bangkok Post devotes a grand opening article to it, but the importance of this news eludes me, so I will leave it unmentioned (See 'UDD names neutral PM “suspects”').
(Source: bangkok mail, March 25, 2014)
I don't think hitting a monk on the face is good for your karma. I'm afraid you'll reincarnate as a cockroach. For punishment 10 Hail Marys, oh no, that's for Catholics. In Thailand, donating a few thousand baht to the local temple will help. For every problem there is a solution.
Agree Khan Peter!
The monk was really beaten and kicked and may have even feared for his life for a while.
http://www.dailynews.co.th/Content/crime/225177/เสื้อแดงรุมยำพระอ่วม++เผยเดินผ่านม็อบต่อว่าเลยถูกจัดเต็ม
The real Thailand is sometimes very far removed from what the TAT (Amazing Thailand) and the Lonely Planet Guide would have us believe.
The event illustrates, to me at least, that Thaksin has in fact ordered against any
praise to ensure that his power can be maintained.
I can only say that this figure and his followers have decided to adopt more and more the way of the brown shirts in Germany.
Intimidating and beating up dissenters, intimidating independent bodies, threatening to secede parts of the country, threatening to set up some kind of army, and so on.
It has long since ceased to be a revolt of the poor against the rich, but an ordinary attempt to retain power at all costs, so that a country can be used as a personal colony.
Indonesia and the Suhartoclan, the Philippines with the Marcosclan are the great example for the fascist who tries to control the country through his money.
HansNL, it is insane what is happening and the government does not distance itself in any way from the actions of these criminal scum. "They were chosen, weren't they?" you hear the pro-government figures croaking in unison on various forums. And indeed it is no longer a battle of rich versus poor. It never actually was. It was and always is about 1 man. TS
Cor,
In short, most people see voting as the ultimate expression of democracy.
And that's not it.
Democracy is not just about casting your vote once a year.
It is the intention for every good Democrat to continue to follow the elected candidates, to approach them if necessary, to call them to account, and if necessary to drive them away with protests.
It would of course be the height of misery for the elected and the parties if voters were to do this, which is why politicians, from the left and the right and everything in between, have such an aversion to plebiscites.
If elected officials could be directly held accountable for their performance in parliament, the so-called “party voting” would be impossible, the pacing would follow immediately.
You could say that part of the Thai population is rebelling against the way of governing of the Yingluck government, and indeed against appointing "emissaries" in various bodies, limiting the "checks and balances", frustrating of independent bodies, and so on.
And let's not even talk about the financial aspects.
I'm in the situation where my Thai comrade is a red shirt supporter, his cousin is somewhere in the middle, and my counterpart is a sincere yellow shirt.
There are regular discussions, but fortunately everyone is inhibited by the idea that living together in the country is necessary, fortunately.
It would be very pleasant and good for Thailand if this way of living together was seen as necessary by everyone.
It is sad to see the political leaders turning populations against each other. In Thailand, hate speech is an art form. The demagogues at the top have blood on their hands, instigating a potential civil war. Thaksin and Suthep, both make me puke.
Khan Peter,
My father, may he rest in peace, used to tell me that no politician can be trusted.
People go into politics, he said, either for money, or for power, or a combination of the two.
With that in mind, I think TS has embraced the latter combination.
And he really does everything for that.