What will the military do?
Will the army remain neutral as it has been to date or will it step in now that Prime Minister Yingluck and nine ministers have been forced to resign by the Constitutional Court? If violence breaks out for whatever reason and the government is unable to contain the situation, the army will be forced to intervene, he said. Bangkok Post in an analysis.
Red shirt chairman Jatuporn Prompan has already warned the army that he will mobilize his supporters in that case. "We have a duty to protect democracy."
The protest movement that besieged TV stations and the Government House on Friday has pinned its hopes on three bodies: the Supreme Court, Senate and Electoral Council. Action leader Suthep Thaugsuban on Friday evening called on the president of the Supreme Court, the newly elected president of the Senate and the president of the Electoral Council to form an 'interim people's government' and a 'legislative assembly'. If they fail to do so, the PDRC will do it themselves.
The TV stations were instructed to broadcast the speeches of action leader Sutherp Thaugsuban in full and to ignore the statements of the Capo. The Capo, in turn, has warned the population not to join the protests as they risk persecution.
The government, that is what is left of it after the ousting of Prime Minister Yingluck and nine ministers, refuses to discuss a new interim government with Suthep. The only thing acting Prime Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongpaisal wanted to say about Suthep's demand on Friday was that he hopes there will be no violence.
red shirts
According to Jatuporn, Suthep is out to provoke fighting so that the army has an excuse to intervene. Now that the PDRC has spread across the city, it is at risk of grenade attacks and shelling. Jatuporn calls on its supporters not to act on their own and to stay on Utthayan road in Bangkok, where a major rally started on Saturday.
Jatuporn warns the Supreme Court and Senate against Suthep's demand for an 'interim government' to be formed by them. That's against the law, he says, and could bring Thailand to the brink of civil war.
Jatuporn also points out that the country still has an acting prime minister. According to him, the election of the new Senate president is irregular. He was elected Friday at an extraordinary meeting of the Senate, which was called for a different purpose.
Acting Prime Minister Niwatthamrong also has doubts about Surachai Langboonlertchai's election as Senate President. Niwatthamrong says he will ask the Council of State whether the election was right. [Surachai is said to be sympathetic to the anti-government actions.]
The Red Shirts are ready to continue their rally for as long as it takes to support the government. Jatuporn: 'The UDD will try to exercise extreme tolerance and not go anywhere. As long as the country's democracy is not secured, we will stay here. If there is a coup or an unelected prime minister is installed, we will step up our fight immediately.”
Intimidation of the media
PDRC supporters shrug at the widespread condemnation of media harassment. After besieging TV stations, all TV stations except NBT (a government channel) broadcast a speech by Suthep live on Saturday, but ended the broadcast when it turned out that he was merely repeating what he had already said on Friday. Channel 7 even switched to the red shirt rally.
(Source: Various messages on the website of Bangkok Post)
Used abbreviations:
Capo: Center for the Administration of Peace and Order. This body is responsible for enforcing the special emergency law (Internal Security Act, which is less far-reaching than the State of Emergency), which applies to Bangkok and some neighboring parts of provinces.
PDRC: People's Democratic Reform Committee.
UDD: United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship.
In my estimation, the army will only intervene (and take over power in the country) as a last resort if things get completely out of hand. The PDRC is provocative enough, but so far everyone has used their senses and support for Suthep and associates is starting to decline considerably. Particularly because it remains just slogans and no concrete idea about reforms is launched. This suggests that Suthep (and those above him) has a hidden agenda. As long as the red shirts remain calm, there is - and this may sound a bit strange - 'nothing is wrong'.
I just find the question odd enough. Why would the military intervene? That was no reason for them to act last year with approximately 300 deaths in Thailand's capital. It is also not the army's statement, but the police's. But he stands next to it and looks at it, as usual. They do not even act if their own name shield is removed from the front door. And as long as opposition leader and rioter Suthep, wanted by arrest warrant, can camp freely in the middle of Bangkok and can tell his story every day, without content, on all media channels, there is no reason to assume that the army will appear on the scene.
What has been allegedly happening for months in Bangkok police cannot be regarded as serious. Nothing happens - leaders like to tell the same thing over and over, don't say what happens when they get their way. And above all they don't say how they want to get Thailand out of the doldrums financially, which has now been relegated to a third world country. The only thing that has happened is that investors are withdrawing and vacationers prefer to go to the Seychelles or the Caribbean to be on the safe side?. Quite rightly so. Who would like to visit a temple that is protected, or should I say, shielded by an army tank or cannon?
The resistance of the top of the army to a coup becomes more understandable when one remembers who was appointed commander-in-chief of the Royal Guard (which includes several top units of the army) a few weeks ago. It seems that a very high figure is asserting itself more and more.
We shall see .
But the worst is yet to come I'm afraid.
Whether it will be a revolution or civil war I hope not, but I fear it will
Something is definitely going to happen in Thailand,
Many average residents with a little education are finally having their eyes opened.
This too will have to come to an end after a very long time of oppression and corruption .
We see and hear it every day, just look at a country like South Africa as an example.
Jan Beute.
I don't think it will go that fast. What have the YELLOW Shirts achieved? Neat blockade of the airport and left it as clean as they found it. Then the RED shirts with a few hot heads in their midst. They get into battle every weekend in their own village after 3 beers. Then clown Suthep, who said that if he can't magic Yingluck away, he will voluntarily allow his arrest. A completely new concept. So you will only be arrested if you want to? Coincidentally, Stuhep has forgotten this promise. And then Abhisit, who says he doesn't want to participate in everything. I would be fine like this; go home and stay away from TV, if you're against everything.
What should Thailand do with this kind of people. Which of these heads has, for example, put a 5-year plan on the table and told the population how it will work? Which one of them has told the rice farmers when they will finally get their money and not carry it out?
This form of politics has existed in Thailand for many many years. Again and again there were riots, coups and intervention by the army. Correctly said: something has to be done in Thailand. But I don't think we're going to get to that. Revolution or Civil War?. No. Thais don't kill each other. A few hot heads, maybe drunk or with drugs in their heads. Every human life has its value. But cheerleaders who kill each other is perhaps a blessing for other thousands who can and want to think constructively and want to move Thailand forward with people's decency, without blaming slack talk and riots.