pdogg Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 The Internal Security Act has been imposed for the anti government rally on Saturday. It gives the military power to quell any disturbance. Also those under age 18 will not be permitted to rally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepthroat Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Shit, is this the beginning of another Red Shirt/Yellow Shirt faceoff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTChang Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Hope the government arent brutal in controlling this! The last government's actions in Central Bangkok were condemned (by Thaksina & her cohorts) as brutal. But maybe it's alright if they are in charge. If the event goes wild, it will of course be the Yellows fault. But oddly it was never the Reds fault last time. Come back brother, all is forgiven. As Obama said, we support democracy .... AND THE RULE OF LAW. (sorry that should be in small print ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacman Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Hope the government arent brutal in controlling this! Things have come a long way. Anything the police & the army do will bring them under scrutiny now the people are equipped with camera phones & social media. That's not to say the authorities won't get away with violence but they will have to deal with the public's anger & the backlash that would come from them being exposed as thugs. Again. This recently acquired "power" by the public is a far cry from the bad old days when public revolt was crushed by force. There were two coups in LOS in 1976. Actually they might have been two attempts for the one coup, I can google it but it doesn't matter because I was there. On one fine day in Bangkok I was someone near the river & I heard gunfire. Repeated gunfire. I actually thought it was a car backfiring to start with. But it went on & it was getting closer. Or rather I was getting closer but I never saw the troops or any of their victims. It was several days later that I learnt that demonstrating University students were fired upon by the army & that one or two of them were wounded. It was much later I learnt that I was very close to the riot & a number of students had been shot dead. In my naive enthusiasm to get close enough to see what was happening, I could have walked into the middle of it. I consider myself fortunate that I didn't. And if I was in Bangkok next weekend I would avoid going anywhere near the rally. Even rubber bullets hurt like hell. So I have read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTChang Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Even rubber bullets hurt like hell. So I have read. Yes, I will stick around Guess Bar this weekend ..... and see what comes my way, dressed in uniform and causing slight discomfort! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciobha Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 What uniform will you be wearing Mr.Chang??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdogg Posted November 24, 2012 Author Share Posted November 24, 2012 Tear Gas! BANGKOK — Anti-government protesters calling for Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down launched a rally in Bangkok on Saturday that authorities feared would grow into the biggest demonstration the country has seen since she took office last year.The rally, which was expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters, was mostly peaceful in its early stages. Police, however, fired tear gas to disperse between 50 to 100 people who tried to break through a line of concrete barricades erected on a street near the protest site. Earlier in the week, Yingluck ordered nearly 17,000 police to deploy and invoked a special security law, citing concerns that the rally could turn violent. She also accused demonstrators of seeking to overthrow her elected government. The demonstration underscores the still-simmering political divisions that have split the country since the army toppled Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra in a 2006 military coup. Saturday's protest was organized by a royalist group calling itself "Pitak Siam" – or "Protect Thailand." Led by retired army Gen. Boonlert Kaewprasit, the group accuses Yingluck's administration of corruption, ignoring insults to the revered monarchy and being a puppet of Thaksin. Addressing several thousand protesters on the rally's central stage on Saturday, Boonlert vowed the demonstration would remain peaceful. But he said: "I promise that Pitak Siam will succeed in driving this government out." He then led the crowd in a chant: "Yingluck, get out! Yingluck, get out!" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121123/as-thailand-politics/?utm_hp_ref=sports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchieBunker Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Was anyone caught up in the fun and games this past weekend?? My sources on the ground tell me it wasnt a big as everyone thought. As recently as 1992 there was scores of deathes during protests. It wasnt that long ago. Officially, there were 52 deaths but the locals know thats a sick joke. Hundreds were murdered. There is a small monument in central bangkok. I think its near Democracy Monument....... The latest protests were sparked by the "Yellow Shirts". They want the current PM removed. hey had an election not too long ago and they got their asses kicked. Yinglucks party won a majority of Parliament. Thats a rout. I guess they dont have any respect whatsoever in regards to election results........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepthroat Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I'm only an Armchair Quarterback, but my guess is that having the extra security on hand was a contributing factor to the lack of deaths/drama. From memory it seems like one of the bigger problems in the last outburst was the government's inaction in dealing with the protests when they began, allowing them to rapidly spin out of control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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