By Harrison George |
<p>Your Excellency,</p>
<p>The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Royal Thai Government presents its sincerest compliments to Your Excellency the Ambassador of the Philippines and wishes to avail itself of the good offices of Your Excellency, as Dean of the Foreign Diplomatic Corps, in order to communicate the following to the foreign diplomatic community in Thailand.</p>
By Harrison George |
<p>Perhaps the most surprising of the well-behaved, patient and good-humoured queues in the red shirt encampment has been the one for registration as members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship. It may have been under canvas at the roadside, but the technology was as good as you will get in the more progressive government offices. Application forms were registered by computer and photo ID cards (proudly worn by everyone I talked to) were produced on the spot on payment of a 50 baht membership fee. A truly impressive level of organization.</p>
<p>For what purpose?</p>
<p><em>Somsak Jeamtheerasakul’s analysis and observations of the current situation. Translated and shortened by Prachatai English.</em></p>
<p>The government’s use of force to crack down on the red shirts at Rajprasong now seems practically inevitable, as does the collision course taken by Thaksin and the red-shirt leaders, including the possible use of the black-clad men who are the latter’s secret weapons.</p>
By Harrison George |
<p>‘The tension is palpable here at the Annual Awards Ceremony of the Thai Political Performing Arts, better known as the Political Oscars. It’s been a year of upheaval on the Thai political scene and competition for some of the awards has been intense. Perhaps I can ask our political affairs commentator, Khun Thanongtul Sathitsophon, just how the awards are decided.’</p>
By Pravit Rojanaphruk |
<p>Since 2006, Thai politics has witnessed mounting popular mobilisation and a deepening political crisis. As so-called ‘yellow shirts’ and ‘red shirts’ have taken their protests to the international airport, the national government, and the city streets of Bangkok, Thailand has also seen the articulation of ultra-royalist versus (alleged) anti-royalist sentiments.</p>
By Harrison George |
<p>It is a hectic scene in the War Room of the Peace-Keeping Operations Command inside the 11th Infantry Regiment base.</p>
<p>Matichon Weekly has in its latest edition, 23 April 2010, an article entitled <em>‘Suppose PM Abhisit Vejjajiva today faced an Opposition Leader named Abhisit Vejjajiva’</em>. Since Abhisit became Prime Minister and has had to deal with the red shirts, what has most undermined his credibility are his own words and principles when he was Opposition Leader, the article says.</p>
By Harrison George |
<p>A decade ago, a foreign volunteer was placed with one of the Agricultural Research and Development Centres that are dotted about the country and soon after her arrival she got to participate in a training session for farmers.</p>
By Plaew See-ngern, Thai Post |
<p><em>(A shortened version by Prachatai English)</em></p>
<p>After the Saturday clashes, the red shirts are confident that they have gained the upper hand over the government; so they do not bother to negotiate or give a thought for the common good. They have only one goal: seizing the country, changing the form of government and overthrowing the monarchy.</p>
By Pravit Rojanaphruk |
<p>Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva addressed the nation in the afternoon of Monday April 11, 2010 stating that “terrorists” have infiltrated the red-shirt movement seeking to bring about a “major change” to Thailand.</p>
By Pravit Rojanaphruk |
<p>Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva addressed the nation on television on Thursday evening, a day after the state of emergency was declared, to defend the government’s censorships of red-shirt media by stating that by doing so he has succeeded somewhat in stopping “the spread” of “distorted information”, and is “in expectation that there will be a gradual reduction of hatred”.</p>
By Harrison George |
<p>It is reported that National Human Rights Commissioner Dr Tajing Siripanit stated on national television that the Abhisit government would be justified in using force against the red shirt protestors at Ratchaprasong intersection ‘because they were disrupting shopping’.</p>