Thai PM Loses Fight To Keep Her Job

[Khor tose]

" .
Do I think the Puea Thai Party/Red Shirts have the masses of Isaan Thai farmers and workers in their sights for social 'betterment'?: it is to laugh uproariously.
Do I think Mr Suthep and his mob (Yellow Shirts) have the best interests of Everybody Else in their crosshairs?: it is to laugh even harder.

Yes, but it still comes down to the fact that you think the Thais who vote are really to stupid to vote for the side they think is the lessor of the two evils, and if Oliver is salivating over a concept like democracy, it may be because it is still the best system out there.

[Up2U]

" ... When it comes to corruption, Abhisit and his buddy Suthep are near the top of the list. I see them as part of the problem and not the solution ... "

The two you mention are undoubtedly guilty as charged (as every Thai pol is), but you fail to mention the ridiculously corrupt Mr Thaksin Shinawatra ~ brother and master of his sister, the former PM, Ms Yingluk.

Ironically, Mr Shinawatra is ~ still is ~ one of the most wealthy men in Thailand. Under any other circumstance he would be considered a top member of the infamous Thailand 'Amart', although for some opportunistic reason ~ and great PR ~ he seems to have morphed into the saviour of the downtrodden poor.
Oliver will grab any thin and pathetic straw that he can which ~ in his world view ~ constitutes a potential hero of the proletarian mobilization. Too bad he's stuck in a semi-socialist world which ended in ruins at least 30 years ago.
Oliver's last bred-in-the-bone saviour/murderer/hero was Joseph Stalin: so much for ivory tower ironies. Oliver would have you up against the wall and the firing squad if he could possibly get it done: thank god the majority keep him from that goal. The man loves the smell of potential proletarian blood in the air: " ... In my view, the Red Shirts have no alternative but to mobilise their overwhelming support ... " he wrote above.

The Yellow Shirts and the Red Shirts in Thailand are digging in deep chasing after two things and two things only (as it always is): power and money (are they not the same?) ... not to mention staking out potential Power Positions ahead of the inevitable demise of ...
Such quests are the only dog bones which matter in this country, and easily trump the more esoteric concepts of 'Democracy', 'Social Justice', a non-political justice system etc etc etc ... the long list of societal touchstones we in the west naively savour and salivate over when the barricades are being erected.

Do I think the Puea Thai Party/Red Shirts have the masses of Isaan Thai farmers and workers in their sights for social 'betterment'?: it is to laugh uproariously.
Do I think Mr Suthep and his mob (Yellow Shirts) have the best interests of Everybody Else in their crosshairs?: it is to laugh even harder.

Oh I did implicitly mention Mr. TS, who was at the top list. I do question some of the charges and allegations against him simply because of the sources, and let's not forget these anticorruption commissions and constitutional courts are politically motivated. I agree with much of your post. My sense is this unrest on both sides is not about TS per se(despite what the yellow shirts say) but is much deeper and goes to the core of Thai society ... the monarchy, the military, the elite and class divisions.

[Oliver]

There seems to be a tendency to confuse the Red Shirts with Pheu Thai and both organisations with the Thaksin clan. The Red Shirts are outside the Thai establishment; that's why they ate feared and that's why they represent Thailand's best hope for a truly democratic future.

[Up2U]

There seems to be a tendency to confuse the Red Shirts with Pheu Thai and both organisations with the Thaksin clan. The Red Shirts are outside the Thai establishment; that's why they ate feared and that's why they represent Thailand's best hope for a truly democratic future.

The red shirts or better, The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), is a political action group setup to counter the yellow shirts (PAD, PDRC) and allies itself with the current government and Pheu Thai Party. I suspect a card carrying member of Pheu Thai would sympathize with the red shirt agenda since informally they are joined at the hip. Sort of like the Tea Party within the Republican Party in America. Reportedly, the red shirts get their funding from the Thaksin clan.

For the yellow shirts the old PAD, People's Alliance for Democracy, a misnomer, who brought down TS and Samut, his successor, evolved to Suthep 's action group the PDRC. The PDRC ally themselves with the Democrats but Democrats would never admit to being a PDRC member even though they are joined at the hip. Of course, the PDRC, has toppled another democratically elected government.

[lego]

There seems to be a tendency to confuse the Red Shirts with Pheu Thai and both organisations with the Thaksin clan. The Red Shirts are outside the Thai establishment; that's why they ate feared and that's why they represent Thailand's best hope for a truly democratic future.

When the circus is in town again, please remember to ask if there's a vacant spot in their clown troupe. This statement of yours is priceless, let's simply enshrine it.

[DamienZ]

Up2You wrote

"I would not depend on the two national English newspapers for insight into the current political situation. In depth reporting and analysis is not part of their makeup.

The first paragraph in the link is a bunch of bs. When it comes to corruption, Abhisit and his buddy Suthep are near the top of the list. I see them as part of the problem and not the solution. Read the Wiki leaks cables for some true insight."

I actually get some of my news from Foreign Affairs (broad strokes) which has a recent small article on the present political situation and short summary of Thai Politics posted in January of this year.
I like to read the opinions of local papers just to check which way the wind is blowing. There is a great book that I lost on my last trip overseas called Churchill CEO. I cannot remember the quote (so I will paraphrase and my sincerest apologies to Churchill scholars on the board) but it went something to the effect that no matter how close we are, or enmeshed in a foreign culture, we will never understand the shifting tides, and sentiments of the occidental cultures. I just spent a year living with the Khmer, and was present for the last big election, and I tend to agree with Churchill.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ ... n-thailand

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/features/ ... i-takedown

[Up2U]

Good links above. Here is another about a group of academics explaining why the logic of an "appointed" PM is flawed:


http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandal ... democracy/