Poll: Suvarnabhumi, Round Two

Argh the red devils are back. It’s a cunning game the red shirts are playing these days. They got all the media attention. Without much effort. First they increase the heat on previously untouchable privy councillors. They dare to hold the first rally ever in front of the office of the privy council. Unthinkable not too long ago. The common boundaries have been stretched enough to allow more space to roam.

The red shirts though know, no privy councillor will budge as demanded for the time being. That’s not the aim of their latest tactic anyway. The tactic is more of a “Little strokes fell big oaks.” That’s why they announced an airport protest. A symbolic protest. No road will be blocked, no passenger will be harmed. No law will be broken. Just up the ante. Every media network would be there. Would be because the rally seems to be cancelled.

Elements of the government and industry were panicking, the stock market diving. That’s all the red shirts want. To show the government quite plainly by means of inducing fear on what double standards, lies and flowery phrases its rule is built on. Why would the red shirts have to go for a repeat of the November to December 2008 mayhem. That’d be “national suicide,” as someone said. Nevertheless, why didn’t the government prevent a possible repeat in the first place? (Wanna head straight to the poll? Scroll down.)

Luckily we have a least Thai Airways suing the PAD. Despite noble promises, this government – installed by the grace of you know whom – tries to avoid at all cost having to move against their bedfellows, not to mention to upset some people who would long ago waste away behind bars in any country not averse to the rule of law.

So, why be against the timely reminder of such an airport protest – provided that the reds would keep their word of a “symbolic” protest. And why wouldn’t they. This red activist sounds like a down-to-earth guy, doesn’t he (quoting Reuters):

“If we go to the airport, it will be a symbolic rally. We won’t bring many people,” said Arisman Pongruangrong, a folk singer and key activist with the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), the “red shirts” formal name. “We won’t close the airport or shut down traffic. We just want to tell the world that the government is unfair and practices double standards,” he added.

The hidden agenda is clear. Every little pinprick may increase the bargaining power. And don’t think there’s no heavy bargaining and lobbying going on ahead of fateful February 26th.

What lies ahead? A compromise with a fairy tale ending? A PG-13? A thriller? Everything points to the seizure of Thaksin’s assets. As our newly decorated finance minister recently said:

As long as Thaksin has money, the conflict will continue.

But … emailed a reader:

It would seem to me that no compromise on the money, at least half of which belongs to Thaksin’s wife and kids who have been neither charged nor convicted of any crimes at all, will lead to an explosive situation. The traditional Thai way would be to take some of the money but not all of it, maybe leave the half that belongs to the wife and kids for instance …

It seems to me that the genius of the Thai way has always been to find some kind of weasely compromise. If they have lost this ability and prefer totally destructive and wasteful fights to the end, those comments about Isaan trying to break away and Lanna trying to break away might be more relevant than they appear at first glance …

Thaksin and his wife’s family have plenty of other assets, and confiscating the 76 billion baht in an entirely arbritrary and extra-legal manner is not going to make Thaksin go away and hide in the poor house.

I hope they come to their senses, already I notice a lot of deterioration in what Thailand used to be even only a few years ago.

If the money is seized in its entirety, then there is another entity with even more money that might end up having its money seized at some future date in a similar manner.

So, with that planned airport protest being part of a greater strategy, will such a protest serve the reds? Increase the pressure on the authorities to find some reasonable way out? Or divide the nation anew and even more bitterly?

Your take on the protest?




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January 20, 2010 | Filed Under Business & Economics, Politics, Society, Survey / Poll 

Comments

2 Responses to “Poll: Suvarnabhumi, Round Two”

  1. Update on “Red Shirt” at the airport « GJBKK Blog on January 21st, 2010 10.10 am

    [...] The Nation say the red shirts have called off the rally at the airport, but as Bangkok Dan noted the government panic was clear to see [...]

  2. Welcome To Absurdistan on January 29th, 2010 7.16 pm

    [...] blatant government and military lies grows longer and longer, just to mention the Rohingya, the adherence to law and order, the respect of international law, the assurances that protectionist Thailand is an open, if not [...]

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