Thailand coup 5-22-2014
- Thread starter daddycat
- Start date
I don't keep up on Thailand that much, and so I was wondering if this return to military rule wasn't expected.... sooner or later, same as in Egypt, given the political situation in which the two sides refuse to get along and work together... or perhaps that is just the usual behind the scenes puppet show theatrics of an oligarchy that controls both sides of the equation making the audience believe there is a difference. This false dichotomy is the same pattern found in most countries... not all, but most that put on these puppet shows for the masses. The same pattern will no doubt occur as well, and predictability is highly prized in the propaganda press, as then they can just rerun the same programs as before... with a new cast of course.
And like everywhere else, this pattern is occurring in a shorter timeframe each time... or so it seems.... spiralling in to center... zero point... where a new script is prepared for presentation.
Has the military followed the same pattern as last time?
And like everywhere else, this pattern is occurring in a shorter timeframe each time... or so it seems.... spiralling in to center... zero point... where a new script is prepared for presentation.
Has the military followed the same pattern as last time?
I was talking about this yesterday with my cousin who was an exchange student for a year in Thailand in the late 90's. She as well was surprised and mentioned that she was going to be calling her host family long distance to see how they are faring. I believe she still keeps in somewhat regular contact.
First I heard of what is currently happening in Thailand though was a couple days ago after I watched part of documentary on Youtube- a link to it randomly appeared and I clicked on it. I found it odd I hadn't heard more about it previously and had to make sure I was seeing the date right, since it showed it was posted only as of last month.
First I heard of what is currently happening in Thailand though was a couple days ago after I watched part of documentary on Youtube- a link to it randomly appeared and I clicked on it. I found it odd I hadn't heard more about it previously and had to make sure I was seeing the date right, since it showed it was posted only as of last month.
angelburst29
The Living Force
A few articles on Thailand:
Thailand army detains former prime minister
_http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/05/23/363891/thai-army-arrests-expm-following-coup/
Saturday May 24, 201402 Thailand's army has arrested former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra a day after overthrowing her caretaker government in a coup.
"We have detained Yingluck, her sister and brother-in-law," a senior military officer said on Friday.
"We will do so for not more than a week, that would be too long. We just need to organize matters in the country first," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He did not give any detail about Yingluck’s place of detention; however, media outlets said she was held at an army base in Saraburi province, north of the capital Bangkok.
On Thursday, the army announced that it took control of the government and suspended the constitution in a bid to end months of political turmoil in the country.
In an address to the nation, army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the armed forces have seized power, adding that the act was necessary to restore stability after a prolonged political deadlock.
The army also summoned dozens of leaders and figures from rival political sides on Friday to report to the new junta and then banned some 154 of them from leaving Thailand.
Tensions deepened in Thailand after the Constitutional Court removed Yingluck from office on May 7 for abusing power.
The premier’s Pheu Thai Party, however, refused to leave power and immediately replaced Yingluck with the country’s Commerce Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.
Anti-government demonstrations primarily erupted in Thailand after the government proposed an amnesty bill last October that could have pardoned Yingluck’s brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, setting the scene for his return to Thailand.
Opponents saw Yingluck as a proxy for her elder brother, who has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai since he was ousted in a 2006 military coup. Thaksin will face a jail term if he returns home.
Thailand: Coup Ousts US-Backed Dictator
_http://altthainews.blogspot.com/2014/05/thailand-coup-ousts-us-backed-dictator.html
May 23, 2014 (Tony Cartalucci - ATN) - Life goes on as normal in Thailand's capital of Bangkok the day after the Royal Thai Army declared it was taking power from the diminished, ineffectual "caretaker government" Thursday. Businesses and offices were open as usual on Friday with no discernible difference for Thais. TV programming is expected to be returned to normal today as well.
The coup was carried out at the climax of half a year of massive and protracted street demonstrations against the proxy regime of billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra. Shinawatra was himself ousted in a coup in 2006 and has since fled the country, residing primarily in Dubai. With his formidable political machine left intact, however, he has been able to rule the country remotely through a series of nepotist-appointed proxies including his brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat, and his own sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
While the Western media continues portraying Shinawatra's various proxy regimes as "democratically elected governments," they are nothing of the sort. Shinawatra - a convicted criminal, neither on the ballot or even in the country but admittedly running his political party and those standing in for him as prime minister - is unelected and therefore a dictator.
Shinawatra's ability to continue running the country remotely, and even contest elections despite being a convicted criminal evading a two year jail sentence, multiple arrest warrants, and a growing list of pending court cases is due not only to his impunity within Thailand, but impunity he has enjoyed as a result of significant and continuous support from Wall Street, London, and Brussels.
Ousted Government Was US-Backed Criminal Regime
Indeed, for over a decade, Thaksin Shinawatra has attempted to transform Thailand into a Western client state. An enumerated list of Shinawatra's sovereignty-usurping concessions and crimes against the Thai people make it clear as to why the military along with Thailand's other indigenous and independent institutions have been working systematically to diminish and uproot his political influence over Thailand:
* In the late 1990's, Thaksin was an adviser to notorious private equity firm, the Carlyle Group. He pledged to his foreign contacts that upon taking office, he would still serve as a "matchmaker" between the US equity fund and Thai businesses. It would represent the first of many compromising conflicts of interest that would undermine Thailand's sovereign under his rule.
* Thaksin was Thailand's prime minister from 2001-2006. Has since dominated the various reincarnations of his political party - and still to this day runs the country by proxy, via his nepotist appointed sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
* In 2001 he privatized Thailand's resources and infrastructure including the nation's oil conglomerate PTT - much to Wall Street's delight.
* In 2003, he would commit Thai troops to the US invasion of Iraq, despite widespread protests from both the Thai military and the public. Thaksin would also allow the CIA to use Thailand for its abhorrent rendition program.
* Also in 2003, he initiated what he called a "war on drugs." Nearly 3,000 were extrajudicially murdered in the streets over the course of just 90 days. It would later turn out that more than half of those killed had nothing to even do with the drug trade. In this act alone, Thaksin earned himself the title as worst human rights offender in Thai history, and still he was far from finished.
* In 2004, he oversaw the killing of 85 protesters in a single day during his mishandled, heavy-handed policy in the country's troubled deep south. The atrocity is now referred to as the "Tak Bai incident."
* Also in 2004, Thaksin attempted to ramrod through a US-Thailand Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) without parliamentary approval, backed by the US-ASEAN Business Council who just before the 2011 elections that saw Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra brought into power, hosted the leaders of Thaksin’s "red shirt" "United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship" (UDD) in Washington DC.
* Throughout his administration he was notorious for intimidating the press, and crushing dissent. According to Amnesty International, 18 human rights defenders were either assassinated or disappeared during his first term in office. Among them was human rights activist and lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit. He was last seen in 2004 being arrested by police and never seen again.
* Also throughout Thaksin's administration, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) claimed in its report, "Attacks on the Press 2004: Thailand" that the regime was guilty of financial interference, legal intimidation, and coercion of the press.
* Since the 2006 coup that toppled his regime, Thaksin has been represented by US corporate-financier elites via their lobbying firms including, Kenneth Adelman of the Edelman PR firm (Freedom House, International Crisis Group,PNAC), James Baker of Baker Botts (CFR, Carlyle Group), Robert Blackwill (CFR) of Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR), Kobre & Kim, Bell Pottinger (and here) and currently Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners (Chatham House).
* In April of 2009 gunmen would fire over 100 rounds into the vehicle of anti-Thaksin activist, protest leader, and media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul in a broad daylight assassination attempt. He was injured but survived.
* On April 10, 2010, heavily armed professional militants deployed by Thaksin Shianwatra and his "red shirt" front targeted and assassinated Colonel Romklao Thuwatham who was at the time commanding crowd control operations near Bangkok's Democracy Monument. Thaksin's "red shirts" would go on to clash with the military for weeks before ending their riot with mass city-wide looting and arson.
* In August of 2013, businessman and outspoken Thaksin opponent Ekkayuth Anchanbutr was abducted and murdered.
* In addition to this, Thaksin Shinawatra had constructed what he called the "United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship" (UDD) also known as the "red shirts." It is the militant wing of Shinawatra's political machine and through campaigns of mass murder, assassinations, and other forms of political intimidation, it has gone far in granting Shinawatra the impunity he has, until now, enjoyed.
* In 2008, red shirts shot/hacked to death by machetes an opposition community radio host's father, after pro-Thaksin radio hosts mobilized supporters to surround his house and the father attempted to flee. Regime demagogue, Kanyapak Maneejak (DJ Aom), when asked about the incident during a "City Life Chiang Mai" interview, claimed, "the reds there all came following their hearts."
* In 2009, in addition to large-scale street violence visited upon Bangkok which saw two shop keepers shot while trying to stop red shirts from looting their businesses, red shirts would violently disrupt an HIV/AIDS awareness march organized by homosexual & public health activists. "Out in Perth" reported in their article, "Chiang Mai Pride Shut Down by Protests as Police Watch On," that organizers were locked inside a building while red shirts began throwing rocks and yelling abuse through megaphones. Police looked on until organizers decided to call off the event.
* Also in 2009, Bangkok's English paper, "Bangkok Post" would publish a report titled, "Rak Chiang Mai 51: A pride or a disgrace for Chiang Mai?" which would describe in detail the red shirts' methods of violence and intimidation.
In 2010, Thaksin Shinawatra deployed some 300 heavily armed mercenaries to augment "red shirt" mobs in Bangkok. Armed with M16s, AK47s, M79s, hand grenades and other small arms, they assassinated an army colonel, killed soldiers, bystanders and even protesters among their own ranks in reckless firefights that spanned several weeks and climaxed in a campaign of mass arson across the capital. In all, over 90 would die.
* During the most recent political crisis, red shirts have frequently surrounded the homes of opponents, threatening and intimidating them from speaking out against the regime. This includes the home of Chiang Mai's Cultural Council president, teachers and parents of Regina Coeli College, and violently attacking a peaceful protest held at Chiang Mai University's art museum and again during a march held several weeks later.
* They have threatened to kidnap and/or kill Thai Royal Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha's twin daughters.
On the eve of February 2014 general elections, the "red shirts" carried out a brazen broad-daylight assassination of NGO worker, activist, and protest leader Sutin Taratin.
* Regime militants carried out a grisly attack in the eastern province of Trat that left scores maimed and a five-year old girl dead and a similar attack carried out in Bangkok that left many maimed along with a woman and two children killed.
* Multiple M79 grenade attacks were carried out on the office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission in northern Bangkok in conjunction with a blockade carried out by the regime's "red shirts." The blockade was aimed at obstructing criminal proceeding against then prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. Regime supporters would be arrested for possession of AK47s, M79 grenade launchers, and RGD-5 hand grenades, the latter two with lot numbers matching those used in previous attacks across the city.
* Recently, an accidental discovery was made by police of a white Mazda parked outside the resort of regime MP Sitthichai Kittithanesuan, containing AK47s in the backseat. The car was owned by an "adviser" to a regime minister.
* Regime militants carried out an M79 grenade attack and drive-by shooting on Bangkok's Democracy Monument on May 15 that killed 3 and left dozens more injured.
Backlash from Regime's Western Sponsors
With such an extensive, documented list of enumerated crimes alongside an equally impressive list of concessions made to corporate-financier interests within the United States, it is clear to see why the United States has supported the regime for years, and immediately condemned the military's move to oust the regime and begin uprooting its political machinery. (Additional reading at site.)
Military coup takes over Thailand, martial law remains in effect
_http://intellihub.com/military-coup-takes-thailand-martial-law-remains-effect/
Thursday May 22, 2014 - By Shepard Ambellas BANGKOK (INTELLIHUB) — Reports out of the area say that the military chief of Thailand announced Thursday in an address to the nation, that the country has been taken over via a military coup d’état. The situation, following the announcement of “martial law” by the military on Tuesday, is said to be serious and remains fluid.
Nighttime curfews have been imposed on all civilians, between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., as all-out power has been taken into the hands of the military.
According to reports, the country’s politicians, which were escorted about by military personnel, could not come to an agreement Tuesday, giving the military a chance to act.
CNN reported just how this all unfolded:
Thailand has been hit by bouts of political unrest over the past decade.
The current wave was triggered in November by Yingluck’s botched attempt to pass an amnesty bill that would have allowed the return of her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, another former prime minister who lives in exile. A military coup deposed Thaksin in 2006.
Groups opposed to the government seized on the amnesty bill furor and began large-scale protests in central areas of Bangkok.
In an attempt to defuse tensions, Yingluck called early elections. But the Democrat Party boycotted the February election, and Yingluck’s opponents blocked voting in enough districts to prevent a valid outcome.
According to some reports, the locals are handling the situation well and business is being normally conducted in Bangkok. In fact, some city folk even embraced the decision. According to Al Jazeera:
“If it stops the fighting it’s a good thing,” Kamonwan Puansrimuang, a 35-year-old teacher, said.
Others were more cautious. “I’m not sure about the reason behind this martial law and don’t know how it will make things better,” said 23-year-old office worker Chanantorn Fai. “I don’t think that it will bring real peace anyway. I can’t make any sense of what’s happening.”
She was not alone. “Nobody really knows how to read this one,” said David Streckfuss, an independent analyst based in the northern city of Khon Kaen, a government stronghold. “There is no justification for it. It’s hard to make any sense of it.”
However, the scene was much more frightening to some. Thomas Fuller, writing for the New York Times detailed the terror some felt:
In the first few hours, nobody knew exactly what to make of the declaration, which gives the military broad powers to disperse and arrest protesters, censor the news media and control many government functions.
Military vehicles and armed soldiers took positions on Bangkok streets, some television stations closed, and the military issued a warning against provocative comments on social media.
Yet, in many neighborhoods, not a soldier could be seen. Workplaces and schools remained open, people shopped, the stock market closed the day 1 percent lower and traffic backed up as it would have on any other workday. Tourists could be seen snapping photographs with smiling soldiers.
At this time it is unknown how the situation will progress.
This will mark the 11th coup staged by the Thai military in the last 80-years, as reported by the Washington Post Thursday.
Moreover, all television and radio stations throughout the country were taken over and all social media has been suspended. Military propaganda is now being aired on all formats, telling people to “conduct business as usual” and to not be “alarmed”.
Thailand army detains former prime minister
_http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/05/23/363891/thai-army-arrests-expm-following-coup/
Saturday May 24, 201402 Thailand's army has arrested former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra a day after overthrowing her caretaker government in a coup.
"We have detained Yingluck, her sister and brother-in-law," a senior military officer said on Friday.
"We will do so for not more than a week, that would be too long. We just need to organize matters in the country first," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He did not give any detail about Yingluck’s place of detention; however, media outlets said she was held at an army base in Saraburi province, north of the capital Bangkok.
On Thursday, the army announced that it took control of the government and suspended the constitution in a bid to end months of political turmoil in the country.
In an address to the nation, army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the armed forces have seized power, adding that the act was necessary to restore stability after a prolonged political deadlock.
The army also summoned dozens of leaders and figures from rival political sides on Friday to report to the new junta and then banned some 154 of them from leaving Thailand.
Tensions deepened in Thailand after the Constitutional Court removed Yingluck from office on May 7 for abusing power.
The premier’s Pheu Thai Party, however, refused to leave power and immediately replaced Yingluck with the country’s Commerce Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.
Anti-government demonstrations primarily erupted in Thailand after the government proposed an amnesty bill last October that could have pardoned Yingluck’s brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, setting the scene for his return to Thailand.
Opponents saw Yingluck as a proxy for her elder brother, who has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai since he was ousted in a 2006 military coup. Thaksin will face a jail term if he returns home.
Thailand: Coup Ousts US-Backed Dictator
_http://altthainews.blogspot.com/2014/05/thailand-coup-ousts-us-backed-dictator.html
May 23, 2014 (Tony Cartalucci - ATN) - Life goes on as normal in Thailand's capital of Bangkok the day after the Royal Thai Army declared it was taking power from the diminished, ineffectual "caretaker government" Thursday. Businesses and offices were open as usual on Friday with no discernible difference for Thais. TV programming is expected to be returned to normal today as well.
The coup was carried out at the climax of half a year of massive and protracted street demonstrations against the proxy regime of billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra. Shinawatra was himself ousted in a coup in 2006 and has since fled the country, residing primarily in Dubai. With his formidable political machine left intact, however, he has been able to rule the country remotely through a series of nepotist-appointed proxies including his brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat, and his own sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
While the Western media continues portraying Shinawatra's various proxy regimes as "democratically elected governments," they are nothing of the sort. Shinawatra - a convicted criminal, neither on the ballot or even in the country but admittedly running his political party and those standing in for him as prime minister - is unelected and therefore a dictator.
Shinawatra's ability to continue running the country remotely, and even contest elections despite being a convicted criminal evading a two year jail sentence, multiple arrest warrants, and a growing list of pending court cases is due not only to his impunity within Thailand, but impunity he has enjoyed as a result of significant and continuous support from Wall Street, London, and Brussels.
Ousted Government Was US-Backed Criminal Regime
Indeed, for over a decade, Thaksin Shinawatra has attempted to transform Thailand into a Western client state. An enumerated list of Shinawatra's sovereignty-usurping concessions and crimes against the Thai people make it clear as to why the military along with Thailand's other indigenous and independent institutions have been working systematically to diminish and uproot his political influence over Thailand:
* In the late 1990's, Thaksin was an adviser to notorious private equity firm, the Carlyle Group. He pledged to his foreign contacts that upon taking office, he would still serve as a "matchmaker" between the US equity fund and Thai businesses. It would represent the first of many compromising conflicts of interest that would undermine Thailand's sovereign under his rule.
* Thaksin was Thailand's prime minister from 2001-2006. Has since dominated the various reincarnations of his political party - and still to this day runs the country by proxy, via his nepotist appointed sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
* In 2001 he privatized Thailand's resources and infrastructure including the nation's oil conglomerate PTT - much to Wall Street's delight.
* In 2003, he would commit Thai troops to the US invasion of Iraq, despite widespread protests from both the Thai military and the public. Thaksin would also allow the CIA to use Thailand for its abhorrent rendition program.
* Also in 2003, he initiated what he called a "war on drugs." Nearly 3,000 were extrajudicially murdered in the streets over the course of just 90 days. It would later turn out that more than half of those killed had nothing to even do with the drug trade. In this act alone, Thaksin earned himself the title as worst human rights offender in Thai history, and still he was far from finished.
* In 2004, he oversaw the killing of 85 protesters in a single day during his mishandled, heavy-handed policy in the country's troubled deep south. The atrocity is now referred to as the "Tak Bai incident."
* Also in 2004, Thaksin attempted to ramrod through a US-Thailand Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) without parliamentary approval, backed by the US-ASEAN Business Council who just before the 2011 elections that saw Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra brought into power, hosted the leaders of Thaksin’s "red shirt" "United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship" (UDD) in Washington DC.
* Throughout his administration he was notorious for intimidating the press, and crushing dissent. According to Amnesty International, 18 human rights defenders were either assassinated or disappeared during his first term in office. Among them was human rights activist and lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit. He was last seen in 2004 being arrested by police and never seen again.
* Also throughout Thaksin's administration, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) claimed in its report, "Attacks on the Press 2004: Thailand" that the regime was guilty of financial interference, legal intimidation, and coercion of the press.
* Since the 2006 coup that toppled his regime, Thaksin has been represented by US corporate-financier elites via their lobbying firms including, Kenneth Adelman of the Edelman PR firm (Freedom House, International Crisis Group,PNAC), James Baker of Baker Botts (CFR, Carlyle Group), Robert Blackwill (CFR) of Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR), Kobre & Kim, Bell Pottinger (and here) and currently Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners (Chatham House).
* In April of 2009 gunmen would fire over 100 rounds into the vehicle of anti-Thaksin activist, protest leader, and media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul in a broad daylight assassination attempt. He was injured but survived.
* On April 10, 2010, heavily armed professional militants deployed by Thaksin Shianwatra and his "red shirt" front targeted and assassinated Colonel Romklao Thuwatham who was at the time commanding crowd control operations near Bangkok's Democracy Monument. Thaksin's "red shirts" would go on to clash with the military for weeks before ending their riot with mass city-wide looting and arson.
* In August of 2013, businessman and outspoken Thaksin opponent Ekkayuth Anchanbutr was abducted and murdered.
* In addition to this, Thaksin Shinawatra had constructed what he called the "United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship" (UDD) also known as the "red shirts." It is the militant wing of Shinawatra's political machine and through campaigns of mass murder, assassinations, and other forms of political intimidation, it has gone far in granting Shinawatra the impunity he has, until now, enjoyed.
* In 2008, red shirts shot/hacked to death by machetes an opposition community radio host's father, after pro-Thaksin radio hosts mobilized supporters to surround his house and the father attempted to flee. Regime demagogue, Kanyapak Maneejak (DJ Aom), when asked about the incident during a "City Life Chiang Mai" interview, claimed, "the reds there all came following their hearts."
* In 2009, in addition to large-scale street violence visited upon Bangkok which saw two shop keepers shot while trying to stop red shirts from looting their businesses, red shirts would violently disrupt an HIV/AIDS awareness march organized by homosexual & public health activists. "Out in Perth" reported in their article, "Chiang Mai Pride Shut Down by Protests as Police Watch On," that organizers were locked inside a building while red shirts began throwing rocks and yelling abuse through megaphones. Police looked on until organizers decided to call off the event.
* Also in 2009, Bangkok's English paper, "Bangkok Post" would publish a report titled, "Rak Chiang Mai 51: A pride or a disgrace for Chiang Mai?" which would describe in detail the red shirts' methods of violence and intimidation.
In 2010, Thaksin Shinawatra deployed some 300 heavily armed mercenaries to augment "red shirt" mobs in Bangkok. Armed with M16s, AK47s, M79s, hand grenades and other small arms, they assassinated an army colonel, killed soldiers, bystanders and even protesters among their own ranks in reckless firefights that spanned several weeks and climaxed in a campaign of mass arson across the capital. In all, over 90 would die.
* During the most recent political crisis, red shirts have frequently surrounded the homes of opponents, threatening and intimidating them from speaking out against the regime. This includes the home of Chiang Mai's Cultural Council president, teachers and parents of Regina Coeli College, and violently attacking a peaceful protest held at Chiang Mai University's art museum and again during a march held several weeks later.
* They have threatened to kidnap and/or kill Thai Royal Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha's twin daughters.
On the eve of February 2014 general elections, the "red shirts" carried out a brazen broad-daylight assassination of NGO worker, activist, and protest leader Sutin Taratin.
* Regime militants carried out a grisly attack in the eastern province of Trat that left scores maimed and a five-year old girl dead and a similar attack carried out in Bangkok that left many maimed along with a woman and two children killed.
* Multiple M79 grenade attacks were carried out on the office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission in northern Bangkok in conjunction with a blockade carried out by the regime's "red shirts." The blockade was aimed at obstructing criminal proceeding against then prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. Regime supporters would be arrested for possession of AK47s, M79 grenade launchers, and RGD-5 hand grenades, the latter two with lot numbers matching those used in previous attacks across the city.
* Recently, an accidental discovery was made by police of a white Mazda parked outside the resort of regime MP Sitthichai Kittithanesuan, containing AK47s in the backseat. The car was owned by an "adviser" to a regime minister.
* Regime militants carried out an M79 grenade attack and drive-by shooting on Bangkok's Democracy Monument on May 15 that killed 3 and left dozens more injured.
Backlash from Regime's Western Sponsors
With such an extensive, documented list of enumerated crimes alongside an equally impressive list of concessions made to corporate-financier interests within the United States, it is clear to see why the United States has supported the regime for years, and immediately condemned the military's move to oust the regime and begin uprooting its political machinery. (Additional reading at site.)
Military coup takes over Thailand, martial law remains in effect
_http://intellihub.com/military-coup-takes-thailand-martial-law-remains-effect/
Thursday May 22, 2014 - By Shepard Ambellas BANGKOK (INTELLIHUB) — Reports out of the area say that the military chief of Thailand announced Thursday in an address to the nation, that the country has been taken over via a military coup d’état. The situation, following the announcement of “martial law” by the military on Tuesday, is said to be serious and remains fluid.
Nighttime curfews have been imposed on all civilians, between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., as all-out power has been taken into the hands of the military.
According to reports, the country’s politicians, which were escorted about by military personnel, could not come to an agreement Tuesday, giving the military a chance to act.
CNN reported just how this all unfolded:
Thailand has been hit by bouts of political unrest over the past decade.
The current wave was triggered in November by Yingluck’s botched attempt to pass an amnesty bill that would have allowed the return of her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, another former prime minister who lives in exile. A military coup deposed Thaksin in 2006.
Groups opposed to the government seized on the amnesty bill furor and began large-scale protests in central areas of Bangkok.
In an attempt to defuse tensions, Yingluck called early elections. But the Democrat Party boycotted the February election, and Yingluck’s opponents blocked voting in enough districts to prevent a valid outcome.
According to some reports, the locals are handling the situation well and business is being normally conducted in Bangkok. In fact, some city folk even embraced the decision. According to Al Jazeera:
“If it stops the fighting it’s a good thing,” Kamonwan Puansrimuang, a 35-year-old teacher, said.
Others were more cautious. “I’m not sure about the reason behind this martial law and don’t know how it will make things better,” said 23-year-old office worker Chanantorn Fai. “I don’t think that it will bring real peace anyway. I can’t make any sense of what’s happening.”
She was not alone. “Nobody really knows how to read this one,” said David Streckfuss, an independent analyst based in the northern city of Khon Kaen, a government stronghold. “There is no justification for it. It’s hard to make any sense of it.”
However, the scene was much more frightening to some. Thomas Fuller, writing for the New York Times detailed the terror some felt:
In the first few hours, nobody knew exactly what to make of the declaration, which gives the military broad powers to disperse and arrest protesters, censor the news media and control many government functions.
Military vehicles and armed soldiers took positions on Bangkok streets, some television stations closed, and the military issued a warning against provocative comments on social media.
Yet, in many neighborhoods, not a soldier could be seen. Workplaces and schools remained open, people shopped, the stock market closed the day 1 percent lower and traffic backed up as it would have on any other workday. Tourists could be seen snapping photographs with smiling soldiers.
At this time it is unknown how the situation will progress.
This will mark the 11th coup staged by the Thai military in the last 80-years, as reported by the Washington Post Thursday.
Moreover, all television and radio stations throughout the country were taken over and all social media has been suspended. Military propaganda is now being aired on all formats, telling people to “conduct business as usual” and to not be “alarmed”.
13 Twirling Triskeles
Jedi Master
Hi.
I just received this e-mail from my brother's widow. My brother died in January this year, and she has been very distraught and bereft over her loss, as is my entire family. They were living in Thailand for past 6 years. Although English is not her first language, I can assure you she normally writes very eloquently as a rule. She and I have been e-mailing each other for the past 5-1/2 years, and this broken English is not her normal style. This is indicating to me that she is very stressed just now. My apologies because I'm not doing so well myself at the moment..
Below is a copy of most of her e-mail addressed to me and one of my other sisters. I've left out the personal parts which do not refer to what is going on in Thailand right now. She is living in Chiang Mai which is a fairly large city located north of Bangkok.
* * *
Hello... Thank you both for caring about me :)... Yes Thailand coup is currently going on. People are not happy about it but hopefully it'll not last that long :( .
We have curfew 10 pm - 5 am but almost everything closes at 8 pm :( and if seen outside the house after 10 they will arrest you and nasty rumors are going around like people get shot but no idea if it's true because all TV and radios are off and even people that are posting news on YouTube are getting arrested doesn't matter what status. (everyone are being watched and even this email is actually not safe, we are told that be careful what you post on some sites or send messages you might get arrested and they said starting tonight they will turn off internet during curfew time :( and of course schools are closed.
As for me I'm staying inside because I'm still not feeling well :( plus very emotional lately and my place is a real mess because I barely do anything not even eating well or sleeping well and it's not like I don't have enough stuff to worry that I need coup but it's happening I can't do anything about it, I'll just lie low until this is over. I have enough food in the house that'll last for awhile and my sister is coming today because she's quite scared in the country side. The soldiers are quite scary marching every few hours and tanks everywhere and bell ringing and all.
Some borders are closed to prevent political parties from exiting the country and people are starting to panic because of food supplies/prices and it's not nice to see soldiers everywhere :(
Still hoping that this will not last long. Oh this is new experience for me, I only read histories about Martial law quite crazy that I'm experiencing it now.
Sorry about this email I'm not very positive, happy and all.... I just can't pretend that I'm doing fine.
I just received this e-mail from my brother's widow. My brother died in January this year, and she has been very distraught and bereft over her loss, as is my entire family. They were living in Thailand for past 6 years. Although English is not her first language, I can assure you she normally writes very eloquently as a rule. She and I have been e-mailing each other for the past 5-1/2 years, and this broken English is not her normal style. This is indicating to me that she is very stressed just now. My apologies because I'm not doing so well myself at the moment..
Below is a copy of most of her e-mail addressed to me and one of my other sisters. I've left out the personal parts which do not refer to what is going on in Thailand right now. She is living in Chiang Mai which is a fairly large city located north of Bangkok.
* * *
Hello... Thank you both for caring about me :)... Yes Thailand coup is currently going on. People are not happy about it but hopefully it'll not last that long :( .
We have curfew 10 pm - 5 am but almost everything closes at 8 pm :( and if seen outside the house after 10 they will arrest you and nasty rumors are going around like people get shot but no idea if it's true because all TV and radios are off and even people that are posting news on YouTube are getting arrested doesn't matter what status. (everyone are being watched and even this email is actually not safe, we are told that be careful what you post on some sites or send messages you might get arrested and they said starting tonight they will turn off internet during curfew time :( and of course schools are closed.
As for me I'm staying inside because I'm still not feeling well :( plus very emotional lately and my place is a real mess because I barely do anything not even eating well or sleeping well and it's not like I don't have enough stuff to worry that I need coup but it's happening I can't do anything about it, I'll just lie low until this is over. I have enough food in the house that'll last for awhile and my sister is coming today because she's quite scared in the country side. The soldiers are quite scary marching every few hours and tanks everywhere and bell ringing and all.
Some borders are closed to prevent political parties from exiting the country and people are starting to panic because of food supplies/prices and it's not nice to see soldiers everywhere :(
Still hoping that this will not last long. Oh this is new experience for me, I only read histories about Martial law quite crazy that I'm experiencing it now.
Sorry about this email I'm not very positive, happy and all.... I just can't pretend that I'm doing fine.
All I know about Thailand is... it's complicated! There have been 12 coup d'états there since 1932 
I've been looking at it for a while now and I can't make out which is the US-backed regime. It's basically two competing factions that periodically convince the army (a kind of third faction unto itself, and arguably the real power, controlled by the US behind the scenes) to throw the other faction out.
We'll be interviewing Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar on SOTT Talk Radio next month, so we'll ask him what's going on there:
http://www.sott.net/article/279569-Pepe-Escobar-on-the-complexity-behind-Thailands-umpteenth-coup-d-etat
I've been looking at it for a while now and I can't make out which is the US-backed regime. It's basically two competing factions that periodically convince the army (a kind of third faction unto itself, and arguably the real power, controlled by the US behind the scenes) to throw the other faction out.
We'll be interviewing Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar on SOTT Talk Radio next month, so we'll ask him what's going on there:
http://www.sott.net/article/279569-Pepe-Escobar-on-the-complexity-behind-Thailands-umpteenth-coup-d-etat
l apprenti de forgeron
The Living Force
Great! Thank you, people!.Gandalf said:Kniall said:
Wow, it is going to be another great show.
obyvatel
The Living Force
Anthony said:
The article was published in Sott
http://www.sott.net/article/279505-Thailand-has-its-Operation-Valkyrie
What I have heard from a native of Thailand paints a more nuanced picture than what the article suggests. It is like Kniall said - complicated. Thai society is deeply divided in economic terms. Thaksin's rise to power was apparently due at least in part to the support he got from the poor rural sections of the country and his government while in power did some good things - like affordable healthcare for the poor, loans to farmers etc. Thai military or Thai royalty are not really neutral in nature and the Thai royalty apparently pushes its own agenda by manipulating elements of the moneyed and privileged classes.
I do not know enough to verify Thaksin's affiliations - however, the problems confronting Thailand and the frequent military coups it undergoes started long before Thaksin came to power.
The following excerpt from last week's SOTT Talk Radio show with Pepe Escobar gives you an idea how complex the situation in Thailand is:
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