Not that I condone violence but it seems more
and more evident that unless and until
this entire clan is wiped off the face of the earth
Thailand will not return to normalcy.

Ours is not a perfect country. We have our share
of problems but never before has one person
caused so much divide and damage. He could
have become a revered statesman but he choose to
be a crook.

I cringe to think that massive amonts of our stolen money are spent on lawyers, publicists and security
just so the guy can have a life, or semblance of one.

- The fact that the court is being used by the government to push out the demonstrators from the government house only puts a big question mark on the subject of jurisdiction.

- There’s a BIG problem about the ‘media’ and it’s only growing bigger in every sense and dimension imaginable. The fact that the government is manipulating one (if not more) TV station is adding to the ‘dividedness’ of the people_ bearing in mind that most Thais turn to television for information rather than newspapers. This ‘media’ problem is harming the country more and more by the minute.. I think the damage is just as great (if not more in the long run) as the possibility of the ‘tanks’ moving into the city.

- The longer it takes to make the people understand why the anti-government are out demonstrating in the first place, the harder it will be to bring more people in to support the PAD. (and NBT incident is not helping either). With Samak’s ego-driven character, it would probably take every single soul in this nation (except him, of course) to put enough pressure for him to step down.

- The PAD’s “Last War” banner makes the race too long to reach the finish line_realistically (considering the difficult_and inevitable_tasks to be undertaken in order to keep the supporters in the gov house from giving up both physically and mentally) because it means getting to the roots of the problem (e.g the ‘vote-buying’ mentality_politicians and voters alike; the somewhat ‘adopted’ concept of ‘nominated’ candidates_however unethical it may be; and the lack of ‘morality’ in those candidates, etc.) (This could go on and on..!)

- The ‘dividedness’ is so great now. It might take a really big ‘thunder’ to halt (just halt) everthing. Or, ideally, a ‘mediator’ appears from God-knows where to start setting things right. But, the way things are, plus the ‘norm’ of most credible people, it will take more than ‘bravity’ for anyone to take up this post. The problems lies more on convincing everyone concerned to ‘accept’ that particular person.

- Money: God knows how much Thaksin is still pocketing (too much for my maths ability, I guess). Top that with his refusal to ’step out’ of the game, it only spells (way-big) disaster for this country_and maybe Britain_or any other soil on this earth that this man choose to step on and use as his ’stage’ !

So, yes, Thaksin is still a very ‘big deal’. If Samak doesn’t step down now, one or more court cases might. And meanwhile who knows what will happen. And as long as Thaksin and his money is still very much in the picture, there are plenty enough of his cronies and puppets to dance away the time (while damaging this country to the last sand) until the Devil reclaims his throne.

Me and my poor head cannot see how we can get out of this mess with no more_or as little as possible_bloodshed.

I think what ticks off the people with real power is that Thaksin derives part of his power from non-traditional sources — he actually instituted policies to empower (they say pander to) the poor in Issan. God knows where that may lead?

Upper classes in Thailand rarely base their wealth and power on ability and hard work — it’s mostly being born in the position that allows them to exploit the poor, while paying them next-to-nothing.

Screwing the poor Thais is one thing us Farang and hi-so Thais upper classes have in common. We do it literally and pay for it fairly well, though