It would seem that everyone is getting into the act when it comes to Thai politics. Blogs and columns that have other themes from nightlife to general blogs about Thailand or Asia have picked up the bug.
For most people politics is something that helps to cause heartburn after a meal. Reading about some politician on his or her high horse trying to make a name for themselves about this or that does provide excitement or aggravation depending if you agree with them or not. However when it comes to Thai politics, the man at the center of the problem is convicted fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra, and he is doing his best to put this on the world stage.
Connecting the Dots is trying not to be a political blog, but with each new day another entry that talks about politics and in particular Thai politics appears in Connecting the Dots. With just over 900 posts in a little over 2 years, and 342 of them tagged as politics it seems we have the bug too.
What makes Thai politics so interesting is mostly it is an animal onto itself. There is no other country that seems to deal with things like the Thais do. The way they approach things without thinking them through in many cases makes it interesting. Also the high number of self serving politicians and the behind the scene happenings makes Thai politics an anomaly that can be better that a daytime soap opera. All the twits, turns and backstabbing make it an entertaining popcorn eating event.
The latest round of Thai politics has a violent theme that has caused over 25 people to die this year alone. The violence is all about Thaksin who just happens to have a lot of money and seems to be punishing Thailand for giving him the boot via a coup in 2006. If you close your eyes and are familiar with the chain of events for the past 5 years, it is very easy to visualize Thaksin as a mob boss sending his thugs out to inflict punishment on Thailand for not accepting his unwavering kindness.
Looking at some of the other blogs and columns that historically cover other things, we were a bit amused to find that at least 2 of the most popular nightlife columns in Thailand have got the bug. One seems to stand out as he is very talented with a camera and has some wonderful shots of in and around the Red Shirt mayhem. When he publishes he does so with big images that are reminders of Life magazine as well as National Geographic. His style of writing is pure journalism as he simply writes about what he sees and does not make any political judgments.
http://stickmanbangkok.com/BangkokRedShirtProtest/BangkokRedShirtProtest.htm
Another popular nightlife blog is davetheravebangkok.com. Dave apparently is a bar manager that works just a few hundred meters from the Red Shirt occupation, so his interest is more than just passing. The Red Shirts are having an effect on his livelihood as well as being well within range of a stray bullet.
There are other blogs as well that are way too numerous to list and they all have their take on Thai politics. As for Connecting the Dots, our niche remains painting the bigger picture and making predictions. In that respect we have a big following that includes mainstream journalists from CNN, Reuters and the AP. We often see our take being republished. Although mainstream media can not quote blogs directly, they do visit them for information.
Today you state “The violence is all about Thaksin”
On May 7th, you stated due to your western values you have developed a strong sense of punishment for harming others be it physically, financially, or emotionally. You further state “If the Abhisit team was to do the same, they would receive a similar review from Connecting the Dots”
Personally, I find that hard to swallow. Without a doubt Thaksin is a corrupt, ego-driven man that deserves the hell he is living through.
However, you seem to be forgetting many of the facts that have been laid out for you right in front of your eyes. Clearly you have some form of color blindness because you only see the fault in the reds and are able to come up with every excuse imaginable for anything that may happen that is tinged with the color yellow, which includes the Abhisit team, the military, and the PAD.
In that vein, let’s highlight some of those things that have “harmed others physically, financially, and emotionally” since 2006.
A democratically elected government was thrown out by a military coup.
Another democratically elected government was thrown out for having a cooking show for crying out loud. I can see the harm the cooking show must have done to Thai society ~ sarcasm ~
In May, 2008, PAD supporters seized airports in Phuket, Krabi, and Hat Yai BY FORCE. Many people forget this thanks to the seizure in BKK by November.
In August, 2008, PAD supporters armed with weapons seized a government television broadcast as well as several government ministries. During that same month, they threatened a run on the banks that would have caused a financial collapse if the government didn’t resign. This was obviously a veiled threat because this group values money more than the lives of others and they would ultimately hurt themselves.
In November, 2008 this group that you idolize pulled an innocent 60 year old man out of his car in Chiang Mai and executed him on the street.
The biggest event is when this group HIJACKED PUBLIC busses and used them to takeover the BKK airport.
They knew they would lose another election, so Army commander Anuphong Phaochinda pressured many PPP MP’s to defect to the democrat party and elect Abhisit.
I don’t know Richard. Seems like Physical, Financial, and Emotional harm to me, but what do I know. I am one of those people that disagree with you so I am obviously uneducated and can’t think for myself. For that I am so grateful that I have you to steer me in the right direction.
Hi Joe,
I don’t want to get into a pissing match with you and as you know a rarely respond to comments. It would seem however that after my last comment a similar evaluation was posted in the media on the who done it theory, and for the most part they matched. I only made mention that Thaksin may have ordered a hit on him because Khattiya has been known to take shots at his boss and Thaksin is one very scared person knowing that more than a million people would like to see him dead.
As for you comments on the Yellow Shirts, that is in the courts at the moment and I will let them to their job. Remember the laws were different at that time and were changed because of the airport thing. So far there is few things that I talk about that turn out to be untrue or in error and predicting events is not as easy as it looks when you get down to it.
Your comments have been bordering on attacks and not objective comments. But for now I and Admin are letting them slide past as it does provide another view. It also seems comments are not related to posts. However if I or Admin feel they are over the line, they will nor get posted. People that are very negative do tend to make others shine more brightly I have discovered.
There is a particular ‘Not’ website that was attacking a very popular nightlife columnist along with a few other people. It is my understanding he is due to start a 3 to 5 year sentence very shortly up country just for being negative and attacking others.
Some food for thought for you when you choose your words and also on how people tend to feel about people who are negative. The general thinking is they can not climb the ladder of success for themselves so instead they try to pull others down.
Richard,
Please keep Joe’s comments up in the interest of another viewpoint.
And for the “not’ column, I thought the guy was laying low. Didn’t realize he will get a prison sentence that would actually stick. Now that doesn’t seem fair at all.
-J