Soi Dog wrote:

phuketrichard wrote: PS; in my 30 years here, various government and a few coups, i have never seen a group pull the country together as the Army has nor have a higher approval from all Thais.

...he says from Phuket. I would think there are quite a few Thai folks who own red garments in the North and Northeast that may disagree with you.

Al Jazeera wrote:Military raids and Thai Red Shirt disquiet
In Thailand's 'red' stronghold of Khon Kaen, protests are hushed amid junta warnings and disappearances.
Lizzie Presser and Fabian Drahmoune Last updated: 16 Jun 2014 12:17
Khon Kaen, Thailand - As the Thai military junta stages "happiness" projects in Bangkok, complete with choreographed dancing by soldiers and army selfie stands, locals in this northeastern city are talking about a different kind of performance.

They whisper about armed soldiers entering villages without warning, summoning dissidents with knocks on their doors, and raiding homes and "Red Shirt" radio stations.

The northeast is home to many of the country's poor and rising middle-class farmers, labourers and service workers, and it is also a stronghold of the Red Shirts. These voters are largely supporters of a formerly deposed prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who won them over with populist policies that helped improve living conditions and dramatically reduced poverty.

The Red Shirt movement has mushroomed in the provinces north of Bangkok and a vicious cycle has been born: Red Shirts command the ballot box and elect populist governments and work against institutions aligned with the Bangkok elite trying to take back control.

I saw a truck full of soldiers pass by my house and stop at another. I'm scared that we can't be honest that we're even involved with the Red Shirts.

Since the May 22 coup d'état, the Thai military has publicly summoned and detained hundreds of high-level politicians, activists, academics and journalists, many of whom have Red Shirt allegiances. Their message is clear: Stay out of politics and let the military run the show.

...more

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featur ... 62406.html

BANGKOK, June 16 -- Nearly 100 civil servants and local community leaders in the Thailand's Northern region of have been involved in drug dealing, according to Provincial Police Region 5.

Pol Maj Gen Chamnan Ruadrew, Deputy Commander of Provincial Police Region 5, overseeing the upper Northern provinces, said today that nearly 100 civil servants and local leaders in the region were proved to be involved in drug trafficking.

Gen Chamnam reported the officials and governors on the list to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), requesting the NCPO to summon them for talks before transferring them out of the areas.

BANGKOK: -- THE MILITARY junta yesterday reiterated it has no policy to crack down on migrant workers here despite the exodus of more than 120,000 Cambodian "illegals", amid rumours of fierce operations targeting them.

"The military has no policy to do anything with migrant workers. There are no troops hunting migrant workers in Thailand," spokesman Winthai Suvari said.