O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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phuketrichard
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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

Post by phuketrichard »

hero's appear to help the kids... a good article ( of which the Globe is known for)

Facing tear gas, Thailand’s child protestors find safety in protection team
As Thailand's increasingly confrontational police use water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protestors, a group of volunteers from a cross-section of child protection NGOs are working to protect the most vulnerable activists in the crowd: minors

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for doing this, the volunteers put themselves and their civil society organisations, among them some of the largest in Thailand working with children and youth, in jeopardy of angering the Thai government by appearing at the protests, even if only in a support role.

“My organisation works with the government,” said an anonymous Child in Mob volunteer. ”We have to keep a good relationship with them. We didn’t agree with everything they do but we have to work [with them]. That’s why we have to be sensitive on this issue.”
Politically active kids have been particularly visible in Thailand over the past 12 months, thanks in large part to the galvanising force of youth in the kingdom’s pro-democracy protest movement, which peaked late-last year. On the younger end, demonstration groups organised by school children, Bad Student most prominent among them, have organised several protests, in addition to those staged by university students and young adults such as Seri Thoey, Free Youth and the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration.

“When the protests started last year, we had an increase in calls from the kids experiencing negative consequences [to protesting],” said Ilya Smirnoff, a co-founder of Child in Mob. Smirnoff is also head of Childline Thailand, a hotline for children in distress.
Some kids attend so frequently that the team knows them now by name. One anonymous volunteer told the story of two girls who recently came without supervision to march from Victory Monument to Prayut’s residence.

“A volunteer asked them if they wanted to walk together to the safe zone,” said the Child in Mob volunteer.

Along the way, the kids asked questions about what the protesters were demanding. “[They asked] what does reform mean and these kind of terms that people are using in the news.”

Tagging the kids at protests with wristbands has also lowered the risk of injury. At recent protests, all but one of the dozens of medical volunteers watching over the crowds interviewed by the Globe knew that the wristbands identified minors in the demonstration.
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read the full article;
https://southeastasiaglobe.com/thailand ... 44700f68e1
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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"You snakes. You brood of vipers. How will you escape being condemned to hell?"

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanm ... 2&si=44594

Thai PM and Myanmar junta chief stay engaged via back channels
Talks between Prayuth and Min Aung Hlaing illustrate bonds between militaries

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Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, left, and Myanmar Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing: Min Aung Hlaing was the first Southeast Asian military leader who reached out to Prayuth after he overthrew an elected Thai government in 2014 as army chief. (Source photos by Reuters)
MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondentMay 12, 2021 11:19 JST

BANGKOK -- Thailand's pro-military government has tapped its back-channel contacts with Myanmar's armed forces to shape Bangkok's diplomatic options following the turmoil and bloodshed in its neighbor since the February coup in Naypyitaw.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha tipped this element of Bangkok's approach by skipping the recent summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders in Jakarta. He sent Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai instead for the ASEAN gathering convened to chart a regional response to Myanmar.

Prayuth seemingly missed his chance to engage with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's military chief and junta leader, who flew to the Indonesian capital for the April 24 summit -- his first overseas trip since the power grab.

But criticism of Prayuth prompted this retort from a confidant: "The P.M. does not have to attend the ASEAN summit to engage with [Min Aung Hlaing]."

Pressed to elaborate, the source in the prime minister's inner circle told Nikkei Asia that Prayuth benefits from direct links cultivated by members of Thailand's army over the past decade with counterparts in the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar's military is called.

"We have maintained back channels, and [Prayuth and Min Aung Hlaing] can communicate without having to meet," he said. "They have talked since the coup."

"They know how to engage," he added, but the source declined to reveal the substance of their discussions.

Prayuth, now a retired general, overthrew an elected Thai government in 2014 when he was army chief. He led the Thai junta for five years until the 2019 general election, which paved the way for his 2-year-old pro-military governing alliance.

This chemistry between the two militaries has not been lost on veteran Thai diplomats who engaged with a broad range of Myanmar's political players prior to the putsch.

"The two militaries think alike as comrades-in-arms, and they can understand each other well," said Kobsak Chutikul, a former Thai ambassador. "The Thai and Myanmar militaries have a lot of contact at many levels -- local commanders, border commanders, regional commanders and even at the highest level, the central command."

The bonds stem from the 2,400-km border shared by the countries, a line longer than Myanmar's boundaries with China in the northeast and India in the west. Troops from Thailand's Third Army, which handles security in the country's northern sector, watch a line that stretches across mountainous terrain, remote and porous valleys as well as busy border towns where people and goods flow both ways.

Those troops now face refugees crossing from Myanmar as the Tatmadaw's campaign to repress anti-coup protesters has resulted in over 750 deaths. The border is also a route for the movement of illegal weapons and the multibillion-dollar narcotics trade from drug labs in northeastern Myanmar.

The Thai military traditionally calls the shots in shaping the Southeast Asian kingdom's foreign policy toward its immediate neighbors.

But Min Aung Hlaing also was the first Southeast Asian military leader to reach out to Prayuth after he staged the 2014 coup, praising him for the putsch. Two years earlier, Min Aung Hlaing had sought the blessing of Thai Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda -- a former army chief, former prime minister and president of the royal advisory Privy Council -- to become his "adopted son."

Thailand's personal ties with Min Aung Hlaing were elevated to new heights in 2018 when he was awarded the country's Knight Grand Cross of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant, a royal decoration normally given to military officers and civilians who have been recognized for distinguished service. It was bestowed "in honor of the support he has shown for the Thai military," the Bangkok Post, an English-language daily, reported at the time.

Min Aung Hlaing's bonds with Thai military counterparts reflect the dramatic change in relations between the two neighbors, once marked by historical animosities, deep suspicion and border skirmishes.

Bangkok's security policy toward Myanmar over a decade ago was illustrated by its "buffer zone" strategy, which allowed armed ethnic rebels in Myanmar fighting separatist wars against the Tatmadaw to operate along the Thai border. Tension was rife along the border at the time, said a security analyst, with the ethnic fighters serving as useful proxies for the Thai military.

"There was a lack of trust between the two countries in those days because of the buffer zone policies," said Sihasak Phuangketkeow, former permanent secretary of Thailand's Foreign Ministry. "But not so now, and the Thai military's border policies changed for many reasons, including the realization about the scope of border trade."

Cross-border trade between the countries totaled $5.4 billion for the fiscal year 2018-2019, according to the Thai ministry of commerce. It was driven by Thailand pouring investment into infrastructure to bolster economic ties and the many new checkpoints opened for Thai businesses to tap. Prior to the coup, Kasikorn Research Center, a subsidiary of KBank, a Thai bank, forecast that in Mae Sot, the busiest border crossing, trade would reach 100 billion baht (about $3.3 billion) by 2021. The robust cross-border trade follows the nearly $11 billion in foreign direct investment Thailand has sent into Myanmar over the past three decades, coming third after China and Singapore.

"Thailand deals with Myanmar on a daily basis, at many levels, so the government's response to the coup will have to factor multiple challenges," Sihasak said, echoing sentiments from some in Thai military circles that the country is the "only frontline state" in relation to Myanmar, unlike other ASEAN members. "Our diplomatic language will naturally be more restrained, and we will not be able to talk like Indonesia or Singapore about Myanmar."

Prayuth's approach reflects this, influenced by what his military advisers say about the inner workings of post-coup Myanmar.

"Staying engaged is our priority," the source in the prime minister's office said. "We are closer than you think."

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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Turbul ... 7&si=44594

COVID brings false calm to Thailand's streets
Vaccine chaos fuels rage as protesters wait for pandemic's end

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Mothers of anti-government protest leaders facing lese majeste charges demand the release of their sons outside Remand Prison, in Bangkok on April 28. © Reuters
APORNRATH PHOONPHONGPHIPHAT, Nikkei staff writerJune 16, 2021 14:00 JST

BANGKOK -- The third wave of COVID-19 that has broken over Thailand has brought a deceptive quiet to the country's streets. Anti-government protesters cannot stage big demonstrations, but the mood remains defiant and unrest is likely to erupt again as soon as the pandemic subsides.

The pro-democracy demonstrations, which drew massive support from young people last year, touch on the most sensitive issue in Thai politics: reform of the monarchy. But they have sputtered because the latest COVID-19 flare-up has forced would-be protesters to practice social distancing.

"COVID is the key reason [the demonstrations have died down], as the death toll is rising sharply, and I think the protest leaders are thinking the same thing, so that we don't see any big protests now," said Suthipan Sombatsuree, a 19-year-old university student who took part in protests last year.

The street agitation began in earnest last July, when more than 10,000 people gathered at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok to demand that the constitution be amended, that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha resign and that the monarchy, which backers have treated as semidivine for several decades, be reformed.

The protests gained momentum, peaking on Oct. 26, when a university student, Passaravalee Thanakijvibulphol, nicknamed "Mind," led thousands of people to the German Embassy to deliver a letter demanding the German government investigate whether the king had conducted Thai state affairs on German soil in violation of German law.

That prompted a crackdown by Thai authorities against the demonstrators. Many protest leaders have been arrested and charged with lese majeste, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail. Imprisoned leaders include Parit Chiwarak, also known as "Penguin," and Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul. Holding them in pretrial detention kept them off the streets and helped quell big demonstrations.

Still, other leaders staged sporadic protests around Bangkok to keep pressure on the government under the slogan, "Free-up our Friends."

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Supporters of arrested protest leaders King show the three-finger salute while waiting for their release on bail outside Klongprem Central Prison in Bangkok on May 11. © Reuters

Parit and Panusaya were released on bail, on condition that they not criticize the monarchy again and remain in the country. They have not staged any big protests since their release.

"The key reason is the third wave, the severe outbreak of COVID-19," Boonyakiat Karavekphan, a political science lecturer at Ramkamhaeng University told Nikkei Asia. "I think the leaders also realized that they could not draw massive [numbers of] protesters if they staged a protest now because they are afraid of COVID-19."

The third wave of the coronavirus outbreak, which began in April, has raised the average number of newly confirmed cases to more than 2,000 a day, up from double digits earlier in the pandemic. As of June 14, Thailand has had 191,264 cases in all, with the death toll at 1,466.

However, Boonyakiat of Ramkamhaeng University said the disappearance of big protests does not mean the pro-democracy protesters have given up. "What we see now is that the anti-government fight remains, but they have just changed the fighting format," said Boonyakiat.

That is a common theme among Thai political analysts following comments posted by Penguin on Twitter and Facebook, which said: "For me, the fight to reform the monarchy will continue."

Yuthaporn Issarachai of Sukhothai Thammathirat University said protests have moved online in order to keep the momentum going. Government opponents are waiting for the right timing to take to the streets again with stronger demands.

"They keep posting on social media. ... There is much anti-government as well as monarchy-criticizing content on several social media platforms. These feelings, as well as anger against the government, remain, particularly at a time when the government is struggling to manage the vaccine rollout," Yuthaporn said.

Although the government had said 100 million doses of vaccines have been secured for Thais, and the vaccines rollout began March 1, only 1.6 million people have been fully vaccinated so far. That is only around 2.3% of Thailand's population of 69 million. And public and private hospitals have postponed inoculations amid a shortage of vaccines, derailing the inoculation effort. The government has not given a clear explanation to the public, raising concerns over whether Thailand will be able to overcome the pandemic and revive the weak economy by the end of this year as hoped.

Analysts say these missteps are likely to spark new protests as soon as the pandemic dies down.

"When the COVID situation is better, the pro-democracy groups will definitely protest again because it is a matter of ideology, which protesters see as the government having taken power through the establishment, not by fair rules," said Sukhum Nuansakul, a political analyst and a former rector of Ramkhamhaeng University.
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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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Even thou we have grown silent here and not posting updates;
protesters still out signalling their extreme anger/displeasure with government
Today;
2:45 Protesters are gathering to mark the 1st anniversary of @FreeYOUTHth at Democracy Monument, where the group held its first rally on July 18, 2020.
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A senior police officer read an announcement under the COVID-19 Emergency Decree saying that the protests are banned. Violators are subject to a maximum prison term of 2 years and/or fine of up to 40,000 baht.

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march towards government house as police/security forces await with barricades

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3:35 pm
Dismantling the blocks
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Armies response: water cannons and tear gas

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In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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more on the confirmation yesterday


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Tear gas, rubber bullets deployed against anti-government protesters in Bangkok
Police in Bangkok resorted to using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse anti-government protesters yesterday, after hundreds of people rallied in the capital. A report in the UK’s Guardian newspaper recounts how activists used cars and motorbikes to avoid spreading Covid-19. Yesterday’s protesters had 3 demands: the resignation of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, a reduction in the military and monarchy’s budget, and the procurement of mRNA vaccines, still sorely lacking in the Kingdom.

Protesters assembled at the Democracy Monument yesterday afternoon, where organisers handed out hand sanitiser, N95 masks, medical gloves, and raincoats, before making their way to Government House. Mock corpses in white burial shrouds, representing those who have died of Covid-19, were placed on the ground near Government House, on top of a picture of the PM, and set alight.

Today, Thailand has reported a record high of 11,784 new infections and 81 Covid-related deaths. Bangkok and a number of other high-risk provinces are under partial lockdown and anger at the government’s handling of the pandemic is growing. In particular, the failure to procure effective vaccines, instead relying on locally produced AstraZeneca and the Chinese Sinovac, has seen the government come in for harsh condemnation. Sinovac is widely seen as ineffective against the Delta variant, which is now becoming the dominant strain in the Kingdom, while Siam Bioscience, the local manufacturer of AstraZeneca, is struggling to meet production targets.

Around 1,500 police officers, accompanied by water cannon trucks, confronted activists from the Free Youth group yesterday. Despite Covid-19 restrictions banning gatherings of more than 5 people, spokesperson Jutatip Sirikhan says activists wanted to protest the government’s mismanagement of the pandemic, which they say has contributed to countless unnecessary deaths.

“If we don’t come out now, we don’t know how long we shall survive and whether we will have a chance to do it again.”

Thailand has now reported 415,170 infections and 3,422 deaths since the start of the pandemic, with over 90% of those occurring since April of this year.
https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/protest ... rXlheAfhZ8
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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another day of confrontations an protests

like covid,,,,, no end in sight
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In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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not looking good for the protestors today>>
Army ‘on call’ to back police
The military could be called in to help quell violence at rallies if the situation gets out of hand, while police will stick to using tear gas and rubber bullets if needed, the Metropolitan Police Bureau said.The police will keep standing guard and avoid clashing with protesters unless they attempt to break into prohibited areas, said Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner, Pol Lt Gen Pakapong Pongpetra, prior to yesterday’s (Aug 11) car mob rally.

“And in the event violence escalates and appears to get out of control, the peace-keeping operation plan will be adjusted by allowing soldiers to fortify the police’s defence against violence,’” he said.

The police request for soldiers to help support its operation to maintain law and order at rallies was also discussed at a meeting of the armed forces, which was chaired by defence forces chief Gen Chalermpol Srisawasdi, said a source.
https://www.thephuketnews.com/army-on-c ... 4_8HmbMeHQ
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: O dear, Protests in Bangkok

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phuketrichard wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 8:54 am not looking good for the protestors today>>
Army ‘on call’ to back police
The military could be called in to help quell violence at rallies if the situation gets out of hand, while police will stick to using tear gas and rubber bullets if needed, the Metropolitan Police Bureau said.The police will keep standing guard and avoid clashing with protesters unless they attempt to break into prohibited areas, said Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner, Pol Lt Gen Pakapong Pongpetra, prior to yesterday’s (Aug 11) car mob rally.

“And in the event violence escalates and appears to get out of control, the peace-keeping operation plan will be adjusted by allowing soldiers to fortify the police’s defence against violence,’” he said.

The police request for soldiers to help support its operation to maintain law and order at rallies was also discussed at a meeting of the armed forces, which was chaired by defence forces chief Gen Chalermpol Srisawasdi, said a source.
https://www.thephuketnews.com/army-on-c ... 4_8HmbMeHQ
They should perhaps desist from marching on army bases. The car mob tactic is much smarter.
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