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Thailand doing worse?
Cinorjer
Veteran
So the government has now declared a state of emergency, whatever that means. The current leader has called for elections next month but that has been rejected by the opposition? Sounds like things are only going to get worse. Hope our resident posters keep their heads down and stay off the streets!
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In the last two and a half weeks I've stayed in 10 cities or towns and rode over 3000 kilometres, it's been very peaceful everywhere.
So you have a couple of hundred thousand people out of 66 million causing problems in Bangkok.
But frankly, if I wasn't here already I would probably give it a pass based on the news media reports.
@robot yes it is peaceful where I am as well, however the Thai baht is getting weaker and things are getting more expensive because Bangkok is being crippled. If you were to drive around certain places of Bangkok at certain times, then you would not consider it peaceful. It seems that you are leaving at the right time anyway as beyond February 2nd that is when the real test will show itself.
The latest attack a few days ago where a guy threw a grenade into a crowd of people injuring 29 people is not exactly peaceful is it, and that is one in a series of grenade attacks in the past month on peaceful protesters. Farang have been commenting on how easy it is to get grenades, making jokes like they are obviously being sold at 7/11 etc.
In the meantime I will avoid the place and continue to enjoy the rest of the country.
Also, the weak baht is ok for tourists.
There is no value to an elected government when the Thai version of democracy is -- it's democracy only when my side wins.
Coups are like enemas to Thailand. And right now, Thailand needs a really good enema.
@Vinlyn you make some good points and I see where you are coming from, but you are not here, if Yingluck is ousted she and her brother will just rally the red shirts to the brink of chaos and that is not something I would like to be around. Like I said as it is things are getting more expensive in stores and markets, if there is a civil war which is a possibility given the hold Thhaksin has on his followers and money to back such a thing, things will get really messy.
What is an odd move by Thaksin is that he has vowed to give 200,000฿ to whoever catches or leads to the capture of the person who threw the grenade at the yellow shirts 2 days ago. I cannot yet understand why he would do that apart from trying to hold some kind of image among the Thai population.
@vinlyn no comment obviously. His daughter does most of the inspecting now though and it is the first thing on any news broadcast, before any major events in Bangkok you will see her going around Thailand and other countries doing her job, and then you get the news.
1. Demonstrations in Bangkok that have somewhat paralyzed different parts of the city.
2. Rice farmers furious that their buddy-pals aren't going to pay for their rice crops after all.
3. Increased separatism in the Deep South.
How many straws to break the camel's back?
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/698450-nsptr-threatens-to-abduct-yingluck-chalerm-and-adul/
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/698538-emergency-decree-ignored-police-hq-sign-vandalised/
The constant lying by Thai governments since the 1930s (and if you don't think they lie, just read one day's news and watch how the same politicians will say 2 or 3 different things on one topic in just one day...e.g., within hours of saying there was no need for the emergency decree, they instituted the emergency decree)...whatever suits them at the moment. The graft and bribery that trickles down from the highest levels to everyday life permeates Thai society and is endemic. Who's the most crooked in Thailand? Probably the police. There's no child prostitution in Thailand...wink, wink, wink. There's no sex slavery in Thailand...wink, wink, wink. There's no theft of copyrighted material...wink, wink, wink. "We don't sell pirated software. Here, would you like to buy Windows 8 for $10?" Wink, wink, wink. X is illegal...wink, pay, wink, pay. And the biggest joke of all -- "We're a democracy."
It can't go on forever. Hell, the most Buddhist country in the world trashes the 5 Precepts as much or more than almost any other country in the world. Wink, wink, wink.
Karma. National karma. I'm convinced it's just as logical as personal karma.
No shortages of food or water. Growing feeling that things are moving to the breaking point as it did 3 years ago. More gunshots and explosions than before the riots 4 years ago. Questions if police will control themselves.
I think Suthep actually wants a civil war now I think about it. If he fails he will probably be put to death if caught, so he has little escape apart from going all out and to bring the government and country to it's knees. I think a few of the people high up in that movement realize they have gotten in too deep now and that may be the only way out. I saw on the news last night actually where somebody from their movement who was a speaker of sorts declined to carry on with it all and he was cornered in a lift with a few people, cameras and journalists whilst someone was trying to convince him to come back lol. It was quite bizarre to watch actually.
By the way yes the Police are corrupt as hell, they do get quite a poor salary tbh and try to squeeze a penny out of anything they can, if it means taking money from businesses monthly, turning a blind eye to the sex trade or letting people off of crimes in general. They are like a mafia to be honest.
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/698887-red-shirt-leader-announces-nationwide-mass-rally-on-jan-29/
Nobody there seems to really know what they are doing, they change their plans hour by hour, and they don't give a shit about their country. All they care about is if their side wins. What a farging mess.
@vinlyn it does seem to be all about silly acts of selfishness and taking sides for no other reason apart from taking sides for some people. Others are going to try and save face and I think it is hitting home to Thaksin and Yinluck that in reality, they are pretty screwed. Why any red shirt would start to rally 4 days before a set election where they are probably in a position to win baffles me, it makes no sense apart from wanting to cause trouble and harm physically and to their country.
I have my escape plan if I need to, I am situated where the country is most thin and so Myanmar is only 3-4 hours West of here past the infamous waterfall Pala-U. I have resources like money, gas, transport, weapons (no guns) and things that will come in handy if the worse comes to the worse, but I hope it doesn't. Have you spoken much to your ex in Bangkok about this recently by the way?
If anything it's probably easier for tourists right now as taxis in Bangkok with tourists on board are given permission to pass thru any road blocks. Also I'm getting the feeling that authorities are being instructed to treat tourists even more gently than usual. I passed thru a number of the usual check points last week without being stopped.
Yes, my ex and I converse online most evenings about this. 4 years ago he was not worried at all. Now he is VERY worried. He considers the present situation the worst Thailand has faced in his lifetime, and he is in his 50s. He does have to be careful -- he is mid-level government official, so he is careful what he says online to me, and I am careful what I say online to him. Several acts of violence have occurred near his office, and in Nondhaburi where he lives. He has been afraid to travel to and from work on some days. He has finally come to the conclusion that I came to 4 years ago -- that unlike many of the coups and other political shenanigans of the past, this general turbulence, while it may rise and fall from time to time, is going to be a long-term problem.
@vinlyn if he seems pretty worried, more so than 4 years ago then that does say a lot about the situation. No offense but you must either be ignorant, brave or stupid to get involved with politics in this country, but I wish him all the best and hope he stays out of any trouble. I think I should be ok in Hua Hin due to its status and, even though it is only 2 hours South of Bangkok, however there is one thing that could make this the ultra perfect storm, the departing of a certain somebody. If that were to happen within the next month or so then I really could not predict what would happen.
In most nations there are defining moments (for wont of a better term) that decide the general path a country takes for some period of time. The rule of Chulalongkorn was such a moment for Thailand; the fall of the absolute monarchy in 1935; the consolidation of power by King Bhumipohl. These defining moments don't last forever, but rather last for a few decades. I think we may be in such a defining moment now (although it isn't some exact date, bur rather a time period).
Of course, they don't know the word, but there seems to be a belief among Thais in excelsior -- ever upwards. They don't seem to understand that nations have cycles -- up cycles, down cycles, stagnation cycles. And so they don't really plan for the future. They just jump from one situation to the next, never laying the foundation for the future. This is especially obvious in the way they are handling -- well, actually not handling -- the problem in the Deep South. They talk a lot, but they don't really do anything about what is a MAJOR issue. And so, no solutions bring an end, or even an improvement to the situation. This is just as true about "pop" ;-) , whose time is very short. They all fear it, but if they don't talk about it, the problem will just go away. But of course, it won't go away. It's all part of "Mai pben rai" -- a nice concept, but one that tends to hide stress, rather than deal with stresses.
Anyway despite all of this I would STILL rather live here than the UK or the US, personal opinion but seriously I have never felt so grounded and content with life here. Everywhere has pros and cons and the pros here at the moment for me still outweigh the cons. Like @robot said, at the moment things are bad in some respects but they have been bad for years and there are ways around such things. I also can get away with quite a few things that I would not be able to back home, nothing that illegal, just simple things that make life a lot easier.
The demonstrators, who have staged a near-two week "shutdown" of Bangkok, want polls to be postponed for a year or more and a "people's council" installed in power to implement reforms they hope would destroy the enduring electoral might of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Suthep said reforms would ensure Thailand was free of "unjust and corrupt leaders in the future" in his letter to the American leader, which comes amid international concern over political unrest that has left nine dead and hundreds injured."
So blocking elections (not just boycotting them) is somehow supporting democracy? And does this man really think a people's council installed in power for a year is going to turn over that power to a free election? This is some seriously strange stuff.
It's democracy if my side wins.
I was not being facetious.
The Pheu Thai party now in power was elected through widespread vote buying. I know...I personally talked to people in Issan (the Red Shirt stronghold) where people would tell me exactly how much they were paid to vote a certain way. I'm not saying that's anything different than in previous elections, but never before did any candidate have the deep pockets that Taksin Shinawatra had.
Thailand is not a democracy, and even if it was, the corruption is so bad that it's irrelevant to call it a democracy.
I'd call our two countries viable formats of democracy.
Not all democracies are cut from the same cloth. But Thailand is a democracy in name only. I tried to find one piece of info, but couldn't, but the % of ex-military or ex-police that are in the legislature there is staggering.
@vinlyn
I suppose the fact that everyone in our two countries gets a vote makes it sound like a democracy,
right up until I look at how much money anyone needs behind them, to be in the running to get elected .
Never been one. Never will be.
I would not want to be a doormat in front of that"actual" out of fear that the "ideal" can never be met. What parent would?
I would like a democracy where money didn't rule the roost, or decide which two people they would let me decide on but mostly I'd like what we call a democracy not to actually be the inbred offspring of an Oligarchy/Plutocracy tryst.