A Coup in Thailand?: Bangkok Rising (video)

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; VICENews.com, 4-7-14)

 

Look, mom, I'm in a coup! (nytimes.com)

(VICE) For almost a decade, Buddhist Thailand has been trapped in a bloody conflict between Red Shirt supporters and Yellow Shirt opponents of the billionaire-tycoon-turned-politician Thaksin Shinawatra (and the subsequent Thai PM, his sister Yingluck Shinawatra).

Ousted Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra

During his time as prime minister, Thaksin improved life for the poor and the working class.

But his autocratic tendencies and crony capitalism led his opponents, mainly made up of conservative royalists and the upper middle class, to rise up and overthrow him.

Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 for alleged abuse of power and corruption. Since then Thaksin's opponents -- widely known as the Yellow Shirts -- and his avid supporters, the Red Shirts, have taken turns instigating mass street protests to topple their opponents.

CNN/CIA coverage has been superficial

While attempting to clear her brother's name of corruption charges in November 2013, Thaksin's sister and Thailand's latest PM [ousted by the court two weeks ago] Yingluck Shinawatra triggered a new Yellow Shirt uprising that has so far killed a reported 23 people and injured hundreds.

Yingluck Shinawatra tried to diffuse the protests by dissolving Thailand's parliament and calling for new elections. But the Yellow Shirts, determined to overthrow her, began a shutdown of Bangkok on January 13th, bringing the Thai capital to a standstill.

Huh, what coup? This has happened before.

Since the election was annulled on March 31st, Red Shirts are mobilizing and intensifying their threats of starting a civil war.

VICE News was on the ground to capture Thailand's state of emergency as the long-running battle for the country is coming to a head.

There are other people, ethnic minorities like these beautiful mountain village girls from the north, often seen selling trinkets in Chiang Mai, Thailand's second-city (Max_Drukpa/flickr).

 

Commentary

Wisdom Quarterly
 

We're Red Shirts, but we're tourists.

Who's right, who's wrong? It is easy to support the revolutionary Red Shirts. But the person they entrusted their future to may have been, could likely have been, a corrupt billionaire. He made all the right promises...as did Obama. These "populist" leaders say the right things. They don't follow through. They sell out their followers. Then the Red Shirts succeeded again by electing the fabulous Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of ousted and exiled PM Thaksin Shinawatra.

A People's Coup 2013 (nation.com)

But Yellow Shirts accused her of continuing her brother's populist/corrupt policies. Was she great, or was she a hypocrite? Should Thaksin been allowed back into the country, or had he offended the establishment too much? How could he, a billionaire tycoon, be the "people's hope"? He was the one making all the right promises, offering help to the poor. This is what so many would-be dictators begin by saying. Even if they are sincere, clandestine forces come in to convert or assassinate them. (Why is explained in John Perkin's Confessions of an Economic Hitman).

 

Surely the Shinawatras were a better alternative to the status quo -- but an even better option is what Red Shirts are actually fighting for: a citizens' committee to rule the country. The military will not stand for it. The military-industrial complex (government police+private corporations = military+industry) have a plan for that kind of talk: Game over, time out, military coup, police state, "I'm taking my ball and going home," as Cartman would put it.

People's Coup vs. Military Coup 

Thitinan Pongsudhirak (The Nation, Dec. 13, 2013)

Bangkok, Thailand protest rally for the people, Red Shirts vs. Yellow Shirts (AP).

.

Woman sells statues, talismans (Ska09/flickr)

Never has Thai politics degenerated so quickly from uneasy accommodation to outright insurrection.

It started a month ago [Nov. 2013] with broad-based opposition to an expansive amnesty legislation that would have absolved former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from convictions for corruption and abuse of power.

It ended up as a civilian putsch by anti-Thaksin forces, led by the Democrat Party and its erstwhile heavyweight MP Suthep Thaugsuban. On an anti-corruption crusade and intent on uprooting what they call the “Thaksin Regime,” these forces incorporate the royalist “Yellow Shirts” and other anti-Thaksin groups from recent years who constitute one side of Thailand’s polarization.

Whether they succeed in removing the government of PM Yingluck Shinawatra, Mr. Thaksin’s younger sister, from power and installing their own government will determine the direction of Thai democracy. More

• VIDEO: Thai Royalists: "For King and Country" 
• VICE News on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook
• Coup in Thailand: Military seizes control of country Thailand's army is now running the country. Two days after declaring martial law -- and saying it was not staging a coup -- the military has [staged a coup]...
• Thai military says it's taken over the country in a coup (CNN) The Thai military has taken control of the government in a coup, the country's military chief announced in a national...

• 

  California girl kidnapped for 10 years

  Thai Army declares coup, citing need to "reform" nation (NY Times) The Thai military seized control of the country on Thursday in a coup, the culmination of months of maneuvering by the Bangkok...
• Thailand military seizes power in coup (BBC) ...Thailand's military has announced it is taking control of the government and has suspended the constitution. In a TV statement, army chief Gen...
• Thailand's army just announced a coup. Here are 11 other Thai... (Washington Post)

Thailand Tourists: "What Coup? This Coup!"

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Seven, Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly (ANALYSIS)

What do bankers and Big Business want us to believe about the coup? (ibtimes.co.uk)

Bloomberg mainstream media photo promoting view that there's nothing so bad about a military coup dictatorship to "restore law and order" as propagated by "liberal" Daily Beast.

 

When the tanks rolled into Bangkok, [tourists and supporters] gave soldiers flowers and candy, and many of the troops posed for photographs with foreigners. 

Thai Coup 2016

(2006) It was another Tuesday night at the Londoner, a popular Bangkok pub where expatriates, tourists, and Thai regulars were, as usual, bellying up to the bar, downing pints, and chatting amid a dense haze of smoke. Outside, the rain was falling; inside the topic of conversation was the military coup that had overthrown Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra the week before.

 

“I’m not cutting my trip short,” said Barry Porter, from Melbourne, Australia, who had just suggested to friends that they join him in Bangkok.  At tourist spots throughout the city, travelers were similarly nonchalant. Bangkok’s legendary [Shoestring Travelers' Paradise] Khaosan Road was crowded with backpackers.

 

Thai Coup 2006: When tanks rolled into Bangkok, some soldiers were welcomed, others feared. Some posed for photos with foreigners (Apichart Weerawong/AP).

 

“Knowing Thai people, I wasn’t expecting an uprising,” said Jozef Sint Jago, from Amsterdam. “I’m not concerned at all.”  In MBK Center, a huge shopping mall in Siam Square, John O’Hara, of County Mayo, Ireland, said he had just arrived in Bangkok with friends. He said the coup on Sept. 19 hadn’t forced them to change their travel plans. “It didn’t affect us at all. On the news, it looked bad, but it’s not.”

Coup? What coup? That seems to be the attitude among travelers and travel professionals as the recent political turmoil in Thailand appears to have had little or no effect on tourism there. After all, the embattled prime minister, who had led a grudgingly accepted social order campaign in 2001 that mandated a 1:00 am closing time for most of Bangkok’s bars and nightclubs, was not very popular among the city’s residents. More

Fast forward to 2014

Jack Moore (International Business Times, ibtimes.co.uk)

Occupy Thailand? Red Shirts v. Yellow Shirts

(May 22, 2014) Thailand's army chief general Prayuth Chan-ocha has declared that the military is taking control of the country's government in a coup d'etat.

 

The military leader said in a televised statement that the army would "restore order and push through political reform" with a 10:00 pm country-wide curfew installed.

 

2014: Will they shoot civilians or tourists? Yes.

The leaders of both the [radical, pro-change, pro-PM Shinawatra] pro-government Red Shirt and People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) factions were detained inside an army club where negotiations between the two were taking place.

• Radical and pro-government? Yes, the street revolution partially succeeded or seemed to with the election of billionaire Bruce Wayne-style PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who was charged with corruption and ousted from the prime ministership before going into exile, and then again with his sister PM Yingluck Shinawatra, whom the courts recently deposed for behaving like her brother. The Shinawatras are pro-people, at least in their rhetoric, and the conservative, royalist Yellow Shirts will not stand for that. They are pro-rich, pro-business, and pro-status quo. Supporters of the sacked government have started anti-military actions resisting the coup, even as the military has taken former-PM Yingluck into custody at an unknown location. While most radicals are not pro-government, when they succeed they become pro-government. The conservatives become the "radicals," and that is why it is called a "revolution." One side moves up as another goes down. And if the new rulers behave the same way, the bottom again pushes its way to the top. This happened in the U.S., as it has around the world, with Barry Obama. The difference is this -- now the Powers That Be (s)elect fake "peoples' candidates," who say all the right things and then disappoint their supporters. This can be done, as it was with Obama, by grooming someone for the job, or an actual grassroots person can rise up as often happens in South America. If they are fake from the start, things will seem to go better for a lot longer; they will actually be worse as that impostor gets many right wing measures through in the name of popular consensus and liberalization (which to business people means pro-business and in the U.S. means progressive to those who are left-leaning). If the new leaders are authentic, it will go worse as all the conservative and reactionary elements (like the CIA) will step in to obstruct, slow, and depose them. They will be discredited, undermined, and eventually brought down or assassinated. From our point of view in the U.S., the Shinawatras were corrupt multi-millionaires -- that's what the right wing mainstream media told us. (NOTE: the New York Times and other mainstream media outlets are NEVER on the side of the left, the progressives, or liberation; they are always somehow or other aligned with the Powers That Be, the reactionaries, the rich, the status quo, and the undermining of liberation. Even when they seem to be on the side of privacy, freedom, Occupy, gay rights, peace with justice in the Middle East talks, they are -- if one reads very carefully -- in support of things as they are, business as usual, more and more oppression and loss of freedom. This may not be the fault  of individual journalists. More often it is the editors, owners, and investors. We apologize for being fooled by the "paper of record" (and AP/Associated Press, Bloomberg, McClatchey, Los Angeles Times, Haretz, Int'l Business Times, BBC, and similar mainstream outfits controlled by a handful of megacorporations with their tentacles in everything). 

General Prayuth is to head a ruling military body -- the National Peace and Order Maintaining Council -- but the parliament's upper house and courts will continue to function, said a military statement.

 

Earlier this week, the military declared martial law to restore the security situation and shut down the country's main television stations, divesting the government of its power to maintain peace.

 

Chan-ocha said the army had been forced to take action after six months of violent protests between opponents and supporters of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

 

"We are concerned that this violence could harm the country's security in general," he said after declaring martial law.

 

"In order to restore law and order to the country, we have declared martial law. I'm asking all those activist groups to stop all activities and cooperate with us in seeking a way out of this crisis."

Thailand’s Non-Coup Coup 2014?

Lennox Samuels (The Daily Beast, 5-21-14)

After months of political crisis, the generals declare martial law. They claim they’re just making peace, not running the country. 

[WQ EDITORIAL: The mainstream media is misleading us again. The military has taken over the country, while most big media outlets play it off as a non-story. The people and the peoples' candidates have been deposed by legal maneuvers after being elected by revolution in the street. This is the power of the status quo to perpetuate itself. And when "cool" indie outlets like The Daily Beast (or Huff Post, etc.) become part of conglomerate media empires, their editors hire and elicit complicit articles from their writers like this one. It becomes almost impossible to get the straight story from any easily accessible outlet. We go to Democracy Now! and Pacifica Radio News Network and other mostly good sources, but it's not enough.]

 

BANGKOK, Thailand - The generals say they haven’t staged a coup, but critics say they’re splitting hairs. Troops are on the streets, the media is muzzled, and the already weak caretaker government has been further marginalized.

 

A senior army official said that the military is to deploy troops and vehicles to remove protesters from large anti-government rally sites in Bangkok. More + Video

Thailand under curfew amid army coup

Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; BBC.co.uk

It's Orwellian, it's draconian, and it's coming to a town near you: A police state (with militarized civilian troops, deputies, and spies) is a state of collapse. Wage peace now.

  

Go Thailand! We're practicing in D.C., too!

A curfew has begun across [Theravada Buddhist] Thailand after the army announced it had taken control and suspended the constitution following months of political turmoil [as Red Shirts vie for revolutionary change and civil liberties against the conservative Yellow Shirts who want to preserve the corrupt status quo].

 

The army chief imposed the 22:00 to 05:00 curfew, along with a ban on political gatherings and suspension of normal television programming.

 

Key political figures have been detained and others ordered to report to the military. The army said it needed to restore order and enact political reforms.

 

You Occupy, we oppress (conspiracyplanet)

It declared martial law on Tuesday but then gathered political leaders together for talks on the crisis.

 

However, army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha went on air on Thursday to announce the coup.

 

Several key figures at the talks, including opposition protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban and pro-government protest leader Jatuporn Prompan, were detained. More + VIDEO

 

Thai soldiers guard the "Democracy Monument" in Buddhist Bangkok (reuters.com)

Scotsfest, Los Angeles/OC(scotsfest.com) The Scottish Highland Games are coming! May 24-25, 2014 at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Find us at our new home: scottishfest.com

• 
  
• Mistrial declared in Los Angeles sheriff deputy's torture and corruption charges in L.A. Men's Jail
• Boss ("warden") who ordered him likely to be elected next Sheriff: Tanaka
• Thai military seizes power in coup
• Matadors torturing bulls gored at Madrid festival
• 10 big miscalculations
• French embarrassment over rail error
• California co's sue narcotics makers over opioid epidemic

• "Captor" of abducted girl charged
• Ex-tycoon warns on Russia sanctions
• Prince's remarks outrageous - Russia
• The men wearing the hijab in Iran
• Even Ulan Bator has Irish pubs

Thai martial law: military shuts down media

Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; BBC.co.uk, May 21, 2014

Thai Theravada monastics continue to practice during country's crisis (Butch Osborne/flickr)

Thailand is divided radicals and royalists who want to change the gov't (LillianPierson)

Thailand's martial law crisis: Local media shut down by military

I don't know what he's talking about! I'm PM!

(BBC) An emergency meeting of political leaders, called by the Thai army a day after it [unilaterally] declared martial law, has ended inconclusively.

 

She did it! Her and her brother, ousted!

Representatives from the government [which was not advised by the army that martial law would be declared], the main opposition party and protest groups all attended the meeting.

 

Local radio stations run by activists have been shut down by the military. Jonathan Head reports from Bangkok. More + VIDEO

• Thailand martial law: Army chief meets key players
• Thailand army's pivotal role in politics
• Thailand martial law: Acting PM issues plea for peace

• Which empire came to an end today? (FSD)
• Iran releases Pharell "Happy" tribute dancers

Thai Martial Law: Coup or no Coup? (video)

Wisdom Quarterly; Panarat Thepgumpanat, Amy Sawitta Lefevre (Reuters, 5-21-14); CNN

(CNN) Kristie Lu Stout reports on pre-dawn announcement of martial law and its implications

UPDATE 3: Talks to end Thai crisis inconclusive, new round called

• Army chief met political parties, rival protest groups
• Meeting inconclusive, said participants
• Army declared martial law on Tuesday, denies staging a coup
• Acting PM says he is still in charge, proposes Aug. 3 election

Theravada devotion, Thailand (WQ)

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's rival political factions would not agree to stop street protests on Wednesday during crisis talks aimed at ending the confrontation a day after the army declared martial law, a pro-government activist said.

Although the military denied Tuesday's surprise intervention amounted to a coup, army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha appeared to be setting the agenda by forcing groups and organizations with a central role in the crisis to talk.

Streets in the south: Phuket, 2012 (SR)

Issues raised during the meeting included reforming the political system -- a demand made by anti-government protesters -- and ending the demonstrations that have sparked violence, disrupted business, and scared off tourists.

"When asked whether each group can stop protesting, there was no commitment from either side," Thida Thawornseth, a leader of the pro-government "red shirt" political group, told Reuters. "There was no clear conclusion."

Tensions high in Bangkok (March 2010)

Puchong Nutrawong, secretary-general of the Election Commission, who was also at the talks, said all sides would meet again on Thursday.

"The army chief asked us to go back home and think about the things we discussed in order to find a solution for the country," Puchong told Reuters.

Protests continue in Thailand (2010)

Thailand has been riven for nearly 10 years by the rivalry between populist former Prime Minister [corrupt billionaire tycoon] Thaksin Shinawatra and the royalist establishment.

Echo of troubles in Venezuela (AFP)

Thaksin, a former tele-com billionaire who won the loyalty of the rural and urban poor, has lived in self-exile since 2008 but still exerts a huge influence, most recently through a government run by his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra [the latest PM to be ousted, two weeks back].

China troubles Taiwan, April 2014 (UR)

Yingluck was forced to step down as premier by a court two weeks ago, but her caretaker government remains in power, despite the declaration of martial law and six months of sometimes violent protests aimed at ousting it.

The turmoil has driven the [largest Theravada Buddhist] country to the brink of recession and even raised fears of civil war.

"HOMEWORK HANDED OUT"

Thailand anti-government protests (2009)

The anti-government protesters are opposed to an election, which Thaksin's loyalist would be likely to win. They want a "neutral" prime minister installed to oversee electoral reforms aimed at ending Thaksin's influence.

 

[They also want to replace the PM system with a citizens' committee of leaders, a move seen as too radical by the military and business interests who need a stable platform to operate their capitalist enterprises extracting labor and resources and channeling it into private hands for the benefit of the few at a steep cost to the many.] More 

• Chinese nationals leave Vietnam after protests
• Kennedy Summers named Playboy Playmate
• Talks to end Thai crisis inconclusive, new round called (1) Thailand's rival political factions would not agree to stop street protests on Wednesday during crisis talks aimed at ending the confrontation a day...
• SE Asia Stocks mostly weaker; Thai index recovers
• Geopolitical tensions could hurt Asia growth: IMF...
• SE Asia Stocks mixed; Thai index up after martial law
• US urges Thai army to respect "democratic principles"
• SE Asia Stocks: Thailand falls after martial law; Jakarta...
• Factbox: Martial law in Thailand - What it entails

Martial Law declared all over Buddhist Thailand

Wisdom Quarterly; Pacifica Radio, Berkeley (KPFA.org); G.P. Malalasekera

Martial law was declared throughout the most Buddhist country in the world this morning with an announcement from the military, Pacifica is reporting from Berkeley, claiming that it is due to the interim "caretaker" governing PM refusing to step down. Monastics are presumably trapped in hermitages unable to seek alms food (pindapat') as is done daily throughout the country according to ancient tradition laid down by the Buddha.

Going on Alms round

G.P. Malalasekera; Wisdom Quarterly (Pinda Sutta)

Buddha walking (WQ)

Once the Buddha was at Pañcasālā when the day came for all young people to send gifts to one another.

The Buddha went on alms round to the village as was the custom of wandering ascetics in India. But the villagers, influenced by Māra, gave nothing, and he returned with his bowl empty.

Māra tried to influence the Buddha to go a second time, but he refused to do so (S.i.113; the incident is also found at DhA.iii., p. 257f).

The Commentary explains (SA.i.141) that Māra did not want the Buddha to accept the gifts of the maidens and to preach to them, because then they would pass beyond his lustful, fearful, delusive influence.

Army's Martial law in Thailand surprise to gov't

Wisdom Quarterly; CNN

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) - The Thai army declared martial law throughout the country Tuesday in a surprise move that an aide to the embattled Prime Minister said the government didn't know about beforehand.

 

"They took this action unilaterally. The government is having a special meeting regarding this. We have to watch and see if the army chief honors his declaration of impartiality," the aide said, describing the situation as "half a coup d'etat."

 

Lt. Gen. Nipat Thonglek told CNN the move was not a coup.

 

"The Army aims to maintain peace, order and public safety for all groups and all parties," a ticker running on the army's television channel said. "People are urged not to panic, and can carry on their business as usual. Declaring martial law is not a coup d'etat."

 

Martial law went into effect at 3:00 am on Tuesday, the ticker said. More + VIDEO

Victory in Thailand for anti-gov't Red Shirts!

Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly (ANALYSIS); BBC.co.uk

Thailand court ousts PM Yingluck: Thailand's Constitutional Court orders Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and several of her ministers to step down on abuse of power charges.

War on the streets of the Thai capital as Red Shirts agitate against political corruption in Buddhist Thailand alongside monks. Yellow Shirts are pro-corrupt gov't (Sakchai Lalit/AP).

Waving the red, white, and blue Thai flag during rally -- protests roar on as radical Red Shirts oppose conservative Yellow Shirts to change the system and clean up government (AP)

 

Monks protest as in the Saffron Revolution (R)

There has been a war on the streets of Bangkok for years as radical revolutionary Red Shirts agitate against political corruption in Theravada Buddhist Thailand. 

Even the monks frequently join in to oppose the Yingluck Shinawatra administration and the previous corrupt administration of her billionaire business mogul brother Thaksin Shinawatra.

Police State successfully resisted by Thais (W)

He was deposed by protesters fighting police and paramilitary forces in the street and went into self-imposed exile to avoid legal reprisals.

He then installed his sister, buying her election to the prime ministership but, allegedly, still pulling the strings and wielding political and business influence from afar.

The battle to oust Thailand's PM: Why has the prime minister been ordered to step down today? Find out the background to the crisis in this 60-second video (BBC.co.uk, May 7, 2014).

  

"Patriotic," conservative Yellow Shirts have been pro-corrupt government. The beloved king has allowed the matter to be resolved by the courts that today handed a victory to the Red Shirts by throwing her out of office. 

Red Shirts disrupt Thailand (BBC)

What does the court's decision mean?

It would be like the Occupy Movement waking up one day and realizing the third Bush/Cheney Administration (called the Obama Administration with a much more attractive leader carrying out all the worst policies of the previous ugly rulers) had been thrown out of office by the Supreme Court and hope for actual change had been restored.

The finance minister has been installed as the interim prime minister by the court. Deposed PM Yingluck Shinawatra is shocked and sad.

Bangkok is a booming Asian economy wracked by corruption in a city (Gift-of-Light/flickr)

 .

Live from the scene

Wisdom Quarterly reader Dr. Will writes in to say, "Whoever wrote this error-ridden story should be taken out and shot." Thank you, professor. We await your corrections and field report live from the scene. The story contains  links to the BBC version of events. So even though "[we and readers] can find out the facts about the current crisis in Thailand in a couple of minutes of googling," we hope you can do the Buddhist world one better than that and enlighten us all on what has truly happened in Bangkok. Send in your report because we don't want to waltz over to Thammasat U. to pick it up from you. "Jeez, guys!" He who admonishes, ack. But he who enlightens, ahh! Sawadee ka.