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DaffyDuck
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It's nice to see that, largely, the current government has continued its policy of ignoring Thaksin and treating him and his followers with insignificance - undermining his importance and credibility.
This was a significant loss for Thaksin, which is illustrated by the last of his sisters bailing out and running to Singapore.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:32 pm on April 14, 2009
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snpark
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hhhhmmm is that an analogy to anal sex??
the bush should always be behind the shit
or in front of it!?
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:38 pm on April 14, 2009
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S M E G M A
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I agree with DD (finally) regarding this being Thaksin's swang song.
I like the way it is put in this article. Enjoy it Apollo  .
Thaksin has been found out, and out-manoeuvred
By Thanong Khanthong
The Nation
Published on April 15, 2009
Before noon yesterday, key red-shirt leaders like Veera Musikapong and Nattawut Saikua, among others, realised it was time to cave in. They understood that it would be futile to continue fighting because their boss, Thaksin Shinawatra, had been finished.
Yes, the plug had been pulled and the fugitive former PM was completely routed.
It will be difficult for Thaksin to seek asylum because most countries would not want to welcome him now that they have witnessed the riots and subversive tactics used by his supporters in Bangkok. Thaksin was caught telling blatant lies on CNN and BBC, feeding false information to the global audience that his red-clad supporters were fighting for democracy - when in fact they were burning Bangkok to pave the way for his return.
He was reading a script, telling the international news channels that the military had killed many of his pro-democracy protesters, when in fact there was not a single such case of death reported. The only two people who died, had done so during clashes between Bangkok residents and the protesters.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was wisely exercising restraint, allowing Thaksin to make blunders.
Thaksin, who bet all his political fortune on April 13, has failed miserably. He had his red shirts set fires around Bangkok just as Neptune overshadowed the Sun - a bad omen.
He thought he had big military and police bosses on his side, as well as some politicians on the government wing. He remembered to move his family out of Thailand a few days before the Songkran inferno. Khunying Pojaman is currently shopping in Dubai, still with plenty of money in her pocket.
Thaksin thought he could hold Thailand hostage as he bargained for his return, his amnesty and his Bt76 billion in assets. He thought he was entitled to a royal pardon because he had Thailand in the palm of his hand.
But his strategy backfired. Thaksin failed to get critical mass support. On the contrary, Bangkok residents rose against his red-shirt supporters, who were burning Bangkok while he - just as Nero fiddled while Rome was burning - was singing on his karaoke machine. The subversive tactics being used by the red shirts appalled the global audience.
This was a critical factor. If most Thais were to rise against the red-shirt movement, then Thaksin could only go under. Thaksin thought that the burning of Bangkok would force the country into lawlessness and the military would step in to intervene in his favour.
The plan did not work.
The whole world realised that Thaksin had duped it all along, and many Thais were disgusted by his ability to destroy the nation in exchange for his return to power.
Bangkok was ravaged all Songkran Day, before the security forces brought the situation under control. By then Thaksin must have realised that the game was up.
Now all the red-shirt leaders will be going to jail under treason charges. If you plant gas tanks and threaten to set them ablaze, you are committing an act of terrorism and subversion against the state. It is not too difficult to trace who ordered the trucks to be brought onto the streets.
Now Abhisit has emerged as a strong leader. He has almost transformed overnight from a lame-duck PM who was forced to cancel the Asean Summit in Pattaya into a leader who can defuse a political crisis in a subtle and artful way. There were no deaths during the authorities' crackdown against the red shirts. Only two persons were pronounced dead, both as a result of shooting by the red shirts.
Abhisit has prevailed despite the military, the police, the security people and his own political partners plotting against him.
Though we have no evidence to substantiate doubts that these top people are linked to Thaksin, we did not see Army chief General Anupong Paochinda or police boss Patcharawat Wongsuwan show up while the red shirts were ambushing the Asean Summit. The security forces were not doing their duty, standing by idly as the protesters wreaked havoc in Pattaya.
So far none of Thailand's top security people have come out to admit that they failed to provide security for regional leaders and Thailand's guests.
Abhisit is known to have sought advice from a special unit, set up in haste under his command. As Thaksin played his cards one by one, the advisers countered each hand effectively until Thaksin lost his bet.
At this hour, with the power of the emergency decree in his hand, it is Abhisit - not the Army chief - who is the most powerful person in Thailand. He must use this occasion wisely by controlling the red shirts and dealing with the failure of the security apparatus, which has been undermining national interest and the government's stability.
We expect to see a reshuffle of top security and peacekeeping personnel soon.
However, if Abhisit resorts to his image of a timid Oxford graduate, he would be missing out on an opportunity to take the country forward. Now is the time for him to stand tall and be the prime minister of Thailand.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 6:03 pm on April 14, 2009
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apollo
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http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.php?IDNEWS=0000008914
"We’ll be back at a later date. "We have decided to call off the rally today because many brothers and sisters have been hurt and killed. We don't want everybody to suffer the same. And we will not allow more deaths."
"The allegation was repeated by one protester who said that she had seen bodies being piled into trucks near the Ding Daeng intersection – scene of Monday's fiercest clashes. "
Ap.-
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 7:03 pm on April 14, 2009
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S M E G M A
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There is a name for that Apollo. Please allow me to copy and paste so that this time you do not get confused like you have done often in the recent past.
(taken from Wikipedia)
Rationalization (psychology)
In psychology and logic, rationalization is the process of constructing a logical justification for a belief, decision, action or lack thereof that was originally arrived at through a different mental process. It is a defense mechanism in which unacceptable behaviors or feelings are explained in a rational or logical manner; this avoids the true explanation of the behavior or feeling in question.
This process can be in a range from fully conscious (e.g. to present an external defense against ridicule from others) to mostly subconscious (e.g. to create a block against internal feelings of guilt).
Rationalization is one of the defense mechanisms proposed by Sigmund Freud, which were later developed further by his daughter Anna Freud.
According to the DSM-IV rationalization occurs "when the individual deals with emotional conflict or internal or external stressors by concealing the true motivations for his or her own thoughts, actions, or feelings through the elaboration of reassuring or self serving but incorrect explanations."
Bull's eye!
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:54 pm on April 14, 2009
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joe9991945
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If there were people killed their families will report them missing. In Today’s World hard to cover up. I will wait and see but it looks like the Army did this without killing.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:17 pm on April 14, 2009
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expatchuck
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The red shirts went home for Songkran. They'll be back. 
Just for the record, the yellow shirts were paid on a daily basis for their attendance as well. 
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:25 pm on April 14, 2009
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mokewen
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i had planned to fly to bkk from lax on 4/24 - after my escrow closed; but found there were no seats available from that date through the end of the month.
i was lucky to find a seat on the 4/21 flight.
i guess not everyone has been discouraged by the latest thai political squabbles. There has always been political dissension in thailand and i'm sure it will continue into the far future.
that's what happens where the most of the money is enjoyed by the upper-class minority.
bottom line - life goes on in bkk!
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 9:43 pm on April 14, 2009
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apollo
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http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.php?IDNEWS=0000008915
Pick to post
By COLUM MURPHY
Over the past few years, Thailand's political elites have waged a battle on the streets of the capital using mobs to throw democratically elected governments out of power. Now it is the turn of the supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed former prime minister, to wreak their revenge. Meanwhile the economic losses mount, and one of Asia's oldest democracies looks more and more fragile. So where did Thailand go wrong?
For decades, power-brokers in the military, parliament and boardroom used the government to enrich themselves. The populist Mr. Thaksin threatened their interests by obtaining a strong democratic mandate to start expensive government programs to benefit the rural poor, and also to open the door wider to the forces of globalization and competition. Last weekend's riots by the "Red Shirts," Mr. Thaksin's supporters, mimicked the tactics used by the anti-Thaksin forces, the "Yellow Shirts," in late 2008. That group also surrounded government buildings and blockaded Bangkok's airports for days, bringing the country to a virtual standstill.
Both protests reflect an increasingly polarized Thai society. On the Yellow side are monarchists who profess loyalty to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the army, many academics, some of the business elite, and ordinary Thais mainly from the southern provinces. On the Red side are supporters of Mr. Thaksin, including business owners who benefited under his rule, and many rural voters especially in the north and northeast of the country who also reaped the rewards of his populist "Thaksinomics."
The Reds have the advantage of sheer numbers, and most probably free and fair elections would return pro-Thaksin forces to leadership. The Yellows claim legitimacy because of their loyalty to the king; they also have the army and, for the most part, the police force behind them. In the middle are large numbers of ordinary Thais who want to get back to stability and prosperity.
But those goals will remain elusive unless the Red-Yellow divide can be bridged. A key obstacle is how to handle Mr. Thaksin, who fled corruption charges in August 2008 and faces a two-year prison sentence. In an interview in Dubai last month, he stressed his loyalty to the king, and said he wanted to return to Thailand to act as an "adviser" to the government. "I am a domestic dog that can be tamed any time. I'm tame already and I can be tamed again," he told me.
Full rehabilitation of Mr. Thaksin most probably would require a pardon, whether by the king or the parliament. Yet there are other steps that could be taken -- and that don't necessarily need to factor in Mr. Thaksin directly -- that also might pave the way for meaningful reconciliation.
The government could grant amnesty to the 111 members of Mr. Thaksin's now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, allowing them to re-enter the political arena. This group, including Mr. Thaksin, was banned from politics for five years by a junta-appointed panel for breaking electoral laws prior to the parliamentary elections of April 2, 2006.
The current Constitution of 2007 could be amended to reflect better the so-called People's Constitution of 1997. Many consider this Constitution the most democratic in the country's history, not least because it was drawn up with extensive public consultation, and for the first time called for direct elections to both the upper and lower houses of parliament. In any case, greater power needs to be returned to the elected members of parliament and removed from nonelected institutions and representatives of the state. Some of the reforms of the 1997 Constitution were rolled back in 2007.
More importantly, there should be fresh elections as soon as possible. By hanging on to power until the bitter end, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his coalition government risk doing more harm than good. The prime minister should recognize that the current situation is untenable.
In January, Mr. Abhisit told me that he would go to the people when the time was right, and that priority should be given to solving the country's economic woes. In the space of a few short months, the violence and disorder have proven him wrong. Putting the long-term issues on hold has not helped Thailand politically or economically. Instead, it is prolonging the pain and making it more difficult to heal the divisions of society and steer the country toward economic recovery.
Mr. Murphy is deputy editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:58 pm on April 14, 2009
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