0		Thanong:, treason, set, people\'s, army?

Thanong, of you know which publication, states in reference to the statement by Gen. Panlop, now aligned with the red shirt's, on the setting up of a people's army:

The People's Army sounds like an overlapping army with the Royal Thai Army. Setting up the People's Army amounts to treason.

BP: Really? In November 2008, the PAD released a statement (ie a formal statement agreed upon by all PAD leaders) entitled "ประกาศพันธมิตรประชาชนเพื่อประชาธิปไตย ฉบับที่ 11/2551 เรื่อง  ให้เคลื่อนกองทัพประชาชนกู้ชาติไม่ให้ล่มจม [PAD Statement 11/2551 on the subject of moblization of the of the people's army to save the nation from collapsing]. Was this treason? Or are some forms of people's army more treasonous than others?...

btw, not that this excuses the silly and extremely inflammatory people's army proposal and more and that the red shirts all this week....

btw, BP remembers as one hardcore PAD member still wears their กองทัพประชาชน jacket. At first, thought PAD would be mad that UDD are trying to adopt their terminology.

	0	1	What, happening, red, shirt, land?, Part

After the earlier post this morning, Marwaan of IPS visits Sang Khom District in Udon Thai, in the Northest of Thailand* and writes what he saw. Of particular interest to BP is the red shirt fundraiser:

Meal by meal, a political feast is being laid out under the night sky to nourish a wave of anti-government protests rapidly spreading across this rural heartland. The diners come dressed in their signature red shirts.

This rice-growing town was the latest to join the bandwagon of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), a protest movement with strong links to the ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The organiser of the inaugural dinner and fundraiser in Srang Khom, in the north-east province of Udon Thani, were not disappointed. By 7 p.m. an open ground by the side of a harvested paddy field and scrub forest was full of local residents who had come to eat and to listen to anti-government tirades delivered from a stage.

"The people wanted to have a Red Shirt event here like other places," says Suthat Budom, one of the organisers of the Saturday night dinner, referring to the uniform red shirts that the pro-Thaksin protest movement is identified with. "They want real democracy."

Suthat estimated that over 2,000 locals from five neighbouring subdistricts had filled the 220 tables that were laden with fried rice, fried fish served with sweet and sour sauce, a spicy Thai salad and a Chinese-style soup.

BP: You should remember that this is not the capital city of a province, it is just a single district in the north of Udon Thani province. Have heard anecdotal evidence for a while of such fundraisers of varying scales. From what have heard it is 50 percent for expenses and the remaining 50 percents of the money goes to the red shirts. We are not talking Democrat Party Chinese buffet (To Jeen) type money, but we are talking about small-scale widespread fundraisers in many areas throughout the country. Like the yellows before them, the red shirts have created a movement which is not going away soon. There seems to be this view, as articulated by Korn of the Democrats, is that the red shirts are like a house of cards and that if you take away Thaksin's money it will all fall down. This would have been a fair assessment to make back in 2007, but BP has heard and seen more than ample evidence that the red shirts have created a movement which is self-funding for many events (this is not to say that Thaksin and others do not fund some activities such as trips to Dubai etc). However, the cost of maintaining the red shirts is likely to be much lower than the yellow shirts with their continuous rallies costing 1 million baht per day.

BP's point is that once they take away Thaksin's money, the red shirts will not just dissipate.Thaksin has been able to tap into long-held resentments. These will not go away. This is why one should be careful of just focusing on February 26. Now, the red shirts could do something that harms their image in the eyes of their supporters, but that would have to quite dramatic.

Marwaan continues:

On the Saturday evening that Srang Khom hosted its inaugural UDD rally, there were five others across Isarn, as north-east Thailand is known locally. At Piboonrat, a crowd of over 3,000 stayed till well after midnight to listen to the speeches, including a Thaksin phone-in.

They came on the back of more impressive red-shirt support that the UDD is trumpeting. A rally on Jan. 31 in the north-eastern province of Khon Kaen drew an estimated 100,000 people, according to sources close to military intelligence operatives. The UDD, though, boasts that the crowds were twice that number.

In the province of Ubon Ratchathani, the next day, a reported 50,000 red- shirted protesters assembled at a UDD rally.

"Every week, every month we have these dinner meetings, or some without dinner," says Wichian Khaokham, a parliamentarian from this province who belongs to the pro-Thaksin Puea Thai party. "The people who come here are from the poor and they used to be afraid of the people in high positions in our society. They could not speak to them."

But the legislator of nearly 20 years senses a change in the political attitudes of the grassroots voters. "They knew about politics before, but now they know what is true, what is right and wrong," he said. "The people understand that even if we win the next elections, they (the pro-royalist political establishment) will not let us form a government."

BP: The other thing is that the red shirts are more energized. They have red shirt community radio stations, red shirt magazines and papers etc, and they are given the right information/feed propaganda by Thaksin (depending on your point of view). You can't just undo this by taking away Thaksin's money.

The red shirts are building, but building for what?

*another "foreign media disgrace" (also see here), what is it with these foreign journalists who refuse to sit in their offices and have the audacity to visit the countryside and seek the views of those who live there.

	0		Veera, Sudarat, Chalerm

Have previously blogged on the public fight between Khunying Sudarat and Chalerm Yubamrung, but Veera in the Bangkok Post has an op-ed on the situation. Key excerpt:

The maverick MP was also unhappy with his rival group's attempt to pre-empt his wish of being nominated as the stand-in prime minister in the party's censure motion against the government in parliament. He said he merely aspired to assume the premiership for six months, to pave the way for the political comeback of deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra once the Democrat-led government is forced out of office after the no-confidence debate.

However, Mrs Sudrarat's faction seems to have another candidate in mind: the former commerce minister, Mingkwan Saengsuwan.

But Mr Chalerm himself is partly to blame, for his proposal to the party to carve up Bangkok's electoral constituencies into three zones, i.e. the northern and southern zones, and Thon Buri which he offered to manage himself. The rationale behind the proposal was that management of the constituencies would be more effective if handled by three groups of people instead of just one.

Mr Chalerm's proposal, which was eventually rejected by the party, was deemed by the Sudarat faction - which has dominated the party's electioneering in Bangkok from the very beginning - as an intrusion into their territory, a blatant act from an "outsider" which was totally unacceptable.

Almost a loner in the opposition party, it is quite natural for Mr Chalerm to woo support among some MPs, especially those formerly belonging to Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's New Aspiration Party, to form his own faction, called Ban Rim Klong, to increase their bargaining power within the party.

But his attempt appears to have run into a roadblock allegedly set up by Khunying Sudarat's group.

BP: Chalerm is aligned with MPs mainly outside of Bangkok, but is wanting to exert that influence inside Bangkok. We will have to see if this factional tension comes to a boil again....

	2		What, happening, red, shirt, land?

With the upcoming court case about Thaksin's assets some foreign reporters have gone to the Northeast. Nirmal Ghosh in the Straits Times:

"This is a call for democracy, and a message to the army not to interfere in politics," said Kwanchai Praipana, a regional red shirt leader in Udon Thani.

The message is for the army to remain neutral and not mount a coup, he said.

The military has denied splits within the force and rejected growing speculation of an impending military coup.

Last weekend, the UDD held consecutive rallies, gathering 100,000 in Khon Kaen and 50,000 people in Ubon Ratchathani. The rallies were largely unreported by the Bangkok-based mainstream media.

The pattern is similar to events last April. Huge rallies held in the red shirts' strongholds at that time were under-reported by the mainstream media, leaving many Thais in the capital shocked at the numbers who turned up at rallies held in Bangkok and Pattaya that month.

AFP:

Udon Thani province these "Red Shirts" are led by Kwanchai, a charismatic local celebrity. He estimates 300,000 people tune in to his "We Love Udon" radio show, which he insists is funded by local donations rather than Thaksin.

"All of you must be united and fight for democracy," Kwanchai tells callers to the programme, many of them farmers, who ring in to pledge moral and financial support. Even a Buddhist monk calls in to bless him.
...
"The poor feel strongly about the need for democracy, their right," Kwanchai tells AFP. "They want Thaksin back and they want to have an election."

During a rare break at the Udon radio headquarters -- also an office, kitchen and general gathering place for red-clad locals -- Kwanchai explains how village representatives meet there twice-monthly to discuss their goals.

BP: So what will happen this month? The red shirts may face difficulties in transporting people to Bangkok as the government has set up checkpoints thoughout the country as The Nation reports:

The deployment of thousands of troops started in provinces across the country yesterday ahead of the verdict in the assets-seizure case against fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the government spokesman said.

Panitan Wattanayagorn said close to 200 checkpoints would be set up in and around Bangkok - where about 5,000 troops (54 companies) will be based, particularly at "points of entry and exit", key state agencies, and transport networks.

	1	1	Democrat, spokesman, Red, shirts, dogs

UPDDATE: Trying to balance a fine line between new readers and those who closely follow Thai politics and trying to use simpler titles. Thepthai is not the Democrat Spokesman with a capital S. He is actually Democrat Party leader's personal spokesman - the party leader being Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Matichon quotes Thepthai, a Democrat spokesman, as stating that Thaksin has twittered about the conflicts between the reds and Thepthai states the conflict has arisen as Thaksin is trying to bring all the red shirts together. Thaksin is like the owner of a dog farm who gets dogs from different places and brings them together. One day the food runs out and he throws them a single bone and so that that there is barking is normal. However, if lots of bones are thrown then they will be quiet (พ.ต.ท. ทักษิณ กำลังทำตัวเป็นเจ้าของฟาร์มเลี้ยงสุนัข ที่ไปเอาสุนัขจากที่ต่าง ๆ มารวมกัน วันหนึ่งอาหารไม่พอ โยนเศษกระดูกให้อันเดียว ก็เลยกัดกันเป็นเรื่องธรรมดา แต่ถ้าโยนเศษกระดูกให้ทั่วถึงเสียงกัดกันก็จะเงียบไป).

BP: So if you were a red shirt, would you feel happy that the spokesman of the main government party refers to you as dogs? This kind of talk from Thepthai  (Abhisit's personal spokesman) and others in the party like Satit (PM Office's Minister), and Thawaorn (another vocal Minister) occurs very regularly. Thepthai thinks Thaksin stirring them, but Thaksin doesn't need to do much when the Democrat spokesman compares the red shirts to dogs. Now, you wonder why some of the rural supporters of Thaksin are angry when after being looked down upon by years, they are not compared to dogs.

 

	1		Kickback, rate

The Bangkok Post:

A multi-billion-baht convention centre planned for Phuket under the Thai Khem Khaeng investment programme has been stalled amid corruption allegations, according to Finance Ministry officials.

Designers and architects bidding for the project have allegedly been asked for kickbacks as high as 41% from state officials.

A total of 2.6 billion baht has been allocated to the project, with one educational institution awarded 100 million baht to develop designs for the new international centre.

But sources said that local politicians with interests in the project demanded kickbacks of as much as 45% for the contract. Final "tea money" payments were settled at 41 million baht, or 41%, for the deal.

BP: So what party are those local politicians from? From one certain party *cough* Democrats *cough* who dominate the South?