นักวิจัยต่างชาติเทียบชุมนุมไทย-ยูเครน ชี้สหรัฐฯ หรี่ตาเข้าข้างรบ.ยิ่งลักษณ์-ทักษิณเพราะมีผลประโยชน์ร่วม
จาก ASTVผู้จัดการออนไลน์
| แอ คทิวิสต์โพสต์ - นักค้นคว้าวิจัยทางการเมืองชาวสหรัฐฯ เขียนบทความลงบนเว็บไซต์แอ็กทิวิสต์โพสต์ เปรียบเทียบการประท้วงในยูเครนและไทย ระบุจุดยืนของชาติตะวันตกต่อเรื่องนี้ไร้มาตรฐานอย่างชัดเจน โดยจะมองว่าการชุมนุมเป็นเรื่องดีก็ต่อเมื่อตนเองมีส่วนได้ประโยชน์เท่านั้น ไม่เกี่ยวข้องกับหลักนิติรัฐหรือประชาธิปไตยตามที่กล่าวอ้างแต่อย่างใด ในบทความเรื่อง A Tale of Two Protests: Ukraine and Thailand นายโทนี คาตาลัคซี นักค้นคว้าวิจัยทางการเมืองและนักเขียนชาวอเมริกัน รวมทั้งยังเป็นนักวิจัยภูมิศาสตร์ทางการเมือง เกริ่นว่าในขณะที่ชาติตะวันตกแสร้งแสดงบทบาทสนับสนุนผู้ประท้วงฝ่ายสนับสนุน อียูในยูเครน แต่อีกด้านหนึ่งก็กลับตำหนิผู้ชุมนุมต่อต้านรัฐบาลไทยที่ได้รับการหนุนหลัง จากอเมริกา ทั้งที่ทั้งสองก็มีพฤติกรรมแบบเดียวกัน นายโทนีระบุว่า เมื่อมีคำถามว่าการประท้วงแบบไหนเป็นสิ่งดี บางคนอาจวัดกันที่วัตถุประสงค์ แต่ความเป็นจริงแล้วในส่วนของพวกชาติตะวันตก การประท้วงจะเป็นเรื่องดีก็ต่อเมื่อการชุมนุมนั้นรับใช้ผลประโยชน์ของพวกเขา ยกตัวอย่างที่เห็นได้ชัดก็คือการประท้วงที่กำลังดำเนินอยู่ในยูเครน และไทย ซึ่งผู้ชุมนุมต่างก็พยายามบุกยึดอาคารราชการและเตรียมการขยายขอบเขตไปยัง หน่วยงานอื่นที่ยังไม่สามารถยึดได้ ด้วยต่างมีเป้าหมายขับไล่รัฐบาลของประเทศตนเอง ทว่าชาติตะวันตกกลับบอกว่าอันหนึ่งดีเลิศ ส่วนอีกแห่งไม่ใช่การชุมนุมอย่างสันติ |
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บทความของนายโทนี อ้างถึงกรณีมีผู้ประท้วงราว 10,000 คนรวมตัวกันชุมนุมต่อต้านการตัดสินใจทิ้งข้อตกลงประวัติศาสตร์อันจะนำไปสู่ การเข้าเป็นสมาชิกสหภาพยุโรป (อียู) ของรัฐบาลเมื่อวันเสาร์ (30 พ.ย.) เพื่อตอบโต้ปฏิบัติการปราบปรามผู้ประท้วงของตำรวจปราบจลาจลหนึ่งวันก่อนหน้า นี้ ที่เป็นผลให้มีผู้ได้รับบาดเจ็บหลายรายและหลายคนถูกจับกุม สถานทูตสหรัฐฯ ประจำกรุงเคียฟ รัฐบาลสหรัฐฯประณามปฏิบัติการของตำรวจ โดยเรียกมันว่าเป็นการใช้ความรุนแรงต่อผู้ชุมนุม ขณะที่ทางกระทรวงการต่างประเทศอเมริกา ก็ระบุในถ้อยแถลงเวลาต่อมาว่า “เราเรียกร้องเหล่าผู้นำของยูเครน เคารพต่อสิทธิการแสดงออกและการชุมนุม เราเรียกร้องรัฐบาลยูเครน สนับสนุนสิ่งแวดล้อมทางบวกสำหรับประชาสังคมและเพื่อปกป้องสิทธิการของชาว ยูเครนทุกคนในการแสดงมุมมองต่ออนาคตของประเทศในแนวทางที่สร้างสรรค์และเป็น ไปอย่างสันติในกรุงเคียฟ รวมถึงพื้นที่อื่นๆของประเทศ ความรุนแรงและการข่มขู่ไม่ควรเกิดขึ้นในยูเครน ณ วันนี้” นายโทนี ตั้งข้อสังเกตในบทความว่าเสียงชื่นชมจากฝั่งสหรัฐฯ มีออกมา แม้ว่าผู้ประท้วงชาวยูเครนทั้งจุดไฟเผาและใช้รถแทรกเตอร์ในความพยายามทะลาย แนวกั้นของตำรวจ รวมทั้งได้ปิดกั้นถนนสายหลักที่มุ่งสู่อาคารที่ทำการของรัฐบาล ขวางข้าราชการเข้าทำงาน ซึ่งเรื่องราวนี้ก็พบเห็นตามสื่อหลักต่างๆ |
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ในทางกลับกัน นายโทนีบอกว่า สหรัฐฯ ก็ประณามอย่างโต้งๆ ต่อการประท้วงต่อต้านระบอบทักษิณ และรัฐบาลของนางสาวยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร ว่า “รุนแรงและบอกว่าการบุดยึดหน่วยงานราชการหรือเอกชนเป็นที่ยอมรับไม่ได้ในแนว ทางของการคลี่คลายความแตกต่างทางการเมือง” นอกจากนี้ แล้วในขณะที่ชาติตะวันตกเรียกมาตรการปราบจลาจลของยูเครนว่า “ความรุนแรง” แต่อีกด้านหนึ่งสื่อจากชาติตะวันตก กลับไม่พาดพิงคำว่า “การปราบปรามรุนแรง” ในแบบเดียวกันกับสิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นในไทย ทั้งที่เมื่อมองดูแล้วรัฐบาลไทยก็ใช้วิธีการเดียวกับรัฐบาลยูเครนในการควบ คุมฝูงชน ทำไมชาติตะวันตกถึงปกป้องรัฐบาลไทย รัฐบาลของทักษิณและยิ่งลักษณ์ ได้รับการหนุนหลังจากชาติตะวันตกมานานเกือบทศวรรษ โดยเฉพาะในส่วนของทักษิณนั้น ความสัมพันธ์อันดีระหว่างเขากับตะวันตกเริ่มต้นขึ้นก่อนเข้ารับตำแหน่งในปี 2001 ด้วยซ้ำ นายโทนีอ้างข้อเขียนของนายทนง ขันทอง จากหนังสือพิมพ์ “เดอะ เนชัน” ระบุว่า ก่อนเป็นนายกรัฐมนตรีสมัยแรก นายทักษิณได้พยายามแสวงโอกาสการลงทุนในวอลล์สตรีทและลอนดอนควบคู่กับการไต่ เต้าทางการเมือง โดยคาร์ไลล์กรุ๊ปเคยตั้งให้เขาเป็นที่ปรึกษากลางปี 1998 นอกจากนี้ยังเคยพยายามใช้สายสัมพันธ์กับอเมริกาส่งเสริมภาพลักษณ์ทางการ เมืองในช่วงที่เขาก่อตั้งพรรคไทยรักไทย เขาเชิญบุชผู้พ่อมาเยือนกรุงเทพฯ บอกว่าภารกิจของเขาคือเป็นพ่อสื่อระหว่างกองทุนจากสหรัฐฯ กับธุรกิจไทย เขายังเชิญเจมส์ เบเกอร์ เดอะเติร์ด รัฐมนตรีต่างประเทศสหรัฐฯ ในยุคจอร์จ บุช มาเที่ยวไทยเมื่อเดือนมีนาคมปีนั้นด้วย |
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ทั้งนี้ สภานักธุรกิจอาเซียน-สหรัฐอเมริกาที่สนับสนุนเอฟทีเอสหรัฐฯ-ไทยเมื่อปี 2004 ประกอบด้วยตัวแทนบริษัทยักษ์ใหญ่หลายแห่งยกตัวอย่างเช่น 3เอ็ม, ไอบีเอ็ม, โบอิ้ง,ซิตีกรุ๊ป, เจเนอรัล อิเล็กทริค, ล็อคฮีด มาร์ติน, เชฟรอน, ฟิลิป มอร์ริส ฯลฯ รวมถึงสถาบันการเงินอย่างโกลด์แมน แซค และเจพี มอร์แกน นายโทนีปิดท้ายว่า เป็นที่ชัดเจนว่าชาติตะวันตกได้ลงทุนทั้งเวลาและทรัพยากรอย่างมหาศาลไปกับ ระบอบทักษิณ และการประณามผู้ประท้วงฝ่ายต่อต้านรัฐบาลก็เป็นแค่ความพยายามปกป้องการลงทุน ของตนเอง ไม่เกี่ยวข้องใดๆ กับหลักนิติรัฐหรือประชาธิปไตยแม้แต่น้อย |
A Tale of Two Protests: Ukraine & Thailand
UPDATE December 2, 2013 - 1555 Local Time - Taking a cue perhaps from the Western-backed pro-EU mobs, Thailand's anti-regime protesters have been seen preparing bulldozers of their own to breach barricades.
The West has already hypocritically condemned protesters in Thailand - since it is a Western backed regime they seek to oust. Will they compound their hypocrisy and condemn the use of the bulldozer as well, while applauding mobs in Kiev for doing likewise?
December 2, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - When is a protest good, just, progressive, and defensible? One might think there was a single answer to this question based on an objective set of metrics. But in reality, according to the West, protests are only good so long as they serve their interests.
Ongoing protests in Ukraine and Thailand have both featured protesters attempting to storm and hold government buildings. Both appear to be preparing lengthy sieges of buildings they are unable to take, and both have the goal of ousting the governments in their respective nations. However, the West finds one of these noble, the other not.
The "Noble" Ukrainian Protests
Images: The three-fingered salute of the neo-Nazi Svoboda party can be seen in the pro-EU protest (photo via CNN). The actual constitution of the mobs are never mentioned in the Western media because it would lead curious readers to sites like, "Unity of Nobility - De-Kosherized News & Research Material" which feature Svoboda in articles like, "Ukrainian Nationalist have the Jewish rats shrieking."
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CNN gives us a transparent display of this hypocrisy. In their article, "Ukraine police accused of violent crackdown on pro-EU protests," CNN claims:
Some 10,000 demonstrators against the Ukraine's decision to not sign a landmark trade deal with the European Union descended on a square outside a monastery early Saturday in response to a police crackdown on the earlier protests.
The emboldened demonstrators waved Ukrainian and EU flags and sang the national anthem outside the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, where groups of protesters retreated earlier after a sweep by riot police left seven people hospitalized and dozens under arrest at Independence Square.
Three top opposition leaders called for resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych as well as new presidential and parliamentary elections, according to a statement released by Vitaliy Klitchko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleg Tyagnybok.
As for the "violent crackdown" CNN leads in its title with:
"...riot police stepped in early Saturday and "brutally dispersed" several hundred people who were demonstrating peacefully in support of Ukraine's European integration, according to a statement from Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Forceful dispersion of peaceful demonstrations does not help the cause of Ukraine's integration with Europe," ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski said. "We caution Ukrainian authorities against using force as it may carry unpredictable and irrevocable consequences."
The United States condemned what it called "violence against protesters" in a statement posted online by the U.S. Embassy in Kiev.
A statement released Saturday by the U.S. State Department said, "We urge Ukraine's leaders to respect their people's right to freedom of expression and assembly... We call on the Government of Ukraine to foster a positive environment for civil society and to protect the rights of all Ukrainians to express their views on their country's future in a constructive and peaceful manner in [Kiev] and in other parts of the country. Violence and intimidation should have no place in today's Ukraine.""
Ukrainian protesters have used fire and even bulldozers in an attempt to break police barricades, as reported by both the UK Independent and the BBC.
Images: Scenes from the pro-EU protests in Ukraine. Protesters have used fire, clubs, and even bulldozers to break through police barricades. The West has backed the protests and condemned Ukraine's police for "violence and intimidation" for employing riot gear and tactics regularly used even in cities across the US and UK.
Of course, it should be obvious why the US, UK, and EU, and the Fortune 500 interests that direct the governments of each, are behind the protesters, literally funding most of their activity. The European Union is simply the collectivizing of Europe, the reduction of protectionism that impedes powerful multinationals, and offers corporate-funded policy makers the ability to create one program to apply to all nations at once. Convenient, one-stop corporate-fascism.
The "Bad" Thai Protests
In stark contrast, the US has bluntly stated of ongoing Thai protests against the regime of Thaksin Shinawatra and his nepotist-appointed sister, prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra that:
"Violence and the seizure of public or private property are not acceptable means of resolving political differences."
Additional hypocrisy can be read in the Guardian, another "reputable" Western news source, which takes a similar protest, this time in Thailand, and paints it out as violent, undemocratic rabble. The protests' target? The regime of Wall Street-backed Thaksin Shinawatra and his nepotist appointed proxy, prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
In the Guardian's article, "Thailand clashes: PM forced to flee as violent demonstrations escalate," it states:
A Thai government supporter was shot and killed early on Sunday at protests in Bangkok, raising the death toll to two as protesters invaded a police compound and forced the evacuation of the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to a secret location.
Some reports said anti-government demonstrators had seized control of the broadcaster Thai PBS.
Police backed up by the military were attempting to protect government buildings amid the deadly street clashes between supporters and opponents of Yingluck and her billionaire brother, the ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Anti-government protesters on Sunday broke into the compound of a police sports club where the prime minister had been during the morning but she was able to leave the premises and went to an undisclosed location, an aide said.
In another area of the city police fired teargas at protesters near Government House, where Yingluck's office is located, a Reuters witness said.
The Guardian intentionally omits at least 3 other confirmed deaths, all students, and all killed and confirmed BEFORE the "government supporter's" death was reported, in an attempt to portray the protesters as being a murderous mob.
Image: Photograph of another gunman so far responsible for the death of at least one student and many more injuries. The gunmen are clad in black, carrying a variety of weapons. There have been reports of both shooters operating in the streets and from rooftops. None of this is mentioned in the Western press.
The violence actually took place on the other side of Bangkok, away from ongoing anti-regime protests, where the regime was holding its own "counter-rally." Thousands of students from a nearby university began protesting the disruptive, 24 hour a day, week long rally. After warning the students to disperse, regime leaders unleashed black-clad militants who were captured on video and in photographs firing on students. For hours, the students had been surrounded and continuously shot at - clashes continued as encircled students attempted to break out and escape. It was in these clashes, not the protests, that the deaths occurred - a fact no unsuspecting reader would know if they depended on the Guardian for their daily news.
And while the Western press calls the Ukrainian riot measures "violent," no mention of similar "violent crackdowns" can be seen in the Western media regarding the Thai protests despite the regime using both Ukraine's methods of crowd control as well as armed militants who have already claimed several lives.
Why is the West Defending the Thai Regime?
The regime of Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, have been backed by the West for nearly a decade, and brother Thaksin even before first taking office in 2001.
Thaksin had been prime minister from 2001-2006. Long before Thaksin Shinwatra would become prime minister in Thailand, he was already working his way up the Wall Street-London ladder of opportunity, while simultaneously working his way up in Thai politics. He was appointed by the Carlyle Group as an adviser while holding public office, and attempted to use his connections to boost his political image. Thanong Khanthong of Thailand's English newspaper "the Nation," wrote in 2001:
"In April 1998, while Thailand was still mired in a deep economic morass, Thaksin tried to use his American connections to boost his political image just as he was forming his Thai Rak Thai Party. He invited Bush senior to visit Bangkok and his home, saying his own mission was to act as a "national matchmaker" between the US equity fund and Thai businesses. In March, he also played host to James Baker III, the US secretary of state in the senior Bush administration, on his sojourn in Thailand."
Upon becoming prime minister in 2001, Thaksin would begin paying back the support he received from his Western sponsors. In 2003, he would commit Thai troops to the US invasion of Iraq, despite widespread protests from both the Thai military and the public. Thaksin would also allow the CIA to use Thailand for its abhorrent rendition program.
In 2004, Thaksin attempted to ramrod through a US-Thailand Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) without parliamentary approval, backed by the US-ASEAN Business Council who just before last year's 2011elections that saw Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra brought into power, hosted the leaders of Thaksin’s "red shirt" "United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship" (UDD).
The council in 2004 included 3M, war profiteering Bechtel, Boeing, Cargill, Citigroup, General Electric, IBM, the notorious Monsanto, and currently also includes banking houses Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Chevron, Exxon, BP, Glaxo Smith Kline, Merck, Northrop Grumman, Monsanto’s GMO doppelganger Syngenta, as well as Phillip Morris.
Thaksin would remain in office until September of 2006. On the eve of the military coup that ousted him from power, Thaksin was literally standing before the Fortune 500-funded Council on Foreign Relations giving a progress report in New York City.
Since the 2006 coup that toppled his regime, Thaksin has been represented by US corporate-financier elites via their lobbying firms including, Kenneth Adelman of the Edelman PR firm (Freedom House, International Crisis Group,PNAC), James Baker of Baker Botts (CFR), Robert Blackwill of Barbour Griffith & Rogers (CFR), Kobre & Kim, and currently Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Peroff (Chatham House).
Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Peroff, would also simultaneously represent Thaksin's "red shirt" UDD movement, and was present for the inaugural meeting of the so-called "academic" Nitirat group, attended mostly by pro-Thaksin red shirts (who literally wore their red shirts to the meeting). Additional support for Thaksin and his UDD street-front is provided by the US State Department via National Endowment for Democracy-funded "NGO" Prachatai.
It is clear that the West has invested astronomical amounts of time and resources into the Shinwatra regime, and its condemnation of anti-regime protesters constitutes the West attempting to protect their investments, not any ideal of "rule of law" or "democracy."
What Thais Can Learn from the Ukraine Protests
The pro-EU protests in Ukraine have used bulldozers to break through police barricades. This has not been condemned by the West, and as long as Thai protesters ensure to protect the lives of by-standers and police, similar measures must surely be seen as "acceptable" international "norms." For Thai protesters, however, it is unlikely that they would benefit from or even desire driving a bulldozer at fellow countrymen, and could instead use large vehicles to breach walls where police cannot defend, in order to gain access to government buildings.
Fire also seems to be an acceptable means of protest. Called "peaceful" by the United States and other pro-EU governments, in both Ukraine and in previous, pro-regime rallies in Thailand, fire can be used (and should only be used) to create defensive barriers to limit the forward movement of police. It should be placed far ahead of police to force them to make lengthy preparations to breach such barriers. In this time, protesters can than move to better strategic positions to achieve their objectives.
And while protests in the Ukraine supported by the "international community" may give Thais several cues on what to do, they also give Thais the opportunity to show that they are better.
While the Ukraine protesters represent hooligans, racists, bigots, and literally entire parties promoting neo-Nazismsuch as Svoboda mentioned in this BBC article (Nazi background here), who cannot be guaranteed to not eventually resort to escalating levels of violence, the Thai protesters must remain peaceful. Police that are overwhelmed should be treated with dignity and reminded that they are fellow countrymen and not the true targets of the protesters nor their goal - but rather the goal of us all - the removal of corporate-financier interests dictated from afar.
Thailand: As Promised, Regime Deploys Black-Clad Militants
UPDATE: Regime gunmen have been identified by their shirts as a sect drawn from Phitsanulok province, part of the Thaksin Shinawatra regime's northeast political stronghold. This particular groups has strong affiliations with leading pro-regime mob leader and regime MP Jatuporn Prompan, and was involved directly with bloodshed in 2010's violence as well. The group was trained by the now deceased Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as "Seh Daeng," who was shot dead at the height of the 2010 armed insurrection he was leading in the streets of Bangkok on behalf of Thaksin Shinawatra. The group is now pictured in the below article next to an image of a gunman involved in last night's violence.
December 1, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - As promised by the Thai regime of Thaksin Shinawatra and his nepotist appointed proxy, sister Yingluck Shinawatra, it has released its black-clad militants against unarmed students in Bangkok, leading to several deaths, many more injuries and ongoing clashes. Regime thugs have surrounded hundreds of students attending Ramkamhaeng University, directly next to Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium were a pro-regime rally has been ongoing for the last week. Students began demonstrating against the rally today specifically because of the noise and vitriol emanating from the stadium non-stop, day and night, disrupting the densely populated district.
Video: Already taken down from (by?) Facebook, but downloaded by Land Destroyer/ATNN beforehand, students can be seen trapped on Ramkamhaeng University's campus, attempting to break out. A constant hail of objects is being thrown at them and from the same direction muzzle flashes and gunfire can be seen and heard. Students can be heard saying, "Watch out! They're shooting. We're being shot at." Bangkok's English newspaper, the Nationconfirms one student has been confirmed killed by gunfire.
Police and the Ramkhamhaeng Hospital confirmed that one Ramkhamhaeng University student was fatally shot in a clash between red-shirt people and Ramkhamhaeng students.
Police of Hua Mark police station identified the slain student as Thaweesak Phokaew, 21.
He was shot at the back and the bullet pierced through his lung. He died at the Ramkhamhaeng Hospital, the hospital confirmed.
While the regime and its Western backers may play ignorant as to who the black-clad gunmen are (as they attempted to do in 2010), the regime itself had actually already revealed its plans just days before this violence unfolded - by accident.
Former Reuters journalist Andrew Marshall, turned hired pen for the embattled regime's dictator, Thaksin Shinawatra, revealed just days prior, the regime's plan to unleash armed militants to undermine and breakup the protests. Marshall may have believed he was reporting rumors designed to blunt another historical turnout of anti-regime protesters planned later today.
On his Facebook page he wrote (emphasis added):
Meanwhile, Thaksin Shinawatra's secret "black shirt" force of provocateurs, mostly made up of navy SEALS and marines, is back on the streets again for the first time since May 2010 and has infiltrated Suthep's rabble. If protests escalate they will seek to incite deadly violence ahead of King Bhumibol's birthday to discredit Suthep and his movement for good. The military remains divided and weak, and top commanders have no intention of intervening for now. Unless sanity prevails in the next few days, there will be more bloodshed on the streets of Bangkok in early December.The regime itself admitted just days ago, in Bangkok's Nation article, "Govt ups ante in publicity battle with protesters," that (emphasis added):
"We have rejected several parties' demands for a House dissolution. The party's urgent strategy is to create fear among the public that the anti-government protests are violating the law," the source said.From Thursday night and into Friday morning, the regime's Interior Minister had taken the stage of the pro-regime rally, stirring up their mobs even as gunshots were fired and protesters were being killed, just beyond the walls of the stadium. Speakers took turns taking to the stage, with their colleagues smirking in the background, all while the foreign media began reporting on violence and deaths.
Image: The regime's Interior Minister, Jarupong Ruangsuwan, takes to the stage the night their militants were released into the streets to begin firing on nearby protesting university students. Deaths have already been reported.
Image: At approximately 1:30am Bangkok, Thailand time, speakers take turns on stage speaking to a pro-regime rally held at Bangkok's Rajamangala Stadium while their colleagues behind them smirk and laugh - even as helicopters circle overhead and shots can be heard outside. This is after the first deaths have been reported across local and foreign news.
As of 2:30am local time, sporadic gunfire can still be heard, as well as louder individual explosions. Helicopters have intermittently flown overhead, and more deaths are in the process of being confirmed. When Bangkok awakens tomorrow, it will be to yet another Shinawatra prime minister with the blood of the Thai people on their hands.
Reuters Accidentally Exposes Thai Regime's "Supporters"
November 30, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - Reuters, in perhaps an attempt to prop up the crumbling Wall Street-backed regime in Bangkok, Thailand, has attempted to portray it as a popular, "democratically elected" government. What its article, "Thailand's red-shirt heartland hides its strength," ends up doing instead, is exposing the regime's support base as a pitiful, forsaken segment of Thai society, manipulated and exploited for now over a decade to build up an unassailable voting block and violent personality cult upon which the Thaksin Shinawatra regime stands.
Reuters' report claims:
As thousands of largely middle-class Thais flood Bangkok streets in protests aimed at overthrowing the government of the populist Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, one volatile factor has been largely absent from the streets: the red-shirted protesters who helped bring her to power.
But in the background, the red shirts remain a potent force, despite being hobbled by a bitterly divided leadership and the atrophy that comes with more than two years of their side being in power.Reuters intentionally downplays the numbers and constitution of the masses swelling in the streets of Bangkok, andnow in provinces across the country, including in the rural areas once thought to be exclusively behind the Shinawatra regime.
It also attempts to explain why, thus far, counter rallies organized by the Shinawatra regime, have been dwarfed by anti-regime protests.
Reuters continues, mentioning the bizarre "red villages" dictator Thaksin Shinawatra has created to oust the opposition and intimidate dissenters:
Hua Khua is one thousands of communities that movement leaders call "Red Shirt Villages". These days, this means little more than one tattered office bearing Thaksin's image. But support here for the government runs high.
Love for Thaksin stems from pro-poor policies during his time in power, including easy credit and near-free healthcare. More recently, his sister's government has maintained support with a rice subsidy scheme, which has been derided by the opposition. The economy in the northeast grew 40 percent between 2007 and 2011, nearly twice the national average.
There are some signs support may have slipped a little. A survey by the Isaan Poll Project, run out of the city of Khon Kaen, found Puea Thai's support in the northeast dropped from 80 percent after her 2011 election to about 64 percent in the third quarter of this year.
Of course, between 2007-2011, the Shinawatra regime was not actually in office, but their main opposition, the Democrats were. Yingluck Shinawatra came to power in 2011, and since then, the economy has faltered, particualry because of unsustainable, vote-buying populist schemes. The Bangkok Post reported that the losses for the 2011/2012 season were estimated at around 140 billion baht and a staggering 210 billion baht for the 2012/2013 season.
The Bangkok Post's article, "Govt accepts it will lose on rice" quoted Jac Luyendijk, CEO at Swiss Agri Trading SA, who stated:
We have to keep in mind that with these increasing rice stocks in Thailand, the problem will become bigger and bigger. Once Thailand unloads its stockpile we will look to very depressed rice prices for years to come.One can only guess as to why Reuters is intentionally misleading readers. Perhaps, just like TIME magazine recently did, it is accepting money from Thaksin Shinawatra's vast army of Washington lobbyists to write stories in support of his dictatorship.
Reuters then articulates perhaps the most revealing piece of the narrative by stating:
The red rallies have been limited in size by the fact that the rice harvest is now on, tying up much of the protest muscle in the fields, leaders and members say. But if the crisis drags on, and harvest time ends, that should no longer be a factor.Reuters admits that currently the regime is "busing in" regime supporters:
Red shirts have been bussed in their thousands for regular rallies at Rajamangala Stadium, in a Bangkok suburb far from the government buildings being targeted by their opponents. A major gathering is planned for Saturday evening.It appears that Reuters concedes that the regime's support base are predominantly impoverished rice farmers from the country's northeast, notorious for its lack of infrastructure including proper schools. It also concedes that the regime is busing in supporters, indicating that what little support the regime is able to show to the world, is support it itself has organized, not grassroots.
Photos: Regime's supporters. Top: True believers in "democracy?" Machete wielding thugs during 2009's failed insurrection. Bottom: The establishment of politically exclusive zones called "red villages" and "red districts" where Thaksin is literally declaring political monopolies and intimidating opposition from expressing themselves. While the Thaksin denies this is their intent - there have been horrific incidents of violence throughout Thaksin's northeast epicenter of support, including the infamous hacking to death of a radio DJ's father after speaking ill of the UDD - covered in an interview with red shirt propagandist Kanyapak Maneejak (DJ Aom) of Thaksin's Chiang Mai Rak 51 faction. Kanyapak states that red shirt mobs were simply "following their hearts" when they butchered the old man outside the gates of his own home.
What Reuters, TIME, and other western media organizations have attempted to do, is portray the regime's supporters as "pro-democracy" and its opponents as "anti-democracy." Are we to believe that the only people in Thailand, some 15 million who voted for the Shinawatra regime out of a population of 65 million, are the only ones capable of comprehending and appreciating real democracy?
Of course not - in reality what the regime has done is targeted a foresaken region in the country, plagued by economic problems and mired in a cycle of poverty driven by a lack education and opportunities, and exploited it rather than lifting it out of these conditions. The "supporters" the regime is busing in are still pitifully impoverished, poorly educated, and clearly exhibiting dangerous signs of cultism built up around the personality of billionaire, mass murdering fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra. And like all regime-backed cults of personality, the violence of the "red shirts" is notorious.
While Reuters claims the "red shirts" have thus far avoided confronting anti-regime protesters, mob leaders havealready attempted to clash with protesters at several locations. Only quick action by the police and the fact that pro-regime mobs were outnumbered by anti-regime protesters, prevented the sort of bloodshed typical with "red shirt" gatherings. In the few instances where pro-regime thugs had similar numbers, injuries were reported.
Perhaps most chilling is Reuters' quotes of villagers it claims to have interviewed. In regards to the anti-regime protesters it stated:
Squatting on flat feet, their faces drawn with exhaustion from harvesting rice, Chantee Sanwang and Nang Laor still had the energy to tussle over who loathes Thailand's anti-government protesters more.
"I really hate them," said Chantee, a rail-thin 65 year-old grandmother with teeth stained red by betel nut.
Nang, also 65, refused to be outdone. "I want them dead," she countered, sending both into wheezy hysterics.Of course, a cult of personality standing in support of a regime, scarcely will think for itself. If regime supporters have said it, it is because the regime's demagogues have told them to. A former Reuters journalist, now hired pen of Thaksin Shinawatra's lobbyist, Robert Amsterdam, has recently revealed "plans" by the regime to use violence to discredit the growing mass of protesters. He stated on his Facebook page that:
Thaksin Shinawatra's secret "black shirt" force of provocateurs, mostly made up of navy SEALS and marines, is back on the streets again for the first time since May 2010 and has infiltrated Suthep's rabble. If protests escalate they will seek to incite deadly violence ahead of King Bhumibol's birthday to discredit Suthep and his movement for good.
The regime itself has admitted, according to Bangkok's Nation in their article, "Govt ups ante in publicity battle with protesters," that (emphasis added):
"We have rejected several parties' demands for a House dissolution. The party's [Thaksin's Peua Thai Party] urgent strategy is to create fear among the public that the anti-government protests are violating the law," the source said.This open conspiracy most likely is intended to terrorize protesters into staying home on Sunday, December 1, the day of yet another mass mobilization. Previously, hundreds of thousands of protesters choked the streets of Bangkok, dwarfing pro-regime rallies by several factors even at their absolute heights. A second rally of this scale would be devastating for the embattled regime.
However, now, if violence does occur in an attempt to discredit protesters, it will be blamed squarely on the regime - who, according to a former Reuters journalist, has now openly conspired to mass murder dissenters. While the West stands silent with hypocrisy and complicity, the Thai Army will have the justification needed to finally mobilize and remove the regime, just as was down in Egypt regarding Muslim Brotherhood arch-terrorist/dictator and Wall Street proxy, Mohammed Morsi.
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