Thread: Coup 2014 !!!! : Military 'takes control' in Thailand

Originally Posted by thegent

If the unemployed and less than industrious of Isaan wanted to they could improve their lot by seeking proper employment elsewhere in the economy. But they don't, much preferring to spend their time in feckless indolence funded by subsidy and loans.

Can't get a cleaner here in the village. No alternative but to look at employing Burmese.

Same in my wife's village. The folk are there, nevertheless, it's just that the income through loans and rice subsidy seems to sustain them. The young are a complete washout and simply ponce off their parents, loll about or disappear to the nearby town to hang around there. Work is fitful and subsistence orientated to fund that time lolling about.

The career path towards easier money by ensnaring a farang is definitely perceived as the main route to success.

These villages seem to vary from area to area. In the mrs large Khamin village there is only one girl known to have ever sold her arse in the sex trade. All the kids I have seen have gone on to be pharmacists, engineers, teachers, office workers and many noodle sellers, all around Trat for some reason. The noodle sellers can make 100k a month in a good location. What will happen in the future though as very few seem willing to work the land like their parents have.

Originally Posted by terry57

Originally Posted by Exit Strategy

Enjoy your curfew and restrictions

Makes absolutely no difference to me or the majority of expats in Thailand.

The ones who are effected are the ones trying to run a business and maybe a few hard core mongers wanting to troll bars in certain areas.

No big deal is it.

Have to agree with that generally - as long as you don't want to exit your condo after 10p. I think there was lot of traffic last night after 10pm but can't be sure perhaps I was dreaming. I am sure they were all military vehicles. But business is hit. Here is no military presence except 3 humvees and 8/12 patrol near govt place on the big road. They are friendly. Suk and Silom might be different.

And most foreigners are not invited to Army Club, so Keep Calm And Stay Out.

Originally Posted by Exit Strategy

And most foreigners are not invited to Army Club

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave...

Originally Posted by tomta

This was planned and very imperfectly executed.

Of course it was planned.

Is it worrisome that it wasn't a spur of the moment thing?

In the circumstances?

Really?

Originally Posted by thegent

The career path towards easier money by ensnaring a farang is definitely perceived as the main route to success.

True. Parents here are paying 30,000+ Baht for introductions to farang on the internet for their daughters.

Does anyone know if Pattaya or the islands are actually enforcing this curfew? I'm not bothered by Hua Hin since that place seems to have operated its own curfew for years, but it would be nice to know the actualite. If it is I am seriously considering a week in Penang.

Originally Posted by cyrille

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave...

As a falang better you never check in

Originally Posted by thegent

Does anyone know if Pattaya or the islands are actually enforcing this curfew?

Yes, here in Pattaya the BIB have been quite serious about enforcing the curfew in fact ordering some bars closed much earlier than the 10.00pm deadline.

Thank you for that Loy Toy. A bit disappointed but I should imagine the head honchos are bound to be looking over their shoulders for the time being.

Originally Posted by xanax

These villages seem to vary from area to area. In the mrs large Khamin village there is only one girl known to have ever sold her arse in the sex trade. All the kids I have seen have gone on to be pharmacists, engineers, teachers, office workers and many noodle sellers, all around Trat for some reason. The noodle sellers can make 100k a month in a good location. What will happen in the future though as very few seem willing to work the land like their parents have.

Very true. I live fairly close to a farming village that seems quite progressive. There are two pretty decent village shops, and various other business enterprises that do quite well. Many of the young do indeed attend school and the place has produced some very successful adults over the years.

There is a certain portion of the population that would certainly fit in well with the Gents description, but there are many more who would not.

What makes it all puzzling is that there are several other villages in the area where the populations are basically wards of the state. I really don't know what makes the difference. Maybe leadership....or just a bit of fortuitous good breeding.....??

Indeed, Koman, my experience too. One village can be host to more than its fair share of Lao Khao addicts, card schools and recalcitrant youths yet another is full of industry and temperance.

Either way, the land as a means of securing the future is on borrowed time. I recall a recent census in which the average age of an agricultural worker/ farmer is around the 50 mark and rising. There is a precedent for this shift in the West when the French finally abandoned its cultural attachment to small holdings and accepted the industrial revolution. Villages there are in the main quaint museums with scarcely a young person to be seen.

Subsistence farming will disappear.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Originally Posted by thegent

Does anyone know if Pattaya or the islands are actually enforcing this curfew?

Yes, here in Pattaya the BIB have been quite serious about enforcing the curfew in fact ordering some bars closed much earlier than the 10.00pm deadline.

What the bar owners, and the girls, think?

Originally Posted by Exit Strategy

What the bar owners, and the girls, think?

i should imagine the girls will be the happier. No more sitting in the bar til the early hours and an abundance of sex pests queueing up to long time them early in the night

^ Little money to buy their Hello Kitty IPhones with either.

Clip of British Ambassador posted yesterday.

Unfortunate face.

Wonder why the UK seems to have a different ambassador every six months.

The US seems to switch them far less regularly.

General coverage posted yesterday

What do you think about this my wife said, and it's common knowledge ,
That Yinglack is Thaksins daughter not his sister.
She is from his first wife when he was a young man , I said how do you know this , she said everyone knows but it's not talked about.

Mark "Superman" Kent has been en poste for the past two years.

He replaced the temporary incumbent, Asif Ahmad, who in turn was parachuted in to fill the void left when the then ambassador Quinton Quayle short toured himself to take up a job with Chang brewery.

Originally Posted by thegent

Quinton Quayle short toured himself to take up a job with Chang brewery.

Is that right?

Trust a West Brom fan to have his priorities right.

Originally Posted by nevets

What do you think about this my wife said, and it's common knowledge ,
That Yinglack is Thaksins daughter not his sister.
She is from his first wife when he was a young man , I said how do you know this , she said everyone knows but it's not talked about.

If true, he would have sired her when he was 17. Doubt that that would fit with his biography.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Originally Posted by thegent

Quinton Quayle short toured himself to take up a job with Chang brewery.

Is that right?

Trust a West Brom fan to have his priorities right.

Quayle was a foppish, self indulgent man with no conception of public service beyond how it might have served his own ambitions.

Rather nice photograph of him with the transvestite McMafia chappie taken in Pattaya. Just goes to show how utterly clueless the FO here can be.

Despite Army Officer's Fiery Rants, Anti-Coup Protest Largely Peaceful
May 26, 2014 Khaosod English News
http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1401112648&typecate=06§ion=

BANGKOK — Anti-coup protesters staged another largely peaceful demonstration at Victory Monument in Bangkok today, despite one military officer's attempt to rile the crowd with a provocative diatribe.

Speaking from an army humvee fitted with a loudspeaker, a military officer accused the protesters of being paid by their organisers, and urged the foreign media covering the demonstration to go home because they don't understand Thailand.
"There have been many coups in Thailand. This isn't the first time," the unnamed soldier told the foreign press. "The foreign correspondents are scroundels. They are here to sell Thailand."

The comments drew heated responses from the protesters, many of whom yelled insults at the soldiers and riot police who were stationed by the humvee on Phayathai road. Others threw bottles of water in anger.

"The protesters don't love the country," the military officer said over the loudspeaker in response. "Those who throw water bottles are scums."

He continued, "The military is here to maintain order and ensure safety for the people, whereas the protesters are here to cause trouble. They cause traffic jams that affect the public ... [affected citizens] should come look at these damn protesters ... who don't want our country to be peaceful."

The military officer made several other bold assertions, including the accusation that armed elements had infiltrated the protest and were plotting to overthrow Thailand's important institutions. He also claimed that the military has photographed every protester and will visit them in their homes.
The unusually provocative comments led many protesters to suspect that the military was trying to goad demonstrators into attacking the security forces to provide the pretext for a military crackdown.

The presence of water cannons and several companies of troops — some armed with automatic rifles — on the nearby Phayathai Road appeared to confirm protesters' suspicions that the army was prepared for a crackdown.

The arrival of of pro-coup protesters on the scene added to the rally's already-tense atmosphere. The group was led by Cpt. Songklot Chuenchoopol, a military officer known for his activism against the former government.

The pro-coup group shouted verbal abuses at the anti-coup protesters and instigated several heated arguments. However, no violence broke out, and Cpt. Songklot disappeared from the protest shortly after the military loudspeaker started berating the anti-coup crowd.

The protesters eventually started to disperse after sundown. Road traffic and Skytrain service — which was suspended on the stations close to Victory Monument during the rally — was restored. No arrests or injuries were reported.
Today's protest marks yet another outburst of defiance against the military junta led by Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, which has banned public gatherings of more than five people. Earlier this afternoon, Gen Prayuth warned that those who defy the ban will be met with "harsh" law enforcement and may face prosecution in military courts.

Despite the military officer's accusations, our correspondents at the scene found no evidence of protesters being paid. In fact, the anti-coup demonstrations that have cropped up around the city since the military staged a coup d’etat last Thursday appear to lack a clear leader or organising force. The Facebook page "People Have Had Enough," which was behind earlier protests at the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre (BACC), said today that it has asked supporters to suspend activities for "1-2 days" to monitor the situation.

However, a fugitive activist, Sombat Boonngarm-anong, has already called for another major anti-coup rally at Ratchaprasong Intersection in Bangkok on 1 June.

This clip is from the above protest. The first one doesn't have anyone speaking English but it does have an comment in English on it. It's from Prachatai's youtube.




Second is from different source. Same location.