Thread: Thailand Coup 2014 : Number of detainees hits 150

Yes, they are brave just in the act of putting themselves out there.

I think it may take a bit more than that though. Because the army can just keep carting them off diligently till the cows come home.

Yes it can. Let's see where it goes.

And - as we're seeing with the Daily Mail coverage - they are basically already opting for the comedy angle of events.

So what - it's the Daily Margaret Thatcher Mail after all -- and proud to have her young, conservative boring women readers as her proteges!

Originally Posted by taxexile

If I had been occupying the central areas of the capital city in my home country for four months, tossing grenades, blocking traffic, closing businesses or causong mayhem, if I was a member of a corrupt government with my fongers in the till at every opportunity then I would indeed be surprised if my freedoms and human rights were not infringed in an effort to restore some sense of normality.

But the thing is, Taxexile, the activities you mentioned in the first part of your sentence mean that you won... every demand of the PDRC has been met

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

All coups here - the mechanical event and process - have been bloodless. It's the riots, demonstrations, and subsequent massacres - before and after [the coup] that most consider to be coup related. These nasty activities have a history - going way back.

They are connected, of course. You can't hold a coup and claim that the subsequent massacres are not part of the coup because the coup happened one day and the massacres on another.

Korn's wife's facebook page calls on the junta to "clean the house properly".

Originally Posted by Dandyhole

Korn's wife's facebook page calls on the junta to "clean the house properly".

Sounds like this coup is slipping beyond authoritarianism and moving swiftly into totalitarianisn - and once done, it doesn't get rolled back.

I don't like this treatment of journalists - it is a bad sign. If they are not released soon and the stranglehold loosened, Thailand has paid too big a price for shedding the PT government

Originally Posted by The Ghost Of The Moog

Sounds like this coup is slipping beyond authoritarianism and moving swiftly into totalitarianisn

Indeed.

Originally Posted by taxexile

The elite are born to rule, thats how it is

Almost beyond belief that folks would make such a statement...

^

Well people might not like to hear that but that's the fact of the matter innit.

Its not like some rice farmer from Issan is going to end up in charge of the country same as some chav from Bournemouth will never end up as the king of England.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Originally Posted by taxexile

The elite are born to rule, thats how it is

Almost beyond belief that folks would make such a statement...

In most countries, it is the privileged and the corrupt that gain office.

As unpalatable as it may be, but it is true.

In all the juvenile rhetoric spouted about democracy et al, many seem to have overlooked the Thai propensity for violence in order to quell a problem. It's imprinted in their culture and is as crude as it is beyond reason.

I find it quite astonishing just how easy it has been for them to overlook the extra-judicial murder of over 2000 victims in 2001/2002 in the bogus war against alleged drug dealers orchestrated by Thaksin but with the support and complicity of the Establishment. It is inconceivable that such a thing could have been permitted in any truly democratic state yet many here still pontificate as if the same rules of civilised government actually prevailed in this country.

They can do, and are capable of, anything they feel like doing and it was always thus. Wittering on about totalitarianism, abuse of freedoms and human rights is utterly redundant when the people themselves have no real interest or understanding of what that means.

Essentially,the Thai deserve the society they create for themselves and this latest development is simply another expression of that.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Originally Posted by taxexile

The elite are born to rule, thats how it is

Almost beyond belief that folks would make such a statement...

I don't even believe someone said that, let me check my calendar is it 1320 or 1790 or 1890? Or end of days when people have access to internet and can say things like that

Democracy works best for the people. All over the world. Always. No exceptions. All of world's richest countries are democracies and always have been in modern times.

But you anti-democracy crowd now gathering here do not want that. Go show your support in the Army Club.

Originally Posted by Exit Strategy

Democracy works best for the people. All over the world. Always. No exceptions. All of world's richest countries are democracies and always have been in modern times.

But you anti-democracy crowd now gathering here do not want that. Go show your support in the Army Club.

Extraordinary post, not least because of its evident ignorance.

God knows how you care to define "Modern Times " but for most modern history began in the 19th Century in which you might be enlightened to know many sections of society were not enfranchised and, indeed, in Britain universal suffrage was not introduced until after the First WW.

The quaint notion that the richest countries are democracies and always have been is quite amusing and probably comes as news to the Japanese, the Germans, the Russians, the Chinese and most certainly to the blacks in the US.

You chaps are really quite funny.

A time will come when the populace will be sufficiently outraged by the ongoing activities of the thugs-in-charge, to launch a true civil war.

Over the past 50 years there is sufficient anecdotal evidence to show that rapid change can occur in a very, very short space of time, when people power takes hold.

The reason that people hold back, is that no-one likes a bloodbath. If sufficiently incensed, reason and self-preservation are overcome.

The tougher the regime, the bloodier the final battle/s. Would that common sense would prevail on all sides.

What you are trying to say is that an era of mob rule is upon us, yes?

Silly boy and clearly quite hysterical.

^ History is the teacher. Read more.

Well, as a bit of an historian myself, I am glad you understand the principle even if you lack the ability to benefit from it.

Originally Posted by Exit Strategy

Democracy works best for the people. All over the world. Always. No exceptions.

Do you think the Taliban should have been allowed in the Afghan elections? Would you have accepted the inevitable result?

Report from a person who visited a detained friend:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...3811571&type=1
Jit Phokaew

First of all, I want to apologize to all of you for causing an unnecessary alarm yesterday. I have visited a friend who was taken away by Thai soldiers on Saturday. He is now detained in the Crime Suppression Division, which belongs to the Police. He said that he deleted many things in his Facebook page by himself after he was captured. So it is not the soldiers who deleted things in his Facebook page as I had wrongfully assumed in my Facebook status yesterday. I’m truly sorry that I jumped to conclusions too quickly and might have caused an unnecessary alarm.

However, he said that his cellphone and other detainees’ cellphones have been seized, and the authority can now access all the information in their cellphones, including LINE and FACEBOOK. I now mean the authority “CAN ACCESS” it, but I don’t say that the authority “HAS DONE” it.

There are about 11 detainees in this detention center. My friend and other detainees’ morale are very low. They have been told that they will be detained for 7 days after they have been captured, but they are not sure if they will be released after that or not. They have not been beaten, but they said that there was a man who was severely beaten brought in here for a while, but then that severely-beaten man was taken to an unknown place. And they are worried for this man very much, because they don’t know who this man is, and don’t know how safe he is now.

My friend was captured by the soldiers on the skywalk near Mahboonkrong Center on Saturday. According to my friend and a witness, there were some people protesting the coup at that time. Then the soldiers started taking away some protesting people. My friend couldn’t stand watching this, so he said loudly,”What are you doing now? Why weren’t you here a few months ago?” And then the soldiers told him to go home. But my friend said that the skywalk should be the place for civilians, and soldiers should be in their barracks. Then the soldiers took my friend away. In my opinion, my friend has done nothing wrong at all. But now he has been detained since Saturday, and may be detained for 7 days.

According to other detainees’ account, they have all been unfairly arrested. A young man was arrested for holding up a piece of paper to protest the coup. An old man said that he was arrested on Sunday at McDonald’s, after he had said to a soldier, “Do you know that the gun you are holding now comes from the tax paid by the people?” Many detainees now warn that if you are gonna protest the coup, you should not say anything at all to the soldiers.

Many detainees wish that they will be released as soon as possible. They said that they don’t want to be a hero at all. Now they just want to live a normal life and carry on their daily activities as before. They hope that some media attention and the pressure from foreign countries may help get them released.

Anyone who wants to visit these detainees can go to the Crime Suppression Division. They can be visited at 0800-0900, 1200-1300, and 1700-1800hrs. They said that they have enough food here, but people can bring in some books or newspaper for them to read. The temperature inside the cell is extremely hot. But I am very impressed by the attitude of the police who work here. The police here are very very helpful.
http://www.csd.go.th/map/

Originally Posted by thegent

indeed, in Britain universal suffrage was not introduced until after the First WW.

Make a list of world's countries, universal suffrage... (there's this new app excel)

Originally Posted by thegent

The quaint notion that the richest countries are democracies and always have been is quite amusing and probably comes as news to the Japanese, the Germans, the Russians, the Chinese

Japan is democratic nation and is rich, so is Germany and rich. Russia is not, and Russia is poor and has always been, per capita.

Let's look at world now, past say 50-100 years is modern times. I was not asking your approval for some historian definition of modern times. Which I am as much equipped as you to give.

Originally Posted by pickel

Originally Posted by Exit Strategy

Democracy works best for the people. All over the world. Always. No exceptions.

Do you think the Taliban should have been allowed in the Afghan elections? Would you have accepted the inevitable result?

Free and fair elections? Of course. Whatever they choose, it's their way and there is no other way. We can just ensure free and fair elections and educate people. And then they won't choose taliban.