Thai protestors

[hellkat]

I'm not entirely sure (not being THAT up on Thai politics) quite which side of the fence I would stand on the Thai protests.

But I watched a video where today all the Thai red-shirt protestors have been having a small amount of blood removed from themselves, and putting it into big bottles and dumping it as a protest against the current "undemocratic" way the country is being run.

(personally I'm not so sure "their" way was any better, but like I say: I am not that up on Thai internal politics)

So they're just syringing all the blood into big plastic bottles and any old Tom Dick or Harry seems to be carrying it through the crowds to splash it all about the place in protest at some governmental gates or other.

What drew my attention was that there's no question of health and safety, hygiene (the phlebotomists did, to be fair, use what appeared to be sterile needles, swabs, etc., and wore rubber gloves whilst removing the blood) - the just lug these huge big plastic bottles over the heads of the crowd and chuck it all on the street (making sure to miss everybody's shoes and trousers, of course).

Up yours, H.S.E.
https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/3/16/1268753032818/Thai-protesters-make-thei-001.jpg

In this country, such a protest would have fallen flat as soon as the HSE nazis started telling people they had to do it this way or that because of "danger".

Oh, yes. We might spill some blood.
Lets stop. Right now.
And do it properly. Safely.
do me a favour
I like the Thai way: bloody and "dangerous".

The actual video link


The original story I read

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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Frost]

Red shirt = supporter of Thaksin
Yellow shirt = supporter of the king

Little will come of these protests, but it is interesting to see how much support Thaksin has in Bangkok. It's what happens when the king dies that is going to get fucked up!


Situation summary:

Governments aren't popular in Thailand, they never last very long either before the people/king/military get rid of them, corruption is common place. Until recently all elected leaders were from the south and used the taxes from the rural north to make bangkok what it is today.

Thaksin was from the north, was a self made billionaire who actually had everyones best interests at heart. However the military loyal to the king as all thai's are weren't happy with Thaksins high level of support and decided to get rid of him. They did this by an interpretation of an old law that states the leader must give up all his business empire on being elected. Thaksin did give up his companies by giving them to friends and family to hold on to whilst he was leader, the courts argued he hadn't given them up.

The military in support of the king got rid of him and the government and put out arrest warrents for him causing him to flee to the UK. After a period of military rule a new government was put in place. It didn't last long at all before protestors took over the airport demanding the government steps down. The courts recently seized a billion of Thaksins fortune.

In Thailand Thaksin is considered the best leader ever, especially in the north. In private everyone will tell you how good he was, but in public support of Thaksin is seen as being against the military and potentially the king who is practically godlike.

The king is old, in fact he is the longest reigning living monarch and rumors are about that he is sick and someone else might be making decisions for him.

[hellkat]

Yes, I'm finding it quite interesting (diverting away from my original and much more simplistic "laughing at Health and Safety Nazis" topic)

So is it that Thaksin is a bit like how Marcos was, only the people (with the red shirts) actually prefer him ?
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[colin1]

there is a news magazine which is good for this sort of thing

its called the economist

on the protests
https://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15706487

background on the leader of the red shirts
https://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15612253
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Frost]

[hellkat]

It was the Economist article which caught my eye originally, Col.

I used to read the paper version on a fairly regular basis, but a while back I added myself to The Economist's Facebook page so it comes up on my newsfeed and links me straight to their website
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[colin1]

cool, i might try that

nice to meet another economist fan
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[hellkat]

Takes me a week of concentrated reading just to finish one issue, and that was when I had all day at the knocking shop to sit on me arse and read.

Still, yeah, I have to admit, its motivated me to renew my interest in current affairs.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[colin1]

yeah it does take a while to finish off the print issue, thats why i quite like the website, as you can dip in for the odd article or two.

I'm always really impressed with the style, wit, and ability they have of giving a lot of information in a way thats understandable and entertaining.

With most newspapers, if they are ever talking about a topic you know a bit about, you often notice they are talking bollocks, as the journalists are just generalists.

With the economist, their journalists really are experts on what they are talking about, or do their research really well, as they rarely seem to put a foot wrong.
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colin1 is officially faster than god