Two months ago, the protest against the blanket amnesty bill was a thing of beauty.
It was democracy in action where the people showed the Pheu Thai-led government that their voice mattered, even if it was the voice of the minority.
The minority took on Thailand's most potent political machine, headed by Thaksin Shinawatra, and forced his sister, prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, to shelve the bill that would have granted an amnesty to her brother.
Not a shot was fired. No blood spilled. No bombs thrown. No buildings burnt. The wealthy, the middle class and the poor came out in legions and showed the red-shirt United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship what a civil movement could achieve without violence.
In maternity wards across the world, newborn babies smiled a little. Well, that was two months ago. It may as well be two lifetimes ago.
Since then, Suthep Thaugsuban and his People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) have done their best imitations of Jatuporn Prompan and the red shirts. Shots have been fired. Blood has been spilled An uprising has been called for. Come tomorrow, they will attempt to shut down Bangkok.
The reason for all this, they claimed, is to reform Thailand and uproot corruption. This, of course can't be done completely, but at least they can try to the best of their ability.
However, the Thaksin political machine has only been corrupting for the past 10 years, and the practice is merely a natural extension of the ongoing corrupt practices of centuries past that exist in all levels of Thai society.
Thaksin's corruption and human rights abuse records are terrible. But even if Thaksin had never been born, corruption and human rights abuse would still be plaguing Thailand at all levels today.
To get rid of the Thaksin regime is just to clip dirty toenails _ with a rusty clipper, no less. Beware of infection. The clipper is rusty, because heading the PDRC is a group of people representing the ongoing corruption of centuries past.
But it has to start somewhere, the PDRC would argue, and starting with Thaksin and the Pheu Thai Party is as good a place as any. Well, let's entertain that.
Fight corruption by following the lead of another notoriously corrupt political figure, Suthep; by storming government offices, conducting running battles with the police and planning to shut down the entire capital city; and by emulating the practices of the red shirts three years ago. The irony.
Two months ago, the protest against the blanket amnesty bill was a thing of beauty.
It was democracy in action where the people showed the Pheu Thai-led government that their voice mattered, even if it was the voice of the minority.
The minority took on Thailand's most potent political machine, headed by Thaksin Shinawatra, and forced his sister, prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, to shelve the bill that would have granted an amnesty to her brother.
Not a shot was fired. No blood spilled. No bombs thrown. No buildings burnt. The wealthy, the middle class and the poor came out in legions and showed the red-shirt United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship what a civil movement could achieve without violence.
In maternity wards across the world, newborn babies smiled a little. Well, that was two months ago. It may as well be two lifetimes ago.
Since then, Suthep Thaugsuban and his People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) have done their best imitations of Jatuporn Prompan and the red shirts. Shots have been fired. Blood has been spilled An uprising has been called for. Come tomorrow, they will attempt to shut down Bangkok.
The reason for all this, they claimed, is to reform Thailand and uproot corruption. This, of course can't be done completely, but at least they can try to the best of their ability.
However, the Thaksin political machine has only been corrupting for the past 10 years, and the practice is merely a natural extension of the ongoing corrupt practices of centuries past that exist in all levels of Thai society.
Thaksin's corruption and human rights abuse records are terrible. But even if Thaksin had never been born, corruption and human rights abuse would still be plaguing Thailand at all levels today.
To get rid of the Thaksin regime is just to clip dirty toenails _ with a rusty clipper, no less. Beware of infection. The clipper is rusty, because heading the PDRC is a group of people representing the ongoing corruption of centuries past.
But it has to start somewhere, the PDRC would argue, and starting with Thaksin and the Pheu Thai Party is as good a place as any. Well, let's entertain that.
Fight corruption by following the lead of another notoriously corrupt political figure, Suthep; by storming government offices, conducting running battles with the police and planning to shut down the entire capital city; and by emulating the practices of the red shirts three years ago. The irony.
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