Spectre of state violence just won't go away

COMMENTARY

Spectre of state violence just won't go away

Published: 9 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

The commemoration of the bloody 6 Oct 1976 crackdown against the student-led rally inside Thammasat University is usually a low-key event, observed by former student activists and relatives of the dead.

This year, however, this dark chapter of modern Thai history seems to be receiving more attention, thanks to the growing interest of the red shirts.

The slogan of this year's commemoration shows the red shirts adopting the cause of the Oct 6 rally as their own.

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bangmodken
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Discussion 26 : 10 Oct 2012 at 02.0826
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Hypneros D19 : Do you want democracy for Thailand? If yes,then the Democrats should be allowed to
campaign in the North and North-east without threats,intimidation and violence against them by TS followers. Might be yet another reason why they don't fare well in those areas.
Domdunn D22 : The Court dismissed the case against TS,because the Amart couldn't cut a deal with him??? You're not making sense,Dom. The percieved problems with the so called Amart didn't start before his 2nd term in office when Sondhi and his business partnership went sour.
Domdunn D24 : The vote-buying tradition amongst ALL parties will probably take generations to eliminate plus a major overhaul of the education system. I am not suggesting the Dems would win in every province in the country should there be no vote-buying today,but it would probably help. That AND my reply to Hypneros D19. I presume you can agree that vote-buying/political violence has no place in a democratic society?
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ringmaster
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Discussion 25 : 09 Oct 2012 at 23.5825
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Bangkok massacres in 1973, 1976, 1992, 2010... Bottom line was they were all about crushing pro-democracy movements with complete impunity for the perpetrators. Nothing changes. Although, this time the tactic for absolving responsibility is to blame "armed men in black" amongst the protesters.

If there were some armed protesters then I can certainly understand it. Who can blame them defending themselves when they see the army roll into town? Especially based upon past history.

There should be no surprise what happens the next time there is a disagreement between the military and the voters as to who should lead the country. Nothing changes.
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domdunnn
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Discussion 24 : 09 Oct 2012 at 19.5224
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bangmodken D18

The academic opinion I have seen suggests that 2001 was the last election where vote buying may have changed the election outcome at a national level.

Votes are still bought and change the outcome in some constituencies but not nationally. Are you seriously suggesting that if there was no vote buying the people of the N and NE would have voted for the Dems, I can't believe that.
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domdunnn
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Discussion 23 : 09 Oct 2012 at 19.3823
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bluebkk D21

Not only 'red rhetoric" is capable of defending the present situation.

The latest Suan Dusit poll shows that 55% of respondents want the government to complete its term of office and only 15% want them to go now.

Face it, you are in a tiny minority.
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domdunnn
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Discussion 22 : 09 Oct 2012 at 19.2822
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bangmodken D18

Thaksin should have been found guilty in 2001 but the reason he wasn't was nothing to do with lunch boxes it was because at that stage the amart still thought they could cut a deal with him. When they found that they played no part in his future plans they started to plot to get rid of him.
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bluebkk
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Discussion 21 : 09 Oct 2012 at 18.1021
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Bravo , discussion 19. you said it right...but the reds just want to forget about the lunchboxes and the fact the great fugitive should never have been installed as PM in a state of law.....! And the coup or coups have NOTHING to do with that blame....only red rhetoric is capable of defending this aberration!
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maimeesi
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Discussion 20 : 09 Oct 2012 at 18.0420
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all for one man and his family and his money...thats the problem
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hyponeros
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Discussion 19 : 09 Oct 2012 at 17.3019
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@ Disc. 18:
I never pretended that Thaksin is a good person and if a fair and just court finds him guilty after a fair and just trial then he has to accept the sentence, but we didn't see such a trial so far.
Then, you are not going to make me believe that Thaksin invented the vote buying and that his party is the only one to do it! The "democrats" benefit from the vote buying system, too as well as from corruption!
Finally, this whole mess didn't start with Thaksin as you are pretending but with the "democrats" boycotting elections (since they never win them it wouldn't change much for them) and the army illegally throwing over an democratically elected government. I am not even going to mention the shady actions and arguments from the yellows!
This mess will not end with reds, or yellows winning, but with real justice, accountability and corruption fighting.
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bangmodken
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Discussion 18 : 09 Oct 2012 at 16.2018
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D9 : Yes,Thaksin was democratically elected,if you disregard the rampant vote-buying. And his first act was to deliver a deliberately falsified assets-declaration which in effect disqualified him from taking office. That a lunch-box or two made the court see mildly on this and allowed him to take position as PM,purportedly because of his huge popularity is nothing more than a slap in the face of democracy.
This falsified assets-declaration and the court decision is the root cause of all the color-coded political upheaval we have witnessed ever since. Thaksin had ill intentions from the very beginning.
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Eric
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Discussion 17 : 09 Oct 2012 at 15.3217
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A bold insightful article. Both dreadful events have a commonality besides the participants as Hyperonus posted. Both happen when we have weak Prime Ministers that have no courage to stand up to the military.
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Spectre of state violence just won't go away | Bangkok Post: opinion