Dear protesters, stop cramping my lifestyle

Published: 1 Nov 2012 at 09.31
Online news: Opinion

People love to masturbate over the righteousness of their cause, but turn a blind eye to, and make a laundry list of excuses for, the abuses that pave their glorious path.

On Saturday morning, hopping into the Honda Civic and driving out of the little soi of my slum neighbourhood, there was quite a traffic jam. Congested, standing still, on Witthayu Road up ahead there was a parade of trucks and motorbikes with their signature red shirts and flying the red banners.

One banner on the side of a truck declared that they were looking for a particular "murderer of the people".

This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.

Forum

Your comments

onlyasking
Post : 452
Send message

Discussion 9 : 01 Nov 2012 at 18.009
Post this to my Facebook
D 7 The US constitution have been ammended 18 times (the 1st 10 at the same time) in over 200 years, the Thai constitution have been rewritten every couple of years depending on the party in control. This was my first point. My second point was that democracies grow over time and that at certain stages in this growth process it can go through rough times like the civil war in the US. This was my second point. During this growth process people must accept that others may differ in their views and may express their rights in different ways and that people should tolerate this. My third point.
Like dislike 18 people liked / 5 people disliked this comment
whatajoke
Post : 1,741
Send message

Discussion 8 : 01 Nov 2012 at 17.378
Post this to my Facebook
Voranai, I think you need to point out that much that we're all getting sick of protests, there are very real grievances hijacked by kooks. And the problem we have in Thailand is that the influential, be they the govt, the proxy leaders, the army or Amart bend or disable the levers of justice so that it becomes fruitless trying to hold people accountable, and the remaining recourse is to take to the streets, even to the detriment of the country, because their cause is a passionate one.
Like dislike 23 people liked / 5 people disliked this comment
ringmaster
Post : 741
Send message

Discussion 7 : 01 Nov 2012 at 16.207
Post this to my Facebook
onlyasking #6 I beg to differ. It is our Declaration of Independence, written 11 years prior to the Constitution, which is the backbone of our democracy. As Thomas Jefferson put it in the Declaration, governments, “derive their just power from the consent of the governed.” And it was the Declaration that was four score and seven years before Gettysburg. So, while a civil war was being fought to hold the country together, Lincoln rededicated the country not to the rules of the Constitution, but to the Declaration’s vision of equal opportunity and democracy.
Like dislike 8 people liked / 21 people disliked this comment
onlyasking
Post : 452
Send message

Discussion 6 : 01 Nov 2012 at 15.166
Post this to my Facebook
A democracy starts with a constitution that's based on deep founded principles not politics of the day. A constitution is not changed as soon as a new government comes into place, it must be a reflection of what the citizens wants, it must be understood by everyone and it must be lived out in society. After this is inplace a democracy must grow and it takes time, along time. The US went through a civil war enroute to todays democracy. There is no magic quick fix or short cut. Sometimes in this process people will infringe on each others rights, sometimes people will not agree, but to my knowledge there are no alternative.
Like dislike 25 people liked / 5 people disliked this comment
commee
Post : 222
Send message

Discussion 5 : 01 Nov 2012 at 13.315
Post this to my Facebook
Let's have truth in our democracy and rebuild the country.... It doesn't need to be based on hatred. It should be based on unifying Thailand.
Like dislike 25 people liked / 6 people disliked this comment
Eric
Post : 1,150
Send message

Discussion 4 : 01 Nov 2012 at 13.064
Post this to my Facebook
Need not look far but our neighbors who are thriving ahead of us and a common denominator surface. None has repeated coups. Coups set us back in just about everything, creat the divisiveness and allow our democracy to be compromise by manipulators while the common people bear the full brunt of the suffering. Malaysia, Indonesia & Phillipines have corruption just like us but the difference is that they either don't have coups or have the last one long time ago. Let democracy solve its problems. Don't underestimate the decision making of the voters when democracy is allowed to develope.
Like dislike 19 people liked / 19 people disliked this comment
doode
Post : 13
Send message

Discussion 3 : 01 Nov 2012 at 12.373
Post this to my Facebook
Dear K. Voranai,

Thank you for this opinion:)
You're talking my thoughts!!!
Like dislike 33 people liked / 4 people disliked this comment
dao
Post : 4,619
Send message

Discussion 2 : 01 Nov 2012 at 12.052
Post this to my Facebook
I suggest the two sides debate each other .It could be on TV or it could be a public forum area where 2 platforms exist One person from each side can go up and challenge who ever the speaker is on the other side .Rich or poor influenced or not .My other idea involves a roman Colosseum theme but I dont think we could take that much excitement .
Like dislike 30 people liked / 6 people disliked this comment
wakeup
Post : 760
Send message

Discussion 1 : 01 Nov 2012 at 11.391
Post this to my Facebook
Indeed - time for the silent majority to drown out the political squabbling with pragmatism. The system doesn't work - start replacing it with local alternatives that do. Cut off the special interests on both sides, drown out their threats and calls to rally with pragmatic solutions. If enough people are convinced to determine their destiny with their own two hands rather than in the voting booth or in the streets, perhaps Thailand would not be an attractive place for manipulators to fight over.
Like dislike 36 people liked / 6 people disliked this comment

First Previous 1 2

Dear protesters, stop cramping my lifestyle | Bangkok Post: opinion