Anti-Thaksin movement returns 2 years after coup
After a two year hiatus, normal service has been resumed. The anti-Thaksin movement is back where it started, literally and figuratively. It is as if the coup didn’t happen. Then again, the coup accomplished nothing as it put in some geriatric retirees in power to live out their fantasies of playing politician. The military were hell-bent (for lack of a more appropriate term) on reconciliation, yet the division within Thai society has deepened over the past 17 or so months.
The message the PAD are calling for is the same - a fair and unbiased trial for Thaksin and have him prove himself in court. Thaksin dissolved parliament to avoid a no-confidence debate. Today, his “puppet” PM is trying to amend the constitution to effectively get the lawsuits against Thaksin thrown out. This was after the chief investigator for the first case (Rachada land deal) was transferred to an inactive post. Same old, same old. Nothing has changed. Two years wasted.
Oh, well. The next mob is scheduled for Saturday 5th at Lumpini Park (scene of most of the mid-sized mobs last year, but not the really bigs ones just before the coup). Looks like there will be many more photo opportunities to come. Stay tuned.
Against…
And for…
Keeping the peace
Thammasat seminar / protest: minor update… before dusk
TheMediaSlut has gone partying. So Smartbrain has to take pictures, caption *and* upload… (sigh). TheMediaSlut does not pay Smartbrain enough.
Talk in the auditorium has shifted to the proposed changes to the constitution so that parties guilty of electoral fraud are not disbanded (only the persons involved are banned) and general grumbling (for lack of a better word) on the government being Thaksin nominees and the way it has micromanaged and shifted so many civil servants.
DTAC’s EDGE network is surprisingly fast. Guess not that many people are photoblogging from the event.
Sondhi calls mob to Sanam Luang (sort of)
Smartbrain is in a concert campaigning for democracy in Burma. Sondhi Limthongkul was just on stage and said that next time, it’s Sanam Luang.
Well, to be precise, Sondhi was referring to a conversation with social critic Sor Siwalak who was also in the VIP row with Sondhi.
“Just before he left, Sor Siwalak said that next time, we should meet at Sanam Luang,” he said on stage, on mic.
Sanam Luang, in front of Thammasat University, is where most of the anti-Thaksin and later anti-military protests took place.
Photos later tonight.
