Quote:
Originally Posted by brocko
They want the current government out because it's corrupt. Those with a good memory or have been following the events with regards to Thailands political situation may remember the military coup back in '06 that led to the exile of the then current Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Well this is basically a continuation of that. Even though he has been exiled in London, his party is still in power due to the misguided rural support. They had an election after the coup but due to the rurals misguided support the same corrupt government is still in power, which brings the whole damn thing back to square one and makes the coup in the first place all for naught... =/ Their main aim is not the suppression of the poor rural, but rather the ousting of a corrupt government and a call for Thai democracy.
Also I'd like to encourage people to visit and read the source provided or at least part of it in order to understand some context in which Xellos-_^'s quote was under.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/wo...08thai.html?hp
They've been on a mass non-stop protest for a good while now (since May i think the article mentioned?) and its a shame that things had to get violent now when it had been peaceful for the majority of it =/ |
No offense but form several of the articles i have read on CNN and the NYTimes. The freedom alliance pretty much wants to excluded the rural poor form voting because they support the Thaskin's party.
Instead of trying to find out why the rural poor supports Thaskin's party and come up with programs to draw up away the support of the rural poor, they decided to stage a coup. Make no mistake about it this is a coup attempt just without the guns. The freedom alliance wants to overthrow a legitimate government voted in by the majority of the people of Thailand. Establish thier own government and exclude anyone else that disagree with them.
form older NyTimes articles:
Quote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/wo...hp&oref=slogin
“The People’s Alliance for Democracy is not a pro-democracy movement,” said Charles Keyes, an expert on Thailand at the University of Washington in Seattle, referring to the group that is leading the protests.
It is taken for granted here that the pro-Thaksin government would win a new election because it has the support of the rural and urban poor, a clear majority of the Thai electorate. This makes a democratic election less attractive for the anti-government group. Protest leaders mostly speak for the middle class, in an alliance of convenience with a royalist establishment that feels threatened by the emerging power of the poor.
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Quote:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/wo....html?ref=asia
The protests against Mr. Samak’s government are being led by a group that calls itself the People’s Alliance for Democracy, which accuses him of corruption and of being a puppet of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a nonviolent coup two years ago.
On Sunday, Amorn Amornratananont, a leader of the People’s Alliance, said the group wanted to overhaul the voting system to dilute the power of less-educated people.
“We need a revolution,” he said as he signed autographs on the lawn of the prime minister’s compound, where thousands of protesters are camped in a carnival-like atmosphere.
One of the protesters seeking his autograph, Phloenphit Likitikul, 34, expressed similar concerns about poor voters.
“It’s too easy to manipulate poor people,” she said. “We’re a democracy, but we’re not really ready for it.”
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the freedom alliance can claim all they want that Thaskin's government but at least he was elected in a fair election by the majority of the countries people.