It had to happen – the BBC’s Jonathan Head went back to Udorn Thani to interview the woman who a few months ago lovingly touched a portrait of Thaksin Shinawatra declaring her undying love. As predicted this week Jonathan was back interviewing the red shirt woman again this time saying she could not talk because of the military crackdown nor could she eat or sleep. It was like torture for her.
(Another thing which had to happen is that this blog went up accidentally when I was still playing around in non-pc mode)
Anyway this week this woman's picture of Thaksin was unceremoniously taken down for the BBC along with other signs in the red shirt village. There she is above stroking it. A farmer was quoted as saying ‘There are more of us here than in the whole army’ , er, but they have got guns.
So who is winning this media battle? Well undoubtedly the BBC and all other organisations who abhor the thought of military rule. That of course makes me out of sync with the political world. But media and foreign governments are still having trouble trying to prove this is an oppressive military regime.
They are counting on that with the arrests of people giving three fingered salutes – though of course if you gave a V sign to a bobby in the UK you might get arrested too.
It was a bit of a coup though catching a soldier, er, who took the military's happiness order to an extreme level by pleasuring himself outside a TV station's changing room.
Of course there are people who do not seem too concerned about the 2,500 odd people who were injudicially killed (murdered) during Thaksin’s drugs war, those who were massacred at the Bai and Kru se mosque incidents in the Shinawatra’s crackdown on muslims in the south etc. in the name of democracy. That's why they want the old 'democratic' system back.
Let me take that back. Perhaps they do care. But despite allegations of Shinawatra’s plundering of the country, they feel that his good qualities far outweigh his drawbacks. And what's more he is a man of the people.
General Prayuth is however scoring points by singing a ‘happiness’ song, organizing ‘happiness’ parties, lifting the curfews, putting 'army pretties' on the street and saying ‘Enjoy’. The army is also scoring massive brownie points in Phuket and Pattaya dismantling corrupt systems...and the rest.
In Phuket the police have put away over 100 taxi drivers who were holding the country and tourists to ransom and removed the local police chief.
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| Superintendent Supachai the deposed Pattaya Police commander. His poster prepared by the Pattaya People Media Group of Neils Colov was still up yesterday. |
Now that's very straight talking for Thailand.
Colonel Supatree was of course a senior officer at Region 2 headquarters in Chonburi, so one is entitled to ask why they did not change things sooner. The answer is presumably they had recently had a kick in the butt.
Now as a journalist throughout my life I have naturally taken the side of the poor against the rich. So what I have written here. Does that make me a fascist, or pragmatist?
I am really enjoying what the army is doing at the moment...and its just beginning. In an ideal world there will be a clean sleep leaving a level playing field.
Seems the military have more than a few complaints about affairs in Pattaya and Phuket.
Perhaps a rich person in Thailand might go to jail. There is always a first for everything.
For balance go here to read Robert