Militaire coup in Thailand

[tomm]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Kunoichi

And that is fine by you.

Nee, maar in Egypte gaat het tussen het militaire regime en moslim-fundamentalisten, in Thailand tussen de boeren en arbeiders en de elite die traditioneel de macht heeft.

[tomm]

en als je denkt dat het niet meer belachelijker kan:
repressie in de 21ste eeuw:

The military also said that liking an anti-coup page on Facebook constitutes a criminal offence.[128]Thai protesters against the coup have been reported to use the three-finger salute from The Hunger Games film series, symbolising their opposition to the coup.[129] The three fingers represent equality, liberty and brotherhood.[130] The military announced that it will arrest anyone who uses the salute.[131] Protesters then adopted sandwich as their new anti-coup symbol. They held activities of handing out sandwiches to those who wanted them, shouting "Sandwiches for democracy!".[132] On 22 June 2014, a student eating sandwiches in front of Siam Paragon and a group of students who were to organise a sandwich activity at the same venue were apprehended and were later placed under detention.[133] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Th...al_endorsement

[Klein Licht]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door tomm

Ik had gehoopt dat het in Egypte de goede kant zou opgaan, maar helaas is Sisi gewoon een nieuwe versie van Mubarak geworden.

Wie had dat ooit kunnen denken

[tomm]

Less than a month since Thailand’s military seized power by a coup d’etat, the junta has been quick in attempting to “normalise” their illegal power grab.

Seeking to shore up support, the junta has launched a charm offensive by sending a delegation to China, where they now claim to have support for their coup, and hosting visits of military leaders from neighboring states. This regional strategy could place extraordinary pressure on Washington to recognize the coup or risk watching a key ally drift into Chinese hands.

For anyone who remembers the 2006 coup, there may be a sense of déj�* vu. At first, foreign governments made strong statements, followed by inaction, and later followed by resignation and acquiescence.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was firm in his initial comments, stating: “There is no justification for this military coup. (…) We are reviewing our military and other assistance and engagements, consistent with U.S. law.”

The law on this matter is clear—no U.S. aid can go to a government whose elected representative was deposed by a military coup. A large-scale joint exercise with the Thai military has already been cancelled, but still no sanctions have been tabled.

The European Union’s initial reaction was similar, but so far they have refused to suspend arms sales or discuss sanctions. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton urged the military to release the thousands of detained political prisoners and ease censorship, and said that they are following developments with “extreme caution.”

Unfortunately, more is needed.



Last time there was a coup in Thailand, Western nations failed to support the democratic will of the Thai people. The generals have clearly interpreted the message that a coup only poses short-term inconveniences instead of real consequences.

Before the May 2014 coup, Thailand had experienced 18 interruptions of it democracy by the military. It begs the question: if leading Western governments and trade partners with Thailand were less permissive and forgiving in response to military coups, would they continue to occur with such frequency? Have we lowered our expectations for Thailand?

There is no ambiguity about the repression taking place in Thailand today. The junta’s soldiers have arrested and held thousands of detainees at gunpoint and beyond the reach of their families (or lawyers) or weeks. Thai citizens can face arrest for almost anything, for example giving the “three-finger” anti-coup salute from the Hunger Games film, while the military is threatening to jail people based on “liking” social media content. The ugly spectre of lese majeste is flourishing, while even people outside of Thailand have been threatened by the coup leadership.

For generals such as Prayuth Chan-ocha, an architect of the massacre that murdered more than 90 unarmed protesters four years ago, the coup represents both an economic opportunity (military budgets have already been increased with zero transparency) as well as an engine of impunity—an obligatory exercise taking place once every decade or so to cover up responsibility for human rights crimes. There are unfortunately a class of citizens in Thailand who do not believe that their fellow countrymen enjoy equal rights to representation. This kind of tyranny poses a chilling image of what could happen next.

The coup began long before the Army’s declaration of martial law. It was forged under the so-called People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) of former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who had been charged with murder. Any other government would have arrested and convicted this man, Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration was stripped of its most basic powers typically endowed to an elected government.

If the international community wants to see Thailand successfully emerge from the coup, strong action is required, beginning with and not limited to actions such as a steadfast refusal to recognise the junta as a legitimate government of Thailand, halting of all arms sales and military cooperation, targeted sanctions against assets and travel privileges of coup leaders, sanctions and public boycotts of the main business conglomerates who financially sponsored Suthep’s overthrow of the elected government and demanding the immediate restoration of democratic governance.

A failure to respond to this coup in a much stronger way than the past will only perpetuate this destructive cycle. It is time to expect more from Thailand and stand behind democratic values. It may be our last opportunity to do so.

Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners LLP serves as international defence counsel to the United National Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), and prominent Red Shirt group in Thailand. Jakrapob Penkair is a founder of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and former Minister and Member of Thailand’s Parliament. He resigned from the government after criticisms of his 2007 comments against the nation’s patronage culture and left the country after a military crackdown on protesters against the 2008 judicial ouster of the government he had served.

http://robertamsterdam.com/thailand/

[Antoon]

tomm, als ik je goed begrijp dan schrijf je nu dat het vreselijke Westen , dus de VS en Europa, de coup protesteren en jouw idolen in China meeheulen met de militaire Junta die tegen de kommunistische terroristen optreedt.

naughty naughty !

[tomm]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Antoon

tomm, als ik je goed begrijp dan schrijf je nu dat het vreselijke Westen , dus de VS en Europa, de coup protesteren en jouw idolen in China meeheulen met de militaire Junta die tegen de kommunistische terroristen optreedt.

naughty naughty !

Nee, het regime pretendeert dat China hen steunt, maar dat is helemaal niet zo. Wat in Thailand gebeurt is zo belachelijk doorzichtig dat zelfs het Westen dat regime onmogelijk kan steunen. China gaat ervan uit dat dit een zaak is tussen Thais onderling, hun principe van niet-ingrijpen in de binnenlandse aangelegenheden van andere landen, sinds Mao, is heilig. En begrijpelijk, als je de westerse en Japanse misdaden in China kent. Maar hun echte sympathie gaat natuurlijk uit naar de "rooien" en Thaksim, en in de luwte doet China er alles aan hem te steunen.

[Calvinist]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door tomm

Met rode Khmer heeft dit niets te zien. Wel is het zo dat de eerste minister van Cambodia een vriend is van de verdreven Thaise eerste minister Thaksin.

Toevallig heb ik heel wat vrienden wonen in Thailand. Vorig jaar nog geweest trouwens. Thaksin was een corrupte man van de bovenste plank. Velen Thai zijn nog steeds zeer boos op hem vnl in Bangkok en de randstedelijke regio erom heen moeten ze niets van die vent hebben. In het Noorden, Chang-Rai en Chang-Mai is hij dan weer populair...bij de vnl arme papaverboertjes...

[tomm]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Calvinist

Toevallig heb ik heel wat vrienden wonen in Thailand. Vorig jaar nog geweest trouwens. Thaksin was een corrupte man van de bovenste plank. Velen Thai zijn nog steeds zeer boos op hem vnl in Bangkok en de randstedelijke regio erom heen moeten ze niets van die vent hebben. In het Noorden, Chang-Rai en Chang-Mai is hij dan weer populair...bij de vnl arme papaverboertjes...

Die papaverboertjes zijn wel met heel wat meer, en hun stem bepaald dus wie aan de macht komt als het spel democratisch gespeeld wordt. Vermits de elite net als U een minachting hebben voor de "papaverboerkes", wordt het spel niet democratisch gespeeld en kent Thailand nu een militaire coup.

Misschien een ideetje voor hier? Mochten enkel zelfstandigen en bedrijfsleiders mochten stemmen zou het politieke landschap er heel anders uitzien...