Is this the start of another Coup?

[JD]

Protesters seize NBT

BANGKOK: -- Supporters of People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) enclosed the National Broadcasting Service of Thailand (NBT), a government-run television station, on Tuesday morning, forcing it off the air to demand that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his cabinet be removed.

They reportedly entered the back entrance of the station and forced all the employees out of the venue.

The station briefly showed pictures of protesters breaking down the station before blacking out.

Police later arrested a group of 80 protesters, who were reportedly armed with two pistols, knives, and golf clubs.

But PAD core leader Sondhi Limthongkul denied that the men were carrying weapons, saying that it was the protest was done peacefully.

Other groups of protesters, meanwhile, invaded into the compound of the Transport Ministry and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. They, however, did not enter the government buildings.

Another group of PAD supporters also blocked roads around the Government House, forcing the government to cancel the weekly meeting at the site Tuesday.

Local media reported that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej called an urgent meeting with Supreme Commander Boonsang Niampradit and chiefs of armed forces at the army headquarters after the weekly cabinet meeting was called off.

-- Bangkok Post 2008-08-26

Anti-gov't protesters storm NBT television station, halt broadcast

BANGKOK: -- Hundreds of People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators broke through the closed gates of the state-run NBT television station and stormed into the premises, halting all programs, as other groups of the PAD rallies at Government House and the Ministry of Finance to press the government to resign.

After breaking through the NBT gates, the protesters poured into the premises and seized the station. The government-sponsored channel was airing its morning news programme showing the moment the protesters stormed into the the station, for a moment only, as the station went off the air.

Earlier in the day, before dawn at about 5 am, a group of people raided in to the station to try to gain control of the facility. Police eventually regained control of the building and arrested 80 of the raiders.

Police also seized guns, knives, golf clubs and mild drugs from the trespassing protesters.

Meanwhile, Sondhi Limthongkul a core leader of PAD announced at the so-called democracy movements main protest venue at Makkawan Bridge on Ratchadamneon Nok Road that the anti-government protesters had already taken control of the NBT television broadcast facility and that more PAD supporters were heading to join the group at the government television station's compound.

Hundreds of anti-government protestors also rallied at Government House and blocked all gates to its premises in an attempt to bar the Samak government's ministers from attending the weekly Cabinet meeting.

The protestors also staged a demonstration at the Ministry of Finance and the Agriculture and Co-operatives Ministry, where the PAD has reportedly taken over the premises and asked the civil servants and senior officials to stop working.

-- MCOT/TNA 2008-08-26

Footage on NBT shows protesting breaking windows

A footage on NBT's special mobile unit showed protesters storming in NBT station and braking through doors while police watched helplessly.

-- The Nation 2008-08-26

[JD]

PAD block a main highway linking Bangkok and the South

About 1,000 protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy have shut down traffic on Phetkasem Road at Ta Sae district, Chumphon disrupting the transportation between Bangkok and the South.

Protesters were reportedly mobilised from many southern provinces, including Chumphon, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat. They have vowed to block the traffic until the government resigned.

Police have directed vehicles to use alternative routes.

Another group of PAD-led protesters are seen congregating at Bang Saphan district, causing concern that they might be planning to put up additional road block which, if happens, will completely cut off traffic to and from the capital.

-- The Nation 2008-08-26


PAD blocks roads linking Northeast, North, South to Bangkok

Apart from blocking the main road to the South, the People's Alliance for Democracy protesters also blocked the roads linking to the North and Northeast.

The block the northern main road in Phichit and block the Mittraparp Road near Nakhon Ratchaisma to block the gateway to other northeastern provinces.

The blockade was made in Chum Phon, the gateway to southern provinces.

-- The Nation 2008-08-26

[JD]

No coup : Gen Anupong

BANGKOK: -- Army Commander in Chief Gen Anupong Paojinda reiterated on Tuesday that there will be no coup d'etat to quell the ongoing chaos caused by People's Alliance for Democracy-led protest.

The army will not get involved in the situation, he insisted. He was speaking after the protesters stormed into National Broadcasting Television office on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road on Tuesday morning.

-- The Nation 2008-08-26



Army chief: Soldiers won't stage a coup

BANGKOK: -- Army chief Anupong Paochinda vowed that soldiers will not stage a coup d'etat while anti-government group People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) rallied at important venues around Bangkok.

"Soldiers will not stage a coup," he said during a radio interview on Tuesday morning.

Gen Anupong also told people to stay calm and that they should not panic.

"It is police's authority to take care of the situation," he said. "Soldiers will not get involved."

-- Bangkok Post 2008-08-26

[JD]

Chamlong demands police to release 80 men rounded up for raiding NBT station

Chamlong Srimuang, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy, Tuesday threatened to lead protesters to besiege the Royal Thai Police head quarters if police do not release some 80 men who were rounded up for raiding the NBT head office early Tuesday.
The men were taken to the Klong Luang police station for questioning.


-- The Nation 2008-08-26

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Thought. The PAD has tried to take over the TV station, blocked roads into the capitol, surrounded Government House, threatened to besiege the police headquarters.

Sounds like a coup to me, maybe they are waiting for the army to get involved. There is going to be a lot of arrests for treason over this.

I do hope it remains free of any violence or bloodshed.

[STEVE G]

Bangkok Post: The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) is betting its future on today's showdown with the government with confidence that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his cabinet will be toppled.
Calling today's showdown "the last whistleblow", Sondhi Limthongkul, one of the PAD leaders said: "If we fail this time, we'll quit and surrender the country to them. When people don't care about us, we won't have to care about them. Let others take over the country."


Comment: It will be interesting to see whether Sondhi sticks to his word and backs down if today fails to bring down the government.

[buksida]

The military will only get involved if the police are overpowered and it turns violent. Scenes on TV are depicting heated tension and scuffling but no anarchy yet.

Samak needs to go - he continues to support Thaksin who has now been declared a fugitive. He has done absolutely nothing constructive since he came into power, bullying the media and his opposition is no way to run a country. Confidence in Thailand continues to fall.

If we fail this time, we'll quit and surrender the country to them. When people don't care about us, we won't have to care about them. Let others take over the country.

Good point here - why bother when the Issan hordes keep electing these assholes for a couple of hundred baht.

The big question is though which group is the lesser of two evils?

[clive]

So the PAD are not happy with Samak, but then not many people are. Are today’s actions likely to force the resignation of Samak or his party, I doubt it. Samak appears to have confirmed that he colluded with the Shinawatra family to assist them in evading the Thai Justice system. Quite why Thai people and particularly those in a position of power, who should be setting an example, think that they can take this kind of action, make it public and then not have to suffer the consequences is beyond me. It seems quite clear that Samak has acted as an accessory to a criminal wrongdoing; it appears that he has openly admitted the fact, so why have the police not arrested and charged him, or is this not an offence in Thailand. In any reasonable society it would be impossible for any minister, let alone the prime minister to continue following such actions. I can only assume that the public here find Samaks bullying, thuggery and total disregard of the law acceptable, except of course for those PAD members who have decided to show their displeasure today. Let’s hope that sense will prevail, although in a society that seems to be sadly lacking in that area I very much doubt it. I fear that Samaks reign of terror as the mouthpiece for his friend will continue & Shinawatra will carry on running Manchester City & Thailand even though both actions would appear to be illegal. It seems likely that Thailand will obtain payment from the Shiniwatra family of the back taxes by freezing their assets here whilst the Man City staff may have to wait a while for their wages. Today’s big match, Sondhimedia United are rather good at spotting fouls, but give away to many penalties, collect to many red & yellow cards and have yet to win a game. On the other hand Samakshinawatra United are rather good at scoring own goals! Today’s shield will be retained by the Thai royal police, and the army will have to watch the match on the big screen “In the Park”. But who will be your choice for man of the match?

[sandman67]

errmm Samak and the rest of that shower of b****rds has been in power for what....6 months now?

What exactly has the Parliament done in all that time? What bills, acts, etc have been passed? What solid decisions made? Have they done anything at all, or do the Thai papers just not bother reporting when things are passed by parliament? They seem to have been debating the budget for three months now.....

In other words...what exactly does the Thai parliament do? Seems to me they just sit round drinking tea and slinging mud at each other....once a week from what I gather in one report.

So

if they did remove parliament would anything change?

Samak is screwed anyhow....next month the Supreme Court rule on his appeal against a jail sentence, which will probably go against him .... so thats him gone. Good riddance....

As to whether a coup is due.... I dont think so.... the army seems dead set against it and sees the last one as a bit of a mistake now. Will take some proper riots before that would happen.

[JD]

Sondhi explains his 'final war'

BANGKOK: -- After calling on People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters from all over the country to converge for today's "final war" protest march against the Samak Sundaravej administration, PAD core leader Sondhi Limthongkul talked to the Bangkok Post's Nattaya Chetchotiros.

What is the PAD strategy for the rally?

It will be the day we change Thailand through the people. Our position today is much clearer than over the past 90 days.

If we don't do it, the monarchy might collapse. That's because soldiers and civil servants haven't earnestly protected the country, the nation and the monarchy.

Will water and electricity supplies to state agencies be cut off?

That's a statement by state enterprise labour union leaders. It has nothing to do with the PAD. We won't do anything that could affect people or lead to violence.

What did you mean when you said the rally is a battle against old politics?

It's because people in Thai society were misled into believing that just having an election is a sign of democracy. We can see that nothing has improved after 60 years of elections.

Elections today are an investment. A sane person would not invest 30 million baht to earn a monthly salary of a bit more than 100,000 baht. And no insane person makes such an investment, only investors. MPs today are hired voters. The claim that they are elected representatives is wrong.

How will the "final war" be different from PAD's previous wars?

Watch out. The rally [today] won't be an ordinary rally. We'll do everything to halt all the state's administrative mechanisms.

We'll block the roads from southern, northern and northeastern regions, but we'll let our supporters arrive in the city first. We'll block the roads after midday. At noon, we'll close Phuket airport and Hat Yai airport. We will post this plan online [on the Manager website] at 10am.

We'll seize all the ministries on Ratchadamnoen avenue. We'll ask civil servants to leave their offices.

The government won't be able to function any longer. It's a power vacuum. Samak knows that he will soon have to step down.

This final war has been seen as trying to make way for another military coup.

If there is a coup [today] on the ground that they need to intervene to end turmoil in the country and reorganise things, I will immediately protest against them. All five PAD core leaders agree that such reasoning is unacceptable.

But if they claimed they launched a coup to improve politics, to help people who were protesting, and if they agreed with us that politics must be improved and the monarchy must continue to exist, we would not be against them.

We won't disband, though.

We will see, first, who is the coup leader. Second, what he does next. What statement he makes. Who he appoints as prime minister.

We will wait until we're satisfied with the new leader.

What makes you confident the military won't crack down on the people?

It's because soldiers today are cowards. Did you notice that army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda is not in Bangkok? He left for Malaysia yesterday and will return on Aug 28.

So keep an eye on Lt- Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, the First Army chief. If the country has become this chaotic, and you haven't come out. Then it's your business.

What's your second plan if you fail?

I'll ask our people...[Today] there'll be over 300,000 people with us.

Why did you ask all supporters to drop everything and come down for the last time?

It's the last whistle blow. If we fail this time, we'll quit and surrender the country to them.

When people don't care about us, we won't have to care about them. Let others take over the country.

-- Bangkok Post 2008-08-26

[buksida]

Here is a great response from the ruling party, what a way to manage the situation:

People Power Party MP Pracha Prasopdee on Tuesday announced that he would organise counter crowds if the government failed to disperse the mass rally organised by the People's Alliance for Democracy by 6.00 pm.

Pro-government crowds started to congregate at Sanam Luang.

From The Nation.

[caller]

Interesting article from the beeb:

"This is a mass protest movement with a difference, according to the BBC correspondent in Bangkok, Jonathan Head.

Despite the name, the People's Alliance for Democracy is actually campaigning for an end to democracy, arguing that in Thailand Western-style elections have only led to corrupt and ineffective governments.

Instead, it wants a largely appointed parliament, and a legalised role for the military as a kind of referee in Thai politics, our correspondent adds.

The PAD has already played a central role in Thai politics, beginning three years ago as a movement to bring down Thaksin Shinawatra, then the most powerful elected leader Thailand had ever known.

Its protests set the stage for the coup that ousted him in 2006, and probably helped ensure the legal cases against him went ahead this year, resulting in Mr Thaksin and his wife going back into exile".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 581565.stm

[STEVE G]

From the reports available on the net it doesn’t sound as if this is big enough to bring down the government unless it escalates or the military step in.
Sondhi was claiming he was going to put 300,000 people on the streets today but I don’t see reports of anything like those numbers at the moment. He is now saying he will carry on for three days.

[Winkie]

Not quite factual I think

At one point they forced their way into Mr Samak's offices - prompting him to take shelter in an army base.

Don't think this comment paints a picture of anything that actually happened

[HHTel]

The ballot box here is a farce.

It seems that all parties say "We support democracy 100% but only if we win!!

No wonder the world laughs.

[buksida]

Samak is on Channel 5 now harping on in English to western media about how great and powerful he is and that Thaksin has nothing to do with PPP.

This is the same tone he takes with Thai media and similar to Thaksin's; don't ask me these questions because I'll just be evasive.

What a farce.