ravenshield936
Banned Idiot
I hope they don't turn bangkok into baghdad
Civil Strife Grips Thailand
- Thread starter bd popeye
- Start date
I hope they don't turn bangkok into baghdad
ravenshield936
Banned Idiot
Heard a few were killed as well. It's simply amazing that when civilians turn mad, even professional trained units can fall prey to them.
Look at Tibet, Uiyghur unrests and this one for example.
Spartan95
Junior Member
Actually, there are sniper units in the Royal Thai Army (RTA). Just that they haven't been seen in the media.
Here's a case of a sniper attack:
Title : Thai 'Red' general's condition worsens By : Date : 16 May 2010 1510 hrs (GMT + 8hrs) BANGKOK - The health of a renegade Thai general allied with anti-government "Red Shirt" protesters deteriorated Sunday after he was shot last week in their Bangkok rally site said:
Head shot while the journalist holding the mic to the general was unharmed. Onlt 1 shot was heard.
The RTA has not said that they were behind this shooting, but it looks quite clear that it was a sniper attack.
Spartan95
Junior Member
Update on the Thai situation as carried by Channelnewsasia (CNA), which is kind of like a CNN/BBC wannabe for the Asia Pacific region:
Looks to be a stalemate at the moment. Of concern are:
"A police spokesman said there were still around 5,000 protesters, including hundreds of women and children, at the fortified rally site and that large crowds have also gathered at three other locations in the city. "
as reported in the link above.
A possible way out of this situation is when the red shirts need to go back to their province to start planting their crops, which should be in the next few weeks. If by that time the red shirts still haven't dispersed, Thailand's agriculture is going to take a hard hit when the harvest season comes along...
Looks to be a stalemate at the moment. Of concern are:
"A police spokesman said there were still around 5,000 protesters, including hundreds of women and children, at the fortified rally site and that large crowds have also gathered at three other locations in the city. "
as reported in the link above.
A possible way out of this situation is when the red shirts need to go back to their province to start planting their crops, which should be in the next few weeks. If by that time the red shirts still haven't dispersed, Thailand's agriculture is going to take a hard hit when the harvest season comes along...
That's the other thing. The Thai Army and police don't seem to have very many non-lethal weapons at all. That's what is truly needed in this situation. But I was referring to the snipers because there is a need to be able to pick off armed protesters in situations where they may be large numbers of unarmed protesters and civilians caught in the crossfire.
Spartan brings up a good point. The assassination of General Seh Daeng was clearly a sniper's work, I would guess (based purely on somewhat educated speculation) that it was Army Special Forces.
Spartan95
Junior Member
Actually, the police hasn't been doing much in Bangkok. Its the Army that is taking the lead. And this is a bit of a convoluted issue too.
Thaksin, the deposed PM, was a police colonel before he entered politics. Thus, he has a lot of "friends" in senior positions in the police force (the 4th Service in Thailand after the Army, Navy and Air Force). 1 of the reasons for the military coup in 2006 was partly because Thaksin was trying to consolidate his control of the Thai military by moving his friends into positions of power. Unfortunately, it backfired as he was seen trying to undermine the military.
Thus, during the yellow shirt protests in the past, the military didn't do much to suppress them. It was the police that was kept busy. Now, its the other way around, with the military trying to suppress the red shirts, whilst the police keep clear.
Quickie
Colonel
Seems like Abhisit is winning back control but in reality the Thai Army always has the last say including who to get rid of litterally including assassination. You can bet the Thai Army will launch another military coup when things are not going their way. Gloomy days ahead for Thai politics.