The beginning of a most likely violent end....
The first thing they teach you about proper and effective classroom management in teachers' college is that when you make a threat or dole out a punishment you must carry it through. If you don't the student will realize that all your threats are empty and they can do whatever they please because in the end there are no real repercussions. It's a basic concept. You can find it in any parenting book, any teaching book, any book on how to be a good leader. Thailand does not seem to understand this very simple action/reaction concept. Instead, when faced with a political situation that is teetering on the brink of either ending peacefully or falling into carnage they make threats and demands and then change their mind at the last minute.
2 days ago, Prime Minister Abihist revealed his plan to get the Reds out of Silom. If they did not exit by midnight last night we would cut off power, phone service, water and transport to the area. As I said in my last post the Reds said that they didn't care and their protest would go on as before. One other thing I've noticed in Thailand is that the Thai people often lack foresight and make decisions without really thinking them through. So this morning when they decide that they are going to cut off power, water, transport and telephone service to a heavily populated area complete with schools and two hospitals they realized that maybe it wasn't the best plan to begin with. So...they changed their minds. Nevermind Reds.
Instead, Abihist decided to call off the elections that he agreed to on November 14th and the dissolution of parliament that he promised of mid-September.
Which brings us right back to where we started. We came very close to a resolution and in 24hours we are back to square one.
Abihist has since called in the army (fully armed with live ammunition and armed personnel carriers) to block off the Red encampment. No transport is going into the area, the BTS and MRT are shut and employers have been told to send their employees home early and give them Friday off. The Reds will be allowed leave their camp but noone (under the threat of 15 year olds weilding rifles) will be allowed back in.
You may have noticed from the pictures I took of the camp that they barracaded themselves behind tires and sharpened bamboo sticks. What you can't see in the pictures is that the tires are soaked in gasoline ready to be set ablaze at any moment. If bamboo won't keep the army out, a wall of burning rubber will.
Is this going to turn out well?
Not likely.
We are back to square one but this time square one comes equipped with automatic weapons, armoured personel carriers and orders to fire if soldiers feel "threatened" ...great.
Cheers from the massacre in the making
J
Check out the article in the Bangkok post here
The first thing they teach you about proper and effective classroom management in teachers' college is that when you make a threat or dole out a punishment you must carry it through. If you don't the student will realize that all your threats are empty and they can do whatever they please because in the end there are no real repercussions. It's a basic concept. You can find it in any parenting book, any teaching book, any book on how to be a good leader. Thailand does not seem to understand this very simple action/reaction concept. Instead, when faced with a political situation that is teetering on the brink of either ending peacefully or falling into carnage they make threats and demands and then change their mind at the last minute.
2 days ago, Prime Minister Abihist revealed his plan to get the Reds out of Silom. If they did not exit by midnight last night we would cut off power, phone service, water and transport to the area. As I said in my last post the Reds said that they didn't care and their protest would go on as before. One other thing I've noticed in Thailand is that the Thai people often lack foresight and make decisions without really thinking them through. So this morning when they decide that they are going to cut off power, water, transport and telephone service to a heavily populated area complete with schools and two hospitals they realized that maybe it wasn't the best plan to begin with. So...they changed their minds. Nevermind Reds.
Instead, Abihist decided to call off the elections that he agreed to on November 14th and the dissolution of parliament that he promised of mid-September.
Which brings us right back to where we started. We came very close to a resolution and in 24hours we are back to square one.
Abihist has since called in the army (fully armed with live ammunition and armed personnel carriers) to block off the Red encampment. No transport is going into the area, the BTS and MRT are shut and employers have been told to send their employees home early and give them Friday off. The Reds will be allowed leave their camp but noone (under the threat of 15 year olds weilding rifles) will be allowed back in.
You may have noticed from the pictures I took of the camp that they barracaded themselves behind tires and sharpened bamboo sticks. What you can't see in the pictures is that the tires are soaked in gasoline ready to be set ablaze at any moment. If bamboo won't keep the army out, a wall of burning rubber will.
Is this going to turn out well?
Not likely.
We are back to square one but this time square one comes equipped with automatic weapons, armoured personel carriers and orders to fire if soldiers feel "threatened" ...great.
Cheers from the massacre in the making
J
Check out the article in the Bangkok post here
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