Stickman Readers' Submissions December 2nd, 2008

Letter from PAD Supporter to Clarify Rally


This was sent to me and I feel a reply is necessary:

On November 26, a young woman, dressed in a yellow shirt, was seen walking around the PAD rally site at Suvarnabhumi Airport, distributing a message in English to help clarify the PAD rally.

He Clinic Bangkok


This is to clarify the situation here in Thailand as I believe the foreign press have formed the conclusion that the PAD has little chance of winning this final battle to topple the Nominee Government of Somchai Wongsawat, the brother-in-law of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.


Before I say anything else, I'd like to stress here the the PAD's policy is to use ONLY peaceful means and we have proved our intention by using only reason for the last six months. However, the continuous and nearly daily violence and murderous acts committed against us have come from either the Government, or its representatives, the red-shirted United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship, which are trying everything in their power to pave the way for the return of Thaksin Shinawatra to become the first President of Thailand.


The aim of the PAD is to rebuild a country based on integrity, honesty, freedom from corruption and fairness from all Thais: all this together with the absolute determination to maintain and honour the Monarchy. We have the most wonderful and exceptional King who has reigned over his people with wisdom and love as the rest of the world is well aware.

CBD bangkok


Practically the whole of Thailand from all walks of life has converged onto Bangkok to support the PAD. We are not being paid to be here to use violence to get our way. We are not here to support a handful of corrupt politicians serving only one man who wants to divide our country. But we are here by choice, we are here to share an ideal, we are here to realize our goal which is to rebuild our country into a better place for the 60-odd million citizens. It's actually not a question of "winning or losing" — it's the reality of achieving what is good and right for our country — Thailand.

~~~~~~~~~


My take on this:

This is so full of BS that it is almost laughable. How can they (PAD) claim to be peaceful when they are holding more than 100,000 foreigners hostage and have crippled the Thai economy? They say they are there of their own free will; they are there because they are being paid to be there.

wonderland clinic

And of course the obligatory statement of why they are doing it.

They want to rid the country of the corrupt politicians in the current government so they can replace them with the corrupt politicians in their party.

They do not want democratically held elections because the majority of Thais are too 'ill educated' to make sensible decisions and are being paid to vote; their proposal is to let them appoint their own leaders who would be selected from the 'good ole boys' network of the rich and elite; thus insuring the continued prosperity and wealth of their own families.

Their government will then cater to the affluent and keep the majority of Thais uneducated and poor thus insuring their continued supply of cheap labor and insuring wealth for the affluent and their families.

In Thailand education is mandatory only through the sixth grade <Used to be 6th grade but was changed several years ago to 9th gradeStick>. It is not completely free and the cost of books and uniforms is not included. Most often transportation is not available. As a result the poor are not encouraged to continue their education and often do not finish even the mandatory requirement. This is by design of course.

On the other hand the affluent drive their children to the best schools available. They pay 'tea money' to the school to ensure a placement for their children. My friend pays $4000 per semester to send his child to a good private school. It is not a top international school but just an average good school. He is not wealthy but is determined to give his child a good education.

Thailand has no interest whatsoever in raising the educational standards of their country.

It is amazing the number of upscale malls / stores that one can go to in Bangkok that hire the better educated Thais as sales persons who cannot speak English or very poor English. I attribute this to the 'No Fail' policy in the school system.

I could go on but why bother; after all 'TiT' (This is Thailand) the more things change the more they remain the same!

Stickman's thoughts:

It's class warfare!

The poor still make up the majority of the population and they tend to vote for the same party, that which was previously TRT and is now known as PPP. The wealthy and the urbanites, that is the successfully and the educated, hate it that these "yokels" and "hillbillies" (as they see them) effectively choose who governs the country and feel increasingly disenfranchised. The PAD do not want true democracy. They want to regain the power and influence many of their number have lost.

Of course there is more to it but it would be imprudent to go there…

nana plaza