Police to take action against minister's brother over Udon Thani clash
Udon Thani police will take action against two leaders of last week's attack on supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy during their antigovernment rally, the provincial police chief said Monday.
Maj General Permsak Paradon, the Udon Thani police commissioner, told a press conference that an initial investigation found that Kwanchai Sarakham (also known as Kwanchai Phraipana) and Uthai Saenkaew led troublemakers who stormed into the PAD rally at a park in the northeastern province last Thursday.
Uthai is a younger brother to Deputy Agriculture Minister Theerachai Saenkaew from the ruling People Power Party.
The Nation
PAD supporter killed in Udon Thani
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beer monkey
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Udorn Thani group leader resigns from government post, promises to pursue PAD to fullest
Leader of the Udorn Thani Enthusiasts group Kwanchai Phraipana has declared his resignation from his government post as an employee of the Office of the Secretary-General of the Prime Minister. Mr. Kwanchai received the position 2 months ago from a Cabinet decision but stated today that he will resign from the post as so that his activity with the Udorn Thani Enthusiasts will not affect his job.
Mr. Kwanchai's resignation follows his receiving of charges from police based on a violent clash between his group and the People's Alliance for Democracy. He said that his resignation will allow him to fully pursue the PAD and deal with them on equal terms. Mr. Kwanchai was one of 12 employees of the office.
One of the problems in this country is that people assume a college or university degree represents intelligence.Not in Thailand!The education system is a joke!Other than a few genetically gifted students,everyone else is mediocre,especially Thai men.
Many have bought their grades and degrees,very few are truly educated.Even those that go outside the country for masters and doctorates have paid others to do their work for them!
The desperation that is seen with the street thuggishness is a direct result of Billions of dollars at stake,starting with Thaksins frozen $2 billion and stretching to all the corruption opportunties to those that can be in power!
Many have bought their grades and degrees,very few are truly educated.Even those that go outside the country for masters and doctorates have paid others to do their work for them!
The desperation that is seen with the street thuggishness is a direct result of Billions of dollars at stake,starting with Thaksins frozen $2 billion and stretching to all the corruption opportunties to those that can be in power!
EDITORIAL
Udon violence must not recur
News footage showing hundreds of pro-government thugs, armed with iron bars, wooden clubs, swords and slingshots, attacking anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators in Udon Thani province on July 24 has been broadcast across the country and probably around the world. The horrible incident which took place right before the watchful eyes of dozens of police and local authorities, who made no attempt to stop the violence, has shamed the country and the Thai people in the eyes of the international community. It also made a mockery of the law enforcement system.
The hooligans who called themselves khon rak Udon (people who love Udon) should be ashamed of themselves for shaming their province and their people, most of whom had nothing to do with the senseless act of unprovoked violence. The sight of khon rak Udon followers cheering their two leaders, Kwanchai Praipana and Uthai Saenkaew (younger brother of Deputy Agriculture Minister Theerachai Saenkaew) when they showed up Monday to answer criminal charges lodged against them by the Udon Thani police, was quite unthinkable and raised a big question mark about their state of mind, which might require psychiatric counselling.
The inaction of the Udon Thani police and local authorities pales, however, when compared with the government's indifference to the horrible incident. Mr Theerachai was quoted as saying that the incident was similar to a fistfight at a rock concert. Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej - who earlier urged PPP members to start "killing" their political opponents after many of their own people had been "killed" - has so far refused to comment on the event.
Although the police have adopted a hardline position and instituted charges of illegal assembly and incitement of violence against the two ringleaders who allegedly led the mob in the violent attack, there has been no attempt by the government to prevent or discourage one of them, Mr Kwanchai, from making use of his community radio network to incite hatred and violence against PAD demonstrators. After acknowledging the charges, the two men were released. No bail was set.
While the government's response to violent incidents perpetrated against PAD protesters by pro-government activists has been half-hearted at best, Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Anupong Paojinda deserves commendation for his offer to deploy military police to help the police in dealing with future political rallies, to make sure attacks like this are not repeated. Though the military initiative may seem like "a slap in the face" of the police for their failure to maintain peace, the police should welcome the offer. Or they must quickly shape up and do a better job next time.
An investigation by the National Counter Corruption Commission into the conduct of Udon Thani Governor Supote Laowansiri and provincial police chief Pol Maj-Gen Permsak Paradonsak for their complete failure to stop the violence is necessary to serve as a warning to others whose job it is to maintain peace and order. However, this move should not be seen as a kind of revenge against bureaucrats, who might find it difficult to stay impartial when caught in the middle of the fierce struggle between pro- and anti-government forces.
The violence perpetrated by the khon rak Udon group deserves to be condemned and must not be repeated. These hooligans must be dealt with in accordance with the letter of the law, to ensure that no one is above the law despite their political affiliations.
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Laan Yaa Mo
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What is the origin of this editorial?
While one cannot condone the violent actions of the pro-government supporters, they were not the only group of thugs around looking for a fight.
PAD had already shown their hooligan side in Srisaket, when they attacked villagers attempting to keep them away from the disputed temple.
One hopes for a bit of balance in the analysis.
I doubt that this incident has shamed Thailand or the Thai people in the eyes of the world
While one cannot condone the violent actions of the pro-government supporters, they were not the only group of thugs around looking for a fight.
PAD had already shown their hooligan side in Srisaket, when they attacked villagers attempting to keep them away from the disputed temple.
One hopes for a bit of balance in the analysis.
I doubt that this incident has shamed Thailand or the Thai people in the eyes of the world
I think the videos showed the truth of the situation!There was no evidence of ''arms'' carried by PAD demonstators combined with police seen not preventing the violence!Tilokarat wrote:What is the origin of this editorial?
While one cannot condone the violent actions of the pro-government supporters, they were not the only group of thugs around looking for a fight.
PAD had already shown their hooligan side in Srisaket, when they attacked villagers attempting to keep them away from the disputed temple.
One hopes for a bit of balance in the analysis.
I doubt that this incident has shamed Thailand or the Thai people in the eyes of the world
As I agree that PAD used the temple incident to accenuate the lack of transparency by the gov't and to whip up a Nationalistic fervor in their attempt to topple the gov't and hopefully gain power,I don't see any corelation to their actions in Sri Sa Ket and the reported and Taped event in Udon!
Some reports from Sri Sa Ket accuse the local vendors attacking the PAD group first anyway.Not saying your version is incorrect because I don't really know!But the videos of the happenings in Udon are more evident,IMO!
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Laan Yaa Mo
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I trust you on this one because I could not get the video from 'the Nation' to play.
Anyway, from reading various newspaper accounts (The Nation and the Bangkok Post), it seems like a power play by one side, the PAD, to embarrass the government and show that it is weak and should resign or be forced into a coalition, and the Love Udon side proving that it is not so weak in Udon.
It looks like troubled times ahead unfortunately.
Anyway, from reading various newspaper accounts (The Nation and the Bangkok Post), it seems like a power play by one side, the PAD, to embarrass the government and show that it is weak and should resign or be forced into a coalition, and the Love Udon side proving that it is not so weak in Udon.
It looks like troubled times ahead unfortunately.
We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depths of our answers.
Here is an editorial from todays Post:
''Isn't it gratifying, phi nong? Does it give us a thrill to hit people whose views we don't share, hard and square in the face? Hit them until they fall down and become unconscious. Hit them again and again, with a nail-studded wooden stick. Make sure the nails make their nasty contact with the soft flesh, that they tear deep and wide.
Academics are so worried about social division, aren't they? Well, they need not now. The Udon Thani model has been tried and proven true. Hammers, iron bars and nail-spiked wooden sticks - these are the perfect tools for social harmony and the long-wanted national reconciliation.
No more argument, phi nong. No more wasting time to convince others of our opinions. It's much faster, more effective and not to say personally fulfilling to beat them up. Hit them until they plead to agree with us. Pound them with the sharp nails until their wrong views are drained along with their own blood.
Prominent scholar Acharn Thirayuth Boonmi has come out and warned that the confrontation between the pro-government group and anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy could escalate into social unrest more violent than the Oct 14 and Oct 6 events if nothing is done to calm it down.
He should know. Acharn Thirayuth was one among scores of university students who had to flee into the jungle after frenzied mobs were unleashed to maul, murder and burn many of them on Oct 6, 1976. A lot of people were killed. A lot of those who survived would describe the massacre as brutal beyond words, the very worst killing that has ever occurred in this country.
Acharn Thirayuth was probably right in his prediction. There will be war and there will be blood. The only kink is: Why should anyone want to tone down the hatred and the craziness? They are the perfect tools for political and ideological cleansing. How can we reach any agreement otherwise?
A big round of applause also to the genius who came up with the idea of using the national flag pole to beat up other people with. Isn't that classic? Symbolic, too. Here, in the name of national unity and with the sanctity of the flag, I took the sacred duty of beating you, who dare to disagree with me, to a pulp.
This is not to say that it provided such a colourful photo op - Thai people hitting Thai people with a pole carrying their own national flag. If you can dye the red - the symbol of nationhood - of the tri-colour flag with the bad blood of dissent, it then doubles the glory and satisfaction.
Some of the leaders of theKhon Rak Udon club, which pushed through the thin and flimsy line of police to beat up members of the PAD last week, argued that those injured during the free-for-all were non-natives of Udon Thani.
They said they had to beat the PAD members up because they were giving a bad name to the province. They insisted it was only out of generosity that they didn't kill them off in repayment for the bad deeds they'd committed.
The logic is flawless, is it not? Especially for a prelude to a civil war or mass killing. Although I have to say this kind of reasoning is a little stale as it is very much the same as the one used during the Oct 6 crushing of the student movement. At that time, the militants were told that the students were not Thai. That they were Vietnamese and sympathisers of communism. The students were portrayed as monsters who deserved to die. That explained why the killings were exceptionally cruel.
The excuse to attack one another seems mild this time, but quite interestingly still gets the job done.
But then again, an excuse is probably no longer necessary.
Before the Udon Thani incident, PM Samak Sundaravej actually urged people who support the PPP to start "killing" those who oppose it because many of his people had been "killed".
He didn't talk about the Udon Thani attack after it happened. In his latest weekly TV and radio address, the PM was seen reciting classical poetry with a prolonged, rolling cadence and a smile.
So guard your turf, pi nong.
Sharpen your lance. We are rolling off to the worst-ever unrest in the history of Thailand, one that would put the horrid Oct 6 in its place.
After all, only one person died in that mass killing.
Atiya Achakulwisut is Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post. ''
''Isn't it gratifying, phi nong? Does it give us a thrill to hit people whose views we don't share, hard and square in the face? Hit them until they fall down and become unconscious. Hit them again and again, with a nail-studded wooden stick. Make sure the nails make their nasty contact with the soft flesh, that they tear deep and wide.
Academics are so worried about social division, aren't they? Well, they need not now. The Udon Thani model has been tried and proven true. Hammers, iron bars and nail-spiked wooden sticks - these are the perfect tools for social harmony and the long-wanted national reconciliation.
No more argument, phi nong. No more wasting time to convince others of our opinions. It's much faster, more effective and not to say personally fulfilling to beat them up. Hit them until they plead to agree with us. Pound them with the sharp nails until their wrong views are drained along with their own blood.
Prominent scholar Acharn Thirayuth Boonmi has come out and warned that the confrontation between the pro-government group and anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy could escalate into social unrest more violent than the Oct 14 and Oct 6 events if nothing is done to calm it down.
He should know. Acharn Thirayuth was one among scores of university students who had to flee into the jungle after frenzied mobs were unleashed to maul, murder and burn many of them on Oct 6, 1976. A lot of people were killed. A lot of those who survived would describe the massacre as brutal beyond words, the very worst killing that has ever occurred in this country.
Acharn Thirayuth was probably right in his prediction. There will be war and there will be blood. The only kink is: Why should anyone want to tone down the hatred and the craziness? They are the perfect tools for political and ideological cleansing. How can we reach any agreement otherwise?
A big round of applause also to the genius who came up with the idea of using the national flag pole to beat up other people with. Isn't that classic? Symbolic, too. Here, in the name of national unity and with the sanctity of the flag, I took the sacred duty of beating you, who dare to disagree with me, to a pulp.
This is not to say that it provided such a colourful photo op - Thai people hitting Thai people with a pole carrying their own national flag. If you can dye the red - the symbol of nationhood - of the tri-colour flag with the bad blood of dissent, it then doubles the glory and satisfaction.
Some of the leaders of theKhon Rak Udon club, which pushed through the thin and flimsy line of police to beat up members of the PAD last week, argued that those injured during the free-for-all were non-natives of Udon Thani.
They said they had to beat the PAD members up because they were giving a bad name to the province. They insisted it was only out of generosity that they didn't kill them off in repayment for the bad deeds they'd committed.
The logic is flawless, is it not? Especially for a prelude to a civil war or mass killing. Although I have to say this kind of reasoning is a little stale as it is very much the same as the one used during the Oct 6 crushing of the student movement. At that time, the militants were told that the students were not Thai. That they were Vietnamese and sympathisers of communism. The students were portrayed as monsters who deserved to die. That explained why the killings were exceptionally cruel.
The excuse to attack one another seems mild this time, but quite interestingly still gets the job done.
But then again, an excuse is probably no longer necessary.
Before the Udon Thani incident, PM Samak Sundaravej actually urged people who support the PPP to start "killing" those who oppose it because many of his people had been "killed".
He didn't talk about the Udon Thani attack after it happened. In his latest weekly TV and radio address, the PM was seen reciting classical poetry with a prolonged, rolling cadence and a smile.
So guard your turf, pi nong.
Sharpen your lance. We are rolling off to the worst-ever unrest in the history of Thailand, one that would put the horrid Oct 6 in its place.
After all, only one person died in that mass killing.
Atiya Achakulwisut is Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post. ''
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beer monkey
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Laan Yaa Mo
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Thanks for the information on the videos.
About the editorial from the Bangkok Post, this is a very gloomy prediction.
If, as the piece suggests, Thailand is headed for violent confrontation all over the land there can only be one solution to that sort of destabilisation:
Military rule, and we are back to 1932 again.
So let's ask ourselves, who benefits from having Thais knock one another over the head?
I do not know very much about PAD, but I would be interested to know if they have any/many connections to people in the military and to chao (jao) pho (godfathers). The reason I ask this question is because they are the ones who lost the most (power, influence and wealth) under the former Thaksin government. These are the people who would benefit most if the current government is replaced.
The constitution issue has died. However, one might remember that after the collapse of the baht in 1997 and the political and economic problems associated with it, Thailand came up with a new constitution (forget the year), which lessened the power of the Senate and the military and chao pho element in it. In fact, for awhile it looked like the gangsters (chao Pho) had lost their ability to influence politics. This was certainly the case under Thaksin's two governments.
The military coup of Sept. 2006 altered the constitution so that the Senate got back its power as did the ability of the chao pho to re-enter politics. Samak's government, in its early days, tried to get back to this more democratic constitution but met widespread opposition. I do not remember if PAD was part of this or not.
Anyway, I really would like to know who is financing PAD, who are its key backers and so on.
This is not an attempt to whitewash the current government. However, the spotlight has been on their tactics not on PAD. It would be interesting to get more information on PAD because they seem to have gotten a free ride in the press, and are almost, but not quite, beyond criticism. Why?
Finally, who do you think the military and the chao pho support at this point, PAD or the government?
Not quite finally...one must remember that the military got bad press internationally after the September 2006 coup; therefore, it would be prudent for them not to directly stage a coup in the near future. However, they might want to see another group act as their proxy to create instability so that the military would have no choice but to enter the fray, say about the time a new president was elected in the U.S.A., in particular, if that incumbent was the democrat.
Should I be writing stuff like this?
About the editorial from the Bangkok Post, this is a very gloomy prediction.
If, as the piece suggests, Thailand is headed for violent confrontation all over the land there can only be one solution to that sort of destabilisation:
Military rule, and we are back to 1932 again.
So let's ask ourselves, who benefits from having Thais knock one another over the head?
I do not know very much about PAD, but I would be interested to know if they have any/many connections to people in the military and to chao (jao) pho (godfathers). The reason I ask this question is because they are the ones who lost the most (power, influence and wealth) under the former Thaksin government. These are the people who would benefit most if the current government is replaced.
The constitution issue has died. However, one might remember that after the collapse of the baht in 1997 and the political and economic problems associated with it, Thailand came up with a new constitution (forget the year), which lessened the power of the Senate and the military and chao pho element in it. In fact, for awhile it looked like the gangsters (chao Pho) had lost their ability to influence politics. This was certainly the case under Thaksin's two governments.
The military coup of Sept. 2006 altered the constitution so that the Senate got back its power as did the ability of the chao pho to re-enter politics. Samak's government, in its early days, tried to get back to this more democratic constitution but met widespread opposition. I do not remember if PAD was part of this or not.
Anyway, I really would like to know who is financing PAD, who are its key backers and so on.
This is not an attempt to whitewash the current government. However, the spotlight has been on their tactics not on PAD. It would be interesting to get more information on PAD because they seem to have gotten a free ride in the press, and are almost, but not quite, beyond criticism. Why?
Finally, who do you think the military and the chao pho support at this point, PAD or the government?
Not quite finally...one must remember that the military got bad press internationally after the September 2006 coup; therefore, it would be prudent for them not to directly stage a coup in the near future. However, they might want to see another group act as their proxy to create instability so that the military would have no choice but to enter the fray, say about the time a new president was elected in the U.S.A., in particular, if that incumbent was the democrat.
Should I be writing stuff like this?
