http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1064867
It is Democracy…Darn it!
By OverseasSiam | Posted 21 hours ago
For those of you who listened to western media and wonder what is wrong with Thailand…It is democracy that creates the problem and I really mean that.
This is not to say I am against democracy. In fact, it is the best system in the world still. Democracy is the rule by a majority. It may not necessarily be the best system but it is the rule by a majority. If the majority is misled then it is too bad for the country I suppose… Let me talk in Thai boxing terms:
In the red corner sits the champion with dirty tricks, the red shirt factions which comprise 4 main sub factions:
First, Taksin loyalists. Don’t get me wrong. This former prime minister did a lot of good things for those poor rural folks who had been ignored by politicians in the past. Taksin knows he can rely on them for votes but, instead of promoting productivity, he poured money from either his pockets or the country budget, directly into the villages. Money is always money and it does not matter to the folks on the intention and whether they will benefit in the long run. The folks are forever grateful for the short-term money they received. Thais are not freeloaders and they will always return favors. In this case, they don’t really mind that the government is corrupt as the money is coming from taxes they hardly pay. So it is an easy decision to vote for the guy who pays them and does not take away money from them. A win-win for Taksin’s supporters and Taksin. Is there anything wrong with that? Nothing as long as we maintain our blind faith in democracy.
The second redshirt faction does not mind Taksin but used him as a tool for change. This underlines what has been wrong in Thai society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Does that ring the bell? We may say there is nothing new about that notion and it is matter of fact that they forgot that Taksin himself is an elite and he only promotes the campaign against the elite to his own benefits.
The third redshirt faction comprises the rural folks who vote for whoever their village leaders told them to do. They are simply followers and have no political views.
The final redshirt faction is the communist party of Thailand that has used the redshirt platform to overthrow the monarchy. Taksin also used them to rally to his benefits. A nice joint-venture between the capitalist and communist if you ask me but this can lead to disaster in the long run.
There you have it, the redshirt composition.
In the opposite corner sits the former aging champion, “the whistle blowers”. Now the opposition is also not a yellow shirt anymore. The airport closure a few years back was rallied against Taksin and the use of yellow shirts was to show loyalty to the King. There are a few groups within the opposition side.
First, the elite and royalists believe the redshirts ar
to strip them of the benefits they have been enjoying. Most of them always vote “democrat”, the opposition party led by former PM Apisit. I am annoyed every time the western press called them “the elite” as Taksin and his friends are, by any definition, the elite as well. Trust me they need to share the wealth a bit more but Taksin regime is simply a shift from one elite group to another.
Another faction within the opposition comprises citizens who cannot stand Taksin’s corruptions and his exploitation of democracy. They don’t really like democrat either but see democrat as the lesser of the evils. They think Taksin will lead the country back to the time when Marcos led Philippines. Philippines was the most promising country in Asia to prosper after World War II and Marcos effectively brought the country down with his dictatorship democracy style. This faction of voters is mostly the middle class who understands how Taksin cheated the country. They do not want their kids to grow up thinking cheating is ok.
This is a tough act to pull on both sides. The redshirts and Piu Thai part (the government party) so far exploited democracy to try to bring Taksin back even though everyone knows he is corrupt. The fact that the majority of voters voted for PM Yingluck who is quite mentally-challenged and that fact that we have criminals sitting as ministers is quite appalling to begin with. The costly rice guarantee programs benefits the red shirt alliance greatly at the expenses of the country’s budget. Even IMF and Moody’s warned that the program is a disaster.
คิดเห็นกันยังไงกับการแบ่งประเภทของทั้งแดงและนกหวีด ของบทความนี้ครับ
เสื้อแดงแบ่งเป็น 4 ประเภท
1. พวกจงรักภักดีต่อทักษิณ
2. พวกที่ใชัทักษิณเป็นเครื่องมือเพื่อการเปลี่ยนแปลงในเรื่องความเสมอภาคและเท่าเทียมกัน
3. พวกที่เลือกและทำตามผู้นำในชุมชนของตัวเอง (อันนี้ผมว่าฝั่งตรงข้ามก็มี)
4. พวกคอมมิวนิสต์และจ้องล้มสถาบันและศักดินา (ประมาณว่าความเท่าเทียมทางชนชั้น)
พวกนกหวีดมี 2 ประเภท
1. พวกอนุรักษ์นิยม และฐานอำนาจเดิม พรรคประชาธิปัตย์ (ประมาณพวกตระกูลเก่าแก่และศักดินา)
2. ชนชั้นกลางที่ไม่ได้ชอบ ปชป และเดิมไม่ได้สนใจการเมืองมากนัก แต่ทนรับสภาพการคอร์รัปชั่นไม่ไหว (แต่เดิมรัฐบาลก่อนๆ เวลาโกงต้องแอบๆ โกง โดนจับได้ตอนอภิปรายทีต้องอับอายยุบสภา อย่างน้อยก็ปรับ ครม ตอนนี้อารมณ์ประมาณ ก็โกงใครๆ ก็รู้ แล้วจะทำไม มีเสียงส่วนใหญ่ในมือซะอย่าง)
รอบนี้มองคนรอบตัว พวกที่ 2 ของนกหวีดออกมาชุมนุมเยอะมาก เลยกลายเป็นให้ ปชป ได้ใจ
ผมว่าน่าจะเปลี่ยนวิกฤติให้เป็นโอกาส โดยนำกลุ่ม 2 ของแดง กับ กลุ่ม 2 ของนกหวีดมาพูดคุยกันดีๆ อาจจะกลายเป็นทางเลือกใหม่ที่จะเป็นพลังเปลี่ยนแปลงประเทศได้
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การแบ่งประเภทของคนเสื้อแดงและกลุ่มนกหวีด
It is Democracy…Darn it!
By OverseasSiam | Posted 21 hours ago
For those of you who listened to western media and wonder what is wrong with Thailand…It is democracy that creates the problem and I really mean that.
This is not to say I am against democracy. In fact, it is the best system in the world still. Democracy is the rule by a majority. It may not necessarily be the best system but it is the rule by a majority. If the majority is misled then it is too bad for the country I suppose… Let me talk in Thai boxing terms:
In the red corner sits the champion with dirty tricks, the red shirt factions which comprise 4 main sub factions:
First, Taksin loyalists. Don’t get me wrong. This former prime minister did a lot of good things for those poor rural folks who had been ignored by politicians in the past. Taksin knows he can rely on them for votes but, instead of promoting productivity, he poured money from either his pockets or the country budget, directly into the villages. Money is always money and it does not matter to the folks on the intention and whether they will benefit in the long run. The folks are forever grateful for the short-term money they received. Thais are not freeloaders and they will always return favors. In this case, they don’t really mind that the government is corrupt as the money is coming from taxes they hardly pay. So it is an easy decision to vote for the guy who pays them and does not take away money from them. A win-win for Taksin’s supporters and Taksin. Is there anything wrong with that? Nothing as long as we maintain our blind faith in democracy.
The second redshirt faction does not mind Taksin but used him as a tool for change. This underlines what has been wrong in Thai society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Does that ring the bell? We may say there is nothing new about that notion and it is matter of fact that they forgot that Taksin himself is an elite and he only promotes the campaign against the elite to his own benefits.
The third redshirt faction comprises the rural folks who vote for whoever their village leaders told them to do. They are simply followers and have no political views.
The final redshirt faction is the communist party of Thailand that has used the redshirt platform to overthrow the monarchy. Taksin also used them to rally to his benefits. A nice joint-venture between the capitalist and communist if you ask me but this can lead to disaster in the long run.
There you have it, the redshirt composition.
In the opposite corner sits the former aging champion, “the whistle blowers”. Now the opposition is also not a yellow shirt anymore. The airport closure a few years back was rallied against Taksin and the use of yellow shirts was to show loyalty to the King. There are a few groups within the opposition side.
First, the elite and royalists believe the redshirts ar
Another faction within the opposition comprises citizens who cannot stand Taksin’s corruptions and his exploitation of democracy. They don’t really like democrat either but see democrat as the lesser of the evils. They think Taksin will lead the country back to the time when Marcos led Philippines. Philippines was the most promising country in Asia to prosper after World War II and Marcos effectively brought the country down with his dictatorship democracy style. This faction of voters is mostly the middle class who understands how Taksin cheated the country. They do not want their kids to grow up thinking cheating is ok.
This is a tough act to pull on both sides. The redshirts and Piu Thai part (the government party) so far exploited democracy to try to bring Taksin back even though everyone knows he is corrupt. The fact that the majority of voters voted for PM Yingluck who is quite mentally-challenged and that fact that we have criminals sitting as ministers is quite appalling to begin with. The costly rice guarantee programs benefits the red shirt alliance greatly at the expenses of the country’s budget. Even IMF and Moody’s warned that the program is a disaster.
คิดเห็นกันยังไงกับการแบ่งประเภทของทั้งแดงและนกหวีด ของบทความนี้ครับ
เสื้อแดงแบ่งเป็น 4 ประเภท
1. พวกจงรักภักดีต่อทักษิณ
2. พวกที่ใชัทักษิณเป็นเครื่องมือเพื่อการเปลี่ยนแปลงในเรื่องความเสมอภาคและเท่าเทียมกัน
3. พวกที่เลือกและทำตามผู้นำในชุมชนของตัวเอง (อันนี้ผมว่าฝั่งตรงข้ามก็มี)
4. พวกคอมมิวนิสต์และจ้องล้มสถาบันและศักดินา (ประมาณว่าความเท่าเทียมทางชนชั้น)
พวกนกหวีดมี 2 ประเภท
1. พวกอนุรักษ์นิยม และฐานอำนาจเดิม พรรคประชาธิปัตย์ (ประมาณพวกตระกูลเก่าแก่และศักดินา)
2. ชนชั้นกลางที่ไม่ได้ชอบ ปชป และเดิมไม่ได้สนใจการเมืองมากนัก แต่ทนรับสภาพการคอร์รัปชั่นไม่ไหว (แต่เดิมรัฐบาลก่อนๆ เวลาโกงต้องแอบๆ โกง โดนจับได้ตอนอภิปรายทีต้องอับอายยุบสภา อย่างน้อยก็ปรับ ครม ตอนนี้อารมณ์ประมาณ ก็โกงใครๆ ก็รู้ แล้วจะทำไม มีเสียงส่วนใหญ่ในมือซะอย่าง)
รอบนี้มองคนรอบตัว พวกที่ 2 ของนกหวีดออกมาชุมนุมเยอะมาก เลยกลายเป็นให้ ปชป ได้ใจ
ผมว่าน่าจะเปลี่ยนวิกฤติให้เป็นโอกาส โดยนำกลุ่ม 2 ของแดง กับ กลุ่ม 2 ของนกหวีดมาพูดคุยกันดีๆ อาจจะกลายเป็นทางเลือกใหม่ที่จะเป็นพลังเปลี่ยนแปลงประเทศได้
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