Guess who is staying for a Thai dinner?

seeing the muted world condemnation of Thai coup -- monkeys may do what monkeys see..... is there another coup brewing in Pakistan against Paksin Musharraf --

why Mushrraf had to spill the self demeaning beans about ``Amritage`s ``bombed to the stone age`` threat.

To placate GHQ -- to strenghthen his indispensability for Pakistani politicians for another 7 years -- to reassure his Pentagon masters what a pliable good boy he was and still is -- to threaten Bush obliquely that he would spill beans if Bush pressures him too much against Karzai -- or his chronic footh-n-mouth disease....demeaning his own country.....

Beads, the thing about military coups is that the military is like a tiger – once it gets the taste of blood, it is very hard to keep it from attacking again and again – upon the slightest pretext. In this instance, the pretext is ongoing insurgency. The ability of the military to handle it has not improved by any means – in fact, it would appear that the insurgency is more likely to become entrenched in order to give the military a continuing source of “legitimacy”!

It was a very strange incidence on 28 April 2004 (shown in the first photo in #13). Other photo is from a few days later.

From Taipei Times:

Police gunned down scores of machete-wielding militants who stormed more than a dozen security outposts yesterday, the bloodiest day of fighting yet in Thailand`s troubled Muslim-dominated south. The death toll stood at least 112.

Only five security personnel were among the dead. The rest were insurgents, mostly teenagers.

The eight hours of mayhem ended when police fired tear gas and rocket-propelled grenades into a mosque, killing 32 militants who witnesses said had been sheltering inside after running away from an earlier battle.

Television news reports showed the bodies of suspected Islamic fighters lying in pools of blood, some of them in front of police stations clasping machetes and wearing colored shirts and camouflage pants.

Gunfire echoed as armored personnel carriers cruised deserted village streets and commandos moved through the forest. Policemen and soldiers carrying automatic rifles crouched as they ran across roads and ditches.

No group claimed responsibility for the highly coordinated assault by possibly hundreds of young militants, although past violence has been blamed on separatists seeking to carve a homeland in the Muslim-majority south of this predominantly Buddhist country.

I don`t know if the Army Chief`s being a Muslim is coincidental, but I doubt it.

clearly this general is not a real muslim. apparently he made a great show of paying respect to king bhumibol by bowing in front of him on thai TV. a real muslim only bows before allah (mushraff bowing before armitrage is in priciple not a real bow).

Nasah:

Not an easily pronouncable name? Bhaijaan, at least in India, it is a well known name among Punjabis. Of course, the similarity in this case seems to be coincidental.

On a positive note, the coup should assuage the feelings of the Muslim minority, esp. since the Muslim Sondhi seems to have the backing of the king. Incidentally, it is refreshing to note that the general being a Muslim seems to be incidental and not a factor in his being what he is.

now what do you know -- didn`t I say there is a little bit of Musharraf peeking thru the Thai coup -- Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin is a `broad minded liberal Muslim` chief of the Thai army -- very loyal to the king -- who opposed Thaksin`s treatment of Southern Thai Muslims -- preferred negotiations over confontration -- listen to this -- and was about to be fired by the PM for his outspoken crticism of Thaksin`s brutal use of the army against the southern insurgency.......!

King Bhumibol instructed his loyal Chief of army to carry out the coup to gt rid of Thaksin -- or was it carried out to save the Chief`s job......de ja vu...or voo hoo...

#13 radio zeemax
future news served today! (sounds like fiction mostly)

Author:

The reports coming out of Thailand all say the military has been grumbling about the light handed way the insurgency has been handled.

This is false. It is exactly the other way around. Thaksin had been seen as far too heavy-handed by the military, and perhaps the king. Therefore the coup. Consider the following:




As details emerge, this coup seems to be different. My initial reaction was it would have been because of Thaksin`s sale of Thai Telecom`s shares and corruption etc which was unpopular. But now it seems it was solely because of the situation in the South. Now I wonder if even the King is really on board with this!

Another pointer is that this coup was not condemned till yesterday by USA. Today it is.

Re: # 13

A coup because of islamic insurgency?... now that would be really stupid... In india we have seen worse than what has happened there - we didn`t need no coup to take care of the jihadis...

but who knows - the generals may be using that as an excuse... all they want is power and pelf - the same old story...

#10 by nasah

Harish -- may be like the Nepali`s miracle -- Thailand needs Maoists to bring democracy in Thailand

In Nepal, more than the Maoists, it was the fierce opposition from the average Nepali that did Gyanendra in. Every section of the Nepalese public opposed the monarchy. Of course, the insurgency helped in that it weakened the Nepalese Army, which was firmly behind the king. In Thailand, it is a choice between the devil and deep sea. If the Thais seek Maoists` help to bring back democracy, the cure will be worse than the disease.

#2 by mohar11

But the Thais don`t mind... I saw a photo of a woman offering a rose to a soldier in the street... and people taking snaps next to the tanks...

Nor did Pakis when Musharraf usurped power. I remember watching news footage that showed the average Abduls dancing and jumping up and down with joy that Mushy had gotten rid of Nawaz Sharif. What they failed to realized that democracy had been dealt a kick in the groin again. I`m sure it`ll be the same with the Thais as well.

Considering all this, what the extraordinary Nepalese have accomplished seems superhuman.

Re: # 9

True...

Looks like there is a great divide between urban Thais and rural Thais... city people hate the ousted Prime Minsiter while village people loved him... so this coup may lead to unrest in rural areas... who knows?

Re: # 9

``Considering all this, what the extraordinary Nepalese have accomplished seems superhuman``(Harish)

Harish -- may be like the Nepali`s miracle -- Thailand needs Maoists to bring democracy in Thailand

I cant understand what military has got to do with ruling a country. If military rules the country, the civilians are expected to fight or what????????????

There is some basic flaw in the policies of smaller countries. They perhaps, in order to show their strength to their neighbours that they are militarily powerful, nurture snakes in their courtyard..and these snakes are more inclined to bite their masters rather than his neighbours....

Ref nasah #5

[..... both the King and and his adjutant will have great time -- if not then Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin will have to simplify his name to Gen. Sonthi Thapa.....]

Hey, at least Gen. Sondhi doesn`t have a name like Shaikh Taimur Sayyid despite being a Muslim. So at least he is not an Arab-wannabe.... unlike people we know on the other side of our border.

Re: # 6

Harimau -- may be it is time for the 90 year young Marshall Manekshaw (today he celebrated his 90th!) to FINALLY fulfill the self-fulfilling fear of Indira Gandhi -- and show the chamatkar of General Musharraf in India as well -- lock stock and barrel -- and rule for another ten years at least --if not 14 like Mush.....