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20 May 2010 00:40

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World: How volatile is Thailand’s government, anyway? Very

  • 1946 the year King Bhumibol Adulyadej took power
  • 20 number of prime ministers the country has had since then
  • 3.2 the average number of years the prime ministers get to server
  • nine number of coups the country has had during Bhumibol’s reign source
  • » It’s a rough system of government. In 1932, absolute monarchy ended in the country. Since then, 17 constitutions have been drafted. Only two of those allowed for entirely elected (rather than appointed) parliaments. Current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was appointed to the job after Thaksin Shinawatra was booted from office during a corruption trial that dissolved his political party. Thaksin was protested against, too. Those protesters wore yellow.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2010 00:24

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World: Thailand tries to pick up the pieces from a day of chaos

  • Physically we can rebuild Bangkok quickly, but I don’t know how long it will take to cure the psychological damage. We will never forget May 19 in our life time.
  • Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra • Regarding the chaos that surrounded the city in a major way yesterday. The chaos left buildings ablaze for hours, left many injured and forced the government to set a curfew for a third of the country. In the wake of the chaos, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that he would harshly punish the “terrorists” who vandalized Bangkok. Exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose ouster started this mess in the first place, gave credit to the Red Shirts for surrendering, claiming that the end of the protests saved a lot of lives. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 May 2010 12:06

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World: Despite riots, Thailand’s situation not as deadly as it could’ve been

  • 30 number of buildings that were set on fire
  • 52 number of people that were injured in the riots
  • five number of people that were killed source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 May 2010 11:51

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World: Thailand’s political situation totally hits the crapper

The good news for the Thai military: They captured the leaders of the Red Shirt movement. The bad news: They caused mass riots. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 May 2010 21:30

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World: The Red Shirts are screwed: Thailand pulls out the tanks

Is it us, or does this have the makings of a major human rights violation? Hopefully this ends well for everyone involved, especially the Red Shirts. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 May 2010 09:52

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World: Thailand set a deadline for the Red Shirts to leave. Did it work?

  • NO around 5,000 protesters are
    still in the streets source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 May 2010 11:10

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World: The current state of violence in the escalating Bangkok conflict

  • 29+ have been killed in the escalating violence between the Thai government and Red Shirts
  • 221+ have been wounded; the Red Shirts want a cease-fire; the Thai government won’t budge source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

16 May 2010 11:04

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World: Still intensifying: The high-stakes conflict in Bangkok

Fans of motolov cocktails should be excited to know that the Thai government is planning on toughening its stance against the Red Shirts. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2010 13:19

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World: Why the Red Shirt crackdown? They’re trying to force the protesters out

  • Previously at its peak, there were about 10,000 or at least 9,000 protesters a day but since last night when we set up checkpoints around the protest area, you can see number of protesters have dropped to 5,000.
  • Thai Army spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd • Explaining what the army is trying to do to the Red Shirt protesters, who have occupied part of Bangkok. They claim that they’re trying to clear out the fighters, which sounds like it’s effective based on Kaewkamnerd’s estimation, but has had the side effect of fostering violence. The Red Shirts say they won’t give in easily. One thing we should note – the emergency situation is only in about a third of the city; many other parts are getting along somewhat normally. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 May 2010 13:08

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World: How bad is the fighting in Bangkok right now, anyway?

  • 25 have been killed since the
    Thai government ordered a
    crackdown on Red Shirt protesters
    in Bangkok a few days ago
  • 150 have been wounded in the
    crackdown; Prime Minister Abhisit
    Vejjajiva suggests the Red Shirts are
    trying to cause a civil war source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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