Read the news this morning before heading in for work (shocker, I know) and was taken aback by the political unrest in Thailand. The pictures are incredibly disturbing. Especially this one:
That man in white that you see being carried is not a victim. He wasn't being rescued by the crowds. Quite the contrary actually. That man is Niphon Promphan, the Secretary of Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. And that was him being dragged out of his vehicle after it was mobbed by anti-government protesters at the Interior Ministry, Bangkok, Thailand yesterday, 12 April 2009.
Is this democracy at work?
See more and decide for yourself.
See more and decide for yourself.
That's the BMW Niphon Promphan was in.
And as you can see, it got trashed by protestors.
And as you can see, it got trashed by protestors.
The trashing continues.The protesters in red that surround the car are loyal supporters of Thailand's ousted former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. The next three pictures you see are of the unnamed driver who was behind the wheel of Niphon Promphan's wrecked BMW.
Imagine his fear.
Feel his helplessness.
To me, these red thugs without conscience
are no different from animals – hyenas in the wild.
are no different from animals – hyenas in the wild.
A man stands atop the BMW with his arms raised
above his head, and a hint of a smile on his face.
above his head, and a hint of a smile on his face.
A sign of victory? Really? Because I have some questions: (1) Is there victory in warring? (2) Is there victory in hurting others who do not share the same political views as you do?
I think not.
Democracy comes when everybody has a say and the majority with the biggest say wins. In this chaos, I doubt that the exchange of intelligent words outnumber the exchange of punches and blows. And, logically speaking, in this kind of havoc, I'm pretty sure nobody's listening to anything anybody on the "other side" has to say.
So let me ask you this: Is this true democracy at work? Or has Thailand's brand of democracy become the perfect excuse for rampant bad behaviour?
* Pictures taken from various online sources. Can't remember which ones exactly already cos I was too busy putting the pieces of the story together from the many news sites I visited.
12 comments :
Well, democracy as an ideology is sometimes warped to those who try their darndest at championing it.
ATTN: Mel0dramatic
– HELLOOO!!!
And you're right. Sometimes the fight for democracy gets out of hand. It's sad though.
So disturbing and scary! And to think that the people uproar over political & social episodes like the tree affair is just the beginning of violent incidences like in Thailand.
ATTN: samanthacje
– It's ridiculous. Funny how world leaders and adults behave like children when it comes to politics. They're killing their own country and its tourism industry.
years back, these people were paid to oust thaksin. Now they are paid by the ousted thaksin to do the same thing again. It's all about money..hmpph...
I hope Malaysia never turn into a situation like this ever!
ATTN: ~YM~
– They're paid!? You serious??? Then that's a whole new level of low. -_-
ATTN: Allison
– Me, too! It's freaking scary even to think that we're so close by.
True democracy doesnt exist when the country is ruled by 'shadow-military'. The fight is for a good cause but the approach is somehow questionable. Parliment failed to play its roles....
ATTN: Adrian Lim
– You're right. The ends does not justify the means though.
wow! I'm impressed by you, this is like the second political current events post I've read, the last was a month or two ago.This whole fiasco looked to be a cause for democracy. But the suspicion is that it's driven by greed and corruption. Elections compromised by tampering of votes. It was reported that the protests were "sponsored" just as it were claimed when Thaksin was still in power.
You'd asked "Is this true democracy at work?Well, it is, haha becoz they were allowed to protest...until they became violent then its not democracy at work anymore. I dont think you should blame democracy when protest gets violent. (Democracy gives them the right to protest, but when ppl misuse that, it just becomes a crime). So, you just wonder either these people didn't grasp the freedom of speech or they have a personal vendetta or they were paid to do this.
The questions for democracy are:
1) Vote buying, Money politics,
2) Is the biggest-est majority always right? Yanks would say 8 years of Bush administration was a letdown. That said, 8 years of Clinton administration prior to that was a success.
Overall, I'd say its a personal victory for TinkiTalks for posing critical questions to the readers. It's about time, relli! and with the blog space and the audience, the demographic, it can be put to good use to engage minds.
ATTN: Chris
– Haha. Aww, Chris. *blush* Well, it did affect me in ways I didn't expect so... of course I had to blog it.
You really believe that these attacks on the Thai govt were caused by paid offenders?
And you're right. This isn't democracy. That was what I was trying to put out at the end of my post. Democracy is just an excuse for them to misbehave and act like thugs. It's despicable. PHOOI!
In terms of your questions, I think money politics and vote-buying happens. Sucks that it does but... it happens.
And no, the biggest-est majority isn't always right but if they win, the biggest-est majority makes the most happy people. If you can't live with what the majority wants, go somewhere where you can. Simple as that.
And yeah, I guess this is a good start. I can't guarantee that it'll happen often though. Cos I only publish stuff that really touch me. And if it doesn't I won't speak of it for the sake of changing mindsets. It has to be my personal views, too. =)
There's a concise but relevant write-up of democracy in Asia such as China, Thailand, etc, found here.
Well, the protesters relli have big sets of balls to storm the Summit (They were referred as thugs, juz like u said, mentioned in that article). I read somewhere few days ago, they were sponsored, well, first someone needs to pay for the red shirt, right, haha, i cant find the source now.
.... but the biggest-est majority might be ill-informed and wrong, why not stay and educate them, cannot just chicken out and leave.
Yes! A good start, today publish that post, tomorrow organize protest - to protest against those protestor for their unlawful protest!
Yes, yes, of course, only publish things relevant to you and you have an opinion of.
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