December 30, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - Singapore's "The Straits Times" reports in their article, "Thai protests: 'Red shirts' plan to hit back Leader warns of retaliation if Yingluck government is forced to cede power," that:
Red Shirts' Dark History Heralds Dark Future
The Strait Times attempts to portray the "red shirts" of Rak Chiang Mai 51 as merely frustrated, disenfranchised rural poor being pushed to extremes. The fact is, Thailand is full of rural poor from north to south, from east to west, and what the "red shirts" actually represent is a mere 7% of the total population - a minority even in their strongholds in northern and northeast Thailand. This number comes from an Asia Foundation report titled, "Survey Findings Challenge Notion of a Divided Thailand," which directly contradicts the prevailing narrative peddled by the Times and other Western media fronts.
ANGRY "red shirts" in northern Thailand are preparing to hit back as anti-government protests in Bangkok are set to enter their third month.
Having stayed largely in the background, the red shirts, who propelled the Puea Thai party to power in 2011, are upset by what they see as a weak government response to the protesters' attempts to paralyse the capital and disrupt the Feb 2 election.
And they are quietly making plans to retaliate if Ms Yingluck Shinawatra's caretaker government is forced, by a military coup or other means, to cede power to an unelected administration.The Times would also report:
In the current protests, Thai police have shown relative restraint for fear that any sign of brutality would give legitimacy to protesters and provoke a military intervention. This approach has ironically hardened sentiment among red-shirt leaders.
"I am extremely frustrated," Dr Pechawat Wattanapongsirigul, a leader from the militant Rak Chiang Mai 51 group, told The Straits Times.
If the protesters succeed in installing an unelected administration, "we will separate ourselves from the central government", he said. "We will not live under their control."What the Times fails to report is who "Rak Chiang Mai 51" (RCM51) actually is. Though they use the term "militant," even that falls far short of describing what this network represents. Had they reported the true nature of this group, their demands and the regime they are defending would be revealed as entirely illegitimate.
Red Shirts' Dark History Heralds Dark Future
The Strait Times attempts to portray the "red shirts" of Rak Chiang Mai 51 as merely frustrated, disenfranchised rural poor being pushed to extremes. The fact is, Thailand is full of rural poor from north to south, from east to west, and what the "red shirts" actually represent is a mere 7% of the total population - a minority even in their strongholds in northern and northeast Thailand. This number comes from an Asia Foundation report titled, "Survey Findings Challenge Notion of a Divided Thailand," which directly contradicts the prevailing narrative peddled by the Times and other Western media fronts.
Thaksin's red shirts are simply the loudest, most violent, and most organized of several political minorities, able to project fear and intimidation where they are strongest in order to keep the silent majority silent. The most recent example of this was during December 22, 2013's mass mobilization where a group of anti-regime protesters assembled peacefully in the northern city of Chiang Mai only to be set upon by RCM51 thugs who attempted to scale gates and impale protesters with their flag poles. Police were able to defuse the situation in time.
Other notorious incidents showcasing the true nature of the current regime's "red shirts," in particular RCM51, include:
- In 2008, RCM51 shot/hacked to death by machetes an opposition community radio host's father, after pro-Thaksin radio hosts mobilized supporters to surround his house and the father attempted to flee. Regime demagogue, Kanyapak Maneejak (DJ Aom), when asked about the incident during a "City Life Chiang Mai" interview, claimed, "the reds there all came following their hearts."
- In 2009, in addition to large-scale street violence visited upon Bangkok which saw two shop keepers shot while trying to stop red shirts from looting their businesses, RCM51 would violently disrupt an HIV/AIDS awareness march organized by homosexual & public health activists. "Out in Perth" reported in their article, "Chiang Mai Pride Shut Down by Protests as Police Watch On," that organizers were locked inside a building while red shirts began throwing rocks and yelling abuse through megaphones. Police looked on until organizers decided to call off the event.
- Also in 2009, Bangkok's English paper, "Bangkok Post" would publish a report titled, "Rak Chiang Mai 51: A pride or a disgrace for Chiang Mai?" which would describe in detail the group's methods of violence and intimidation.
From 2009 up to now, where this group is still using violence and intimidation to silence dissent against Thaksin Shinawatra and his proxy regime run by his own sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, we see the equivalent of Adolf Hitler's "Brown Shirts," not political activists. They have used illegitimate means, to force illegitimate demands upon all who fail to adopt their point of view, including political opponents and even minorities like homosexuals.
They are likewise bolstering an illegitimate regime run by a convicted criminal, Thaksin Shinawatra, who is openly running the country from abroad while evading a 2 year jail sentence, multiple arrest warrants and a long list of pending court cases. In no other nation on Earth would RCM51's talk of secession and threats of violence be tolerated - and in Thailand they are not to be tolerated either. While the Times attempts to portray the anti-regime protesters as attempting to wrest democracy away from the country, they are instead merely standing up to an illegitimate regime and its networks of thugs who have hijacked and are flagrantly abusing the democratic process.
The Times' failure to highlight RCM51's history leaves audiences ill-informed - but a fully informed audience will clearly see RCM51, their cause, and the regime they support were, are, and will be illegitimate so long as they pledge allegiance to a convicted criminal and employ violence, bigotry, and intimidation as tools to seize and maintain political power.
