English Football Club Manchester City's former gangster owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, has called on rioters to start a revolution to bring him back into power from his hideaway abroad. On the run,wanted at home and abroad, he has seen the anti government riots as an excuse to use the lives of these people to springboard himself back into usurping power. What started off as a 'friendly' none violent protest has escalated into fighting. It is thought that Shinawatra supporters deliberately stirred up the protest by firing on troops. There were hours of skirmishes as demonstrators threw petrol bombs and rocks at lines of troops, who were carrying riot shields and automatic weapons. The soldiers did not break their line until a bus, one of several commandeered by the protesters, was set alight. They then moved in with water cannon to put out the flames, before opening fire with live rounds. Many soldiers shot above the protesters' heads, but some were clearly firing into the crowd, BBC correspondent said.The prime minister said 70 people had been injured, including 23 soldiers. An army spokesman said that soldiers were shot at by protesters before dawn, and had fired back. Last year, the government imposed a state of emergency on several occasions but the army refused to enact the measures.That crisis eventually led to Mr Abhisit's government taking over from allies of Mr Thaksin.The problem for Mr Abhisit is that he came to power in December on the back of protests that were just as illegal. Protesters - Red Shirts They are supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. They want Mr Abhisit to resign and new elections held, which they would be well placed to win.Mr Thaksin's supporters say Mr Abhisit only became premier last December because of parliamentary defections that the army engineered.Mr Thaksin, who has called for a revolution, is traditionally backed by the poor, including those who live in the rural areas of the country. Thousands of "red shirts" have been at Government House in Bangkok, which they have besieged for nearly three weeks, preventing Mr Abhisit from entering his main office.Their action echoes the tactics of the anti-Thaksin "yellow shirts", who occupied it for several months last year. Yellow Shirts The yellow shirts of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have not been involved in recent clashes but are gearing up to join in if the red shirts look like winning.The colour honours Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej - many Thais wear yellow on Mondays, the day on which the king was born. A mix of royalists, academics, business people and retired military, PAD in some ways represents Thailand's old elite.It was horrified by the ascent of Mr Thaksin and his populist policies, which secured him the votes - and the devotion - of the poor.The yellow shirts' most audacious and disruptive action was the storming of Bangkok's two main airports in late November.Their protest left up to 250,000 foreign tourists stranded and cut the country's main international link for over a week.The yellow shirts ended their protests in December, claiming victory when the constitutional court disqualified the pro-Thaksin prime minister for electoral fraud. I cannot understand how people can support a person who has systematically stripped the country of money into his own accounts. What started off as a peaceful demonstration against the lack of promised elections has been taken over by pro Thakisn militants and turned into a riot.
It seems with many countries there's at least two sides vying for power and that ALWAYS sparks a rebellion of some type.
There's something fundamentally wrong when so few people, a few rioters/protestors or demonstrators, can so drastically change the lives of and the government of millions of citizens. Baron Max
Well, I don't know about that ...perhaps that's just what the news media would have us think. The sensationalist reports seem to try to make us believe that "all of the people" are protesting and/or rioting ...when it's only a very, very, very small percentage of the people. My guess is that the greater majority of Thai citizens are just going about their usual lives without much concern about who or what is running the government. In many, if not most, cases, Genghis Khan could become the ruler and they wouldn't even know it or care ...they're lives probably wouldn't change one single little bit. Baron Max
