Is this the start of another Coup?

[STEVE G]

Sandman wrote:

Maybe its time to wise up.....democracy relies on education....and dirt farmers in Issan who sell votes for 100bht mean this happens when you try to impose "western democracy" too fast on an emerging SE Asian culture where being a face means more than the words that come out of it or the actions you do.....

Sandman, your sweeping comments on Issan famers selling their votes is ignoring the fact that in the North East there are a large number of people who are politically aware.
My partners family are involved in local politics and were out campaigning for the last election in the local area.

We were at the polling station in Pranburi for the absent voter poll the week before the election and we met a huge number of Issan people from Hua Hin who had gone there to vote for the PPP and no one was paying for their votes.
For the actual election we were in the village in Nong Ki and many people had returned home from their jobs in Bangkok and elsewhere to vote, due to them having missed the registration for the absent vote.

You don’t take the effort to travel several hundred kilometres to get 100 bt and I’m absolutely sure that if you had a completely corruption free election in that area you would have had a lower turnout, but absolutely the same result, especially when you consider that the all the other parties were also paying out the 100bt.

[sargeant]

It also doesnt take in to account that if the absent voters from up north were able to register and vote here (which is very difficult to do landlords wont give tabien bahns to avoid tax) the result would probably have been even more in their favour.
And all partys here in Hua Hin were buying votes as well

[PeteC]

It also doesnt take in to account that if the absent voters from up north were able to register and vote here (which is very difficult to do landlords wont give tabien bahns to avoid tax) the result would probably have been even more in their favour.
And all partys here in Hua Hin were buying votes as well

WHISTLE....time out.....my understanding of the rules is that if you go to the local government office XX weeks before the election, show your Thai ID card and anything at all that shows that you are working or living in the area, you can vote locally?

Of course the Cambodians and Burmese cannot...LOL. But legitimate workers especially in a place such as Pattaya, which number in the 10's of thousands, can do it. My better half did it awhile back simply by showing a Rayong ID card, and her motorcycle registration which was Chonburi Province, as that's where we bought it and registered it. Pete

[sargeant]

that is not how i understand it pete otherwise why have absent voters and why would so many go back home ( cost alone to these migrants from up north would be a big disincentive) i dont think it is as simple as that and knowing Thailand i bet it isnt the same everywhere a bit like visas

[STEVE G]

I think the main reason that many people weren’t registered was due to the fact that you had to do it quite some time in advance and many people missed this date due to it not being widely known about.

[PeteC]

ah haa, the plot thickens. It's 2130 here and Mom is up trying to get 3 year old to sleep as her first day back at school tomorrow. I woke them up anyway, see what a cad I am...LOL.

She did confirm about the bike registration. She added that many people in Pattaya back then only needed to show up with a second person who had a Chonburi ID card and sign a statement that they knew the registrant personally and he/she was indeed residing/working in Chonburi province. This was Pattaya, which can ill afford the entire work force going home to vote.

As you say Sarge, that sounds a bit complicated and open for abuse, and perhaps not organized that way in more rural places. Pete

PS: added 10 minutes later....you need to remember there is a Thai law stating that if you don't vote, you lose the privilage for life. I don't know the terms, but they do count and the limit is ?, afterwhich you are personna non gratta concerning voting.

[buksida]

Just observations here:

Vote buying aside, because they all do it - TRT/PPP have been the most successful due to cash injections from the owner, no other party can compete. I can only vouch for the people I have spoken to in Phet, Prachuab, Chumphon, Surat and Nakkon provinces. None have roots in Issan, none of them are pro govt, and all are regular working folk with small family businesses trying to get by.

The country is split into two - its simply a matter of demographics that lets Issan dictate who gets in, they have greater numbers. It probably also dictates where our own opinions lie as foreigners married to Thai nationals.

[Super Joe]

my understanding of the rules is that if you go to the local government office XX weeks before the election, show your Thai ID card and anything at all that shows that you are working or living in the area, you can vote locally?

That'd be the Tabien Bahn.
Name in a blue book in Buriram and they have to go their to vote. Transfer their name into a blue book where they are living and they can vote locally.
One of the main functions of the blue book, it's not a proof of house ownership document.

SJ

[sargeant]

Thats how i understood it SJ and HH isnt very ameniable to doing it as most migrant workers are renting and even us farangs have problems getting landlord to give yellow books let alone blue ones
Just a small aside it is surprising that some but by no means all tin shacks have them maybe 10/15% of my tin shack place have got them i know because for 3 years i was registered at one of them

[Jimiherf]

Having my usual breakfast at family friendly bar and a gathering started at the Tessaban

Speakers and clappers and yellow shirts but all seemed jovial

Asked a couple of Thais what it was about and got 2 different stories in the space of 10 minutes. 1) Something to do with lack of water 2) demo about wages

Thought, Oh Sh1t, I've got a yellow shirt on

All and sundry disbanded after 45 minutes

Panic over and back to my Bacon and eggs

Good to know Friday Family Bar is still up and running

[richard]

Barry is keeping the place ticking over.

Good set of regulars and some passing trade tuck in to a very reasonably priced, well cooked brekky

Not your mega gut full supplied by some that cater for the gut busters, but ok for the likes of me

Oh sh1t. Another give away location

[HHTel]

Well Sondhi wanted violence and it seems last night he got it. At least one dead and more injured when pro-government mobs tackled the PAD. Bloodshed on the streets is the perfect excuse for the army to move in. Sondhi's plan all along.

[STEVE G]

It seems that the Army did put troops on the streets in the early hours of the morning to help the police, but they seem to be avoiding actually taking over power.

[HHTel]

Well now that a 'State of Emergency' has been declared in BKK, the army is effectively in charge. They may or may not use force but it's probable that they will enforce the arrest of the PAD leaders as now any public gathering is deemed illegal.

Tomorrow, the unions act by cutting off main services in BKK. i.e. electricity, water, phones etc etc.

This fiasco has now become the top story in the central arena internationally. What's going to happen? The next few days will tell I'm sure. In the meantime, Thailand suffers tremendously internationally.

[STEVE G]

Yes, it seems to me that the PAD have made a complete mess of the country in pursuit of their own ends; the present government was never going to survive all the cases going through the courts and would never have lasted for long anyway, particularly after Thaksin was sent packing.

The Army is now put in charge of the security situation in Bangkok, but they still seem to be avoiding taking over the government.