An astrologer warns the Thai Prime Minister of a coup if house not dissolved. Later it splashed, "Chaiyasit Ridicules Army, 'No Guts'" and said under the headline, "Former Supreme Commander General Chaiyasit Chinnawat states that the military will have to be involved in peacekeeping if the government enforces the security law. The government should be questioned whether it has justifiable cause to enforce this law, since it might be a precondition for a coup if the incident gets out of hand.
However, General Chaiyasit says that deep down in his heart he believes that the incumbent armed forces leaders will not stage a coup because they are on the same side as the administration and therefore they see no reason to stage a coup or, to put it bluntly, they have no guts to stage a coup."
Political Discourse
The aforementioned mentality of both the stargazer and the former supreme commander are trapped in a vicious circle. In other words, their words are a "political discourse in an underdeveloped form," which sees a coup as an option or alternative solution for Thailand's political problem.
One will not try one's best to find any other solution if one thinks that a coup is an option or an alternative, or if one thinks that house dissolution or resignation from office are the last options in politics and, therefore, fails to consider the possibility of a coup as an option or solution.
Volatile Situation
Meanwhile, someone in the incumbent administration might argue that the anti-government group tries to launch a big protest rally in a bid to create a precondition or a precarious, volatile situation that leads to turmoil and riots, which will in turn trigger a coup, and therefore the government has to plead with the people to refrain from joining the protest rally on the 19th September 2009.
The government should not plead to the people to refrain from joining the protest rally by claiming that the rally shows signs of causing turmoil, because all big rallies always cause turmoil. The only question is whether the turmoil goes beyond bounds. This must be left to the people to decide. The government should only ask to know the reason and demand of the rally and when it does, it should explain whether it can satisfy the demand or not and why it can or cannot. The rest is up to the people to assess.
Sathit Wong-nongtoei, minister attached to the prime minister's office, proposed the "Thai Samakkhi Thai Khemkaeng" (United Thai - Strong Thai) campaign. He stated: "In the campaign, each province is assigned to rally people to come out and express the Thai patriotic feeling. The government, in cooperation with various sectors, will host the event and activities that communicates Thai unity, without focusing on a person, but focusing on the nation. The campaign will be launched on 20 September and continues to 4 December."
The campaign is launched at a most inopportune time, which makes it look as if the government is trying to give as good as it get and counter the red-shirted group's political rally. It is tantamount to pushing two groups of people to clash with each other. In addition, it arouses bad feelings towards the administration because, by claiming that the campaign is launched in a bid to allow people to express their patriotic feeling during the period, Sathit seems to imply that the red-shirted group is unpatriotic, does not care for unity. In other words, those who do not agree with Sathit are unpatriotic and do not care for national unity. This policy is a serious misstep because it shows that the administration is launching a psychological warfare against those who protest against it.
Legitimate Act
The incumbent administration should allow the people to stage a rally, a right which is endorsed by Section 63 of the Charter. By enforcing the security law, the government already has an instrument in its hand to easily contain the situation. If the government will proceed clearly from the lighter to the harsher steps and closely reports through the media every step of the way when it has to use force to disperse the rally, in case that the rally escalates beyond the limit of the law and disrupts peace, the people will understand the necessity of the government's action and the government's action will be regarded as a legitimate act to keep peace.
In addition to this, there is another worrying issue. If the rally protracts until 21 September, when the rubber sapling case will be ruled, and more people are rallied out to show support, it will be a serious warning signal that two groups of people, the red-shirted and the blue-shirted groups, although they appear to be enemies, will jointly benefit from a bloody riot and it will also reflects the same old mentality that is mired in a "vicious circle" of coups after coups.
However, General Chaiyasit says that deep down in his heart he believes that the incumbent armed forces leaders will not stage a coup because they are on the same side as the administration and therefore they see no reason to stage a coup or, to put it bluntly, they have no guts to stage a coup."
Political Discourse
The aforementioned mentality of both the stargazer and the former supreme commander are trapped in a vicious circle. In other words, their words are a "political discourse in an underdeveloped form," which sees a coup as an option or alternative solution for Thailand's political problem.
One will not try one's best to find any other solution if one thinks that a coup is an option or an alternative, or if one thinks that house dissolution or resignation from office are the last options in politics and, therefore, fails to consider the possibility of a coup as an option or solution.
Volatile Situation
Meanwhile, someone in the incumbent administration might argue that the anti-government group tries to launch a big protest rally in a bid to create a precondition or a precarious, volatile situation that leads to turmoil and riots, which will in turn trigger a coup, and therefore the government has to plead with the people to refrain from joining the protest rally on the 19th September 2009.
The government should not plead to the people to refrain from joining the protest rally by claiming that the rally shows signs of causing turmoil, because all big rallies always cause turmoil. The only question is whether the turmoil goes beyond bounds. This must be left to the people to decide. The government should only ask to know the reason and demand of the rally and when it does, it should explain whether it can satisfy the demand or not and why it can or cannot. The rest is up to the people to assess.
Sathit Wong-nongtoei, minister attached to the prime minister's office, proposed the "Thai Samakkhi Thai Khemkaeng" (United Thai - Strong Thai) campaign. He stated: "In the campaign, each province is assigned to rally people to come out and express the Thai patriotic feeling. The government, in cooperation with various sectors, will host the event and activities that communicates Thai unity, without focusing on a person, but focusing on the nation. The campaign will be launched on 20 September and continues to 4 December."
The campaign is launched at a most inopportune time, which makes it look as if the government is trying to give as good as it get and counter the red-shirted group's political rally. It is tantamount to pushing two groups of people to clash with each other. In addition, it arouses bad feelings towards the administration because, by claiming that the campaign is launched in a bid to allow people to express their patriotic feeling during the period, Sathit seems to imply that the red-shirted group is unpatriotic, does not care for unity. In other words, those who do not agree with Sathit are unpatriotic and do not care for national unity. This policy is a serious misstep because it shows that the administration is launching a psychological warfare against those who protest against it.
Legitimate Act
The incumbent administration should allow the people to stage a rally, a right which is endorsed by Section 63 of the Charter. By enforcing the security law, the government already has an instrument in its hand to easily contain the situation. If the government will proceed clearly from the lighter to the harsher steps and closely reports through the media every step of the way when it has to use force to disperse the rally, in case that the rally escalates beyond the limit of the law and disrupts peace, the people will understand the necessity of the government's action and the government's action will be regarded as a legitimate act to keep peace.
In addition to this, there is another worrying issue. If the rally protracts until 21 September, when the rubber sapling case will be ruled, and more people are rallied out to show support, it will be a serious warning signal that two groups of people, the red-shirted and the blue-shirted groups, although they appear to be enemies, will jointly benefit from a bloody riot and it will also reflects the same old mentality that is mired in a "vicious circle" of coups after coups.
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