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Thailand's Original Colour Revolution

Cartalucci Critic | 27.04.2011 09:03 | Anti-militarism | Social Struggles

Thailand's on the verge of a fourth American backed military coup.

Thailand's Original Colour Revolution


Colour Revolutions started in the former Communist States of Europe. They were characterised by mass street protests and civil disobedience. Links were made between these movements and American foreign policy. The Guardian wrote;

“the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that ...has been used to … topple unsavoury regimes.
Funded and organised by the US government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organisations, the campaign was first used in Europe in Belgrade in 2000 to beat Slobodan Milosevic at the ballot box.”
Some analysts have described this wave of revolutions, which has now spread throughout Arab States, as the fruition of plans to create a New World Order. Essentially an Anglo-American Empire that is battling against Russian and Chinese influence throughout the world in order to establish a single currency for the world, which is controlled by a global central bank and a one world government which dictates policy to regional trading blocs such as ASEAN.

Anglo-American reactions to recent revolts in the Arab world illustrate the selective nature of support and intervention. NATO is currently bombing Libyan citizens with depleted uranium and a new central bank has already been created. Bahrain has had it's leaders, who crushed dissenters, invited to the royal wedding. Geopolitical strategy can easily be deciphered from the reaction of the U.N and Western governments.

Anglo-American influence in Thailand

Much has been written on Thailand's supposedly Anglo-American backed Red Revolution. But, what of the Yellow Revolution which preceded the Red and continues to this day?

The Yellow Shirts or People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had their foundations laid by Sondhi Kosaisuuk back in 2004. They were a coalition of military men, Thai aristocracy, state labour unions and right-wing political leaders including many politicians from the currently ruling Democrat Party led by an unelected Prime Minister. They were united against the democratically elected Thaksin Shinawatra and were instrumental in instigating the military coup in 2006. Their Yellow Revolution was also instrumental in removing two other elected leaders from power, Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat who combined served less than eleven months as Prime Minister. Both were ousted through judicial coups and violent street protests. The Yellow Shirts continue to threaten candidates who will run in Thailand's upcoming national elections. PAD and their offshoot, Thai Patriots Network (TPN), are also behind Thailand's current war with Cambodia in which they have called for the capture of Angkor Wat. They adopted yellow as it is symbolic of Thailand's King's who they claim to be fighting for.

“Critics however have said the [PAD]'s name appears to be a misnomer as its opposition to the results of three elections show it is neither populist nor does it want representative democracy … the PAD advocate the scrapping of the one-man-one-vote system in Thailand and say only 30 per cent of parliament's members should be directly elected by the people. The remaining 70 per cent should be chosen from various occupations and professions and be appointed, they say ...the PAD hopes to "teach the politicians a lesson that just because they have the majority vote, doesn't mean they can do whatever they want". [They have] also argued for an expanded role for the military,”
Critics go further than to say that the PAD is a misnomer, they are commonly known as the People's Alliance for Dictatorship amongst opponents. They are a violent nationalist group that readily accuses opponents of committing Lese Majeste which could see victims imprisoned for decades. If a Thai version of the immensely popular British satire Spitting Image were ever created the prison sentence would last for centuries. That's if the producers, actors, audience and anyone else involved ever lived to make it to a court hearing.

There are many foreigners who openly support nationalism in Thailand for various reasons. George Orwell states;

Nationalism, “does not always attach itself to what is called a nation — that is, a single race or a geographical area. It can attach itself to a church or a class, or it may work in a merely negative sense, against something or other and without the need for any positive object of loyalty … [It is]the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled ‘good’ or ‘bad ' … the habit of identifying oneself with a single … unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism ... Nationalism ... is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, ... for the ... unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality … its worst follies have been made possible by the breakdown of patriotism.”

Thai Nationalists, backed by foreign supporters, led three consecutive coups against elected leaders in less than three years. They have recently attacked Cambodia and Thai nationals over border demarcation disputes despite Thais living in the area staging rallies to voice their rejection of the nationalists.

“Villagers from Ban Phum Srol staged a rally ... to denounce the [PAD/TPN] visit. “You have created the war. You troubled us. We don't welcome you," said Wichit Duangkaew, 46, yesterday of the PAD, attributing the latest skirmish between Thai and Cambodian soldiers to the yellow shirts' rally being held in Bangkok. "When Cambodian solders fired missiles and artillery pieces at us, were you [the PAD] with us?" Mr Wichit asked. The PAD-affiliated Thai Patriots Network decided early last month to call off a rally near the border with Cambodia in Sa Kaeo province after it ran into fierce opposition from villagers in Khok Sung district.”

Who are the PAD?
The PAD started mass street protests the length and breadth of Thailand in 2005. They were led by a central committee consisting of five people. Sondhi Limthongkul ,Major General Chamlong Srimuang ,Phiphob Thongchai, State enterprise labor union leader Somsak Kosaisuuk and Somkeit Pongpaibul.


Sondhi Limthongkul

Sondhi is a media mogul who currently runs Thailand's ASTV, whose major shareholder is New World Development Co. Ltd. He regularly did business with Thaksin and sold him a 17.5% stake in one of his companies allowing Thaksin to make between 600 and 700 million THB. He used his media outlets to promote Thaksin's political campaign. After Thaksin became Prime Minister in 2001, Sondhi continued his support, calling him "the best prime minister our country has ever had."

Sondhi then received more than one and a half billion THB from Viroj Nualkhair, chairman of Merrill Lynch Phatra Securities and turned against Thaksin denouncing him via his media empire before leading anti-Thaksin street protests in 2005. He produced and published various versions of 'The Finland Plot' which accused - without evidence - Thaksin of various things including wanting to establish a communist one party republic after deposing Thailand's royal family. Sondhi simultaneously adopted the slogan "We Fight for the King". The protests grew and culminated in the military coup of 2006 which dissolved Parliament and abrogated the constitution.


Major General Chamlong Srimuang

Major General Chamlong spent his early life being trained in American military schools both in Thailand and America. He fought for the Americans in Vietnam and throughout South East Asia. He later became a prominent member of the Young Turks, a secret military organisation that was instrumental in ferocious attacks on anti-American Thai demonstrators who were, in some cases, burned alive in public. General Prem was backed by his close friends in the Young Turks. Chamlong served as his secretary general after deposing General Kriangsak Chomanan.

He has been involved in every coup since he came of age in one way or another and shows no signs of changing this habit. This is despite becoming an extremist Buddhist, founder and leader of the Phalang Dharma Party and follower of the controversial Santi Asoke sect. He claims to be celibate, a vegetarian, to have no worldly possessions, eat one meal a day and abstain from using soap. Chamlong's highly political Santi Asoke sect aggressively encourages others to follow a similar regime, condemning farmers for not being frugal and regularly intercedes in public smoking and drinking which it is campaigning to ban.

Non-Committee Members

The continuing Yellow Revolution also receives massive support from prominent Thai leaders with globalist connections including;

Anand Panyarachun
Anand Panyarachun is a former Thai Prime Minister and a regular speaker at PAD rallies. He was also a member of the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board. He, however, remained on the board for three years more than Thaksin, who left in 2001. Anand only left when the board was disbanded in 2004. He supported the military coup which ousted Thaksin and was surprised that the international community condemned it. He has sat with George W. Bush at the Global Leadership Foundation. Advised GE and AIG. Is a member of the CFR, UNICEF. The list goes on and on.

Surin Pitsuwan
Surin Pitsuwan is another Yellow Revolutionary and a 2006 coup supporter. “This, in a nutshell, is former Thai foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan's analysis of recent political upheavals that plagued his country. Speaking at an 'Asian Voices' seminar in Brussels, Belgium, the director of Thailand's Democratic Party believed that democracy did not die in the coup led by army general Sonthi Boonyaratklin, but was, in fact, saved just in time.”
“He is currently on the Advisory Board of the International Crisis Group (ICG); a member of the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York; He was nominated by the Royal Thai Government and endorsed by ASEAN Leaders to be ASEAN Secretary-General for year 2008- 2012.”

Mechai Viravaidya
Yet another high ranking Yellow Revolutionary. The BBC quoted Senator Mechai Viravaidya as saying, "I'm delighted he's gone," in reference to Thaksin.
He received money and an award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his work on family planning which saw one of the most rapid declines in fertility in modern history. He also received the UN population award and was appointed UNAIDS Ambassador. As head of Thailand's largest NGO, he is not alone in coming out in support of nationalists as the vast majority of Thai NGOs are funded by the Thai government and support their funders in their opposition of the Red Movement.

General Prem Tinsulanonda
“General Prem Tinsulanonda now serves as the Head of the Privy Council of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej.”
“Prem found himself named as a leading player in the Thailand political crisis of 2005-2006. Before and during the mass protest of Thaksin's supporters, the UDD, Thaksin started mentioning the name of Prem publicly. The UDD leaders harshly blasted Prem for meddling in politics, calling him by using a term of 'ammatya' or 'aristocrat', as a threat to democracy since he has never been democratically elected.”
General Prem Tinsulanonda was Chief Advisor to the CP Group., the largest business conglomerate in Thailand who have a business relationship with the Bush family, until he left after investigations started into financial irregularities. The Carlyle Group announced an acquisition of interests in CP Group for US$175 Million, and General Prem remains embroiled in accusations of financial irregularities as businesses including the Carlyle Group's CP Group continue to make donations to his foundations.

Conclusion

Many Western political, media and business leaders have called for a New World Order in recent years. Events in Libya clearly illustrate the undemocratic, deceptive and dictatorial nature of the U.N and the governments currently waging war on the oil rich State. The militaries of supposedly sovereign nations attack in coalitions under U.N command. Soldiers don't fight to defend their peoples, they fight for business conglomerates with desires of global hegemony.

It is said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Not seeing the whole picture can lead to a very bad and improper judgment. There are many articles available on Thailand's 'Color' Revolution. How many of them provide readers with a comprehensive knowledge, with the whole picture. The answer is, unfortunately; very few.

Is it because the Yellow Revolution was more subtle? Is it because those involved didn't suffer the same degree of horrific violence dealt out by the military to the Reds? Is it because those who write on the topic don't want people to know about the Yellow Revolution? Is it because those who write on the topic only want to continue to disseminate Sondhi's 'Finland Plot' as propaganda against Thais who want to have an elected Prime Minister? Only the writers themselves know the answers to these questions.

To what degree are Thais involved in Anglo-American Empire building? I don't know. Is the Yellow Revolution part of an Anglo-American geopolitical strategy? I don't know.

What I do know is that there is absolutely no doubt that any leader of any nation will have to deal with the world's superpower, regardless of their personal ambitions or position on the political spectrum. The Anglo-American empire will undoubtedly try to ensnare leaders in any given nation if it suits their geopolitical strategy.

Common men and women can not defend themselves against the behemoth of the Anglo-American Empire alone. One movement in one nation can not defeat it. The common man and women will, in most instances, not even be able to identify the Empire due to its' sophisticated methods of working in the dark and employing traitors against the nation to do its' work.

The only thing the common man and woman can do is to be judge. Every individual is judge and they have the jurisdiction to apply moral law. In Thailand's case judges must pass moral judgement on the Reds and the Yellows. Every individual must judge the morality of Article 112, the morality of Buddhists who claim to have no worldly possessions fighting over a small piece of land, the morality of democracy, the morality of violence, the morality of honesty. Judge and decide, not on which punishment to hand out, but on whether or not you're going to participate and if you're not going to participate, then how you are going to defend yourself when you are forced to participate.

The reader must use moral law to judge the leaders of each colour block. And while, as a general rule leaders tend to have a high propensity to be parasites, some may actually be more symbiotic than others. Pass judgement on which is morally superior.

Cartalucci Critic
- e-mail: cartaluccicritic@hotmail.com
- Homepage: http://tony-cartalucci-critic.blogspot.com/

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