Crush the red shirts!

These days PPT generally ignores the rantings that are apparently meant to pass for opinion at The Nation. However, Sopon Onkgara’s latest is worthy of some attention.

Sophon, ever-exercised by red shirts because he considers them Thaksin Shinawatra allies, seems rattled that such a large crowd of red shirts “flexed their muscles again on Sunday…”. He still believes that it is Thaksin who finances every red shirt action.

The big issue for Sopon is that the Abhisit Vejjajiva government is altogether too sanguine and too weak, only being “saved” by the military in 2010 when  “Abhisit had to seek protection inside a military barracks.” The government has “limited imagination” and lacks the guts to take decisive action against its opponents.

Apparently the deaths of almost 100 and injuring thousands is not enough for Sopon. He wants the government to take decisive action against rising red shirts. He wants them crushed and Thaksin arrested and in jail. The government is, according to Sopon, “almost pathetic.”

In these circumstances, Sopon expects “Thaksin … to go all out again in a bid to regain political power and eventual absolution for his crimes, convicted or otherwise.” The red shirts will again lead the charge, rallying, blocking traffic with “the risk of more violence and total chaos.”

The conclusion for Sopon is that the “government might still rely on the armed forces, chiefly the Army, but with a false sense of security…. If this complacency and lack of imagination persists, it will not be a surprise if mayhem recurs.”

This kind of outburst reflects a perception that recent setbacks for the establishment – think Wikileaks – require a strong response. The response Sopon wants is another round of repression or maybe more.

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