Political Update II

There has been a spat of violence against the PAD over the last few months. This past week, a bomb killed a PAD demonstrator and injured others.

The PAD promises a large protest this Sunday in support of their fallen brotheren. Their leadership has stated that the goverment cannot do anything about their protests and occupation of goverment buildings, because to do so would cause the almost immediate collapse of the goverment.

In related news, an army general who supports the anti-PAD forces (pro-Thaksin, pro-goverment) was assigned to the post of promoting aerobic exercise through dance. The re-assigned general was very angry about the assignment, and ripped his boss in the newspaper. The slighted general described himself a warrior and not a dancer, stating that the only dance he would perform would involve throwing a grendade.

In the U.S., I would never expect to hear a general lash out at his command in the press. Even with freedom of speech, openly ripping your commanding officer in the press is a great way to end your career.

The transfer was undoubtedly designed to remove effective power from this general by taking away units under his command. Its important to remember that the 2006 coup would never have succeeded if the coup leaders did not have control of key troop divisions located in Bangkok. So while the military as a whole has declared itself his Majest's Army, even the general's differ in their support of the elected goverment and the PAD.