Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Dead of innocent Children in Bangkok and Trat:
The Turning Point of the Crisis in Thailand?

Two innocent children died in Bangkok following a grenade attack near a Big C supermarket in Bangkok. This happened on Sunday, after the confrontation between the government forces of Yingluck Shinawatra and the antigovernment-protesters following Suthep Thaugsuban had become more and more violent. Before two five-year-old girls were killed when gunmen attacked a protest rally in Trat on Saturday night.

Now this:

"Talks underway"

writes Bangkok Post. Negotiations to end the political crisis between the government and the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) have started, Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said on his Facebook page on Tuesday. The former prime minister said he acted as a moderator in Monday's talks between Pheu Thai No 2 party-list candidate Somchai Wongsawat and Luang Pu Buddha Issara, a PDRC co-leader. Pheu Thai is the party behind Yingluck Shinawatra. He said the heart of Monday's talks was that both sides agreed to create a negotiation process that will lead to solutions to the crisis.
So there is some hope.

But in the night from Monday to Tuesday two people were slightly injured when the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) anti-government rally site in Lumpini was attacked for three hours shortly after midnight. According to reports, about 20 grenades were used to attack the area, as Bangkok Post reports. And anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said on Tuesday he will never negotiate with caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and accused her of "ordering her minions to murder children", reports Bangkok Post.

Meanwhile the government of Yingluck Shinawatra is trying to pay the rice farmers, to whom it owes 110 billion Bath. It plans to take 20 millions Bath from the central budget, reports The Nation. But Shinawatra's government is only the interims-government (so called caretaker government), after elections have been announced and hold. And this interims-government has limited borrowing and spending powers and needs therefore a ratification by the Election Commission for this payment.

Banks so far have not given credits to Shinawatras government for paying the rice farmers. When the Government Savings Bank announced a loan for that reason last week, savers rushed to withdraw their money. The loan then was stopped and the president of the bank resigned. Other private banks went so far, to inform the customers on the screens of ATMs, that they would not give a loan to the government for paying the rice farmers. Meanwhile, the Government Pension Fund said on Tuesday it would not buy government bonds, as The Nation reports. That illustrates, how less trust Shinawatra's government is enjoying. And the same newspaper also writes, that the rice-subvention-system of the Shinawatra-government is a death trap for government and farmers and says why.

So no one was wondering, as Thailand's army chief warned Monday the country risks "collapse" unless it pulls back from escalating violence. "As days go by, there will be more violence until it cannot be controlled," army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha warned in a rare televised live speech. "If losses continue, the country will collapse for sure and nobody will win or lose," he said according to AFP. Prayut urged reconciliation and talks. He said troops are "ready to do their duty" but "do not want to use force and weapons to unnecessarily fight with the Thai people".