"We have always been against Thaksin," Giles said Friday to a group of reporters at the protest. "But we do not want political reform that takes place in a climate of a military dictatorship."
BANGKOK, Sep 22 (IPS) - As Thailand's 18th coup ended its third day, the first cracks against a military solution to a political problem have surfaced. A small group of dissidents gathered to voice their opposition to the junta outside a swanky shopping mall here on Friday evening.
'No to Thaksin, No to coup,' read a protest sign held up by the dissidents, who numbered about 20. "Don't call it reform. It's a coup," said another.
Although limited in number, the dissidents, by standing up, are punching a few holes in the glowing picture painted by the mainstream Thai media that the junta has universal support for its power grab on the night of Sep. 19 to rid Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from office.
Thanaphol Eiwsakul, no stranger to controversy here when it comes to fighting for political and civil liberties, is among the leading voices daring to challenge the coup's leaders. ''This coup is against democracy; it is against the law,'' the 33-year-old editor of 'Fah Diew Kan,' a Thai magazine known for its progressive views, said in an IPS interview hours before the gathering. ''The announcements on TV supporting the coup are asking us to support something that is illegal. Would you support an act that is against the law?''
Sombat Boongnam-among, a prominent activist for minority rights who works in the northern Chiang Rai province, is also standing up to the new political order being imposed in this country through martial law. ''They (the coup leaders) are censoring people's opinion and only one side -- their side -- is being presented,'' he told IPS. ''I am not afraid of being arrested. It is my right to express my political opinion openly.''
center>Full story: Dissidence Grows Against Coup
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"In economic life there is extreme inequality and exploitation. Although colonialism no longer exists openly in the political and economic sphere, still it persists indirectly, and this should not be tolerated... In this respect you should remember that in economic life, we will have to guarantee the minimum requirements of life to one and all... There cannot be any sort of adjustment as far as this point is concerned. The minimum purchasing requirement must be guaranteed to all. Today these fundamental essentialities are not being guaranteed. Rather, people are being guided by deceptive economic ideas like outdated Marxism, which has proven ineffective in practical life and has not been successfully implemented in any corner of the world. Why do people still believe in such a theory, which has never been proved successful? The time has come for people to make a proper assessment of whether they are being misguided or not." |
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"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |