Thailand

[123everton]

With the Thai authorities declaring some areas of Bangkok as free fire zone, meaning live ammunition can be used against protestors, where are all the reports condemning it?
When China had violent demonstrations the outcry was huge.

[Seadragon]

Everton, I notice you don't have any responses so I shall make an attempt at conjuring up some sort of lame reply.

Some reasons may be:-

- The current Premier is British born and Oxford and Eton educated?
- The whole political system in Thailand is corrupt, in that the former Premier who is funding the Red Shirts maybe answerable to some criminality - unsure though?
- Instead of the hard-line suppression strategies of Chinese communism, I think this government has tried to restore order and stop the violence by step-by-step approaches?
- The majority of protestors are peaceful, some of the gunmen protestors are hiding within the civilian crowds and stirring violence?
- Something to do with the presence of the Thailand monarchy although it is restricted?

I don't know. But I suppose I would go with the first one.

[Trotbot]

All of the above (though the first point doesn't cut it with Barak, or the Euro lot). It is a total mess, armed red shirts are 100m from my appartment, the army 200m away.

The Chinese protesters were not armed, and had not been there for 10 weeks, intimidating all those around them. The cuddly pictures of group singalongs is very one sided.

For several weeks one of my staff has been subjected to physical searches of bags and frankly appalling intimation every time she went home. She couldn't move out because her elderly parents were too scared to move. Another colleague has stopped using his car because he lived in the red shirt area and the car was searched every time, including when he was with his young children. The noise from the protest site has meant that residents cannot sleep at night. No matter the how righteous (or not) the aims of the protest, such behaviour is intolerable and had to be stopped.

[123everton]

The violence in Tibet and Xinjiang was perpetrated against the Han Chinese, many Chinese were killed by the protestors, the goverbments response to the disoreder was measured in comparison.
The Chinese repression of demonstrators came afterwards, once all the fighting had abated.
A live fire zone I feel is excessive, if China had implemented such a policy the outcry would've been immense.
We are looking at another Tianamin Square and saying little whilst doing less.