What's changed (except the body count)?

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Avoiding Civil War - It's not Rocket Science
(originally posted 22/4/2010)

Neither side is innocent, each thinks it’s defending against attacks by the other, but bottom line is one side wants democracy and the other side wants to limit it (or sometimes ‘allow’ it, but only to the extent it doesn’t upset their applecart). NO CHANGE

There can be no doubt now that the supposedly more ‘educated’ are actually just as brainwashed as the ‘kwai’, and if not brainwashed then they are ‘jai dum’, which IMO is much worse. NO CHANGE

So the solution is still what it has always been - just trust the population as a whole, and allow democracy, without the interference! NO CHANGE

There can be no justification for (another) crackdown when there is a clear and simple solution. NO CHANGE

Forget about Thaksin – he’s history – it’s much bigger than him now, and the people won't allow his style of democracy any more than they will allow the old 'thai style democracy'.

Not one more drop of blood need be shed, and if it is, then the blame will clearly be with those who refuse to let the people have an immediate say on what they think of all the events that have happened since the 2006 military coup.
(That say needs to be at the ballot box - an election is the only poll that counts!) NO CHANGE, EXCEPT MORE BLOOD HAS ALREADY BEEN NEEDLESSLY SHED

Today, Abhisit needs to announce an immediate house dissolution, and an immediate cessation of the state of emergency.
Protesters of all sides must then go home, and the ballot box is the place for their voice to be heard. NO CHANGE

In the lead up to the elections, all the leaders should promote tolerance of opposing views, and present their case against those views in a civil manner. They should also ask their supporters to respect fully the electoral decision of the country as a whole, and not seek to interfere with or obstruct the new government. NO CHANGE, EXCEPT SONDHI L HAS RE-ENTERED THE FRAY, AND SURPRISE, SURPRISE, HE STILL HAS FASCIST TENDENCIES:
"does not believe in the majoritarian system because Parliament is a place of evil. He will fight against the one-man-one-vote system because he wants a ‘Dharma-ocracy’ instead. If Mr Abhisit cannot achieve it, there should be a military coup. He adds that no one is bloodthirsty but is just doing their duties"

As for what to do with all the pending cases & investigations, we all know that there will not be equal justice for all the wrongdoers, so (sadly) the only way to get fair closure is to draw a line in the sand AS OF TODAY - amnesty for all, including any banned politicians no matter what colour, for the events up to today, however after today each and every illegal act to be prosecuted fairly, without discrimination or favor - it's the only way the country can move forward. THE ONLY THING I'D CHANGE HERE IS MOVE THE LINE BACK TO 9th APRIL 2010, AS WAY TOO MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST AND THEIR DEATHS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE SWEPT UNDER THE CARPET LIKE HAS HAPPENED SO REGULARLY IN THAILAND'S PAST.

UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE GRAVE DOUBTS WHETHER THE THAI 'JUSTICE' SYSTEM IS CAPABLE OF DEALING WITH THE INVESTIGATIONS, AND NOTE THAT THAILAND HAS NOT RATIFIED ITS BECOMING A STATE PARTY UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (PERHAPS THAT EXPLAINS WHY FOREIGN NATIONALS INCLUDING JOURNALISTS SEEM TO BE 'FAIR GAME' TO THE THAI MILITARY?)

Please do it, Abhisit - for the sake of your country and for your own redemption.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR YOUR COUNTRY
(BUT YOU WILL NEED TO PUT IN A NUMBER OF YEARS HARD WORK FOR RECONCILIATION, JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, AND RULE OF LAW TO BE IN A POSITION TO EXPECT REDEMPTION - UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY GOT THE NOD FOR THE OTHER REWARD GIVEN TO ROGUE THAI PM'S)