US government-funded "Thai Lawyers for Human Rights" openly defends Thai terrorist sympathizers who burned Bangkok down in 2010. September 14, 2020 (Tony Cartalucci - ATN) - The US government-funded front - Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) - funded since its creation in 2014 by the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED), is at the center of current, ongoing anti-government protests in Thailand. TLHR's lawyer Anon Nampa is a core leader of the protests themselves and TLHR uses its platform to provide free legal services to other protest leaders as well as its strong social media presence to promote rallies. It is regularly cited by the Western media regarding alleged "abuses" protesters claim they face as they deliberately break laws and are then arrested by Thai police. Today, however, this already troubling foreign-funded sedition took an even darker turn."Thai Lawyers for Human Rights" Supporting Terrorist SympathizersTLHR posted its support for a group of terrorist sympathizers who faced legal issues surrounding their desire to hold a memorial for disgraced Thai Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol also known as "Se Daeng." TLHR would use a Thai language hashtag that roughly translates to "stop harassing the people" in defense of the terrorist sympathizers. Se Daeng openly led some 300 militants in 2010 known as "black shirts" in gun battles against Thai troops amid "red shirt" (also known as the UDD) rallies organized by billionaire fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra. The violence left nearly 100 dead and Thailand's capital of Bangkok in flames after a deliberate campaign of arson was carried out by his supporters. Australian newspaper The Age in an article, "'Red Commander' saw himself as Thai William Wallace," would admit (emphasis added):
Sawasdipol was formerly a Thai ranger and recruited many former rangers to be security guards for the UDD tented city in Bangkok.In one recent interview he declared that he had 300 armed men trained for ''close encounters'' and armed with M79 grenade launchers.
Reuters in its article, "Red means stop, and anger, in vibrant Thai protest," would cite the red shirt's official spokesman Sean Boonpracong, admitting (emphasis added):
The red shirts’ international spokesman, Sean Boonpracong, told Reuters elements of the army are with their movement. They are known as “watermelons” -- green on the outside but red in the middle -- and they include the shadowy, black-clad men with military weapons that were seen at the April 10th crackdown.
Even though Human Rights Watch now denies any violence from among anti-government groups it is now clearly abusing its platform to support, its own 2011 report titled, "Descent into Chaos (.pdf)" would admit:
As the army attempted to move on the camp, they were confronted by well-armed men who fired M16 and AK-47 assault rifles at them, particularly at the Khok Wua intersection on Rajdamnoen Road. They also fired grenades from M79s and threw M67 hand grenades at the soldiers. News footage and videos taken by protesters and tourists show several soldiers lying unconscious and bleeding on the ground, as well as armed men operating with a high degree of coordination and military skills.
The HRW report would directly link the heavily armed militants to the red shirt protests by admitting (emphasis added):
When the UDD refused to break up the protest camp on May 12, Abhisit withdrew his November election offer and warned of an imminent dispersal of the UDD camp.135 Kokaew Pikunthong, a UDD leader, warned on May 12 that a group of 400 to 500 hard-core militants under the control of Khattiya might resist any army attempt to retake the camp.
The same HRW report admitted that these same terrorists attacked journalists including storming the buildings of news agencies critical of the red shirt protests. The report noted (emphasis added):
That afternoon, arsonists also tried to attack several media outlets that the UDD had criticized as being anti-Thaksin or anti-UDD, including Channel 3 television station, the Thai Post, Bangkok Post, and The Nation. They succeeded in attacking the Maleenont Tower complex, which houses the Channel 3 television station. Karuna Buakamsri, a Channel 3 news announcer, was live on-air when she was told her building was on fire. She later told Human Rights Watch how the presence of Black Shirts outside the burning building made it difficult to evacuate.
Karuna Buakamsri would note how the "black shirt" terrorists were firing war weapons outside her building, noting, "Black Shirts were outside with guns—they were burning cars in the parking lot." Khattiya "Se Daeng" Sawasdipol was clearly a terrorist. He mobilized hundreds of militants who carried out a spree of murder, mayhem, and arson across Bangkok that left scores dead including soldiers, police, innocent bystanders, journalists, and counter-protesters. There is nothing ambiguous about Se Daeng's terrorism - those supporting him and what he did are terrorist sympathizers. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights is attempting to portray them as victims of political persecution rather than terrorist sympathizers whose activities would violate anti-terrorism laws in any country on Earth, including in the United States whose government funds TLHR's activities in Thailand. Worst of all is that current so-called "student protests" are not only likewise funded by the US government - they are also backed by the same corrupt, violent billionaire-led opposition responsible for the red shirt protests in 2010. In fact, a look at any protest rally today in Thailand reveals Thaksin Shinawatra's red shirts openly participating including literally donning their red shirts at "student" rallies. This must all be kept in mind when Thai police arrest these agitators - their foreign-funding, their history of violence, their support for terrorism, and the fact that they are now hiding behind "students" for an agenda that squarely focuses on returning Thaksin Shinawatra and his political nominees to power. The fact that the Western media continues to this day to depict Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters' terrorism in 2010 as a "government crackdown" entirely omitting mention of armed elements among the protesters is a warning of just how dishonest they will likewise be when violence again breaks out during current protests. Finally, consider how troubling a US government-funded group like "Thai Lawyers for Human Rights'" activities are - hiding behind human rights advocacy while promoting violent terrorists who trampled human rights in the worst way possible - the taking of life amid politically-motivated violence.
