January 7, 2014 (ATN) - Thai Royal Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has issued a stern and clear warning to the regime that it will be held responsible if any violence breaks out. Thai PBS reported in their article, "Army chief to hold government responsible if violence breaks out," that:
"Army commander-in-chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government must be held responsible if the protest escalated to violence similar to the 2010 riot.
The army chief did not rule the possibility of a military coup when asked about the current coup rumor after unusual movement of a large number of troops and their armory in the capital."
While the regime and its Western backers claim this is an unwarranted threat made by a rogue military, the warning comes after the regime of Thaksin Shinawatra and his nepotist-appointed proxy, sister Yingluck Shianwatra, deployed black-clad gunmen twice (here and here), resulting in multiple deaths, as well as unleashing its "red shirt" enforcers to confront political opponents with violence and intimidation almost daily. The regime has also been making heavy-handed threats against protesters ahead of a January 13 mass mobilization in Bangkok and has even alluded to covert violence.Images: The Thaksin regime has twice deployed black-clad gunmen during deadly violence in November andDecember. Fears are that the regime will once again deploy these notorious militants, also responsible for 92 deaths during weeks of gunfights in the streets of Bangkok in 2010, to wreck havoc on January 13 and onward. The Thai Army Chief has given the regime a stern warning that it will be held responsible if these fears materialize. ....It must also be remembered that just days ahead of the first bloodshed in November 2013, pro-regime scribe Andrew MacGregor Marshall, formally of Reuters and now hired pen for Thaksin Shinawatra's lobbyist Robert Amsterdam would write in a Facebook post titled, "News Update From the Bangkok Protests" that:
Thaksin Shinawatra's secret "black shirt" force of provocateurs, mostly made up of navy SEALS and marines, is back on the streets again for the first time since May 2010 and has infiltrated Suthep's rabble. If protests escalate they will seek to incite deadly violence ahead of King Bhumibol's birthday to discredit Suthep and his movement for good.
Marshall claims that a "very reliable source" had passed this information onto him, and assured fellow regime supporters that "if protesters kill civilians or police, that does not discredit the government." Robert Amsterdam would immediately react to General Prayuth's warning by threatening the General with charges under "international law." It is unclear which "international laws" prevent a nation's military from intervening in violence carried out by an illegitimate regime openly run by a convicted criminal hiding abroad. Amsterdam's threats appear to be yet another case of the West's "selective enforcement" of standards it itself routinely discard when convenient (i.e. Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc.). Image: Rice farmers, considered stalwart supporters of the Thaksin Shinawatra's regime, have now begun protesting after being promised unsustainable rice subsidies from a fund that is now bankrupt and hasn't paid farmers for up to 5 months. Rice farmers plan to continue protesting until they are paid, or threaten to join protests to oust the regime from power. ....Compounding the regime's increasingly tenuous grip on power, rice farmers from 5 northern provinces gathered to block roads after failing to receive payments from the regime's vote-buying rice subsidy for 5 months now. Thai PBS would report in their article, "Farmers block Highway 117," that:
Several hundreds of farmers from five northern and central provinces blocked Highway 117 from Phitsanulok to Nakhon Sawan causing traffic jams on the Asian highway. They said if the government could not pay them by January 15, they would step up protest to oust the government instead.
All vehicles on both inbound and outbound traffic from Bangkok to the north and vice versa were advised to avoid the blockade and use the rural road instead.
Rural rice farmers are claimed to be the regime's primary supporters, and it was with lofty campaign promises like unsustainable over-market rice pledges and "free computers" that led many to vote in the current regime despite the disqualifying overt criminality of the current ruling party.Rice farmers now face a double dilemma - they haven't receive government subsidies and can't even sell their rice at previous prices as the rice scam has seriously damaged Thailand's agricultural industry. Traditional importers of Thai rice have moved on to other alternatives citing deteriorating quality due to lengthy periods Thai rice is now left unsold, stockpiled (and fumigated) in warehouses.Anti-regime sentiment is reaching a crescendo, and it is feared that it will resort to desperate, violent measures to maintain its grip on power. Thaksin Shinwatra while in office and at the height of his popularity set out to slaughter some 3,000 innocent people in a political point-scoring "War on Drugs." Analysts fear what an unpopular and desperate Thaksin Shinawatra may try in order to perpetuate his power.