January 7, 2014 (ATN) - By using the regime's own hashtags and slogans - its "Respect My Vote" propaganda campaign can be quickly turned on its head as yet another indictment of its illegitimacy.
Thaksin Shinawatra's nepotist regime has attempted to counter growing protests with a "Respect My Vote" propaganda campaign. It began with a hundred or so of his supporters releasing white balloons last Sunday while anti-regime protesters filled the streets by the thousands elsewhere. Today, a regime supporter interrupted a talk by opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, hoisting up a placard with "respect my vote" scrawled across it in English.
English is purposefully used, to help augment Western media outlets who have attempted to portray the growing protests as "elitist" and "anti-democratic." In reality, the current regime is led openly by accused mass murderer, convicted criminal, and fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra who currently doesn't even reside in the country. Nothing could be more illegitimate or illegal, and the fact that upcoming elections on February 2, 2014 will only be contested by Thaksin's party, make the exercise all the more appalling.
Thaksin Shinawatra's nepotist regime has attempted to counter growing protests with a "Respect My Vote" propaganda campaign. It began with a hundred or so of his supporters releasing white balloons last Sunday while anti-regime protesters filled the streets by the thousands elsewhere. Today, a regime supporter interrupted a talk by opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, hoisting up a placard with "respect my vote" scrawled across it in English.
English is purposefully used, to help augment Western media outlets who have attempted to portray the growing protests as "elitist" and "anti-democratic." In reality, the current regime is led openly by accused mass murderer, convicted criminal, and fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra who currently doesn't even reside in the country. Nothing could be more illegitimate or illegal, and the fact that upcoming elections on February 2, 2014 will only be contested by Thaksin's party, make the exercise all the more appalling.
The New York Times admitted in an early 2013 article titled, "In Thailand, Power Comes With Help From Skype," that:
For the past year and a half, by the party’s own admission, the most important political decisions in this country of 65 million people have been made from abroad, by a former prime minister who has been in self-imposed exile since 2008 to escape corruption charges.
The country’s most famous fugitive,Thaksin Shinawatra, circles the globe in his private jet, chatting with ministers over his dozen cellphones, texting over various social media platforms and reading government documents e-mailed to him from civil servants, party officials say.The NYT piece would also report:
“He’s the one who formulates the Pheu Thai policies,” said Noppadon Pattama, a senior official in Mr. Thaksin’s party who also serves as his personal lawyer. “Almost all the policies put forward during the last election came from him.”
There is no question that an accused mass murderer and convicted criminal hiding abroad from a 2 year jail sentence, multiple arrest warrants, and a long list of pending court cases, is illegally running Thailand by proxy. If regime supporters are incapable of respecting the rule of law, it is inexplicable as to why they believe others should "respect their vote." "Democracy" without the rule of law is just another form of dictatorship - and just as a dictatorship of one or a few is intolerable, so is a tyranny of many.
In this light, it is necessary to directly confront the regime's new propaganda campaign. On Twitter the hashtag #RespectMyVote is being used. To counter this, simply use the hashtag yourself, but also include a fact regarding the abuses, criminality, and atrocities committed by Thaksin Shinawatra and the nature of how upcoming elections featuring a convicted criminal as defacto party leader is both illegitimate and illegal. Use both Thai and English. Some examples are below:
See more images for use on Twitter and Facebook:
On Twitter, use the hashtag #RespectMyVote along with this link http://altthainews.blogspot.com/2014/01/thailand-perpetuating-fallacy-respect.html and one of these below images...
On Twitter, use the hashtag #RespectMyVote along with this link http://altthainews.blogspot.com/2014/01/thailand-perpetuating-fallacy-respect.html and one of these below images...
