Thailand's Coup - West "Predicts" Violent Backlash

Image: Weapons seized by Shinawatra supporters prior to the coup. 

May 26, 2014 (Tony Cartalucci) - In a desperate attempt to keep the ousted US-backed regime of Thaksin Shinawatra alive, TIME Magazine, along with many others, is promoting a narrative of violent "civil war" emanating from Shinawatra's "red shirts" who have fled to Cambodia and are "regrouping" there. 

The article titled, "Bitter and On the Run, Thailand’s Red Shirts Prepare for a Long Fight," contains the byline, "while there has been no violence against the junta since the coup, it is only a matter of time until reprisals begin." Since publication however, one soldier has in fact died while raiding a pro-Shinawatra terrorist safe house in Trat province. Within TIME's article it states: 

"...raids in the nearby city of Khon Kaen on Friday revealed a stash of explosives, bombmaking equipment and ammunition along with assorted Red Shirt paraphernalia. Whispers abound of militants who have evaded military raids and slipped across the border to Cambodia to regroup."

Image: Billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra next to dictator-for-
life Hun Sen of Cambodia. The two have colluded against
neighboring Thailand for years. 

In reality, militants, weapons, and a cadre of politicians and propagandists have been pre-positioned in Cambodia for months - with Cambodia serving as a safe haven for Shinawatra's political machine in times of crisis for years now. As the regime's grip on power weakened, it had been turning increasingly toward the use of terrorism against its opponents. In December 2013's report, "Thailand's Regime & The Cambodian Connection," it was predicted that (emphasis added): 

The real threat would be an influx of Cambodian mercenaries, trained, armed, and directed from Cambodia, and sent into Thailand covertly to be staged and deployed at key points during Thaksin's continued bid to consolidate his power. These could be used to augment police and small units of fanatics drawn from Thaksin's "red shirt" mob, or in individual operations aimed at various elements of the opposition.

This follows the same model Thaksin's foreign backers are using against Syria, where armed militants had been prepared and staged along Syria's borders, years before violence erupted in 2011. While initial reports from Western media claimed Syria was engaged in a "civil war," it is now abundantly clear it was instead a foreign invasion by mercenaries sponsored by a conglomerate of NATO and Persian Gulf nations.

The report would also state (emphasis added): 

The Thai "civil war" Western analysts have long been predicting with poorly masked enthusiasm, would most likely only materialize using the "Syrian-model" of covert invasion combined with a coordinated propaganda campaign carried out by the Western media. Instead of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and northern Iraq feeding militants into Syria, this new war would consist of Cambodia feeding militants and material in through northeast Thailand, with the resulting conflict appearing to be between Thaksin's political stronghold there and the rest of the country.

Clearly, that "propaganda campaign" to be carried out by the Western media has already begun. TIME would conclude its piece that it was only a matter of time before "resistance" begins. TIME makes another important point, perhaps inadvertently, about why the deadly chaos it is rooting for has yet to take place. It claims (emphasis added): 

Prayuth’s moves have, for the time being, left the Red Shirt movement rudderless. As soon as the coup was announced, Red Shirt leaders taking part in negotiations with the opposition and the military were detained and troops seized others from their homes or the street. “People from the villages call and ask why we haven’t done anything and whether we’ve given up already,” says Goravee Sala, the 28-year-old son of detained Red Shirt activist and famed radio personality Kwanchai Praipana. “But we have no leaders so we just have to wait and watch.”

Image: Aftermath of pro-Shinawatra terrorist attack in Trat province. 

In other words - the sweeping detainment of Thaksin Shinawatra's proxy regime, including politicians, propagandists, and his "red shirt" demagogues, along with raids on armed factions of his movement, is the only thing preventing large scale bloodshed. For months before the coup, Shinawatra's proxy regime, led symbolically by his own sister Yingluck Shinawatra, had been carrying out a systematic terror campaign against its political enemies. This included targeted assassinations, grenade attacks, and drive-by shootings that have left over 20 dead and hundreds seriously wounded. The dead include women and children. 

In fact, it was TIME Magazine again, that had "predicted" the bloodshed. In a January 2014 article titled, "Bangkok Shutdown: Yingluck Supporters Prepare to Fight for Democracy," it stated: 

As Thailand’s anti-government protests enter their fourth day, observers say prospects for violent confrontation are increasing, with reports of government supporters stockpiling weapons in case of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s ouster. 

According to the Bangkok Post, radical members of the Red Shirts — diehard champions of Yingluck and her notorious brother Thaksin Shinawatra — are readying a cache of arms in case the 46-year-old premier is forced from office by either military or judicial intervention. 

The paper quoted a Red Shirt source as saying “There are strong anti-coup and anti-court sentiments among the red-shirt mavericks who are familiar and experienced with weapon use.”

The following day, a grenade targeting anti-Shinawatra protest leaders claimed the life of one man and maimed several others in a broad daylight attack. Other attacks and incidents would follow including: 

• A brazen broad-daylight assassination of NGO worker, activist, and protest leader Sutin Taratin during the February 2014 general elections. 
• A grisly attack in the eastern province of Trat carried out by Shinawatra's militants that left scores maimed and a five-year old girl dead with a similar attack carried out in Bangkok the same day that left many maimed along with a woman and two children killed.
• Multiple M79 grenade attacks carried out on the office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission in northern Bangkok in conjunction with a blockade carried out by the regime's "red shirts." The blockade was aimed at obstructing criminal proceeding against then prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. Regime supporters would be arrested for possession of AK47s, M79 grenade launchers, and RGD-5 hand grenades, the latter two with lot numbers matching those used in previous attacks across the city.  
• The accidental discovery made by police of a white Mazda parked outside the resort of regime MP Sitthichai Kittithanesuan, containing AK47s in the backseat. The car was owned by an "adviser" to a regime minister. 
• Regime militants carried out an M79 grenade attack and drive-by shooting on Bangkok's Democracy Monument on May 15 that killed 3 and left dozens more injured.  

While TIME in both reports attempts to distance the armed faction from Thaksin Shinawatra's political machine, recent arrests and seizures of weapons from ministers and leaders within Shinawatra's political party indicate the armed faction is being organized and directed from the very top. With Shinawatra's Washington lobbyists attempting to establish a "government in exile" and as US-funded NGOs in Thailand condemning the coup - the stage is set for another "Arab Spring" style, engineered bloodbath like those suffered by Libya and Syria and to a lesser extent, Egypt.  

The Egyptian Model 

With the horrific destruction witnessed in Libya and Syria after US-engineered instability and war, the new military-led government in Egypt moved swiftly to crush the dictatorship of Mohammed Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood, and their various armed factions. Ignoring "international" condemnation, emanating primarily from the West, the army quickly moved against terrorist cells in sweeping, lighting fast operations while detaining indefinitely opposition leaders to prevent them from orchestrating further bloodshed and division. Egypt also moved against foreign-funded NGOs, particularly those with US-backing, who had established over the years a deeply rooted seditious network.

A slightly different scenario in Thailand appears to be unfolding. Unlike in Egypt, Shinawatra's terrorist factions appear to be many times smaller and far more manageable, particularly with much of his leadership already detained. Thailand may consider detaining these leaders, their propagandists, and suspected militants indefinitely until charges can be properly filed, trials arranged under proper judicial oversight, and appropriate sentences determined. 

This is because, on multiple occasions in the past, Shinawatra's militant factions have had their leadership rounded up and then eventually released on bail, only to continue their violent agenda in direct and brazen violation of their bail conditions. Flight risk should also be included in the decision to detain regime members and collaborators - with TIME Magazine itself admitting armed militants are waiting both across Thailand and in Cambodia for their leaders to be released and instruct them. Western calls to promptly release those detained, considering they too must read TIME, indicates and intentional desire to see protracted bloodshed and instability in the country. 

Appeasing disingenuous "international" opinion today will only set the stage for a more protracted conflict tomorrow - a conflict the West will only use to further demonize and condemn the military-led government.  There is no appeasing or winning in the court of Western opinion, therefore Thailand should bow out of it altogether, shifting from this Western-led "international" paradigm, and toward nations pursuing a more multipolar world. . 

Thailand is more than capable of applying the rule of law. It has a functioning judicial system that has remained intact after the coup and should work hard to to ensure trials are fair and processed as quickly as possible. By making these promises and attempting to fulfill them, the increasing number of people around the world not under the sway of the Western media will grant Thailand the time and patience necessary to uproot Shinawatra's criminal enterprise safely and permanently so as to change Thailand back into a functioning, modern nation-state.