February 27, 2014 (By Michael Pirsch, Truthout | Op-Ed) - There is a false narrative from the Western media, including the internet alternative media, about the demonstrations in Thailand. This narrative is a simple-minded approach that pits the so-called "Bangkok elite" against the "rural poor" with the "Bangkok elite" mounting a full-scale attack on democracy. The protesters are described as ultra royalists, pro-military, along with a sprinkling of poor farmers from the South. The defenders of the Thaksin Shinawatra proxy government invariably are described as poor rice farmers from the northeast and north. Further, they are described as having risen from poverty since Thaksin first became prime minister and launched his populist schemes. These schemes have continued to be launched through Thaksin's proxy governments of 2007, 2008 and 2011. There is hardly any mention of Thaksin's over-the-top corruption,
People in the Western world are being fed lie upon lie, omission upon omission while the reasons for the protests are reduced to defending the "Bangkok elite" from poor northeastern farmers.
and the psychopathic murders of more than 2,800 innocent people during his three-month war on drugs is glossed over. No mention is made of his changing policies in the southernmost provinces, which are populated by Malay-speaking Muslims. The south was comparatively quiet, with the army in charge of working with the southerners until 2004, when Thaksin removed the army and installed the police as the group responsible for executing Thaksin's policies. The result has been more than 10,000 people killed between 2004 and 2014, including about 900 police and soldiers. There is absolutely no mention of the Tak Bae village massacre nor the Khrue Mosque battle. In the former, more than 89 people were killed by being stacked on top of each other resulting in death by suffocation. Thaksin blamed the victims for fasting during Ramadan, which caused them to be weak. The latter was an attack on a mosque following a day of fighting between southerners and Thai authorities. The attack on the mosque involved tanks and heavy artillery.
People in the Western world are being fed lie upon lie, omission upon omission while the reasons for the protests are reduced to defending the "Bangkok elite" from poor northeastern farmers. The Thai people across all sectors are fed up with Thaksin's dictatorship masquerading as democracy. How else can we define a government that is being openly micromanaged by a convicted former prime minister who lives outside Thailand? Defenders of the government always cite the 2011 election as legitimizing this government. The fact is Thaksin's proxy party, Pheua Thai, won 47.8 percent of the vote; not a majority. The fact is Thaksin bragged on the 2011 campaign posters that: "Thaksin Thinks; Pheua Thai Acts." Yet in 2011 Thaksin did not appear on the ballot and received no votes. His proxy received 47.8 percent.
Would this be acceptable in the United States or Europe? Would it be OK for the US to be run by a fugitive living in Dubai? Does an election wipe out all criminal wrongdoing?
Perhaps the worst articles I have read were written by Andre Vltchek for Counterpunch.org. Vltchek is a novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. His previous works have been highly praised by Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti and others. I, too, have enjoyed reading his articles over the years, but now I have some doubt about his veracity.
