December 16, 2019 (Tony Cartalucci - ATN) - Corrupt nepotist, union-busting billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit recently organized a rally in downtown Bangkok. Without coincidence, it follows a court ruling against him over his transparent violation of election laws and his equally transparent attempts to lie about his violation of them.
He and his party - Future Forward - now face dissolution over his likewise transparent violation of election laws when he "loaned" over 100 million Thai Baht to his own political party ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Since his party has no means of ever repaying the "loan," it was clearly a donation made in complete violation of Thai election laws, poorly dressed up as a "loan."
While he used "pro-democracy" platitudes to explain why he is now organizing street mobs - it is abundantly clear that in reality - he is a corrupt billionaire hiding behind ordinary people in an attempt to circumvent justice and escape with impunity from his multiple - and still multiplying - violations of the very rule of law genuine democracy requires to exist.
To understand how detached from genuine democracy Thanathorn and Future Forward actually are, consider his party lost general elections coming in distant third, Thanathorn himself lost his bid to become prime minister, and his party has more recently suffered defeat in local elections. Despite having no genuine democratic mandate, he still insists on rewriting constitutions, changing laws, and ousting a government led by a party that received several million more votes than his own party received.
At face value - nothing Thanathorn says is rooted in genuine democracy - but rather in his, his party's, and his party's sponsors' transparently self-serving desire for power.
Thaksin Noi
What is most worrying is that Thanathorn's strategy of bringing mobs into the streets in an attempt to extrajudicially fight his and his party's legal troubles is not new.
It echos Thaksin Shinawatra's attempts to do likewise regarding his own serial, transparent crimes.
The mobs Thaksin organized would end in extreme violence - leading objective observers to conclude that the ultimate end game of Thanathorn is to likewise use the specter of violence and instability to pressure courts to decide in Thanathorn's favor.
In 2009 Thanksin's mobs would lead to arson and rioting. Two people were killed when they attempted to protect their property from Thaksin's "red shirt" mobs.
In 2010, Thaksin would augment his mobs with "black shirt" militants - 300-500 heavily armed terrorists employing M-16s, AK-47's, M-79 grenade launchers, hand grenades, and other assorted small arms.
The violence would claim nearly 100 lives including soldiers, police, counter-protesters, journalists, and bystanders. It also led to widespread arson not only in Bangkok but in provinces beyond.
While disingenuous commentators and supporters of Thaksin across the Western corporate media claimed the mobs were part of a "class struggle," honest and accurate accounts will recall that the 2010 mobs were organized just ahead of a court ruling on the seizure of billions of Thaksin Shinawatra's ill-gotten wealth. Thaksin attempted to fed thousands of his own supporters into violent conflict in an attempt to leverage the resulting mayhem as pressure against Thai courts in his favor.
Thanathorn's aping of Thaksin's strategy is not only troubling because of how transparent his motivations are - but also because Thanathorn is little more than a nominee of Thaksin's still-ongoing efforts to return himself and his political machine to power in Thailand.
Thanathorn himself has admitted during a Western corporate media-organized PR event that he was a supporter of Thaksin Shinawatra's proxy regime in 2011 and that he had joined Thaksin's "red shirt" street mobs. While he denied he was a nominee of Thaksin's "Pheu Thai Party" (PTP), he would establish his Future Forward Party headquarters litterly next door to PTP's on Phetchaburi Road, campaign alongside PTP candidates, and shortly after 2019 elections - join PTP as a singular opposition bloc.
Future Forward staff now literally go next door to PTP's headquarters to hold joint-media events. PTP would literally nominate Thanathorn himself as their candidate for prime minister despite Thanathorn's Future Forward Party coming in distant third in the 2019 general elections.
The same circle of invasive foreign interests that supported Thaksin Shinawatra now openly support Thanathorn and his Future Forward Party with many party members drawn from US government-funded fronts attempting to interfere in and manipulate Thailand's internal political affairs.
Trouble Yai
Thanathorn claims he does not seek to create violence as his Pheu Thai sponsors did in the past.
He also claims he has no desire to recreate the violence now consuming Hong Kong.
Despite these empty claims - he is already recreating many of the same tactics the mobs in Hong Kong used. He also was recently seen in Hong Kong meeting with Hong Kong mob leaders.
Additionally, anyone with eyes looking at Thanathorn's first street mob this month would note that the vast majority making up the mob were little more than Thaksin Shinawatra's "red shirts" - with many of them showing up literally wearing their red shirts.
Thanathorn - a transparently corrupt billionaire who openly serves the agenda of yet another corrupt billionaire - Thaksin Shinawatra - is now intentionally attempting to once again divide Thai society, sow the seeds he knows full well will lead to deadly violence - all in a bid to reverse his own self-inflicted legal troubles.
He will have a lot of help doing it - as the still powerful Western corporate media continues to frame him as a "pro-democracy" candidate while intentionally omitting his mounting crimes and corruption.
This is the same Western corporate media that dodged Thaksin Shinawatra's militants and their grenades in the streets in 2010 while claiming there were no signs of armed opposition and that the Thai military was simply gunning down unarmed protesters.
Thailand now faces yet another round of political instability and street violence that will be fully supported by foreign interests meddling from abroad.
Ray of Hope
However, what is hopeful is the fact that Thanathorn truly is a "Thaksin Noi." He has less wealth, less support, failed to win the general elections, lost subsequent local elections, and is already being forced to resort to desperate tactics merely to survive - long before achieving any of Thaksin's initial success in 2001 when he first came to power.
Thanathorn represents a form of sociopolitical cancer. But he is a form of cancer that is growing on the surface, easy to cut out and terminate permanently.
The current coalition government headed by the Palang Pracharath Party came to power specifically because the vast majority of Thailand's population is exhausted of Thaksin Shinawatra, his form of politics, his violent and disruptive street mobs, and the specter of instability hanging over the nation he and his political machine represent. Few fail to see Thanathorn is nothing more than an extension of this.
With careful and patient planning, the current government will be able to weather Thanathorn's recent and increasingly desperate tactics, expose him further, all while cultivating further support among the silent majority who already are cringing ahead of what they know Thanathorn is really planning to do and why he really plans to do it.
Follow Tony Cartalucci on VK here.
He and his party - Future Forward - now face dissolution over his likewise transparent violation of election laws when he "loaned" over 100 million Thai Baht to his own political party ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Since his party has no means of ever repaying the "loan," it was clearly a donation made in complete violation of Thai election laws, poorly dressed up as a "loan."
While he used "pro-democracy" platitudes to explain why he is now organizing street mobs - it is abundantly clear that in reality - he is a corrupt billionaire hiding behind ordinary people in an attempt to circumvent justice and escape with impunity from his multiple - and still multiplying - violations of the very rule of law genuine democracy requires to exist.
To understand how detached from genuine democracy Thanathorn and Future Forward actually are, consider his party lost general elections coming in distant third, Thanathorn himself lost his bid to become prime minister, and his party has more recently suffered defeat in local elections. Despite having no genuine democratic mandate, he still insists on rewriting constitutions, changing laws, and ousting a government led by a party that received several million more votes than his own party received.
At face value - nothing Thanathorn says is rooted in genuine democracy - but rather in his, his party's, and his party's sponsors' transparently self-serving desire for power.
Thaksin Noi
What is most worrying is that Thanathorn's strategy of bringing mobs into the streets in an attempt to extrajudicially fight his and his party's legal troubles is not new.
It echos Thaksin Shinawatra's attempts to do likewise regarding his own serial, transparent crimes.
The mobs Thaksin organized would end in extreme violence - leading objective observers to conclude that the ultimate end game of Thanathorn is to likewise use the specter of violence and instability to pressure courts to decide in Thanathorn's favor.
In 2009 Thanksin's mobs would lead to arson and rioting. Two people were killed when they attempted to protect their property from Thaksin's "red shirt" mobs.
In 2010, Thaksin would augment his mobs with "black shirt" militants - 300-500 heavily armed terrorists employing M-16s, AK-47's, M-79 grenade launchers, hand grenades, and other assorted small arms.
The violence would claim nearly 100 lives including soldiers, police, counter-protesters, journalists, and bystanders. It also led to widespread arson not only in Bangkok but in provinces beyond.
While disingenuous commentators and supporters of Thaksin across the Western corporate media claimed the mobs were part of a "class struggle," honest and accurate accounts will recall that the 2010 mobs were organized just ahead of a court ruling on the seizure of billions of Thaksin Shinawatra's ill-gotten wealth. Thaksin attempted to fed thousands of his own supporters into violent conflict in an attempt to leverage the resulting mayhem as pressure against Thai courts in his favor.
Thanathorn's aping of Thaksin's strategy is not only troubling because of how transparent his motivations are - but also because Thanathorn is little more than a nominee of Thaksin's still-ongoing efforts to return himself and his political machine to power in Thailand.
Thanathorn himself has admitted during a Western corporate media-organized PR event that he was a supporter of Thaksin Shinawatra's proxy regime in 2011 and that he had joined Thaksin's "red shirt" street mobs. While he denied he was a nominee of Thaksin's "Pheu Thai Party" (PTP), he would establish his Future Forward Party headquarters litterly next door to PTP's on Phetchaburi Road, campaign alongside PTP candidates, and shortly after 2019 elections - join PTP as a singular opposition bloc.
Future Forward staff now literally go next door to PTP's headquarters to hold joint-media events. PTP would literally nominate Thanathorn himself as their candidate for prime minister despite Thanathorn's Future Forward Party coming in distant third in the 2019 general elections.
The same circle of invasive foreign interests that supported Thaksin Shinawatra now openly support Thanathorn and his Future Forward Party with many party members drawn from US government-funded fronts attempting to interfere in and manipulate Thailand's internal political affairs.
Trouble Yai
Thanathorn claims he does not seek to create violence as his Pheu Thai sponsors did in the past.
He also claims he has no desire to recreate the violence now consuming Hong Kong.
Despite these empty claims - he is already recreating many of the same tactics the mobs in Hong Kong used. He also was recently seen in Hong Kong meeting with Hong Kong mob leaders.
Additionally, anyone with eyes looking at Thanathorn's first street mob this month would note that the vast majority making up the mob were little more than Thaksin Shinawatra's "red shirts" - with many of them showing up literally wearing their red shirts.
Thanathorn - a transparently corrupt billionaire who openly serves the agenda of yet another corrupt billionaire - Thaksin Shinawatra - is now intentionally attempting to once again divide Thai society, sow the seeds he knows full well will lead to deadly violence - all in a bid to reverse his own self-inflicted legal troubles.
He will have a lot of help doing it - as the still powerful Western corporate media continues to frame him as a "pro-democracy" candidate while intentionally omitting his mounting crimes and corruption.
This is the same Western corporate media that dodged Thaksin Shinawatra's militants and their grenades in the streets in 2010 while claiming there were no signs of armed opposition and that the Thai military was simply gunning down unarmed protesters.
Thailand now faces yet another round of political instability and street violence that will be fully supported by foreign interests meddling from abroad.
Ray of Hope
However, what is hopeful is the fact that Thanathorn truly is a "Thaksin Noi." He has less wealth, less support, failed to win the general elections, lost subsequent local elections, and is already being forced to resort to desperate tactics merely to survive - long before achieving any of Thaksin's initial success in 2001 when he first came to power.
Thanathorn represents a form of sociopolitical cancer. But he is a form of cancer that is growing on the surface, easy to cut out and terminate permanently.
The current coalition government headed by the Palang Pracharath Party came to power specifically because the vast majority of Thailand's population is exhausted of Thaksin Shinawatra, his form of politics, his violent and disruptive street mobs, and the specter of instability hanging over the nation he and his political machine represent. Few fail to see Thanathorn is nothing more than an extension of this.
With careful and patient planning, the current government will be able to weather Thanathorn's recent and increasingly desperate tactics, expose him further, all while cultivating further support among the silent majority who already are cringing ahead of what they know Thanathorn is really planning to do and why he really plans to do it.
Follow Tony Cartalucci on VK here.
