Got Some Questions for the PAD

When you talk to the people who besiege the government house in Bangkok you hear a lot of interesting things. I want to share some of them with you and ask some questions.

My first question is, how can the PAD, a lobby, not even a party, think they have the right to take politics in their own hands the way they do? They did not question the election in 2007, and now they fight against Samak with road blocks, government house, TV station and airport raids, thus harming not only the economy (scaring away foreign investors and tourists) but also the unity of the Thai people. As far as I know, the definition of democracy is that the majority of people decide what's happening (and when I talk about people I mean all Thai people, not just the Bangkok population). It does not imply that if a minority of people is not satisfied with the government they have the right to throw them out with measures that are far from the political stage. As I pointed out in a blog entry earlier, its behavior leads to the conclusion that PAD is actually an acronym for People Against Democracy. Now I add: The PAD is on a huge and irresponsible ego-trip, not thinking about the consequences of their actions.

The PAD's goal is actually noble. "We want to root out corruption entirely, and not just get rid of Samak but of all corrupt politicians" is what one protester told me. Good idea, and good luck. My question to the PAD is: But who would you put in charge then? And what exactly is your plan?

One man told me that the pro-government protesters got 1,500 Baht to come to the rally at Sanam Luang. I'm wondering if there's any difference to the PAD giving food, water, and ice away for free at the government house compound.

A retired navy officer told me that it costs the PAD between two and three million Baht (around USD 60,000-90,000 or EUR 40,000-60,000) to keep things going. But who's paying for the supplies? It appears that one key financier is the CEO of TPI POLENE, Prachai Leophairatana, who, according to insider information, donated 250 million Baht to the PAD about two weeks ago. But did he do that to save democracy, root out corruption, or for some other noble reason? Of course not. It's all about personal gain. During Thaksin's rule he lost major parts of his company TPI. Now he only owns the concrete branch--but with Thaksin/Samak's party being cut off and Prachai-friendly people in power there would be a real chance to get his whole company back (by the way, that was also the reason why he enstablished his own party just before the election in 2007).

Another thing that makes me worried is this: The PAD says they want to protest peacefully. Indeed, if you want to enter the government building compound, your bags are searched for weapons. But how come there are people running around with golf clubs? How come roads are blocked with tires?

However, what's even worse is the fact that the government is not really better. No clear line on both sides can't be good for Thailand.

Too Late for Thailand?

People are camping in front of the government building, TV stations are stormed, airports are closed. What's happening in Thailand right now is pure chaos, and nobody knows what will happen next. But it reveals that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is anything but a strong leader, mainly because his hands are tied because of his very own past.

First of all, after the coup d'etat in September 2006 an election was held one year later. Samak won and became prime minister. This is called democracy, and nobody ever questioned the election. But Samak doesn't act as a strong leader or even as a prime minister who had been elected by the majority of Thais. If he would, he would have taken measures against the PAD (People's Allicance for Democracy) rally right from the start.

Since I'm a German citizen I always compare the situation in Thailand with Germany. If a group of people started a demonstration without permission by blocking roads in Berlin for several days the government would not think twice. The police would disperse the crowd (with water cannons, if necessary), and arrest the leaders of the group. After all, national security is at stake.

Now if Samak had done the same in Bangkok he would have prevented a lot of trouble. Of course, for a couple of days there would have been a clash between the protesters and the police, and maybe some people would have been injured. But Samak would have avoided the unpleasant situation the country is in now. The equation is as follows:

• A couple of protesters and policemen injured (if any)
  
• The PAD leaders and other hardcore protesters arrested
  
• Possibly unrest for some days
  

against

• Roads in downtown Bangkok blocked for months, thus causing unimaginable traffic jams
  
• Schools around the government district closed for several days
• The economy and stock market going down after foreign investors became too scared and sold their shares worth hundreds of millions of US dollars
• A TV station hijacked (NBT)
• Airports closed, thus pissing off thousands of tourists in Krabi and Phuket, causing massive damage to the country's tourism image, scaring potential tourists, which causes significant financial damage because tourism is one of Thailand's most important sources of income
  
• Train traffic stopped due to a strike of train workers, thus pissing off even more tourists and causing even more financial damage
• The government building made useless after it was taken over by the protesters
• A general unstable situation where nobody knows what's actually going on or what will happen next, with people fearing bloody violence and another coup d'etat
• A country basically split into half (government supporters and PAD supporters)
  

But why is Samak not doing anything against the PAD protests? The answer lies in his blood-dripping past. In 1976 he played a major role during the coup d'etat:

"Although in 2008 interviews with CNN and al-Jazeera Samak denied involvement in the 6 October 1976 massacre that left officially at least 46 dead, Samak insists only 1 person was left dead. Accounts from witnesses, documents and published reports clearly identify Samak as chief operator of the "Armoured Car" radio programme, an ultra-right wing broadcast that constantly expounded anti-communist and pro-right propaganda. Samak used this programme to stir up hatred against Thammasat University students, and intentionally disobeyed the Prime Minister's orders at the time to "stop creating divisiveness." In defending the return of 1973-ousted Field Marshal Praphat over the radio, Samak told listeners that students demonstrating against the dictator's return were committing suicide." (wikipedia.org)

If he sends the police and/or military in (after all, he's also defense minister) to fight the PAD, this would bring back the memories of 1976, escalate the situation and almost inevitably lead to a blood bath. So I think what he's doing now is trying to turn the public against the PAD by pointing the finger at the PAD and their actions, thus making them responsible for the country's downfall--at least that's what it looks like. He hopes that (given enough time) the problem will solve itself. And indeed, seeing how harmful its actions are to the country, it is no surprise that the PAD is losing support by the public. Indeed, it has shot itself in the foot. Maybe Samak thinks that the half that's not supporting the PAD will be able to convince the half that supports the PAD to stop their protest and go back to actual democratic measures. But that might not be so easy--after all, the PAD is not even a party; it's more like a lobby consisting mainly of members of the Thai elite who are fed up with Samak's politics and who think he's just a puppet of the old (and corrupt) PM Thaksin. Taking the issue in their own hands is therefore not democratic but anarchic.

Nevertheless, the government's passive stance is very dangerous because it divides the country into two parties. But as I said, this difficult situation could have been avoided by tackling the People Against Democracy a long time ago. Now it seems too late.

TinEye: Image Search Engine and Art Theft Detector

TinEye should be interesting for people who want a powerful tool against art theft and copyright infringement because by uploading your original image or entering the URL of the image you can instantly see who has stolen your image (which some people say is also a good indicator of how famous you really are ;)).

According to the official FAQ, TinEye seems to be really promising. These are only excerpts:

What does TinEye do?

TinEye does for images what Google does for text.

Just as you are familiar with entering text in Google to find web pages that contain that text, using TinEye, you enter an image to find pages where that particular image (and modified versions of it) appears.

Can TinEye find alterations of a query image?

Yes. As long as they are alterations of the same query image, TinEye can find them and include them in your search results.

Note that search results are ordered by ‘relevance’ (i.e. how well the result images match your query image), so image alterations are typically found at the end of your search results.

What sorts of image alterations can TinEye find?

It depends upon the image, but TinEye frequently returns image results with colour adjustments, added or removed text, crops, and slight rotations. TinEye can also detect images that are part of a collage or have been blended with another image.

(Check out the whole FAQ at http://tineye.com/faq)

The only downside of this project is that it's still in beta. This means that the number of images in their database is to be expanded (although it can search 580 million images by now), and you need an invitation to sign up and use it. However, on the TinEye home page you can enter your e-mail address to request an invitation and roughly after one day you'll get one.