I often wonder whether power corrupts people or it's just that power draws corruptible people.

Probably both to be honest.

I tend to draw a comparison with jails though. You may not be a hardened criminal when going into jail, but you sure as hell become one in there.

In Thailands case all the parties are more or less corrupted, so looking for "the good and bad guys" is kinda difficult.

Anyways, based the very little ive read about the recent politics in Thailand - certain someone wants to be the president of Thailand and i am very pessimistic how that would end up.

Mean while in the yellow corner, is going to be in crisis soon. The princess cant atm legally become queen and apparently the crownprinces ability to be good has been doubted.

Well, time will tell. Personally i am just hoping that Thailand wont rip itself apart between reds, yellows and the southern muslims. ...i mean if reds and yellows -really- start to fight, you bet the muslim parts will double their efforts to separate themselves.

It doesn't matter that if they are all corrupt. As far as I'm concerned, the guys who take up arms against a democratically elected government are the bad guys, simple as that. Even if I agree with their underlaying political beliefs or social goals, they're still the bad guys.

And yes, I do have a grudge against the military, if anybody's wondering.

"democratically elected"

Weeeelll, it depends how flexible you are willing to be about the exact meaning of the word :)

Again, id doesn't matter. There may be corruption, there may be tricks. Maybe I should say, 'peacefully elected'? If your political enemy managed to get to power without resorting to pointing a gun at their enemies, you can do the same. Resorting to force automatically makes you the bad guy.

I beg to differ here - not talking about Thailand here, but in general.

When you live in corrupt enough democracy, it doesnt mean you can necessarily do squat by voting. How do you vote in the first place, if your neighbour, village leader or local business tycoon votes instead of you? ...in this sort of situation you should fall down on to the same cheating and tricking level as them?

Its also good to remember, that also North Korea has elections every 5 years.
....

Anyways, history is always written by winners.

Democracy is more than leaving your vote on a crystal box every 4 years. You still need to fight and make your voice heard. Crosmando seems to hate demonstrations, well I quite like them. Most people don't give a shit and stay home, but when stuff is important enough you need to go out and show it. Make enough noise, and something will have to change. If the elections are rigged and the people are pissed, there are still ways to show that without resorting to military action.

I can understand, maybe respect even, the use of force against other force users. There's a terrorist group back home all about Basque independence and whatnot. I agree with a lot of their bottom line, and I respect the way they were born and their early actions during Franco's dictatorship. I even agree with them in that Spain's "transition to democracy" was a fucking joke. However, even if the democracy in Spain is a joke, with iligal political parties and newspapers being closed for not being printed in Spanish, at least they won't shoot you in the face if you demonstrate (most of the time, anyway). We don't need to keep blowing up people to keep up the fight, the armed conflict is obsolete at this day and age in my country. When you have peaceful paths of fighting available and you choose the armed ones, you're the bad guy.

At risk of doing a Star Wars spoof, force should only be used against other force users. Never against civilians, even if the civilian is a politician and no matter how much those politicians suck.

Not to mention that militaries are generally designed to work for identifying and eliminating a threat. That's not exactly a group I'd want governing anyone outside of conflict.

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
― Winston Churchill

“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”
― Winston Churchill

That can pretty much sum up the conversation in this thread. A benevolent dicator might be the best thing ever, but yeah, not happening.

As for Thailand, I hope it won't turn too bloody, and OP, stay safe (yeah, I'm aware of the irony...bloodygoodgames *rolleyes* :D) and hopefully you can get out before it gets even worse!

Did the Thai military shut down the internet in Thailand? I haven't seen any updates from Bloodygoodgames no more.

What does that mean then? I know the King is an important symbol for your country and that he's rich but does he really have (or want?) political power?

It's customary practice after every coup , let's leave it at that.

And please delete what you quoted I might land in jail for 20 years.

I dont know all that much about Thailand or Thai politics but from what I do know, it seems like what happened is that a big swathe of poor people and farmers and lower classes decided to become politically active and vote, leading to the election (and re-election) of Thaksin and his party. Then later the military and ruling elite (for reasons I dont understand) decided they didn't like what Thaksin was doing and kicked him out, leading to the current ongoing fight between the lower classes (red shirts) and the upper classes (yellow shirts)

Can someone in the know tell me:
1.Was the election (and re-election) of Thaksin and his party free, fair and democratic? (i.e. did the people that voted for Thaksin and his party truly support them or was there something else behind his wins)
and 2.Why was Thaksin and his party kicked out? If the majority of the people of Thailand supported the things Thaksin was doing then shouldn't everyone in Thailand respect the democratic process?