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Originally posted by Teebs
As for the OP (JanusFIN), I would disagree with your actions. Getting inadvertently caught up in a situation is one thing, but purposefully interjecting yourself into a dangerous situation, as exciting as it may have been, was an unnecessarily risky move.
Originally posted by RFBurns
Well I would have to say that it was certianly couragious to put yourself in the line of fire to bring us some video.
Tho I am not very up on what the whole thing was/is all about, I do think that the next time something happens like this, that maybe you might invest in either a telephoto lens and get the action from a distance (if possible) or before leaping off the deep end, get yourself and your family bullet proof vests and flak jackets before you to throwing yourself into a dangerous situation like that.
Again I think its great you got the video and was able to post it so the world can see whats going on. The action is admirable.
But now lets get to the practicle.
You got lucky. Pure and simple. You too could have been hurt, killed, as well as anyone else that was with you, and anyone else around you. Oh sure we all take risks every single day, but do we all just take that giant leap off the cliff knowing that there is a bottom several thousand feet below and in the end its over? No we dont. We dont conciously put ourselves at risk, tho we take risks every day. There is a difference between random risk of chance, and blatant risk taking.
Again I salute the bravery and courage to risk your life for a few seconds of choppy video. But in all common sense, I think it was pretty darn stupid to throw yourself at the lions hoping they dont decide to turn and bite your butt. A stray bullet does not discriminate, nor does direct aim, nor does a grenade when it goes off.
I would think about that next time. And tho you have many in here cheering you on like they just got through watching some popular pop concert, lets not have a repeat or something like that one kid who was goated into killing himself all because a hord of people on a video chat room cheered him on to do so.
If you are there again, I would heed the advice I am about to give.
Use your head, take precautions and for God's sake, dont do it because of the glitter and glamour, do it because you know and feel that it is the right thing to do, and above all else, worth taking the risk. Because the next time, your videos might not get posted...and there would only be one reason why that would occur.
Cheers!!!!
[edit on 6-12-2008 by RFBurns]
Originally posted by roadgravel
Originally posted by Teebs
As for the OP (JanusFIN), I would disagree with your actions. Getting inadvertently caught up in a situation is one thing, but purposefully interjecting yourself into a dangerous situation, as exciting as it may have been, was an unnecessarily risky move.
That's the difference between people who want to know the truth and help others to know and those world just hide and believe what TPB want people to hear. Life can be a risk.
Glad you made it through the situation Janus and thanks for help with freedom of information.
PAD vs. taxi drivers in Bangkok, Suvarnabhumi (BangkokPost.com) - People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters on Tuesday evening clashed with a group of pro-government taxi drivers on Vibhavadi Road, which left at least 11 injured. Two of the taxi drivers suffered gunshot wounds.
According to the police, the PAD demonstrators attempted to break into the Khon Rak Taxi (Taxi Lovers) radio station on Vibhavadi Road, Soi 3, but a group of taxi drivers prevented them. As a result, both sides exchanged blows and threw things at each other until more than 60 policemen arrived to settle the situation.
I can see in this story, the power of the people when they unite against what they deem "unjust."
Nobody can discuss, of course, what effect the queen’s support has had on the majority of Thais who still, apparently, back Mr Thaksin. A whirl of lèse-majesté accusations have been made against pro- and anti-Thaksin figures. But the PAD’s ever more menacing behaviour, the palace’s failure to disown it, and the group’s insistence that Thais must choose between loyalty to Mr Thaksin and to the king, may be doing untold damage to the crown itself. Some of Mr Thaksin’s voters must be contemplating the flip-side of the PAD’s argument: if the monarchy is against the leader they keep voting for, maybe it is against them. Such feelings may only be encouraged by the PAD’s condescending arguments that the rural poor, Mr Thaksin’s main support base, are too “uneducated” to have political opinions, so their voting power must be reduced.
www.economist.com...
came to Bangkok looking for work but when he ran out of money he applied for a job as PAD guard. He only worked in this role for one day and decided to leave as he was concerned with the aggressive behaviour of the PAD guards. At this point the PAD guards assumed he was from an anti-PAD group so 3guards beat Mr. Malila and dragged him to the underground section of the airport to interrogate him. He was then shot in the back and left for dead. Luckily he was found by outside medical services and taken to hospital, where he is now receiving treatment.
Source
The pro-PAD coverage of events by Thailand's mainstream print media led respected media analyst Supinya Klangnarong to call the current atmosphere one of “fear and uncertainty”. Also at the FCCT discussion, Supinya — who was associated with the PAD in early 2006 but became disillusioned and left — noted that it was the foreign media which many Thais had come to rely on for balanced news, while at home “it is very difficult to criticise the PAD, or even the government”.
www.themalaysianinsider.com...
Some commentators and opponents of the alliance have described its agenda as fascist. This is not an exaggeration. Experience shows that the types of systemic changes and regimes that follow such movements, although they may not describe themselves as fascist, have fascist qualities. Indeed, successive dictatorships in Thailand's modern history appreciated, expressed and used many fascist symbols and policies, and the residue of these can be found in the language and behaviour of the alliance leaders today.
www.ahrchk.net...
Peaceful protest is not only a part of democratic process; it is integral to it. But the rallies and blockades in Bangkok of recent days, weeks and months have not been peaceful. Nor can they properly be called protests at all, as they are not merely demonstrations of a wish, but acts aimed at achieving goals at all costs. And the costs to Thailand have already been very high. They will get higher, and be felt in terms of the lives and liberties of all people in the country if they are not brought to an end. All people in Thailand have a right to oppose this ultra-conservative project for state dominance at their expense.
The Asian Human Rights Commission especially takes this opportunity to call for far greater global attention on events in Thailand, which have passed for these few months without any discernible reaction from international bodies, especially the United Nations. Having vacillated on the 2006 coup the world community cannot afford to this time let things just go on without some meaningful intervention. If Thailand slips further backwards it will be to the detriment not only of its own millions but the entire region. At a time that repressive anti-democratic forces are either making comebacks or strengthening their positions almost everywhere, Thailand cannot afford to be lost.
www.ahrchk.net...