Backgroud information, About people, Origins and aims and tactics of red shirts and yellow shirts Yellow Shirts Red Shirts State Response Analysis (click on hyperlinks at slide 16 to see real sources and references) Color Politics of Thailand and the Future of Thai Democracy
Maung Ye Yint Aung, a Singaporean of Burmese origin, offers his insights into the current situation of Myanmar.
The main argument
Premise 1: Aung San Suu Kyi, who was denied democratically gotten victory in 1990, is barred from the upcoming general election.
Premise 2: The proposed constitution would automatically reserve a quarter of seats in the national parliament for army appointees, assign key ministries to military top brass and permit army chiefs to declare a state of emergence when they deem fit.
Premise 3: There are still constant fights between the Junta’s armed forces and Burma’s ethnic-minority insurgents.
Conclusion: Democracy with such conditions loses its meaning or Burma 2010 election will not be democratic.
In the opening, the article starts with an argument by giving 2 premises.
Premise 1: The yellow shirts started first and their street protests contributed to the 2006 coup and subsequent changes in government.
Premise 2: Starting later, the red shirts have employed similar tactics but without causing any change of government, yet.
Conclusion: Both yellow and red shirts groups are fighting for change.
After above introduction, the most important argument is stated …..
Premise 1: With the ease of communications and widespread dissemination of information via television and other means, one would have to assume that most of them are aware of the claims and activities of the two groups and have chosen not to participate in either.
Premise 2: The culture and ancestors’ some words of wisdom likely condition a majority of Thais to have fence-sitting behavior.
Premise 3: The fence-sitting of the vast majority of Filipinos proved that it did not work.
Premise 4: Widespread indifference of the good-hearted Germans also resulted in the extermination program that killed millions of people by Hitler in Germany.
Conclusion: Millions more Thais ought to be directly participating in or actively support whatever groups they consider the best to achieve the desirable outcome.
