Deployment of troops for reds just for show
I have been in Cambodia for the past four days and have watched the build-up of red shirts in Siem Reap awaiting the arrival of their saviour, fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Phnom Penh has implemented what it calls “security” arrangements and has gone on public record as saying it will pay for the deployment of thousands of troops to protect the red shirts and their hero and is doing so because of the necessity to ensure everyone’s safety. From where I sit, this is arrant nonsense.
On nearly every major intersection in town there are three or four fully uniformed, helmeted and armed soldiers. I spent 20 years in the Australian Army and can ensure you that this deployment is tactically nonsensical. What orders, one wonders, have been given to these soldiers, in the highly unlikely event that any trouble should occur?
The reality is this is Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s window dressing and part of the roll out of the red carpet for his good mate Thaksin Shinawatra.
David Brown
Rayong
