Thailand: Another Protester Killed as Regime Thugs Do Drive-By at Rally SiteSame violence seen used by Thaksin Shinawatra in 2010, now unfolding again. At approximately 3 a.m. Saturday morning, regime gunmen drove by the anti-regime rally site near Chamai Maruchet Bridge and gunned down one security guard leaving several others injured. This comes one week after the regimes red shirt supporters began threatening an armed campaign of violence against protesters if the regimes sham elections were disrupted, and just after this weeks violence in Din Daeng where one policeman and one protester were killed. Open violence has been a hallmark of Thaksins dark reign over Thai politics since taking office in 2001, and is one of the main reasons protesters seek to oust him and his influence permanently from Thailands political landscape. In 2003 he conducted a so-called war on drugs that saw nearly 3,000 innocent people extrajudicially murdered in the streets. Half of those killed, according to Human Rights Watch, turned out to have nothing at all to do with the drug trade. Also, throughout his first term in office, According to Amnesty International, 18 human rights defenders were either assassinated or disappeared. The most troubling aspect of Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters brutality and tendency toward violence is that is seen as wildly popular by his electorate who continuously return him to power despite his overt criminality, absolute illegitimacy, and dangerous abandonment of basic human rights. Violence is expected to continue to plague the current political conflict as the regime comes closer and closer to finally collapsing. Tony Cartaluccis articles have appeared on many alternative media websites, including his own at Land Destroyer Report, Alternative Thai News Network and LocalOrg. Read other contributed articles by Tony Cartalucci here. 