Former Thai PM Thaksin: "I'm Calling It Quits"

[John K]

Well Tony Thaksin is still not listed in IISS and the next speaker is due in 2 days. The only reports have been from the media. So any guess as why? Perhaps truth is a necessary element.....

Truth and clarity . The people working on the transcripts are probably still scratching their heads trying to decipher entire paragraphs of cryptic Engrish.

- "Have we cashed in Thaksin's huuuge donation yet?

"Donation?"

- Do you seriously think we'd pay him for a 75% of a speech that 100% of the audience can't even understand?"

"Oh... Yeah, we've cashed in the cheque"

- "Toss the script and tell the webmaster to make it so that we've never heard of the guy.

"You sure about that?"

-"Capitalism at a crossroads my friend. "

Well Tony I had a look at the IISS website and it seems they completely skipped over Thaksin. The presentation before and after him are posted and available. It leaves a lot to speculate about, Did the Thai government request this or was it another reason that Thaksin’s presentation is not listed?

[John K]

Well Tony Thaksin is still not listed in IISS and the next speaker is due in 2 days. The only reports have been from the media. So any guess as why? Perhaps truth is a necessary element.....

Truth and clarity . The people working on the transcripts are probably still scratching their heads trying to decipher entire paragraphs of cryptic Engrish.

- "Have we cashed in Thaksin's huuuge donation yet?

"Donation?"

- Do you seriously think we'd pay him for a 75% of a speech that 100% of the audience can't even understand?"

"Oh... Yeah, we've cashed in the cheque"

- "Toss the script and tell the webmaster to make it so that we've never heard of the guy.

"You sure about that?"

-"Capitalism at a crossroads my friend. "

Well Tony I had a look at the IISS website and it seems they completely skipped over Thaksin. The presentation before and after him are posted and available. It leaves a lot to speculate about, Did the Thai government request this or was it another reason that Thaksin’s presentation is not listed?

[Tony Clifton]

Indeed he has been removed from the list of Recent Key Addresses. According to the rose coloured glasses bio he handed them (along with a huge donation?) they were in for a surprise.

2 Mar 07 - Address - Dr Thaksin Shinawatra

On Friday 2 March 2007 Dr Thaksin Shinawatra, Former Prime Minister of Thailand, will give an address on "Democracy at a Crossroads" from 1pm.

Dr Thaksin Shinawatra is the former Prime Minister of Thailand and former leader of the Thai Rak Thai Party. Thaksin started his career in the Thai Police, later becoming a successful entrepreneur, establishing Shin Corporation and Advanced Info Service the largest mobile telephone operator in Thailand. He entered politics by joining the Phalang Dharma Party in 1994 and later founded the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party in 1998.

After his election victory in 2001 he became Prime Minister of Thailand.

[John K]

What a huge loss of face for Thaksin that must be, I am sure the IISS is on his hit list now.

Someone else made note of this but it looks like Thaksin for the moment is a fish out of water when forced into a world of accountability. His efforts seem more and more anaemic and absurd but still he can make some trouble.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin can return to fight charges, Thai PM says

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, living in exile since a coup last year, can return home to fight legal cases if summoned by the courts, his successor Surayud Chulanont said on Tuesday.

"It depends on the court to decide whether it is appropriate to call him to face the charge," Surayud told Reuters in an interview. "If the court decides to let him appear in court, I don't see any restriction."

However, in the absence of a court summons to testify, Thaksin should stay out of the country until elections promised by the coup leaders by the end of this year, Surayud said.

His remarks came shortly after police chief Sereepisut Taemeeyaves announced that investigators had recommended Thaksin be charged with three counts of lese majeste which could put him in jail for 45 years.

Thaksin, accused by coup leaders of corruption during his five years in office, and his wife could face charges of underpaying for a prime piece of Bangkok real estate she bought from the central bank.

Military-appointed investigators are also probing other corruption cases under the Thaksin government.

Surayud, who said he had talked to Thaksin twice in the past six months, said Thaksin told him in their second contact two months ago that he would not return home in the near future.

"I was informed by him that he is not going to go back in the near future. I told him the best time for Mr. Thaksin to come back is after the general election."

Police chief Sereepisut told a news conference marking six months since Thaksin was ousted in a bloodless coup prosecutors had not decided whether to act on the police recommendation that he be charged with lese majeste.

"The prosecutors want us to provide them more evidence on some of the cases before they decide whether to charge Thaksin in court," Sereepisut said.

The three potential charges of offending revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej stemmed from remarks to a group of taxi drivers, his weekly national radio address, and his supporters waving Thai flags saying "Long Live His Majesty."

- Reuters

[Tony Clifton]

He has been unusually quiet lately.

[John K]

He has been unusually quiet lately.

Yes he has, I was just thinking that yesterday. Knowing him he probably is working on his counter coup or some other things along that line.

[Tony Clifton]

Probably busy working on a few speeches that will be read by his mouthpieces and minions on Friday's PTV rally at Sanam Luang.

[sriracha john]

Lawyer: Thaksin to return late this year

Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to return to Thailand towards the end of the year to fight corruption charges against him, his legal advisor Noppadon Pattama said Thursday. Mr Thaksin has no plans to return for now, unless there is an order from the Criminal Court, he said. "I'm confident that the masses will not pressure the work of the court when Mr Thaksin returns as he has vowed not to return to politics," Mr Noppadon said. He told the government and the Council for National Security not to worry about Mr Thaksin's return since the aim is to fight the charges, not to return to politics. He also accused prosecutors of unfair treatment in filing lese majeste charge against Mr Thaksin.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=117598

[hammered]

Lawyer: Thaksin to return late this year

Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to return to Thailand towards the end of the year to fight corruption charges against him, his legal advisor Noppadon Pattama said Thursday. Mr Thaksin has no plans to return for now, unless there is an order from the Criminal Court, he said. "I'm confident that the masses will not pressure the work of the court when Mr Thaksin returns as he has vowed not to return to politics," Mr Noppadon said. He told the government and the Council for National Security not to worry about Mr Thaksin's return since the aim is to fight the charges, not to return to politics. He also accused prosecutors of unfair treatment in filing lese majeste charge against Mr Thaksin.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=117598

That is the big one with the masses and everyone knows it. One guilty verdict and his popularity is in trouble. Maybe a deal is more likely.

[blaze]

Lawyer: Thaksin to return late this year

Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to return to Thailand towards the end of the year to fight corruption charges against him, his legal advisor Noppadon Pattama said Thursday. Mr Thaksin has no plans to return for now, unless there is an order from the Criminal Court, he said. "I'm confident that the masses will not pressure the work of the court when Mr Thaksin returns as he has vowed not to return to politics," Mr Noppadon said. He told the government and the Council for National Security not to worry about Mr Thaksin's return since the aim is to fight the charges, not to return to politics. He also accused prosecutors of unfair treatment in filing lese majeste charge against Mr Thaksin.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=117598

That is the big one with the masses and everyone knows it. One guilty verdict and his popularity is in trouble. Maybe a deal is more likely.

Will the 'masses' recall that the politicization of Lesse Majeste laws was the subject of a fairly recent speech. This could swing either direction - though certainly it would seem that this would be the nail in his political coffin.

[hammered]

Lawyer: Thaksin to return late this year

Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to return to Thailand towards the end of the year to fight corruption charges against him, his legal advisor Noppadon Pattama said Thursday. Mr Thaksin has no plans to return for now, unless there is an order from the Criminal Court, he said. "I'm confident that the masses will not pressure the work of the court when Mr Thaksin returns as he has vowed not to return to politics," Mr Noppadon said. He told the government and the Council for National Security not to worry about Mr Thaksin's return since the aim is to fight the charges, not to return to politics. He also accused prosecutors of unfair treatment in filing lese majeste charge against Mr Thaksin.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=117598

That is the big one with the masses and everyone knows it. One guilty verdict and his popularity is in trouble. Maybe a deal is more likely.

Will the 'masses' recall that the politicization of Lesse Majeste laws was the subject of a fairly recent speech. This could swing either direction - though certainly it would seem that this would be the nail in his political coffin.

If someone is found guilty of this charge they shouldnt wait for the masses to support them at this point in history. The masses are also pretty splintered politcally these days. A lot of up country exTRT influentials have jumped ship and taken their mafia, kamnan, village headmen, control networks and canvassers with them. That is not to say at some point they wouldnt head back the TRT way but it doesnt look likely right now especially with the now announced reshuffle of the military removing TRT sympathisers some who had been rumored connected to a counter coup recently although the reshuffle doesnt take place officially until April 1 so I guess there are a few days left there.

[sriracha john]

Lawyer: Thaksin to return late this year

Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready to return to Thailand towards the end of the year to fight corruption charges against him, his legal advisor Noppadon Pattama said Thursday. Mr Thaksin has no plans to return for now, unless there is an order from the Criminal Court, he said. "I'm confident that the masses will not pressure the work of the court when Mr Thaksin returns as he has vowed not to return to politics," Mr Noppadon said. He told the government and the Council for National Security not to worry about Mr Thaksin's return since the aim is to fight the charges, not to return to politics. He also accused prosecutors of unfair treatment in filing lese majeste charge against Mr Thaksin.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=117598

That is the big one with the masses and everyone knows it. One guilty verdict and his popularity is in trouble. Maybe a deal is more likely.

Will the 'masses' recall that the politicization of Lesse Majeste laws was the subject of a fairly recent speech. This could swing either direction - though certainly it would seem that this would be the nail in his political coffin.

I think the difference in this particular case involves charges that Thaksin is unique in his attempts to copy/mimic the trappings (in the form of using previously exclusive flags and cloaks) of someone he shouldn't. AFAIOMMK* no one has ever done that before and was not addressed in the fairly recent speech which focused on the use of words.

*As Far As I Or My Missus Know

Edited March 22, 2007 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

Surapong Suebwonglee

Thaksin's most tense day

A close Thaksin Shinawatra aide with the ousted prime minister in New York on September 19 last year has revealed that the coup was probably not the "worst" thing ever to occur to the ousted leader politically. But the aide found that Thaksin looked the "most tense" on another day.

Former government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee, who returned to Thailand in October, has broken his silence over the events of that day. He spoke with me and my colleague Sucheera Piniparakarn last week and revealed how news of the coup came out of the blue for Thaksin and his entourage.

He added Thaksin handled the situation with calm in spite of the obvious stress he was feeling. It was not Thaksin's "most tense day" when compared with the anxiety surrounding the bomb plot against his life a month earlier.

Surapong sketched the scene on the morning of September 19, New York time. The Thaksin entourage was preparing for breakfast at 8am in the Grand Hyatt. The prime minister called them to his suite.

Thaksin informed them of the coup rumours coming out of Thailand. Nobody believed it, Surapong said.

Things became clear an hour later, when Thaksin resolved to declare a state of emergency. The mood in the suite was positive. None of Thaksin's confidants believed the coup would succeed, Surapong explained.

"We never thought about a coup. We thought acting PM Chidchai Vanasatidya could handle the big anti-Thaksin rally planned for September 20," he said. Thaksin went off to write his address to the nation. When he was reading it on Channel 9 he was unaware his had been taken off air, Surapong explained.

It was not until noon that confirmation came that Thaksin had been overthrown.

In the tense four hours until that time the Thai delegation was glued to the BBC and CNN. It snacked on a room-service breakfast.

What did Thaksin do?, I asked. Had he gone mad?

Not at all. Thaksin "appeared calm" but said little in this time, Surapong said. "He finally declare, 'It's over. The junta has seized power'. "Thaksin was less tense than when he knew someone had wanted to assassinate him with the car bomb," Surapong said. He added 2006 was "a tense year for Thaksin".

Advisor Pansak Vinyaratn was in the suite that day. No stranger to coups - he was with former prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan when the National Peacekeeping Council toppled him in 1991. He joked in New York, "It's hit me again".

"We all understood the situation. We discussed where to go from there," Surapong said.

Surapong insisted there had been no previous discussion of a coup until that time. During the trip the delegation had worked on election policies and Thaksin was busy drumming up support for the poll planned for that coming October.

Thaksin had been on a trip to Finland, Cuba and the United States when he was overthrown. Immediately after his ouster he jetted to Britain to be with his daughter.

Surapong remained in the states where he has a son studying at Indiana State University. He spent his free time visiting museums and libraries in several cities. "It's hard to do those things in normal times."

Surapong looks more relaxed and happier than when he was government spokesman.

"I'm not distressed. I understand what happened. And, I know how to spend my life now," he said. His political experience has taught him "all problems pass one day".

"The important thing is to understand uncertainty and to live happily and prepare for a better future," he said. He said the coup was not as harrowing as the events of October 6, 1976 in which friends were casualties. That depressed him.

"I've been ready to be scrutinised after the coup but I am the only one [of Thaksin's close aides] not to have been asked to meet officials or questioned," he said.

After the coup key Thaksin men were detained - former deputy prime minister Chidchai, former justice minister Newin Chidchob, former natural resources minister Yongyuth Tiyapairat and secretary-general in Thaksin's office Prommin Lertsuridej.

Since the coup Surapong has met Prommin, a senior classmate. But, they did not discuss the current situation. "He didn't tell me what he's doing. I don't want to make him uneasy by asking," he said.

How about Thaksin? Did he call? Yes, Thaksin telephoned once to inquire about his well-being.

On the chance of the Thai Rak Thai being dissolved, Surapong said the forthcoming decision was up in the air. Nevertheless, the party remained popular because of its policies - if not its former leader.

He knew many former members wanted to remain in politics and would contest the next elections on platforms similar to the Thai Rak Thai.

Surapong is uncertain about his own political future. His desire is less. He once said eight years was long enough in politics and it has been six already. He will support younger people with more desire.

"I'm happy now. I have more time. I can do my duty as a husband and father," he said.

"But away from my family I am sad. I don't know where this ship [country] will sail. No one can tell the future," he said.

- Jintana Panyaarvudh, The Nation

[slimdog]

I think the difference in this particular case involves charges that Thaksin is unique in his attempts to copy/mimic the trappings (in the form of using previously exclusive flags and cloaks) of someone he shouldn't. AFAIOMMK* no one has ever done that before and was not addressed in the fairly recent speech which focused on the use of words.

*As Far As I Or My Missus Know

The cloak you are possibly refering to, and you have posted pictures of in the past is the official cloak of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand.

The same cloak can be found at:

http://www.thaigov.go.th/news_images/R4900...49_surayud3.jpg

http://www.chartthai.or.th/index.php?optio...type=1&id=1

And just for reference, Chart Thai's campaign posters carry a similar image

[sriracha john]

I think the difference in this particular case involves charges that Thaksin is unique in his attempts to copy/mimic the trappings (in the form of using previously exclusive flags and cloaks) of someone he shouldn't. AFAIOMMK* no one has ever done that before and was not addressed in the fairly recent speech which focused on the use of words.

*As Far As I Or My Missus Know

The cloak you are possibly refering to, and you have posted pictures of in the past is the official cloak of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand.

The same cloak can be found at:

http://www.thaigov.go.th/news_images/R4900...49_surayud3.jpg

http://www.chartthai.or.th/index.php?optio...type=1&id=1

And just for reference, Chart Thai's campaign posters carry a similar image

Thank you for that information.

Any information on whether anyone else has ever used His Majesty the King's unique flags at a non-royal event for their personal use before? Another Prime Minister or anyone else for that matter?

[sriracha john]

CAPTION CONTEST

Look, who's talking?

Welcome to our "caption contest". This is a photo picked up from a photo gallery on www.hi-thaksin.net. The website's caption of this photo, which showed ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra chat on a telephone with someone, said: "I am lonely in London."

We feel some may like or disagree with the given caption. Therefore, just for fun in this very politically stressful time, we would like to invite our energetic and online readers to send us your captions for the photo. Webeditors hold the right to delete captions deemed libellous or inappropriate. We plan to carry out a similar "caption contest" with photos of other leading figures in Thai political and social circle.

- The Nation

=============================

:D

[John K]

Caption:

Yes Miss Wilson, I will gladly give your first grade class the chance to interview me. I will send along the list of questions I approve of shortly.... and No I am sorry I don’t have a pet rabbit I can bring in.

[Ricardo]

Caption :

Hi Darling,

My flight just just landed at Bangkok Airport, but it doesn't look anything like the architects' models you showed me, when you were handing out the contracts to our friends & family ?

In fact - it reminds me more of the old Don Muang Airport. And the baggage is seriously delayed - I guess some things just never change, eh !

[Grover]

laughing is good therapy.

nice idea

[Tony Clifton]

Caption: "Dr. Kevorkian?"

[Night]

Thaksin Shinawatra

Please come home to china and rid this great nation of the mean joo jew.

we need a final solution.

Wait.... what century is this?

ick hein bein hammer swine swatzig

[Tony Clifton]

Former Thai PM Thaksin: "I'm Calling It Quits"

Watch ASTV this evening.

Where does PTV's financing comes from? Is Thaksin really out of politics as he said numerous times?

No.

Thaksin has been photographed meeting with PTV heads in China.

I have seen the photographs on tv but have not found them on any websites yet. Will post as soon as I find them.

Nothing short of a jail cell and frozen bank accounts will stop the lizard.

Edited March 29, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[JacknDanny]

CAPTION CONTEST

Look, who's talking?

Welcome to our "caption contest". This is a photo picked up from a photo gallery on www.hi-thaksin.net. The website's caption of this photo, which showed ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra chat on a telephone with someone, said: "I am lonely in London."

We feel some may like or disagree with the given caption. Therefore, just for fun in this very politically stressful time, we would like to invite our energetic and online readers to send us your captions for the photo. Webeditors hold the right to delete captions deemed libellous or inappropriate. We plan to carry out a similar "caption contest" with photos of other leading figures in Thai political and social circle.

- The Nation

=============================

:D

Caption............

"What do you mean, why am I here? You told me to find some balls!!"

[Tony Clifton]

Update.

The pics taken in China with Thaksin meeting with PTV executives were taken on March 1st. PTV's official launch was on March 2nd.

Edited March 30, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[sriracha john]

PTV plans April 27 mass rally to demonstrate against coup

People's Television (PTV) has vowed to hold a mass rally at Sanam Laung on April 27 under the anti-coup banner.

The protest is designed as a catalyst for political change to pave way for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return home and fight the charges against him in the courts.

"PTV will organise its next rally right after the Songkran holiday by coordinating with other anti-coup groups to demand the return of democratic rule, and hopes to draw a bigger crowd for its May rally," PTV rally organiser Jatuporn Prompan said yesterday.

Jatuporn said the convergence of events in May and the following months could spell the end of military control.

These include the debate leading to the referendum on the new constitution, the court verdicts on two cases of electoral fraud punishable by party dissolution, and the litigation involving Thaksin and his family members, he said.

"From May onward, conditions will be ripe to sway the public to oppose the government and the Council for National Security," he said, adding that it was inevitable that Thaksin would end his exile in London in order to fight the charges against him in person.

"Thaksin's return will likely happen by mid-year, and before the general election," he said, referring to the polling day tentatively scheduled for December 16 or 23.

Jatuporn said the April PTV rally had the support of taxi drivers and students, particularly those from Ramkhamhaeng University, who would be core protesters. Other anti-coup protests coinciding with the PTV rally will be organised by leading campaigners such as the Saturday Anti-Coup Group, the September 19 Network and the Philap Khao Group, he said.

- The Nation

[John K]

So is this an admission that “PTV / TRT / Thaksin” is the correct name on the mailbox of PTV?

So the Junta goes out so Thaksin can come back in. What a lovely plan. Why am I starting to get the same feeling in my gut as I did when it was July last year.

If this is the case then the PM will have little choice but to allow the Junta to do as they requested. Perhaps post #236 should be mirrored in the Junta emergency rule thread. They have enough problems without Thaksin getting back into the picture (as if he ever left).

[hammered]

PTV plans April 27 mass rally to demonstrate against coup

People's Television (PTV) has vowed to hold a mass rally at Sanam Laung on April 27 under the anti-coup banner.

The protest is designed as a catalyst for political change to pave way for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return home and fight the charges against him in the courts.

"PTV will organise its next rally right after the Songkran holiday by coordinating with other anti-coup groups to demand the return of democratic rule, and hopes to draw a bigger crowd for its May rally," PTV rally organiser Jatuporn Prompan said yesterday.

Jatuporn said the convergence of events in May and the following months could spell the end of military control.

These include the debate leading to the referendum on the new constitution, the court verdicts on two cases of electoral fraud punishable by party dissolution, and the litigation involving Thaksin and his family members, he said.

"From May onward, conditions will be ripe to sway the public to oppose the government and the Council for National Security," he said, adding that it was inevitable that Thaksin would end his exile in London in order to fight the charges against him in person.

"Thaksin's return will likely happen by mid-year, and before the general election," he said, referring to the polling day tentatively scheduled for December 16 or 23.

Jatuporn said the April PTV rally had the support of taxi drivers and students, particularly those from Ramkhamhaeng University, who would be core protesters. Other anti-coup protests coinciding with the PTV rally will be organised by leading campaigners such as the Saturday Anti-Coup Group, the September 19 Network and the Philap Khao Group, he said.

- The Nation

Just having an interlude from 2 days of soaking. Good God dont these TRT guys know how to enjoy the New Year like the rest of the country. They really are too serious.

Anyway a good opportunity for the true pro-democracy groups to distance themselves from the Thaksin fronts now they have nailed the colors to the mast. I expect all the non-TRT fronts to immediately distance themselves from this event. It will be interesting to see which ones that up to now have claimed they dont like the Junta or Thaksin end up remaining tied to the boots of PTV at an event peopled by paid taxi drivers and northern students from Ram. I wonder who is funding the threatened big rally, and who wil be rounding up the participants? After all TRT never manged amass turnout of people even when it was in power without passing thebucks and using state agencies to herd them in.

Or is the ever odious little Jatuporn after being martyred or having his paid rally declared illegal? After all he has the standing of a dead dwarf in Thai politics and is known more for his arrogant and aloof manner towards those who do not immediately agree with his mighty words and plans rather than any claim to be a guardian of true democracy or freedom of speech.

The sooner Thailand can move into the future without either a Junta or the former mass murder regime the better. imho. Sadly it seems this option is something that may not be allowed.

Anyway back off to play Songklhran. Far more fun than folowing Jatuporns little odyssey.

[sriracha john]

Surapong Suebwonglee

Thaksin wants poll to go ahead: Surapong

Surapong Suebwonglee yesterday tried to distance his Thai Rak Thai Party from the anti-coup protests and defended ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra as wanting to see the general election take place rather than derail it.

"If my party was behind the anti-coup activities, I believe the protests would be on a much larger scale: just look at the mass rallies we organised ahead of last year's general election," said Surapong, a key party member.

The organisers of PTV's demonstrations, the nucleus of the anti-coup movements, have resigned their party memberships, he said.

"I think Thaksin has made himself very clear that he does not encourage any party members to get involved with anti-coup activities," he said, admitting that he has not had any direct contact with the former party leader lately.

*so then, his assessment is based on.....??????*

Surapong said the coup-makers should concentrate on fixing the country's problems instead of wasting time plotting another coup. *did he just say that the coup is planning for a new coup?????*

He also opposes the plan by the People's Alliance for Democracy, a key anti-Thaksin coalition, to pressure Surayud into quitting.

"The key issue is to call the general election as soon as possible, otherwise the country will regress," he said.

The party is sure to win its election-fraud case, he said. A guilty verdict by the Constitution Tribunal on May 30 could mean the end of the party. *No, a guilty verdict would DEFINITELY mean the end of the party.*

Election Commission chairman Apichart Sukhagganond confirmed that election day would be December 16 or 23.

"This is an auspicious marked by His Majesty the King's 80th birthday, a good rallying point for awareness of righteousness to deter vote-buying," he said.

The campaign for clean and fair polls may lose momentum if the general election is delayed till next year, he said.

It would be even better, he said, if the drafting of the new constitution and the referendum on it finish ahead of schedule and the election can take place even earlier.

The EC is reviewing a plan to transport voters to balloting stations free.

To forestall anti-coup campaigners, the Interior Ministry has instructed all governors to beef up security in their provinces for Songkran and beyond.

The CNS's General Sondhi Boonyaratglin yesterday insisted that he would not become premier if PM Surayud Chulanont resigned as critics forecast.

- The Nation

[sriracha john]

In a bid to prevent any attack against the toppled government of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Surapong Suebwonglee, former government spokesman stressed Saturday that Mr. Thaksin did not play any role from behind the scene in providing financial assistance to groups protesting against the government of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and the Council for National Security, saying that had the Thai Rak Thai Party been involved the unrest would become more fierce. *wonderful logic??*

Mr. Surapong, spokesman of the ousted government, said every concerned party must join hands in organising a general election as soon as possible and should not pressure the prime minister to resign or the military to launch another coup.

- MCOT

Edited April 14, 2007 by sriracha john