deadsnoopy

I cannot think of a more idiotic and trivial thing than whining about the EC needs to agree to the 14th. The EC is going to go along with what is in the best interest of the country and the EC is not going to have A SINGLE issue with this date given the wide support.

Lets also remember the person spouting this nonsense is the same guy who swore up and down yesterday the democrats committed voter fraud instead of simply being accused of illegal contribution issues that certainly does not mean, even if held to be true, there will be a disbanding of the party.

He is also stating now the democrats are on trial for this now. Did I miss something or does he not understand what a trial is?

Not only are they not yet on trial, but the OAG prosecutors has not yet decided if they have enough evidence to support a prosecution of the case for forwarding to the Constitutional Court. It's a long road.

So, his comment about two lower courts already deciding on this is also false and it is still just at the stage of a recommendation from the EC who were threatened by the reds regarding this issue??? Am starting to wonder if TV should look to adding disclaimers to certain poster's posts. But looks like my fault for assuming some of what somebody says who is constantly saying untruths could actually be true.

I believe this is where things stand as of April 20th. I don't know what progress has been made since the:

The EC earlier this month decided by a vote of 4-1 to seek the dissolution of the Democrat Party, haviong ruiled it unlawfully accepted a 258 billion baht donation from TPI Polene Plc in 2005 and misused the 29 million baht fund for political development.

Mr Waiyut said the prosecutors had not yet received the case from the EC. On receiving it, the panel will have 30 days to consider the case.

If the prosecution team agrees the EC has sufficient evidence to support its case, it would forward it to the Constitution Court for a final decision.

However, if the panel finds the EC's case is not strong enough, a joint EC-prosecution committee would be set up to review the case.

The Constitution Court has already accepted the case, as of April 28th. Google "Court to consider Democrat case". I can't post the link here because TheNation prohibits linking to the other popular newspaper in Bangkok. But it's the 1st result on Google.

yes but she's among the lucky ones in landing a nice farang ATM like you! go ask then poor - anyway elections will decide

I cannot think of a more idiotic and trivial thing than whining about the EC needs to agree to the 14th. The EC is going to go along with what is in the best interest of the country and the EC is not going to have A SINGLE issue with this date given the wide support.

Lets also remember the person spouting this nonsense is the same guy who swore up and down yesterday the democrats committed voter fraud instead of simply being accused of illegal contribution issues that certainly does not mean, even if held to be true, there will be a disbanding of the party.

He is also stating now the democrats are on trial for this now. Did I miss something or does he not understand what a trial is?

Not only are they not yet on trial, but the OAG prosecutors has not yet decided if they have enough evidence to support a prosecution of the case for forwarding to the Constitutional Court. It's a long road.

So, his comment about two lower courts already deciding on this is also false and it is still just at the stage of a recommendation from the EC who were threatened by the reds regarding this issue??? Am starting to wonder if TV should look to adding disclaimers to certain poster's posts. But looks like my fault for assuming some of what somebody says who is constantly saying untruths could actually be true.

For those who don't read newspapers:

- Thai Court ruled and accepted the case and forwarded it to the Election Commission (EC).

- EC ruled and accepted the case to be forwarded to the Constitution Court.

Currently it's in the Constitution Court, who will eventually decide if the Democrats will be dissolved and Abhisit banned from politics.

With some randomly selected news on the topic, just to confirm it:

Thai Court ruling: www.mcot.net/cfcustom/content.cfm?contentId=4995

EC (Election Commission) ruling: Google it.

I have lived in thailand my whole life and i also support the violence.

You support violence?

And grow up, he said the 14th and said it to the entire world based on a measurable road map. Do the reds need to know the time of day or are they just hel_l bent on trying to hurt Abhisit because of the popularity he has gained while in power by demanding the EC decide on the date?

What do you not understand? Seriously. The Prime Minister can not set the date for the new election. He can only set the date for House dissolution. It's the Election Commission (EC) that then decides the date for the next election. So Abhisit saying that elections will be held on November 14th is meaningless, because he's not the one that will decide it.

Understand it now?

How many times do we have to repeat the obvious

House will be disolved at the requirement of parlimentary law

Can we please let this question be buried, and get on with solving the problem and not throwing more wood on the fire

You don't have to keep repeating anything. When the date has been set for the dissolution of the House, then the EC will confirm the date for the election, and the red shirts can go home. Unless the "issue" isn't the red shirts going home, but something else?

And grow up, he said the 14th and said it to the entire world based on a measurable road map. Do the reds need to know the time of day or are they just hel_l bent on trying to hurt Abhisit because of the popularity he has gained while in power by demanding the EC decide on the date?

What do you not understand? Seriously. The Prime Minister can not set the date for the new election. He can only set the date for House dissolution. It's the Election Commission (EC) that then decides the date for the next election. So Abhisit saying that elections will be held on November 14th is meaningless, because he's not the one that will decide it.

Understand it now?

the reds have accepted that he can do it without following your procedure and have conceded

they represent ''millions of reds''

why is it such a problem for you?

No, they haven't. Watch the video announcement again. It's in English. They clearly said that they want the Election Commission to set the date, then they will go home:

And grow up, he said the 14th and said it to the entire world based on a measurable road map. Do the reds need to know the time of day or are they just hel_l bent on trying to hurt Abhisit because of the popularity he has gained while in power by demanding the EC decide on the date?

What do you not understand? Seriously. The Prime Minister can not set the date for the new election. He can only set the date for House dissolution. It's the Election Commission (EC) that then decides the date for the next election. So Abhisit saying that elections will be held on November 14th is meaningless, because he's not the one that will decide it.

Understand it now?

Even the demand for House dissolution date is silly. They can just open the Constitution and count the days back from Nov 14.

FF

It's not silly. Because only once the date for the House dissolution has been set, the election date can be set. It's not in Abhisit's power to set an election date. Abhisit has to set a date to dissolve parliament (which he still hasn't done) and then the Election Commission (EC) will set the date for the new elections.

So either Abhisit doesn't understand the process -or- he's the one that's trying to play the crowd.

Again, Abhisit needs to confirm with the Election Commission the date he will dissolve parliament, then the Election Commission will set the date for the new election, and that's it. Before that, it's just a proposal. I understand however that this process may be a bit difficult to understand for some people here.

ok fair enough but once this election goes through. then everyone has to accept the out come like it or not. Got to stop blaming the otherside for this and that cause the altnative is constant civil war.

if the other party win the election then the yellow just have to accept it. same as the reds should the reds lose

I'm with you on that one, but remember the army reshuffle will happen before the new election and that gives them a pro-yellow advantage, so in case Puea Thai or another pro-Thaksin party wins a majority, the army will be right there to make another coup. The election will be a fresh start, but I doubt that the political circus will be over.

Abhisit will be next PM and may even go to full term on this one

by the time he has dissolved Phua Thai on terrorist charges and bulldozed everyone else out of the way with criminal charges there won't be a credible opposition for them to compete against

it will be a one horse race

A one-horse race with ...no horse and no rider, you mean? If you haven't noticed, the Democrats are on trial for taking 250+ million Baht in illegal donations, and Abhisit was chairman when these donations were received. The Democrats will end up being dissolved, both lower courts have already agreed and have forwarded it to the Constitution Court for confirmation. I seriously doubt that he will ever hold a political office again for at least the next 5 years.

He knows it. Everyone knows it. The 6 months timeframe for new elections is a fair agreement that will give Abhisit and his cronies enough time in office to put aside some more cash and then bow out with their heads held somewhat high.

Monkfish

Thanks for posting that link. If everyone can spare 7 minutes to watch it (it is in English) then you will see why the red leaders are literally 'playing to the crowd'. The hardcore have zero intention of letting this go peacefully. Abhisit must stand firm now and give them a formal date and as for the rest of it he should tell them to ram it!

Some of these red leaders have really got some neck. With any luck some of those necks will be stretched in the not to distant future.

I did watch it. It clearly states that it's not in Abhisit's power to set an election date. Abhisit has to set a date to dissolve parliament (which he still hasn't done) and then the Election Commission (EC) will set the date for the new elections.

So either Abhisit doesn't understand the process -or- he's the one that's trying to play the crowd.

Again, Abhisit needs to confirm with the Election Commission the date he will dissolve parliament, then the Election Commission will set the date for the new election, and that's it. Before that, it's just a proposal. I understand however that this process may be a bit difficult to understand for some people here.

20 votes in favor of Abhisit will surely win him the election Oh wait, by the time the next election comes he might already be banned from politics for 5 years.

You can hope this will be the case, but you will be disappointed.

You're right, I will be disappointed if Abhisit wins the election and has only received 20 votes.

Once he's confirmed the date with the Election Commission and has set a date for dissolving parliament, then the red shirts will surely go home.

Apart from the criminal leaders who will go straight to jail where they belong.

You mean the red shirt leaders? Sure, they will go to jail. But they'll be out in 6 hours, just like the yellow shirt leaders were. The yellow shirts occupied government house for 8 months and 2 international airports for 10 days, much much worse than the red shirts who entered government house for 30 minutes and occupied a street in the city for 1 month.

Abhisit has surely already made a "behind doors" amnesty deal for the red shirt leaders, believe me. If they're arrested and held for longer than the yellow shirts, there will be red shirts all around the prison within minutes taking them out, I'm sure. But I doubt it will get that far.

Sorry. I meant go to jail for a very long time.

No one can disagree with that.

Apart from the regular troll posters such as deadsnoopy.

I will quote you on that as soon as ThaiVisa opens a news thread stating that the red shirt leaders have been released on bail after a few hours of detention. Remind me if I forget

i beg to differ to your analysts valued opinion but my wife and some of her family think Abhisit's position has been strengthened by his stand

my housekeeper who was a staunch Thaksin supporter until he became Cambodian is now almost applauding every word Abhisit says

so i think he can count on at least 20 votes from that group

i am sure there will be many similar stories nationally........

20 votes in favor of Abhisit will surely win him the election Oh wait, by the time the next election comes he might already be banned from politics for 5 years.

Once he's confirmed the date with the Election Commission and has set a date for dissolving parliament, then the red shirts will surely go home.

Apart from the criminal leaders who will go straight to jail where they belong.

You mean the red shirt leaders? Sure, they will go to jail. But they'll be out in 6 hours, just like the yellow shirt leaders were. The yellow shirts occupied government house for 8 months and 2 international airports for 10 days, much much worse than the red shirts who entered government house for 30 minutes and occupied a street in the city for 1 month.

Abhisit has surely already made a "behind doors" amnesty deal for the red shirt leaders, believe me. If they're arrested and held for longer than the yellow shirts, there will be red shirts all around the prison within minutes taking them out, I'm sure. But I doubt it will get that far.

There won't be any trials or covictions a closed doors deal has already been done to guarantee the Reds and Yellows imunity from prosecution why do you think the Reds are happy to wait until November? I have yet to see any political analyst who thinks that Abhisit stands a snowball's chance of winning the next election as they say that his associations with the Ammart that brought him to power will also be his undoing at the next election. People around the country won't vote for the minority Ammart.

I agree that there are many more points to the agreement that the public won't ever see or hear about. This is a "face-saving" show for everyone now. Abhisit proposes an agreement, red shirts counter it with some points of their own, Abhisit sets a date with the EC for the next election and sets a date to dissolve the house. Done. Both sides have "won" ..and more importantly, both sides have "saved face".

Well, you can say what you want, but this is it. Abhisit has done what is possible and leaned over further than any politician ever before him and the reds are not happy (which was to be expected). They will not be happy unless a total pardon is given which is impossible. Thaksin is not happy because he would not be able to get back into power despite what his "medium" predicted.

Mr. Abhisit, it is time!

Nobody can put any blame upon you or the Thai government for any dead rand wounded ed's during a clean-up operation and the arrest of their leaders etc..

PLEASE do it tonight

They simply will and can not stop until they get what they want since they know, anything else will mean jail

Look at all of you. You've been calling for the government to kill its own people for over a month now. Now that a mutual agreement to peaceful reconciliation is almost worked out, the only thing you can think of is making one last call for violence and crackdown. Your call for dead and injured civilians isn't going to be answered.

My take, this isn't going to work. The reds are playing a game now. If they were serious about saying yes, they would go home now. They realize they had to say yes for PR reasons but clearly the do not mean it and will find excuses not to honor their phony agreement.

Go home for what? Abhisit hasn't even registered the November 14 date with the Election Commission yet, so his roadmap is meaningless unless he does that. Once he's confirmed the date with the Election Commission and has set a date for dissolving parliament, then the red shirts will surely go home. Let's see if he meant what he said.

Sounds acceptable. Abhisit has so far proposed November 14 elections, but he has not set a date to dissolve parliament and he has not confirmed the November 14 date with the Election Commission. So far it's just a proposal. He needs to go that further step and confirm that he's sincere about holding elections, confirm the date with the Election Commission and then I'm sure the red shirts will gladly go home.

You're assuming of course the court actually disbands the party. So should we all wait for the court ruling then and leave the Red Shirts to rot there while our economy tumbles? Or do we fix the problem now? Yhe election date is a compromise and a win win for everyone, Red or Yellow. Right now, if the red shirt leaders are stupid or selfish enough to reject this offer, Abhisit can roll the tanks in and he can say he was willing to compromise but the red shirts just wanted to continue the fight.

First of all, if they're not dissolved, it's clearly an act of double standard. Just like the yellow shirts that are awaiting trial since 2 years and are roaming free urging the government to crack down on the red shirts. But let's not go there.

Abhisit can "roll out the tanks" but that will not solve anything, unless the army plans to basically kill everyone, which they're not going to do. The red shirts can be dispersed but they will simply regroup elsewhere and come back. Negotiating is the only way to solve this.

the government, therefore, plans to write a letter to USTR

On a 100 baht copy of Microsoft Office.

not really...because as other posters have written, it moves the election date past the reshuffling of the military hierarchy, allowing Anupong's successor to come in, and it ensures that Thaksin's chance for regaining power becomes more limited, even should the Reds win the election...Abhisit may not last, but he also ensures that the Reds are left without their figurehead.

So really, what that means is that if Thaksin's party wins, the army will stage another coup and prevent them from taking office. What's the purpose of an election then? That's no Democracy, that's Dictatorship, I'm sorry.

Amnesty will be an issue here - apart from that, I would like to hear the objections to this suggestion. It sounds better than any other alternatives we have right now.

Amnesty for them would open the door for amnesty for Thaksin as well.

No way. Double standards in Thailand prohibit that.

Electoral fraud is rigging an election. The Election Commission recommend the dissolution of the ruling Democrat Party for receiving an illegal 258 million baht donation and the alleged misuse of a 29 million baht political development fund provided by the EC.

So if I get an illegal donation and then use it to pay for my election, that isn't election fraud? Either way, it's fraud. So basically, we have a fraudulent government and a fraudulent Prime Minister telling the whole country that there might be elections held if everything goes according to them. Great. But thanks for enlightening me.

Snoops, to save embarrassing yourself further and given that you appear to have been in Thailand for a maximum of 30 seconds, I would like to recommend that you use the Google feature from the Internet to find the facts on the recent history of Thai politics and then you might be able to make some posts that have a modicum of credibility.

Good hunting.

Cheers, Rick

What's so difficult to understand for you?

The Election Commission on Monday decided by a vote of 4-1 to recommend the dissolution of the ruling Democrat Party for receiving an illegal 258 million baht donation and the alleged misuse of a 29 million baht political development fund provided by the EC.

The current and previous constitutions limit individual donations to 10 million baht a year.

Reply to deadsnoopy.

Thailand has had democracy for many years, the basis being 'one man one vote'. Just because some people choose to sell their right to democracy to the highest bidder is not the fault of democracy. It is the fault of the seller of their right of a democratic vote.

Cheers, Rick

Under which fundamental of democracy was the 2006 coup executed?

Simple. Plain. Effective. Love your answer.