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march
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Posts posted by march
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The title of this thread being .."A Victory For Thailand In Washington" is pretty misleading. Neither the American public or it's government could care less about Thailand no matter who's in charge.
I would wager a half million (and more) would disagree with that
Whereas approximately 500,000 people of Thai descent live in the United States and foster strong cultural ties between the 2 countries
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Do you remember Kasits triad at the USA Ambassador in Bangkok when a US diplomat visited the Red Shirts.
Yes, and his comments seemed to have some effect. How many US diplomats met with Noppadope on his USA sojourn.
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The resolution is not an endorsement of Mr. Abhisit.
You say that, but the document says this:
Resolved,
That the House of Representatives--
(4) supports the goals of the 5-point roadmap of the Government of Thailand for national reconciliation
Seems more than a bit incongruent with your statement.
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Thida Tojirakarn, Dr Weng's wife, said her husband will not flee prosecution as he has must run his medical clinic. She said the protest leader's congenital disease and allergies will recur when he stays in a confined area.
I'm presuming his allergy is to steel bars, but does anyone know what his congenital disease is "that can recur if he stays in a confined area"?
Anyway, he is starting to sound a lot like the disgraced Election Commission official, Vasana Puemlarp, who was convicted and sentenced to prison for 4 years in July 2006, only to be released after just 3 days because he had "allergies". Similarly, his Election Commission co-defendant, Prinya Nakchudtree, was also released for sinus problems.
If and when Weng is convicted, hopefully that sort of release-from-confinement nonsense is a thing of the past.
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Court denies bail for 11 detained Red Shirt leaders
BANGKOK, July 2 - Thailand's Criminal Court on Friday rejected a bid for bail for 11 detained anti-government Red Shirt leaders, citing concerns over their possible flight to evade prosecution, as the detainees face charges with severe punishment.
Karom Ponthaklang, lawyer representing the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) on Friday sought for a second bail attempt for the detained protest leaders after the court rejected the request on June 15.
Among the UDD leaders now being detained at Bangkok Remand Prison were Veera Musikapong, Weng Tojirakarn, Korkaew Pikulthong, and Natthawut Saikua.
The court early June granted unconditional bail to fellow Red Shirt leader who is also a member of parliament from the opposition Puea Thai Party, Jatuporn Prompan, after he had posted one million baht as collateral for his bail bond.
The UDD leaders were charged of terrorism after their anti-government campaign turned violent with grenade attacks and arson in the Thai capital and some provinces in North and Northeast.
They surrendered to police and announced the end of the ten week demonstration on May 19 as troops closed in on their rally site at Ratchaprasong intersection.
In the second bail bid, Mr Korom offered Bt2 million as bail bond for each leader, while Mr Veera's wife posted Bt3 million for her husband.
Thida Tojirakarn, Dr Weng's wife, said her husband will not flee prosecution as he has must run his medical clinic. She said the protest leader's congenital disease and allergies will recur when he stays in a confined area.
The court, however, denied granting temporary release of the detained leaders saying the accused may escape as they face severe punishment, even the death penalty.
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Suggest Noppadon put his head between his legs and kiss his arse goodbye!
I read that he has now put his head between his legs and taken his road show to the EU now to see if his drama will play on that stage.
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not to mention Joseph has been Posting on these points for nearly 3 years now
Who is Joseph and what has he been posting?
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who give a flying f*** what the House does ?
it can't manage it's own country
let alone get involved in the business of another one
The Thai military does which gets millions of dollars every month from the US.
They where cut of before when they removed Thaksin.
That is the only reason why they have a PM now so they can call themselves a democracy.
Factually incorrect.
USA military aid to Thailand was restored but a year and half after the coup.
The amount that was suspended was relatively trivial (much less than the cost of 1 fighter jet for the USA) and is but a very small proportion of Thailand's own military budget to the point it could be considered insignificant.
The days of massive USA military aid to Thailand ended 35 years ago with the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam.
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Right on! What they even need a military for?
Are you a citizen of Vatican City or some other entity with no military?
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...the airport heist December 2008 has lasting damage that will go on for decades. Westerners do NOT forget.
Another rant and another apology for interrupting it with reality. See graph above. It was forgotten in less than a year.
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How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.
Entirely correct, pace the yellow-loving majority on this board. Tourism was doing fine when Thailand was still thought of as a democracy. The real trouble began with the most recent coup, with subsequent elections a sham because of NOTALLOWEDTOSAY and NOTALLOWEDTOSAY.
Apologies for interrupting a good rant, but you are entirely wrong regarding tourism. Tourism arrivals went up after the coup.
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America has wonderful open disclosure laws. It allows ordinary people to know who is exactly working for who. It also shows that with 400 Billion Baht, Thaksin can give the Finance Ministry a run for its money:
Former prime minister of Thailand hires trio of lobby and law firms
07/01/10 06:00 AM ET
The Hill
A billionaire ex-Thai prime minister living in exile has hired a trio of lobby and law firms, according to lobbying disclosure forms.
Thaksin Shinawatra, who was forced out of office by Thailand’s military in 2006, has hired BGR Government Affairs, Amsterdam & Peroff, and Kobre & Kim to lobby federal policymakers.
The new K Street hires come about a month after anti-government protests in Thailand linked to Thaksin were put down by the army. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds wounded in the protests.
Individuals close to Thaksin have been linked by government officials to financing the protests. Thailand’s government, which has begun arresting leaders of the dissident movement, have charged the ex-prime minister with terrorism, an allegation he denies.
Even in exile, Thaksin has remained an active figure in Thai politics, and the lobbying contracts suggest he wants to retain ties with the Washington diplomatic community in the hope of reserving some influence in his home country.
BGR, according to the firm’s lobbying registration for Thaksin, will “provide strategic counsel on U.S. government policy and assist with advancing individual’s desire to promote democracy in Thailand.”
At BGR, Thaksin will be represented by Stephen Rademaker, former national security policy director for then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.); Jonathan Mantz, the national finance director for then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) 2008 presidential campaign; and Walker Roberts, an ex-deputy staff director for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Loren Monroe, a BGR principal, declined to comment for this piece, saying the firm does not discuss client matters.
Law firms Amsterdam & Peroff and Kobre & Kim have registered to lobby for Thaksin to “provide guidance and counsel with respect to Mr. Thaksin’s interests in Washington, D.C., and abroad,” according to lobbying registration forms.
Thaksin had previously hired BGR when it was known as Barbour Griffith & Rogers. He also once employed Baker Botts to lobby policymakers in Washington. From late 2006 to mid-2008, Thaksin spent more than $1.1 million on lobbyists’ fees, according to lobbying disclosure records.
The Thai government, which has sought to put Thaksin on trial, has also hired new lobbyists in recent weeks.
Those firms are likely to be battling to get their message out against the firms hired by Thaksin.
Thailand’s government signed the Podesta Group to a $240,000, three-month contract in early June. Podesta will “provide public-relations services and counsel to protect the international reputation of the foreign principal,” according to Justice Department records.
John Anderson, a principal with the Podesta Group, said the firm had contracted with the Thai Finance Ministry to help with media training for spokesmen and outreach to press outlets.
“The general goal is to help the government get its messages out and make sure they are being given reasonable consideration by journalists, and to help restore investor confidence and tourism as quickly as possible,” Anderson said in an e-mail to The Hill.
Thailand also employs two firms, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, to keep U.S. trade preferences open for Thai products.
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Maybe they could let us know what the 'intelligence' is so we can all see for ourselves if there is indeed a threat
The headlines from the thread
is a good place to start:
Police Arrest Makers of Bhum Jai Thai Bomb
Police arrest 'Red Shirts' over Bangkok bomb attempt
4 More Bombers Identified as Red Shirt Sympathisers
2 key suspects in Bhum Jai Thai bomb flee to Cambodia
There is no need for the decree to still be in placered bombers on the prowl is need enough
I am sure if they saw a large rally forming they could enforce the decree again, and it seems it is only aimed at one group, the so called multicoloured rallied without arrests, so maybe he should just say it is only in place for the reds and anyone else can do as they please.are others, like the multi-coloreds, bombing (or earlier, bombing and burning) Bangkok?
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Why I got the feeling that all the pedos look the same. I could smell one from a thousand people, maybe more. I'm surprised some of them got cough at this age. God knows (and some other unfortunates) what he did all his life.
Does the latest look the same?
Paedophile suspect arrested in Thailand
Thursday, 01 July 2010
Phnom Penh Post
A Briton who headed a children’s charity in Phnom Penh has been arrested in Thailand for immigration offences, according to an anti-human trafficking organisation.
The arrest comes less than two weeks after a British tabloid published a story that David Fletcher, 65, was a paedophile who used his charity to gain access to young girls.
Steve Morrish, executive director of the Phnom Penh-based Southeast Asia Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities, or SISHA, said Wednesday that Thai authorities arrested Fletcher on Sunday at a guesthouse in Bangkok.
Morrish said Fletcher is being held because he failed to notify Thai immigration authorities of his previous criminal convictions in the UK.
Officials from SISHA and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) of the British Police alerted Thai authorities to Fletcher’s presence after receiving information concerning his whereabouts from sources who were tracking his movements, Morrish said.
"We’ve been investigating him for about 18 months," he said.
"We located him in Bangkok, after sources told us he’d fled there when news came out last week about him."
A SISHA press release stated that Fletcher entered Thailand on June 25 – five days after British tabloid The Sunday Mirror published a story claiming to expose him as a paedophile who used his unregistered charity, the Rubbish Dump Project, to befriend underage girls at Phnom Penh’s Stung Meanchey dumpsite.
Morrish said Fletcher is currently being held at a Thai immigration detention centre.
For two years, Fletcher has been under investigation by CEOP, as well as Cambodian authorities, SISHA and local child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants "for alleged sexual abuse of children in Cambodia", according to the SISHA press release.
Morrish noted that there have been no charges filed against Fletcher by Cambodian authorities. They are "all just allegations now,” he said. He added that if Fletcher has committed wrongdoing, he “needs to face up to what he’s done here”.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and officials at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they were not aware of the case.
Fletcher was convicted in July 1997 on charges including having sex with a girl under the age of 16, indecent assault, taking an indecent photograph of a child and possessing a prohibited weapon, according to Norwich Crown Court in England.
In an interview last week after The Sunday Mirror article was published, Fletcher accused the media of exploiting his past.
“I made a mistake of having an affair with a girl a few months under age,” Fletcher wrote in an email. “The gutter press then as now took it out of context for greater circulation.”
Fletcher said he had “paid his dues” for his mistakes and denied committing any crimes in Cambodia. “As for using the dump to get access to girls, absolutely not,” he said.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010070140213/National-news/paedophile-suspect-arrested.html
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and this is the referenced The Sunday Mirror article:
David Fletcher
British paedo running kids charity in Cambodia
20/06/2010
The Sunday Mirror
They are known as the rubbish dump kids… starving children who scavenge for scraps of food on a toxic mountain of waste.
He is a former hairdresser who runs a “charity” in Cambodia inviting you to send him money to save them.
David Fletcher, 65, appears to be the Good Samaritan, feeding hundreds of children who affectionately know him as “Papa”.
But Fletcher hides a dark secret – he was jailed in Britain for the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl and videoing the horrific crime.
He now uses the guise of his unregistered charity in Cambodia – where he fled to six years ago – to spend every day with little girls, some as young as eight. The pervert raises money from tourists who believe they are providing food and shelter for the hundreds of poor and hungry children.
But a Sunday Mirror investigation can reveal how Fletcher has become worryingly close to a number of young girls – and spoke to our investigators of an eight-year-old he calls his “favourite little girl”.
Fletcher has even bought himself a 17-year-old Cambodian bride for £150 who he met on the dump – sold by her own mother to pay off debts. Genuine charities are so concerned they attempted to outbid him to keep the girl out of his clutches.
The Sunday Mirror joined Fletcher for one of his tours to the rancid rubbish tip on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh.
We met him at the Flora Bar where he had his hand inside the bra of a young Cambodian hostess and was happy to tell us: “She’s shaven, you know. That’s how I like them. No pubic hair. I prefer Cambodian girls. I tried Thailand first… went there for years, but here it’s much better. They’re more needy. You just have to be a little careful. I know I am being watched.”
He added: “My two grown-up sons have disowned me. They did not like the fact that my girlfriends were younger than theirs. Who cares? It’s their loss.”
Fletcher was convicted at Norwich Crown Court in July 1997 of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl who he had plied with champagne and offered £250 for sex.
He also admitted possessing offensive weapons. He was jailed for 18 months. At the time he ran a series of hair-dressing salons in Cambridge and Saffron Walden. When he was released from jail, he fled Britain.
When asked about his conviction he was unapologetic, saying: “Oh yes. She was just my girlfriend. They caught me. I just did it ahead of her 16th birthday. People will stoop very low to say bad things about me.”
Fletcher runs the Rubbish Dump Project and has a website which tells the moving story of Phnom Penh’s garbage dump kids. He invites readers to send donations to his private bank account and claims every penny is spent on the children.
The Sunday Mirror signed up for a tour of the dump and handed over US$50, the amount Fletcher says will feed 150 children.
When we got to the garbage mountain at Stung Meanchey on the outskirts of the capital he took a cream bun and some fruit to “my favourite little girl”.
With his tuk-tuk driver he dished out fruit to more than 100 desperate children amid the stench. The slum families try to survive on what they can scavenge, so flock to him when he has food.
The pervert preys on their desperation, building up the children’s trust – including his 17-year-old bride-to-be Yang Dany, who he met at the tip.
We accompanied him to Yang Dany’s home with a special bag of goodies for her mum.
“I’m planning to marry her when the time is right,” he said. “Where can a man like me get a girl like this?”
Earlier in the day our investigators saw British-born Scott Neeson, who runs the respected charity Cambodian Children’s Fund, try to persuade Yang Dany’s mother to change her mind about letting her daughter marry Fletcher.
Inside the corrugated shack in Dhamnak Thom Village No. 1, Mr Neeson, tried to negotiate with the mother.
Khaeng Sokun, 58, lost her first husband and baby twin daughters in the “Killing Fields” of the Khmer Rouge.
Now she is about to unwittingly give her daughter to a convicted British paedophile for £150 ($200) to help clear her debts.
She said: “But we owe $600. How else can I pay this off? Dany wants to help her family. Her future husband is a good man. She feels sorry for him. He comes here and gives everybody food.”
Scott says he will help the family with their debts and begs her to reconsider.
Scott, 51, said: “People like Fletcher are a continuous source of worry. There is little doubt Fletcher devotes his time here to befriending young girls.
“He tells their parents he wants to adopt them, care for them. They think because he gives out food he is good. But he is grooming them.
“The fact is that these children can be bought. It’s difficult to stop it. The British Embassy have been told about Fletcher. Many organisations have files on him, but nothing has happened.”
The abuse of children by foreigners in Cambodia is hampered by institutionalised corruption in a one-party state run by Hun Sen, who has locked up opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
Cambodia has become the favoured destination for paedophiles after several crackdowns on sex tourism by the authorities in neighbouring Thailand.
Last week the Sunday Mirror revealed that teacher Gary Robcoy became the first Brit to be deported from Thailand because of his paedo convictions in the UK.
In contrast only a handful of foreign tourists languish in Cambodian jails for sex offences, despite a thriving child sex industry. Police take pay-offs to release foreigners on child sexual abuse charges and most cases are settled with cash payments to victims.
Fletcher used to run his charity from a bar called “Bogie and Bacall” but the two Australian colleagues he had quickly left.
One of them, Ross Wright, said: “We decided to go our own way. He never once showed us the bank account into which donations were going.
"There were tens of thousands of dollars coming in. Cash was being donated by Rotary Clubs and big private donors. We also had complaints of him being too familiar with young girls.”
Fletcher is now being investigated by Britain’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, which has officers in South East Asia.
CEOP, part of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, has established a presence there in the last two years and is working with Cambodian police.
A spokesman said: “We are aware of complaints about David Fletcher and have been in discussion with the authorities.”
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march, I like your sarcasm.
I understand that at one time, his foundation even undertook buying three footballs for a poor school.I think that's extremely generous for someone with only 400 Billion Baht.
If it was any other billionaire I would have thought you meant to write football fields!
I'm sorry, but, when I looked into it more closely, I found I actually did make an error in my comments above.
It was wasn't three footballs, it was nine footballs.
and the foundation also included 12 new uniform sets and an opportunity to actually learn on a real field with a real coach, if but only for an afternoon. These are real projects with very real costs and for him to be so magnanimous in his outpouring of generosity by giving out literally hundreds of baht is inspirational and admirable.
Incredibly, when looking at another foundation project, I discovered an even bigger heart in our unselfish multi-multi-billionaire. In 2007, he sponsored some underprivileged people to travel abroad.
The catch was, it was given in order to visit him in England at his Manchester City stadium.
a staggering level of benevolence
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I don't think that's a fair characterization of his philanthropic endeavors. He's initiated a couple of significant organizations like:
"The Building a Better Future Foundation aims to contribute significantly to the quality of life in Asia by identifying and nurturing the next generation of Asia talent."
Since being established in 2008, he's almost gotten around to establishing a board of directors and the "acting" Executive Director (and still its only employee), Sam Moon, has a wonderful history. Just a short 17 months ago, Thaksin made the organization's website's last update with a blog entry.
and then there's his Thaicom Foundation, established in 1993. Unfortunately, most of its website is still
but I'm sure that any day now it will be developed.
I understand that at one time, his foundation even undertook buying three footballs for a poor school.
I think that's extremely generous for someone with only 400 Billion Baht.
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Noppadon Pattama made his remarks via video link to the opposition Puea Thai Party
Looked a bit pasty:
Noppadon refused, however, to disclose names of US lawmakers and officials with whom he has metDid he have a lot of imaginary friends as a child, too?
Noppadon said the deposed prime minister is now living in a country in Eastern EuropeSo, it's back to Montenegro again, is it?
Noppadon said he planned his trip to the US himselfHe must be only referring to booking his airline ticket, because he doesn't make any move that is isn't directed by his boss.
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I decided to take a long look yesterday at all the youtube videos on the protests as its less of an emotional issue now its ended and I have to say that both sides look as bad as each other the Governement definately has some charges to answer all the vidoes of people shot in the head and people being shot in front of journalists it cannot be beleiveable to say the red shirts shot themselves in the head and anyone that sticks to that is simply stupid based on the HUGE amount video evidence.
While there is certainly evidence of black shirt radicals (note i dont use the word terrorist ) there is also a huge amount of evidence against the government you cant push aside all of it there is just TOO MUCH
You should share the "HUGE amount" of your video library of government troops shooting people in the head with the investigating commission, or perhaps even just here. Otherwise, it might be considered
simply stupid
btw, burning 30+ buildings in a crowded metropolitan city is a terrorist act.
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Noppadope appears to believe that he's still a government minister, rather than a lackey for the fire-raiser/terrorist paymaster-in-chief, or combining both roles at once !
He is just behaving like any oppositions in any country will do. Nothing wrong with that.
EXCEPT, he's not a member of the opposition in this country or any other.
He's a disgraced, banned-from-politics, mouthpiece for a criminal fugitive.
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Thanks for that, otherwise would have missed this funny bit from the mouthpiece:
While Thaksin is following events in Thailand from exile, Noppadon said the protesters aren’t under the former leader’s control.
"He cannot order the Red Shirts to turn right or left," Noppadon said.
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Thaksin Shinawatra has some 300 to 400 billion baht worth of assets.
He is believed to be generating 4 to 5 billion baht in profits a year, and has in total 400 billion baht worth of total wealth.
(Exchange rate of 32.415 on June 30, 2010)
Thaksin Shinawatra - US$12.4 Billion
Richer than Thailand's Top 3 Richest COMBINED
Forbes.com
Special Report - Thailand's Richest
09.23.2009, 07:00 PM EDT
1 Chaleo Yoovidhya - US$4.0 Billion
2 Dhanin Chearavanont - US$3.0 Billion
3 Chirathivat family - US$2.9 Billion
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/85/thailands-richest-09_Thailands-Richest_Rank.html
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Does anyone have the names of the other 10 besides Veera?
From the TAN Network:
Nuttawut Saikua
Veera Musikapong
Weng Tohjirakarn
Wiphutalaeng Pattanabhumitai
Kwanchai Praipana
Kokaeo Pikulthong
Yoswarit Chooklom
Nisit Sintuprai
and three unnamed, who are Red Shirt Guards
Thanks for that, otherwise would have missed this funny bit from the mouthpiece:
A Victory For Thailand In Washington
in Thailand News
Posted
Could you please point out where the House resolves to support the Red Shirt roadmap or the Pheu Thai Party roadmap?
Or even that it supports all of them equally and "neutrally"?