Misterwhisper

My goverment has absolutely no link to my brother, except that my foreign minister on the first day after his appointment lobbied the Japanese government to issue him a visa despite the fact that he maintains the status of a convicted felon.

But apart from that, my government has absolutely no link to my brother, except most of my ministers come from a political party whose election campaign slogan was 'Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai does'.

But apart from that my government has absolutely no link to my brother, except we are considering to make him an economic adviser-at-large.

But apart from that, my government has absolutely no link to my brother, except that I am his younger sister, who was hand-picked by him to become no.1 party list candidate for the PM post and who he described as his 'clone'.

But apart from that, my government has absolutely no link to my brother, except he has cooked up from afar grandiose economic and social development plans for Thailand like a 300 square kilometre land reclamation in the Gulf, a tablet computer for every elementary pupil and a minimum wage increase to 300 Baht.

But apart from that, my government has absolutely no link to my brother, except he wants to return by December to attend the wedding of his oldest daughter, so we are going to push for an amnesty for EVERYONE accused of political offenses; not only him, but including him.

But apart from that, my government has absolutely no link to my brother, except...

Typical.

The need for taking samples might not have been seen as necessary at the time of the first death. But when the second death occurred at the same hotel, such sample-taking became imminently important. And certainly so when the elderly British couple also died on the very same premises.

Instead the public once again were played for months on end, only to now be confronted with the so-called 'outcome' that - in plain words - the causes of all those deaths could not be conclusively established any longer because of the foot-dragging that had been going on.

Please also recall how vehemently Chiang Mai police initially INSISTED that the NZ women had eaten "poisonous seaweed" from a streetside stall without EVER informing the public 1) where that stall was, 2) what action had been taken to prevent the stall operators from further poisoning their customers and 3) whether other stalls in the vicinity also might be dishing up contaminated seaweed.

Please also remember how even after the fourth or fifth death within such an incredibly short period of time, the entire scenario was still attributed to "pure coincidence", even by Chiang Mai's chief of police.

Sweeping things under the carpet in an attempt of saving face - and shooting yourself in the foot in the process. Thais are masters at that.

Wonderful idea! Thailand appointing an (as of yet) fugitive convicted felon as its trade ambassador.

Just look what a great boon he was in that role for Cambodia, pulling in quadrillions of riels in foreign investment in an instance just by letting his immaculate aura shine.

If he's really so concerned about "the plight of the Thai people" (tears welling up in my eyes), how about liquidating voluntarily just half of his wealth and donating it to the people he apparently loves so much?

The man knows no bounds. If only he could finally take a step back and shut up. He was the problem, he is the problem, and he always will be the problem.

Everyone knows it, except him.

I see the point, because Thais in general, and especially elementary pupils, are oh such avid readers.

No surprise here at all. It's been predicted again and again that the new cabinet members would land their posts not because they are particularly suited, but because they are connected with the man in Dubai or his family in one way or another.

If you think that former foreign minister Kasit Piromya was an embarrassment for Thailand in the international arena (which he definitely was), just wait and see what Surapong Towitjakchaikul is going to accomplish in that department once he really takes off and "proves himself".

He's reportedly already taken the first misstep just one single day after being appointed FM by allegedly lobbying the Japanese government to grant his REAL boss a visa so he can deliver a lecture there and visit one of the earthquake-stricken areas up north.

Just look at it from a diplomatic point of view: the foreign minister of a nation officially asks another government to grant entry to a convicted felon who was sentenced to 2 years in jail after having jumped bail and now living in self-exile to avoid serving his sentence.

And that's only the 'overture', the real opera with Surapong as lead tenor hasn't even started yet.

Will the real Prime Minister please stand up

You mean the REAL prime minister? Well, he IS already standing up - in Dubai.

I am a little surprised to read this, because I thought after voting in their favorite party, finally having a female PM (who is not only 'suay' but also sports a lovely smile and perfectly-styled hair, 3 of the quintessential qualities of an effective government leader) and having Jatuporn back in the ranks, people surely ought to be dancing in the streets in sheer GDH bliss. Apparently not so.

It's high time to shell out those tablet computers pronto, raise those minimum wages to an unrealistic level and issue creditcards to farmers and taxi drivers. Only then can the GDH index rise again like a rocket, because nothing makes Thais happier than hand-outs for which they don't have to give anything in return.

Golden times are just ahead!

Why would he want to lobby Thaksin anyway about an issue like who gets the defence ministry portfolio?

Haven't we heard from the "clone" time and again that her big brother is NOT involved in selecting the future cabinet?

Or am I just being naive here?

Finally a mayor with a sense for reality. Isn't his dad (Somchai Khuenpluem) still a fugitive from the law?

To finally embrace Pattaya as place where most of businesses are directly or indirectly dependent on prostitution is as bold a move as it is smart. The truth shall set you free!

Perhaps it would be good for the Tourism Authority of Thailand to also finally admit the fact and cease TV commercials like "Pattaya, Pearl of the East. Enjoy!" and instead replace them with plainly inaccurate messages like "Pattaya, Gem of the Eastern Seaboard, where the polluted sea is going to strip the skin off your body and land-based vixens of any type will soothe you in amazing ways.".

But when have you ever encountered a government official who got it right in this country? Where are they holidaying anyway?

Please allow me to have a try at my own fortune teller skills:

Yingluck Shinawatra will face a big obstacle in the form of her elder brother who will triumphantly return to Thailand from self-imposed exile to make sure that his auspicious life cycle turns out really, really happy - and profitable.

This is such a rubbish topic..................for those with short memories, when Thaksin was P.M. remember he was following the star signs for guidance many times. 5555555555 Ha Ha, hope Yingluck doesn't start the same thing. (says a lot about the man)

Of course it's a rubbish topic. I even remember Thaksin attending some mambo-jambo Thai 'voodoo' ceremonies in his day. Even the coup leaders of 2006 allegedly visited a 'famous' charlatan fortune teller in Chiang Mai before making their move. The only reason why this sort of humbug reporting is appearing in the 'news' is because so many people in this country subscribe to that sort of b**sh**. The worst time is when they're all making their run for the latest lottery numbers because some animal or tree trunk somewhere in the boonies displays 'patterns'. And if all those monks, who are in the entirely un-Buddhist habit of predicting lottery numbers were right, we'd need no populist policies in this country any longer, because everybody would be so flithy rich that they could drive a Porsche or worse.

Please allow me to have a try at my own fortune teller skills:

Yingluck Shinawatra will face a big obstacle in the form of her elder brother who will triumphantly return to Thailand from self-imposed exile to make sure that his auspicious life cycle turns out really, really happy - and profitable.

Tough article, perhaps because it brings out once again all those unsavoury issues about their "hero" that Thaksin's followers - nay, worshippers - tend to categorically sweep under the carpet.

I am not a fan of the often biased reporting in The Nation, but this editorial really got it right.

When was he ousted, in September 2006? It took him a full five years before he was able to leap over his own shadow and utter an apology, and a lame one at that. It really came from the heart, huh?

Thai hookers posing as hunters? Well, they don't need to pose, I guess. They've had many years of experience hunting.

Joke aside, I find this trade disgusting, the sharp increase in rhino poaching worrisome.

Defence Policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Domestic policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Economic policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Education policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Energy policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Environmental Policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Foreign policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Health policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Housing policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Information policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Macroeconomic policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Monetary policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Population policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Science policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Social policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Transport policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Urban policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

Water policy: We’re working on this but bringing back Thaksin is our main priority

This is much more informative than the Nation article - and so much more to the point, too. Thanks!

I propose the following individuals for key cabinet posts:

1) Minister of Interior: Thaksin Shinawatra

2) Minister of Foreign Affairs: Thaksin Shinawatra

3) Minister of Finance: Thaksin Shinawatra

4) Minister of Trade and Commerce: Thaksin Shinawatra

5) Minister of Justice: Thaksin Shinawatra

6) Minister of Education: Thaksin Shinawatra

7) Minister of Transport and Telecommunications: Thaksin Shinawatra

9) Minister of Defence: Thaksin Shinawatra

8) Prime Minister: Thaksin... er... Yingluck Shinawatra

Guess that would make things a lot easier for the country.

Pattaya is just full of russian mobsters probably on the run

Used to be full of young British hooligans and old German Nazis. Ah, the good 'ole times... gone forever.

Perhaps it might be a good idea to keep the country in a political vaccuum (limbo?) for a couple of years instead of stumbling from one inept government to another infested with corrupt, self-serving party cadres through and through. Just a thought.

Oh yes. Thailand ALWAYS honors international court orders.

Just as much as Thailand ALWAYS honors international business ventures.

I am not sure about the validity of that poll, but I do know this: Reconciliation is impossible as long as Big Brother continues his meddling. It is high time for him to finally shut up and beat a retreat from politics for the good of the country. But that is of course impossible for a power-hungry, egotistical megalomaniac who sees himself as some sort of messiah.

The Democrats are doing nothing else than what PTP and its predecessor parties have done in the past: slinging as much mud as they can to impede and disrupt the working of the government in order to manoeuvre themselves into a better position.

If PTP and - in a broader scope - their Redshirt allies would have been less disruptive, the Democrat-led government might perhaps have had more time to implement mechanisms and policies that would have benefitted the Thai nation as a whole instead of having to deploy resources to contain situations.

Now the power has shifted to PTP and its coalition partners, and since the Democrats in the end are not any better than their adversaries, what do you expect? They will continue to vigorously exploit any little crack and loophole - however wrongly perceived and ridiculous it may be - to disrupt the PTP-led government. The circus is going to continue even after the government has been established.

It's a never-ending cycle and regardless who is in power and who occupies the opposition benches. The political-ideological rift is just too wide and - perhaps more importantly - political parties are not established to work for the people and the nation, but a handful of self-serving leaders. You do not join a party because you like its (hardly ever existing) clear policy platform, but because you have some obligation towards one or another of its leaders and because in return you will receive considerable financial/materialistic rewards. That is the downfall of the all-dominant feudalistic patronage system as prevalent in Thailand's political landscape.

The much-touted "reconciliation" is a matter of give and take, an issue of both sides accepting compromises and making concessions. Of course, neither side is willing nor capable of making such concessions or accepting such compromises.

The best way to true reconciliation may be indeed a national government comprising all political parties, although that is of course not going to happen under those prevailing mud-slinging attitudes.

"Any move to disqualify Yingluck -- the brother of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawtra -- would infuriate the opposition."

Oh, now she's not only a clone but a guy in drag too???

If the man only finally could shut up, that would be a viable first step to reconciliation. But he can't and he never will.

No, of course they're merely flocking to Dubai in droves to pay hommage to "a former colleague" and worship at his feet, that's all.

Wouldn't it be interesting to find out how many times those same people have paid a harmless courtesy visit to their "former colleague" PRIOR to the election victory? Why is that apparently major pilgrimage ("SEVERAL GROUPS of PTP MPs") only taking place now? Aren't those people aware that they're bringing Yingluck into a quite slippery situation? Why the terrible timing? Couldn't a "courtesy visit" group tour wait until a later time? They surely must have expected that their hadj to Big Brother T so shortly after the election would not go unnoticed and give way to speculations, especially under the aspect that Big Brother has a penchant for always wanting to control everything and everyone.

It stinks. Yingluck can issue denials until she's blue in the face, but in the light of things speculations like this one will continue unless her older sibling can finally stay away from political meddling for good - which of course he cannot and never will.

It's always difficult to make the blind see.

The answer was yes so the officer looked at a nearby fish tank and said in Thai, 'The big fish eat the little fish." The foreigner looked at him without a clue. The officer smiled and picked up a big red stamp and stamped "CANCELLED" on the remaining portion of the current visa and told the fellow he would not again receive an Education visa," Barry reported.

Hahaha - who said they didn't have a sense of humor?

Lovely! Well, after living in Thailand for 7 years one should be able to understand (and reply to) a simple sentence like the one uttered by the immigration officer - even without having taken Thai courses. How would you react to a Thai (or any other national) having lived in the U.K. for 7 straight years without being able to form a simple sentence in English? Would they have outstayed their welcome?