bannork

Hey! Why release the hostage? They've gotta make sure PT don't do any fancy stuff like making constitutional reform a priority.

Gary Moore's nod to Jimi and Free.

Scary stuff

Barbarians

From Wikipedia Some of MF's policies Allow elections for provincial governors Reform the Lèse-majesté laws Reduce military influence in politics Reduce bureaucracy & promote transparency Replace military conscription with a voluntary system Draft & implement a new democratic constitution Decentralize the central government Decriminalize sex work, adult toys & films Legalize same-sex marriage Promote gender equality & reduce domestic violence Promote LGBT+ rights Economic policy[38] Raising the minimum wage to ฿450 (Adjusted with inflation every year) Break up monopolies and increase competition in the economy Encourage health/wellness & green tourism Promote the freedom for workers to join labor unions & collectively bargain Reduce tax burdens for SMEs

Thitinan on the ball as usual.

Pheu Thai belongs to Thaksin, he is the owner and the MPs his employees. Settha may be a close friend of Yingluk, Thaksin's sister, but he is still an employee liable to dismissal once the boss tires of him. In addition, he is a political novice, swimming in a sea of seasoned sharks. Still, he's ambitious, he made it clear to PT he didn't want any position apart from PM, but how long he can stand meddling from a man jealous of anyone else's popularity ( 'Yingluk is my clone' comment), remains to be seen.

Here you are. He was jailed for trying to bribe judges in case involving Thaksin https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-thailand-thaksin-lawyers-idUKBKK26086720080625

As Nauseous said, ' I'm not going to comment further about this on a public forum!'

Come on gentlemen, this isn't Thai <URL Automatically Removed> with its gutter language and constant sniping. To get back to the topic. Thaksin getting a year in the slammer may satisfy those in the establishment and right wing royalists who revile him. Just a thought.

Hang on Lou, I'm on moped thieves at the moment but I'm confident I'll eventually reach child killers https://aseannow.com/topic/724917-british-tourist-46-beaten-to-death-in-thai-prison-after-being-accused-of-stealing-a-moped/

You'll like them better when some working class reds join them. Bottles of lao khao to wash down raw beef and sticky rice.

Are you saying no prisoners are ever murdered by fellow inmates in Thai prisons? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kevin-smitham-dead-thailand-murder-wife-kanda-thailand-ubon-ratchathani-a8869576.html

Mr T is under the reins of the establishment now. He's a spent force.

One could argue getting parole is not the same as sentence reduction. Time will tell, as it usually does.

To quote Wissanu- Thaksin can no longer seek further royal clemency, having already received a royal pardon, and he must serve the remaining 1-year sentence without the possibility of sentence reduction. This solidifies the assertion of unassailable royal authority.

Wissanu, a very important player on the Thai political scene the last twenty years. Extracts from Wikipedia- In 2002 Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra invited Wissanu to become a minister in his cabinet, changing from the civil service to a political career, but also threatened to dismiss him as secretary-general in case of refusal. Wissanu agreed and Thaksin made him deputy prime minister, responsible for legal and parliamentary affairs.[4] After the 19 September 2006 military coup, he helped the military junta (Council for Democratic Reform under the Constitutional Monarchy, CDR) draft a post-coup interim constitution, alongside Borwornsak Uwanno. According to political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Borwornsak and Wissanu could "seemingly write constitutions overnight".[7] Wissanu then became a member of the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly. Since 2009 he has been the chairman of the SET-listed property developer Amata Corporation pcl and an independent director since 2007. Moreover, he has held executive positions in the private sector as chairman of BFIT Securities pcl and as its director (since 2008), chairman of Bangkok First Investment & Trust pcl (2008–2014), chairman of Namyong Terminal pcl, chairman of Sikarin pcl (2006–2014) and as its director (since 2006), chairman of RHB OSK Securities (Thailand) pcl (since 2008) and as its director (2008–2011), vice chairman of AEC Securities pcl and as its independent director (since 2013), second vice chairman of Sermsuk pcl (2011–2014) and as its director, as an independent director of The Post Publishing pcl (until 2014), an independent director of Loxley PLC (2008–2014) and as a director at Thai Airways International pcl.[8 Political scientist Eugénie Mérieau cites Wissanu Krea-ngam, along with Meechai Ruchuphan and Borwornsak Uwanno, as leading examples of legal scholars who laid the juridical foundations for authoritarian rule in Thailand, and as exponents of a "legal-military alliance for illiberal constitutionalism." Wissanu, according to Mérieau, is a proponent of theories that legalised coups d'état "by reference to the continuity of the Thai state as embodied by the king".[9