bannork

'Where are all my friends, now I' m rolling up the dog ends?' A great line from Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks. The desperation of chain smokers when the fags ( cigarettes in UK English, not shirt lifters) have run out..

Doing credit to the Paul Rodgers classic

Really?

Please don't compare the coward Thaksin who urged on red shirts to fight the regime,claiming he'd be back, manning the barricades once the first shot was fired, but instead went shopping in Paris, with the brave Major General Paween Pongsirin who exposed the involvement of the army in human trafficking at great risk to his own safety.

Dismal reading on how Russia will continue to present a threat to the West for decades.

Worth a read, but as I mentioned earlier, there are doubts the court will consider the case as the chance of proving him guilty is very slim But it gives Senators an excuse not to vote for him.

Great news, the four petitions to dissolve MF have all been dismissed by the EC as being without merit

MF only have one PM candidate, Pita

A Thai lawyer today expressed his view there is very little chance of Pita's case being accepted by the Criminal Court. Thanathon's case was not referred to the Criminal Court inspite of his ownership of 5% of the shares in the media company. The reason it was not referred may be because a much higher level of proof beyond reasonable doubt that he was breaking the law is required. Pita, on the other hand, owned 0.0035% of the shares which were in his father's name and were only passed on to him as executor upon his father's death. He had tried to sell the shares but as ITV was in litigation and hadn't operated as a media company for 14 years, they were difficult to sell. In addition, he had twice informed the NACC about the shares! Very difficult to prove he intentionally broke the law in the lawyer's opinion

Some facts about Pita's 'naivety'. He is accused of "holding media shares" (0.0035%) in a former TV company, ITV, that no longer has an operating license. ITV has no TV channel and has had no income from media operations for over 10 years. Its business is still not closed solely due to litigation over money owed.

There's no way Thaksin will come back without cast iron guarantees he's not going to the slammer. Assuming the senators don't vote for Pita and Settha is voted in as PM, I can't see any bill pardoning Thaksin being urgently considered in Parliament. Has Thaksin received confirmation he is a pardoned man providing he fulfills certain conditions, ie.instead of involving himself with politics, he is ordered to play with his grandchildren 5 hours a day? We don't know but if he did come back having been granted a pardon, surely the military and elite supporters, the yellow shirts, could not protest. My problem with this scenario is I can't see Thaksin not meddling in politics, and secondly he made many enemies in the past. Some may not have forgotten.

It's called let's throw enough mud to block his chance of being PM

This latest ' probe' by the EC, possibly being sent to the Constitutional Court, will take months to conclude and gives the conservative Senators the perfect excuse to not vote for him, ' I would have voted for the boy, winning party and all that, but Thailand needs stability, a PM who will be around for years ( like Prayuth- oops delete that). It's no use voting for someone facing possible disqualification'. So Settha will be the Senators' choice for PM Will they stay with MF and the coalition formed? Many analysts think they will, the backlash if they team up with the military backed parties will be too great. A sticking point, still unresolved is the post of House Speaker. I believe MF should fight tooth and nail for this as there's little hope Pita will be PM

Chaturon Chaisaeng, an influential member in PT, recommended the proposed coalition stick together. If the senators won't vote for Pita, let them vote a minority government in. What laws can they pass?; And next June, the senators' terms expire. Faced with this scenario, Chaturon reckons enough senators might vote for Pita. Of course, this scenario depends on PT not betraying MF. But will they?

According to Jatuporn, ex Red Shirt turned disillusioned with Thaksin activist, some MF MPs could be banned because they didn't vote in the last election. If true, that's a very foolish oversight on MF's part

This needs investigating, fake members indeed. If true, he should be barred from commentating on politics for 10 years with a suspended sentence over his head This serial petitioner has been a thorn in the side of democracy for years.

Other hurdles for Pita: 1 . Accused of advertising alcohol by stating his preference for a particular brand on Channel 3. 2. Accused of lese majeste for comments in a BBC interview. Possible penalties- banned, jail time Obstacles for MF: 1. Accused of undermining Thailand's constitutional monarchy by image of hammer and sickle in a cartoon poster 2. Accused of letting two banned members, Thanathorn and Piyabutr influence the party. Penalties- dissolution of the party, executives banned from politics.

I recall Pita saying he had informed the NACC about the inherited shares long ago. https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnews/move-forward-party-leader-not-worried-about-itv-shares-431064

Tremendous playing, ST. What an instrument it is.

The referee left the field some time ago.

Yes, sadly Jim, Thaksin got his monopoly contract for AIS from guess who? The military. He apparently bought a Benz for one of the coup leaders of 1991. He knows the game and will bend over double to be allowed to return to Thailand

Depends who orders it