jamesbrock

2 minutes ago, HoboKay said:

Someone's going to get transferred real soon. 

 

At least Joshua's home in time for supper.

To a nice cushy inactive post until the media scrutiny dies down. After all, he was most likely only sticking to the script... Those pesky journalists getting their hands on a copy of a security report!

From the same article, even National police deputy spokesman Krishna Pattanacharoen was sticking to the same story, saying immigration officials had insisted Wong did not travel to Thailand. "I don't know where the news [of Wong's detention] came from," he was quoted as saying.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Police deny Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong travelled to Thailand

The Nation 

 

(FILES) This file picture taken on October 26, 2015 shows student protester Joshua Wong outside a court of justice in Hong Kong. / AFP PHOTO

 

BANGKOK: -- Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Natthon Phrosunthon on Wednesday said he had no reports about Hong Kong democracy campaigner Joshua Wong being barred from entering Thailand.

 

"From our reports, the person [appearing in the news] was not on the list of passengers travelling to Thailand," he told reporter at 11am.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Police-deny-Hong-Kong-activist-Joshua-Wong-travell-30296921.html

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-10-05

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The Latest:

Thai official says Joshua Wong sent back to HK 

 

BANGKOK (AP) — The Latest on the detention of Hong Kong teen pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong at Bangkok's main airport (all times local):

 

12:45 p.m.

A report from Thai security officials says Joshua Wong was sent back to Hong Kong on a Hong Kong Airlines flight that departed Bangkok at 11:40 a.m. The flight is scheduled to land at 3:45 p.m. Hong Kong time.

___

11:20 a.m.

Laurent Meillan, the acting Southeast Asia representative for the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, called Thailand's refusal to allow Hong Kong teen pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong to enter the country an unnecessary move, saying he was coming to Thailand to attend a peaceful event. "We call for the immediate release of Mr. Joshua Wong," Meillan said.

___

11. a.m.

A Thai security report obtained by The Associated Press said that more than 10 police officials from the Royal Thai Police Special Branch and Immigration Police were waiting for Wong when he arrived. It said that he was questioned and was not allowed to use his cellphone or computer. It said he was expected to be sent back to Hong Kong on an Emirates Airline flight later Wednesday as that was the airline he flew to Thailand on.

___

10:45 a.m.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sek Wannamethee said in response to questions about Joshua Wong that permission for foreigners to enter Thailand "involves various factors and has to be in line with the relevant immigration laws and regulations." He added that the ministry is reviewing the facts with the Immigration Bureau and other authorities.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-10-05

 

Can anyone see what's wrong with these two articles?

33 minutes ago, candide said:

Source, please, for this TDRI simulation Report? 

I got that from a site we are unable to link to from this forum; however, I looked for it on the TDRI website but could not find it.

31 minutes ago, halloween said:

 

Just to add, the B15000 price was a late arrival. At a PTP election rally farmers were demanding more, and Yingluk unilaterally increased the price. It was denied initially by PTP, then agreed that their leader was correct. But of course, she should have no responsibility for the losses incurred. 

She should certainly bear the responsibility for the scheme, but not in her capacity as a private citizen by stealing her personal assets, which there is zero proof that she acquired or otherwise enhanced via this scheme. 

3 hours ago, angmo said:

What about the Abhisit government? They also ran this for a while and did not stop it so are they to be investigated too?

2 hours ago, greenchair said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Abhisit start it. Aren't there other programmes like this to the rubber growers and also continuing subsidies for rice growers that  all continue to be full of corruption? ??

2 hours ago, halloween said:

You are wrong. Rice pledging emerged as a major scam during the Thaksin era, with the government paying excessive prices and then having companies owned by cronies sell the rice. the Democrat's scheme was price support, with all monies paid directly to farmers.

holloween is correct in that the Democrats' policy was to pay the farmers the difference between the market price and 11,000 baht per ton. They didn't buy the rice, store the rice or hold the rice, so there were no insurance companies, warehouse owners, millers or inspectors to be paid by—and rip off—the government, or to rip off the farmers. (Interestingly, the then army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters in 2012 that the government had asked the army to come up with storage space for stocks, which he duly did...)

This 11,000 baht per ton was 3-4000 baht above market rates, but was still not enough for the farmers who—in 2009—mounted national protests demanding the government increase the reference price from 10,000 to 14,000 baht, raise the quota from 25 to 40 tons per household. This is where Yingluck's core policy came from - the famers themselves, although she was offering 15,000 baht per ton.

The Democrats' policy cost 67 billion baht in direct payments to 4 million rice farmers in the 2010-2011 production year.

A Thailand Development Research Institute study that found for every Bt100 of the government's spending on the Pheu Thai scheme, only Bt17 reached the rice farmers.

Quote

The money wasted on the chartered flight might be a pittance compared to the many millions squandered on [Yingluck's] ill-advised rice price-pledging scheme, but the principle at stake is exactly the same.

It's a pity that there are still several posters frequenting this forum who refused to accept this - in this, and several other cases.

"NCPO to continue national reform road map"

• What does this have to do with the content of the article?

Nevertheless, I have fixed the article for accuracy...

Quote

BANGKOK, 5 October 2016 (NNT) - The Interior Minister is confident that the government’s measures to tackle the problem of flood waters in Bangkok will be efficient and effective. 

Interior Minister Gen. Anupong Paochinda said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the Agriculture Ministry to make sure that the discharge of water from flooded areas in the upper part of Thailand does not affect the livelihood of the general public in Bangkok. 

The discussion of the government’s measures to handle ongoing floods in Bangkok took place in the weekly Cabinet meeting. 

Gen. Anupong added that the PM has urged the ministry to report any impact of the water-discharging efforts to next week’s meeting in order to find other solutions and measures to help those affected while we save Bangkok. 

He said that the Agriculture Ministry has stated that the discharge of flood water into any farmland must wait for farmers to complete the harvesting of their crops because god forbid any floodwaters affect Bangkok. 

The Interior Minister went on to say that information from Geo-Informatics and the Space Technology Development Agency, or GISTDA, has reassured him that the overall flood situation in Bangkok remains under control.

So, let me get this straight: we have the Government Sector’s Anti-Corruption Office (GSACO) setting up 853 panels to investigate 853 cases of alleged corruption mainly concerning field officials and private individuals such as millers.

While, concurrently, we have the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commis-sion (PACC) investigating 853 reports of irregularities in the rice-mortgaging scheme concerning policy-making officials and politicians? Do they need 853 seperate investigation panels as well?

Are these two agencies investigating the same 853 cases twice? My head hurts at how stupidly inefficient, and, therefore, costly, this witch hunt is becoming.

Yet again, the all important caveat missing from the headline rendering it patently false. 

Wow, they're really milking this for all the graft they can get for themselves, aren't they?

24 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Meaning that a coup is considered as option under the authority of the military.

 

Chalermchai's statement just confirms that the system of elite rule will remain in place irrespective of any People's Constitution. While the latter requires the Thai populace to obey law and order prescribed by the Constitution, the former is only bound by nebulous  nonconstitutional or transcendental unwritten elements that exist outside of the constitution, ie., such as integrity, patriotism, restraint, etc. as defined by the elite class - albeit for application to the populace and not to themselves.

 

Chalermachai ominously states that he "follow orders from my superiors." As demonstrated over the last 12 coups, such superiors have not been answerable to the Thai electorate but to a separate, thus higher, authority. The Thai elite system of "dark" governance diverges from the path to democracy.

This very apt, five year old story from the Nation expands upon your truths further.

Quote

The [invisible] hand (he or she, there could be more than one invisible hand), operates in the shadow because it cannot bear the scrutiny, the transparency and accountability of a democratic society. It also apparently does not believe the majority of voters should be able to elect their own representatives and determine the future course of Thai society.

The flesh and blood puppets of the invisible hand can at time rebel and become a loose cannon, however. What Chumpol said last week might have been an aberration of a puppet and so he quickly enough, but belatedly, tried to play down what he had said earlier.

There are many puppets. Their job is to make unconstitutional and unpalatable things acceptable and be rewarded. These flesh and blood puppets do have their own ambitions and interests too, so their relationship with the puppet master, or the invisible hand, isn't actually that straightforward and smooth, and not always subservient.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/06/15/national/Invisible-hand-throttles-our-democracy-30157823.html

It's just a pity that we have posters who refuse to accept this truth and go on to praise the current puppet as a "hero" and a "brave man"... 

59 minutes ago, webfact said:

Former Phang-nga land official Thawatchai Anukul might have been given proper treatment had officials at the detention facility at the Department of Special Investigation told the truth that he hanged himself, said DSI chief Pol Col Paisit Wongmuang on Monday.

He's still running with this obvious lie, is he, despite saying that the DSI were trying to decide whether any official would have had a motive to kill Tawatchai?

44 minutes ago, sharecropper said:

There seems to be absolutely no pressure to change the criminal law here. Look in recent days: the cup-throwing teacher, the kid on the motorbike booting the other two onto the road, this angry, bent cab driver - all of them still receive the lightest (if any) legal penalties. The Rule of Law is not working (unless you're a Hiso fugitive from justice or linked to the Regime, in which case it works fantastically).

 

The 'government' should be urgently looking to reform the police, the legal system and the courts.

Should be, but won't. Or, if they pretend to do, they certainly won't do enough.

As published by the National Propaganda Network just last week, one of the reform’s goals is to "set up a crime scene investigation team at every police station in the country" - hardly deserving of the term 'reform'.

As evidence for how long the authorities have recognised the need for reform of the RTP, have a read of this diplomatic cable from 2006 (if you can access it).

Quote

Summary. Plans to reform Thailand's notoriously venal and abusive police may be gaining steam, in part due to strong interest from the Prime Minister's office. While many people agree on the need for change--and the legislature is already drawing up plans--the exact prescription for reform remains murky. Two legislators involved in the debate recently outlined separate, dramatic blueprints for reform, including breaking up the national police into 76 different local units, or subsuming the entire law enforcement community under the military. Both of our contacts agree that it will take most of a year to debate and produce any legislative change to the police force. Police reform is always a difficult subject to tackle, with few easy fixes, but the military background of the current government will make the debate over such plans even more heated. End Summary.

Source: https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06BANGKOK7501_a.html

Som nom na.

Of course the headline misses the critical caveat: "Any government that rules with integrity is unlikely to be overthrown by the military, as the coup-makers would have no good reason to justify their action, he said."

3 hours ago, brucec64 said:

The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) says the Constitutional Court’s verdict on the draft charter won't delay the general election. 
 

And, amazingly, the vote was 187-0 on this.

 

Who needs a check when you have all the balance?

 

Something more like this:

*Originally published in Khaosod.

25 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

What is election fraud in Thailand?  

Illegally seizing control with guns, granting yourself and cronies a blanket amnesty, then spending the the next decade pretending to be legitimate while screwing the economy and sending the country backwards in almost every metric imaginable isn't, apparently, but I'm not sure what is.

I'm certain the junta-huggers will be along soon to tell us. (Hint: Thaksin, Yingluck, PTP)

58 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

members of the Senate who will be hand-picked by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will not destroy checks and balances, but rather will ensure a smooth reform transition. 

12 minutes ago, MZurf said:

And how about those that hijack entire elections??

Oh, sorry! Forgot about the mother of all amnesties they granted themselves.

Hijack elections? Who needs to do that when you have guns, tanks, and you've permitted, nay, ordered by 'invisible forces'?

4 minutes ago, phycokiller said:

I guess hes saying his roadmap is in the constitution so unless theres another coup I think hes quite safe to assert it

A constitution can be amended/rewritten without a coup. That being said, considering some of the changes they've rammed through and/or tried to ram through to the draft since the referendum, my question was satirical/rhetorical.

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

He added that the next administration must follow the 20-year plan, so that the country can continue to grow in a sustainable manner. 

Shouldn't this be, "the next administration must follow my 20-year plan"?

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

so that the country can continue to grow in a sustainable manner. 

Continue? Because it's done so well under your leadership?

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

He asserted that the reform roadmap and its time frame will not be altered

Theoretically, in a normal country, once the next leader is sworn in he/she can tear your roadmap to shreds and you can do nothing about it.

What is it you're not saying that makes you believe you can assert such a thing???

13 minutes ago, seajae said:

they didnt even line up all the boats to push the water back with their propellers as they said they would

Yes they did...

14 minutes ago, seajae said:

Bangkok management also was supposed to do a heap of work to alleviate the flooding but as we saw not that long back this also never eventuated.

Again, they did...

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/eighth-flood-tunnel-construction-to-save-bangkok-from-flooding-making-progress/

43 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

economic reform, which focuses on an overhaul of the offer of basic financial education to the public

Whoa! Overhauling the offer of basic 'financial education' to the public? Now that's some serious economic reform! Are they sure Thailand is ready for this?

31 minutes ago, NongKhaiKid said:

Work with Amnesty having blocked their report and threatening their reps with arrest for working without permits if they spoke publicly in Thailand ? 

I'm sure any discussions will be behind closed doors so Thailand can issue their usual positive version of what was supposedly said.

The report itself is harrowing reading.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/09/thailand-a-culture-of-torture-under-the-military/

Tat's new marketing campaign??

"27 torture techniques used in Thailand"

11 hours ago, tbthailand said:

Yep, ...

What a great read from a reputable source! Highly recommended to anyone with a passing interest in Thai politics.

Pity the rusted-on junta-huggers like smed and lucky won't bother reading it, or, if they do, will dismiss it because it doesn't fit their warped view of reality, or it ignores the shincrims. Probably something like 'a peer-reviewed study by an international expert is non-government organisation so means nothing'.

10 hours ago, Chris Lawrence said:

James have you overdosed on TV. You have really gone after the Smed.

Deservedly so IMO. That sort of "high horse" attitude (as gk10002000 put it ^) really irks me when the person is right - but when the person is so demonstrably wrong I get particularly irked.

6 hours ago, MZurf said:

And here I thought trolling was not allowed.

Believe his honesty???

555555!

Ironic how lucky considers that an internationally recognised report written by experts "means nothing" because it is "non-government organisation so not official!!" but spends all evening sprouting all kinds of non-governmental conspiracy drivel...