slimdog

Quite a few interesting stories:

PAD to hold assembly on Saturday

The People's Alliance for Democracy will hold an assembly of PAD leading members from 76 provinces on Saturday to map out strategy to fight against the Thaksin regime.

PAD spokesman Suriyasai Katasila said about 1,500 leading members of PAD provincial branches were expected to attend the meeting.

He said the meeting would focus on how to plan strategies to try to remove the Thaksin regime.

The Nation

Regarding the next general election:

New legal worries on poll

Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is concerned about the possibility of the Constitution Court nullifying the next general election, repeating its verdict on the April 2 poll, a source close to the Cabinet said yesterday.

The source said the decree for the new election, slated for October 15 but still awaiting royal approval, was discussed at yesterday's Cabinet meeting.

Thaksin asked the secretary-general of the State Council's Office (SCO) if it was possible that losing candidates could appeal to the Constitution Court to annul the poll, claiming its timing breached a legal deadline.

The Constitution states that a new poll must be held within 60 days of the House being dissolved. Thaksin dissolved the House on February 24.

An SCO official said he believed such an appeal could occur, but that the government could defend itself, arguing that it had merely followed the Constitution Court's ruling, the source said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/06/21...cs_30006965.php

For anyone interested they are referring to:

Section 116.

The King has the prerogative to dissolve the House of Representatives for a new election of members of the House. The dissolution of the House of Representatives shall be made in the form of a Royal Decree in which the day for a new general election must be fixed within sixty days and such election day must be the same throughout the Kingdom.

Hopefully someone will talk to the constitutional court prior to the issuing of a "new" royal decree, and get the matter clarified

On the subject of the EC:

No more witnesses in TRT probe: EC

Election Commissioner Prinya Nakchudtree yesterday said the EC would not summon more witnesses in new probes about whether to dissolve the Thai Rak Thai Party.

The EC has not questioned outgoing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over charges that the party hired small parties to run in the inconclusive April 2 election, as suggested by the panel headed by Nam Yimyaem.

Prinya said it was too late for the EC to question more witnesses, unless the Office of Attorney-General decided not to seek a Constitutional Court ruling, then a joint committee could be set up to further investigate the case.

Asked why the EC had not questioned Thaksin about the matter, Prinya said the EC had instructed Nam's panel to do so, and he did not know why it had not. According to Article 19 of Election Commission Act, the EC must question the leader of any party that it seeks to disband. The EC followed the law by questioning the party leaders when it sought to disband the Thai Ground Party and the Pattana Chart Thai Party. It also summoned Democrat Party Abhisit Vejjajiva for questioning on accusations that it had hired small parties to slander the ruling party and had attempted to bring down government.

Sources said because Thaksin had not been questioned, the argument to disband Thai Rak Thai was weak. This could likely cause the Office of Attorney-General (OAG) or Constitution Court to reject hearing the case.

Without Thaksin being questioned, the case lacked the evidence linking the move to hire small parties to run in the April 2 election to the party's leader.

OAG spokesman Attapol Yaisawang yesterday said he was confident the Election Commission (EC) would re-submit the investigation file and suggested charges and penalties against Thai Rak Thai party by next Tuesday.

Attapol said after the OAG returned the investigation to the EC, the EC public relations director Police Colonel Prasert Suthison had said he would comply with the OAG's suggestion.

"It is a good sign that the political party registrar will give his full cooperation. We hope the EC will also help by returning the investigation file and clarifying the grounds for dissolving Thai Rak Thai by next Tuesday,'' he said.

The EC had not specified any legal grounds for dissolving the Thai Rak Thai Party, but did ask why two small parties, Thai Ground and Pattana Chart Thai, should have been disbanded.

The OAG would have to strictly follow Sections 66 and 67 of the Political Party Act to determine whether the party had violated the law and whether a motion to dissolve it should be moved so the matter can be referred to the Constitution Court.

Meanwhile, Prasob Bussarakham, a Thai Rak Thai legal expert, said the party's legal team was confident the party would not be dissolved, because individual party members - and not the party itself - had committed the crime.

He said the charges against Thai Rak Thai were not clear and were different from the charges against the two small parties that the EC said there are grounds to disband.

"The leaders of the two parties were accused of being involved in the wrongdoing from the start,'' he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/06/21...cs_30006964.php

also:

'Election court needed to oversee poll body'

With the three remaining Election Commissioners stubbornly refusing to quit despite a ruling they illegally managed the April 2 election, a deputy Democrat leader called yesterday for the setting up of an election court to monitor the Election Commission.

Alongkorn Pollabutr, in a seminar at Thammasat University, said a new round of charter reforms should give priority to tackling the controversial issue of how the political system can prevent "money politics", which political parties exploit to expand their influence over every social sector.

"Candidates are required by law to run their campaigns under political parties," he said. "This has forced them to live under the yoke of the party, which could be under only one person who controls the whole party."

As the Election Commission (EC), because of its mismanagement of the April elections, had become a symbolic failure of the charter, so an election court should be founded to check on the EC.

"The public has totally lost trust in the commissioners," he said.

Thammasat law lecturer Boonsri Meewong-ukote described the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party as a model of a non-democratic party.

"The severest problem for Thai politics is that democracy does not exist in political parties - it is only one person or a small group of people who own them," he said.

If the parties were democratic, they could select qualified candidates to become prime minister, he said.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/06/21...cs_30006941.php

Conditions of Candidature

Candidates standing for election to the House of Representatives must have the following

qualifications: (1) have Thai nationality by birth; (2) be at least 25 years on the

election day; (3) hold a degree not lower than a bachelor’s degree or equivalent,

except in the case of former members of the House of Representatives or former members of the

Senate; or (4) be a member of any and only one political party for a consecutive

period of not less than 90 days prior to the date of applying for candidacy in an

election.

This is the first time that a candidate in an election is required to hold at least a

bachelor’s degree or equivalent. In the past, the educational qualification of

candidates in an election was not specified except in the case of candidates

whose fathers were foreigners. This change is in response to a call from the

public during the period of drafting the constitution that members of the HoR

and the Senate should have an adequate education so as to be able to perform

their responsibilities effectively. Moreover, it is expected that the requirement of

a bachelor’s degree will improve the quality of members of the National

Assembly as a whole. Former members of the HoR and the Senate are exempted

from this requirement because they have already had working experience in

parliament. Another reason for this exception was to get support for the passage

of the 1997 Constitution Bill from members of the HoR and the Senate whose

educational qualifications were below a bachelor’s degree.

Taken from:

http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/01361009.pdf

Just for reference:

Section 147.

The Election Commission shall forthwith conduct an investigation and inquiry for finding facts in any of the following cases; (1) an objection by a voter, a candidate in an election or a political party a member of which stood for the election in any of the constituencies has been raised that the election in that constituency has proceeded inappropriately or unlawfully; (2) convincing evidence has appeared that any member of the House of Representatives, senator, member of a local assembly or local administrator, before being elected, had committed any dishonest act to enable him or her to be elected, or has dishonestly been elected as a result of an act committed by any person or political party in violation of the organic law on the election of members of the House of Representatives and senators, the organic law on political parties or the law on the election of members of local assemblies and local administrators; (3) convincing evidence has appeared that the voting in a referendum did not proceed lawfully or an objection has been raised by a voter that the voting in a referendum in any polling station proceeded inappropriately or unlawfully; Upon completion of actions under paragraph one, the Election Commission shall pass a decision forthwith.

Rakesh, I remember Banharn's quote of a Thai proverb that when you are faced with an Indian and a snake, hit the Indian first as he's more tricky and cunning.

Rakesh was involved with the BBC bank scandal which involved several leading politicians and business people at the time setting up phoney companies to obtain loans from the bank which were never repaid. Poor quality land, vastly overvalued, was often used as collateral.

Rakesh always claimed if he was sent back to Thailand he would be murdered because involved in the dubious loans were several members of the so called group of 16, a bunch of young politicians who had formed a sort of loose faction, though what united them apart from greed was never clear.

If I remember rightly amongst the leading lights were Newin Chidcharp, presently Thaksin's right hand man and Suchart Damjarern, ex Deputy House-Speaker.

Rakesh claims the statue of limitations has expired but what is almost certainly true is he has a lot of dirt and info which could possibly harm current figures, he could disappear, by magic as it were.

Regarding Banharn, like the Democrats many ex Chart Thai MPs are suffering due to no salary, apparently the old fox has told the party faithful he can't afford to pay them now, he has no money! But if they hang on to the next election, they'll be alright.

But some can't wait, no doubt that explains 2 recent defections to TRT.

An Old story from Asia Week

FORMER THAI PREMIER AND Chart Thai party leader Banharn Silapa-archa has denied receiving $4 million in bribes from the fraud-plagued (and now closed) Bangkok Bank of Commerce. His accuser is the India-born, Canada-based fugitive financier Rakesh Saxena, 46, the key suspect in the alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars from the bank before its collapse in 1996 (see Asiaweek's INSIDE STORY, July 31, 1998). According to Saxena, the alleged bribes to Banharn were intended for vote-buying in the 1995 election, which he won. One possible reason for Saxena to repeat the accusation, which he made a few years ago, is that he wants to prevent his imminent extradition to Bangkok, where he is wanted in connection with the embezzlement scandal. Saxena, whose three-year extradition trial in Canada is in its final stages, claims he is a scapegoat and that he will be denied proper justice in Thailand. Not that Banharn appears to be eager to have him back home. Though Chart Thai members have challenged Saxena to come back and face charges, Banharn may not want to see some of his present and former party colleagues - allegedly key figures in the downfall of the bank - hauled up in court.

Chownah

Whilst it may appear that the process can be manipulated, the penalties for doing so are very severe. The organic law for the election of the house of representatives and senate shows some of the penalties that can be imposed.

Section 101/1.

Any person who make false allegations that a candidate or a person has violated this organic law shall be liable to imprisonment for a term exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding forty thousand Baht and the court shall order the disfranchisement for a period of five years.

Any person who make false allegations under paragraph one which seek to result in the disfranchisement of the right to vote of a candidate or the withholding of the announcement of election results shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of five to ten years and to a fine of one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand Baht and the court shall order the disfranchisement for a period of ten years.

Any person who make false allegations under paragraph one to the Election Commission shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of seven to ten years and to a fine of fourteen hundred thousand to two hundred thousand Baht and the court shall order the disfranchisement for a period of twenty years.

In case false allegations under paragraph two and three have committed, facilitated or acknowledged by any leader of a political party, such political party shall be deemed as endangering national security and violating the Organic Law of Political Party.

Chownah

Your feelings regarding the right of people to organise a political party are similar to what is written in the Thai Constitution.

Section 47.

A person shall enjoy the liberty to unite and form a political party for the purpose of making political will of the people and carrying out political activities in fulfilment of such will through the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of the State as provided in this Constitution. The internal organisation, management and regulations of a political party shall be consistent with fundamental principles of the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of the State.

In regards to a party being dissolved; this can only happen at the request of the election Commission, the head of which is also the political- party registrar and has to be agreed upon by the constitutional court, and if appealed by the Supreme court.

In the case where a Political party is dissolved this will only effect the members of the Executive commitee unless it can be proved that other party members have equally been guilty of breaking either the constitution,the Party political act or the organic law on the election of representatives. In each case the EC would have to show that each individual was guilty of such an act.

For elected representatives the constitution allows the representatives a period of 60 days to become members of another political party from the date the party was dissolved by the constitutional court, provided of course they have not be disfranchised.

What this means is that if someone is elected by the people, they stay elected both at national or local level provided they find another party within that time.

The laws regarding foreign ownership of the telecom sector were changed by TRT after they gained power. Prior to this, foreign companies were permitted to own up to 49%.

Thaksin did try to revert the law back to the 49% ruling in 2002, but it was turned down by the senate (100 Senators voted against)

When Thaksin presented the last proposal to change the law back to 49% it was supposedly to comply with the WTO.

The last proposal was agreed by the senate (with only 10 Senators ruling against)

Not to say that Shin didn't benefit from the changes..

The decree is currently due to be submitted to HM on August 24.

This will then comply with both the 60 day constitutional rule and the 90 day rule governing the length of time someone has to be a member of a political party prior to registering to run in an election.

The irony is that there is a fairly good chance that the constitutional court will have to invoke article 7 of the constitution if/when they dissolve the TRT party.

tettyan

To answer your question, No I don't think the Democrat party should be dissolved for trying to invoke article 7. What I was trying to point out, was that the EC gets hundreds of cases every election, for the vast majority nothing is ever written until a verdict has been reached, this doesn't mean that the EC are not looking at allegations, by law they have to investigate every allegation made.

Any way it would appear the EC have a few more problems as the criminal case against them has just beeen accepted by the courts

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30006055

As you stated, the original case was thrown out on the grounds that the plaintiff didn't have the authority to loge the complaint.

I was under the understanding that it was then passed onto the EC as the matter was related to a political party, who then forwarded it onto the OAG to decide whether the case had merit.

Those allegations against the Democrats are still just that - allegations. I have seen nothing out there put out by anyone to back it up.

Just because you haven't seen anything doesn't mean that the allegations have been ignored.

There was a report in todays Nation, that at least one case involving the democrat party has been forwarded to the OAG from the EC.

thankuverybig

Here is a link showing the formalities for obtaining a Burmese (Myanmar) Passport

http://www.myanmar.com/Ministry/Moha/special-branch.htm#m

Hope it is of some help

EC forwards report against Thai Rak Thai to attorney general

The Election Commission Tuesday resolved to forward an investigative report against the Thai Rak Thai to the Office of the Attorney General for filing charges against the party in the Constitution Court.

EC chairman Vasana Puemlarp said the report of the Nam Yimyaem panel would be forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General in a few days.

The report concluded that there were grounds for the allegations that the Thai Rak Thai had hired small parties to stand in the April elections.

The Constitution Court would be the one to consider whether the Thai Rak Thai would be guilty warranting dissolution or not.

The Nation

I expect that there will be clarification soon, but at the moment The Nation website is reporting that the EC has voted to dissolve the Thai Rak Thai party.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30005876

You will need to go to immigration and get the stamp transfered over to your new passport.

Don't forget to take both passports AND the receipt from the Embassy for the new passport.

Transfer will be done free of charge.

How many senators are there? I thought there was something like about 150 plus.

Section 121.

The Senate shall consist of two hundred members to be elected by the people. In the case where the office of the senator becomes vacant for any reason whatsoever and an election of a senator to fill the vacancy has not yet been held, the Senate shall consist of the remaining senators.

Generally there are 200 members, however, as 2 members recently resigned that brings the number down to 198.

Isnt it normal practice for the senate to vote on things like presenting a petition to the courts on behalf of the senate? Or is this just a private petition by individuals who just happen to be senators?

In the case of the Election Commision there is no need to have a vote for removal of office, as this is covered by section 142 of the constitution, which states:

Members of the House of Representatives, senators, or members of both Houses of not less than one-tenth of the total number of the existing members of the two Houses have the right to lodge with the President of the National Assembly a complaint that any Election Commissioner is disqualified or is under any of the prohibitions under section 137 or has acted in contravention of any of the prohibitions under section 139 and the President shall refer that complaint to the Constitutional Court for its decision as to whether that Election Commissioner has vacated his or her office. When the Constitutional Court has passed a decision, it shall notify the President of the National Assembly and the Chairman of the Election Commission of such decision. The provisions of section 97 shall also apply mutatis mutandis to the vacation of office of Election Commissioners.

Under normal conditions, therefore a total of not less than 70 members of both houses would be needed to lodge a complaint. Exactly how they interpret the existing number under the circumstances of today I do not know.

Vasana is under a lot of pressure and stress. It takes a lot of stress management therapy to cope with this level of stress. The fact that he is not going says his judgment is off. How can he deal with the tasks he says he has effectively when his judgment is off. He may want to stay but at the moment he is very distracted and thus not running on all 8. He should step aside and when this is over reapply for the job.

Section 140.

Election Commissioners shall hold office for a term of seven years as from the date of their appointment by the King and shall serve for only one term. The Election Commissioners who vacate office upon the expiration of the term shall remain in office to continue to perform their duties until the newly appointed Election Commissioners take office.

Is there any restriction on how much Sterling you can take out of the Kingdom?..or take into the UK?

Just interested if anyone knows

Cheers

TP

There are no currency restrictions for the importing or exporting of either local or foreign currencies into or out of the U.K. The last time restrictions were impossed was during the 1960's, these were formally abolished in 1970

I assume you are not in "Safe Mode"

I have had this problem before on a "98" system, but can't remember exactly what I did to overcome it.

I would try a couple of reboots, just to see if that helps.

If I can remember, I'll let you know, but I don't think I reloaded any drivers.

Win 98 usually does come with a back-up copy of all files, these can be found in:

c:/windows/options/cabs

So if you can think of any windows files you may have deleted you should find a copy there.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Lampard

Are you able to change the screen resolution?

What is the current resolution ?

Can they do this? What is the grace period if the TRT goes down next month? How long must you be out to avoid the 5 year no politics requirement?

Even if the TRT party is disbanded, the 5 year rule applies (To the best of my knowledge) to individuals who have been found guilty of a crime in a court of law.

Even though they are saying, for now, that they would not run in the October 15 election, will the registration of this new party be legitimate with all the controversy with the actual Election Commissionwhen they are flushed?

Generally, if an individual is found guilty of a crime and is removed from office, then any actions that individual made prior to the removal remains valid. I would assume this would be the case if more than one individual is removed from office. A case in point was the recent court case involving the nomination for Auditor general, whilst the nomination was found to be un-constitutional, the actual appointment was found to be valid.

One question (amongst many) which would have to be clarified should the TRT party be disbanded, would be the status of all the people who are representing the TRT party at Local government level...

The two Senators in question have already served their 6 year term of office. They are not allowed to serve a second term.

Wife of murder suspect who died of poison found hung

Ratchaburi - The wife of a suspect in the case of former MP Kobkul Nopamornbodi's murder was found hung in her house Thursday noon, a day after her husband died of pesticide.

Police said Thassawan Pumpent, 40, was found hung in her house at noon.

Her husband, Sa-ngad Pumpeng, died after drinking pesticide-laced beer Wednesday morning.

Police have not concluded yet as to whether Sa-ngad had committed suicide.

Sa-ngad was one of five suspects involved in the murder of Kobkul, who was shot dead Saturday night.

The Nation

Why? As "sin sot" is paid to parents and not the wife, if they decided to give to wife it would be a gift from them, not the husband. Did the Land Office come up with this "gem"?

Not sure about the why, but the form which a foreigner has to sign allowing a wife to own property clearly states that the Money must not be part of a Sin Sot

A couple of remarks regarding queries on this and the previous thread.

With regard to the question raised by Mr BJ and others. The Land Office originally interpreted the Constitutional Court ruling as meaning that the money to purchase had to be the wife's. This is still the case, but it has been acknowledged that it can previously have been the husband's money and the husband may provide as a"gift". All gifts in law are outside 50% divorce regulations. Hence there is no need to worry about checks on where the money came from.

Others have asked about transferring to your wife from the Company name. Other than the financial aspects there is no reason why this cannot be done. In fact it may be well to line up a Thai National for transfer and lease in case someone comes knocking. But no real need to do anything until then.

The one exception to this is that the "gift" must not be part of a Sin Sot