womble

She is very popular in SEA there is no doubt about that. I havent heard her latest album apart from El Nino, but based on last cd I don't see why she wouldnt be able to make it. She has the entire marketing package going for her sing, dance, and sex appeal.

Actually this is wrong. She is very popular in Thailand, that's it. Her sales in other countries have been poor to say the least. Her management have been expecting no 1's, and from the amount spent on promotion they have to get results to get the $ back.

When you look at her bio on her website it makes it very clear how badly she is doing internationally, those charts are not main billboard charts, they are minor charts which frankly mean nothing. You would never see a western popstar mention anything other than main billboard chart, to be top of dance chart or rock chart means nothing. You need to be top of the main chart to make any $.

When you read her bio it's not impressive at all except for the Thailand stuff. She fits perfectly into what Thai's think represents sexy and fasionable. To the rest of the world she is another mediocre bubble gum pop act, nothing more nothing less.

The album has been out 2 months now and if it had had any success we would surely be told every five minutes on Thai tv. So we can assume El Nin-yo has tanked outside Thailand. If the next two releases do the same i'd say that's time for her management to accept she will remain a Thai star only. If she was a big star in Japan as they'd have you beleive she wouldn't just be selling a few singles, albums would be flying off the shelves. To make $ you need to sell albums, singles are good for publicity, but it's the albums sales that put serious wedge in the bank.

Hi,

Another why...;-)

I don't know in Thailand, they don't use Toilet like in European country.

I don't know why you have a dustbin in each toilet.

Some ppl say me that you must not throw ur toilet paper in Toilet...other ppl say yes.

I don't understand why they don't throw paper in it...I think it will be again better for hygienic

Thanks to know.

As one relatively seasoned expat said to me during my first year in Thailand when we were discussing the hose vs toilet paper . . . . . why smear it around when you can wash it all off . . . . . been convinced and converted ever since, I dread western toilets now.

Confession over.

JxP

yes my friend,

once a punter is converted to the bum gun there is no returning to the horrid dunny paper and i now hate the stuff.

i bought a bum gun home to perth and wacked it in my dunny.

my friends think i use it to wash the toilet out and i'll let them think that.

also when i drop a huge big steamer and my back bottom is in flames i just extinguise it with a quick squirt of the bum gun and im in heaven.

viva la bum gun.

hope this top bit of inside information helps you my friend.

cheers

If I moved back west I would do the same. How about the plumbing tho, is it easy to do?

The thought of using paper is not nice. I hate it when I stay in 4 or 5 * hotels in bangkok and there's no spray.

Plagiarism is unfortunatley all too common here, it's a shame. How often do you her luk tung or mor lam that has been taken from an old western song. Even though everyone here is unaware and they think it was written originally by the Thai songwriter. There is nothing wrong with covers, but the original artist has to be given credit, when they are not given credit as is usually the case here the plagiarist should be ashamed.

Although I must say 6 covered tracks on tata's album do give credit to the original artists, would that be the case if grammy were promoting the album?

its not about how she look and sing, have you people ever see how she have a conversation on TV show, my good!!! she think she a god that nobody can compare to her, she talk like an airhead or you might call it dumb blond, that itself will kill here career, nobody like a dumb asz especially you are from show bussiness. what she say to her audience will affect her. sometime the Biitch doesn't get-it and the people that doesn't get it will always look stupit.

Yeah she is extremely full of herself. This is because of how she is treated in Thailand, you ask half the Thai people and they already think she is a huge international star. They treat her like this, and have treated her like a huge star since a very young age (excuse the pun), this has led to her becoming extremely conceited, annoyingly so. There are so many Thai stars who are like this, internationally they are nothing and never will be, but in Thailand they are huge stars.

The number of albums she has apparently sold in Thailand is phenominal. I say apparently becuase the figures that get dropped by her management are make believe, like most figures in Thailand they come up with a number that sounds good, double it, add a bit more on, then claim that to be the real figure.

However it cannot be denied that she is a big star in Thailand. Although it's hard not to be when you are promoted so heavily!

Her international attempt is failing miserably, El Ninyo had moderate success in Japan and her management claims it was a chart success, it was not. It did get placed on several Japanesse charts.

Here is her 'chart' success so far in Asia. These are not main billboard charts, they are minor charts and frankly if her management have to use any of these charts on her bio to try to show her 'success', then it makes it all too clear that this album has tanked.

El Nin-YO!:

Easy Chart: #1 (LW: #1) - 8 weeks on chart - Peak: #1

SOKA (Indonesia) : #1(LW: #4) - 5 weeks on chart - Peak: #1

MTV Thailand: #2 (LW: #1) - 9 weeks on chart - Peak: #1

Visual (Singapore): #2 (LW: #1) - 5 weeks on chart - Peak: #1

ZIP Dance (Japan): #2 (LW: #1) - 8 weeks on chart - Peak: #1

She ain't got it, her stage performances are not good enough for her to break the US market. She just doesn't have the presence. She's been performing for years, so if she doesn't have the power on stage now she never will.

This is her last chance at going international, the money that's been invested into her has to start coming back sooner or later, they can't keep funding her to go 'inter' forever.

Her last album was billed to go 'inter', and it tanked badly, it was withdrawn from sales early in all asian countries except Japan where it had mediocre success.

Her management always try to make out she does all these concerts abroad, but when you look at the venues it's embarressing. Nightclubs, car shows and promotional events, hardly the stuff of international superstars.

She is being promoted unbelievably heavily in Thailand at the moment. It's too much, obviously a lot of money has been spent on trying to achieve worldwide fame and if the money can't come from overseas they will have to recooperate as much as possible from the home market.

Luckily due to all the monopolies in Thailand and connections with TV media etc, they can promote her above all other brands, this is something that is not possible in most other markets.

Oh yeah, her album was released worldwide on August 24, it's now october and it doesn't look like much is happening.

6 of the tracks on the new album are covers. This is to try to appeal to the various asian markets where the original songs had success.

If this second attempt at international stardum fails I doubt we'll see a third. Sony BMG will not keep pushing her forever, but they will try to get their investment back from the Thai market, so expect to see a lot more of her!!!!

Au contraire. I think it will show foreign inverstors that it's clean up time BIG time. You can expect these panels to be permanent. Corruption has been the one main thing often slowing things down or even making business impossible. Look at what companies have to go through when importing machinery or technology, big bribes have to be paid or/and miles of red tape awaiting them.

The days of mafia style politics are over.

On another note:

Coup is a setback for country and democracy : Singapore

Singapore--Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Friday that the power seizure on 19 September was "a setback for Thailand" and its democracy.

He said Thailand lacks firmly established democratic institutions and a tradition of civilian rule.

Isn't his wife involved with Temasek?

NO.......

The only thing that would show foreign investors is where to not put your money. No foriegn investors will look at this as a good thing.

We all know this place needs cleaning up, but a clean up is the worst thing from a foreign investors point of view.

If there is to be a clean up, the best thing from an investors point of view is they look at the concessions and national security thing, not simply the foreign ownership, nominee situation.

Temasek should read this forum. The advice given here a few hundred times is also valid for them.

"Never invest more money in Thailand than that you can walk away from".

Yeah, it should read like investing in options, only use risk capital.

Saying that, I guess the amount Temasek invested is risk capital to them.

I'm sure they were perfectly aware of the risks.

We were, so it's a bit silly to assume that a huge investment arm wouldn't be.

Womble,

Why should the people who sold thier shares "give back" the money? It is their money...their ownership is not at question here. If concessions are canceled because of wrongdoing, then I guess that's ok, if that's the way these things are handled. On the other hand if the concessions are canceled then why should the transaction be canceled? Seems to me they should do whatever needs to be done to be sure that the laws are upheld and enforced...but it seems like alot of people here are just interested in revenge and are willing to ignore the true facts of ownership in this quest.

Chownah

PeaceBlondie,

I agree with you completely...if it was the butler or gardner or maid then the shares should go back to them but I think you will find that the vast vast bulk did not go to the servants but to the actual family members.

Chownah

To be honest I think the concessions should be cancelled, but the sale should stay. I also think that Temesek should be forced to make the tender offer for 100 baht a share that they didn't have to make at the time of the sale. Temesek colluded with Thaksin in order to get away with not making the tender offer at market price, this is very unfair to the shareholders.

So Temesek should be forced to buy up all remaining shares at the 100 baht price that should have been offered for the tender. Then they will be left with a company with no concessions which quite frankly is the fairest thing. This means shareholders can get out

This is a good solution as the ordinary shareholder doesn't loose out, only the two parties that colluded for their own benefits at the expense of others.

However we are forgetting one thing. It is the responsibility of each and every shareholder to carry out their own due dilligence. Only a fool would think that the huge gains in shins shareprice had nothing to do with Thaksins manipulation of laws towards shin. It was obvious that should Thaksin fall from grace this was a possible yet unlikely scenario. Greed left many to take the risk to hold onto the stock.

It was obvious throughout thaksins leadership that he was up to know good. Creating policy to benefit his company is great when you are a shareholder, but not so great when things go horribly wrong and people start to ask quetions.

anyone who carried out their due dilligence should have known this was a possibility, those that didn't carry out due dilligence should stick to index funds or bonds and stay away from single stock investments.

Maybe I am missing something here but;

If you have "x" number of passengers arriving for 11:00 flight and you now tell the same number of passengers to arrive three hours early, you still have "x"number of passengers arriving at the same time (8:00). How does that cut the traffic?

I think you will find it is code for:

Our systems don't work yet. Expect long waits as we try to figure out what to do. We cannot criticize the airport so the traffic will have to do.

It can't be the traffic because they still want people on domestic flights to arrive the usual 1 hr before. So why is that then, does the traffic not effect domestic travellers???

No I think it would effect everyone the same if there was any traffic problems.

It's other things that for whatever reasons they can't admit.

I guess it would revert back to the original owners, although the company would be without the concessions as they would be cancelled. So the company would be in serious trouble and stock price would be extremely low with no sign of a way to recover.

I can't see toxin handing back the $$$ though.

Remember what he said to Monson??

Use some of Thaksins money to pay off their debts, it was him that threw the money at them and he got a large portion of it back when they spent it on his goods and services.

Ofcourse I don't believe people should be bailed out as it teaches people nothing, it's very dangerous when the poor think they will be constantly bailed out.

The trouble is when they are asked to pay back this money and they fail, when their farms and land are taken they will blame whoever is in power and say that if thaksin was in power he would have helped them.

Thai court to hear Shin unit licence case

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai court agreed on Thursday to hear a petition to revoke the licences of three Shin Corp. affiliates over alleged violation of foreign ownership laws following Shin's $3.8 billion sale to Singapore's Temasek.

The Supreme Administrative Court overturned a lower court's rejection of the case filed against state agencies in March by a law professor after relatives of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sold their Shin stakes to Temasek in January.

The court said the licences for a mobile phone company, satellite operator and television broadcaster could affect national security if in foreign hands.

"The petitioner is a citizen who has been affected because state agencies did not prevent damage and the defendants neglected their duties," Judge Sompop Pongsawang said.

"The court overrules the Central Administrative Court and will hear the case," he told the court.

The tax-free deal and questions about its legality under foreign ownership laws have forced unprecedented scrutiny of the Shin sale, which set off a political crisis that led to Thaksin's overthrow in a bloodless coup last month.

On Monday, a Commerce Ministry probe found that Temasek's purchase of Shin through several affiliates may have broken foreign ownership laws and it sent its findings to police.

Temasek has said it complied with Thai laws.

The three firms affected by Thursday's court ruling are Thailand's biggest mobile phone provider, Advanced Info Service, satellite operator Shin Satellite PCL and television broadcaster ITV PCL.

In his petition, Rangsit University law professor Satra Tohon argued that the Shin sale violated the Alien Business Law, which limits foreign ownership of Thai firms to 49 percent.

Satra accused the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry, Transport Ministry and Prime Minister's Office -- which issued the licences -- of neglect.

The Central Administrative Court tossed out the case in March, ruling that Satra had not been affected because he was not a contractual party to the deal.

But the Supreme Administrative Court said the three firms provided services that could affect Thai national security.

"If the licences of the three companies are held by the management of foreign companies, it may cause damage and undermine the country's security in the future because it could give them access to secret information about users in the telecommunications business," the judge said.

Officials at Shin Corp and AIS said they would cooperate with the court's investigation.

"We will have to wait for the judicial process. For our part, we complied with Thai laws," said Shin corporate affairs manager Rachadawan Sanitwong Na Ayuttaya.

AIS spokeswoman Wilai Keangprdoo said service to 17 million customers would not be affected while the case winds its way through the courts.

Shares in Shin Corp. and AIS fell after the court ruling. By the midsession, AIS was off 1.7 percent at 87 baht, but Shin Corp. rallied from earlier falls to stand 0.9 percent higher at 29.25 baht.

Shin Sat shares rose 0.7 percent and ITV stock was up 1.4 percent. The overall Thai stock market was up 0.7 percent.

Source: Reuters - 5 October 2006

This is a very important statement by the courts and to me it signals that they have worked out a way to get Thaskin without the disastrous effects of going down the nominee foreign ownership route.

They will say it is a danger to the national security of the country. By doing this they can make the deal void without the disastrous effects on foreign investment that the other option would lead to.

As each day passes the more I believe that Thaksin will somehow loose a considerable amount of his wealth.

I doubt they'll press criminal charges (although it would be amazing for the future of this country if they did), but it does look like he won't get away with keeping all of his plundered billions.

I am old enough to have lived through this process happening in Europe; first in a federating of some major industries, and then in a common Customs regime, and then to a European Parliament, watching over those aspects of sovereignty pooled by the member nations.

Every step taken (and some not being taken) was debated openly and extensively.

Otherwise it would have been guaranteed to not be successful.

Europe is a lot more transparent than asia, even singapore which is a lot more transparent than Thailand works very differently to the west in many matters.

I don't think a single issue was openly debated by parliament during Thaskins tenure, he wouldn't allow it. Freedom of thought was not encouraged, doing what is asked by thaksin was the order of the day.

you ethier are democratic or your're not...and at this current time thailand is no longer democratic IMO

Err??? that's very astute of you. There's just been a coup, the PM has been chosen by the Military and you've only just decided it's no longer a democracy?

It will not be a working full democracy until after the next general election.

I really think people are over reacting here. This is a fantastic choice of PM and we know that this guy will keep the military out of politics with all his might. There are many many civilian PM's who could have been chosen who would certainly buckle under pressure from military figures.

Not this guy!!!!

I don't give a toss what the US thinks, or any othger western country for that matter, their hipocracy is unbelievable, USA supported a coup in Haiti recently, and has failed miserably in any of it's recent efforts at democracy. They've been failing since vietnam!!!!

Who cares anyway cos in 50 years we all answer to China not US!

I'm happy to see Thailand do whatever it feel is best to rid itself of Thaksins legacy, long as USA is against it then it probobally stands a high degree of a chance of success.

As for allegations that Temasek had circumvented Thai ownership law by relying on Kularb Kaew as its nominee to buy into Shin, Phoon said Temasek had not yet been notified by the Thai Commerce Ministry

This is not saying they are innocent, this is saying they havn't yet been told officially they have done anything wrong.

Maybe this will change soon as the Ministry is no longer being controlled by the previous majority shareholder of Shin stock?

Temasek 'unaware' of tax-free Shin deal

Singapore's Temasek Holdings was not informed the Shin Corp sale was structured so that the Shinawatra family would avoid paying taxes, nor was payment made into offshore bank accounts as has been reported.

The latest edition of Newsweek International, published online, reported Jimmy Phoon, Temasek's managing director for strategic development, as saying the company was unaware the Shinawatra family would pay no taxes on its Bt73.3-billion sale of Shin Corp.

"Our advisers were advising us on our side. From our perspective, we've complied with all the laws and regulations in Thailand, and that's really what our advisers advised us about," he added.

Phoon also said Temasek made full payment of the transaction through the Stock Exchange of Thailand. "The money was paid in Thailand, and there isn't any buyback-arrangement plan whatsoever," he said. Phoon also said Temasek's buy-out of Shin was made purely on commercial grounds, without taking into account which government was in power.

The Shin shares were transferred from offshore accounts through complicated transactions before they were executed via the stock market.

As for allegations that Temasek had circumvented Thai ownership law by relying on Kularb Kaew as its nominee to buy into Shin, Phoon said Temasek had not yet been notified by the Thai Commerce Ministry.

"We've complied with all the laws and regulations, and we will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities. We are confident that the outcome of the review by the Ministry of Commerce will be satisfactory, as we complied with all laws," he said.

The Nation

If he brought all the cash into Thailand that would be stupid. It all depends just how greedy and stupid he is. If he thought he was invincible and could get better returns in Thailand he would bring it all over, but that would be so stupid, I can't believe he'd do it.

Thanks, that was basically my point.

We don't know much, have no facts.

But logic would dictate that the money is invested abroad, and already disappeared. I also doubt that anyone is serious in trying to seize Thaksin's assets beyond a token, if he even can be convicted of wrong doing (which i doubt).

Even more unlikely is that the Temasek deal will be nullified. A lot of people would then lose considerable amounts of money and it would open a can of worms that cannot be controlled anymore...

The money was probably sent offshore on completion of the deal from Singapore but a good place to start would be...

London International Bank

PO Box 3151

Road Town Tortola

British Virgin Islands

which shares the same PO box and address as Ample Rich and Win Mark, both Thaksin assets.

There is also the head office of London International at 11 Grosvenor Place, London and everyone wondered why he flew to London. Follow the man to find the money.

If anyone would like to send me a ticket I'd be willing to go check it out.

We know for sure the money was sent into the country, singapore have told us, it was transfered in order to purchase through the stock exchange of Thailand. There is no way all that money has gone out, it could be seen very easily. You can't hide movements of that size.

Most of that cash is still here. If it came in it's here.

The governoir of the bank of Thailand would know if it had left, he has said there have been no large transactions. So unless him or singpoare are lying. Or unless Thaksin took it out in Cash or Gold or similar it, most of it is still here.

Well.......

It would seem that maybe it is in the country now..........

Temesek have publically stated they transfered the money into Thailand, all of it and none into offshore accounts.

If the cash had been moved abroad it would have weakened the baht, such huge movements cannot go unnoticed.

It would appear most of the cash is still in the country.

Thanks for all the answers and advice,

Since I posting my girlfriend has confronted the lady in question alone, the girl has admitted to coming in our home via the balcony on several occassions and stealing money, including 2300 baht from the handbag of one of our staff.

The girl has agreed to pay all money back, with the threat of her mother in law and family being informed of whats been going on if she does not pay up immediately.

My girlfriend also told her that I desperately wanted to go to the police and had to be talked out of it.

In the mean time, I am going to review our security arrangments which will include the erection of spiked railings (I hate these things) , to deter people from climbing over the wall that seperates our balconies.

I like the idea of a dog, but dont want one in the house,

Next time I see her, I will certainly give her the gypsy eye

Cheers all

Well done, the thief has owned up. I would be very happy that the theif has owned up, most theifs will deny it at all costs even when caught red handed, so this can be claimed as a victory. Make it very clear to the thief that you are dissapointed that it happened, but that you will keep it quiet so long as the money is returned and there is no repeat. Make it very clear that should your trust be broken again not only will her family be told but also the police will be called in.

You are lucky in that the thief has owned up to stealing more than they have been caught with. Look at this as a chance to wipe the slate clean. This is a win/win situation, it seems the theif is remorsefull, and the threat of total shame infront of the family should be more than enough to keep them from doing it again.

Right so obviously your girlfriend didn't give her permission, there is only one thing to do.

You have to go round to the house together with your girlfriend and sit down and talk to the owners of the house next door. You have to tell them that you caught her in your bedroom, she lied and said she was allowed to be there, and say you want to know what she was doing there. You also have to tell them about the missing money and say it looks very much like it wasn't the first time.

Tell them you expect the money to be returned and tell them they are very lucky you didn't go to the police. Tell them the only reason you didn't go to the police was because you like them and wouldn't want to see them get in trouble. Tell them you won't tell anyone and it'll be kept quiet.

Tell them they are forgiven but you expect the stolen money to be returned.

If they get angry or have any reaction other than to accept your proposal you should just leave them for a few days to calm down, after that go back and see them and ask if they have had a chance to talk to the girl.

You musn't let them get away with this, you cannot walk into peoples houses.

An official family sitdown is required to solve this, you have to go over there and tell them you need to talk to them about something very important, say you want to sit down inside and tell them something serious.

With them sitting down and in a more formal setting you have more chance of getting a sensible reaction, and less chance of a jerk and them running off or trying to get away. Sitting down they have to deal with the subject, get them into a proper discussion and you have much more chance of sorting this out.

So just go on over there, kock on the door and say you want to come and chat to them about something quite important.

Let us know how you get on.

If the money came into the country via a single broker it would appear that the cash came from 1 original source. However we don't know how much, although someone must know how much baht that Thai broker sold on the markets.

That is where the answer lies. To know how much he sold is to know how much came in.

that would tell us if it was the same amount as they needed for tender offers, or much more, enough to buy all the shares from the family aswell.

Someone must know the answers to these questions, my guess is people have been paid very well to keep their mouths shut.

You know the more I think about it the more I reckon it's all stashed abroad. It's the perfect cover, a large amount comes in, looks like it's going to you but actually it's for the tender offer, meanwhile all your cash can be hidden offshore tax free.

I'm thinking if I was doing as many dodgy things as him I wouldn't risk bringing the cash into the country because you need permission to get it out, that would attract attension. You can always move the money in whenever you like. It makes sense to keep it offshore in order to invest it, in order to diversify and take away risks that having such a large amount of cash in one place can pose.

Why would you bother bringing your money into the country when you are going to need to send it back out straight away in order to invest it around the world. Thaksin is a billionaire, he would be a sophisticated investor, that means he wouldn't leave it sitting in a Thai bank account.

I'll say one thing, if that money is in the country he is eigher very very stupid, or cocky to the point of not even thinking straight. In no investment would you increase your weighting up to a point of putting your eggs in one basket, i'd say you definatley wouldn't put more than 30% in the country and thats if your really really sure.

If he brought all the cash into Thailand that would be stupid. It all depends just how greedy and stupid he is. If he thought he was invincible and could get better returns in Thailand he would bring it all over, but that would be so stupid, I can't believe he'd do it.

The only reason I could see him bringing it in was if he was so greedy he wouldn't pay people off to keep quiet which I can't believe he'd do. So if that money is here it will be here because he was stupid enough and cocky enough to bring it in and someone else was not willing to let him move the cash out.

In time we will know whether Thaksin was a complete bafoon and brought it all in, was extremely devious and left it all abroad, or hedged his bets and moved a portion of it in ready for any opportunities that may arise in Thailand.

He must have known all along that he risked asset seizure if people found out what he had been up to. You would have to be extremely sure of yourself to risk loosing a large portion of your total portfolio in any investment.

I would laugh so much at his stupidity if he has all the cash in Thailand

CURRENCY MOVEMENT: Baht’s rise due to Shin deal – BOT

Published on January 20, 2006

Broker sells foreign currency in market. The imminent takeover of Shin Corp Plc by Singapore’s Temasek Holdings is responsible for the recent strengthening of the baht against the US dollar, as a huge amount of foreign capital has flowed into the country prior to the transaction, the central bank said yesterday.

Bank of Thailand Governor MR Pridiyathorn Devakula said the baht’s appreciation was due mainly to the inflow of foreign capital for the purchase of Shin shares.

“It is for the purchase of Shin shares,” he said. “There was a ‘broker’ [associated with the Shin deal] selling [foreign] currency in the market. I just learned about it today, but don’t know how much money it has. I don’t know how many shares they’re going to sell.”

Pridiyathorn said the central bank had not intervened in the market yesterday and added that when the capital inflow ceases, the exchange rate would “be normalised”.

http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/01/20/bus...s_19704026.html

News reports mentioning banks where the money is held are signed and dated and publicly accessible. The notion that the money never even entered Thailand is based on what?

Good, then tell us exactly where which assets of Thaksin are held, and not just about all sorts of reports and suspicions.

Give me the facts, please, including proof, sources, etc.

When the Shin shares were sold the money came into the country via a Broker, this forced the baht up, so we know the money came in, but we don't know where. Anyone who says where the money is at this time is speculating, unless they are on the investigative team and know something everyone else doesn't yet know.

If a large sum of money had been transfered out again the baht would have weakened noticably, which it hasn't.

It would appear that most is still in the country, relative small amounts may have been secretly moved out, but secret movements of large amounts could be easily detected through the weakening of the baht.

Maybe he sneaked it out in cash or gold, that is always a possibility, but without seeking permission it is also illegal.

My guess would be most of it is still here although some has been moved abroad possibly in regular smaller amounts to avoid detection and also breaking the law on the amount allowed to be moved per transaction which I think is 10m US.

There are few holes in this plan. First, they could have got Sintel or any other partner on board without selling the whole company. Second, telecoms are nowhere near collapse. I seriously doubt that AIS and all other Shin subsidiaries have no growth left in them. Third, he couldn't invest this money into anything without running into serious "conflict of interest" opposition. Maybe he had something in mind, something better than Shin, but we haven't seen any evidence of any plan. Some speculations about where he could invest his money, but nothing concrete. Fourth, AIS was a steady revenue stream paying for TRT expenses, why kill the goose? Was he going to finance TRT from bank interests?

Or what if he was told to cash in and stop mixing business with politics? Then his "advisors" were unplesantly surprised when he sold it to another country and the hel_l broke lose.

I don't know, it just doesn't add up. We don't have a nice theory that would explain everything.

What is so difficult to understand in the simple fact that somebody sells a company when he gets the best price for it, and actually can find a buyer who can come up with that sort of cash?

People do that all the time. Why look for conspiracy theories when simple logic can give you the answer?

Yeah it makes good sense to sell a business when share prices are at record highs, the thing is we have to look at what made the shares rise in price so much, and then ask our selves if the methods employed were acceptable.

I doubt it, I don't think this is something that most Thai's are too bothered about. If bars close on these days they accept it, if they are open they will treat the day as any other whilst ofcourse each in their own ways showing respect.

I think the only people who will be excited about this are those who it directly effects in business. I think it has a lot more to do with removing the hallmarks of Thaksins 5 years in power. It's a statement that says we are no longer an authoritarian society. I think many of Thaksins policies will be reversed especially the ones that infringed on people civil liberties.

One of the symptoms of the Thaksin regime was the feeling of living in a more restrictive society. Somehow things didn't seem so fun, doing away with many of these laws is a sensible way of returning the country to how it was before as many of these policies if left in place continue to work against society and for Thaksin even though he is no longer in power.

So many things will need to be systematically changed or removed, otherwise they will continue to work for the high ranking members of TRT. It's no good just removing the main players, you have to dismantle the whole thing if you want to make sure these people don't have an easy time trying to get back in power sometime in the future.

I think it's possible Thaksin will be found guilty of many things, but I expect one of the main aims will be to ban Thaksin from being able to be PM again. With Thaksin's money he could certainly be a threat in the future, and he is young so has plenty of time. We know Thaksin doesn't give in easy, why should we assume he has given in for good now?

I noticed that Thaksin has already stated that he may run in the next election, whether this was just saving face I don't know, one thing for sure though is one day in the future when the leadership of the country is not so strong he may pounce and then there will be no way to get rid of him.

It's important for him to be banned from politics in order to eliminate that threat.

yeah my gf said something similar at first although we talked about it and we came to the conclusion that before thaksin was in power entertainment zones were open on those days, the article also says that the Royal household has no wishes for places to be closed on those days.

When you think of all the days Thaksin closed bars, buddha days and any other excuse, if his intensions were transparent and out of respect you could understand it, but when you know there are ulterior motives it ceases to be in the interests of the populace.

It is good to show respect but I think when that can have a negative effect on areas of the economy, maybe it's taking things too far.

It's simply astounding how many of Thaksins policies were made with aims to strengthen allies and weaken enemies. Just about every major policy TRT came out with had ulterior hidden motives. Literally nothing was done purely for the good of the people or society. Everything had to somehow strengthen power and increase their revenue, whilst at the same time not erode their popularity in the provinces. If not it was of little importance to them.