15Peter20

Totally predictable. Encourage depolarization and stalemate. This way, no single party will ever be able to be perceived as being more powerful than the army and its associates.

I hope they've got good lawyers now.

She's an army sycophant. Like some posters here. The difference being at least she gets something in return for her sucking up.

Thai style democracy is not democracy at all.

The continuous subversion of democracy in Thailand by whichever side is out of power will only be resolved once the white elephant issue is done and dusted.

Until then, failure will be built in to any form of 'democracy' these people can come up with.

Soon we'll only be able to get relevant news outside of Thailand.

Jamie your still banging on about Yingluck being a criminal.

Your posts are getting longer and more repetitive yet you still refuse to list the criminal convictions recorded against Yingluck.

It shouldn't be that hard for you they must be recorded somewhere.

As for your pro junta rhetoric I really can't understand how you can even remotely support a regime that not only to the country by force but constantly denied that they wouldn't and this bloke would never be PM.

You wouldn't cop it in your own country being denied the vote and living under martial law and all that entails.

He's married to the mob, mate.

Q) How long before junta supporters realize their mistake in supporting forced leadership?

A) However long it takes one to swallow their pride.

How dare those peasants get contaminated with poisons! Now they're never going to attain happiness during the junta's reign. Arrest them immediately as subversives and keep that economy fuelled!

So at last there is real evidence the government is serious about ending corruption without fear or favour.I think Prayuth should be congratulated.I take this opportunity to dismiss with contempt the foolish minority which contends the initiative is not really about corruption at all but something quite different.These naysayers are clearly in the pay of Thaksin and are determined to undermine the reform process that all good Thais and foreigners support.

To jayboy - no, he's being accurate.

Ditto - Prayuth deserves congratulations. Having been thrust into this, at least he intends to see this through, and does it for the benefit of Thailand, and all that matters within Thailand.

...and I'm being serious. This present military regime is very very different than the goons that took out Thaksin previously.

Exactly.I fail to see why some are so cynical.Having been initially cautious I now understand the Government is genuinely going after the big fish, and for that all right thinking people must thank it.It's just irritating that a small group of malcontents insist that this particular crackdown is in fact nothing to do with curbing corruption at all but rather something completely different on which they cannot be specific.

Oh you will have your fun with them, won't you. I guess that's the only kind of meaningful return you'll get out of this lot. Laugh on. Might as well. Little much else to laugh about in this sad state of....well, just sad state.

What a farce.

Why don't our military rulers just cut to the chase and add an explicit clause in the next constitution stating that no Shinawatra or associate can ever be a politician. That's what they'd really like to do, though of course it will never solve their basic problem which is that many voters don't like establishment politics any more.

It appears they don't really and truly know what they are doing.

Well now we know why no specific reason was given for the man's dismissal. The soldiers couldn't exactly say "he had the wrong political allegiance" could they? That would be to implicate the truth, which is that the army's forced acquisition of power was purely politically motivated.

Without money changing hands, the RTP are beholden only to the army. i.e. those with bigger guns.

The photo made me throw up a little in my mouth. This slime in a robe should not be invading anyone's consciousness any more.

So four major sackings at the top of the police in one week and not one clearly defined reson for any of them. The public interest is shat on once again.

So in your expert opinion it would have been in the public interest to leave these people in their top police jobs.

We hear all the time that the police force is extremely corrupt and needs a good clean out yet when top police who are presumable among the corrupt are moved on we see some complaining bitterly. You cant have it both ways, either a clean up starts or it doesn't and the top is a great place to start as it sends a clear message that no one is safe and is a huge loss of face for those that have lost their powerful jobs.

You appear to have jumped on me having misunderstood my point.

The problem isn't necessarily that they have been sacked - they may well have deserved it who knows? And 'who knows' is the problem. No-one knows. Whilst you seem content to accept a near total lack of transparency in the moves, the 'public interest' usually demands more.

The truest thing Chalerm alluded to and which hasn't really been commented on by analysts was the idea that PTP/Thaksin will always resurface unless their political opponents find a way to tangibly improve the lives of their support base - the rural poor.

Its all very well for anti-Thaksin TVers to profess knowing what is good for the rural poor better than the rural poor themselves know, but the inescapable truth must be addressed by the Dems/Military - put your money where your mouth is and invest in rural infrastructure and social development. Otherwise you are just blowing bubbles out of your elitist asses and well large numbers of the electorate know it.

Or a real political party emerges, that truly fights for the rites of the poor, working class Thais with real polices that will deliver a fairer society.

Not one extended family hi-jacking it and manipulating things to enrich themselves even more, and install a family dynastic dictatorship.

Replacing the current feudal hierarchical elite ruling base with a greedy inept one family dictatorship will do little to improve things for the poor.

Fair enough, but no one ever truly fights for the poor. It would have to be poor-sympathetic faction or influence within the groups you describe that could deliver incremental improvements over time. Lets face it, the only reason why Thaksin has so many fans among the rural poor was because he thought giving them something would give him more back. End result though - the poor got more.

The truest thing Chalerm alluded to and which hasn't really been commented on by analysts was the idea that PTP/Thaksin will always resurface unless their political opponents find a way to tangibly improve the lives of their support base - the rural poor.

Its all very well for anti-Thaksin TVers to profess knowing what is good for the rural poor better than the rural poor themselves know, but the inescapable truth must be addressed by the Dems/Military - put your money where your mouth is and invest in rural infrastructure and social development. Otherwise you are just blowing bubbles out of your elitist asses and well large numbers of the electorate know it.

The lives of the poor have been so enhanced by the Yingluck, Thaksin clone, Govt that 16 poor farmers killed themselves over the debts they incurred because someone forgot to make provision for their payment before they dissolved parliament.

The poor are now in deeper debt than they have ever been because of the policies of the previous administration led by a minister of finance who believed it was a good thing to lie about the economy as it would give people confidence.

The previous administration reversed the Dems policy of making school uniforms and books free and made parents pay for them, they dumped the Dems package of education reforms that was on the table when they took over in favor of tablets and we know how that turned out.

The previous administration reversed the Dems policy of making health care free and went back to charging 30b even though it cost more to administer than it brought in.

Meanwhile Thaksin has increased his wealth 450% in the time of the Yingluck administration, or so he is reported to have told Forbes.

*sigh* Thanks for the party political broadcast. Where do I sign up?

Unfortunately for the sake of balanced discussion, your reactionary zeal has prevented you from addressing the central point I was making. I will therefore break it up into baby steps in the hope that something will register:

1) Do you accept that in order for PTP/Thaksin to be kept out of power given democratic elections, their support base must be swayed away from them towards the Dems? (If no, why? If yes, go to step 2)

2) Do you agree that in order for the majority of current (latest?) PTP/Thaksin voters to vote for the Dems, the Dems have to implement changes which have a real and beneficial effect in their lives? (if no, why? If yes, go to step 3)

3) Do you agree that the rural poor are able to gauge when their lives are better and when their lives are worse? (if no, why? if yes, go to step 4)

4) Congratulations! You agree with the central points of my post. Just pretend that Chalerm didn't make any of them - it could cloud your judgement if you don't.

The truest thing Chalerm alluded to and which hasn't really been commented on by analysts was the idea that PTP/Thaksin will always resurface unless their political opponents find a way to tangibly improve the lives of their support base - the rural poor.

Its all very well for anti-Thaksin TVers to profess knowing what is good for the rural poor better than the rural poor themselves know, but the inescapable truth must be addressed by the Dems/Military - put your money where your mouth is and invest in rural infrastructure and social development. Otherwise you are just blowing bubbles out of your elitist asses and well large numbers of the electorate know it.

The NRC in action.....

They are trying to take Yingluck to court for her Rice-pledging scheme (and rightly so) and now they are introducing their their own ricepledging!!

Makes sense!!

And according to the general: No populist policies!!

Congratulations! You just got junta'd.

Clarkson is a tit.

I'm not sure if this is correct. CSI La seems to be saying that Nomsod has been arrested and that Hannah was shot in the head.

Interesting. And may I say finally this had been released then.

CSI LA has posted the claims and as I have difficulty with the site I can't find it now..it was mentioned that it was on the scottish news. I looked there and nothing. I also went to the Scotland Yard site and nothing.

Someone suggested it may have been a theory from a Thai poster..the gun bothers me a little. Recently the police showed a gun supposedly found in a Myanmars hut.

From what I could read on CSI, majority are saying the shooting sounds more plausible and would explain blood and (can't say it) on the rocks.

If you go to timeline on the site you may see it tucked away.

Didn't you see the crime scene photos? The wound to Hannah's head could not have been made by any kind of bullet in my opinion. But easy to see how a hoe could have done it.