rickirs

The audacity of the PTP using the constitution and the King's authority to retain some control of the Government. Hasn't it learned yet that one must tear apart the constitution and conduct unending, disruptive protests leading to final victory by overthrow of the government to take control of the government. PTP just doesn't get it. Such tactics are the monopoly of the PDRC/Democrats.

I have no doubt Suthep will bring more charges against the PTP for their strategies in hopes of preserving his insurrection trademark. But he must learn this is Thailand; everything can be and is copied.

This ridiculous charge comes just after the disclosure that NACC member Somchai in his Facebook finds that "the expression of progovernment people and the red-shirts is the group of people which should never be associated with in the society." He further wrote, “Let us mourn this group of people,”

Tit for Tat.

Maybe Abhisit will call CAPO and suggest it be patient too - only to be fair.

Just for a minute imagine the government is a Democtrat administration led by Suthep and the leader of the PTP opposition party seeking to overthrow the government has a public, one-on-one meeting with the Justice Minister who embraces the PTP leader's visit and sits down with him to discuss his government reforms.And this meeting happens after Democrat PM directs its ministers to show solidarity for the Democrat regime and not to meet with the opposition party at least before discussing the idea of such a meeting with Suthep first. You think Suthep would sit idly by and congradulate his Minister for being so open and rebellious? The Minister would be lucky if he was thrown in jail for sedition. Worse case scenario is that a bridge will be named after him where he gets thrown off it, hands tied, and a whistle tied around his neck.

"One bail condition was that they must not do anything in any way to incite unrest." This condition might have been relevant in 2010 but with Suthep's many, many, final victory marches to incite people to over throw the Government over the last five months, I hope that maybe the Court is allowing a little more leeway to this bail condition.

Putin's response to Snowden: don't bother with a change of address if you push that question.

Can't wait to see Thailand request UK for extradiction for her committing a crime of lese majeste for this UK citizen. You know that will fan even more lese majeste comments globally. Best Thailand let this matter fade away.

There may be a bigger picture to this libel suit.

Thailand faces an automatic downgrade to Tier 3, the lowest rank in the U.S. government's Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report, unless it makes "significant efforts" to improve its record, according to the US State Department. A Tier 3 designation would put Thailand alongside North Korea and the Central African Republic as the world's worst centers of human trafficking, and would expose Thailand to U.S. sanctions - a major embarrassment to Thailand and to its military, ie., Navy.

In March Thailand submitted a 78-page report on its trafficking record for 2013 to the US State Department. Thai officials provided a copy to Reuters. In the report, Thailand includes no Rohingya in its tally of trafficked persons. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that

"We have not found that the Rohingya are not victims of human trafficking," but "In essence, the Rohingya question is an issue of human smuggling."

Thailand's distinction between smuggling and trafficking is critical to Thailand from being downgraded to Tier 3. The sacrafice of a couple reporters' freedom to protect the Navy and Thailand's reputation from US recrimination might be a small price.

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Building of this canal has been talked about since 1677

Who will pay for it ?

China will, so long as they can build it with their own cheap labour and then operate it and collect the fees for the next 50 years.

In the end of little financial benefit to Thailand other than a small share of the fees and maybe China will buy some more rice..

But a very good idea so long as Thailand's ships can use it for free

A Chinese contractor has operated the Panama Canal after the Panama Canal Authority took over adminstration of the canal in 1999 without incident. Canal fees are taxed by Panama and is the country's main source of revenues. As a side note, Panama now has a third generation Chinese population whose native language is mostly spanish.

A Chinese-financed canal benefits Thailand. If only Chinese labor must be used to build the canal (which I doubt can be mandated), their wages will also generate tax revenue in addition to any company payroll taxes and other national taxes. Thai suppliers and contractors might have priority in the canal construction that would further benefit the Thai economy. There would be no reason to exempt Thailand shippers from canal fees and deprive Thailand the revenue they would generate - they have the choice to avoid the canal.

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Any ruling given by the U.S. Supreme Court would be unquestioningly accepted in the United States. Many might disagree with them, of course, and vocally. But the rulings are always adhered to. And so should they here, as well. It is always interesting to see what foreign newspapers say. The Wall Street Journal has written a factual, balanced article. In the event of a ruling that was not adhered to, one's guess is that international attention would perk up very quickly. And opinion would just as quickly coalesce.

The US Supreme Court Justices are appointed by the US president, who is democratically elected.

The current make-up of the Thailand's constitutional court was appointed by the people who came to power after a military coup.

I'm not saying that Yingluck should disobey the ruling, just pointing out that there is a big difference between the two courts.

Yes that's a significant difference. The same holds true for the NACC, other Court appointments, and Senate having Democrat filled positions.

Do note that US President appointments to the US Supreme Court go through a two-step confirmation process in the 100% elected US Senate (unlike only 50% elected in the Thai Senate). First the appointments are referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee composed of select Senators that conducts hearings to determine appointee suitability. A simple majority vote by the Committee decides whether the nomination should go to a full Senate vote with any positive, negative or neutral recommendations. Second a simple majority of the Senate will decide final confirmation of the appointee.

The Government's position in the past has been consistent. It cannot issue royal decrees when it means breeching the constitution. Such action would submit the Government as performing an unconstitutional act and subject to potential jurisdictional actions.

Surachai said the charter requires the Senate to deliberate the request of the NACC within 20 days and the deadline is today (4/18/2014). Since the Senate cannot meet the charter deadline, a royal decree to open the parliamentary session later would be unconstitutional by the literal reading of the charter.

Surachai needs to request a ruling from the Constitutional Court. I'm sure the Court can rule within a week to clarify the situation. However, the Court may not necessarily provide a specific solution to the Senate's dilemma. Just as the Court ruled that the date for a new election to be held after the constitution mandated limit of 60 days must be agreed upon by both the EC and the Government without a royal decree, it may similarily rule that the Senate may open its session after the charter mandated limit of 20 days with agreement between the Government and the Senate Interim Speaker without a royal decree. It may come down to whether the Court cares to rule consistently without political bias or demonstrate a political bias in its decisions.

"..a Senate committee has questioned the university administration about Ms. Suda's involvement with a satire Chinese traditional opera with contents critical of the establishments." You know how sensitive the Chinese government is to any criticism; satire does not publicly exist in China. Might be that the Chinese made (ahem) subtle hints as to their displeasure with Suda's involvement and now she's gone.

"Thailand's Southern Islamic Federation?"

Is there such a thing at least geopolitically? In 1997 the Thailand Consitution was amended to provide that the King of Thailand is not only the administrative head of state but also the spiritual head of all religions in Thailand, including Islam. Shariah law does not apply to anywhere in Thailand. The King has a Muslim advisor on Muslim administrative matters, represents the interests of Muslims, and presides over a national council of Islamic affairsbut the advisor has no legal authority. But I find no reference of there being a legal jursidiction in Thailand called "Southern Islamic Federation." Perhaps that is a title the Muslim national council has given itself.

I see in this junior officer's career an assignment as security for the river ferry boat crossings.

Great. Will every "independent" agency get its own miiltia...er...security forces? Why stop there? Go ahead and each establish its own government as well. The only stock that is going up in Thailand is laughing stock.

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US Secretary of State James Baker promised not to expand NATO "as much as a thumb's width further to the East" (than Germany) Lies.

The then U.S. ambassador in Moscow, Jack Matlock, that said, "We gave categorical assurances to Gorbachev back when the Soviet Union existed that if a united Germany was able to stay in NATO, NATO would not be moved eastward." (In to what was East Germany).

But shortly afterward James Baker met with Mr. Gorbachev in Moscow to reiterate Matlock's statement, the Bush administration within hours of Baker's meeting with Gorbachev reversed its policy that would provide for expansion of NATO into East Germany as soon as the Soviet army vacated it. Since that time almost all the members (ie., Eastern Europe) of the Soviet Warsaw Pact have become members of NATO. So no lies, just reversal of foreign policy.

Your remarks are irrelevant in any case. Ukraine was never offered nor was it contemplated (then) for membership in NATO. With Russia's invasion of Crimea and open interest in goerning Eastern Ukraine, Putin might actually cause NATO members to push for Ukraine's membership.

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Perhaps they should have asked English people.

How would they recognize them?

Do they wear a badge?

What I mean't was London is a cosmopolitan city. Very easy to target foreigners of your target audience. They could have say, targeted Slav looking people,

If people were surveyed in Hyde Park Speaker's Corner, you'll find support or protest for every kind of political issue on earth.

Was 1,000 armed guards, now it's 2,400 armed guards. These guards control police access to protest sites and crime scenes. The control evidence at the crime scenes. They conduct their own investigations to apprehend/kidnap, hold, and interrogate alleged perpretators without regard to civil rights. At what point do the numbers of armed guards become an armed militia that operates freely outside the authority of Thailand's legal law enforcement?

These guards are split into seven groups - intelligence, patrol, rapid response, coordination with government offices, radio monitoring, inspection and overseeing welfare of the guards. This sounds very close to the formation of a government outside of the duly elected government. Next thing we will see is the formation of a PDRC court (aka People's Committee) to provide swift judgements to those that defy the Suthep regime.

I always am entertained by foreigners who attempt to draw paralells with US political history to their own country's political (mis)events:

"In the United States - arguably the world's oldest constitutional democracy - there was a time when the Supreme Court, not the people, elected the president. The case involved the 2000 presidential elections contested by Al Gore and George W Bush. The infamous "hanging chads" in Florida - where the number of votes was decisive - made the country more aware that polls were a very messy business in more ways than one could count. In that election, Bush was declared the winner."

Some Background. The US electorial college that elects the President is not affected by the overall national total votes received by any one presidential candidate. Most of the 50 states award all electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives "relative" majority (just the highest vote count-can be less than 50%) of the state's total popular vote. Each state's electorial count is then gathered in the electorial college. There any candidate who receives an absolute majority (more that 50%) of all electoral votes nationally wins the Presidential election.

In the 2000 election GW Bush won a relative majority of 48.8% of the vote in Florida that would have given him all the state's electorial votes in the electorial college by a slim a margin of 1,784 votes. A subsequent automatic machine recount reduced his margin to only 327 votes. Bush's win in Florida would give him an absolute majority in the electroial college and the Presidency. Gore then exercised his right for a manual recount but only in four Florida counties that traditionally vote Democratic and should have given more votes for Gore. However, Florida law also required all counties to certify their election returns to the State within seven days of the electionand the manual recounts could notmeet this deadline. The State Republican Secretary of State then certified Bush as the winner in compliance with the mandated deadline. Her decision was challenged in the Florida Supreme Court by a 4-3 vote and ordered a statewide manual recount be completed before certification could be completed. In a further challenge by the Democrats, the U.S. Supreme Court (highest court in the US) voted 5-4 to discount the late manual recount. Among some of the Court's rationale was that the validity of "hanging chads" as votes followed a nonstandard and contradictory process involving personal decisions by numerous individuals even within the same county.

So it is incorrect to say that the US Supreme Court elected the US President. It would be correct to say that the State of Florida did give Bush the necessary electorial votes for an absolute majority in the electorial college to become President. Since 2000 the State of Florida has gone from manually hole punched ballots to voter ink-marked ballots that are machined read. Computers can produce official election results within a couple days. While there are still discrepencies in mismarked cards (ie., use of a slash or "x" instead of filling in the circle next to a candidate) , voter "intent" is easier to quickly discern and standardize by human review. In the following two Presidential elections the State of Florida has not had a repeat of the 2000 voter mess.

The Thai Government, CMPO, and the Election Commission need to learn from election issues to further improve and refine the electorial process necessary for assuring a democratic election and elected government.

Morison and Sidasathian are being sued for libel over one paragraph from a Reuters report which suggested the Thai Navy were implicated in the trafficking of Rohingya. It has been presented that Morrison and Sidasathian merely quote the investigation by Reuters on the trafficking Muslim Rohingya asylum-seekers who had fled Myanmar. Obviously, just the dissemination of another reporter's investigation is news reporting and questionable as being liblious.

Where the libel act comes in is perhaps due to Morison and Sidasathian's own investigations and sharing their personal contacts (brokers and agents) with Rueters who explained in detail links to the military and how the persecuted people were smuggled to Malaysia. They also assisted on follow up stories. But maybe they did not caveot their stories sufficiently and singled out the Navy for blame over the trafficing scandal. To wit Rueters defended its story, "We wish to emphasize that Reuters' story does not single out the Thai Royal Navy, but explores the responsibility of all involved in patrolling the Thai seas and provides their perspectives." (my emphasis). Morison and Sidasathian may not have been so careful given their passion on the subject.

Thailand does seems to be overprotective of any accusations of impropierty against its institutions, especially with the military that seems to enjoy impunity for any of its actions. There is very little within the Thai governmental system that appears able to hold the military accountable for corruption other than the military itself. So, unfortunately at personal cost to Morison and Sidasathian, the libel charge should be publically examined and tried. There is a greater good for Thailand to lift the veil of secrecy on behavior of all its institutions.

Government domestic spending has one of the greatest impacts on GDP, whether it be directly funding national infrastructure that ultimate saves money or generates more jobs/businesses and indirectly through populist policies that raise the standard of living and increase business investments. But there has been only an interim government for the last seven months and the EC is projecting a newly installed government by next October, another five months away. An interim government cannot create new obligations and the current interim government has been forestalled to provide increased domestic spending by the Courts. Regardless whom is at fault for the political standoff, the continuing inability of the government to increase domestic spending will continue Thailand's lower GDP and slide into a recession.

Heartbleed is a problem on the side of the web provider. Unless your bank, stock trader, pension provider, etc. has informed you that is it has installed SSL and kernel patches to their systems to protect against Heartbleed and updated its SSL certification, you are at risk no matter if you change your passwords. Good luck all.

Anyone have a copy of the Internal Security Act? A google search failed to find the act itself. Please email me if you have it.

Thank you.

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Why would the heads of any state enterprises want anything whatsoever to do with Suthep?

Because, they support him, as does the MAJORITY of Thai people width=25 alt=thumbsup.gif>

If Suthep has the support of the heads of these many organizations, trade industries, and the majority of the people, why does he fear having immdeiate elections? But the fact is, when it comes to an election a head of an organization has only one vote and the majority of voters repeatedly show their majority support for the PTP party.