aimbc

If it looks like a pig and smells like a pig then it must be a .?

We all knew the G to G stuff was a political scam as were,deals such as Thaksin's Shin and Burma.

The term G2G was used in order not to reveal details of the transactions. In fact most of the time they sold the rice to local traders that were friends of the Shin clan at very low price. They covered up these transactions by claiming that they sold rice to other governments and therefor couldn't reveal figures.

http://www.capitalrice.com/index.php/riceupdates/archive/80

Also I think it was a cover up to obtain approval for additional loans to pay the farmers as an advance for the eventual payment from the G2G deal. Which we now know is bogus.

All in all, going after YL is the best strategy. My opinion is that she never scrutinized any thing. If one can remember, her interview before becoming PM was that she was a hands off manager. So that is what she did. She relied and believe in every report given to her as the ptp hid behind her back stealing from the policies. Thaksin will be forced to sacrifice his men to get her out of the mess. We just now have to wait till all the finger pointing starts.

At the end of the day rubl it was still a democratically elected government unlike what Thailand has in place today.

Election is only part of the process. There are check and balance that was not working and that is why it failed. But some one need to be accountable for this. If not, the cycle will never end. Everyone will just be living in a fools paradise.

The only people complaining are the politicians and they are the ones who created these mess.

Yes, Thailand politicians need a time out. And unfortunately it affects the innocent democracy as these politicians are not fit to care for it.

I think most of us can agree that she is just the pesticide to chase out all the infestation.

Maybe its a Typing error and they mean "Fool Democracy" ?

You must be referring to YL administration.

So much scums being uncovered under the military rule. But I hope these people get real punishment instead of getting slapped and some how forgotten or lost in the judicial system.

I think YS should speak up for her self and appear in person when she is called upon to show her sincerity, instead of opting to have her statement made through her lawyers. This shows she is 100% in control of herself.

Answer some of the hard questions with some thoughtful analysis rather than just spout out there was nothing wrong with the policies. Like she couldn't stop the rice policy because it would be against the law. No such irresponsible policy was already designed to be a criminal intent to buy votes and to siphon money out of, all by hiding behind the poor. If how to win election by seeing who can give out the most money, Thailand would be in a debt that it can never dig it self out of. And who would end up flipping the bill? Surely not Thaksin, he managed to avoid a lot of taxes.

As far as her innocence is concern. She is innocent only because of her ignorance to her role as a prime minister or as the chairperson. She is only innocent because her brother and party made her the scape goat for all their ill intentions.

Another fine mess ! Yesterday it was said she had been ' asked ' to attend, another report said ' requested '. In normal usage both asked and requested can be met with a refusal but I wondered about the reaction if she did ignore the letters.

Today it says the letter ' told ' her to report but later it's clarified that she doesn't have to.

If have no idea how much is lost in translation but if accurate it show attitudes and procedures are lax, to say the least.

Surely someone facing indictment on serious charges should be present unless ill or ' unavailable ' but as ever TIT !

I think they are clarifying that she would still be prosecuted either way if she shows up or not. This way, the indictment won't be delayed as that is the most common tactic these politicians will use to steer themselves out of trouble.

I can't believe how gullible you numb nuts are. If you could actually understand what the cops said they said you can't have a knife in the car they were specific about the knife. It wasn't a Swiss army knife as you know it with all the tools it was a switch blade. And that's it. What the hell you need a knife in the car for anyway. I've never heard of a car jacking in Thailand! Glad to see the cops doing thier job. Noone should be driving around with a weapon in the car and thats what it was a weapon not a swiss toolset with a blade in it. Damn talk about tabloid news.

How does anyone buys a knife in Thailand. Do we need to apply for a knife license?

If the police logic fits, it would make it illegal to sell such knife in the street. You will noticed at the airport, serial Swiss style pocket knives I the not for boarding bin. I wonder of those people also got fined. Several years ago I once carried a utilizing knife which heading to board a flight. I didn't know it was in my bag at the time. The security screener spotted the knife and placed it in plastic bag and told me to pick it up from the crew upon my arrival at Chiang Mau. I am sure they don't do that any more.

I think the bottom line is that Thai police have been out of practice of being honest that they forget how to honestly enforce the law. Even their interpretation of the law is very muddle and shows you that they can pin anything on you in return for bribe money.

What a lousy excuse by the cop and not admitting their mistake. It really sends an unclear message to whether or not a knife like tool can be carried in the public. Besides the tool is still inside a private car and not yet out in public. And it's clearly a utility knife and mainly used for emergency purpose. I wonder if vendors of such a knife in Thailand like the sporting good stores ever advise the consumers of the legality of carrying such a tool.

Something drastic needed doing to rid Thailand from the self serving scourge of the Shin clan. They were depleting The Kingdom and its citizens from every bit of finances humanly possible. The Shin clan and its gang took needed funds that could have greatly increased the living standard of the average citizen e.g. education/ sanitation/water distribution/roads etc.

Yes the appearance of liberties being diminished is a concern. However in the short term it might be significantly necessary to halt the ones who want to further cripple Thailand and keep citizens subservient to the rich/powerful minority. In the long term if the coup eliminates the cancer of the Shin family and ALL corrupt officials, the general will be held in the highest regard and a savior of Thailand. Time will tell. And it takes time to dismantle a corrupt empire and build anew.

What on earth are you going on about. What a melodrama that story is.

What selfie said was that corruption in Thailand only started after Thaksin become PM. Before Thailand is a land of bliss, devour of oorruption and standard of living, education were all good. This melodrama should be made into a movie. Good guys like the general and his elites should play the key roles

The last election clearly showed that. Just looking at Rice policy, tablet for every child. Both riddled with corruption. But all placed to win votes. Buying votes on the back of tax payers and siphoning money out from under them as well. None are sustainable policies and surely none were well thought of. I am sure YL didn't see any thing wrong with it. It was just like a big shopping spree with someone else credit card.

Can someone point out what peacekeeping missions and to where was thailand involved or how much financially thailand contributed to those peacekeeping or any other missions

Thailand has been in many. You need to not be lazy and look it up yourself. Some maybe UN peace keeping mission. And money is not always the most important thing to sacrifice, but there is a high risk of losing your life during these deployments.

According to Sorpong Peou of the Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada:

"Thailand did not begin contributing forces to UN peacekeeping operations until 1991 and since the downsizing of its contribution to UNAMID (in 2012) has made only a modest contribution; 31 uniformed peacekeepers as of 21 May, 2014. Defense spending per troop: $17,211; global average per troop $70,000."

CLICK HERE to read the full article: http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Thailand-Peou-21-May-2014.pdf

Thanks for the links. As I read, Thailand has sent many troops, more than the 31 quoted here. If you read further on the 1 page and look on the second page, you will see that it was a significant amount.

Again lives are on the line with these missions and they are more than any some financial figures can place.

I see one reason why it the US backs Thaksin. He sent a large contingency to Iraq. Scratching each other back. My guess is that is one of the trump card he pulled. But than any questioning of the killings of the Muslim under his watch or the many judicial killings of suspected drug runners are not pursued. As proof, we can see that USA would like to use Thailand as a tool and any other country for that matter.

I think Mr Russell should have also talked about accountability, responsibility and transparency in a democratic society and that election is not the only thing making up democracy.

Obviously he was very biased. If USA keeps going like this and trying to dictate things to other countries without considering the history and situations, they may be giving more fire power to anti-American countries.

I wonder if most poster here are just riding on a trend to criticize Thailand's method of solving it's own internal problem. I think it's valid that martial law has no major affect on most expats or tourist. I still see people at all the usual hangouts. Expats and tourist still are able to voice their concern about Police harassment and are not in trouble for it. We hear complaints about taxis problems and actually being dealt with. Top officials are being dealt with and members connected to the royal family has also been dealt with. Sure there is a lot to do, but at least the ball has started to roll. To me martial law has not affected much of anyone's lives. The only ones that it has affect are all the politicians. Who has always profited from the people with their criminal actions.

Everyone here all agree that corruption is embedded in the Thai culture, but when someone tries to do something about it, then they get criticized. Remember corruption are able to happen because the ones making all the loop holes for corruption are...guess who?.....all the lawmaker aka: politicians. So that is the root of all problem.

Why do you think everyone always has a hard time doing anything with the government. All the documents you have to print out or fill out with multiple copies. Maybe Thailand is able to produce paper cheaply.. All the visits you have make on a quarterly basis. All these seemingly over excessive procedures are justified by the lawmaker, but actually is exploited by the government officials so that they can give people a helping hand to speed things up. Basically, laws and procedures in Thailand are designed to make it hard to do anything without the magical assistance of the officials...hence bribes and payoff for favors. I am sure some of it happens in US and other democratic societies as well. But in Thailand they just apply it to everything.

Democracy needs to come as a necessity and not as a fashion statement. Thailand, like most everything they tried to adopt from the western civilization, are usually done with less than half intent. Like most restaurant charge tip, but you don't even get the service to warrant the tip. They do it without understandings what it's all about.

Same goes with democracy. Trying to get in line with the world trends to go towards democracy, maybe required for a successful world trade partner.

But now time has come when exploiting democracy is clear as day, it's time to stop this madness. I nor most Thais would like to see another populist policy that will out do the last rice policy. Promising outrageous scheme and not being accountable or transparent, it's that what democracy is all about? No one wants the politicians to mortgage Thailand's future for their political gains. It's this democracy too?

So I hope Thailand will find it's own flavor of democracy and not be swayed by any one or any country. This is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Serve democracy up Thai style and not in any other way.

there is no such thing as " Thai democracy" every young democracy needs to grow and will go through turbulent times. Every time this process is interupted by a coup it resets the counter to zero.

You mean like USA did with the civil war?

I don't think there is anything to sense, it has been stated over and over again by Jen Psaki here: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/statements.html

The curious thing is that from what I can tell nothing has really changed at all between the change in the governments. Only the flow of money from the very top has been diverted.

I would really like to know why foreigners support either of the political factions, because doing so is the equivelent of liking a football club. It is meaningless, besides for sport and loyalty. I'm polite to both sides, and whenever Thai people try to drag me into a political debate, I just politely ask them "Has anything really changed in your life?" and the answer is always is "no." So, if the U.S. knew diplomacy, they would do likewise.

Unless something has actually changed for them. If so, what has changed between U.S. Thai relations that can be observed or measured in terms of trade?

US policy has always been to promote democracy through out the world. Kind of like every religion try to achieve.

It's like a belonging to a club. I guess to be friends with the U S, you need to follow their rules. US has their fair share of problem with civil war. Thailand thankfully do not need to go this direction to solve its problem.

U.S. is a country with no national identify or deep cultures, so it will never understand other countries. It's a country that claim it's making a better country by stealing it from the indigenous people. What ever it takes for the country to distract from the attention of the world on what they have done in the past they will do.

I do not hate the US, it's a great nation. But they need to learn to respect that every country has its way to solve it's democratic problems.

The U.S. has no national identity?

Where did you get that moronic idea?

http://www.lifeintheusa.com/culture/index.html

The United States is both an old country and a new country. American values have developed over several centuries, affecting (and often being enriched by) successive waves of immigrants. The trend continues: old ways blending with new ideas. The best way to look at it is to realize that while Americans are often open to new ways of thinking, they have a deep culture, and a deep sense of being American, one that is not always that easy to describe. Those who disagree, who believe the country has no true culture compared to the “older” civilizations of Europe, Asia and elsewhere, do not truly understand the United States.

I don't see anything in this article saying that America has an identity, just bunch of culture intermingled together. And this is his opinion.

First of all what does it mean to you to be an American. Does blacks in America considered an American? Does Asian in America consider to be an American. Does Hispanic in America consider to be an American. I don't think you can get 100% of the US citizens agree with that. Actually very few that are not Anglo-Saxon or European descent are not immediately considered Americans in most people's eyes. So there is a definite identity issue in America. Even though Hispanics, Blacks and Chinese have been in America for so long any other race, I don't think they will ever feel like an American they way they are treated.

When I talk about identity, I am talking about going back far into the family lineage. Many countries are like that. For instances traditions. What are the traditions in America that is truly American? Holloween? Valentines? There are very few I can think of that is a true American tradition. Right now nothing comes to mind. Maybe you can enlighten me.

So be for you use such childish words to flame anyone, think before you type.

If they would take their jobs more serious and try to actually perform, instead of sitting

around playing games, chatting, and not giving a shit about anything, may be than

businesses in Thailand would not need to hire twice as many workers than in the west,

and they would get a better salary ...

Take away their smartphones and they would have 8 hours more per day to do something else...but I don't know if they would fill any of that 8 hours with work.

But even the ones who have their own shop don't give a dime about customers, Line is far more important then making money. If i have to wait for that then i'm off and will never return to them.

Well that should have kept at least 14,000 BIB occupied for quite some time as it seems they run in pairs to apprehend those little devils on wheels.

Wonder how many they blew of the bikes with their big caliber weapons, and how many bystanders were injured? The RTP motorcycle and foot patrols seem to be getting kind of wild and mean tempered when enforcing what are traffic laws. Too bad the don't come down as hard on the national roadways where the real carnage takes place. But it is one small opening for the pedistrain, now what about crossing the street.????

Democracy needs to come as a necessity and not as a fashion statement. Thailand, like most everything they tried to adopt from the western civilization, are usually done with less than half intent. Like most restaurant charge tip, but you don't even get the service to warrant the tip. They do it without understandings what it's all about.

Same goes with democracy. Trying to get in line with the world trends to go towards democracy, maybe required for a successful world trade partner.

But now time has come when exploiting democracy is clear as day, it's time to stop this madness. I nor most Thais would like to see another populist policy that will out do the last rice policy. Promising outrageous scheme and not being accountable or transparent, it's that what democracy is all about? No one wants the politicians to mortgage Thailand's future for their political gains. It's this democracy too?

So I hope Thailand will find it's own flavor of democracy and not be swayed by any one or any country. This is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Serve democracy up Thai style and not in any other way.

Yes i believe him also that there is justice for everybody in Thailand.

Except if you support the reds then its obvious u will loose in each and every court case no matter what

Thainess

If they are guilty, yes and that is why they have trials. So what is your point? Seems like you are saying the reds can do no wrong.