Eric Loh

^^

Each to their own of course, but I wouldn't throw her out of bed to get to the good General..

They are both (and most Thai politicians) hypocritical. I have only seen a few good ones Abisith and Korn

Both examples highly overrated and equally corrupted.

Kept his political stance since 1992 when he joined the pro-democracy students against another junta government in his twenties. Has not sold out his principles since then. Seen inside of the jail and still fearless. He got some qualities to be admired.

So what does a political activist sell to become rich, if not principles? What does it take for someone to pose as a representative of the downtrodden, while taking the money and orders of a criminal intent on plundering the nation?

In typical style,you speaking from your imaginary thoughts but nothing to back it up. So happen I have. Jatuporn declared assets was 8.2 M Baht. Contrast that with Suthep, your hero, had 95 million declared assets. Total assets 8.2 M is rich????

But, but, but......Suthep. The topic is Jatuporn, remember.

How many Thais do you know with B8.2 mill? Where did it come from Eric? Oh that's right, people just give him gifts and money, which I assume means he doesn't have to pay tax, or explain what he's doing for his income.

The Suthep comparison is necessary too educate you on the extreme of wealth. Regarding where his money came from, just think through how Ahbisit got wealthy without working. Caveat here; it's not a comparision but really an educated information.

Kept his political stance since 1992 when he joined the pro-democracy students against another junta government in his twenties. Has not sold out his principles since then. Seen inside of the jail and still fearless. He got some qualities to be admired.

So what does a political activist sell to become rich, if not principles? What does it take for someone to pose as a representative of the downtrodden, while taking the money and orders of a criminal intent on plundering the nation?

In typical style,you speaking from your imaginary thoughts but nothing to back it up. So happen I have. Jatuporn declared assets was 8.2 M Baht. Contrast that with Suthep, your hero, had 95 million declared assets. Total assets 8.2 M is rich????

This monk was first spotlight back in early 2000s, his charges were deflected by Thaksin. Now his current move where his supporters are preventing his arrest is just another classic play from the red shirt manual. Are people even surprise? perhaps you are if you are not well aware of this monks history and political connections.

I see you are selective in your post. The Wat controversies started well before 2000s. In fact the first high tension dispute between followers and authority goes back in 1999 and who was the government - Dem and PM Chuan. The government subsequently didn't pursue the case and the Thailand Nation Office of Buddhism dropped all charges until this new charges surfaced in 2015. Tell the truth and don't distort the facts.

Love it or hate it. It highlights there is no accountability nor is there ANY freedom. JUNTA RULES

While,of course, in your opinion the word democracy and the name Jatuporn have something in common?

He supports a party that was elected by the people and opposes the junta who took power by force of arms. So yes, I for one would say that the word democracy and the name Jatuporn have something VERY MUCH in common.

Kept his political stance since 1992 when he joined the pro-democracy students against another junta government in his twenties. Has not sold out his principles since then. Seen inside of the jail and still fearless. He got some qualities to be admired.

This really turn things on his head. Boonchai Bencharongkul is highly critical of Thaksin policies and now in the same camp as Thaksin? Or the myth about the wat owe its allegiance to Thaksin is busted? So the Wat is not really Red. Lots of red faces ihere who keep harping on the wat pivot to Thaksin and the Red theory.

It's not rare for two criminal organisations to endorse each other for mutual benefit. That a member of one is critical of the other doesn't mean it didn't happen.

I do see your point. 2008 judiciary coup followed by the Dem and the military working together for mutual benefit to form the government inside a army barrack. Criminal and you are spot on.

So it was a pointless and unproductive trip as no MOUs were signed, no businesses were concluded and no mention of the free trade negotiation.

Well I suppose the ( elected) Indian leaders had a bit of a giggle afterwards...

Will be mighty strange for Mr. Modi, architect of India economic success and world traveler to get more trade. Must be wondering to himself, why didnt he just call.

This really turn things on his head. Boonchai Bencharongkul is highly critical of Thaksin policies and now in the same camp as Thaksin? Or the myth about the wat owe its allegiance to Thaksin is busted? So the Wat is not really Red. Lots of red faces ihere who keep harping on the wat pivot to Thaksin and the Red theory.

Interesting point... and relevant.

To what extent - if any - is Wat Dhammakaya a front for the Reds?

Thaksin has been silent on the issue, unless I've missed something.

Is he the ​eminence grise ​in this showdown, or is he really uninvolved?

No, it's never dull in Thailand, that's one of its charms.

Never a dull moment it is. Back in 2010, infamous or fame Khun Sulak actually accused the Ahbisit government of financing Wat Dhammakaya. It was denied obviously.

I guess the UDD got the last laugh. They got to get the media to expose Prayuth double talk and that the junta has lots to hide in the running of the referendum by shutting down the centers and disallowing foreign observers. Jatuporn has outsmarted the junta once more and junta left chasing shadow.

So it was a pointless and unproductive trip as no MOUs were signed, no businesses were concluded and no mention of the free trade negotiation.

Bold words from a man who has the power to write his own amnesty.

This really turn things on his head. Boonchai Bencharongkul is highly critical of Thaksin policies and now in the same camp as Thaksin? Or the myth about the wat owe its allegiance to Thaksin is busted? So the Wat is not really Red. Lots of red faces ihere who keep harping on the wat pivot to Thaksin and the Red theory.

Hand outs and religion are the tools of shinawatra.

Nah, PAD has their Dharma Army and PDRC has Issara.

So the money-grabbing sect are playing the political card and we have a few posters swallowing that.

The stupid argument seems to be that because we have a junta then all laws are out the window. Anarchy comes to mind.

This is a legal case that so far, concerns the DSI, police and an accused monk who refuses to even acknowledge a case against him.

I don't anticipate a storming of the temple, advocated by some, but the DSI still has a few cards up it's sleeve. For example get AMLO involved and freeze the temple's bank accounts. Block all wifi & mobile comms is another possible escalation, And so on.

Law is not out of the window. Just that which law to apply. Extract of a BP article explained "The law of God, of men, of the junta? The law of the well-connected and the privileged? The law that stares at the poor and the disenfranchised like the eye of the inferno? Dispensation of fair and equitable law?

Some posters have inferred that because we have a junta, laws are out the window - not me.

The laws of Thailand are man-made just like most other countries and it's not the laws that are at fault but the implementation of them.

The law in this case IS being (or trying to be) brought against an extremely wealthy, privileged & well-connected individual. You are choosing the wrong case in your attempted deflection.

We have laws, the problem is not just implementation, it's more of interpretation that is part of the political problem and a bane to reconciliation. I don't expect you to see that.

Most laws here are not implemented due to a highly corrupted police. Laws are interpreted in a way that usually favours the government at the time - that applies to any government here.

Yes it doesn't help reconciliation but neither side is making any real effort now and in the past.

Somehow the law didn't interprete in government favor when the ex-PM was banned for 5 years for crony appointment while crony appointments are common in this government. You should add political expediency as another bane in the political divide.

That said reconciliation has nothing to do with the fact that a monk & his followers consider him(self) above the law that has been in place for years and junta-haters have jumped on the 'politicised' bandwaggon.

Why can't Thai Buddhism come to a compromise.

Yellow Buddhism and Red Buddhism.

Simple.

One for the rich and one for the poor. One for the North and North-East and one for the rest of the country.

This is going through the minds of Thai people as they watch Buddhism dragged through the mud everyday in the media.

Maybe the corruption is going on and all the government say is correct but the way they handle the case's is truely amazing. So amazing that some even question whether the P.M himself is Muslim. When there was scandal in the Catholic church no one was raiding the vatican, sending soldiers or police into churches, putting out arrest warrant on priests, hunting down bishops. This is like medieval times.

No wonder the followers of the Dhammakaya Temple want a different government. How long will the Buddhist purge last for?

I see nothing amazing about trying to arrest a man who received 878 cheques worth 11 billion baht embezzled from a cooperative by the former chairman of Klongchan Credit Union,Supachai Srisupakson who is now serving 16 years in jail for fraud.

.

Received? The cheques were donations. The abbot apologised that he didn't know or question where the money had come from. But the abbot did return all the money when evidence had been presented that this money was stolen.

Naturally 674 million baht' donated' by a cooperative in Klong Chan is an every day event for a Buddhist temple, no way to check its origins, 'we're just a simple temple not interested in money.'

So when caught, he asks donors for funds to return the money.' Hey, I committed no crime I've returned the money!'

Return the money and all is forgotten. Doesn't that sound awfully familiar. That's another interpretation of junta law.

So the money-grabbing sect are playing the political card and we have a few posters swallowing that.

The stupid argument seems to be that because we have a junta then all laws are out the window. Anarchy comes to mind.

This is a legal case that so far, concerns the DSI, police and an accused monk who refuses to even acknowledge a case against him.

I don't anticipate a storming of the temple, advocated by some, but the DSI still has a few cards up it's sleeve. For example get AMLO involved and freeze the temple's bank accounts. Block all wifi & mobile comms is another possible escalation, And so on.

Law is not out of the window. Just that which law to apply. Extract of a BP article explained "The law of God, of men, of the junta? The law of the well-connected and the privileged? The law that stares at the poor and the disenfranchised like the eye of the inferno? Dispensation of fair and equitable law?

Some posters have inferred that because we have a junta, laws are out the window - not me.

The laws of Thailand are man-made just like most other countries and it's not the laws that are at fault but the implementation of them.

The law in this case IS being (or trying to be) brought against an extremely wealthy, privileged & well-connected individual. You are choosing the wrong case in your attempted deflection.

We have laws, the problem is not just implementation, it's more of interpretation that is part of the political problem and a bane to reconciliation. I don't expect you to see that.

So the money-grabbing sect are playing the political card and we have a few posters swallowing that.

The stupid argument seems to be that because we have a junta then all laws are out the window. Anarchy comes to mind.

This is a legal case that so far, concerns the DSI, police and an accused monk who refuses to even acknowledge a case against him.

I don't anticipate a storming of the temple, advocated by some, but the DSI still has a few cards up it's sleeve. For example get AMLO involved and freeze the temple's bank accounts. Block all wifi & mobile comms is another possible escalation, And so on.

Law is not out of the window. Just that which law to apply. Extract of a BP article explained "The law of God, of men, of the junta? The law of the well-connected and the privileged? The law that stares at the poor and the disenfranchised like the eye of the inferno? Dispensation of fair and equitable law?

He better start placing equal importance between India and China. India is an emerging superpower and will be the 3rd largest world economy by 2020 while China is walking a economic tightrope and may run into a financial crisis due to the ballooning public debts like Greece. Thailand will do good to sign the free trade agreement with India as soon as possible. Somehow I really have serious doubt whether Prayuth knows anything about world economics.

If we take the PAD government house 8 moths siege as a yardstick, this standoff will probably go similar distance. Then arrest warrants were issued to the core leaders and their followers obstructed the arrest attempts several times and none so far has been convicted. So good luck to the arrest warrants and the futility.

So does this mean he is not going to be charged?

TIT?

The situation has entered into a different phase when the monks state that Dhammakaya will only surrender to an elected government. They now challenging the legitimacy of this junta government and therefore the charge is illegal. What's next? Anybody guess and holding their breathe who will blink first. The saffron revolution may have planted the first seed.

This discussion and most of the posts on this thread are quite frankly pointless, the UDD have no mandate or authority to even comment on such matters for a start.

Does anyone actually know what value an observer would add.............

When people vote they generally do it in private - no foul can be detected at that level

People talk about vote buying in Thailand like there is someone standing at the booth offering 500 baht to tick a certain box, that is not how vote buying in Thailand works, it all takes place in the villages through the head man, he distributes the funds to his flock and they are told to vote a certain way, they have no choice - money talks and elections are bought here, no observers will ever be in a position to witness vote buying in Thailand, nobody will ever dare speak out about it but we all no it goes on and is prolific

Now that we know how vote buying works, we really need neutral observers when you consider that the junta has full control from village head upwards and they have the financial might to bus in voters and influence voters. Don't you think so?

I see a constant stream of posters on this forum advocating the use of force to arrest an unwilling suspect in the midst of his own barricades and innocent followers (innocent of criminal charges). This is not much different from Waco, Texas and I think we all remember how that one turned out.

I still have faith in the government (more than any preceding one) that the job will get done but it's a sensitive issue which doesn't need a "shoot first, ask questions later " mentality

I agree with what you say about "advocating the use of force to arrest an unwilling suspect" and "shoot first, ask questions later "

There are so many people e.g Taksin and Co supporters that are constantly barking on how bad the junta is, comparing it to the Nazis and Hitler etc..

Imagine what these anti Junta mouth pieces, would say and do if the army went in guns blazing to extract that stooge of a monk and his trouble making followers. It would be the exact excuse that they would need.

The army had no hesitation going in guns blazing in 1976 student massacre and 2010 killing. The junta care less for an excuse and give shit to world opinions. The only reason I see that the Prayuth and Prawit are staying clear of this situation is that their positions are not threatened. The protest is peaceful and localized unlike Rajaprasong and Bangkok shutdown which are public places and threatened security. But I will be very careful of 3rd party temple enemies that can instigate the situation that give the excuse for the army to move in forcefully.

and when these brainwashed (and probably well funded) idiots end up getting hurt because of their blind faith in a criminal they decided to protect from the law, they will try and sue and press charges the same way the red shirt terrorists did.

No sympathy, I hope they all get some good jail time instead of amnesty.

It is way past time that Thais learn that there ARE consequences to your actions.

Fantastic forward looking vision. Seeing well today.

I am starting to believe there are political players involved in this that want confrontation, I can reason no other logic behind this sham, they tried it with students which failed.

This is not an attempt to destroy Buddhism that has already been partly achieved with the very obvious criminality involved with these so called Buddhist temples and their leaders, it is they that have brought shame on Thailand

Money rules all here, what about the people that lost their savings

Thailand history is littered with proxy wars with the real masterminds behind the scene. The current government is a example of a proxy war staged by a wannabe monk and a tormented monk.

So; after another month of ass scratching and thumb twiddling they will drop the case and another criminal gets away with millions...farcical !

Slow down. He has not answer to the charges and he is yet to be indicted. Legally he is not a criminal and he did return all the money to back to KCUK and even got a thank you note. I think that's where the anger from the followers are from. The illegal money was 'donated' to the wat in 2009-2011 and only in 2015 did the DSI found that the ex-President KCUK had fraudulently authorized withdrawal. How did the monk know it was illegal donation? legit question. Lots we laymen don't know and the color allegiance messed up even more.