Eric Loh

You will hear when he leaves. There will be a might crack of thunder and the skies will be rent as the heavens protest at this m

an's hypocrisy posing as a monk using a holy place as a hide out.

The devil take him.

Well he didn't run off to Dubai like a cur with his tail between his legs.

Why you think he need to run when he is part of the ensemble that want to take out Thaksin. He need not have to worry when your mates are the good people and the people in power.

Understandable that the reds doing a full scale democracy whining now......Prayut is really doing something

Goodness, this investigation of this revenue tax case started long before Prayuth came around. In fact, the DG of the Revenue Dept was sacked during the previous government. You really think an intricate case could be sorted out during the short Prayuth tenure. Get real.

I think the US would give him a passport simply for being a fugitive from an M word D word. A lot of countries don't take an M word D word seriously at all.

Especially when the M word D word and Democrat sponsored judiciary forced him to become a fugitive by fleeing for his life.

Here we go again.

The paymaster was convicted for abuse of authority, a serious charge, the evidence was obvious and well publicized, there is no way anybody could say it was politically motivated, the case was heard and decided and the sentence of 2 years jail handed down whilst the paymaster's party was in government.

Next.

Serious charge really warrant an extradiction since South Korea has an extradiction treaty with Thailand. Looks like the government has given up asking for extradiction as most time the rest of the world just ignore. Wonder why?

Me think Watchara is unhappy because Ahbisit was not invited.

Remember that Prayut was part of the military crackdown on the 2010 PTP protests that resulted in 90 people killed.

No doubt he realized the inappropriateness of his presence at this memorium.

Shouldn't you tell Adul Kiewboriboon, chairperson of the Relatives of 1992 May Martyrs who submitted the invitation ?

Rubi, that invitation was done intentionally to ambarass Prayuth and he did brilliantly. Prayuth played right into his hands by rejecting. He should just ignore and keep silence which is beyond him.

Will need to re-boot our brain to think again after the junta government gives democracy back to the people sometime in the future.

Wouldn't be long before another statement from the Police to state that the transfers were normal operating procedure and not directly connected with human trafficking. Everyone is protecting their own kind. Probably end with the capture of few scrapegoats and made to confess.

Army is not involved for sure, but Thai Navy is the one removing the Refugee boat engines, and drifting on the ocean and abandoning them..

You mean like this ABC news, extract below.

"A man in hiding, who agreed to speak to the ABC, maintains that the Thai navy intercepted the boat he was on and then facilitated a handover to a broker.

They said why don't you give us money, we bought you, why did you try to escape?

Rohingya refugee

"The navy asked if we had food to eat and where we were from," he said. "They said don't tell anyone the Thai navy has seen you."

He says the navy directed the boat to land at Ranong on the Thai coast where it was met by a human trafficker who 'bought' the human cargo".

The same bumbling government will be deciding on our charter and economy. Scary future.

Doubt any military officials on the list.

Well, until Prayut orders them (again) to do so.

http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/thai-govt-tells-bot-to-manage-baht/51025/

Like a gentle remainder who is boss or else he will lay 44 on BOT governor. Under such circumstance, independence of the BOT was compromised.

Fitch report on Thai Baht

05 May 2015 9:30 PM

Thai Rate Cut No Panacea for Feeble Economy

https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/fitchwire/fitchwirearticle/Thai-Rate-Cut?pr_id=984161

Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong/Singapore-05 May 2015: The Thai central bank's decision last week to cut the policy rate and relax capital account restrictions highlight the persistent weakness of Thailand's economic outlook, says Fitch Ratings. Thailand's credit risk profile balances the country's relatively weak macroeconomic performance against a strong policy framework, and the recent policy action does not change that fundamental assessment.

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) surprised the market by cutting the policy rate by 25bp to 1.50% on 30 April, and then eased rules on Thai residents' foreign investments and non-residents' ability to borrow in baht, effective 1 May. The central bank's decisions came as weak demand and production indicators point to a lackluster economic recovery after growth fell below 1% last year amid political uncertainty and disruption.

Fitch expects Thai real GDP growth to accelerate to 3.5% and 3.7% in 2016. However, structural issues, including relatively high household debt and lingering political uncertainty weigh on domestic demand, and could turn out to be more serious in their effect than current forecasts anticipate.

The central bank cited the strength of the Thai baht to explain its rate cut. This was unusual as the BoT has not recently cited the exchange rate as a driver of monetary policy actions. The baht appreciated 4.3% on a trade-weighted basis in 1Q15, compared with a 1.1% depreciation for the median of 22 major emerging-market economies. This was in part caused by Thailand's hefty current-account surplus, which was USD8.2bn in 1Q15. This, in turn, reflects the weakness of domestic demand. This will contend with the announced measures to spur capital outflows in exerting an influence on the currency.

A cheaper baht is unlikely to be a panacea for Thailand even if it can be achieved. Gross exports in Thailand have not grown since 2012, according to official data, suggesting a broader, structural decline in competitiveness. We highlighted the ability of Thailand's export industries to improve their competitiveness as a potential key factor that affects ratings in our recent sovereign review published in April.

The ability of rate cuts to spur demand is also likely to be limited by the already high level of private-sector indebtedness. Bank credit to the Thai private sector totaled 159% of GDP in 2014, up from 113% in 2008. That is substantially higher than the median 61% of its 'BBB' rated peers, and even tops the medians for 'A'-rated (107%) and 'AA'-rated (110%) sovereigns. Household indebtedness is likely to drag on consumption.

Thailand's net international investment position (NIIP) is negative as foreign direct investment into Thailand - counted as a liability - more than offsets the country's net asset position in debt-like instruments. Easing capital account restrictions to facilitate cross-border capital flows could boost Thailand's NIIP over time. But Fitch sees limited upside from this for the credit profile as we already regard Thailand's external finances as a strength. A large current account surplus, status as a net external creditor in debt-like instruments, and robust external liquidity buffers provide the economy substantial protection from external shocks.

The BOT has in the past resisted calls by Finance Ministers to cut or increase the rate and have always stated that the exchange rate was never a driver of monetary policy. This time they relented and I suspect that the independence of BOT has been compromised. The knee jerk reaction may benefit Baht depreciation but judging from the USA muted economic results and their high budget deficit plus the positive current account that Thailand enjoyed, the Baht will gain strength eventually.

Eradication of the establishment foes and not preventing a civil war or bring happiness back was the purpose of the coup. Has been the reason for past coups too. Some gullibles here still think this coup was different.

Prayuth doing himself no favor again by reacting and responding off the cuff. A crackdown is just a short term partial knee jerk solution. He should gather his thoughts and consult and provide a more holistic solution like some posters mentioned like stricter law enforcement, harsher punishment as deterent, fast track prosecution of the guilty, stricter control of clubs beyond official closing time, social awareness campaign, review safer bikers lane.

When I heard that the camp was in Padang Besar, I was suprised that it was not detected. This border town is very small and has a population of less than 15,000. How could foreigners and movement not detected in such a small border district is beyond me. Only reason I can think off is that it has been protected by the municipal top guys with cooperation of the local police and the military stationed in the south. That the camp was located so near to the Malaysian border hint strongly that they were heading to Malaysia where they are better suited as Muslim. There are Malaysian working hand in gloves with the Thais and it will be better for the PM to work with the Malaysian authority to put a stop to this permanently.

Really the laugh is on the military and made a fool of themself. First they thought it was live and actually went searching for the General. First laugh. It was actually a repeat broadcast with the first broadcast on Wednesday morning. Second laugh. Above all,the interview had nothing to do with the UDD or even the charter. Reserved the biggest launch for the junta arse kissers here. It was about the restive south.

I sense that the independence of BOT has been compromised.

Ricardo, you are defending the democractic value of a man who boycotted 50% of Thailand general election held under his leadership. I remembered back in December 2013 on CNN, he unequivocally said that he would "welcome an election and that it is the first step towards trying to solve the country problems". 2 weeks later, he boycotted the election.

It's not unusual for Thai politicians to say one thing, then do another, especially in the run-up to an election.

I think (and did say) that he was wrong to take the Dems out of the February-2014 election, where I think PTP would have done quite badly. He should have let Suthep quit the party, to lead his campaign, and carried on within the system. But he didn't, the whole elected-party had quit, supporting Suthep when they'd already forced an election. But was that his tactical-error, or just something which he had to live with, once they'd resigned as MPs ?

You're saying that he was conveniently used, then thrown away, and is actually weak and lets others dominate him, yet here he is standing up and saying something which will be unpopular with the military & amart, which takes courage IMO.

The popular Red view, which I'm not necessarily attributing to you, is that he is a total puppet for the military, but that doesn't square with what he's doing now, does it ? You view it as him being cast aside, once his usefulness is passed, I believe it might be genuine conviction.

There are times when he does act like a Western-educated leader, and stands up for what he thinks is right, this makes him stand out from other former-PMs like Samak ("did you have vigorous sex last night ?") or Somchai (who was playing golf in Chiang Mai while Rome burned Bangkok was in turmoil) or Yingluck ("pity me, how badly my family has been treated, smirk three times !").

I would argue that he's been the best, of a pretty bad bunch, in recent times !

He does seem to keep standing up, and saying things which make sense, like this criticism in the OP. Would you say he's wrong about that ? Does he believe what he's saying, or is he merely following orders from above, would you say ?

Not the first time that Ahbisit made a statement of clear principled intention and then do something totally undemocratic later.. His political life time as leader of the Dem Party has been full of half truth and insincerity. I am also not taken by his facade as a good orator as it is the content that really count. To me he is much like a chameleon and have made very poor major judgement and decision. In politics it's suicidal and have hurt his credibility for his politial life time. I still think that he should step aside as he carries just too many political baggages and liabilities for his party.

Ricardo, you are defending the democractic value of a man who boycotted 50% of Thailand general election held under his leadership. I remembered back in December 2013 on CNN, he unequivocally said that he would "welcome an election and that it is the first step towards trying to solve the country problems". 2 weeks later, he boycotted the election.

This is surely further evidence, that former-PM Abhisit and the Dems are totally in-the-pocket of the amart ... and that his strings are being pulled by the military, erm ... erm ... right ? [/

Heard of the term that in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies? He was conveniently used for that moment of political times and now cast away when he served no useful role inthe current setup. Ahbisit really has little democratic principles and many times have compromised with undemocratic force to make his political gains. It's unfortunate that such an educated man and a life time career as a politician is actually weak and allowed others to dominate him in party and national politics.

Is ASEAn still menat to be implemented this year ?

ASEAN was implemented since August 8 1967. Think you meant AEC.

They government has almost impossible situations on their hands. Past governments and state officials have done little or nothing to correct them and now they are all falling into the General's hands at about the same time. I hope he can resolve them. I don't envy his position.

He didn't have to take on the role of PM, a poor tradesman always blames his tools!! You reap what you sow and deflecting it back to the previous inept crowd is expected from a particular quarter. He was warned about the impact of Martial Law on the economy by REAL economists and financial experts and he dismissed these as being anti junta and that nobody understood Thainess or the situation in the country.

There is NOTHING stopping him from stepping down and bringing in a cabinet where he has the experts, the losses occurred in the Thai economy due to the coup have been Staggering if the economic experts outside of Thailand are to be believed.

Bottom line, it's happening on his watch, he and he alone brought in people like Kobakarn and put his buddies in positions they had no experience in.

Yes he inherited a mess, but he wanted that position so badly, and now has ultimate control with no accountability with article 44, he has to accept the bad shit along with the good!!

Knowing his demeanor, the man is just too proud to step down or even ask for help from technocrats. I will give him credit for trying but honestly he and his generals are totally inadequate in collective skill and expertise to solve the economic and political headwinds. His only solution is to have the election as soon as possibility can even if it means another 8/9 months of economic struggle and an ugly charter. I also think the EU will give an extension to the outright ban if the junta show some degree of efforts inner-structuring the fishery industry. Really to expect a result in 6 months is purely insane and not possible.

Government should respond with a robust and unprecedented stimulus package to help the export sector. So far we have not heard of any. So much the government can do like tax reduction for equipments, capital injection, liquidity provision, cut in export duties and excise tax, government delegations to seek more markets etc etc. unfortunately none seen or forthcoming. Anyway, if generals can run the country, then we don't need an army.

_{Last week, Jatuporn Prompan, leader of the Redshirt movement's official umbrella organization, called for postponing the election in order to address the new charters undemocratic nature, including a clause that allows MPs to appoint an unelected Prime Minister, the establishment of an unelected Senate, and the establishment of powerful unelected "independent" agencies.}

_{Jatuporn Prompan.......................................... and who elected him to anything ? what gives him the mandate to speak at all}

Ahbisit said the same thing. Are you going to lash at him or you just being selective as always.