halloween

Seem only the UDD taking a lead role in keeping the junta decent for the referendum. The junta should just allow the centers to function. They just there to help the junta to detect fraud. Why is the junta so afraid of transparency. They should thank the UDD for using their resources to help make the referendum credible and give the junta a better image after they staged an illegal coup and caused a global PR meltdown.

The government did allow the opening of the centers, but UDD insist on sending their observers to polling stations to monitor the polls. Only the EC can observe and monitor the polls. The public is not allowed to do so, this is why the centers were shut down. The centers were only complaint centers, so no laws broken in the first place.

Ironically you are saying why the junta was afraid of transparency, while UDD and the PTP was in the exact same boat with their Rice Scheme.

The new constitution is giving the army a even tighter grip on power, some say this is to prevent further chaos in the years to come as a great storm is brewing (things going on behind the scenes).

Either way both the DEM and PTP seems to be on the same page regarding to the new constitution.

UDD is not asking for observer status. Observer status is under the purview of the EC and under NO circumstances will they grant the UDD observer status. So far, I believed the EC has only grant ANFREL that privilege. UDD is only asking for fraud monitoring centers. Totally different definition.

How did you come to the conclusion that the rice scheme was not transparent. The media, oppositions and activists had a field day exposing the scheme and even came out with their own audit and profit and loss figures.

Agree with you on the last para. Big price for the nation to pay for one man fear. Between the DEm and PTP, Ahbisit has been quite quiet recently and very guarded on his comment of the charter. Sporadic dig but no consistency. I doubt his sincerity.

1/ the UDD wants to make the referendum credible and help the government.......blah blah blah. Even you don't believe that, or that the UDD is impartial.

2/ "The media, oppositions and activists had a field day exposing the scheme and even came out with their own audit and profit and loss figures." Whereas, the government did not. That is what transparent means.

whoops

Customs: "Why do you have 12kg of Peruvian mayonnaise in your luggage?"

Mule: "I eat a lot of salad."

Suddenly it's not UDD, it's red shirts protesting to the UN. Because if the UDD take a protest to the UN, the UN might just ask "Who are you, again?" and explaining how they came to be the spokesmen for the downtrodden could get a little bit complicated.

As long as he can't write donation cheques on the company account.................

I think Chalerm has a couple of valid points.

First, if the previous NACC panel did not come to a satisfactory conclusion of its work, than the current panel should not be staffed with members of the previous panels. Instead, those previous panel members should be called to testify before the new panel.

Second, I believe a couple of members above have misconstrued Chalerm's complaint at the end of the article. He is complaining that Vicha previously displayed bias by not allowing testimony by officials from the Budget Bureau to that previous panel. One would assume the Budget Bureau would be a relevant source of information about disbursements that were perhaps too large or misused.

I don't have an opinion about guilt versus innocence on this matter. It just seems to me there is a predictable collection of Thai characters that draw almost exclusively "ad hominem" criticisms on this forum. Ad hominem remarks are usually a lazy and ineffective substitute for refuting an argument using evidence and reason.

What Chalerm needs is a couple of valid convictions, followed by a life sentence. The man has a long history of corrupt deals, cronyism, nepotism, witness intimidation, murderous family members miraculously exonerated and then promoted, incompetence, false claims, lying to parliament, misrepresenting ownership of his assets, and public intoxication, notably while representing his country abroad.

And yet, this scum is regularly #2 on Thaksin's party list, and appointed as DPM. If you want one shining example of the problems with Thai democracy, he is IT.

I knew someone would prove my point.

Do forgive me, I'll be more specific to your points. To begin Chalerm suspects Vicha is biased against him. If you wonder why that would be, refer to my last posting.

You claim that the previous panel members should be excluded. Why? AFAIK only the head of the panel is involved, he is familiar with the case, which he can now bring to a conclusion without political pressure to drop it.

What relevant information could the budget Office bring? They knew the payments were made, the inquiry is about the inappropriate size of those payments. What can the budget office say, there was plenty of taxpayer's money to squander?

Perhaps he should have known that there are some parts of Thailand where expressing a contrary view to that of the local political mafia results in intimidation and violence. And it has been that way since long before the junta took over.

Hang on. Look at the 2nd face from the right. Isn't that Tarit?

How old is this photo?

W

Tarit never had a moustache.

BTW we use the 20 litre bottles of Reverse Osmosis treated water. Cheap at B15 home delivered and the water quality is fine.

If you only drink reverse osmosis, you should take mineral tablets, you need magnesium, potassium etc...

I buy mineral water, gets cheaper in the long run.

The salt content is reduced, but its not like you are drinking pure water which will drain electrolytes from the body. The amount of salt is actually determined by the pore size in the filters. The g/f is a great cook and insists that we eat at home, so I have a very healthy Thai style diet, without the palm oil. There should be sufficient minerals in the vegetables which make up the bulk of it.

OTOH during hotter months, we keep chilled bottles of rehydration mix in the fridge, and drink a glass or two each day to avoid night cramps. They are quite tasty and around B4-5 per packet when you buy them by the box.

never create life, that is a living cell, or even explain how the complexity of it or matter first came into being.

http://www.popsci.com/scientists-create-living-cell-with-minimum-number-genes

"Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!" Frankenstein (1931)

I think Chalerm has a couple of valid points.

First, if the previous NACC panel did not come to a satisfactory conclusion of its work, than the current panel should not be staffed with members of the previous panels. Instead, those previous panel members should be called to testify before the new panel.

Second, I believe a couple of members above have misconstrued Chalerm's complaint at the end of the article. He is complaining that Vicha previously displayed bias by not allowing testimony by officials from the Budget Bureau to that previous panel. One would assume the Budget Bureau would be a relevant source of information about disbursements that were perhaps too large or misused.

I don't have an opinion about guilt versus innocence on this matter. It just seems to me there is a predictable collection of Thai characters that draw almost exclusively "ad hominem" criticisms on this forum. Ad hominem remarks are usually a lazy and ineffective substitute for refuting an argument using evidence and reason.

What Chalerm needs is a couple of valid convictions, followed by a life sentence. The man has a long history of corrupt deals, cronyism, nepotism, witness intimidation, murderous family members miraculously exonerated and then promoted, incompetence, false claims, lying to parliament, misrepresenting ownership of his assets, and public intoxication, notably while representing his country abroad.

And yet, this scum is regularly #2 on Thaksin's party list, and appointed as DPM. If you want one shining example of the problems with Thai democracy, he is IT.

Is this the 2nd or 3rd?

This man is an embarrassment to the struggle for democracy in Thailand, He has to walk the plank for the sake of credibility of Thaksin and the UDD. And he's not the only one, that appalling Sino-Chinese woman has to go as well.

Winnie

No honour amongst thieves, Winnie? You expecting Thaksin to dump Chalerm (who btw has no connection to UDD except they feed off the same tit) is one thing, but dumping his sister is a bit much to ask.

Well, I didn't call you, but now you;re here...

Thaksin should have dumped this guy, he was only in the camp because he was/is allegedly a local mafia godfather.

The woman I referred to was not Yingluck. Apart from that you're wrong, you're right.

Please wait until you're called next time, these impromptu whinings of yours get tiresome.

Winnie

Chalerm is a Thaksin crony from waaaay back, helping him get some of his earlier corrupt deals. Known scum, second only to Thaksin, when Thaksin could get on the party list.

Amusing how you immediately jump to the defense of Yingluk, previously unmentioned. Thaksin has 2 sisters, one even more appalling than the other.

But of course, the combination of UDD and "appalling Sino-Chinese woman" more naturally leads to Thida Thawonset, right? But if you think Thaksin should dump Thida from the UDD, isn't that an admission that you believe he controls it? Oh dear, and all this time you've been feeding us porkies about its independence.

It is true that Thailand has been a violent country for a long time and that the presence of CCTV and mobile phones with cameras have exposed it more. To add to that the fact that everything now gets films means that the brain dead Thai youth see it as their fifteen minutes of fame and play to the audience. Not just in Thailand but also in many other countries.

CCTV and YouTwitFaceTube has replaced the traditional tattoo.

Got to agree. In Oz, even the "nice" girls are getting a tramp stamp.

The Yingluck govt is being prosecuted for paying compensation to families of unarmed citizens, including journalists and emergency medical personnel, who were shot and killed by RTA snipers?!? Who better deserves the money?

Nobody is disputing that those hurt/killed don't deserve compensation, though I would about who caused the injuries. The easily justified claim is that the LEVEL of payment was far higher than compensation paid before or since. If PTP wants to buy loyalty from their supporters, let them do it with their own money, not taxpayers'.

That is the whole trouble with Thaksin administrations, they have difficulty telling the difference, and a tendency to use the wrong account for personal expenses. That, and a belief that being elected gives them the right to enact laws for their own personal benefit.

Initially - you do understand the word? That will change.

One of the functions of the senate is "To provide protection against a government, with a disciplined majority in the House of Representatives, introducing extreme measures for which it does not have broad community support." e.g. an amnesty for their crimes.

Another is "To probe and check the administration of the laws, to keep itself and the public informed, and to insist on ministerial accountability for the governments administration." e.g. fake G2G rice deals and the failure to curtail the rice scam

http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/odgers/chap0107

Can you give me any reason why a 100% elected senate would perform these functions better, or even NOT WORSE? As one of the main reasons for elected senates is to have equal numbers from each state to protect state's rights, and Thailand doesn't have state governments, why should we have elected senators other than some vague claim of democracy because that's how they did it back home.

Without being too facetious, I truly wonder about your level of education.

Hopefully this doesn't come across as too provocative or insulting, but you must be either very, very simple or incredibly prejudiced bordering on fascist to write the things you write.

"Why would a 100% elected Senate perform these functions better" you ask.

It begs the follow up question "Why would a 100% elected lower house perform their functions better than an unelected coup government?"

Guess the best thing to do is to do away with democracy altogether.

Would that make you happy?

(I think it would)

BTW: Thailand has 76 provinces, after the last coup the Senate composition was altered by the Generals to consist of 1 Senator from each province and 74 "appointed" Senators.

There are plenty of fair ways to establish a system of elected Senators to act as a check on the government of the day, but that is not the aim of the current rulers. They want a system that perpetuates their control of the state and for some unfathomable reason you support this.

How sad.

After the insults, you want a "follow up question" without bothering with an answer first? Is that normal where you come from?

Despite your username you seem to miss the bleeding obvious. Senators that ARE NOT party affiliated with government (and in PTP's case that means being paid to be members of the party and toe the party line) are MUCH more likely to vote against the party in the 2 functions of the senate I gave. Did that not occur to you?

As to your fatuous claim 'There are plenty of fair ways to establish a system of elected Senators to act as a check on the government of the day' why don't you give us ONE?

The unfathomable reason (you must be a length short in your rope) is that I would like to see a senate that fulfills its functions rather than appealing to some unjustified claims of democracy.

But the claims are justified in this instance, the senate as envisioned by the draft constitution has far reaching powers, including the right to have the government packing. In such a case, those senators have to be elected, either directly or indirectly.

In your opinion. I notice that you don't wish to talk about the ACTUAL functions of a senate though. why is that?

yes there might be some nutters in the west, but we dont pop along to the police station to try and make a case against them and get a cringing "photo call"

If some nutter in the west grabbed me and forced me to go through an exorcism involving physical abuse, I would be down the police station asap.

BTW no mention whether the exorcism worked.

This man is an embarrassment to the struggle for democracy in Thailand, He has to walk the plank for the sake of credibility of Thaksin and the UDD. And he's not the only one, that appalling Sino-Chinese woman has to go as well.

Winnie

No honour amongst thieves, Winnie? You expecting Thaksin to dump Chalerm (who btw has no connection to UDD except they feed off the same tit) is one thing, but dumping his sister is a bit much to ask.

Has there ever been any suggestion Cambodia is thinking about nuclear power?

"A" for effort, "F" for failure.

If you think your Thai other half is above such nonsense, try whistling at night, preferably somewhere nice and dark. I am assured that "everybody knows" that whistling at night is sure to attract ghosts.

It would be fun if it turns out he is a recent islam convert.

Yes, and no. I had on 2 occasions an extremely painful passing of stones in the first few years that I lived here. Medical advise from several sources was that I wasn't drinking enough water, and that if I didn't change that, serious kidney damage was the inevitable outcome.

Coming from a cooler climate, you will loose more water, and salts, through sweating than at home.

BTW we use the 20 litre bottles of Reverse Osmosis treated water. Cheap at B15 home delivered and the water quality is fine.

We are talking about setting up a Democracy aren't we? Senators should be elected not appointed That way they are accountable to the people not to who appointed them. I'm so confused.

You think that appointed senators won't be outstanding representatives of the groups they represent?

If not being directly elected is a problem for you, what do you think of the 125 MPs appointed by party list? Who are they accountable to? While thinking about that, consider that on PTP's last party list, #1 was a wealthy person, with no political experience, buying office, #2 was Chalerm, and things didn't improve much as it went on to Jatuporn, Weng, Nattuwut, Arisman's wife because he was hiding in Cambodia and other notables facing serious criminal charges. Who WERE they accountable to?

Those party list MP's are of course still accountable to the electorate. How do you suppose those 125 party list MP's got there in the first place ?

If the electorate wouldn't vote for say PT, they wouldn't have any party list MP's in parliament. I don't understand this issue, in my country the party list system IS the only system, and in fact, I believe Thailand should follow suit and abandon the constituency system. Popular vote ensures no votes are lost and doesn't need the convoluted way they are now trying to prevent those votes being lost in the draft constitution.

The poster you responded to, has a thorough understanding of the draft and the reasons behind it. Too bad some people still haven't understood, or worse refuse to understand. Democracy the draft won't bring, that much is perfectly clear, except for a tiny number of Junta supporters.

The appointed senators, having far reaching powers, are there for one reason, and one reason only. They are an instrument for the people that are at the front and behind the current coup government as a way to sidestep the electorate, nothing more and nothing less. This has nothing to do with democracy.

By the way, I am amazed at Meechai being unfazed by the rejection of the draft by the two most popular political parties, good for over 83% of the popular vote at the last general election. Maybe that cheating center is actually needed, how else are they going to get a yes vote ?

Really? I mean really??? You think every voter checks the party list of each candidate, and that it would sway opinion/votes away from an otherwise popular candidate? How many voters do think actually said to themselves "Chalerm! Yes, he's my choice for DPM." Perhaps a party list only system might work that way, but the combined does not IMHO.

I have put my views of the senate selection in another post. If you wish to refute them, feel free to do so in a reply to that post. Saves me repeating myself.

Initially - you do understand the word? That will change.

One of the functions of the senate is "To provide protection against a government, with a disciplined majority in the House of Representatives, introducing extreme measures for which it does not have broad community support." e.g. an amnesty for their crimes.

Another is "To probe and check the administration of the laws, to keep itself and the public informed, and to insist on ministerial accountability for the government’s administration." e.g. fake G2G rice deals and the failure to curtail the rice scam

http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/odgers/chap0107

Can you give me any reason why a 100% elected senate would perform these functions better, or even NOT WORSE? As one of the main reasons for elected senates is to have equal numbers from each state to protect state's rights, and Thailand doesn't have state governments, why should we have elected senators other than some vague claim of democracy because that's how they did it back home.

Without being too facetious, I truly wonder about your level of education.

Hopefully this doesn't come across as too provocative or insulting, but you must be either very, very simple or incredibly prejudiced bordering on fascist to write the things you write.

"Why would a 100% elected Senate perform these functions better" you ask.

It begs the follow up question "Why would a 100% elected lower house perform their functions better than an unelected coup government?"

Guess the best thing to do is to do away with democracy altogether.

Would that make you happy?

(I think it would)

BTW: Thailand has 76 provinces, after the last coup the Senate composition was altered by the Generals to consist of 1 Senator from each province and 74 "appointed" Senators.

There are plenty of fair ways to establish a system of elected Senators to act as a check on the government of the day, but that is not the aim of the current rulers. They want a system that perpetuates their control of the state and for some unfathomable reason you support this.

How sad.

After the insults, you want a "follow up question" without bothering with an answer first? Is that normal where you come from?

Despite your username you seem to miss the bleeding obvious. Senators that ARE NOT party affiliated with government (and in PTP's case that means being paid to be members of the party and toe the party line) are MUCH more likely to vote against the party in the 2 functions of the senate I gave. Did that not occur to you?

As to your fatuous claim 'There are plenty of fair ways to establish a system of elected Senators to act as a check on the government of the day' why don't you give us ONE?

The unfathomable reason (you must be a length short in your rope) is that I would like to see a senate that fulfills its functions rather than appealing to some unjustified claims of democracy.