halloween

3 minutes ago, JAG said:

Well as it happens there is a school of thought that holds it likely that is exactly what they have done, only not declared it and taken measures to ensure it remains, umh, unremarked...

We will have to see what narrative eventually emerges.

Oh goody, a new conspiracy theory. How does this one fit in the the "helped to escape"?

4 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Don't think he ever was a friend of Yingluck but after his 2010 atrocities, he tried to moderate his profile by the pretentious siding with her. Now his full sneakiness and hypocrisy are displayed full view. He hiding behind his military immunity for all

his unexplained and inappropriate wealth. 

Besides your attempt to sidetrack the topic, bringing up the topic of "unexplained and inappropriate wealth" may not be a good idea where a young man is in receipt of B10 million from a convicted criminal, especially when the young man's father is defendant #1 in the crime.

36 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

You raise two issues in your second paragraph that I find interesting.

 

First, can a (corrupt or not) government be tossed out by the voters at any time?

 

It is difficult to give an answer with 100% confidence as there are so many factors involved, and not all of them can be quantified easily. That said, I believe the answer is yes. One can never know exactly what will happen in a campaign, and more than once a party/candidate has does something stupid which has cost them the election (see the recent UK election). However, one requirement that I think is required is that the opposition needs to be seen as a potential "government in waiting" and has 'earned' that label. Yes, these are a nebulous factors, but I believe that it is one of those things that "everyone knows" even if it cannot be explained. 

 

This is one of the interesting questions in Thai politics. Are the Dems considered a "Government in waiting"? Yes, I think they are. The question that I ask myself is have they 'earned' that label? My view is that they haven't, but rather that they are simply the alternative to a 'Red' government. I suspect that they are never going to do well until they can offer either a platform which has wide acceptance or a leader who is seen in a better light than the current one.

 

The second issue is whether it is better that a party form a coalition before or after an election.

 

There is something to be said for having a lot of parties going into an election as that gives voters a wide array of choices.

 

However, I tend to come down on the side that it is better to have 'big tent' parties rather than a bunch of little ones. The main reason for this is that the coalition building process AFTER an election doesn't seem too democratic to me. For example, if you voted for party 'A' based on a specific policy, and that policy gets negated during the coalition talks, then your vote has essentially been negated. In essence, your are voting for the negotiators rather than a policy or policies.

 

I prefer to see large 'big tent' parties with wide-spread support going into the election as that seems the best way to know what you will get. 

 

Any thoughts?

"First, can a (corrupt or not) government be tossed out by the voters at any time?"

You think yes, conveniently ignoring that it becomes impossible if a large enough bloc of voters are willing to ignore the corruption when enough benefits are thrown in their direction. Then, when the corrupt politicians are thrown out and prosecuted, you claim political persecution.

Should the ballot box over-ride criminal law? Does political popularity absolve crime?

Which do you think most likely, they were going to hump the logs back to VN, or they had someone willing to buy locally?

Just now, yellowboat said:

She will wait until the appropriate time, when the junta is suffering from a large setback.  Doubt she feels a sense of urgency at the moment.

Her sense of urgency cut in on the 23rd when she finally realised big brother couldn't keep her out of prison. All her own fault for not getting that amnesty through - you give a woman ONE job...........

17 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

Funny first three posts from the yellow lovers all off-topic just making puerile political points as usual.

What is political about asking why he and his mother's stooges were paid B36 million by a convicted criminal whose loan application was pushed through by his father, aka defendant #1?

Why do YOU rush to defend those who clearly have a legal question to answer?

Yesterday the claim was that the B10 million was used to buy shares. Today it was "a joint business venture". Anything but part of dad's cut from the scam.

Hey, me and mum, we only got B36 million, it's only a tiny fraction of the entire amount of the multi-billion-baht fraud. Why should we be prosecuted?  We're Shinawatras, it must be political.

39 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Thaksin did a runner and yet, the 'Red' side won the ensuing election. I can think of no reason to believe it will not be something similar again.

 

Many people hate the Shin family (not without cause) and consider them to be the main cause of problems in Thailand.

 

I disagree with this assessment, for the most part.

 

The problem, in my view, is that the Bangkok based political entities simply do not have the trust of the people in the N and NE. I do not believe that they view them as equal citizens that are worthy of respect. And I do not believe that they treat them (politically) with the respect their numbers and needs deserve.

 

Until the Bangkok based entities EARN the respect of people in the N and NE, the troubles will continue, either with the 'Reds' or with whatever entity rises up to take their place.

 

This is the problem.

 

Interesting that you think respect is a deserved right one way but has to be earned going the other.

Should those who "hate the Shin family (not without cause)" respect those who will vote for known criminals because they offer the best handouts? Should those who hate their blatant corruption respect those who choose to ignore it? When they protest the waste and corruption of the Shin government, should they respect those who use violence to intimidate them?

2 hours ago, Thechook said:

OK I did and cut and pasted from the article.

 

 As a result, these bogus G-to-G contracts caused financial damage estimated at more than Bt16 billion to the state.

 

Even when I cut and paste it still comes up 16 billion.

" seized another 53 land plots totalling 320 rai worth over Bt58 million "

1 hour ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Who is defending him?

 

I presented the facts as stated in the article. 

 

You are the one that has already condemned him as guilty, as your worrying obsession with the Shin clan continues.

 

It really is a shame for you that any verdict will immediately be considered as politically motivated regardless of his actual guilt of innocence simply because the military overthrew the elected government in a coup, and is now exerting influence and pressure on the justice system to give the desired results.

 

A real shame. 

"Did you miss this: "authorities failed to find sufficient evidence to prosecute him" or "Panthongtae had been cleared but was now being unfairly charged, or even this little nugget, "the DSI deputy chief was transferred for failing to respond to an order to speed up the investigation."

So he's already been cleared, there is insufficient evidence to prosecute and there's pressure from the junta to stitch him up."

So that is not defending him, and asking for an explanation of why illicit funds went into his bank a/c is condemning him as guilty? Of course ANY prosecution of a Shinawatra will be labeled politically motivated by their sycophants regardless of their guilt or innocence, because that is all that have to defend them against the evidence of guilt.

13 minutes ago, Thechook said:

So the rice G to G scheme cost the state an estimated 16 billion, they size from this guy assets worth over 58 billion and then you have the assets of the other 19 people including the billions siezed from Yingluk.   A great little earner for Prayuth and his group.

Read it again.

4 hours ago, pornprong said:

How magnificent your existence must be, scurrying around looking for opportunities to snitch.

The odds of a fire starting from a cigarette butt errantly tossed from a  vehicle would have to at least 100 million to one.

I guess we can all rest easy though, because should this 100 million to one dreaded event ever occur, Halloween is on the job and the the perpetrator's details shall be smartly forwarded to the boys in brown post haste.

 

I note you seem more interested in seeing someone punished than preventing any damage or death (which could run into the millions). 

Surely a true concerned citizen would be stopping to extinguish the stray cigarette butt and thus saving lives and preventing damage instead of taking down a number plate in the hope that there is a death or some damage and therefore an opportunity to snitch and perhaps get a pat on the head from Prayuth (wet dream or what?).

 

No need for DNA when the courts can just discover the culprit with a quick perusal of Halloween's snitch book.

“On the day it was around 27°C with a north westerly wind, and it was pretty dry,” Station Officer Scott said. In three out of the 75 trials, or 4%, the grass caught alight and started to burn, requiring the firefighters to extinguish the flames. "

"Every year the Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) is called to hundreds of roadside fires believed to be caused by discarded butts.

FRNSW Station Officer Paul Scott, based at Parramatta Fire Station, has fought many fires on busy roads and even railway tracks where the most likely cause was a dropped cigarette butt. This led him and the Community Risk Management team to develop a proposal for an awareness campaign for smokers along the lines of the high profile NSW Government anti-littering initiative, “Don’t be a tosser”.

http://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=327

" The 2009 Victorian bushfires also called Black Saturday, where more than 400 bushfires that started in Victoria, Australia on February 7, 2009. The fires caused Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire.^[9] Police say that 173 people died,^[8] and 100 people were taken to hospitals with bad burns.^[10] At first the death toll was thought to be 210, but forensic tests have shown there were only 173 people killed.   https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Victorian_bushfires

Many of the fires were started by fallen or clashing power lines or were deliberately lit.^[14] There was also lightning,^[15]cigarette butts,^[4] and sparks from a power tool.^[16

Today's BP has an article with more depth regarding the decision to indict.

2 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Yet he's got billions in the bank and lives a successful life, just like his daddy.

 

Depends on how you judge success I suppose.

 

Many Thaivisa readers would consider sitting dribbling incontinently into a Beer Chang in Nakhon Nowhere with Nok the former cashier (she never work bar, kiss brother on the lips type) on their knee, eeking out a pension to be a success, so who are we to judge?

 

 

 

 

 

Dear me, you think success is being born into a family of wealthy criminals? As you go out of your away to defend those criminals, without any explanation of why, you may well ask "Who am I to judge?"

Just now, Father Fintan Stack said:

Did you miss this: "authorities failed to find sufficient evidence to prosecute him" or "Panthongtae had been cleared but was now being unfairly charged, or even this little nugget, "the DSI deputy chief was transferred for failing to respond to an order to speed up the investigation."

 

So he's already been cleared, there is insufficient evidence to prosecute and there's pressure from the junta to stitch him up.

 

 

Of course any witch-hunt against any member of the Shin clan is ok in your eyes as you are completely obsessed. 

Double jeopardy applies after you have been prosecuted. Up until then, a case can be re-opened up until SoL cuts in. given his families habitual crime and their bribery attempts, why shouldn't he be asked to explain his involvement?

1 hour ago, sawadee1947 said:

well, he seems to be very intelligent. And there is no doubt about this with that father and that auntie.

If hes is so intelligent, why did he go into a uni exam with notes in his pocket. Oh that's right, they were 'unrelated' - I'd  bet that ruling cost daddy a small fortune

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Anyone else who had already been cleared would not have to worry about being charged. The name Shinawatra to the Junta though is just too much for them to be able leave alone. To suggest it is not politically motivated is laughable.

Or perhaps the decision not to prosecute was politically motivated. That seems to have happened to Shinawatras on at least 2 occasions that I recall.

The KTB case was clearly a crime, those involved are serving serious time or hiding out o/s. Some of the almost billion baht involved passed through his accounts, his explanation of why should be made public knowledge and its credibility tested in a court.

The temptation to tell him jokes would be irresistible.

4 minutes ago, AWillOz said:

What a great society it will be when everyone is trained to do all the police work for the government and dob in everyone. They're doing this in Australia trying to get people to dob in someone who litters or throws a cigarette but out the window, but i've never heard how the police go prosecuting someone from hear-say.  In this example, who are they going to fine? the shop owner? Take a guess at which employee might have done this? or just everyone in the area?

If I saw you throwing a cigarette butt out the window I would note your number plate. If a fire ensued, I would happily pass that on to the police, and hopefully you would be charged with manslaughter for any deaths that it caused, and receive a bill for the damage caused, which could easily run to millions.

BTW they can trace the source of a fire back to a butt, and DNA would prove who smoked it.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

the infrastructure to support the transportation of fresh water across the Cambodian border appears to be more expensive than that for electricity purchases.

Pipelines "appear" to be more expensive than transmission cables. Who woulda thunk it?

6 minutes ago, pornprong said:

Interesting quote from your link:

 

The judiciary may prove capable of marginalizing Thaksin, but risks a perception that the courts are increasingly politicized. End Summary.

Yep, they just keep finding red criminals guilty.

Just now, Eric Loh said:

You got that right. Don't be defensive and emotional. 

I'll tell you what, I won't be defensive and emotional if you stop posting lies to defend PTP criminals.

Just now, Siripon said:

A red shirt was found not guilty today of the bombing in Minburi. 

.......and expressed her faith in the Thai courts.

5 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Ex-minister Boonsong and 20 others faulted for corruption in fake G-to ...

englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/ex-minister-boonsong-20-others-faulted-corru..

 

Hope this is better.

Eric, before you start posting links in an attempt to trivialise the value of the fraud, you could at least read it yourself. I know there are a lot of words, so I will cut and paste for you.

"..... two fake government-to-government rice deals involving with 65,000 tonnes of milled rice worth about 847 million baht."

I'm sure you liked that bit and got all excited. But....

"Boonsong was also faulted for involvement in four other fake G-to-G rice deals with four Chinese firms.  The deals involved  14 million tonnes of rice."

Oh dear, there goes the happy ending.