Srikcir

Continue the crackdown on selling imitation or counterfeit products and the Chinese will retract Thailand's 2014 IP Sharing agreement.

"General Prayut stressed that his government will make worthwhile investments in education"

Just like his government's investment in Thailand's infrastructure, all he needs is for China and Japan to make the investments.

Response deadline has past.

POSTPONE.

If the charter draft were rejected in a referendum, the government has four options:

- Junta remains in power

- Junta remains in power

- Junta remains in power

- Junta remains in power

There is only the sovereignty of the Military to decide such matters. Under Article 44 the Thai people have no sovereignty.

A referendum is not guaranteed, only allegedly being considered by the NCPO. No doubt the NCPO wanted to follow the same path as with the 1997 draft Constitution:

Have the Junta-appointed legislative body vote on it as a whole, pass it, and forward for royal endorsement as the law of the land.

No need to amend the Interim Charter nor for Prayut to invoke Article 44 for a referendum. Elections could be held as early as December 2015.

SIMPLE.

"Thailand is currently being boycotted by the US and the EU."

NO.

Thailand government is ony being criticized for suppression of Thais rights and liberties. But they may boycott Thailand because of human trafficking and illegal fishing.

ACTION & REACTION

Abhisit annouces he will leave politics if he loses again.

Suthep announces he is leaving monkhood.

Abhisit says he will not leave politics if he loses again.

Suthep says he is not leaving the monkhood.

Suthep is standing by for Abhisit's next announcement.

I have serious doubt that people who are trained to fight in combat have the ability of much needed qualified social workers in any attempt to pacify violent street gangs...

You may as well engage Thai monks to teach them integrity and incorruptibility.

You forget that each army have schools where the instructors are also used to handle hardons. Not always with punichment, the army is not more the same then in our young times. I was 38 years in the army and saw the evolution.

Teambuildindg is one of the first things to achive with a new group ... so they learn to work TOGHETER, then you can strart the fighting training.

And this first step will be the point to to handle this gangmembers.

Did you serve in the Royal Thai military? You know, the one that keeps overthrowing its own elected governments and abrogating people's constitutions. Not a very good role model for preaching peace and civility through rule of law.

True about the shrimp farms,as the shrimp need salt water,after that nothing will grow there,recently watched a docu about it,was in Bangladesh,the salt basically sterilises the soil.

Wikipedia:

The global annual production of freshwater prawns is produced primarily by China, followed by India and Thailand.

It seems like the Junta has put far more resources against Thai forest encroachers than human trafficking in and through Thailand. I guess it's a matter of prioritizing national security.

Notice that NHRC director Niran Pitakwachara issued his challenge AFTER the UN HRC issued their criticism days ago?

While we have heard from the UN HRC, the EU and the US on all the recent human trafficking tragedies being discovered or uncovered in and around Thailand, not a word from Niran.

Maybe Niran has been on vacation. Or has the Junta muzzled him?

Can you answer just when section 44 came into play? and when was the TV station shut down?

It seems that you prefer to disregard Human Rights report as due process and NOTHING in their news was inciting violence or dividing the country, But with your blind views you would have this shut down stand, Now Popit, if the same process of being shut down (example, your business) and removed without evidence of wrong doing but simply because some one doesn't like you was applied to you or your family then you would be just fine with that, I think not.

For a guy quoting Dr Ron Paul, (the man cheated out of US presidency) "Truth is treason in an empire of lies". how on god's green earth do you come up with some of your comments...

Grow a brain Ait, we are talking about the Redshirts here, not the Red Cross or the Boy Scouts.

The RedShirts, an organization well known for violence, arson, bombings and killing people. What sort of shit do you think they are going to come out with ?

If they tried to broadcast their beliefs in a lot of other countries they would be shut down under the Terrorist Act, and rightly so.

And who is there to shutdown the Junta?

NHRC director Niran Pitakwachara said today that the committee believes the shut-down order was delivered without due process or cause

Maybe there was cause and maybe not but the order was legal under Section 44 of the Interim Constitution that that governs the NCPO. The NCPO can shut down any thing any where any time as they have proven with 'Peace' TV.

Niran encouraged the Red Shirts to include his committee’s verdict when they file a lawsuit against the NBTC, as Red Shirt leader Nattawut Saikua has vowed to do.

Good luck with your lawsuit, Nattawut. /sarc I wonder which court has jurisdiction over the NCPO. Because, if you file in the wrong court, they will refuse to hear the case.

Of course, Nattawut is a peace promoting figure in the Red Shirt movement and would never say anything divisive or disruptive to reconciliation. /sarc

Nattawut on the Red Shirt stage January 27, 2010

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvbUVCopKec

I wonder if the peaceful wing of the UDD is proud to have the Thaksin flunky, Nattawut, as the face of their movement.

NBTC officials refused to detail to either PTP or Democrats what content led to "divisions in the Kingdom." Prayut says he has nothing to do with the shutdown order.

The shutdown was ordered by the NBTC and not by the Junta using Article 44. Chief of NCPO Prayut says he has nothing to do with the shutdown.

If Article 44 is not invoked, then due process of law follows existing organic laws which require due process, ie., a hearing.

If the shutdown violates organic laws, then it becomes a matter of constitutionality. Article 4 of the Interim Charter recognizes the rights and liberties of the Thai people as the basis for constitutionality. Only if Article 44 is invoked is the constitutionality of organic law overruled.

Article 44 was not invoked. What does Prayut fear by not doing so? He did so with the national lottery, human trafficking, crop prices, etc. Like waiving a magic wand.

The average price of fresh palm nuts had dropped to Bt3.60-Bt3.90 per kg while the cost of palm-fruit production is Bt3.38 per kg.

The plummeting price was the result of oversupply of palm fruit in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, while the quality of the oil in the palm nuts has deteriorated due to the drought.

The government’s answer: regulate the price at Bt4.20 per kg. ????????

"The BOT Governor also indicated that the GDP growth of 3 percent in Q1 as reported by the office of the National Economic and Social Development Board was satisfying as the figure coincided with the bank’s projection."

A projection takes place AHEAD of an event.

BOT was projecting 4.8% for 2015 as late as 2014-12-26.

BOT lowered its projection on 2014-12-26 to 4.0%.

BOT changed its projection again on 2015-03-11 to 3.8%.

Now BOT projects 3%.

How can that be satisfying when it dropped its projection by almost 38% within a three-month period?

Thailand is still the world’s leading rice exporter but with one of the lowest profit margins.

The Junta has heavily subsidized many Thai crop growers in 2014 and 2015 in efforts to show that it has made beneficial reforms in the agricultural industry. Why does it feel like the Junta is running for election?

"The General also instruct the officials to make sure that growers do not harvest their crops prematurely"

Will the General send troops into the fields to monitor harvesting? Will they arrest growers who do harvest prematurely?

Prayut has warned rice farmers to not plant rice in drought areas but they have done so regardless. The government took no action against them.

The Junta does like to spend the national treasury while increasing the cost of government. When a government has no check and balance, no accountability for its fiscal actions, the nation's taxpayers pay dearly. If and when an elected government is allowed, it will be so burdened with new debt that there won't be any issues of populist spending - there'll be no money.

Sounds like a job for ARTICLE 44.

Thais have become victims to Pavlov conditioning.

Thirteen military coups since 1933 with attendent forced changes in the constitutions has conditioned Thais to expect loss of their rights and liberties as part of governance.

"the number of personnel within the Department of Civil Aviation will be increased by 48."

The military just received over 1,000 new generals. Looks like Prayut has a ready pool of loyal servants for the DCA.

At least Abhisit recognizes that the current Democrat political platform will not garner majority vote and must be "reformed" to attract a larger constitiuency. Maybe the 3rd time will be the charm.

To what extent the reformed Democrats can be trusted by the electorate and how many of its current membership including the PDRC faction will stay with the party because of a more liberal ideology is yet to be tested. If Abhisit isn't careful he might finds himself as leader of a very fractionalized and dysfunctional Democract party - destined once again to lose.

She should have paid the bail in rice from government stored 16 million tons of pledged rice.

Since the government considers her liable for the overpayment to rice farmers for the rice, the rice essentially becomes HER property.

But at the same time the government is attempting to sell it as if it were government property - in effect stealing it from her ownership.

Maybe Prayut can invoke Article 44 and declare winners of the election. More efficient.

The commerce ministry expects to sell the rice at between 8,200-8,500 baht per ton.

That’s really comforting as the production cost/ton of rice paid by Thai farmers is 9,763.40 baht. (Thai farmers poorest in the ASEAN, 2014-07-22)

No doubt the Junta will be subsidizing more than the difference to guarantee farmers a small profit margin.