MrMojoRisin

Another coup? Perhaps. Perhaps not. The dam wall is cracking and the military and elites are running out of fingers to plug the ever growing number of holes. You see, coups are no longer inevitable… and that is a huge advance.

Return??? You think there has been no extra judicial killings in the 8 years since the coup. Washing up dead on the banks of the Mekong with a torso full of concrete is death by natural causes? Anyone who thinks Thaksin was the driving force behind the war on drugs is (probably deliberately) ill informed. It doesn’t take a lot of effort scrolling through the internet to locate the facts about the reasons, the timing and the actual death toll of the “war on drugs” You should probably follow your own advice and get in touch with that shrink.

Nonsense! The anti democratic forces in Thailand were never going to be swiftly defeated. Thaksin sure as hell gave them an almighty scare, he had them running in fear that their demise would be immediate. Alas, it turned out to be a case of close, but not quite. Make no mistake, democracy and freedom are coming to Thailand in the near future and there is nobody, absolutely nobody, who has more claim to being the primary force that has turned the dream of millions into a reality than Thaksin.

I’d be pretty confident that a great many Thais have, in the fight for democracy, done (and risked) an awful lot more than you ever have. Why don’t you tell us about the last time you ever got off the barstool and risked life and limb for a cause.

Thaksin is nowhere even close to being in the same ballpark as the villains currently riding roughshod over the country. Your post history is littered with sycophantic cheerleading of anti-democratic, oppressive and corrupt coup makers. What Thailand needs is less you and more Thaksin.

You take issue with the “racism thing” then spend the last two thirds of your post in a racist rant? The equivalent viewpoint of a Thai on Americans would be “All Americans are Q Anon halfwits who believe Democrats are lizard people and JFK Jr is coming back to life to be Trumps running mate in 2024” Your post is as idiotic and untrue as the above statement. As for the wasting my precious time but, I disagree. Firstly, your assumption that all expats are old and at deaths door is incorrect (who’d have thunk just because you say something doesn’t make it true). Secondly, Thai politics is fascinating. We have a front row seat to the real time upheaval of an entire nation and culture. We are watching the last flailings of on old undemocratic exploitive and repressive establishment as it is about to be swamped by a pro democracy, pro freedom demographic tsunami. By observing events here there is a great deal each of us can learn about the power structures and the architecture supporting those structures in our own countries. You, my friend, appear to be a glass half empty type of person - what a miserable way to choose to exist.

Perhaps your sampling of Thais, like your knowledge of the past 20 years of Thai politics is insufficient. A great many Thais, on both sides, are fervently political and never miss an opportunity to join a street mob or weeks long sit in protest. Over the past year and a half tens of thousands of students have taken up the cause of trying to oust the current illegitimate regime, many of whom have landed in jail. Hardly worthy of being labelled apathetic. Sober up, tone down the racism and you my cynical friend may very well see the light.

Great strategy, discard your number one asset to pick up a few disenchanted central and southern votes… throw away 1000 baht for the chance to pick up 20 baht - you my friend are an A grade, level one, top of the heap political genius.

You were here in Thailand all through this decade+…..meaningless. Going by your post history you’ve spent the decade+ with your head in the sand obsessed with anti Thaksin nonsense and rendered yourself clueless when it comes to what is actually true. Why don’t you list a few links to the “specific evidence” against Thaksin. You can’t because there ain’t any, ditto for Yingluck and Thanathorn. Again, clueless. Whenever someone becomes a credible option in politics the establishment loads them up (falsely) with baggage and then bars them and their party from politics. Like I said - clueless. So now you don’t want the little General, your post history is nothing but anti Thaksin pro junta cheerleading for a decade+. You are very late to the party, I guess that is to be expected though, given how clueless we have established you to be.

More garbage. Some people won’t vote for Pheu Thai because they don’t like Thaksin, that’s true, just as it’s true that millions do vote for Pheu Thai because they love Thaksin. He is a net vote winner, has been for 20 years. You have wandered off the reservation old chap, you should think about dropping the prejudices and coming back to reality.

What absolute nonsense. A minority of Thais do not want Thaksin and Yingluck to return. I am afraid you are projecting your misinformed drivel upon the Thai people - a very common form of self delusion amongst the lackeys of the authoritarian right. Both are convicted of trumped up garbage by rigged courts - any half wit can see the obvious there. Why has Thaksin never faced charges in relation to the drug war deaths or the Takbai incident? Your post brings to mind Rudy Guiliani’s comments on his bosses (Trump) claims the election was stolen - “we have lots of theories, we just don’t have any evidence” except in your case it’s “ we have lots of yellow shirt propaganda, we just don’t have any evidence” If the Thai people could vote on who they would like exiled: Thaksin or Prayuth - this my simple friend, is the only election that Prayuth could ever win.

To quote you in this thread: “he should take himself outside and shoot himself. In fact drugs or no drugs he should still take himself outside and shoot himself, do the Thais a favour.” It appears you believe this thread is not a place for me to spout about politics but instead a haven for hypocrites. Please leave the moderating to the educated.

He is not banned from Thailand. He can come back whenever he pleases. He hasn’t returned as he, quite correctly, has no desire to face a corrupted Thai legal system. Sweet, lovable and honest has nothing to do with the predicament he finds himself in - he is in exile as the anti democratic forces of Thailand know that any election the has any semblance of fairness will result yet another absolutely crushing landslide victory to Thaksin which would inevitably lead to a significant loss of income to all of those on the pro-coup side.

Such vitriol over a few comments from Dr T on what can only be described as a minor side issue when it comes to the affairs of state. Me thinks you’re one of the unenlightened coup supporting neophytes who are always ever so quick to see the twig in Dr T’s eye but are never quite able to bring yourself to see the log in Prayuth and company’s eye.

Where exactly does he say he is against legalising marijuana?

What a champion. I’d be interested to know if he has won any awards for the role he played in destroying democracy in Thailand. ”Let’s be clear, I am a PAD sympathiser”. “Actually, I’m very authoritarian…. I understand that democracy is the problem of all the chaos that is happening in the country right now”. The above is are quotes from Korn’s wife during the period at the end of Abhisit’s unelected government - whilst the Thai military were using live ammunition on Thai citizens. Korn, like Abhisit, sold his soul to the dark side - lacking the ability to win an election on merit, this pair agreed to be the frontmen for a coup and in doing so destroyed the burgeoning democracy of the 1997 peoples constitution. Korn is no hero, he is an enemy of Thai democracy.

Korn should be sharing a jail cell with Abhisit.

Thailands history of coups is indeed a fact, however, there are significant societal differences in today’s Thailand that suggest the times are indeed a changing: 1. The Internet - universal access to uncensored information, both national and international as well as the ability for the individual to review and correct the historical record falsely constructed under a veil of repression and censorship 2. Social Media - unfettered ability by all to communicate, coordinate and share real time information on encrypted messaging services 3. Globilsation - economic exposure to the whims of a faltering global financial system has never been so great. Globalisation has also magnified the impacts of what we’re previously mostly localised issues such as COVID and the war in Ukraine. Juntas aren’t equipped to navigate these choppy waters. 4. Lack of moral pillar for the conservative forces to rally around. Every prior coup has been justified by one reason and this reason no longer holds weight with the majority 4. Demographics - Thailand is young, an ever growing number of Thais have come of age in a time when state run propaganda has been rendered useless 5. Positive Example - The average Thai has now seen what an elected government answerable to the people via democracy can mean to their quality of life. For all the expat drivel on forums such as this one accusing Thaksin of being the devil, the fact remains that the Thai people would unequivocally prefer an elected government over an unelected ultra nationalist conservative military oligarch-backed junta. This why denying democracy is the main priority of those who favour coups - the genie is, however, out of the bottle Don’t get me wrong, there will certainly be future coup attempts… I just don’t believe they will succeed. Perhaps the only thing that will end the cycle is swift and severe punishment for any and all participating in any attempted coup.

Hurry up and hold an election, may as well get your asses kicked sooner rather than later, let’s skip the street mobs this time around. TBH - we are all interested in seeing whether the next coup fails or succeeds. I personally think Thailand has already seen its last successful coup.

Not true. There are significant differences under the current regime compared to the elected Pheu Thai governments. First, the permanent institutions, such as the courts, NACC and military etc were actively opposed to the elected governments and did all they could to retard their ability to implement policy - up to and including prosecuting false charges and illegally dismissing members of the government from their roles. There was constant scrutiny. Prayuth does not have these concerns. Secondly, there was much much greater freedom of the press and freedom for the public to both investigate and voice any and all concerns about the governments actions or proposed actions. Prayuth does not have these concerns. Thirdly, the elected Pheu Thai governments had to exist under far more democratic constitutions that imposed far stricter electoral processes making the governments accountable to the public at regular intervals via national elections. Prayuth does not have these concerns. You are comparing mountains to molehills and somehow reaching the absurd conclusion that they are of the same order of magnitude. How silly.

http://slimdogsworld.blogspot.com/2009/09/ratchada-phisek-land-scandal.html?m=1 Click the link, read it and comment, or of course, you could decide not to and stick to your guns, doubling down on ignorance and prejudice.

Click the link, have a read, then provide counter evidence to the facts stated within… can you do it or are you happy to remain in Trumpland, railing against reality?

You are “confused” (that’s a euphemism for wrong). Opinions come in different varieties. Any opinion that covers personal preferences is always right (e.g. you may have the opinion “I like Prayuth more then Thaksin”). Even if I don’t agree with this, the opinion is still correct. However, any opinion based on false evidence can be proven wrong, thus making it a wrong opinion. When an opinion is wrong, we can point to evidence to prove it is in fact wrong. You see, opinions are subservient to facts. Normal rational people accept this and have the maturity to change their views when presented with evidence contrary to their currently held beliefs. Others however, particularly those with long held firmly entrenched prejudices or those whose lives have been a dismal failure do not react this way. They are unwilling to believe the facts as they are, rather preferring to wallow in the warmth of their ignorance and exist in a self imposed cloud of delusion. To these people, to challenge their opinions is to challenge both their intelligence and their way of life. Their great fear is that should the edifice they have constructed fall they would be forced to look in the mirror and realise that all of their inadequacies, their failures and their shortcomings are solely due to their own ineptitude. https://www.newmandala.org/a-response-to-vanina-sucharitkul/

An opinion is a view or judgement formed about something (such as… the earth is flat) not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. Your statement ”Believing a fact to be true which evidence suggests is false” makes no sense. Holding a view that is at odds with the facts is what we call an opinion (see above definition). Any opinion at odds with facts is wrong. From your continued incorrect understanding of the differences between facts and opinions you have made the spurious leap to the assumption that you have proved that you hold no prejudices. Again, you are wrong, both in logic and conclusion. The analogy was an attempt to simplify the subject matter in order for the less erudite amongst us to better comprehend the point being made. It appears the bar must be set lower again for you to have any chance grasping the information being conveyed. The cure is worse than the disease. Whatever the faults with the elected governments of the recent past none of them came anywhere close to being as bad as what the current regime has inflicted upon the Thai people. Any fool can see this, it is blindingly obvious, the list of crimes, corruption and misdeeds is bordering on endless - not to mention their destruction of democracy and denial free speech to the citizenry. How is it possible for someone to hold the opinion that the coup was a good thing when literally every quantifiable metric says otherwise? Ignorance and prejudice is the answer. You go out of your way to avoid providing any evidence to support your opinions because there is no evidence to support your opinions because your opinions are wrong. An elected Prime Minister was removed from office for appearing on a cooking show and another elected Prime Minister was removed from office for transferring a Public Servant yet the current regime has a Deputy Prime Minister with a multi million baht watch collection that his official salary could not possibly afford, and a convicted international drug smuggler served as a Minister. Which offences are worse? Why have the latter two - the watchman and the drug dealer faced no repercussions? The cure is worse than the disease. Jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire is not a win, yet you cheer along as it is the greatest victory ever won. An unelected government or a government That exists purely as the result of an adulterated constitution and is answerable to no one is worse than a flawed elected government that is answerable to the people at regularly held elections. Only an entirely self deluded prejudiced ignorant fool would think otherwise.

Opinions are wrong when they contradict facts. For example if one were of the opinion that the earth is flat, one’s opinion would be wrong. Prejudice is holding a preconceived opinion that is not based on facts, reason or actual experience. With this in mind, let us examine your position on supporting Prayuth’s coup - let’s use an analogy: Suppose a patient presented at the emergency room with a small but deep laceration to their pinky finger. The attending Dr offers two options for treatment: 1 - a couple of stitches or 2 - amputate the arm at the shoulder. Both these options solve the issue of the lacerated pinky, but only one makes any sense. Amputating at the shoulder is an absurd over-reaction… much the same as abandoning democracy via a military coup is an absurd over-reaction to rectify the minor deficiencies of the elected governments of Thailand since 2000. The pertinent question for you is this, why is it that you can see the obvious with the lacerated pinky finger but are so completely blind to the obvious in regards to the coup? The reason, my friend, is prejudice. You are blind to reason and logic and evidence and facts because of your political prejudices. It is the exact same reason the senseless slaughter of 19 school children in America cannot in the slightest amount cause the gun nutters to alter their stance and support even the weakest proposals for gun regulation. What a sad and sorry way to live a life.