jonclark

2 hours ago, halloween said:

That's an interesting concept. Do you believe that after removing Boonsong for creating fraudulent G2G deals, she was right in not stopping those deals? The court calls it negligence, but given the involvement of Apichart, favoured rice trader of Thaksin and Yingluk despite a history of failed companies and huge government debts, it smells a lot like corruption to me.

Absolutely, But corruption in Thailand is as endemic as ice in your beer, its the proverbial grease that makes the cogs of power turn.  Remove the ice and the beer becomes unpalatable and flat, remove corruption and things will grind to a halt. That is just the way it works. 

The aim was to raise the living standards of the poor, those who have been overlooked for so many years by the ruling classes - lest we forget they too have been happily skimming from the top for many, many decades without any moral qualms whatsoever over the  guilt or innocence of their actions, cause that' show it works here. - in itself she was right to pursue that policy which was effectively a large agricultural subsidy. The principle was subsiding the cost of the rice so farmers got a better price. Certainly not unique and a well proven way to rack up huge losses to the taxpayer. In the EU, CAP accounts for somewhere in the region of 30% of the entire annual EU budget. UK farms get somewhere like $300 per hectare for cultivated land. Agricultural subsidies are a great way to lose money...but they keep farmers viable and happy(ish).

Yinglucks downfall, imo, was she also wasn't experienced enough to be PM - before she was PM she was a complete political novice with no experience whatsoever - kinda like Trump. As such she was entirely dependent on those around her for advice and support and when all and sundry jumped on the bandwagon to get their nose in the trough of corruption, well that was her undoing coupled with the establishments dislike of those pesky outsiders taking a bigger slice of the corruption pie than they were able to.

In 5, 10,  15 years down the line it will be a new name..more corruption from a failed subsidy policy and the same old machinations. 

Anyway, I'm off to put some ice in my beer now. Enjoy.   

So whats going to happen to all the old guns the police currently waddle around with strapped to their waists. 

Recalled and destroyed or just left at the home of the current owner. Serious questions as all of a sudden that is a lot more guns in circulation on the basis of - well he's a policeman so it okay. 

13 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

and if you quote something without attributing a source you are pretending to be smart.

In this case the source is Lenin and Goebbels, but I'm sure she has no clue

Or maybe drawing a parallel with Prayut to Lenin and Goebbels? 

2 minutes ago, steven100 said:

good .....  !!    seize all her assets and wealth .... then go after her and her criminal brother.

Billions taken from the Thai people & it's economy ...  

Lol - Steve you know they are not going to do that. 

The government are complicit in her exile as the main facilitators of it. (look back through Thai history, its the way ex-thai leaders disappear and very common practice). She has gone quietly, they won't prod the proverbial hornets nest now. She and her brother will keep the vast majority of the wealth in return for keeping quiet. Perhaps a small amount will be seized, but nothing major. Just enough to satisfy those baying for blood. 

9 hours ago, halloween said:

She has said her aunt is innocent quite a few times.

And the government has stated from day1 that her aunt is guilty quite a few times too.

In thailand guilt and innocence does not translate into being right or wrong. You can be guilty..but still be right. 

Taxis in Pattaya: We don't want Uber - we don't want Grab Car. We don't want any illegal cars here".

Its what the customer wants that is this issue here...not the taxi drivers!

This statement proves beyond any reasonable doubt what has always been suspected. That high ranking members of this government, fearing a public backlash over her being imprisoned in the country are as complicit in her escape as she was in the negligence she oversaw in the rice pledging scheme. Her bail, as a fact of law stated, she was not allowed to leave the country, yet the government allowed encouraged and made possible her escape for their own convenience. Good job they all granted themselves immunity for prosecution when they took power!

I expect the request to Interpol for her arrest from the Attorney General office will be  wishy-washy, vague and stamped with big red letters that read - Please place at the bottom of your inbox and forget about. 

The Attorney General and by extension the government  will then, over the course of the coming weeks / months blame Interpol  for the lack of action and wail that its not their fault as they have done all they can, and wait for everyone to lose interest.

Case closed. 

With fines so small there is no deterent value in them at all. 

2 hours ago, Jamestaylor said:

A friend of mine from uni lost 50,000 baht in sports betting. Almost all his savings. He's 19 fyi.

A uni student you say?..Says more about university standards than it does your friend I am afraid...or did he think he was smarter than the bookmaker?

As my old dad say... "you will never find a poor bookmaker" 

Wise words indeed.

CCOC.

Never has there been a better acronym to describe the command structure of the police.

Why would anyone need additional insurance to visit Khao Yai?? and forestry officials call this creative thinking - the mind boggles. Insured against what - flood, fire and theft? 

Mickey mouse museum.

Cant even get a genuine museum nowadays.

120 wives....sounds like an absolute nightmare..one is bad enough!

2 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Sorry, the army does not help a farang owned business. But I understand his frustration.

I would imagine the business is registered in his wife's name - So it could be a Thai business...but I maybe wrong.

I would also think that the army isn't as short sighted to tolerate such a public attack being played out in the foreign media when it is actively trying to woo overseas investment. Just bad for Thailand image because if they tolerate it, then that can be interpreted as agreement with the actions of these limp dicks.

23 minutes ago, trogers said:

Twelve teachers serving 158 pupils, and they complain about a low budget...

 

I think the school management badly need a math teacher desperately!

That depends if they are full or part time.

liar liar pants on fire!

By any chance did he appear at the press conference with a large brush in one hand whilst standing on a less than innocuious lump in the carpet??

4 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Their present leaders weren't elected into office. They were appointed. How and by whom is a "secret". They are their to ensure the Red Shirts do as told. 

 

The UDD and Red Shirts don't practice democracy in their own organizations, and neither does PTP for that matter. Until that changes, the rural people, the poor, the working class, or whatever label you tag the masses with, won't have a real representation.

Whilst there maybe aspects to what you said as being  true. PTP / UDD Still offer the working class far better representation, or the illusion of representation than either the military or the other political parties.

And on that basis alone they are a better bet for the working classes and for that reason alone expect another landslide for PTP when elections happen. And if its a big enough landslide the military men in power may find themselves caught between a rock (the coup orchestrated polices they have put in place) and a hard-place (the overwhelming popular support to change those policies).

We live in interesting times indeed.  

I would suggest that we are witnessing the first salvos in what is likely to be a rather acrimonious and public shit throwing contest.

Am I reading this wrong..but the only reason the UK broke the law is because they were given a death sentence. It is not the actual sharing of evidence that was the issue, but the sentence that arose from it, which is against UK law as there is no death sentence in the UK. 

This mornings emergency cabinet meeting hosted by DPM Prawit???

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

She is not a martyr now.. she is doing a runner.. different story.. she did not dare to face the courts knowing she was indeed guilty.

 Or doing a runner in the knowledge that the verdict was a foregone conclusion due to political interference.

I mean its absolutely obvious she must be found guilty irrespective of the truth or evidence presented. The military needs the guilty verdict to justify the coup - as the losses from governments rice scheme were one of the key justifications for the power grab. 

And that is the sad irony here..she probably is accountable to a greater or lesser extent for those loses, but that will now always be open to interpretation and opinion as the comments, actions, intimidation and interference by the military gives YL and all her millions  of supporters the perfect platform from which to scream injustice and thumb their noses at reconciliation. 

Even if she is found guilty in abstentia  - she will still be a hugely popular figure able to influence and command huge swathes of the people. The Military has as many posters have commented on here really made a rod for their own backs with their meddling. 

She's probably just stuck in traffic....or has been refused by a taxi. 

I am afraid that this poor man reason has been clouded by the emotion of his loss. 

Sending in a Thai rescue team to possibly die themselves would not help dilute his grief or frustration.

The US team would have made a calm decision based on the best possible outcome under the conditions present on the ground (not in the Thai media). Sadly recovery will need to wait.

1 hour ago, jaywalker said:

They are Luddites. That was my main point, also, that ANYTHING, especialy a Thai gov't tries to do will usually take 3 -10 years longer than they say it will take (Pattaya tunnel for example).

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

I know what a luddite is. No need 

for a link.

But I am glad you agree with me that there are too many IO doing too many unimportant tasks. The UK has approx 8000 officers in its border force (which i suspect os alot less than Thai Immigration) which includes immigration at airports. It has more international airports. More tourists and one could argue equally difficult and complex issues with illegal immigration as Thailand. 

But the use of tech has streamlined their functioning giving better results all round.