jamesthailand

Unfortunately Thai Law doesn't have any concept of Trusts (as in English Law or US Law).

He made a step in the direction of fighting elections based on policies: using market research, he crafted a set of policies that were attractive to the rural poor; he campaigned on the basis of those policies; after winning the election, he rapidly implemented those policies. However, I wouldn't expect most TV readers to agree with this.

One obvious, albeit minor, success: he eliminated the motorcyle taxi mafia (which is one of the reasons why he still has such strong support amongst motorcyle taxi drivers).

I'm surprised people point to his war on drugs as a success. This was perhaps the worst human rights violation in recent Thai history. I find many of the legal cases against Thaksin dubious, but I am disappointed that he has not yet been prosecuted for this, which is far, far worse, and deserving of a life sentence.

Thai News Agency now reports that Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs says that Thaksin did not go to Cambodia, but has left Dubai and is expected to join his daughters in Switzerland. The Vice Minister further said that the "UAE had acknowledged Thailand's request to ban Mr Thaksin" [ie Dubai has not yet expelled Thaksin].

I am glad to see The Nation raise this point, because I think it's the weakest link in the legal case against Thaksin. The law that would allow the court to seize the assets is the Organic Act on Counter Corruption 1999. This only allows for the seizure of the assets of the political office holder himself, not those of his spouse or adult children.

I wouldn't be surprised if the result is that the court seized the proceeds of the sale of only those shares that originally belonged to Thaksin (a bit under half the total assets). This would be a compromise that was legally plausible. Some of the remaining assets might also remain frozen pending the outcome of the tax cases against Panthongtae and Pinthongta. It will be very interesting to read the verdict.

I got exactly this a few weeks ago. Only difference was that the caller ID showed a Hong Kong number. I am embarrassed by how close I came to giving them the information they asked for. (I am not a native Thai speaker, and the ways of Thai banks often seem to defy logic.) I bet they get a lot of victims.

I also applied for Thai citizenship about two years ago and am still waiting. I just had my secretary ring up Special Branch to find out what this new requirement is all about. The answer she got was that it's nothing to worry about and it is not intended to change the status quo: you can hold Thai citizenship concurrently with the citizenship of any other country that allows dual citizenship. I didn't get a very clear answer about what the exact point of the new requirement is, but it seems to be aimed at citizens of countries that do not permit dual citizenship: if you get Thai citizenship, then Special Branch will so inform the embassy of the country of your existing citizenship.

In the past, I have bought them both at Villa Sukhumvit and in food hall of Central Chidlom (Waitrose branded).

Lese Majeste, before you go popping off read very carefully the Thai law and what Lese Majeste entails.

Thaksin makes several comparisons that are in plain English and several actions and this is not allowed under the law

...

The 2007 Constitution of Thailand, and all 17 versions since 1932, contain the clause, "The King shall be enthroned in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated. No person shall expose the King to any sort of accusation or action

If you understand the law you realize that much of what TK was spouting on about was in fact a direct violation of the law.

He had requested action in clear violation of the law

I think you may be misunderstanding the word "action" in the English translation of the Constitution. The original Thai uses the word ฟ้องร้อง, which means to sue or to take to court; the English translation is using the word "action" in the sense of legal action. In other words, the Constitution is prohibiting anybody from suing the King.

You can get the Constitution in Thai from cda.parliament.go.th.