JAG

Amusingly often the ones who claim that it is harmless and induces mellow mindsets.

Yes, but I really don't care what they do in private - as long as it doesn't frighten the horses!

I think that would put Thailand on a par with say North Korea when it came to tourism!

Certainly not; let's say a long standing cynical observer of the business! Politics, everywhere, fascinates me - not least the things politicians are prepared to do for power and money, and the correlation is rarely as close as it is here!

1) contracts cannot just be broken at will - ask Carlsberg about that one! 2) PP can still try to enforce the contract through legal channels - I am certain that Anutin, as the Scion of the establishment will have no worries on that score! PP have been played, they must be realising this. They will be rubbed out, removed from the political scene before the 4 months are up.

The impact - Koln Domplatz on New Year's Eve 2015. 660 women assaulted, 22 raped.

Indeed, very 1930s!

The telephone operators will have to be retrained: Dials Pentagon... "Ring ring, ring ring" " WAR OFFICE, DO YOU WANT A FIGHT!"

Thank you - I know much of my content can be seen as inconsequential rubbish, but I do rather pride myself on an elegant writing style! Mind you, what is it that they say about "pride coming before a fall"?

And stay off the internet!

I would follow the advice of, I think it was W C Fields : "I never touch the stuff, my brother keeps fish and I have seen what they do in it!"

When I read the headline I wondered why Donald Trump was engaging in a protest outside a Parisian department store. It did cross my mind that demonstrating so in Paris, perhaps against the fur trade or the cruelty involved in producing pate de fois gras was both commendably public spirited and went some way to explain his absence from the media in recent days. Then I read the link - silly me! 😅

I was at King Edward's School in Bath; then a direct grant grammar school. Every year in the Summer term, after exams, the school held "field trips" to reasonably local (2 hours or so) sites. It must have been in my 4th year, so 1973? That years trip centred around history ( Berkeley Castle was the site of King Edward II's particularly gruesome murder) and science - Jenner's work. I certainly used Wikipedia to confirm Voltaire's quote - I vaguely remembered it but wanted to confirm it. I didn't use "Google" but as very many school trips have visited Berkeley Castle over the generations I am not surprised that it merits a mention! Anyway I am deeply flattered that you were enthusiastic enough about my fairly inconsequential post to dig around on the internet to try and find somewhat spurious grounds to accuse me of plagerising Google - if that is possible; conspiracy theory at it's finest! In case you are bored and wish for a focus for your internet activities, hold onto your tinfoil hat! Previous and subsequent years' field trips included visits to Lulworth Cove (geography), Swindon Railway Museum (history and science) and Chedworth Roman Villa (history and classics). We also had CCF ( school Cadet Force) camps at Cultybraggan in Scotland, Detmold in West Germany, Penhale in Cornwall as well as the CCF rifle meet at Bisley. I am sure they will be in "Google" as well. Fill your boots!

I remember visiting Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire as a schoolboy, and learning about Edward Jenner's work on immunising vaccinations which he carried out there. His discovery being that exposure to a small dose of the relatively benign disease of cowpox prevented contracting the far more serious similar disease of smallpox. Roughly at the same time, the French philosopher and author Voltaire remarked that 60% of the population caught smallpox, and 20% died from it. Smallpox was virtually eliminated through immunisation. Polio has also been virtually eliminated, as have measles and associated diseases.

When/if there is eventually another election (probably not until this parliamentary term comes to an end) and then some ("caretaker status") the whole wash and rinse cycle of manipulation will begin again. I used (naively) to get excited about the prospect of democratically elected government in Thailand, even under the variety of sometimes unsavoury characters which Pheu Thai put forward; but now, whilst still wishing that democracy will prevail, I cynically expect that the grip of the "political elite" will remain. In its own way as totalitarian as North Korea, albeit much more benign, a thirst for and grip on power driven by corruption and manipulation rather than brutality and repression. I suppose the saving grace is that it is unlikely that the same personality cult will emerge around this new "leader", I mean, born at sunrise on top of a sacred mountain in Buriram, adored by the masses, hysterical women throwing themselves overcome with adoration at his feet...

It was just about possible, albeit with some considerable parliamentary mental gymnastics, to justify Pheu Thai forming a government; at least they came second in the (now utterly irrelevant) general election. But this bunch...

Yes, of course, having scrambled on hands and knees to the top of the midden, they are going to step aside! Four months isn't even long enough to fill up the troughs!

Almost certainly not if you went to her sporting a dose!

He will do the cubed root of <deleted> all - far too busy sifting through the trough, and making sure he remains on top of the midden of his making!

I don't think he is a Russian troll bot - I mean even a Russian troll bot wouldn't be daft enough to name himself for the one time ahead of the Bolshevik secret police! It is quite a revealing user name though!

Whilst I understand what PP are trying to do, force an election and or some meaningful reform, I think it is naïve. BJP are the DS* example of old school Thai power politics. They won't so much stab PP in the back as kick them in the teeth very publicly, laughing as they do. Anutin has scrambled to the top of the midden on his hands and knees, no way is he going to get down, especially if it is a matter of principles * DS means Directing Staff, ie instructors in the military!

If you think that I am a stalker report me for it, otherwise belt up for goodness sake.

Used to be the Army Pay Office which handled my pay - it wasn't exactly unknown for them to make mistakes when they made financial calculations either!

Perhaps, ironically really considering the effort Trump puts into altering his image!

There have been a couple of answers to your question already offering reasons, from a particular stand point. May I offer a different viewpoint? First Thaksin is no white knight on a noble steed - galloping in to save Thailand. He is a business man ( very successful) with a somewhat dubious reputation, who went into politics; in itself not unusual in Thailand. Thai political figures are almost exclusively wealthy business men, whose wealth can be explained by their ( often dubious) business practices and who harness that wealth to the pursuit of power; or ex military, also wealthy (although that wealth often goes unexplained) who rely on their military connections to underpin power. He went into politics, using his wealth. He built an extremely effective political party using that wealth. What was different about that machine was that it was broadly populist, offering policies and promises to the masses, as opposed to either vested interests (conventional politicians)or regional interests (the likes of Anutin or more accurately his father). That populism worked, and he was convincingly elected, and continued to be so until the rise of the "progressive movement" dented his ability to win a majority of seats or votes. Of course the extent to which he followed through on his declared policies and promises ( game changing or mere scraps to the masses) are open to debate, but things like the basic universal health system and the foundations of a pension system would not have happened without him. The real opposition - hatred - of Thaksin stems from the fact that he broke the total hold of the conventional political classes on power. He let the populus into the game, and perhaps unwittingly, his own nemesis in the form of the " progressive movement". Now if we look at the results of the last election, he didn't win it, the "progressive movement" won the largest share of votes and seats - they were disposed of- but he came a convincing second, and was allowed, for a time, to form a government. That government has been manoeuvred out, he has it seems been forced into exile; and one without popular support is being engineered. Nothing will come from the promised constitutional reforms or reviews - there will be no election. The conventional political classes are back in control and as ever their aim will be to stay there.This will result in political, and possible economic, stagnation, they can't really do anything, and they don't really want to change anything - they seek only to maintain the status quo, with themselves on top. But Thaksin's popularity remains considerable, and combined with that of the "progressive movement" promises more turmoil. The game is far from over.