rubl

No, I am specifically referring to the marathon session of the last cabinet meeting held by Abhisit before the house dissolution to push through over 150 "necessary" items involving hundreds of billions of baht. Vote and coalition partner buying by any other name.

Even The Nation queried this...........

Where indeed some items seem aimed at their popular effect, most could be classified as 'being in the pen' already. Just because the House dissolution was expected is no reason to stop work. For weeks there wasn't a quorum to vote on certain bills, not because no one was present, but because some simply move aside for a moment.

Of course this government still functioned nicely compared with the Samak and Somchai governments. mostly remembered for trying anything humanly possible to reach their one and only goal 'get k. Thaksin back' and failing miserably apart from not governing.

In 1987, when Chuan was Parliament Speaker, his younger brother Raluek Leekpai (ระลึก หลีกภัย) was charged with embezzling 231.8 million THB (approx. 9 million USD in 1987) from Thai Farmers Bank.[28] Raluek had been an executive at TFB. Responding to accusations in Parliament, Chuan publicly defended the innocence of his brother. Raluek fled the country, and only returned to Thailand in 2004 after the statute of limitations expired on his crime and he couldn't be prosecuted. He had been on the run as a fugitive in Taiwan.

Ask some Thai's about Chang Tha See.

K. Raluek may have been guilty, but no one ever accused k. Chuan that he was an accomplice or had even known about what his brother had been up to. Stay cool and keep whistling

Chuan publicly defended the innocence of his brother. Raluek fled the country

Chuan Leekpai government scandals:

Rakkiat Sukhthana, Health Minister, was charged with taking a five million THB (125,000 USD) bribe from a drug firm and forcing state hospitals to buy medicine at exorbitant prices. After being found guilty, he jumped bail and went into hiding.

Suthep Thaugsuban, Minister of Transport and Communications, whose brokering of illegal land deals caused the fall of the Chuan 1 government, was linked to abuse of funds in setting up a co-operative in his southern constituency of Surat Thani.

The "edible fence" seed scandal, in which collusion led to massive overpricing of seeds distributed to rural areas. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture was forced to resign.

The Salween logging scandal, where up to 20,000 logs were felled illegally in the Salween forest in Mae Hong Son. Some of them turned up in the compound of the Democrat party’s office in Phichit province.

Sanan Kajornprasart, Interior Minister, as well as 8 other cabinet ministers were found to have understated their declared assets. Sanan was later barred by the Constitution Court from politics for 5 years.

Chuan himself was found by the National Counter-Corruption Commission to have undeclared shareholdings in a rural cooperative.

K. Chuan had received some shares with a total value of around 250,000B as far as I remember, it's unclear he really knew that had happened. A deadly sin, especially compared to the billions k. Thaksin had forgotten about in an honest mistake in 2001 which required some pressure to courts to get accepted (the mistake that is).

Anyway your info seems to have been copied straight from WIKI, so let's just add the link for fair usage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuan_Leekpai

Well said. I've posted today in response to an article I'd read in a UK newspaper regarding the depletion and endangerment of local flora/fauna. I'd posted the link to this article the day before on a thread regarding (successive) governments' lack of concern for this country's environment, and buried after just one day on page 4 or 5.

However, anything with the word 'sex' in it receives hundreds of views. So it must be that the majority of expats here did not leave their prurience at home then.

Back in the West there are newspapers with really 'intelligent' contents, like the one with the page-3 lady. Lots of forums with equally interesting subjects. Not better, not worse than topics we find in this forum. Just for the fun of it Google or Yahoo for DSK IMF NewYork

Chuan just looks like a decent guy, just like any other Democrat members. They were trained before joining politics. My family knows a lot of former MPs and former Ministers. Their words are very well selected and they often sound very admirable. I personally quite like many Democrat members due to their well-spoken speeches but I'm not sure if they can keep their words.

K. Chuan 'just looks' like a decent guy? The poorest MP and PM Thailand ever had? No offence, but go and defame another Thai politician, enough choice

In 1987, when Chuan was Parliament Speaker, his younger brother Raluek Leekpai (ระลึก หลีกภัย) was charged with embezzling 231.8 million THB (approx. 9 million USD in 1987) from Thai Farmers Bank.[28] Raluek had been an executive at TFB. Responding to accusations in Parliament, Chuan publicly defended the innocence of his brother. Raluek fled the country, and only returned to Thailand in 2004 after the statute of limitations expired on his crime and he couldn't be prosecuted. He had been on the run as a fugitive in Taiwan.

Ask some Thai's about Chang Tha See.

K. Raluek may have been guilty, but no one ever accused k. Chuan that he was an accomplice or had even known about what his brother had been up to. Stay cool and keep whistling

......... shooting innocent civilians with rocket launchers ..........

Maybe you could give some details of when this took place .......

April 22nd, 2010. Grenade attack on non-red-shirts killing a totally innocent Thai lady and wounding about 80 others at BTS SalaDaeng Station.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/bangkok-grenade-attacks-grow-deadly/story-e6frg6so-1225857615586

I think it's time for people to separate this issue from Thaksin. You might hate Thaksin but it doesn't mean that everything that Red Shirts do are wrong... many of them died, don't just think that it's good because they are Thaksin's slaves but you have to understand that by having different political opinions mean that their lives don't matter. Red Shirts might not always be right but they are not always wrong, you have to understand that soldiers shot innocent people (not all Red Shirts' actions have their involvement for sure). It's basic human rights, I hope you understand that they don't deserve to get shot and soldiers who shot them must be brought to justice since not all the Red Shirts burned the tires, burned the city, shot the soldiers etc. Whatever you accuse them of doing, many red shirts did not involve in that, they were just sitting and listening to their leaders on stage.. surely they don't deserve to be killed right?

With UDD leaders just moving unto PTP party list because they asked, with k. Thaksin saying 'Thaksin thinks, PTP acts, it's not easy to separate UDD and PTP and Thaksin. Another problem of course is the use of red-shirts and UDD as synonymsm that makes separation real difficult.

The original red-shirts had and have valid grievances, but their cause was hyjacked by UDD, PTP, Thaksin. Cannon fodder, sacrificed to help one group of elite to overcome another group of elite. Really cynical with k. Jatuporn wearing his Mahatmir Ghandi T-shirt.

You have to understand that with armed elements mingling amongst really peaceful protesters, innocents will suffer. Indeed many red-shirt didn't do any harm, but some of that large group of red-shirts from various factions did do that harm, burned tyres, torched buildings, believed their UDD leaders would stay with them.

We just bought 4 eggs 30bt, a few months ago could buy ten for that. jb1

So two eggs 15 baht and one 7 baht, 50 Satang? :jap:

Walked past Si Yan market here in BKK a few days ago, still 10 for less than 40B.

However the government has set the egg prices at around 3 baht. Somebody somewhere is not listening to the government - but just what is the legal precedent of a caretaker government with regard to the government set price of eggs - who is responsible, should the democrats be dissolved for dereliction of duty? Stranger things have happened...............

http://thaifinancial...ork-egg-prices/

Farmprice around 3 THB. I'm talking about market price of 3.60. 20% more, but no details on size. Still about half what another member seems to have paid. All this also ignoring global trends of course.

As for legal precedents, don't think jurisprudence works like that in the Thai legal system. By law as well

The title of this topic "Ex-PM Thaksin's Sister Yingluck Is Thai Opposition's PM Candidate" is a bit misleading. Whereas Ms. Yingluck is the opposition party PTP's PM candidate, she's not the opposition's candidate. I know the PTP is the largest opposition party, but not the only one.

Strictly speaking I'm not even sure you can talk about oppositions parties with the House dissolved and all parties going for new elections and striving for a better position after

i want to see what all the people who like to defend the CBK abhist hast to say about this!!!this is the blood of inocent thai people who has been murdered by the army under abhisit orders!!!who is gonne bring abhisit to justice, who is gonne bring justice to the familly of the dead???but this has been posted since 8:22 and no one of the dinosaur of this forum has emited one single word, and then they go and write that they are worried by the future of this country,blablablabla thats why we need a revolution,it seems that the most of the people here don't understant that thailand right now is like a pressure pot, that its accumulating pressure till the day in which it will explote i hope that that day never arrive!!!

Wonder who you label as dinosaurs of this forum, also why. No reaction since early this morning might mean other things to do on Vishaka Bucha.

Anyway, read the HRW report first before getting into 'murdered on PM Abhisit's order'. Did you listen to PTV last year with the UDD leaders at full blast sound level spreading hatred against the government and that already begin of the year when they still tried to influence the court deciding on k. Thaksin's billions. Thailand may be a pressure pot, but the UDD needs to take a larger part of the blame for cooking

Kentucky State University isn't in the UK

Well spotted but so what?

I'm very familiar with Yale (where many decades ago I did some research) and the same applies there.One couldn't trace a graduate from the website and I suspect the same applies to all universities.There is usually a separate alumni site but even this would be subject to password/user name restrictions.In some cases there might be a list of notable alumni but Yingluck hardly belongs to that category (yet).

Thanks for posting the link on Thaksin's alma mater.I see it recognised Thaksin with a prestigious award previously awarded to the likes of Lech Walesa.

http://www.shsu.edu/...inAwardRel.html

Grateful for bringing this to our attention.

Houston Texas, he learnt the extrajudicial killing there? The state where 80% of death penality judgements are against US Law (University of Columbia)?

Getting a bit off topic. In the 2009 novel 'The Traffickers' by W.E.B. Griffin there's a Texas Ranger who suggests to follow the 'Thailand model', going on along the line 'twenty-two hundred drug runners were summarily shot and another 70,000 arrested by year's end'. Bad examples travel far

According to the letter, the mother of the child had worked as a staff member of the family for about 20 years before retiring in January. Their child was born around 10 years ago.

I can only wonder at how hurt Ms. Maria Shiver felt when Arnie told her AFTER the maid had continued working for the family till begin of this year. That's assuming she didn't know a bloody thing all these years

I didn't forget to ask you anything I asked you relevant questions in respect of your post. If you cannot answer the questions that I have asked then then your post is not based on any facts but is simply your own opinions and hearsay which is why you have not answered so do you want to withdraw your post?.

... rest removed

The old adage is true, a fool can ask more questions than ten wise men can answer. This time let me add explicitly IMHO

We just bought 4 eggs 30bt, a few months ago could buy ten for that. jb1

So two eggs 15 baht and one 7 baht, 50 Satang? :jap:

Walked past Si Yan market here in BKK a few days ago, still 10 for less than 40B.

5,000, 20,000 or 100,000, from Thursday afternoon avoid Ratchaprasong and roads leading to, leading from it. Take off a few days, leave Bangkok :-)

Or go along and join in. At the moment you still have a choice. I refer that to our Thai members of course, as it has nothing to do with the foreign contingent. They will have to be content with writing angry posts about not being able to go shopping at Louis Vuitton and/or enduring traffic delays in the process.

As some esteemed members have said 'it's not our business'. To join in would mean foreign interference with internal Thai matters. That's a 'no-no'. As for the shopping, who cares. It's those Thais who work in the area and won't have business unless they sell food or red-shirts. Those Thais who will be very inconvenienced by the traffic problems. The foreigners don't count in this, most can easily afford to take off a few more days.

You may or may not have read my post properly, I can't quite make my mind up. I'll reiterate my 3rd sentence for you.........."I refer that to our Thai members of course, as it has nothing to do with the foreign contingent".

I may have mis-read your post. Maybe because I'm not used to you advising or telling our Thai members what to do. I assume also the 'write angry posts' is still directed at our Thai members ?

Vinyat said that while the Election Commission does not require the party-list candidate to appear in person to file the candidacy, he would prefer to have the court adjudicate on the matter. All documents for the application will be prepared in case Jatuporn were not allowed to travel, the lawyer added.

The EC is also not required and probably expressly forbidden to help someone's election campaign. If k. Jatuporn were to be allowed to go and register in person, enough UDD members would be rounded up to cause a disturbance by their presence (about 100 would do already).

Well I dont remember it like this at all and I was living here at the time!

It was Generals Suchinda and Sunthorn who overthrew the Chatchai government not Anand who came along later (1992)and did a pretty good job as I recall.

This distortion of history does the red cause no good at all and this comes from someone who very much supports the basic red cause although not some of its proponents

Get it right!!

Wiki says

"To shore up its image and gain the trust of King Bhumibol, the NPKC appointed Anand as interim Prime Minister.[9] It was probably the most sensible act the NPKC ever took.[10]

Anand, closely linked to the palace and held in respect by both the bureaucracy and the business community, proved acceptable to the people and the international community. He was regarded as being astute and disciplined, and had never been associated with any financial scandal.[10]

Upon accepting the position of prime minister Anand was quick to declare that he did not agree with everything the junta had done and that he intended to follow an independent course. He further angered the NPKC by suggesting that the imprisoned Chatichai be released immediately upon a cabinet being appointed.[11]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anand_Panyarachun

I dont care what Wiki says.It didnt happen like that at all!!!!!! The timeline is incorrect.I repeat that Anand had nothing to do with the 1991 military coup.The generals instigated and controlled it all and Anand came along much later .1992 I think???

I was here and lived through it all, both 1991 and 1992 and remember the coup very well, but I repeat that Anand was not involved in that at all

Cool down, musiclover. The wiki part doesn't say k. Anand was involved in the coup. It just says the coup leaders appointed him as PM for publicity reasons and he showed his independence and in doing so annoyed them tremendously.

The only talk of a coup is coming from the fat man, who thankfully is now in jail, joining in the same successful diet programme as Victor Bout and Nattawut.

The last coup was welcomed by the middle class.

Jatupon claimed on stage last year that the rank and file soldiers, hailing from Issan and the North, would not follow orders to march against the red shirts.

As usual, he was wrong.

Your statement overlooks several critical facts. Specifically;

1. The police had been unable to control the crowds. This may have been due to either an inadequcy and/or an unwillngess to engage the protestors.

2. Until May 14, regular army units had been deployed. There was a reluctance to move against the protestors. Actions consisted mostly of containment and "picking off" protestors when the opportunity arose. The commanders at the time were reported to have expressed a reluctance to take actions that would have caused large scale damage or injuries.

3. The turning point came when the 21st Infantry Regiment of the Royal Armament, aka the Queen's Guard, were deployed. At the same time, the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 31stInfantry Regiment aka the Royal Guards were deployed. Army regulars were replaced at key contact points with Royal unit personnel.

4. On May 19, the red barricades were breached by a Royal Guards attack, and the end of the protests started, whileBangkok's commercial structures were set on fire.

I offer that until the regular army units and the police were replaced by the Royal units, no significant action was undertaken. The reluctance to act until that time may have been a reflection of the police regular army's reluctance to inflict fatalities and physical damage to Bangkok. Is it a coincidence that the police and army units personnel are drawn from the general population with a heavy weighting from the north and north east?

The term middle class is misused in Thailand. Supposedly the middle class occupies the space between the working class and the upper classes in Thailand. If one applies the conventional western parameters of the middle class; a good education, a professional or senior management position and home ownership, then yes the middle class might very well have been supporters of the military coup. On the other hand if one uses the definition that is typically used in Thailand and is best expressed by the Asian Development Bank, "people living on approximately US$2-20 per day as determining middle class status. For a family of two parents and two children, therefore, that would equate to a family income of around 7,200-72,000 baht per month. That would encompass the great majority of urban, salary-owning Thai citizens.", then the answer would be no, the middle class did not support a coup.

Dear GKid, please stick to the point.

Coup rumours abound, none emerging. The last coup in September 2006 was welcomed by middle class and others. The Army involved in cleaning up protesters included various units between April 10th and May 19th 2010.

The points you raise may or may not be valid, but do not address k. Siriporn's points.

The police being 'unable' to operate professionally suggest no choice but to call in the army. Army units were surprised by unexpected violence in trying to disperse protesters, so call in better units. Those better units breached the barricades and Bangkok started burning? No funny suggestion here, now would there? Lastly the part on 'middle-class' I will not even respond to.

Back to the drawing-board methinks. alternatively go stand in the downpour we're having now here in Bangkok :-)

Who are the people that you describe as middle class? Who are the others that you refer to?

What percentage of the Thai population are the middle class that you refer to? What percentage of the Thai population are the others that you refer to?

Are you suggesting that the votes of any one particular group in the Thai population is more important than the votes and opinions of the rest of the Thai population?

You forgot to ask to tell you the age groups and the division in male/female. Of course having commented on my third sentence, you might have run out of steam. No questions on the remainder. May I dare to hope you agree with that part ?

Interesting that the direct attack on pulling Chavalit back into the fold is coupled so closely here with PTP specifically defending Jatuporn agains charges of insulting the monarchy. It was obvious that Chavalit had heard the exact words used when he bolted the Thaksin mothership, even Thaksin took a step back.

So how much money does it take to for Chavalit to forget...

he is in bed with people condoning and defending those who insult the monarchy?

It's only a charge. In the above you are assuming and implying that he actually WAS insulting the monarchy, instead of it merely being a political smear tactic by the military / powers-that-be, to cheaply and conveniently get rid of opponents.

So? Are you really suggesting it's THAT easy to get rid of Gen. Chavalit, or that easy to get him scared? The old fox may live to be 100 and still out-fox youngsters.

One UDD apologist on another forum is claiming Thursday's rally will have 60,000 to 100,000 in attendance.

TH

5,000, 20,000 or 100,000, from Thursday afternoon avoid Ratchaprasong and roads leading to, leading from it. Take off a few days, leave Bangkok :-)

Or go along and join in. At the moment you still have a choice. I refer that to our Thai members of course, as it has nothing to do with the foreign contingent. They will have to be content with writing angry posts about not being able to go shopping at Louis Vuitton and/or enduring traffic delays in the process.

As some esteemed members have said 'it's not our business'. To join in would mean foreign interference with internal Thai matters. That's a 'no-no'. As for the shopping, who cares. It's those Thais who work in the area and won't have business unless they sell food or red-shirts. Those Thais who will be very inconvenienced by the traffic problems. The foreigners don't count in this, most can easily afford to take off a few more days.

Sigh, we've been through all this before. I suggest you look up who did "install" his father as deputy minister of health (it wasn't the NPKC); just how popular that person was, and still is; who reinstalled them following Black May 1992; and the international accolades he got for the AIDS reforms made during his terms. You're really scraping the barrel now with your attempts to smear his father, which only prove how little you know about current and past politics.

Sorry, Oh knowledgeable one....

"A military coup in February 1991 saw the Chatichai government replaced byan unelected government, with a cabinet of technocrats led by formerdiplomat Anand Panyarachun." by Sombat Chantornvonga, Duncan McCargobSource: Tobacco Control, Wednesday, 2/28/01a Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, Bangkok 10200, Thailand,b Institute for Politics and International Studies, University of LeedsPS He may be popular with some(yellows/Dems), but certainly not with others (reds/PT);"With respect to the freedom of information, the Anand administration also disappointed many. With the NPKC in full control of the media, blatant censorship was practised of any issue that was critical of the military. Thus, rallies and demonstrations on a wide range of issues of public concern were kept from the television-watching and radio-listening public. The transparency of the denials of censorship by the military-dominated Interior Ministry must have been apparent to Anand, but he chose to do nothing about them""Anand supported the 2006 military coup that abrogated the People's Constitution and overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, " Anand claimed that the coup was well-received by the people and that the military junta's ban against opposition or political activity would not last long. He also noted surprise at the international community's condemnation to the coup"

!

Well I dont remember it like this at all and I was living here at the time!

It was Generals Suchinda and Sunthorn who overthrew the Chatchai government not Anand who came along later (1992)and did a pretty good job as I recall.

This distortion of history does the red cause no good at all and this comes from someone who very much supports the basic red cause although not some of its proponents

Get it right!!

Wiki says

"To shore up its image and gain the trust of King Bhumibol, the NPKC appointed Anand as interim Prime Minister.[9] It was probably the most sensible act the NPKC ever took.[10]

Anand, closely linked to the palace and held in respect by both the bureaucracy and the business community, proved acceptable to the people and the international community. He was regarded as being astute and disciplined, and had never been associated with any financial scandal.[10]

Upon accepting the position of prime minister Anand was quick to declare that he did not agree with everything the junta had done and that he intended to follow an independent course. He further angered the NPKC by suggesting that the imprisoned Chatichai be released immediately upon a cabinet being appointed.[11]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anand_Panyarachun

Is Yingluck currently in the management levels of any companies?

Will she be stepping down from those positions when she becomes an MP (100% certain) or PM (36% certain).

SC Assets --- I think

I don't think her failure to disclose assets in the past will count against her. The assets forfeited in the assets forfeiture case don't count against her as THAT case was civil and not criminal.

Somewhat irrelevant what happened before I think, especially since the case was dismissed. What does matter is her NEW declaration of assets she has to submit after she's elected as MP.

Some people will be in for a huge shock when Yingluck comes out of the election with a landslide majority of over 50%. Most Thai women are likely to vote for her, just to show their husbands that women have equal rights and can be just as successful as men, while Thai men are likely to vote for her because she's pretty. The least Thais care about in elections are experience.

Of course, the army can always do a coup after the election ..but they'll lose a lot of support from the Thai people if they hold up their arms against a woman. Thaksin has gone "all in" and has outsmarted Abhisit's Democrats with this move.

Just watch and feel free to come back to this post after the election.

You're sure your name is not Cassandra ?

Thaksin's re-election was proof positive of the effects of money, and a place at the trough, offered to coalition partners in an attempt to get them to join the "mother" party.

Isn't that what Abhisit's Democrats did with the smaller coalition parties that help keep his coalition government together? Or are we supposed to believe that they are supporting him for free, even though some of their policies are quite different from the Democrats'?

One of the differences is in co-operation rather than joining. TRT swallowed small parties and included them as factions within the TRT party system. The Dem's coalition partners are still separate parties each with their own structure, ideas, etc.

With Suthep being Abhist's right hand man and Yingluck being in the major opposing political party, of course Suthep is going to heap positive words on Abhist and heap negative words on Yingluck. It's the political thing to do, especially during election season.

Exactly.. politicians are going to say anything to discredit the other party.

As the late Ronald Reagan said in a debate with Walter Mondale in 1984 "He teased Mondale by joking, "I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I'm not going to exploit for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience.""