Prayuth Has No Time To Consider Lifting Politics Ban: Aide

[webfact]

Prayuth Has No Time To Consider Lifting Politics Ban: Aide

By Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

 

  

Junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha speaks Monday to those affected by flood in Ang Thong province

 

BANGKOK — Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha is too busy responding to the long-running flood crisis to consider lifting his junta’s ban on political activities, one of his subordinates said Tuesday.

 

Responding to calls the 3.5-year-old ban be lifted following the late king’s funeral and announcement of elections in one year, a member of the National Security Council, Gen. Walllop Raksanoh, said the junta leader was preoccupied.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2017/10/31/prayuth-no-time-consider-lifting-politics-ban-aide/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2017-10-31

[webfact]

Thailand's political activity ban stays for now - PM

By Aukkarapon Niyomyat

 

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrives to attend a weekly cabinet meeting at Government House in Bangkok, Thailand June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom/Files

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's military government on Tuesday said it will not yet lift a ban on political activity, despite a general election scheduled for next year and growing pressure from political parties to lift it.

 

The ban on political party gatherings has been in place since the military seized power in a 2014 coup but there have been growing calls from all political groups to end the ban.

 

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha cited persistent political divisions and mud-slinging as reasons why the ban should stay.

 

"We will not lift the ban today but don't be frustrated," Prayuth told reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

 

"Today we are still speaking evil. You must stop this so that everyone is at ease," Prayuth said, urging all sides to put aside their differences.

 

Earlier this month, Prayuth said Thailand would hold a general election in November 2018 - the news was largely welcomed by investors in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

 

There has been little opposition to junta rule since 2014, partly because authorities have arrested and jailed dozens of critics.

 

The government had said that parties needed to wait until after the funeral ofThailand's late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was cremated last week, for a decision on when normal political life will resume.

 

Tensions have been festering in Thailand since 2006 when a coup removed then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Since then, the country has witnessed bouts of unrest including deadly street protests.

 

Thailand is divided broadly between those who align themselves with Thaksin and his sister, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose government was removed in the 2014 coup, and the elite in the capital Bangkok.

 

Thaksin is credited by some as being the first Thai prime minister to tap into the potential of the rural electorate. But he made many enemies among the elite who accuse him of corruption - which he denies.

 

Both Thaksin and Yingluck live abroad. Yingluck fled Thailand in August ahead of a verdict against her in a negligence trial for which she was later found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.

 

Thaksin fled to avoid a 2008 jail corruption sentence.

 

Politicians from major parties were upset about the decision not to lift the political activity ban on Tuesday.

 

"I want the junta to show some sincerity about the election by lifting the ban," Sunisa Lertpakawat, a member of Thaksin's Puea Thai Party, told Reuters.

 

"We haven't got much time."

 

(Reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-10-31

[canopus1969]

 

[DM07]

It really becomes very veeeeery boring!

 

[baboon]

Too busy? How long does it take to say 'Yeah, OK, then' - one and a half, two seconds?

Of course he never had any intention of lifting the ban, so I suppose my question was irrelevant. 

[rkidlad]

Okay. So if he’s too busy managing the ‘floods’, he will take full responsibility if they get worse?

 

I really don’t know how much longer this can last until something happens. 

[baboon]

8 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

Okay. So if he’s too busy managing the ‘floods’, he will take full responsibility if they get worse?

 

I really don’t know how much longer this can last until something happens. 

It is true they are running out of excuses, which is fortunate. At least sooner or later they will be forced to poop or get off the pot - give a cast iron guarantee of a return to politics or state point blank they are here to stay. (And by doing so, admitting they were lying all along about elections.) The public will find out where they really stand sooner or later.

[kotsak]

Busy "managing" the floods..

 

 

[JimGant]

Oh, yawn. If Thailand could somehow emulate Singapore, both economically and politically, what's to complain about? That Singapore restricts free speech -- even less so than Malaysia -- I'm not sure Thailand is in so terrible a position, at least by SE Asia standards. Judging every thing here -- in this part of the world --  by Western standards is just not appropriate.

https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21718571-three-protesters-get-stiff-penalties-disturbing-public-order-government-singapore-says-it

[InMyShadow]

Good the longer we keep power from those corrupt slime bags the better. At least there is some good work being done ATM compared to nothing ever getting done in the last 50 years

Oh yeah I guess Thaksin killed 2000 drug dealers which was pretty cool and some other dude banned elephants from Bangkok after 100 years, can't think of anything else though

[stephen tracy]

13 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

Good the longer we keep power from those corrupt slime bags the better. At least there is some good work being done ATM compared to nothing ever getting done in the last 50 years

Oh yeah I guess Thaksin killed 2000 drug dealers which was pretty cool and some other dude banned elephants from Bangkok after 100 years, can't think of anything else though

The slime bags are in power now, or did you miss that one?

[stephen tracy]

"Thaksin is credited by some as being the first Thai prime minister to tap into the potential of the rural electorate. But he made many enemies among the elite who accuse him of corruption"..... pot and kettle.  The elites have been looting the country forever and a day, and now they have installed the junta so they can continue to do so without anyone else getting a slice of the pie.  Funny how he has no time to lift the ban but he does have time to deploy state security forces to count twerks and chat to toads.

[InMyShadow]

The slime bags are in power now, or did you miss that one?

We have security when there was a real threat of civil war and the death of the king could have sparked instability and chaos. You should be grateful or you may have already been forced back to your own nanny state

Be very careful what you wish for. The real damage will happen soon enough. Be patient

[irwinfc]

oh my goodness! that is absolutely shocking!.. not! uncle general just can't be bothered for anything

[stephen tracy]

5 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

We have security when there was a real threat of civil war and the death of the king could have sparked instability and chaos. You should be grateful or you may have already been forced back to your own nanny state

Be very careful what you wish for. The real damage will happen soon enough. Be patient

You call being thrown in jail for pressing like on FB security?  You call bombs going off in BKK and the South security? You call a tinderbox of the socio-economically marginalized becoming increasingly angry over “government” policy security?  The junta and its paymasters will be the match that in that tinderbox that ignites a civil war if there ever is one.  The junta and the elites who installed them obviously view this as a potential scenario otherwise they wouldn't have bought all the tanks and armoured cars.  These were not purchased to repel an external threat.  It's no coincidence that these vehicles have been deployed outside BKK and not down south.

[baboon]

14 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

We have security when there was a real threat of civil war and the death of the king could have sparked instability and chaos. You should be grateful or you may have already been forced back to your own nanny state

Be very careful what you wish for. The real damage will happen soon enough. Be patient

No there was not a threat of a civil war. That is complete flapdoodle. 

[MobileContent]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Thaksin is credited by some as being the first Thai prime minister to tap into the potential of the rural electorate. But he made many enemies among the elite who accuse him of corruption - which he denies.

Not only Thaksin. The former PM Chatchai did exactly the same and got the vote of Isaan and the North. He too was removed by General Suchinda in the early 90's. The only government that was never removed as far as I know was the Democrats as they shared the pot with Bangkok and the army.

[stephen tracy]

3 minutes ago, MobileContent said:

Not only Thaksin. The former PM Chatchai did exactly the same and got the vote of Isaan and the North. He too was removed by General Suchinda in the early 90's. The only government that was never removed as far as I know was the Democrats as they shared the pot with Bangkok and the army.

Precisely.  

[InMyShadow]

No there was not a threat of a civil war. That is complete flapdoodle. 

Tens of Thousands of redshirts streaming into bangkok flying a red flag , shopping centers blown up, airport seized, bombs and shootings everywhere and the police just went home, totally impotant except for a handful of heroes.

The reason your still here is because of the army. Don't trash them on face book. Trash them here like you are doing now, yeah big loss of civil liberties!

You see sunshine civil war needs to be cut EARLY. Try googling Syria, once civil war starts it impossible to stop even by the army.

A lot of expats here are totall frauds. They could zip back home on the next flight rather than have a horrible life under an oppressive regime especially the married ones with kids that should be in proper schools but that involves giving up a pretty fantastic expat lifestyle style.. Not so bad after all eh?

[baboon]

4 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

Tens of Thousands of redshirts streaming into bangkok flying a red flag , shopping centers blown up, airport seized, bombs and shootings everywhere and the police just went home, totally impotant except for a handful of heroes.

The reason your still here is because of the army. Don't trash them on face book. Trash them here like you are doing now, yeah big loss of civil liberties!

You see sunshine civil war needs to be cut EARLY. Try googling Syria, once civil war starts it impossible to stop even by the army.

A lot of expats here are totall frauds. They could zip back home on the next flight rather than have a horrible life under an oppressive regime especially the married ones with kids that should be in proper schools but that involves giving up a pretty fantastic expat lifestyle style.. Not so bad after all eh?

The reason I am still here is because I am still here. The army preventing a civil war has nothing to do with it because they didn't. They didn't because there was no real threat of it happening except in the fertile imaginations of some.

[Lupatria]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

the junta leader was preoccupied.

Writing poems, scripts for nationalistic soaps, or composing more elevator junk?

[stephen tracy]

17 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

Tens of Thousands of redshirts streaming into bangkok flying a red flag , shopping centers blown up, airport seized, bombs and shootings everywhere and the police just went home, totally impotant except for a handful of heroes.

The reason your still here is because of the army. Don't trash them on face book. Trash them here like you are doing now, yeah big loss of civil liberties!

You see sunshine civil war needs to be cut EARLY. Try googling Syria, once civil war starts it impossible to stop even by the army.

A lot of expats here are totall frauds. They could zip back home on the next flight rather than have a horrible life under an oppressive regime especially the married ones with kids that should be in proper schools but that involves giving up a pretty fantastic expat lifestyle style.. Not so bad after all eh?

“yeah big loss of civil liberties!” Tell that to the people rotting in jail for having an opinion or pressing ‘like’ on FB. My work focuses on the Syrian conflict, and comparing Thailand to Syria in any way whatsoever is quite absurd. 

[InMyShadow]

The reason I am still here is because I am still here. The army preventing a civil war has nothing to do with it because they didn't. They didn't because there was no real threat of it happening except in the fertile imaginations of some.

Nonsense thailands political struggles are well documented.. Ever heard of Google and due diligence?

Besides the thai people totally got the government they deserved one day in around 50 years they will mature enough to accept democracy. That's the problem with not being colonized, to them the inability to accept losing elections and accepting corruption is just normal.

And westerners thinking they can impose their views of democracy are deleriouse.

Better for the martyrs to be thrown in jail then be shot to death by opposing political demonstration which will return soon enough.. Patience grass hopper.. Patience

[baboon]

12 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

Nonsense thailands political struggles are well documented.. Ever heard of Google and due diligence?

Besides the thai people totally got the government they deserved one day in around 50 years they will mature enough to accept democracy. That's the problem with not being colonized, to them the inability to accept losing elections and accepting corruption is just normal.

And westerners thinking they can impose their views of democracy are deleriouse.

Better for the martyrs to be thrown in jail then be shot to death by opposing political demonstration which will return soon enough.. Patience grass hopper.. Patience


 

"Nonsense thailands political struggles are well documented.. Ever heard of Google and due diligence?"

Indeed I have. Nothing I have read or witnessed indicated that a civil war was looming. Take a look at photos of Bangkok during the protests. Now take a look at photos of 2017 Aleppo or Homs. Not quite the same thing, is it?

 

"And westerners thinking they can impose their views of democracy are deleriouse."
Which westerners would those be?

[thaiguzzi]

2 hours ago, stephen tracy said:

"Thaksin is credited by some as being the first Thai prime minister to tap into the potential of the rural electorate. But he made many enemies among the elite who accuse him of corruption"..... pot and kettle.  The elites have been looting the country forever and a day, and now they have installed the junta so they can continue to do so without anyone else getting a slice of the pie.  Funny how he has no time to lift the ban but he does have time to deploy state security forces to count twerks and chat to toads.

Good post.

[thaiguzzi]

44 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

Nonsense thailands political struggles are well documented.. Ever heard of Google and due diligence?

Besides the thai people totally got the government they deserved one day in around 50 years they will mature enough to accept democracy. That's the problem with not being colonized, to them the inability to accept losing elections and accepting corruption is just normal.

And westerners thinking they can impose their views of democracy are deleriouse.

Better for the martyrs to be thrown in jail then be shot to death by opposing political demonstration which will return soon enough.. Patience grass hopper.. Patience


 

What are you on about?

[thaiguzzi]

1 hour ago, InMyShadow said:

Tens of Thousands of redshirts streaming into bangkok flying a red flag , shopping centers blown up, airport seized, bombs and shootings everywhere and the police just went home, totally impotant except for a handful of heroes.

The reason your still here is because of the army. Don't trash them on face book. Trash them here like you are doing now, yeah big loss of civil liberties!

You see sunshine civil war needs to be cut EARLY. Try googling Syria, once civil war starts it impossible to stop even by the army.

A lot of expats here are totall frauds. They could zip back home on the next flight rather than have a horrible life under an oppressive regime especially the married ones with kids that should be in proper schools but that involves giving up a pretty fantastic expat lifestyle style.. Not so bad after all eh?

What are you on about 2.0?

Er, the airport bit was the other lot.

Er, the bombs and shootings bit - a lot of that was black flag stuff - both sides.

[wakeupplease]

So in bullS>>> free English that means he is either penning another song (cotton wool time) of playing with his pet frog.

[chama]

Huh? I thought that was his "mission" in life...to get Thailand back to a normal state where people could move forward with their lives rather than remain in this perpetual holding pattern he has fostered while setting the stage for an unknown political future?

[Chris Lawrence]

24 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

What are you on about?

He is on a higher stool giving the sermon to a less informed people. Hypocritical at its best. 

 

Just frustrates me no end to hear people criticise a country that has a long history and graceful people but contribute stereotypes.