Govt ‘mistakes to blame for declining popularity’

[The manic]

7 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

It is fascinating to see how blatantly the power-grab by the military in the new constitution is being talked about (...specially designed parliamentary mechanisms...) these days, both in the Nation and the Other Newspaper. I assume that Thai language media is equally forthcoming.

 

This is the problem with having military people in charge of governments; there are examples of generals going on to lead governments effectively (Eisenhower in the US for example), but it is the exception rather than the rule.

 

The current government's competence and legitimacy are being widely questioned, and history shows that once that process begins, it is rare for it to be reversed by any government, even the most deftly managed ones.

 

 

The quote above is a textbook example of what not to do. The premier has left the South and the dispute is over. However, the desire to punish has overridden common sense and the story of the bad visit continues.

 

The next year will be very interesting...

If coups actually worked they would not have to have so many. Coups never work when they overthrow elected parties rather than just wait for the next election.

[JAG]

3 minutes ago, harada said:

It will be interesting to see how iron clad his self amnesty is when those waiting for their turn at the trough run out of patience and Thai history repeats itself once again.

Frankly, other than an indicator of the cynicism of the junta head shed, I think that the amnesty is irrelevant. This coup I suggest is different. From the start the intention was to cement themselves into power. They simply do not envisage handing over power. That is what is behind the new constitution and all the quasi legal shenanigans that have followed. They will only leave if forced out, either by a counter coup or by an uprising. Whatever, they will only survive in exile, no genteel retirement whilst wielding significant power as head of the - well you know. 

Exile - well that should lead to some bitter glares across the saloon bar in a Dubai country club...

[The manic]

2 minutes ago, JAG said:

Frankly, other than an indicator of the cynicism of the junta head shed, I think that the amnesty is irrelevant. This coup I suggest is different. From the start the intention was to cement themselves into power. They simply do not envisage handing over power. That is what is behind the new constitution and all the quasi legal shenanigans that have followed. They will only leave if forced out, either by a counter coup or by an uprising. Whatever, they will only survive in exile, no genteel retirement whilst wielding significant power as head of the - well you know. 

Exile - well that should lead to some bitter glares across the saloon bar in a Dubai country club...

Exile - well that should lead to some bitter glares across the saloon bar in a Dubai country club..Tee Hee 555. It would be worth travelling to that dump just to see!

[mtls2005]

Political parties must organize and register by 5 Jan 2018 in order to participate in elections. However, the Junta is still forbidding political gatherings, so perhaps this will be used to delay an election until 2019 or 2020?

 

I think the populace has been cowed into submission even with the endless corruption scandals, and other missteps, plaguing the Junta. But little things like covering up the death of a recruit, and then stealing his organs, the PMs handling of things like protesters, the southern cabinet kerfuffle, the shuttering of the gold mine via Art. 44, are piling up and the next one may put the Junta/NCPO on the backfoot. Calls for some sort of civilian caretaker government will probably start up soon, especially after the Junta says that recently discovered "arms caches" (which most Thais see as a set up) mean that elections must be delayed, again.

 

[Eric Loh]

2 hours ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

 

You are still not a fan then........

He already has 1 loyal fan in TVF and that’s 1 too many. That fan is awkwardly quiet today; perhaps sulking at all those negative news about his hero. 

[metisdead]

A post containing a disallowed to the current government has been removed. 

[Becker]

5 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

He already has 1 loyal fan in TVF and that’s 1 too many. That fan is awkwardly quiet today; perhaps sulking at all those negative news about his hero. 

Probably busy taking names and reporting the results to his beloved junta - and I'm not joking.

[wow64]

The Government never makes mistakes. 

 

Sorry I just spewed in my mouth a little bit. 

[Jonnapat]

Did I read correctly ""government makes mistakes""?

There's a first time for everything I suppose

[Baerboxer]

8 hours ago, JAG said:

Eisenhower was elected to lead the government as a former General. He didn't appoint himself whilst serving as a General, and in the process cancelling an election.

 

Yep, indeed he was. He was also a brilliant leader and manager, with strategic vision and a genuine feel for people. A man who truly could unite strong characters with diverse ideas a la Churchill and De Gaulle.

 

No one here even comes remotely close. 

[Baerboxer]

 

All governments and all people make mistakes - if you don't you ain't doing anything!

 

However, it's how you act when you make a mistake that people judge. 

 

And refusing to admit it, making ridiculous excuses that a 3 year old would see through, and repeating the same mistake over and over, tends to loose popularity. 

 

Will the lesson be learned - doubt it.

[spidermike007]

11 hours ago, greenchair said:

Absolutely. 

The government is there to represent all people, therefore they have a duty to take into account every view and different opinion. 

If the opinion is based on ignorance, fear, lack of education, misinformation, then the government has a duty to respect, calm the fear, educate and inform the correct information. 

They all pay taxes. They all pay the government salaries. They have their rights just like the informed and well educated. 

 

And what if the sole agenda is to represent the elite, the powerful, the connected, the military, and the super wealthy? What then? You want to know what then? Then you have an administration exactly like this one. I do not think they ever even effectively pretended to do otherwise. Anything they did to the contrary was simply crowd management. And anyone who bought anything to the contrary was naive at best.

[chainarong]

And thats what you get with arrogance,  without experience..........................................

[Enoon]

13 hours ago, halloween said:

Should governments take into account uninformed/misinformed opinion because it is widely held?

 

They certainly should, because even more people may well be influenced by, and act upon, those opinions.

 

They may become the "dreamers of the day":

 

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did".

 "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", TE Lawrence

 

Where do you suppose revolutions come from?

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by Enoon

[Enoon]

11 hours ago, stephen tracy said:

I don't think we can really compare Prayuth with Eisenhower. At the very least, the latter was a real general. 

 

Who listened.

 

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by Enoon

[Oziex1]

Their popularity is declining, Ahah how popular were they before the so called decline？

[lincolnshire poacher]

13 hours ago, halloween said:

Should governments take into account uninformed/misinformed opinion because it is widely held?

Yes, they should explain clearly why it is an uninformed/misinformed opinion and not lecture people and create disharmony

[lincolnshire poacher]

12 hours ago, greenchair said:

Absolutely. 

The government is there to represent all people, therefore they have a duty to take into account every view and different opinion. 

If the opinion is based on ignorance, fear, lack of education, misinformation, then the government has a duty to respect, calm the fear, educate and inform the correct information. 

They all pay taxes. They all pay the government salaries. They have their rights just like the informed and well educated. 

Precisely

[rosst]

14 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

That is both a highly complex question and a very good question.

 

Governments are there to govern, and there are certainly times when they can and should make decisions for the benefit of/on behalf of the populace, even when on the surface the reasons aren't clear or popular.

 

However, the ability to make decisions in defiance of 'conventional wisdom' requires the government to be highly legitimate, highly credible and highly trusted. Further, there must be some kind of accountability for the decisions, something that isn't really prevalent at the moment. According to the news article, the current government does not meet the requirements outlined above.

 

My own view is that the government needs to establish its legitimacy, credibility and trust before undertaking decisions as above. However, I don't believe that there is an easy answer to the question.

 

What an erudite answer, my thoughts exactly. 

[observer90210]

Have seen this photo before, but it is still very refreshing and funny to observe the chap behind the PM on the right side...having a good chuckle..!!

[The Teacher]

You see that's the problem with self-appointed political generals, power hungry with crazy ideas that were discussed over a bottle of Thai whiskey, not throughout the process at all and definitely never listing to the people they should represent. The Juntas lastest trip should remind him of that. Deliver true and properly elected government done by the Thai people and send the military back to work defending its great nation,  (One would hope anyway)

[stephen tracy]

11 minutes ago, The Teacher said:

You see that's the problem with self-appointed political generals, power hungry with crazy ideas that were discussed over a bottle of Thai whiskey, not throughout the process at all and definitely never listing to the people they should represent. The Juntas lastest trip should remind him of that. Deliver true and properly elected government done by the Thai people and send the military back to work defending its great nation,  (One would hope anyway)

I doubt Prayuth would be able to defend the nation from an external threat. He likes to dress up as a general and tell people he's a soldier but he isn't one really. Could you imagine him actually fighting a war? With regards to the situation domestically, Prayuth thinks he is defending the nation, which in his mind is preventing democracy from taking root and maintaining the backward patronage system where they elites can keep the status quo as it is. 

[The Deerhunter]

On 04/12/2017 at 4:36 AM, tracker1 said:

Hmmmm

Exactly.  Some people need re-education and some others are asking for it.

Edited December 5, 2017 by The Deerhunter

[baboon]

17 hours ago, The Teacher said:

You see that's the problem with self-appointed political generals, power hungry with crazy ideas that were discussed over a bottle of Thai whiskey, not throughout the process at all and definitely never listing to the people they should represent. The Juntas lastest trip should remind him of that. Deliver true and properly elected government done by the Thai people and send the military back to work defending its great nation,  (One would hope anyway)

Absolute crap. As though Thai Generals would drink Thai whisky when they can spend a few hundred Dollars on a bottle of something decent...

[The Deerhunter]

On 04/12/2017 at 5:25 AM, halloween said:

This particular government apparently rejects the uninformed/ill-informed opinion of villagers fed BS by those with their own agenda, preferring the input of those with expertise in the field of supplying reliable 24/7 energy to the people of southern Thailand. should they be more like Yingluk and continue with a disastrous policy because it is popular (at least with those whose perception was that they were benefiting)?

The South Australian exercise has proven that Tesla storage and renewables can replace plans for many major planned conventional capital electrical projects.  Where did Australia get the idea from?  In Glen Innes, a suburb of Auckland, in October 2016, New Zealand was one of the first (if not the first) places to benefit from this approach.  The local power utility "Vectra" costed the difference between running a new high voltage line into the area and using the same distribution network plus extra Tesla Storage for peak times. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/vector/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503810&objectid=11736123

The storage option was chosen and saved millions of (anybody's) dollars.  It now seems that even a future  continuing increase in demand in the area can be smoothed out by additional storage as most electrical supply problems are peak loading ones and can easily be matched by more batteries saving millions of dollars each and every time.   It is irresponsible to continue building coal fired power stations when other options are available for consideration and many power problems are merely peak loading problems.   The number of new technologies being developed and tested for scaling-up potential for battery systems to supersede the current L-Ion technology make it clear that the world is changing and Thailand is well placed for solar and wind.  Storage (and renewables) will just get better and cheaper.   Need for more electricity no longer translates immediately into "build more fossil fuel power stations."  This power station has been talked about for years and here are solutions from just 2016 and 2017.  Time to get with the alternative program if it will work as a usable solution in place of this unpopular polluting monster.

Edited December 6, 2017 by The Deerhunter