Activists dare NCPO to hold poll on Prawit's popularity

[webfact]

Activists dare NCPO to hold poll on Prawit's popularity

By KAS CHANWANPEN 
THE NATION

 

File photo: General Prawit Wongsuwan

 

Online surveys overwhelmingly show disapproval of embattled deputy PM

 

ANTI-CORRUPTION activists have urged the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to conduct a survey to find out whether embattled Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan still enjoys public support after his high-profile watch scandal.

 

After almost two months of criticism and scandal plaguing Prawit over his possession of a large number of luxury watches, Prawit on Wednesday said he would quit if the people did not want him in office anymore.

 

In response, anti-graft activist Veera Somkwamkid asked whether the junta “had the guts” to hold such a poll. If not, it could still learn from all the polls that were being conducted by people online, he said. 

 

“It would be even better if the NCPO did their own poll regarding whether or not people want General Prawit to leave. Do their own survey, so they can’t say that all the polls online are not credible or fake,” Veera told The Nation. 

 

In response to Prawit’s announcement, many people have been conducting polls online to gauge the public’s opinion about whether they wanted him to remain in the Cabinet.

 

A campaign on change.org has been launched and more than 18,000 people have agreed that Prawit should resign. A Facebook survey by the state-funded station Thai PBS also found more than 90 per cent of 70,000 respondents wanted Prawit to leave.

 

Veera added that all the Internet polls in which people were voting in yesterday pointed to the same conclusion that Prawit should leave.

 

Srisuwan Janya, another anti-corruption activist pressuring Prawit and the government on the issue, said the government could use the Damrongtham centres, which were set up to receive complaints and used by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to solicit public opinions, to conduct the poll.

 

“People could voice their opinions if they want General Prawit to resign,” Srisuwan said.

 

Earlier this week, National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) poll director Arnond Sakworawich stepped down in protest after the suppression of a survey concerning Prawit’s possession of luxury watches. 

 

The poll, reportedly titled “The luxurious watches were borrowed: Just distortion or the reality?” found that 85 per cent of respondents did not believe Prawit’s claims that he had borrowed the expensive wristwatches from friends.

 

Both Srisuwan and Veera have lodged complaints with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) calling for it to determine whether Prawit had concealed his assets or was unusually rich after he was seen wearing different luxury watches that appeared to cost tens of millions of baht. 

 

Prawit declared assets of about Bt83 million to the NACC when he joined Prayut’s government in 2014, but failed to declare the watches he was seen wearing late last year. 

 

The deputy premier told the anti-graft agency that friends had lent him the watches, although the explanation was widely criticised by regime critics and the public. 

 

At present, it appears that the anti-graft body will accept the excuse, which would mean that Prawit was not obligated to declare the watches as required by the law for people who hold positions in government.

 

Investigation ‘must continue’

 

Veera said that even if Prawit resigns from the Cabinet, the issue would not end there. The NACC would still have to proceed with the investigation and determine whether he was guilty of wrongdoing, he added.

 

Resignation was the bare minimum Prawit could do to take responsibility, Veera said, but it should not affect the investigation.

 

Srisuwan said Prawit should quit to show strength of spirit, adding that the scandal would then fade to the benefit of the government’s image.

 

Gothom Arya, a democracy advocate, also agreed that even if Prawit resigns, legal proceedings should continue, and if he is found guilty, he should face punishment.

 

Meanwhile, just one day after Prawit’s pledge, the general received support from a group of people visiting from the provinces.

 

Forty people said to have come from various provinces showed up in front of the Defence Ministry yesterday and were welcomed by General Rungroj Chamrasromerun, Prawit’s vice minister. 

 

Prawit was working and could not greet the group himself, but he passed on his thanks to the supporters, Rungroj said. 

 

Veera called for the police to press charges against the group for violating the ban on political activities.

 

Veera said he would wait until tomorrow to see whether police would take action. If not, he said he would file a complaint against Pol General Srivara Rangsibrahma-nakul, deputy police chief, for negligence of duty.

 

Later yesterday, Srivara said police would consider whether those people showing up outside the Defence Ministry in support of General Prawit had violated the junta ban on political gatherings or the Public Rally Act.

 

“If any wrongdoing was committed, police will have to take legal action,” he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30337744

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-02-02

[JoePai]

Just realised he should not have had that hot curry last night 

[isaanbanhou]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Meanwhile, just one day after Prawit’s pledge, the general received support from a group of people visiting from the provinces.

 

Forty people said to have come from various provinces showed up in front of the Defence Ministry yesterday and were welcomed by General Rungroj Chamrasromerun, Prawit’s vice minister. 

 

40 people out of  68,600,000,  what a tremendous gesture of support.

 

I hope they stood in groups of 4 or less, I would hate to see them arrested for sedition.

[canuckamuck]

If they NCPO ran their own poll you would see that 150% of the population approve.

[Eric Loh]

The people are pissed more than ever with Prayut defending him and the fake support. The more they try to defend him with silly stunts, the worse for him. The NCPO make the mistake of prolonging and procrastinating on this case and hope the public will lose interest like the Park's alleged corruption or Preechai's misdemeanors. They should have acted promptly and cut him loose. Now they have to bear the consequences and growing discontentment of various subjects including the delayed election and the charging of activists using harsh laws.  

[sungod]

47 minutes ago, isaanbanhou said:

 

40 people out of  68,600,000,  what a tremendous gesture of support.

 

I hope they stood in groups of 4 or less, I would hate to see them arrested for sedition.

Funny enough its about the same number who showed up last Friday on the skywalk in Pathum Wan to call for elections :)

[Oziex1]

Sadly a major problem is the collective immaturity of the people in this country. 

Too much school yard, standing facing each other arms akimbo.  

Push me shove you. Oh yeah says who! 

Has there ever been a real leader, a statesman?

[Oziex1]

13 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

The people are pissed more than ever with Prayut defending him and the fake support. The more they try to defend him with silly stunts, the worse for him. The NCPO make the mistake of prolonging and procrastinating on this case and hope the public will lose interest like the Park's alleged corruption or Preechai's misdemeanors. They should have acted promptly and cut him loose. Now they have to bear the consequences and growing discontentment of various subjects including the delayed election and the charging of activists using harsh laws.  

If they cut him loose,  he will sqeal like a pig. Their house of cards needs support from all, only a massive golden handshake will do it.

[isaanbanhou]

6 minutes ago, sungod said:

Funny enough its about the same number who showed up last Friday on the skywalk in Pathum Wan to call for elections :)

And they faced   " criminal " charges for it.    

[Eric Loh]

1 minute ago, Oziex1 said:

If they cut him loose,  he will sqeal like a pig. Their house of cards needs support from all, only a massive golden handshake will do it.

Really a situation of lose lose for the junta. Stay with him and protect him at all cost will only give the oppositions the perfect lighting rod to demonstrate. Cut him lose, is admitting to his corrupt ways and may have damaging consequences for the junta. Just love how this case is unraveling. It is an early Christmas present for the oppositions. 

[SABloke]

22 minutes ago, sungod said:

Funny enough its about the same number who showed up last Friday on the skywalk in Pathum Wan to call for elections :)

It's illegal to protest the government but not illegal to show public support for it. You're ignoring the fact that 63,000 people in the online survey thought he should be let go. 

[Ossy]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Activists dare NCPO to hold poll on Prawit's popularity

On Prawit's popularity? Why not - and much more tellingly - hold a poll on Prayut's popularity and let him see the probable truth that his has fallen to the same 5 or 6% low that activist Facebook and student polls give for poor old Porky? They wouldn't dare to have the truth stare them in the face, having, for nearly 4 years, now, run the country on a pack of self-promoting lies.

[AGareth2]

military don't do polls

they have guns

[johnarth]

11 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

military don't do polls

they have guns

so true, a funny point here Prayut resigned his leadership to become PM, or did he really?

[mrmicbkktxl]

3 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Really a situation of lose lose for the junta. Stay with him and protect him at all cost will only give the oppositions the perfect lighting rod to demonstrate. Cut him lose, is admitting to his corrupt ways and may have damaging consequences for the junta. Just love how this case is unraveling. It is an early Christmas present for the oppositions. 

Not sure if this is an early Christmas present,how often Thai army killed their Thais to keep in power,same might will happen

[billd766]

12 minutes ago, mrmicbkktxl said:

Not sure if this is an early Christmas present,how often Thai army killed their Thais to keep in power,same might will happen

 

Back in those days there was no internet, no social networks, the limited press was controlled by the government as was the radio and TV.

 

Nowadays it is a whole new ball game. Millions of people have smartfones with access to the internet and social media and while the press and the news will play ball up to a point, once that point is passed who knows what could happen.

 

The only way that any government could stop stuff like that getting out would be to lock the country down completely. No internet, flights in or out, no tourist allowed in and the ones here shipped out instantly. Expats locked down. The army would have to get the neighbouring countries to shut down their cell sites and access to the internet so that nothing could be seen or heard.

 

IMHO while they may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer even they probably realise that they couldn't get away with that.

 

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, johnarth said:

so true, a funny point here Prayut resigned his leadership to become PM, or did he really?

Sorry but the answer is a classic "yes & no."

Yes - Prayut retired as an army general to be unanimously elected by the NLA after he appointed all the members of the NLA.

No - Prayut remains Chief of the NCPO (aka junta) since the coup in May 2014 and shall remain so until an elected government has been "installed." Until dissolution of the NCPO, Prayut has absolute power.

 

[Golden Triangle]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

Srisuwan Janya, another anti-corruption activist pressuring Prawit and the government on the issue, said the government could use the Damrongtham centres, which were set up to receive complaints and used by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to solicit public opinions, to conduct the poll.

 

“People could voice their opinions if they want General Prawit  the junta to resign,” Srisuwan said.

That's more like it.  

[harada]

As if he would give a rats, it's not as if he will have to sign up for social security. 

[baboon]

5 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

Back in those days there was no internet, no social networks, the limited press was controlled by the government as was the radio and TV.

 

Nowadays it is a whole new ball game. Millions of people have smartfones with access to the internet and social media and while the press and the news will play ball up to a point, once that point is passed who knows what could happen.

 

The only way that any government could stop stuff like that getting out would be to lock the country down completely. No internet, flights in or out, no tourist allowed in and the ones here shipped out instantly. Expats locked down. The army would have to get the neighbouring countries to shut down their cell sites and access to the internet so that nothing could be seen or heard.

 

IMHO while they may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer even they probably realise that they couldn't get away with that.

 

They did in 2010...

[billd766]

3 hours ago, baboon said:

They did in 2010...

 

But 2010 was 8 years in real time and light years in internet and social media time.

 

As a small example I first came here in May 1993 to maintainence work on the AIS mobile phone system and there was no coverage at all much past Don Mueang airport until you got up towards Sara Buri and Ayuttaya. The main cities were more or less covered. That was analogue only, no real internet and certainly none on the mobile network. This was 1G.

 

Slow forwards a couple of years or so and there were more cell sites, more networks and GSM was coming on line. 2G is coming along.

 

A little faster and in 2002 CDMA was being installed and if you had the right phone and were in the right place the internet was also coming on line.

 

The pace of cell site installations was really picking up with AIS as the market leader followed by DTAC and some smaller operators.

 

Fibre optic cables were being run and the internet was much larger and faster. Now we are up to 3G

 

In 2010 you could see what was happening on live TV and on the internet. Social networks were building rapidly.

 

In 2017 and 2018 so many people have mobiles with good cameras, car cams are live, CCTV is everywhere, people post anything and everything on Facebook, Line and other apps. Now 4G is the norm except in some rural areas and 5G is coming along.

 

Nowadays the only way that the government can stop it (though they can act afterwards) is to completely sever the internet to the outside world and even then people on the Thai borders can access the internet in the neighbouring countries. Even then people will still record what happens on their phones for transmission later.

 

Sure the government has all the firepower they can ever need but there is always the chance that the troops wil say no and have another coup.

 

As I said earler they might not be that bright but there is now way that they can do in 2018 what the military government did in 1992 and only a small chance that they could successfully repeat 2010.

 

I think that the governments biggest problem is that they started to ride a pussy cat but that is growing into a tiger that will not be easy to get off.

Edited February 2, 2018 by billd766
added extra text

[baboon]

22 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

But 2010 was 8 years in real time and light years in internet and social media time.

 

As a small example I first came here in May 1993 to maintainence work on the AIS mobile phone system and there was no coverage at all much past Don Mueang airport until you got up towards Sara Buri and Ayuttaya. The main cities were more or less covered. That was analogue only, no real internet and certainly none on the mobile network. This was 1G.

 

Slow forwards a couple of years or so and there were more cell sites, more networks and GSM was coming on line. 2G is coming along.

 

A little faster and in 2002 CDMA was being installed and if you had the right phone and were in the right place the internet was also coming on line.

 

The pace of cell site installations was really picking up with AIS as the market leader followed by DTAC and some smaller operators.

 

Fibre optic cables were being run and the internet was much larger and faster. Now we are up to 3G

 

In 2010 you could see what was happening on live TV and on the internet. Social networks were building rapidly.

 

In 2017 and 2018 so many people have mobiles with good cameras, car cams are live, CCTV is everywhere, people post anything and everything on Facebook, Line and other apps. Now 4G is the norm except in some rural areas and 5G is coming along.

 

Nowadays the only way that the government can stop it (though they can act afterwards) is to completely sever the internet to the outside world and even then people on the Thai borders can access the internet in the neighbouring countries. Even then people will still record what happens on their phones for transmission later.

 

Sure the government has all the firepower they can ever need but there is always the chance that the troops wil say no and have another coup.

 

As I said earler they might not be that bright but there is now way that they can do in 2018 what the military government did in 1992 and only a small chance that they could successfully repeat 2010.

 

I think that the governments biggest problem is that they started to ride a pussy cat but that is growing into a tiger that will not be easy to get off.

I think I know what you are saying, but is your premise incorrect in that who says that they are much bothered about hiding repression? I mean sure, lie through your teeth and all that, but when all is said, this is 'their' turf and they will do with their underlings whatever they want. After all, the EU, UN, US et al have been spineless just as long as the junta throws them a sop so their capitalists can continue doing business here. As long as that state of affairs continues, I don't see why the Junta would be too worried.

 

Besides, if the majority of the Thai people - Mrs baboon is one - will put up with the sight of their compatriots being gunned down, stick their heads in the sand and carry on as usual, the junta win again, so that is that sorted on the domestic front too. We can only wait and see...

[billd766]

13 hours ago, baboon said:

I think I know what you are saying, but is your premise incorrect in that who says that they are much bothered about hiding repression? I mean sure, lie through your teeth and all that, but when all is said, this is 'their' turf and they will do with their underlings whatever they want. After all, the EU, UN, US et al have been spineless just as long as the junta throws them a sop so their capitalists can continue doing business here. As long as that state of affairs continues, I don't see why the Junta would be too worried.

 

Besides, if the majority of the Thai people - Mrs baboon is one - will put up with the sight of their compatriots being gunned down, stick their heads in the sand and carry on as usual, the junta win again, so that is that sorted on the domestic front too. We can only wait and see...

 

Sadly it is down to the Thai people and how much they want get rid of the military government and how far they are willing to go to achieve that goal. IMHO if this government does go who is there to replace them with? The tried and failed colour coated politicians of yore promise the same as before, perhaps under a different name and a different leader.

 

I sometimes despair for Thailand as they seem to be in a rinse and reuse circle with politicians, and there doesn't seem to be a rescuer in shining armour and a white horse anywhere in sight.