Thaksin Rumoured To Have Rented Satellite

[george]

Thaksin rumoured to have rented satellite

BANGKOK: -- Government officials are scrambling to verify rumours that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has rented a Chinese satellite to beam attacks against the junta into Thailand.

Foreign Affairs and Information and Communications Technology Ministry officials are seeking information about the broadcasts, a Council for National Security (CNS) source said.

The source said information suggested Thaksin would rent satellite time from the Chinese. The former prime minister is spending most of his time living in Beijing.

The source noted the similarities between Thaksin's alleged actions and those of his most vocal critic Sondhi Limthongkul. He used ASTV to broadcast his attacks on the former leader.

A former Thai Rak Thai member of Parliament said a group of journalists was gathering information in Thailand to counter accusations levelled against Thaksin. These rebuttals would be broadcast using Chinese cable television.

The party member declined to be named but said the journalists worked for the reporter.co.th website, an instrument once used by former Prime Minister's Office minister Newin Chidcob, a close Thaksin aide. The website was taken down voluntarily after the September coup.

The alleged broadcasts would be made using China's Beijing Television and local television and entertainment producer Traffic Corner Holdings, the Thai Rak Thai source said. He expected the first broadcast this week.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinondh said the ministry was checking the validity of the information.

Thaksin's chief counsel in Thailand, Noppadon Pattama, told The Nation he knew nothing of the broadcasts but said his client would "love to talk to Thailand media, though".

At a press conference yesterday, Noppadon invited news organisations to seek interviews with Thaksin and promised to forward those requests to the exiled leader.

Thaksin is prepared to consider interviews in person, by telephone, teleconference or over the Internet, he said.

Ten newspapers and television stations have indicated a desire to interview Thaksin.

Noppadon said Thaksin was bound for London in March where his news media appearances would be limited for the "comfort of the government and the CNS".

Thaksin's appearances will be sparing and refrain from criticising the government, he said.

Noppadon said recent interviews had not been initiated by the former prime minister.

In past weeks, Thaksin has appeared on CNN and interviews with him have been published in the Asian Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Economist and Time.

Noppadon said Thaksin would never criticise His Majesty the King, as claimed by the CNS. He is a loyal subject and one whose marriage was blessed by His Majesty, he added.

Thai Rak Thai deputy spokesman Jatuporn Promphan denied the broadcast rumours.

-- The Nation 2007-02-05

[ColPyat]

Thaksin rumoured to have rented satellite

BANGKOK: -- Government officials are scrambling to verify rumours that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has rented a Chinese satellite to beam attacks against the junta into Thailand.

-- The Nation 2007-02-05

Somebody appears to have gone completely of the wall here. Utter lunacy.

[meom]

The chairman of Traffic Corner Holdings is Pol.Gen. Yongyuth Thepjumnong and it's biggest shareholder Pol. Col. Ruamnakorn Tublimthongchai (sp).

The army won't be happy

[rcm]

Thaksin rumoured to have rented satellite

BANGKOK: -- Government officials are scrambling to verify rumours that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has rented a Chinese satellite to beam attacks against the junta into Thailand.

What are they smoking?

Ok, Scotty beam me down now.......

[Tony Clifton]

On top of being a crook, I always suspected the man is manic depressive or has some other mental disorder and was never diagnosed. His feelings of grandeur and hunger for power, revenge, lawsuits, constantly and openly lying in pubic, reinventing himself, making decisions as a PM according to his astrologer, performing strange rituals, TRT headquarters with his giant picture on a wall along with a timeline of his "carreer", books his surrounding had to read, telling the media he wore out not one but TWO indestructible orange bracelets which people are still wearing after a year, calling it quits umpteenth times, ending poverty within 3 years, fixing the South within 3 months, handing out baht notes for the cameras to see, declaring the countree free of bird-flu, telling students he's an example to follow and on and on and on... (feel free to quote this and add to the long list)

Insanity.

If this new offensive is indeed true, he's expecting to blind everyone now, a big boom with

his mediatic fireworks show but I'm afraid he' ll only fizzle out like an old wet firecracker. Pfffzzzzzzz!

T, you're fighting uselessly like dead man trying to break loose while escorted to the gallows. Be a man, not a slithery lizard, stand up straight and face the facts, it's over. Said it yourself.

Edited February 4, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[sriracha john]

The chairman of Traffic Corner Holdings is Pol.Gen. Yongyuth Thepjumnong and it's biggest shareholder Pol. Col. Ruamnakorn Tublimthongchai (sp).

The army won't be happy

Is that a change from what is said on Yahoo Finance page?:

Traffic Corner Holdings Management

Sorachak Kasemsuwan > Chairman of the Board

Worathep Wongvithawat > Chairman of the Executive Board, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Director

[Tony Clifton]

THA +66-27181999 (Phone)

What's that newspaper you reporting for SRJ? The Herald something? Call 'em up!

Sorachak Kasemsuwan > Chairman of the Board

Worathep Wongvithawat > Chairman of the Executive Board, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Director

Suvit Wanasirisuk > Chief Financial Officer, Director

Chaturon Himathongkham > Managing Director

Anan Asawanon > Managing Director of Dream Media Co., Ltd.

Sornwani Sirichanyakun > Executive Director

Edited February 4, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[sriracha john]

Thanks for the lead, Tony.... Gosh I was shocked when I called.

"Hello, This is SRJ and I'm with the Bangkok Herald-Examiner. I'd like to ask who's on the Board of Directors for Traffic Corner Holdings, please."

"I don't know."

"Panthongthae Shinawatra, is that YOU?!?!?!"

[Grover]

If Thaksin wants to communicate with his minions in LOS, as he undoubtably is doing, why doesn't he use encrypted emails, encrypted phonelines/video conferencing, etc?

The satellite seems a little dramatic although I would never put it past the slimy bugger.

[Grover]

On top of being a crook, I always suspected the man is manic depressive or has some other mental disorder and was never diagnosed. His feelings of grandeur and hunger for power, revenge, lawsuits, constantly and openly lying in pubic, reinventing himself, making decisions as a PM according to his astrologer, performing strange rituals, TRT headquarters with his giant picture on a wall along with a timeline of his "carreer", books his surrounding had to read, telling the media he wore out not one but TWO indestructible orange bracelets which people are still wearing after a year, calling it quits umpteenth times, ending poverty within 3 years, fixing the South within 3 months, handing out baht notes for the cameras to see, declaring the countree free of bird-flu, telling students he's an example to follow and on and on and on... (feel free to quote this and add to the long list)

Insanity.

If this new offensive is indeed true, he's expecting to blind everyone now, a big boom with

his mediatic fireworks show but I'm afraid he' ll only fizzle out like an old wet firecracker. Pfffzzzzzzz!

T, you're fighting uselessly like dead man trying to break loose while escorted to the gallows. Be a man, not a slithery lizard, stand up straight and face the facts, it's over. Said it yourself.

That pretty much sums it up Tony.

[zhudi]

On top of being a crook, I always suspected the man is manic depressive or has some other mental disorder and was never diagnosed. His feelings of grandeur and hunger for power, revenge, lawsuits, constantly and openly lying in pubic, reinventing himself, making decisions as a PM according to his astrologer, performing strange rituals, TRT headquarters with his giant picture on a wall along with a timeline of his "carreer", books his surrounding had to read, telling the media he wore out not one but TWO indestructible orange bracelets which people are still wearing after a year, calling it quits umpteenth times, ending poverty within 3 years, fixing the South within 3 months, handing out baht notes for the cameras to see, declaring the countree free of bird-flu, telling students he's an example to follow and on and on and on... (feel free to quote this and add to the long list)

Insanity.

If this new offensive is indeed true, he's expecting to blind everyone now, a big boom with

his mediatic fireworks show but I'm afraid he' ll only fizzle out like an old wet firecracker. Pfffzzzzzzz!

T, you're fighting uselessly like dead man trying to break loose while escorted to the gallows. Be a man, not a slithery lizard, stand up straight and face the facts, it's over. Said it yourself.

come on taksin is not that bad, whats wrong with you. He did a lot of good for thailand. He was the best I jhave seen for the past 15 years. At least he made changes and tried to push out more corruption than most. Hed get my vote again if it were possible. I think you should rethink your stance.

[zhudi]

On top of being a crook, I always suspected the man is manic depressive or has some other mental disorder and was never diagnosed. His feelings of grandeur and hunger for power, revenge, lawsuits, constantly and openly lying in pubic, reinventing himself, making decisions as a PM according to his astrologer, performing strange rituals, TRT headquarters with his giant picture on a wall along with a timeline of his "carreer", books his surrounding had to read, telling the media he wore out not one but TWO indestructible orange bracelets which people are still wearing after a year, calling it quits umpteenth times, ending poverty within 3 years, fixing the South within 3 months, handing out baht notes for the cameras to see, declaring the countree free of bird-flu, telling students he's an example to follow and on and on and on... (feel free to quote this and add to the long list)

Insanity.

If this new offensive is indeed true, he's expecting to blind everyone now, a big boom with

his mediatic fireworks show but I'm afraid he' ll only fizzle out like an old wet firecracker. Pfffzzzzzzz!

T, you're fighting uselessly like dead man trying to break loose while escorted to the gallows. Be a man, not a slithery lizard, stand up straight and face the facts, it's over. Said it yourself.

That pretty much sums it up Tony.

from a biased illinformed perspective

[andy1308]

If there are ten newspapers and television stations within Thailand who have requested an interview with him, I doubt he will need to go to the expense of renting a satellite. It would not be possible or practical for the current regieme to censor every single one of them.

I don't think they will either - given the wide availability of the TIME magazine with Thaksin on the front cover.

[Grover]

That pretty much sums it up Tony.

from a biased illinformed perspective

yeh whatever :D

[astral]

Not a new tactic really.

There was Voice of America...........

Now we will have Voice of Taksin, or should that be Face of Taksin as it will be TV.

Very difficult to block out as well, being satellite based.

The propaganda tool of the future??

[Briggsy]

If it were the other way round, Thaksin would have given the Chinese a fat concession somewhere and linked it to pulling the satellite. Oh and cleverly ensured Yaowapa got a 10% cut on the deal too.

[Meerkat]

There is some precedent, as the original article stated.

Sonthi used to beam ASTV into Thailand from the NSS6 satellite (Indian I think). I used to watch the English language news on this bird and it was as slanted away from the TRT as the domestic press was alleged to have been slanted towards it. Certainly made for an interesting foil, anyway. The signal would occasionally break up as the news was recorded in Thailand and then sent by internet to India for streaming up to the sat to be beamed back here!

[OlRedEyes]

Lets see. Support base - rural poor.

Rural poor - how many satellite dishes?

Who's he gonna 'beam' to? Farang? Bkk hiso?

[chownah]

Yes, we can't have Toxin exerting his mind control over the masses....we must all keep our aluminum foil hats close at hand and ready in the event that he should manage to get a Chinese made mind muddler!

Toxin is a master of mass hypnosis you know and by just speaking a few words he can control entire populations of people and make them vote inappropriately! The present gov't is wise to deny him freedom of speech....for the good of the masses of course.

[pete_r]

Thaksin rumoured to have rented satellite

BANGKOK: -- Government officials are scrambling to verify rumours that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has rented a Chinese satellite to beam attacks against the junta into Thailand.

Foreign Affairs and Information and Communications Technology Ministry officials are seeking information about the broadcasts, a Council for National Security (CNS) source said.

The source said information suggested Thaksin would rent satellite time from the Chinese. The former prime minister is spending most of his time living in Beijing.

To reach any audience by satellite broadcast, you need your intended audience to be equipped with a satellite dish and to have the motivation and skill to climb on the roof and point it to the correct satellite. You also need a way to tell them which is the correct satellite in the first place. It's impossible to do on a large scale without a network of engineers inside Thailand going around people's houses and doing the installation for them. I don't think Thaksin is willing to pay for such logistics (a radio broadcast would be much cheaper and easier). And even if he was crazy enough to try, the move would promptly be stopped by the government.

Another rumour to sell paper on a monday methinks.

[sriracha john]

To reach any audience by satellite broadcast, you need your intended audience to be equipped with a satellite dish and to have the motivation and skill to climb on the roof and point it to the correct satellite. You also need a way to tell them which is the correct satellite in the first place. It's impossible to do on a large scale without a network of engineers inside Thailand going around people's houses and doing the installation for them.

OR...

simply be hooked up to cable television that does all that for their customers.

[Plus]

It could be the same satellite Sondhi used for his PAD rally shows. Not many people could see that but it was still better than nothing. Thaksin could also stream his shows via Internet.

One question - what did he mean when he said "I Quit, enough is enough"?

Lets see. Support base - rural poor.

In this case his support base is all his cronies who are sitting tight now, knowing full well that Surayud and the generals are going to give up power in less than eight months. Whatever the constitution, winning the elections in Isan is far easier than getting past the generals.

Thaksin is not afraid of any future governments, only the military can stop him.

Chownah, the coutnry can't move forward if Thaksin's face is on TV and his interviews are in the papers. It will be return to square one - back to anti-Thaksin demonstrations vs. pro-Thaksin rallies, back to Thaksin controlled courts administering "justice" no one trusts. Add a confrontation with the generals who won't let him back in politics at any cost, and you have a country on the breach of civil war.

Either that, or get the square face off the news.

[pete_r]

To reach any audience by satellite broadcast, you need your intended audience to be equipped with a satellite dish and to have the motivation and skill to climb on the roof and point it to the correct satellite. You also need a way to tell them which is the correct satellite in the first place. It's impossible to do on a large scale without a network of engineers inside Thailand going around people's houses and doing the installation for them.

OR...

simply be hooked up to cable television that does all that for their customers.

But...

The cable television companies in Thailand are under the scrutiny of the governement/CNS and would not be allowed to broadcast anything issued by Thaksin (example, they were not allowed to broadcast a certain CNN interview recently).

[graesta]

But...

The cable television companies in Thailand are under the scrutiny of the governement/CNS and would not be allowed to broadcast anything issued by Thaksin (example, they were not allowed to broadcast a certain CNN interview recently).

They call this country the Land of Smile or whatever.. not the land of the Free

Edited February 5, 2007 by graesta

[sriracha john]

To reach any audience by satellite broadcast, you need your intended audience to be equipped with a satellite dish and to have the motivation and skill to climb on the roof and point it to the correct satellite. You also need a way to tell them which is the correct satellite in the first place. It's impossible to do on a large scale without a network of engineers inside Thailand going around people's houses and doing the installation for them.

OR...

simply be hooked up to cable television that does all that for their customers.

But...

The cable television companies in Thailand are under the scrutiny of the governement/CNS and would not be allowed to broadcast anything issued by Thaksin (example, they were not allowed to broadcast a certain CNN interview recently).

But... that was nationwide UBC that did that, I believe. Much easier to do with local carriers. With over 300 local cable TV operators in Thailand, I could well imagine some of them would be willing to carry it. Particularly, local cable companies owned by Thakky's old friends. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Newin et al own some of these local companies.

[Meerkat]

They call this country the Land of Smile or whatever.. not the land of the Free

IIRC, Thailand actually means, "Land of Freedom".

[ColPyat]

Rather amazing how one rumor is morphed into fact, and from there on the wildest phantasies and conspiracies are extrapolated. How long will it take now until someone will construct the idea that Thaksin will use his fantasy satellite to order an armed revolt?

[Meerkat]

Chownah, the coutnry can't move forward if Thaksin's face is on TV and his interviews are in the papers. It will be return to square one - back to anti-Thaksin demonstrations vs. pro-Thaksin rallies, back to Thaksin controlled courts administering "justice" no one trusts. Add a confrontation with the generals who won't let him back in politics at any cost, and you have a country on the breach of civil war.

Either that, or get the square face off the news.

I'm not sure I can see the country move forward at all; at least not as a democracy.

What's going to be the purpose of holding elections every few years under the new constitution if the elected government is only there but for the grace of the military?

[Grover]

How long will it take now until someone will construct the idea that Thaksin will use his fantasy satellite to order an armed revolt?

12 months ago, who would of suspected things as they are now ? TiT.

And we all know what Thaksin is capable of. He11, he was the primary catalyst for the coup.

Edited February 5, 2007 by Grover

[Krungthepian]

I back Tony's assessment of the former PM. People have said he's emotionally immature, but I think he's psychologically unstable. It's a bit pathetic that Time and co give the guy such a dream run; it makes them look like gooses, I reckon, with little recognition or acknowledgement of what's gone down here.

Tricky person to deal with mind you, cos I reckon he's a pathological liar, as Tony Clifton's logo suggests. As for Thaksin's state of mind, it's hard to say. I suspect he's partly, or largely, driven by guilt or awareness (even if his consicous mind fights that) of the bad things he's done and the trouble he probably knows will eventually arrive on his door.. whether it's a court case for inciting police/army hit squads to gun down drug dealers, or deemed to have given the nod to large-scale corruption at Suvarnabhumi. Some serious stuff has happened, obviously.. eg, police accused of abducting and killing Somchai contacted Thaksin's advisers on the night of the Muslim lawyer disappeared. I'm not saying he ordered that; one rumour is that a tall former officer went a bit far in trying to please his big boss, in that case. But there have been other serious crimes such as the shooting several years back of a Revenue Dept official who claimed to have evidence of ShinSat involvement in avoiding customs duty. That fellow was snipered, I think, in Chiang Mai, after fleeing Bangkok (that case that deserves more media coverage).

Thing is, if he's carrying on like this now, what's he going to do when they finally get him into court - on not just on something like the dodgy land deal (Ratchada) invovling his wife, but something serious?