Junta replaces Pattaya Mayor by article 44

[inThailand]

 From the BKK post;

inactive post - a job or position with no real responsibilities or duties -

 

 

This sounds like the whole country? 

[newnative]

He's put the hugely powerful family of the previous mayor back in power, likely with the upcoming election in mind.

[dean2926]

15 hours ago, MysteryIsland said:

Remember you can't do that stuff as an elected PM,   There is no Article 44 after the election.

 

There is if you're still head of the junta and not answerable to anyone, including the PM.

[micmichd]

15 hours ago, Basil B said:

Another one who is going to clean up Pattaya and make it a real family resort?

 

Rather than a "practice making family resort"

Guess they also want younger people. You know, the ones whose ears are damaged by cheap speakers.

[Krataiboy]

A case of replacing one useless article with another.

 

(And talking of replacement, can we please have our faithful old Ariel font back, please. Thew new default light face text is much harder to read!}. 

[Pete1980]

Thank Christ for this.

This family made Pattaya and Chonburi the powerhouse that it became compared to other provinces.

They, while not squeaky clean, are for the people of Chonburi, capable of doing deals and sorting things out.

They always get 75%+ of the vote, because people respect them.

The last three years under this Army Council has seen many small businesses suffer or get wiped out, often to the benefit of the larger Bangkok owned ones.

 

The last three years have been repressive, with people not sure what odd rule the army will enforce, this family uses common sense. And did the army do a good job? Take a look at the rubbish strewn streets and beaches and make up your mind.

 

A tactical move by Prayuht, he could never beat theKhunplumes in Chonburi, so he has joined them.

Federally the Khunplumes run their own show-party and just join however wins to be part of the government. And i reckon they will again this time. They will drop Prayuht like a hot potato when her loses. Not forgetting that Prayuht threw out Sontaya,s brother,Ittipol,  from being pattaya mayor, who had won over 80% of the vote.

 

Pattaya has been stagnant for the last three years, businesses and property owners will celebrate this.

[Arkady]

If I recall correctly Sonthaya was replaced as mayor in 2016 by an Article 44 order after his elected term expired and the NCPO didn’t want to permit new mayoral elections and didn’t want to leave a politician in an influential job. Now he would appear to have enough bargaining power again in the run up to elections to demand his job back. The Kuenlpums  usually manage to control a few seats in the lower house under varying party banners.

[Pete1980]

1 minute ago, Arkady said:

If I recall correctly Sonthaya was replaced as mayor in 2016 by an Article 44 order after his elected term expired and the NCPO didn’t want to permit new mayoral elections and didn’t want to leave a politician in an influential job. Now he would appear to have enough bargaining power again in the run up to elections to demand his job back. The Kuenlpums  usually manage to control a few seats in the lower house under varying party banners.

No, his brother Ittipol was the mayor of Pattaya.

Sontaya, {and later his wife} was the federal culture minister under the Yingluck government.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 hours ago, johng said:

The last elected mayor was also a "Khunpluem"...recently he was appointed as an advisor to the tourist authority.

 

It strikes me as a vote buying venture for the future PM election. The "Khunpluem" family are, AFAIK, kind of the godfathers of Pattaya/Chonburi politics.  And putting one back into power in Pattaya right preceding the national election would kind of suggest some deal has been done.

 

[Srikcir]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

By the power of the junta leader’s extralegal authority, Pattaya City got a new mayor

While constitutional sovereignty belongs to the people, extralegal power always lies with the military.

Thailand has become the Hub of Absurd Governance.

 

[pattayadude]

18 hours ago, johng said:

The last elected mayor was also a "Khunpluem"...recently he was appointed as an advisor to the tourist authority.

his younger brother

[pattayadude]

5 hours ago, shaurene said:

They should do a full Audit on his finances since he took office

[pattayadude]

I hope he salvages the "state of art marina" which is in dire state

[pegman]

15 hours ago, BestB said:

Businesses pay taxes, when businesses do not operate, they do not pay taxes. Yes no doubt elections is part of it, but that is not the only aim. 

The city was just handed over to the longtime Eastern Seaboard Mafia Godfather and you think it's about taxes? Putting this convicted murderer's family in charge collecting taxes is akin to the fox in charge of the chicken coop. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somchai_Khunpluem

[impulse]

The only thing I know for certain when reading news like this is that I wasn't invited behind closed doors to see why and how it happened.

 

And I'm pretty sure that, just when I think I know who the good guys are, it's just the spin doctors doing a great job on us.

 

[BestB]

Just now, pegman said:

The city was just handed over to the longtime Eastern Seaboard Mafia Godfather and you think it's about taxes? Putting this convicted murderer's family in charge collecting taxes is akin to the fox in charge of the chicken coop. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somchai_Khunpluem

This family built this city, know everything about the city and ran it really well.

 

when it was handed over to a general , city turned to ghost town with lots of empty spaces.

 

yes I do think one of the reasons is taxes, legal and otherwise .

 

what you do not know and article does not say is that all “important “ people of Pattaya knew about this about 10 days ago and had a big buffet dinner with the new mayor.

 

so this did not happen over night 

[pegman]

2 hours ago, Pete1980 said:

Thank Christ for this.

This family made Pattaya and Chonburi the powerhouse that it became compared to other provinces.

They, while not squeaky clean, are for the people of Chonburi, capable of doing deals and sorting things out.

They always get 75%+ of the vote, because people respect them.

The last three years under this Army Council has seen many small businesses suffer or get wiped out, often to the benefit of the larger Bangkok owned ones.

 

The last three years have been repressive, with people not sure what odd rule the army will enforce, this family uses common sense. And did the army do a good job? Take a look at the rubbish strewn streets and beaches and make up your mind.

 

A tactical move by Prayuht, he could never beat theKhunplumes in Chonburi, so he has joined them.

Federally the Khunplumes run their own show-party and just join however wins to be part of the government. And i reckon they will again this time. They will drop Prayuht like a hot potato when her loses. Not forgetting that Prayuht threw out Sontaya,s brother,Ittipol,  from being pattaya mayor, who had won over 80% of the vote.

 

Pattaya has been stagnant for the last three years, businesses and property owners will celebrate this.

When does construction of the WaterFront start up again?

[pattayadude]

2 minutes ago, pegman said:

When does construction of the WaterFront start up again?

they started already!

They just removed the rusty old crane on top to replace with a new and functional one soon.

[peterb17]

6 hours ago, mikebell said:

So here's a list of priority jobs for him to tackle;

taxis here do not obey the laws of the land;

police do not obey the laws of the land;

the beach goes AWOL every year;

the town floods twice a week in the rainy season;

 

I look forward to his actions.

 

Use Grab 

[pegman]

3 minutes ago, BestB said:

This family built this city, know everything about the city and ran it really well.

 

when it was handed over to a general , city turned to ghost town with lots of empty spaces.

 

yes I do think one of the reasons is taxes, legal and otherwise .

 

what you do not know and article does not say is that all “important “ people of Pattaya knew about this about 10 days ago and had a big buffet dinner with the new mayor.

 

so this did not happen over night 

This doesn't surprise me. When the old man got his murder sentence commuted after the Greens took over you had to know something was up.

[SheungWan]

19 hours ago, Esso49 said:

Guess the previous one made enough money out the beach reconstruction that the PM thinks it is only fair to appoint another of his sycophants to benefit similarly before it is too late.

 

The Beach Reconstruction project continues to be an eyesore in plain public view

[pattayadude]

1 minute ago, SheungWan said:

 

The Beach Reconstruction project continues to be an eyesore in plain public view

I can't come up with an area on the beach side between  Soi 1 all the way to the Lighthouse which isn't an eyesore

[Ossy]

Boy, you gotta hand it to Prayuth . . . he sure got guts when he's got his 44 in his hand. And he's keeping schtum on why he did it. You see Anan's lilac, patterned blouse? Uncle Tu never had one so nice . . . there's the reason, for sure.

[oldrunner]

Where does one get on the Merry-go-round? at the the Lion or the Lamb.

[pattayadude]

31 minutes ago, Ossy said:

he sure got guts when he's got his 44 in his hand

 

[Cake Monster]

20 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

I'm surprised they didn't make the dad mayor, but I guess that was a little too obvious.

 

Wasn't the previous Kunplome by the way removed from his mayor position?

Well this appointment should pour some Oil on potential troubled waters.

And yes , Ittipol Khunplome was removed as Mayor some 15 months ago, but the all powerful Eastern Seaboard family are still at the top.

[johng]

Well this appointment should pour some Oil on potential troubled waters.
And yes , Ittipol Khunplome was removed as Mayor some 15 months ago, but the all powerful Eastern Seaboard family are still at the top.

Well he wasnt technically removed..his elected term ran out and as there can't be any elections he left office and a junta appointed mayor was installed.

[CGW]

2 hours ago, Kim J said:

I do wonder how much it cost the replacement to get such a lucrative appointment?

Cost, money or promises? money is nothing to this family, they have ruled Chon Buri for the past ~50 years plus! 

 

Considering the Junta seized power due to corruption and insisting they would stay in power until they put everything right - they could be around for a while!

Some massive backward steps taking place right now!

[chama]

A move to build support in the "upcoming" election? More money, more cronies more deception?

[CGW]

24 minutes ago, chama said:

A move to build support in the "upcoming" election? More money, more cronies more deception.

Exactly! so they are blatantly doing exactly what they questionably seized power to remove, you couldn't make it up!