Who heeds a man of no integrity?

By The Nation

 

 

 

Suthep Thaugsuban’s glory days are behind him, yet he expects further success as a cheerleader for the junta 

 

Suthep Thaugsuban was greeted with fanfare when he led protests in the streets of Bangkok, shutting down commerce and traffic across swathes of the city and paving the way for the military coup that ousted the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra.

 

In that respect, the veteran politician succeeded in his mission in bringing down a political rival and earned praise for removing an administration widely regarded as intolerably incompetent.

 

But, like so many others before him, Suthep let his success go to his head. Swarmed by fans wanting their picture taken with him, draped in garlands, a fortune in donations in his movement’s bank account, he concluded that all the adoration was directed at him. In fact, all the cheering was neither for him nor for his People’s Democratic Reform Committee. It was for the departure of Yingluck.

 

Citizens across the South and Central regions wanted her removed by any means necessary, but the way she was extracted was another sign of the weakness that has long permeated Thai society – the readiness to embrace shortcuts and quick-fix solutions rather than the rule of law. The approach has time and again proved unsustainable.

 

Suthep was riding high in 2014, at the peak of his political career, but it was always marred with controversy. He could be said to embody everything that’s wrong with Thai politics. 

 

He is a reflection of a system of gutter politics we are finally beginning to evolve away from. Yet today Suthep is back on those same streets, seeking to prop up his Action Coalition for Thailand Party (ACT), which was established to help keep the military junta in power with an electoral mandate.

 

This time, though, the people of Bangkok are not hailing the return of hero “Loong Kamnan”, as he became known in 2014. The response is quite the opposite – chiefly because Suthep vowed then that he’d never again become involved in politics, yet here he is.

 

Suthep now maintains that he will take up no political position offered by the next government, but his credibility is such that even his former friends in the PDRC are doubtful. 

 

At least one fellow former protester even handed back the whistle he’d blown five years ago amid shrill demands that Yingluck step down. Suthep needs to accept that he no longer has any role in politics, and certainly not in Parliament, and that he served his purpose with the completion of that prior mission in 2014. But his ego got the better of him.

 

The decline in his popularity cannot completely be attributed to a broken promise. It also stems from the fact that voters today are more mature in their outlook and wiser in their demands and expectations. They want fresh ideas and new blood, not a holdover from the tainted past. 

 

Suthep was being insufferably pretentious when he compared reneging on his promise to a form of self-sacrifice. It underscored his loss of integrity, and if there is one attribute that ought to belong to politicians, it is integrity. 

 

The higher the climb, the harder the fall, and Suthep rose higher than anyone else when he abandoned his post as deputy premier, quit his Democrat Party and marched on to depose a despised government. We can see that success now as just one battle, not the final victory. The political crisis in Thailand is still far from over.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30358580

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-11-15

depends which end of the rifle is pointing at you

"... and if there is one attribute that ought to belong to politicians, it is integrity.  ..."

 

If there is one attribute that ought to belong to pigeons, it is that they shouldn't shit all over everything.  But they do.

What a steaming pile of crap.

 

Those who did not like the government of Yingluck should have beaten her in an election (she was a bad PM, right? It should have been easy. Unless...Of course...).

 

Those who seek to overthrow a government by non-legal means are cowardly, conniving, untrustworthy, back-stabbing scum.

 

"...if there is one attribute that ought to belong to politicians, it is integrity..." 

 

There is much truth to the statement above. However, the side of the political divide commonly referred to as the 'Yellows' and 'Greens' have not shown the slightest whiff of integrity. Rather, they cheat in order to steal power from the Thai people.

 

They are cheating cheaters who cheat. Over and over again, they cheat.

 

Cheating cheaters who cheat.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 14, 20187 yr by Samui Bodoh

59 minutes ago, webfact said:

Suthep was being insufferably pretentious when he compared reneging on his promise to a form of self-sacrifice. It underscored his loss of integrity,

Bullseye. Best comment of the day. Some people might not like what I'm about to say, but the fact is that most Thai males are raised in an atmosphere of adoration and even idolatry, and therefore cannot resist the most mindless of blandishments that appeal to their steaming egos. Suthep can't resist.

He and the current incumbent were the main cause of the disruption, violence etc during the pre-coup era to oust the elected government.

They will have so much shit on one and other that they remain joined at the hip, not too many ways to dissolve that ugly partnership.

It ill becomes a newspaper that supported the overthrowing of an elected government (bad thought it was) with reckless glee  to now start pontificating oh-so-sanctimoniously about 'integrity'.

 

I will never forget that newspapers like The Nation and 'politicians' like Abhisit (no need to mention the thug  called Suthep at all) are all interlinked in that shameful and shameless act of national treason.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Suthep vowed then that he’d never again become involved in politics, yet here he is.

definition of a politician: liar who reneges on his promises

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Cheating cheaters who cheat.

Like Prawit?

27 minutes ago, Eligius said:

It ill becomes a newspaper that supported the overthrowing of an elected government (bad thought it was) with reckless glee  to now start pontificating oh-so-sanctimoniously about 'integrity'.

 

I will never forget that newspapers like The Nation and 'politicians' like Abhisit (no need to mention the thug  called Suthep at all) are all interlinked in that shameful and shameless act of national treason.

Yet, all washed away - 

Yesterday's scallawags are today's admiration. 

 

The politicians we might be able to forgive and forget just because they're politicians - it's what they do, but the influential and highly controlled press that turns colours towards ethical and profitable principles are not to be respected.

Suthep was simply a cog in a wheel albeit a rather squeaky one. To try and analyse Suthep alone would be like trying to divide up and analyse a small piece of  the Gestalt.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Citizens across the South and Central regions wanted her removed by any means necessary, but the way she was extracted was another sign of the weakness that has long permeated Thai society – the readiness to embrace shortcuts and quick-fix solutions rather than the rule of law. The approach has time and again proved unsustainable.

Pretty much a cowardly article ignoring the real reasons for the coordinated and elaborate planning that went into the staging of the coup. Blame that on the citizens and nothing about the military who have regularly staged coups. Lack of fortitude and gutless to confront the real enemy of the people. 

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

What a steaming pile of crap.

 

Those who did not like the government of Yingluck should have beaten her in an election (she was a bad PM, right? It should have been easy. Unless...Of course...).

 

Those who seek to overthrow a government by non-legal means are cowardly, conniving, untrustworthy, back-stabbing scum.

 

"...if there is one attribute that ought to belong to politicians, it is integrity..." 

 

There is much truth to the statement above. However, the side of the political divide commonly referred to as the 'Yellows' and 'Greens' have not shown the slightest whiff of integrity. Rather, they cheat in order to steal power from the Thai people.

 

They are cheating cheaters who cheat. Over and over again, they cheat.

 

Cheating cheaters who cheat.

 

 

 

 

I'd define politicians as 'psychopaths in suits'.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

He [Suthep] is a reflection of a system of gutter politics we are finally beginning to evolve away from.*

REALLY?! Thailand "evolving away from gutter politics"?! Oh My freakin' Buddha!!!  Once again, The Nation, purveyors of the most fictional fiction, have surely been overdosing on yah-bah. ????????????

 

*Bold-Red emphasis mine, not webfact's

Edited November 15, 20187 yr by metisdead
Please do not modify someone else's post in your quoted reply, either with font or color changes or wording.

This article from the Nation is absolutely pathetic...it does not merit comment or consideration in any way.

While in agreement with the broad thrust of this piece (i.e. the odious nature of Suthep), there are so many other comments and opinions which illustrate the gutter politics of Thailand. Whoever wrote this nonsense should be fired and never work in the press industry again, there are too many semi-literate hangers-on in the Thai press already.

 

I know the Nation has a survival problem, I know it's desperate for readers and even more for credibility but drifting to the right of politics is not the answer, that area is already populated by fascists and numbskulls who believe superstition and obedience are the only thing that the Thai population needs, while the 1% of Thais who have lied, cheated and stolen their way to immense wealth continue to rape the country.

 

Thailand needs a very large dose of a purgative to get rid of the contents of it's bowels and start again, but this time, with more intelligence and less stealing. It'll take a while because they've been at it for a while.

 

Edited November 15, 20187 yr by HalfLight

57 minutes ago, bowerboy said:

This article from the Nation is absolutely pathetic...it does not merit comment or consideration in any way.

Then - why did you?

1 hour ago, bowerboy said:

This article from the Nation is absolutely pathetic...it does not merit comment or consideration in any way.

Indeed, it starts from a premise that Suthep used to have integrity and that is shown through his leading of protests. But rather...

 

He is, and always has been, an untouchable godfather, mired in corruption and expert at enriching himself at the expense of the taxpayer who led the street protests without a care as he had the all powerful military covering his back.