Legal Scrutiny Over Prayuth’s 86 Billion Baht Handouts

[webfact]

Legal Scrutiny Over Prayuth’s 86 Billion Baht Handouts

By Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

 

Junta leader Prayuth Chan-Ocha points at mackerel Thursday in Bangkok's Minburi Market.

 

BANGKOK — The Election Commission said Thursday it will investigate whether the military government’s decision to hand out nearly 87 billion baht to the poor during the run-up to the election amounts to illegal vote buying.

 

The statement by commission president Ittiporn Boonpracong came as the leader of the ruling junta defended his cabinet’s provision of 86.9 billion baht as a transparent means of decreasing the financial burden on low-income Thais.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics/2018/11/22/legal-scrutiny-over-prayuths-86-billion-baht-handouts/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2018-11-22

[GarryP]

They need to investigate that? Of course it is vote buying. How blatant do they have to be?

[SkyNets]

It's fine only money, not like its a calendar or bowl.

[BigBadGeordie]

WATCH this space.

[mark131v]

Nah surely not, cannot be as they would never ever stoop to any form of wrongdoing......

 

Just in case I dare say we will have Roblok or beerboxer along to educate us that it's no different to what the Shins did all those years ago before they where deposed by this lot in their war against corruption that has gone so very well and improved LoS no end

[sjaak327]

Yeah right, and what is the EC going to do about it exactly ? Prayuth does not run for office in any case. Smoke and mirrors, nothing to see here. 

[sjaak327]

10 minutes ago, mark131v said:

Nah surely not, cannot be as they would never ever stoop to any form of wrongdoing......

 

Just in case I dare say we will have Roblok or beerboxer along to educate us that it's no different to what the Shins did all those years ago before they where deposed by this lot in their war against corruption that has gone so very well and improved LoS no end

It IS different, The Shins had a mandate, Prayuth and co do not. 

[yellowboat]

I'm good.  All I do is good.  If you are with the junta, you are good too.  As he does not come across as very intelligent, it is hard to discern if he actually knows what he is doing is dubious and wrong.  Dumb and with a messiah complex, he has put Thailand threw a long four years of mind numbing numbness

Edited November 23, 2018 by yellowboat
mind numbing numbness

[quandow]

This is the litmus test - would he be doing this if it WEREN'T an election year?

[worgeordie]

Vote buying,using Taxpayers money,will do anything to win.

In the past Politicians used to use their own money,200-500 THB

per vote on or near election day,now they just use taxpayers money

given out as helping the poor.poorly disguised vote buying,but they 

dont care.

regards worgeordie

[robblok]

They need to investigate that? Of course it is vote buying. How blatant do they have to be?

Yes it certainly is i wonder if it will work or not. People on the forum always say vote buying does not work. The election will tell.

Of course this is no different from the popular policies in the past. I disagreed with those as much as i do with this.

Vote buying is wrong no matter who does it.

Only good thing i see is that the poor get some money and this time its not just farmers but all poor.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[robblok]

Nah surely not, cannot be as they would never ever stoop to any form of wrongdoing......
 
Just in case I dare say we will have Roblok or beerboxer along to educate us that it's no different to what the Shins did all those years ago before they where deposed by this lot in their war against corruption that has gone so very well and improved LoS no end

Actually its no different sjaak will say mandate but that is just him not wanting to attack the Shins.

This is a clear case of vote buying.



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[klauskunkel]

If the handouts are done by an illegitimate government which controls all the relevant agencies, courts and amends any contravening laws then of course everything is by the book (which they wrote).

[robblok]

It IS different, The Shins had a mandate, Prayuth and co do not. 

Sure Sjaak as usual defending Shins.

Mandate or no mandate its the same using taxpayers money to buy votes giving a ruling party an unfair advantage.

Its funny how you keep comparing real democracies with a not functioning Thai one. Its an insult to real mature functioning democracies.

Democracy in Thailand is just getting voted on and then pillaging the states treasury. When did you see a democratic Thai government make anti corruption laws and strengthen checks and balances ?

Any way it was vote buying then and it is vote buying now.

I wonder if it works it would prove the people who say vote buying does not work wrong.

This vote buying package might be even more blatant as it is in cash. Still unlike the rice scam it goes to all poor that is the only positive thing.

Hypocrites that is what the junta members are. Against popular policies and then doing it themselves.

Everything to stay in power to steal even more.

Not that i expect a non junta to be any different but it just had to be said.

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[robblok]

Yeah right, and what is the EC going to do about it exactly ? Prayuth does not run for office in any case. Smoke and mirrors, nothing to see here. 

They will probably use your argument to justify this. So unfortunately nothing can be done.

The argument is legally sound but of course not in the spirit of the law as the pro junta parties are an extension of Prayut.

Maybe this is why he wont run in the election.





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[GarryP]

26 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes it certainly is i wonder if it will work or not. People on the forum always say vote buying does not work. The election will tell.

Of course this is no different from the popular policies in the past. I disagreed with those as much as i do with this.

Vote buying is wrong no matter who does it.

Only good thing i see is that the poor get some money and this time its not just farmers but all poor.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

I don't think the public are as dumb as they are made out to be. I believe they will see it for what it is, say thank you and vote for whoever they want. 

Edited November 23, 2018 by GarryP
grammar

[robblok]

I don't think the public is as dumb as they are made out to be. I believe they will see it for what it is, say thank you and vote for whoever they want. 

The proof will be in the election. If the PTP does worse votes wise as b4 then vote buying works.

With PTP i mean it and its splinter parties and i say votes not seats as we can't compare seats anymore.

If they had increased welfare from the start it might have worked better. But that would have meant higher cost and that means less money for other things that do have corruption options.


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[Media1]

18 hours ago, GarryP said:

They need to investigate that? Of course it is vote buying. How blatant do they have to be?

No way. l done believe this great man is really Pinnochio 

[connda]

What is defined as 'corruption' and what is defined as 'not corruption' is directly correlated to your position in the power structure.

[Bob12345]

40 minutes ago, robblok said:

The proof will be in the election. If the PTP does worse votes wise as b4 then vote buying works.

Vote buying (giving cash at the voting booth) and how it influences elections in Thailand has been researched and the conclusion was the results are minimal.

 

"Has been researched" refers to an actual university looking into it a bit different than how you now propose to "research" it. One of the reasons it didnt work was that all parties do it meaning they cancel each other out.

[rtco]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The Election Commission said Thursday it will investigate whether the military government’s decision to hand out nearly 87 billion baht to the poor during the run-up to the election amounts to illegal vote buying.

No investigation needed ... guilty as charged.

[connda]

47 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I don't think the public are as dumb as they are made out to be. I believe they will see it for what it is, say thank you and vote for whoever they want. 

The general public not dumb?  I'm not so sure about that.

 

However, if the response to the Prathet Guu Mee video is any indicator, than I'd say accurately the the youth are dialed in to the social issues including rampant corruption an are about to become a force to be reckoned with if the become a voting block.

[Geordie59]

Such indignation. 

Can anyone tell the difference between this and western governments who have give away budgets just before an election. 

[boonrawdcnx]

Sure “decreasing the financial burden of the poor” with a one time payoff of 500 or 1000 baht will do the trick!

Amazing what the brilliant minds in this government can come up with !!!
Why didn’t other governments around the world think of that??

The financial burden of the poor will be “decreased” for about an hour and then they are back to their misery.

But then again they have to make sure they “win” the elections.

In the next few years they plan to spent more than 2 trillion baht in infrastructure mega projects alone - that is one BIG cookie jar - nobody will even notice the one or the other billion disappear.


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[digger70]

This isn't buying votes.This is pure Honest helping the poor with money that they saved /got from  all the corruption people whom  they have arrested and are in jail now.     ,,,,,,   Yea right  ,,,,,,

[robblok]

Vote buying (giving cash at the voting booth) and how it influences elections in Thailand has been researched and the conclusion was the results are minimal.
 
"Has been researched" refers to an actual university looking into it a bit different than how you now propose to "research" it. One of the reasons it didnt work was that all parties do it meaning they cancel each other out.

Dont you see this as vote buying then ? I know the other kind has been researched but i see popular policies as a form of vote buying too.

How well this works will be proven at the election. The ruling party always has a huge advantage because of things like this.

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[robblok]

Such indignation. 
Can anyone tell the difference between this and western governments who have give away budgets just before an election. 

That happens too and this has happened before here too. The point is that the junta condemned this and outlawed popular policies and now does it themselves. That is hypocritical.

When the Shins did it the junta attacked it and now they do the same.

That is what i feel is bad about this.

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[pokerface1]

4 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Vote buying,using Taxpayers money,will do anything to win.

In the past Politicians used to use their own money,200-500 THB

per vote on or near election day,now they just use taxpayers money

given out as helping the poor.poorly disguised vote buying,but they 

dont care.

regards worgeordie

That's the big difference, tax payers money for the national election. Of course buying votes under the disguise of helping the poor is a form of corruption which is akin to a disease that just won't stop spreading from the top down. 

At least the local candidates paid out of their own pockets and it was no big secret and as far as I'm concerned above board.

Can he really buy votes? It's a secret ballot so you could take the money and vote for the opposition in any case Right?

[sjaak327]

5 hours ago, robblok said:

They will probably use your argument to justify this. So unfortunately nothing can be done.

The argument is legally sound but of course not in the spirit of the law as the pro junta parties are an extension of Prayut.

Maybe this is why he wont run in the election.





Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

The argument lacks any soundness. the world over governments introduce policy to please voters. It is what democracy is all about !

 

This "legal scrutiny" is one prime example why Meechai's constitution has to go as soon as possible. Downright ridiculous that a government cannot handout money to the poor, without fear of legal consequences due to "vote buying". 

 

Meechai and the Junta quite clearly have introduced this law as another vehicle to control the political spectrum. In future, a government with a clear mandate has to watch out using policies like this, as it could constitute "vote buying" and apparently no-one thinks about the consequences of this law. Maybe it is time to count to ten and use brains, instead of screaming vote buying. 

 

It is not vote buying, it is a legitimate policy. Granted, the Junta has no right to waste any tax payer money, due to the lack of a mandate, but future goverments should be allowed to introduce policies like this, without fear of legal consequences. Just as governments the world over can do in true democracies….

Edited November 23, 2018 by sjaak327

[sjaak327]

5 hours ago, robblok said:

Sure Sjaak as usual defending Shins.

Mandate or no mandate its the same using taxpayers money to buy votes giving a ruling party an unfair advantage.

Its funny how you keep comparing real democracies with a not functioning Thai one. Its an insult to real mature functioning democracies.

Democracy in Thailand is just getting voted on and then pillaging the states treasury. When did you see a democratic Thai government make anti corruption laws and strengthen checks and balances ?

Any way it was vote buying then and it is vote buying now.

I wonder if it works it would prove the people who say vote buying does not work wrong.

This vote buying package might be even more blatant as it is in cash. Still unlike the rice scam it goes to all poor that is the only positive thing.

Hypocrites that is what the junta members are. Against popular policies and then doing it themselves.

Everything to stay in power to steal even more.

Not that i expect a non junta to be any different but it just had to be said.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

I am not defending anyone, I am merely stating facts, the Shinawatras had a clear mandate, the Junta lacks a mandate. That they are no different, or actualy much worse than the Shinawatras, we knew when they staged the coup already. Why this suddenly is such a surpirse is beyond me. You have been warned 4.5 years ago, it fell on deaf ears...