New PM to be nominated on Wednesday

[MaxLee]

YAAAAAWWWWWWNNNN ...... the master of article Not-to-be-named

[Sonhia]

Why bother with the process?

 

There maybe no surprises as to who may probably remain as PM. ..

 

I could be wrong?

 

 

[dbrenn]

11 hours ago, yellowboat said:

You can talk them into acquiescing as you have done.

I hope that China won't invade Taiwan, and that Taiwan keeps its present system of government. That said, if China did decide to annex Taiwan, what would the choices be?

 

Likewise, in Thailand, we are faced with a stark choice - fight the Thailand's armed forces with sticks and stones, or live in peace. It's not as if we are being persecuted by them, and life is not so bad. In any case, the alternatives - oligarchs like Thaksin - support change for the sake of change, which from our own countries we can see is not necessarily a good thing. So, if that's acquiescence, then so be it.

[baboon]

4 hours ago, dbrenn said:

I hope that China won't invade Taiwan, and that Taiwan keeps its present system of government. That said, if China did decide to annex Taiwan, what would the choices be?

 

Likewise, in Thailand, we are faced with a stark choice - fight the Thailand's armed forces with sticks and stones, or live in peace. It's not as if we are being persecuted by them, and life is not so bad. In any case, the alternatives - oligarchs like Thaksin - support change for the sake of change, which from our own countries we can see is not necessarily a good thing. So, if that's acquiescence, then so be it.

Cave in to bullies, in other words. The more you do, the more they take.

[Aussieroaming]

These <deleted> are living proof that humans can survive in an oxygen free environment.

[dbrenn]

3 hours ago, baboon said:

Cave in to bullies, in other words. The more you do, the more they take.

So you'll be facing down the soldiers then? Or will you be hiding somewhere nice and safe while someone else does the dirty work?

 

When I was young and stupid I joined the Black May protest on Ratchadamnoen Avenue in 1992, when the army opened fire on the demonstrators - it was terrifying and I'll bet you've never seen anything like it. 

 

Now I'm older and wiser, I only pick fights that I have a chance of winning ????

Edited June 3, 2019 by dbrenn

[Eric Loh]

43 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

So you'll be facing down the soldiers then? Or will you be hiding somewhere nice and safe while someone else does the dirty work?

 

When I was young and stupid I joined the Black May protest on Ratchadamnoen Avenue in 1992, when the army opened fire on the demonstrators - it was terrifying and I'll bet you've never seen anything like it. 

 

Now I'm older and wiser, I only pick fights that I have a chance of winning ????

Your fight is over. This is a fight for the younger generation and their future. They should not be denied. 

https://prachatai.com/english/node/7984

 

 

[dbrenn]

38 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Your fight is over. This is a fight for the younger generation and their future. They should not be denied. 

https://prachatai.com/english/node/7984

 

 

They won't have much of a future if they end up as cannon fodder like the last lot.

 

The army stops at nothing to maintain the status quo, and seriously how bad is it? We're all free to go about our business, enter and leave the country as we wish, enjoy our lives, travel around, see our friends, succeed in our work, pursue hobbies and interests. It's hardly the Soviet Gulag, so why are you making such a fuss about nothing?

 

As I've said, regimes like the one in Thailand are common in this region, and benevolent dictators are the norm, even if you still think that Hun Sen is some kind of softy democrat, 

 

All these TV armchair warriors like you make me chuckle.

[Eric Loh]

12 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

They won't have much of a future if they end up as cannon fodder like the last lot.

 

The army stops at nothing to maintain the status quo, and seriously how bad is it? We're all free to go about our business, enter and leave the country as we wish, enjoy our lives, travel around, see our friends, succeed in our work, pursue hobbies and interests. It's hardly the Soviet Gulag, so why are you making such a fuss about nothing?

 

As I've said, regimes like the one in Thailand are common in this region, and benevolent dictators are the norm, even if you still think that Hun Sen is some kind of softy democrat, 

 

All these TV armchair warriors like you make me chuckle.

Nice that you still get a chuckle of Ja New and other young activists got beatened up by your benevolent dictator. Those fished out from the Mekong must be just a chuckle for your kind. What a shame. 

[dbrenn]

11 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Nice that you still get a chuckle of Ja New and other young activists got beatened up by your benevolent dictator. Those fished out from the Mekong must be just a chuckle for your kind. What a shame. 

Check your history. Today's revolutionary is tomorrow's dictator. 

[yellowboat]

1 hour ago, dbrenn said:

Check your history. Today's revolutionary is tomorrow's dictator. 

George Washington was not a dictator.  He could not even order one of his own slaves to be forcibly brought back to his farm.  To his credit, he did not want to be president, but rather he wanted to tend to his not so profitable farm.  Not sure what history you read. 

 

You speak of capitulation authoritatively and with great certainty.   There is no honor living on your knees.  I was pulled over by the BiB for walking to fast.  Told them they must tell me why they are stopping me, or I will make a formal complaint.  They just went away. 

3 hours ago, dbrenn said:

Now I'm older and wiser, I only pick fights that I have a chance of winning ????

It is not this one. 

Edited June 3, 2019 by yellowboat

[dbrenn]

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

George Washington was not a dictator.  He could not even order one of his own slaves to be forcibly brought back to his farm.  To his credit, he did not want to be president, but rather he wanted to tend to his not so profitable farm.  Not sure what history you read. 

 

You speak of capitulation authoritatively and with great certainty.   There is no honor living on your knees.  I was pulled over by the BiB for walking to fast.  Told them they must tell me why they are stopping me, or I will make a formal complaint.  They just went away. 

It is not this one. 

Just like you claim to be doing, through God's grace I'm having a very successful and enjoyable life, thanks. Being happy with the status quo and supporting those who uphold it is not living on my knees - I salute the conservative government here for putting the status quo and their country first. I'm also exercising my right to choose and in doing so refute a false opinion that I'd held for many years before, believing all the nonsense that our flawed 'democracy' was a one size fits all for the whole world. Just look at those other places where we've tried to force our wonderful democracy down their throats - Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, etc - hundreds of thousands dead and displaced, and you talk of 'honor' in trashing systems of government that you know nothing about in vain efforts to remake them in your own image, wreaking havoc and then walking away from the wreckage.

 

All these 'democratic reformers' want is to turn Thailand into their own version of the western world, wrecking all that is good as they do so. Their objective? To get their noses in the trough like all the others. No thanks, and I'll keep voting against it - years of liberal lefty change in the western world has not only decimated communities and family life, but it has also wrecked education, undermined criminal justice, invaded private life, curtailed free speech, deferred to business at all costs, and grown the intrusive role of the state - in many ways worse that the men in green here. Who's to say that this new lot of 'reformers' will be any different? 

 

You put forward George Washington being nice to his slaves, but most revolutionaries did indeed become tyrants when they got power - Read up on Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Suu Kyi, Khomeini, Castro, Hun Sen, Kim Il Sung, and get back to me.

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by dbrenn

[yellowboat]

34 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

Just like you claim to be doing, through God's grace I'm having a very successful and enjoyable life, thanks. Being happy with the status quo and supporting those who uphold it is not living on my knees - I salute the conservative government here for putting the status quo and their country first. I'm also exercising my right to choose and in doing so refute a false opinion that I'd held for many years before, believing all the nonsense that our flawed 'democracy' was a one size fits all for the whole world. Just look at those other places where we've tried to force our wonderful democracy down their throats - Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, etc - hundreds of thousands dead and displaced, and you talk of 'honor' in trashing systems of government that you know nothing about in vain efforts to remake them in your own image, wreaking havoc and then walking away from the wreckage.

 

All these 'democratic reformers' want is to turn Thailand into their own version of the western world, wrecking all that is good as they do so. Their objective? To get their noses in the trough like all the others. No thanks, and I'll keep voting against it - years of liberal lefty change in the western world has not only decimated communities and family life, but it has also wrecked education, undermined criminal justice, invaded private life, curtailed free speech, deferred to business at all costs, and grown the intrusive role of the state - in many ways worse that the men in green here. Who's to say that this new lot of 'reformers' will be any different? 

 

You put forward George Washington being nice to his slaves, but most revolutionaries did indeed become tyrants when they got power - Read up on Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Suu Kyi, Khomeini, Castro, Hun Sen, Kim Il Sung, and get back to me.

A Ukrainian once said to me that he liked that the US and the UK had a structure that could endure to lowest form of leadership.  He said that was not true for his or many other countries.  Those countries you mentioned are in that same category.  Yes, US and British politicos are responsible for a lot of harm and perhaps thier best days have long since passed.  During the Obama administration, more Americans renounced their US citizenship than any time in history.  That may very well point to a decline, but the west's faults do not excuse Thailand's not being able to keep up with China, Malaysia and Taiwan, as well as others.  And Thailand's is not conservative.  It is a military government.  The before mentioned countries have better opportunities, better education and, in some cases, better systems of government.  Your western comparisons ring hollow, Thailand's neighbors are increasingly looking more attractive.  That is where the comparisons should lie.  Does your jet setting life take you Thailand's neighbors? 

 

Nice touch with Suu Kyi.  Talk about grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.  Use to live near a lovely Burmese restaurant in Taiwan.  When the place closed for business at night, the only lights left were shining on her portrait.  She looked angelic.  She is an amazing  let down. 

[baboon]

4 hours ago, dbrenn said:

Just like you claim to be doing, through God's grace I'm having a very successful and enjoyable life, thanks. Being happy with the status quo and supporting those who uphold it is not living on my knees - I salute the conservative government here for putting the status quo and their country first. I'm also exercising my right to choose and in doing so refute a false opinion that I'd held for many years before, believing all the nonsense that our flawed 'democracy' was a one size fits all for the whole world. Just look at those other places where we've tried to force our wonderful democracy down their throats - Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, etc - hundreds of thousands dead and displaced, and you talk of 'honor' in trashing systems of government that you know nothing about in vain efforts to remake them in your own image, wreaking havoc and then walking away from the wreckage.

 

All these 'democratic reformers' want is to turn Thailand into their own version of the western world, wrecking all that is good as they do so. Their objective? To get their noses in the trough like all the others. No thanks, and I'll keep voting against it - years of liberal lefty change in the western world has not only decimated communities and family life, but it has also wrecked education, undermined criminal justice, invaded private life, curtailed free speech, deferred to business at all costs, and grown the intrusive role of the state - in many ways worse that the men in green here. Who's to say that this new lot of 'reformers' will be any different? 

 

You put forward George Washington being nice to his slaves, but most revolutionaries did indeed become tyrants when they got power - Read up on Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Suu Kyi, Khomeini, Castro, Hun Sen, Kim Il Sung, and get back to me.

 

'As long as I am fine, who gives a crap about anyone else. #### 'em'. The rest is just a smokescreen.

[brucec64]

6 hours ago, dbrenn said:

Just like you claim to be doing, through God's grace I'm having a very successful and enjoyable life, thanks. Being happy with the status quo and supporting those who uphold it is not living on my knees - I salute the conservative government here for putting the status quo and their country first. I'm also exercising my right to choose and in doing so refute a false opinion that I'd held for many years before, believing all the nonsense that our flawed 'democracy' was a one size fits all for the whole world. Just look at those other places where we've tried to force our wonderful democracy down their throats - Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine, etc - hundreds of thousands dead and displaced, and you talk of 'honor' in trashing systems of government that you know nothing about in vain efforts to remake them in your own image, wreaking havoc and then walking away from the wreckage.

 

All these 'democratic reformers' want is to turn Thailand into their own version of the western world, wrecking all that is good as they do so. Their objective? To get their noses in the trough like all the others. No thanks, and I'll keep voting against it - years of liberal lefty change in the western world has not only decimated communities and family life, but it has also wrecked education, undermined criminal justice, invaded private life, curtailed free speech, deferred to business at all costs, and grown the intrusive role of the state - in many ways worse that the men in green here. Who's to say that this new lot of 'reformers' will be any different? 

You put forward George Washington being nice to his slaves, but most revolutionaries did indeed become tyrants when they got power - Read up on Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Suu Kyi, Khomeini, Castro, Hun Sen, Kim Il Sung, and get back to me.

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by brucec64

[dbrenn]

14 hours ago, yellowboat said:

 Ukrainian once said to me that he liked that the US and the UK had a structure that could endure to lowest form of leadership.  He said that was not true for his or many other countries.  Those countries you mentioned are in that same category.  Yes, US and British politicos are responsible for a lot of harm and perhaps thier best days have long since passed.  During the Obama administration, more Americans renounced their US citizenship than any time in history.  That may very well point to a decline, but the west's faults do not excuse Thailand's not being able to keep up with China, Malaysia and Taiwan, as well as others.  And Thailand's is not conservative.  It is a military government.  The before mentioned countries have better opportunities, better education and, in some cases, better systems of government.  Your western comparisons ring hollow, Thailand's neighbors are increasingly looking more attractive.  That is where the comparisons should lie.  Does your jet setting life take you Thailand's neighbors? 

 

Nice touch with Suu Kyi.  Talk about grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.  Use to live near a lovely Burmese restaurant in Taiwan.  When the place closed for business at night, the only lights left were shining on her portrait.  She looked angelic.  She is an amazing  let down. 

I'm not sure whether your Ukrainain friend is right on that one - there is no reason at all why any country should remain intact without the right kind of leadership - even the UK and the US, where politics are getting crazier by the day and any number of radicals could step into political vacuums created by crass incompetence.

 

And while we're on the subject of western meddling causing chaos, Ukraine is a classic case: the 'Maidan' anti-Yanukovych (supposedly ‘pro-democracy’, sponsored by the US and the EU) demonstrators were in fact a bunch of hooligans who carried Waffen-SS banners, and that putsch installed a government that was in no time up to its axles in corruption and sloth. Pretending to preach about democracy, as we are doing here in Thailand, the west actually backed neo-Nazis who overthrew that country’s legitimate President by lawless force, violating that country’s constitution to install a new regime. So many Americans revere their own constitution, yet seem so indifferent to Ukraine’s leaders’ abuse of its basic law. 

 

Over in Syria, the west backed the al-Nusra front 'rebels' - actually the local Al Qaeda franchise - against the (harmless to us) Assad regime. And in Iran, the US is spoiling for a fight, having learned no lessons from the carnage it created in Iraq in the name of the WMD lie.

 

And why on earth is China on your list of the enlightened, and you say that Thailand should keep up with it? You do of course realise that China's president recently changed the rules to allow him to hold his position for life. Not so much a free country either: as we speak the PLA are are blowing up churches, hounding the Uigars in the far west and sending dissidents to Lao Gai - the Chinese version of the Gulag. Interesting to see how the west sucks up to them though, as the west sucks up to the (democratic?) Saudis who are fighting their own dirty little war in Yemen.

 

So what on earth makes you think that Thailand should or would listen to more of the west's 'pro-democracy' guff?

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by dbrenn

[dbrenn]

12 hours ago, baboon said:

'As long as I am fine, who gives a crap about anyone else. #### 'em'. The rest is just a smokescreen.

I'm fine only because I work hard, never take anything for granted, and in doing so I make my own luck. 

 

I"m also conservative, which means that I value established institutions over an imaginary socialist utopia. Thailand is doing just fine, and doesn't need the kind of 'pro-democracy' political vandalism that the western approach has caused in so many places.

[madmen]

On 6/1/2019 at 7:11 PM, yellowboat said:

Me ? No.   We are talking about the average Thai who makes less than his Asian counter parts but pays more, which is galling.  If memory serves, the subway and skytrain STILL do not have interchangeable, common fares, whereas most cities in other Asian countries do.

 

Curtailed freedoms, authoritarianism and poor governance and you want to talk about my ability to afford the skytrain, an interesting set of priorities. 

 

I live in KL. 

 

 

The average Thai using BTS MRT has money . My ex was on 80k per month and the one before that was also up there. The days of Thais worshipping big bwana and his pension are long gone . Bangkok Thais for the majority do NOT have any problem paying a $1

Just look at the cars on Sukhumvit. Every single one a late model and not a klunker amongst them..and then go and take a look at the west where there is no shortage of rust buckets. All have the latest smart phones .Anyone thinking Bangkok Thais are poor is living in the dinosaur era

[d2b2]

42 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

I'm fine only because I work hard, never take anything for granted, and in doing so I make my own luck. 

 

I"m also conservative, which means that I value established institutions over an imaginary socialist utopia. Thailand is doing just fine, and doesn't need the kind of 'pro-democracy' political vandalism that the western approach has caused in so many places.

Only you matter. It's all about you. Only you. 

[yellowboat]

1 hour ago, madmen said:

The average Thai using BTS MRT has money . My ex was on 80k per month and the one before that was also up there. The days of Thais worshipping big bwana and his pension are long gone . Bangkok Thais for the majority do NOT have any problem paying a $1

Just look at the cars on Sukhumvit. Every single one a late model and not a klunker amongst them..and then go and take a look at the west where there is no shortage of rust buckets. All have the latest smart phones .Anyone thinking Bangkok Thais are poor is living in the dinosaur era

And yet household debt remains very very high and one may wonder why.  Do Thais live beyond their means?   Your wife is excluded of course.    So you excuse the lack of a common fair for BTS and Metro where most countries in Asia have figured that out?  My Thai friends live on your Champs-Elysées of Bangkok or  Sukhimvit, and they take the bus to save money when they can.  Happy to hear your wife is rolling in it, but she is not the average Thai.  Just one dinosaur talking to the average Thai.     

[yellowboat]

3 hours ago, dbrenn said:

I'm not sure whether your Ukrainain friend is right on that one - there is no reason at all why any country should remain intact without the right kind of leadership - even the UK and the US, where politics are getting crazier by the day and any number of radicals could step into political vacuums created by crass incompetence.

 

And while we're on the subject of western meddling causing chaos, Ukraine is a classic case: the 'Maidan' anti-Yanukovych (supposedly ‘pro-democracy’, sponsored by the US and the EU) demonstrators were in fact a bunch of hooligans who carried Waffen-SS banners, and that putsch installed a government that was in no time up to its axles in corruption and sloth. Pretending to preach about democracy, as we are doing here in Thailand, the west actually backed neo-Nazis who overthrew that country’s legitimate President by lawless force, violating that country’s constitution to install a new regime. So many Americans revere their own constitution, yet seem so indifferent to Ukraine’s leaders’ abuse of its basic law. 

 

Over in Syria, the west backed the al-Nusra front 'rebels' - actually the local Al Qaeda franchise - against the (harmless to us) Assad regime. And in Iran, the US is spoiling for a fight, having learned no lessons from the carnage it created in Iraq in the name of the WMD lie.

 

And why on earth is China on your list of the enlightened, and you say that Thailand should keep up with it? You do of course realise that China's president recently changed the rules to allow him to hold his position for life. Not so much a free country either: as we speak the PLA are are blowing up churches, hounding the Uigars in the far west and sending dissidents to Lao Gai - the Chinese version of the Gulag. Interesting to see how the west sucks up to them though, as the west sucks up to the (democratic?) Saudis who are fighting their own dirty little war in Yemen.

 

So what on earth makes you think that Thailand should or would listen to more of the west's 'pro-democracy' guff?

 

The difference being the Chinese government offers education and a pursuit of happiness for most of its population that is not available in Thailand.  So China will continue to be on top while Thailand's government will continue to play circus music while its clowns continue to think only of themselves.  Pretty safe to say your understanding of China comes from the news and not from personal experience.   And as you have pointed out, there is good and bad everywhere including China.  But there is a functioning prosperity formula in China that is absent in Thailand. 

 

Thailand should be held to same level as their neighbors who are gaining or passing it by..  Your anti western rants try obscure the triumphs of well functioning Asian representative governments.  

[dbrenn]

11 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

The difference being the Chinese government offers education and a pursuit of happiness for most of its population that is not available in Thailand.  So China will continue to be on top while Thailand's government will continue to play circus music while its clowns continue to think only of themselves.  Pretty safe to say your understanding of China comes from the news ......But there is a functioning prosperity formula in China that is absent in Thailand.....

You saw that on CNN right? 'Education in pursuit of happiness' sounds rather totalitarian ????

 

And tell me more about this 'functioning prosperity formula'. Is it a euphemism for the richest few percent that you see travelling around places like Thailand, and how many of China's population benefit from it? What about the lower echelons? How do they live, and what happens to them if they step out of line?

 

You seem to be rather stumped. You'll be telling me that Cambodia is a democracy next.

Edited June 4, 2019 by dbrenn

[dbrenn]

1 hour ago, d2b2 said:

Only you matter. It's all about you. Only you. 

Moralising lefties like you look down on anyone who doesn't share their craving for a socialist utopia, and all the cultural vandalism that goes with it.

[rkidlad]

3 hours ago, dbrenn said:

I'm fine only because I work hard, never take anything for granted, and in doing so I make my own luck. 

 

I"m also conservative, which means that I value established institutions over an imaginary socialist utopia. Thailand is doing just fine, and doesn't need the kind of 'pro-democracy' political vandalism that the western approach has caused in so many places.

Great to read 'you' are doing so well.

 

I'm also doing very well. And I'd like for other people to be in my position, too. 

[dbrenn]

9 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

Great to read 'you' are doing so well.

 

I'm also doing very well. And I'd like for other people to be in my position, too. 

So support charities then, or voluntarily pay extra tax. Put your money where your mouth is ????

[Eric Loh]

1 hour ago, dbrenn said:

Moralising lefties like you look down on anyone who doesn't share their craving for a socialist utopia, and all the cultural vandalism that goes with it.

So you are a liberalist. That explain a lot of your thinking behind your posts. 

[rkidlad]

4 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

So support charities then, or voluntarily pay extra tax. Put your money where your mouth is ????

I am. By speaking out.

 

One of the fundamentals of democracy is 'free speech'.  The right to criticize. Something you seem to not like as you think Prayut is doing such a good job.  

 

Funny, you being a conservative I'd have thought you were for free speech. Guess the right to cherry pick is more important. 

[d2b2]

1 hour ago, dbrenn said:

Moralising lefties like you look down on anyone who doesn't share their craving for a socialist utopia, and all the cultural vandalism that goes with it.

Narcissistic selfish psychopaths rarely consider morals. It interferes with their “only me, life view” . 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by d2b2

[dbrenn]

40 minutes ago, d2b2 said:

Narcissistic selfish psychopaths rarely consider morals. It interferes with their “only me, life view” . 

 

You've got that back to front. I told you already that, as a conservative, I respect traditional institutions over and above the individual.

 

Leftism being about the individual's relationship with the State; conservatism being about the traditional community, the religion and the family, all taking precedence over the individual, and getting in the way of the State ????

 

Your insults don't faze me one bit, so research the subject, get a basic understanding of it, and get back to me when you've got something sensible to contribute.

Edited June 4, 2019 by dbrenn

[baboon]

7 hours ago, dbrenn said:

You've got that back to front. I told you already that, as a conservative, I respect traditional institutions over and above the individual.

 

Leftism being about the individual's relationship with the State; conservatism being about the traditional community, the religion and the family, all taking precedence over the individual, and getting in the way of the State

What is the difference between traditional institutions and the State? If you don't have State Institutions, you don't have a State.

Don't you want a 'State' Police? A 'State' Army? 'State' roads and transportation? 'State' schools?

Or should it all be left to the "Traditional Community"? Good luck coping with the travails of the 21st Century without the State.