Pesky foreign media. Why can't we just intimidate them into silence like we do with the local 'journalists'.

Dumbfounded!

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

 

The court record showed that Manat Bophlom had admitted to the charge ...

 

BBC Thai cited that Thammanat said to BBC Thai via telephone on October 4, 2019 that he did not plead guilty to the charge, but instead asked for negotiations between his attorney and the court.

 

He said he had not been involved in drug smuggling. He said at the time of his arrest, he did not have much experience or enough money to fight the charge, BBC Thai quoted him as saying.

he is habitual lier, court papers contradict him.

he did not try to bribe his way out, because it's very difficult and costly in australia. Instead he grassed his mafia friends in thailand (that was also stated by the court as a reason for such short sentence).

 

there is more to the BBC story in today's article from australia from the paper, which brought to light the story a month  ago

active link pasted below:

Sinister minister: Thai Parliament to ask for Australia's help over politician's criminal past  

Edited October 10, 20196 yr by londonthai

Now they have done it. They will upset the PM, again. Shame-shame. lol

10 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Looks like it´s time for a crisis meeting and quickly find a way to make this <deleted> go away.

No need, BBC weren't allowed to photograph the data, therefore it's fake news - meaning there is no problem. 

10 hours ago, Yinn said:

Or death punishment.

Or a Royal Pardon! 555

8 hours ago, Cadbury said:

the revelations were “small issues” and that questions about the scandal upset him.

Well we can't have our beloved star of Friday TV upset can we?

Let me see...

 

a convicted drug trafficker;

a creative fact twister;

a shameless liar;

an ardent bootlicker;

a man of warped moral values;

a fake PhD holder.

 

All in all I'd say he is wholesomely perfect for this government.

 

The optics of this are impossibly sour. It suggests that some people within the Junta government are "untouchable" and above the law. When the rule of law appears malleable, it is difficult for a nation to rise above third world status.

Not sure why they are singling this fool out. All the elites are crooks and criminals. Every leader, every politician.

16 minutes ago, d2b2 said:

The optics of this are impossibly sour. It suggests that some people within the Junta government are "untouchable" and above the law. When the rule of law appears malleable, it is difficult for a nation to rise above third world status.

Just found this out did you?

People have been saying this for decades.

Edited October 10, 20196 yr by Time Traveller

10 minutes ago, d2b2 said:

The optics of this are impossibly sour. It suggests that some people within the Junta government are "untouchable" and above the law. When the rule of law appears malleable, it is difficult for a nation to rise above third world status.

They are not untouchable or above the law as they are part of a completely seperate class of people. 

Shame Oz, no TM30 you let foreign criminals go on the rampage...

Very similar to the watchman, brushing

It under the carpet

  The poor dear!  How utterly awful he is being 'smeared' with the truth.

51 minutes ago, Time Traveller said:

Not sure why they are singling this fool out. All the elites are crooks and criminals. Every leader, every politician.

Maybe, but how many have served four years in an Australian jail for drug smuggling?

The reference to the “watchman” immediately made me think of All Along the Watchtower- “There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief.”

11 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

I imagine in Thailand he would have got over 20 years for a similar conviction.

20 years would make it 2013, time served now2 able to become a MP in the ruling party.

 

2 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

It was probably someone, higher up the food chain, that was the mastermind behind the original drug deal. This guy being the middleman who got busted. Now they want his silence, which can either be bought or the other ????????

 

Wouldn't be surprised if he "committed suicide" in the near future !!

Ala Jeffrey Epstein.

Next headline "BBC Thai shutdown for fake news"

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thammanat's imprisonment in Australia

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3026359/thai-minister-thammanat-prompaos-australian-criminal-past         ,,,,, nice fellow ,,,, Liar,,,,, 

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

BBC Thai has released notes of an official document obtained from a visit to an Australian court, stating that Manat Bophlom, the fomer name of Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thammanat Prompao, had served four years in jail for a charge of conspiring to import heroin to Australia

He's going to have a hard time explaining that away... the guy's becoming an embarrassment to all concerned and has lost all credibility... I expect he'll get promoted soon !

10 minutes ago, rwill said:

Next headline "BBC Thai shutdown for fake news"

They can get shut down even if it's not fake news like they did with the Daily Mail

13 hours ago, Yinn said:

Will be funny see when media/parliament ask Prayut/Prawit tomorrow about this one.

 

There was a time within my lifetime in Thailand when people involved in drug smuggling were executed by firing squad.

13 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

I imagine in Thailand he would have got over 20 years for a similar conviction.

I imagine in Thailand he would never have been charged in the first place.

 

13 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Looks like it´s time for a crisis meeting and quickly find a way to make this <deleted> go away.

Don't panic! Don't panic! The Watchman has been enlisted to assist.

The most amusing thing about this truly farcical story is that the government released a comment a few weeks ago saying that because he wasn't convicted in Thailand it shouldn't affect his role in the government.

 

However, had he been convicted here he would be looking at life in prison similar to the Taiwanese man this week, and not an easy four year sentence in Australia. 

13 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Yes; the Beeb will get the blame for everything and the convicted criminal will continue to 'serve the people'.....as all the other Thai criminals do !

Yes indeed and it could mean the banning of BBC in Thailand

 

13 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

He will call it "Fake News", and block the BBC websites from the internet here !

Not only the internet, but BBC TV transmissions as well.

Obviously this scandal goes far beyond merely not properly vetting him. That he was absent for 4 years locked up abroad really isn't that easily overlooked.

 

While it's refreshing to see that the Thai government takes a more relaxed stance on recreational drugs now, making a heroin trafficker a minister is taking it a tiny little bit too far, I think.

Edited October 10, 20196 yr by Caldera
Additional Thought

3 hours ago, londonthai said:

he is habitual lier, court papers contradict him.

he did not try to bribe his way out, because it's very difficult and costly in australia. Instead he grassed his mafia friends in thailand (that was also stated by the court as a reason for such short sentence).

 

there is more to the BBC story in today's article from australia from the paper, which brought to light the story a month  ago

active link pasted below:

Sinister minister: Thai Parliament to ask for Australia's help over politician's criminal past  

From that article:

 

"His legal team and the government’s top constitutional expert have separately asserted there is no legal obstacle to him serving as an MP. However, one deputy prime minister conceded questions over the authenticity of his doctorate could result in him being removed on ethical grounds."

 

So fake degrees and lying about them is unethical but being found guilty and jailed for conspiracy to import heroin and lying about that isn't unethical?

 

Seems there is a Aussie guy on death row in Thailand