amnesty-international can work effectively from outside Thailand perhaps even more so than they do now so perhaps not a bad thing in the grand scheme of things

" ... Vice Minister attached to the Prime Minister’s office ..."

 

Attached.  Is that anything like a Lamprey eel or a leech? 

14 hours ago, baboon said:

Thailand is doing a great job of what?

Being Thailand?

Considering the educational standards of Thais,   the   poor little sod of  a government official   was  most likely   doing his honest best when he said  he had    amassed one million signtures.   The  only  problem  he had was counting all those  zeros after the figure one..............One,  another one,, one more,,.........

It is a terrible thing to have a watchdog agency examining your every move, watching your indulgences, witnessing your oppression, and telling the world about a democracy that is not a functioning democracy. Why would any authoritarian junta permit such a voice?

These policies are doing a great job of crushing criticism in Russia.  Safety first is maybe a Russian agent.......

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

his campaign to expel Amnesty International (AI) from Thailand

You'll be in great company there with the likes of China, Russia and the DRC, not to mention India which is probably not far off expelling Amnesty. Is this really the company you wish to keep and the example you want to set to your poorer neighbours?

15 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

If the expel become a reality, then there will be negative consequences for Thailand in terms of international investment decisions.

 

Bankers, businessmen, investment funds etc  are only keen on chasing $$$.

Freedom, human rights, political correctness and all else are secondary or unimportant or nuisance to them.

Novice to know or what 

16 hours ago, Enzian said:

This could be another "shoot yourself in the foot" measure as regards international tourism, since I suspect such travelers lean to the left more than the general populations in the countries they come from, and Amnesty International probably has semi-sacred status among that group. But maybe this will give TAT a new motto to use: "Vacation in a tropical, beautiful, friendly, rabidly authoritarian paradise!" 

That said, I can actually see reason for a very mild version of the transparency requirements. 

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand has been posting about these proposals and they are understandably concerned. 

 

International tourists pick travel location mostly based on fun, cost, value, exoticness, convenience and safety.   Having NGO or not in a particular countries may be priority No. 9 or even No. 99 in the criteria. 

 

This idea is an example of selling for fear.  

Evidently Dr.Evil is leading the anti-NGO charge here?

 

 

 

 

There was protest leading to riot in Hong Kong 2019,  then there was protest and coup attempt in Kazakhstan 2022.   So NGO is stereotyped in very different way nowadays.  

Add on the event of USA did the "Mother of all Retreats" -- quote from the words of a former USA Vice President --  in Afghanistan 2021.  ( Kazakhstan and  Afghanistan are both Central Asia countries. )

All government as well as general public in South East Asia are of course more cautious about NGO presence in their countries.    

Well may be many long-stay foreigners here in Thailand are not up to speed to understand the mood change of the Thai locals.  

The million signatories are in the army; all of them generals and most voted more than once.

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

collected up to a million signatures

From military personnel and their families????

(apologies I appear to have duplicated a similar comment)

For a government that is always oh soooo anxious about Thailand's good image and reputation in the eyes of the world, they surely DO unwittingly shoot themselves in the foot unusually often. 

A post replying to a previously removed post has been removed. 

according to this article Rambo now leads some royalist group and this group is responsible for this action.
They accuse AI for supporting pro-democracy movement.
They see pro-democracy movement and AI it as a danger to monarchy being abolished.

“NGOs that are supporting the three-hoof mob to destroy the country’s stability and abolish the royal institution are extremely dangerous,” Seksakol Atthawong, better known as Rambo Isaan, told reporters on Tuesday. 

 

Clearly, they are obsessed with anything which has a strait of social progress, development. 
https://www.thaienquirer.com/36644/royalists-say-theyve-gathered-one-million-signatures-to-call-for-amnesty-international-to-leave/

 

18 hours ago, baboon said:

Thailand is doing a great job of what?

 

4 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Being Thailand?

Oh, I dunno. I bet those at the top think Myanmar is doing a better job of being Thailand...

18 hours ago, baboon said:

Thailand is doing a great job of what?

 

4 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Being Thailand?

Oh, I dunno. I bet those at the top think Myanmar is doing a better job of being Thailand...

7 minutes ago, internationalism said:

according to this article Rambo now leads some royalist group and this group is responsible for this action.
They accuse AI for supporting pro-democracy movement.
They see pro-democracy movement and AI it as a danger to monarchy being abolished.

“NGOs that are supporting the three-hoof mob to destroy the country’s stability and abolish the royal institution are extremely dangerous,” Seksakol Atthawong, better known as Rambo Isaan, told reporters on Tuesday. 

 

Clearly, they are obsessed with anything which has a strait of social progress, development. 
https://www.thaienquirer.com/36644/royalists-say-theyve-gathered-one-million-signatures-to-call-for-amnesty-international-to-leave/

 

If any institution enjoys widespread popularity then what is there to worry about? You can just write off any dissenting voices as cranks and get on with your day.

17 hours ago, Paulaew said:

I knew when I moved here 16 years ago that the Thais had a history of corruption, militarism and authoritarianism. But I thought that these tendencies would be tempered by international opinion, foreign investment and the drive to become a developed nation.

 

But recent events have proven me wrong. The most recent coup, the manipulation of the constitution, the creation of the ridiculous Senate, the suppression of free speech, and now the attempt to expel the most respected human rights watchdog in the world. Behind it all is the sinister Peter Lorre-like Prawit and his evil henchmen Thamant. They have aspirations to turn Thailand into Myanmar. Or North Korea.

 

Paul Laew

It is either a completely fabricated poll or the Thais that voted are the dumbest and most uninformed people in the World.

2 hours ago, sscc said:

 

International tourists pick travel location mostly based on fun, cost, value, exoticness, convenience and safety.   Having NGO or not in a particular countries may be priority No. 9 or even No. 99 in the criteria. 

 

This idea is an example of selling for fear.  

Mind you, this same bunch who seem to want to chuck out Amnesty International are also hell bent on stamping out fun, forcing up the cost, reducing the value, are content to homogenise the exoticness and don't seem to give two hoots about safety, so...

It may be of interest to members to read the latest AI report on Thailand; URL below...

 

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-east-asia-and-the-pacific/thailand/report-thailand/

Yes! They should be ousted. They are a menace to all countries, as they are always breaking the law to catch the others that do. Not the right way to solve things in organized societies.

4 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Yes! They should be ousted. They are a menace to all countries, as they are always breaking the law to catch the others that do. Not the right way to solve things in organized societies.

Breaking which laws?

4 minutes ago, baboon said:

Breaking which laws?

To many to post here. I suggest you read up about the organization and what they have done.

3 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

To many to post here. I suggest you read up about the organization and what they have done.

I'll just go ahead and assume any laws they may break are laws enacted to repress. There's nothing morally wrong in breaking them in which case.

18 hours ago, Paulaew said:

I knew when I moved here 16 years ago that the Thais had a history of corruption, militarism and authoritarianism. But I thought that these tendencies would be tempered by international opinion, foreign investment and the drive to become a developed nation.

 

But recent events have proven me wrong. The most recent coup, the manipulation of the constitution, the creation of the ridiculous Senate, the suppression of free speech, and now the attempt to expel the most respected human rights watchdog in the world. Behind it all is the sinister Peter Lorre-like Prawit and his evil henchmen Thamant. They have aspirations to turn Thailand into Myanmar. Or North Korea.

 

Paul Laew

And they have the support  of ignorant  foreigners. I remember  when many on this forum supported the coup here. Even a Greek  who had lived under the Generals

2 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

And they have the support  of ignorant  foreigners. I remember  when many on this forum supported the coup here. Even a Greek  who had lived under the Generals

Aye, it was a terrible time to be an antifascist. I remember it well.

16 hours ago, GarryP said:

Many of us have a horse in the race too. We have family here, we have lived here for ages and want what's best for the country and for the benefit of those we love. Surely, we have the right to comment on the rights and the wrongs in this country. And one of the biggest wrongs is this administration and Prayuth's lapdogs who are totally lacking in ethics.    

And, for example, the Thaksin governments were shining examples of ethical behaviour?

Name me the differences, please?

 

The generals are probably jealous of their friendly neighbors in Myanmar, the junta that can do whatever the hell they want to stifle any and all opposition, and stay in power. 
And I don’t believe for a minute that they collected a million autographs. Unless they paid people to sign.