New Political Party Ready To Launch

[Tony Clifton]

The colonel is getting more testy about the innuendo of his puppet status....

Pol. Lt. Col. Karn Thienkaew denied rumours that the Palang Prachachon Party existed under the shadows of the now defunct Thai Rak Thai party and under the supervision of ousted Premier Thaksin Shinawatra. “The Palang Prachachon Party has contested in the general election since 1998. It’s not fair for people to spread baseless rumours about us just because major political party members or groups have suddenly chosen to defect to our party,” he said.

“We are nobody’s puppet. We intend to work together as a team with our new members. There will be no factions within our party,” he stressed.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=120521

AND..... their list of potential leaders becomes even less impressive.... which is amazing in itself.....

Samak, Chavalit shortlisted to lead People's Power party

Thai Rak Thai group’s key leader Dr. Surapong Suebwonglee has disclosed that so far up to 421 of the group’s members have applied to become a member of the People’s Power party (Palang Prachachon) with the numbers expected to grow. Asked about the possibility that Samak Sundaravej would become leader of the party, Dr. Surapong revealed that the former Bangkok governor has yet to accept the offer. “We haven’t received any response from Mr. Samak regarding this issue but we believe he will get back to us very soon,” Dr. Surapong said. However, Mr. Samak is not the only name on the party’s shortlist of candidates. General Chavalit Yongchaiyut has also reportedly been asked to consider leading the People’s Power party.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=120535

Ampulex compressa, a species of wasp, is able to modify the neural networks of cockroaches, turning them into "zombies" by injecting their larvae into their brain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampulex_compressa

Edited July 30, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[sriracha john]

and now..... it's time for TRT version 4.0 to be unveiled...

Which one of his chromosome-damaged, mutant offspring will Thaksin personally endorse???

Somsak prepared to set up Machimatipathai party

Leader of the Machima group Somsak Thepsutin has announced at a press conference that he will soon set up a new party called the Machimatipathai party. He plans to register the new party for the general election as soon as the Council for National Security lifts the 15th post-coup announcement on political party registration. Asked to comment on the People’s Power Party’s (Palang Prachachon) plans to have either former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej or General Chavalit Yongchaiyut as its leader, Somsak said his party will certainly open its doors to the younger generation. “Young blood politicians are more on their toes,” he said. “I do have someone in mind to lead the Machimatipathai party but I’m afraid I can’t say who yet. All I can say is that person is aged between 45-65.” He also disclosed that a large number of former Thai Rak Thai party members have agreed to

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=120542

[younghusband]

Which one of his chromosome-damaged, mutant offspring will Thaksin personally endorse???

A little while ago I wondered to myself whether I was being a little unfair in suggesting your stock in trade was not serious commentary on Thai politics but just unfunny and vulgar personal abuse of Thaksin's family.Your posting above speaks for itself.

[sriracha john]

Just for the less astute, the "offspring" refers to political parties, not the actual family members from Thaksin's loins.

[sriracha john]

While TRT version 2.0 is told to slow down, the 4.0 version of TRT continues their in-fighting...

Thai Rak Thai Group not allowed to join People Power Party before withdrawal of 15th CDR announcement

The Election Commission (EC) reports that the Thai Rak Thai Group, a fraction of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party, is not allowed to join the People Power Party until the 15th announcement of the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) is being officially lifted.

In response to the recruitment of new members for the People Power Party, Election Commissioner Praphan Naikowit says the party is required to inform EC of their office relocation.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Matchima Group, Somsak Thepsuthin, affirms the group will not join any political parties.

It will wait for EC to permit it to form a new party under the name “Matchima Party.” He also says he believes that the Thai Rak Thai Group has hidden agendas in seeking membership in the People Power Party.

- ThaiNews

[younghusband]

Just for the less astute, the "offspring" refers to political parties, not the actual family members from Thaksin's loins.

The language is vulgar and abusive nonetheless, and you would be taken more seriously if you avoided it.

[jumnien]

Expecting a coup-loving right-wing fascist to be polite is a bit much. Remember, he's probably writing this stuff from an army barracks somewhere!

[John K]

Actually I have to agree with younghusband on this. These people are clearly followers. If you are a follower then you can’t be a leader. If they had any substantial ideas of their own they would have spread out over several parties and not stuck together like this. I think this is that sheep thing again.

Thaksin would only endorse someone who clearly has good presentation (political stage) skills, but would blindly follow Thaksin’s instruction. Then remotely Thaksin would try to reverse the economical slide making his puppet look like a genius. Then spin spin spin and see a repeat of what put Thaksin in power. This clearly is a long term plan.

[sriracha john]

Just for the less astute, the "offspring" refers to political parties, not the actual family members from Thaksin's loins.

The language is vulgar and abusive nonetheless, and you would be taken more seriously if you avoided it.

With the ever-so-many-different thaivisa members you're been abusive with... that's rich.

Now then, if Thaksin and his dysfunctional family members would ever happen join thaivisa... my so-called "vulgar" language with them would cease, because that would be in keeping with the forum rules.

Edited July 30, 2007 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

TRT version 4.0 clarifies...

Matchima Group announces the new party, Matchimathipatai

Leader of the Matchima Group, Somsak Thepsuthin, has announced that his new party will be opened under the Matchimathipatai banner.

Mr. Somsak said the registration of the new party will be held right after the 15th announcement of the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) is officially lifted. However, he denied disclosing the name of the party leader.

Mr. Somsak said that many former TRT members have asked to join the new party.

- ThaiNews

Edited July 30, 2007 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

well, one of the offspring is being disowned..... supposedly.... even though he formally applied for adoption papers.. :D

Thaksin not involved with People's Party

BANGKOK - As more members of the now disbanded Thai Rak Thai political party have joined the little known Palang Prachachon or People's Power Party (PPP) intending to acquire eligibility to contest the general election to be held later this year, a legal advisor of the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Monday that his client had nothing to do with the party.

Noppadol Pattama told journalists that while the former prime minister had formally applied for PPP membership as discussed by telephone from exile in London Sunday, Mr. Thaksin was reported to have said he would support the PPP because the party "supported democracy and policies initiated earlier by the Thai Rak Thai."

When asked whether PPP would be secretly dictated to by Mr. Thaksin, Mr. Noppadol said the former premier had announced that he had washed his hand of politics but would provide "morale and advice" to the party.

No financial assistance would be given to the political party by the billionaire, deposed prime minister, Mr. Noppadol said.

The interim government of Prime Minister Gen. Surayud Chulanont has announced that general election would be held in November or December.

- MCOT

Edited July 30, 2007 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

TRT could be opposition

The Thai Rak Thai Group is expected to take on an opposition role in the general election, its executive Peeraphan Palusuk said after many former TRT MPs began joining the smaller People Power Party.

At least 440 former MP's and ex-members from Thai Rak Thai applied to become People Power Party members, 205 of them ex-MP's, according to Samphan Lertnuwat, a key TRT figure, yesterday.

The former TRT MP's move to join the People Power Party was to meet a ruling that states that election candidates must be members of a political party for 90 days before a general election.

Peeraphan also said that the People Power Party may include factions that quit Thai Rak Thai to join opposition parties.

"It will be difficult for the government to run the country and solve problems in this situation. We believe the next government will stay in office for only two years," he said.

The next government would not have stability because it must negotiate and compromise on its composition. Meanwhile, the military will still be key in controlling the state, he said.

Noppadon Pattama, legal advisor to former prime minisฌter Thaksin Shinawatra, yesterday said he had already applied for membership of the People Power Party. He said that he had informed Thaksin of his application.

"The former premier thinks the party will lead the country to peace. Former TRT members will drive the policies for the people," he said.

Thaksin will help the party as an advisor, not as a capitalist, Noppadon said.

He revealed that Thaksin said Surapong Suebwonglee was a candidate to be party leader, and that Thaksin also admired the veteran politician Samak Sundaravej.

The Matchima Group agreed Monday to form a political party known as the Matchima Thippatai Party to contest the election. Matchima leader Somsak Thepsuthin spoke to reporters after a group meeting that decided to register the new party.

"If the national referendum on the draft constitution is not passed, there is no guarantee that the 90-day rule will be used or not," he said.

If the 1997 constitution is reintroduced, the 90-day rule that says election candidates must be party members for that period of time will be valid, he said.

"Matchima Thippatai is ready to register as a political party after the junta cancels the Announcements 15 and 27," Somsak said.

He also discussed reports that Samak and Chavalit Yongchaiyudh might become candidates for the People Power Party.

"Both are 70 years old and have much experience in poliฌtics. They could resolve the country's problems better than younger people. Yet, younger politicians could solve the country's problems quicker. I assure you that our leader is younger than 70," he said.

- The Nation

[aaaaaa]

Well they need to do something to distract the masses from noticing that it is really all about the Bangkok Chinese maintaining their power and has nothing to do with Thais or Thailand, so of course they will name their parties using Orwellian style double speak. The old Thai euphemism for politics is kin muang and nobody is going to name their politcial party ciin kin thai.

cool ! and yet most of things are blamed on those evil farangs who come to LOS en masse and try to impose their own double standarts rules, values etc. !

although following article appears to be dated '98, almost 10 years old, main things (like about their evolution state, domination by busness class, lack of clear programs and therefore of difference between them) said about the status of Thai political parties there are still true and will remain same for a long time:

Kingdom of Thailand

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

POLITICAL PARTIES

Political parties in Thailand serve as the breeding ground for future leaders and bureaucrats. They provide the venue by which those with political ambitions are able to familiarize themselves with the country's democratic structure and processes and obtain a certain measure of political leadership training. However, the political party system in Thailand is still in a state of evolution and can be best described as fragmented, structurally weak, and vulnerable to corruption. The cost of staging a national campaign is very high and the funds needed to finance such an endeavor are generally only available to those in the business world. Hence, businesspeople dominate most of the political parties in Thailand. Moreover, political parties in Thailand are not mass-based, have no distinct ideological differences, and lack full-time, dedicated, and qualified personnel to formulate and implement the party's programs. Since one Thai political party cannot really be differentiated from the other, switching party loyalties is not unusual in Thailand.

so, what Johpa said in his post 15 is probably correct by simple A > B > C logic (A="parties are dominated by busuness people", B= "ethnic Chines dominate whole business", therefore C="politics are also dominated by ethnic Chines"; about Bangkok is just a sort of default addition).

The Rise of Thailand’s Third Branch

Wicha Mahakhun, a former judge and current constitution drafter, provided:

“People, especially academics who want to see the constitution lead to genuine democracy, are naïve. We all know elections are evil,”

Charter drafter pans 'evil' elections[/url] ]

Many legal experts see the dissolution [of TRT] case as a sham. Indeed, many wonder how a body created by those who overthrew Thaksin has any right to terminate political parties for allegedly attempting to overthrow democracy. And especially to do so for violating a constitution the junta leaders discarded?

............

it remains to be seen if the general public will protest the consolidation of power....

Thais must decide if they want so-called “good” appointed elites or “evil” elected politicians running the country when they vote in a referendum on the constitution in September. As the lengthy charter now stands, the elites would prove victorious.

“The draft constitution doesn’t trust the people,” said Vorajet from Thammasat. “If we use it, then people with a high status, like judges and top bureaucrats, can get seats in the Senate and independent bodies. These people think that Thai politicians are bad, and they are good. It contradicts the whole principle of democracy.”

there is also quite some difference between new charter and previous '97 "People's Constitution":

Next constitution of Thailand

Parliamentary representation

The CDC announced that it would adopt a multi-seat constituency system for the House of Representatives, which would give each province at least three Members of Parliament. The system was used in the general election in 1995, while the 1997 constitution called for single-seat constituencies. A proportional representation system was announced, with 320 constituency MPs and 80 party-list MPs

Senate

the Senate would not be an elected body. The new Senate's 160 members would be selected via a national selection committee as well as provincial selection committees in each of the 75 provinces nationwide ... A Senator for Bangkok would be selected directly by a national selection committee. The Election Commission would be responsible for selecting the remaining 84 Senators...

Drafters defended the move to appoint senators. In a public hearing, former judge Wicha Mahakhun claimed that, "We all know elections are evil, but [why do] many people still want to see history repeated? People, especially academics, who want to see the constitution lead to genuine democracy, are naive. Electing senators is a problem, as seen in the past, so why don't people want judges to help select senators?"

so, let's sum it up: 320 constituency MPs Vs only 80 party-list MPs, and also 160 Senate members - all appointed, NOT elected.

as I see it, it doesn't leave much place to ANY party. and since Senate would be not an elected body anyway, whatever Democrats' or other parties efforts for democracy, are pointless.

therefore, I think, all these parties, no matter how they are called, both new and old, pro-Democracy or contra in name or in deeds, do not make any difference no more.

[Mid]

and also 160 Senate members - all appointed, NOT elected.

they backed up a bit here , TTBOMK it's 50 / 50 , appointed / elected ,

[aaaaaa]

yeah? thanks for update.

anyway, it still won't change much the whole thing: parties are only a "breeding ground for PM", only coalitions (not single party) can govern, parties have vague definitions and agendas, and lastly, anyway, Judges - NOT PM or Senate etc - will have the last say in all matters.

then what is the point to bother so much about - what new parties emerge, or what is their political platforms. everything is simple. as made for uneducated and poor people, who are the majority in this country.

[marshbags]

From todays Nation breaking news 31-07-07

Quote

TRT expected to be opposition

The Thai Rak Thai Group expected to be in the opposition in the general election, its executive Peeraphan Palusuk said Monday after many former TRT MPs began joining the smaller People Power Party.

The group has to find a party to accommodate it in order to meet the rule that stipulates election candidates must be members of a political party for 90 days before a general election.

Unquote

Ref url

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30043019

<deleted> happened to the 5 year ban from politics then ?????? and please don,t insult my intelligence by saying they are either with another party or are only acting as advisors, those who support the defuncted TRT

As far Thaksins legal rent a gob now enlisting, that really is a joke and extracting the legal urine.

marshbags

Edited July 31, 2007 by marshbags

[sriracha john]

Thaksin Shinawatra’s legal adviser Noppadon Pattama displays his membership application for the People Power Party.

The Nation

[Tony Clifton]

The hunchback of Noppadon! Great suit!

Edited July 31, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[marshbags]

The hunchback of Noppadon! Great suit!

Yet another gem

Bet he,d get the hump if he logged onto T.Visa and observed all the wonderful complimentary comments and illustrations posted about himself and his fellow bell ringer who at the present time is seeking sanctuary in the U.K

marshbags

Edited July 31, 2007 by marshbags

[jumnien]

Newsflash!!! There was an event that the benevolent leaders assure us was not a coup on Sept 19th of last year. Since then there is only one party in Thailand. It is called the ARMY, I'm not sure what the initials stand for? Anyway, until further notice, no one need be troubled with this political "partying" business. There is a place for political "partiers" and it is behind bars. Go Army! as George Bush would say!

[hammered]

I hear that Samak has now joined the People Power Party. Oh yes the fun has begun. I wonder if they will get round to discussing events in the 70's at the parties tea money meetings? I wonder if anyone will remember the remarks made about the demonstrating farmers from Kalasin a few years back? Oh yes this one really threatens to set new heights in there are no permanent enemies in politics.

Now where exactly is Prommin right now? Or (proceeds to list all the TRT October people and lefties)

Oh I guess Samak gets a bunch of supporters to help him avoid responsibilty for that little Steyr contract. The question is what do the TRTers get in return? Samak is not exactly a big hitter these days and he doesnt exactly have a bank account full of nice hundred baht notes ready to hand out, well not yet anyway. And what has happened to our hero of ban rom khlao? Does this mean we will all have to live with the disappointment of not seeing him back. OH yes one day one development. The fun of an election campaign in Thailand

[A_Traveller]

On the basis I don't want to be banned, try getting hold of Chuwit's comments on Samak and joining the party.

Regards

[sriracha john]

Former Thai premier Thaksin said to support small political party ahead of elections

BANGKOK, Thailand: Ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra has expressed support for a little-known political party that many former members of his disbanded party have joined ahead of general elections slated for December, said his spokesman Tuesday.

Noppadol Pattama, Thaksin's lawyer and de facto spokesman in Thailand, said in a telephone interview that Thaksin approved of Palang Prachachon or People's Power Party, that hundreds of members of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party joined earlier this week because it has policies similar to his old party.

The decision to join the new party was an apparent attempt to meet a rule, stipulated in the previous constitution that was annulled by the coup leaders, that candidates must be members of a political party for 90 days before a general election.

"The party would be like a new stable home...it will be a factory that produces good policies," said Noppadol, quoting a telephone conversation with Thaksin who has been in exile overseas since being ousted by a military coup last September.

Noppadol said Thaksin's support for the party would be in the form of political advice and not financial support.

"He has retired from politics as he has said many times before," Noppadol said. "He supports the party because it supports democracy and its policies are in line with those initiated by him and Thai Rak Thai."

On Monday, about 440 former members of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai applied to become members of People's Power Party, said Samphan Lertnuwat, a former key Thai Rak Thai member. Of those, 205 were former members of parliament, Samphan said.

Thaksin's public support came after he urged his countrymen in a newspaper interview published Monday to reject a draft constitution pushed by the military-installed regime that deposed him.

In an interview in the Financial Times, Thaksin called the draft constitution "fruit from a poisoned tree," and an act of "political revenge" against him.

In May, a Thai court disbanded Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party and barred him and 110 of its executives from politics for five years for election law violations.

- Associated Press

=============================================================

Considering that the banning of TRT was, in part, for illegal payments to small political parties to contest the election... it's a bit ironic now, that coming full circle,

Thaksin said to support small political party

Edited July 31, 2007 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

Former Bangkok Governor Samak Sundaravej

Thailand Outlook

Former BKK Governor Joins People's Power Party

A former Bangkok governor has agreed to join the newly established People's Power Party. The group believes he will help lead the party to success.

Core member of Thai Rak Thai group Sutham Saengpratoom has announced that the former Bangkok Governor and the ex-leader of Thai People's Party Samak Sundaravej will sign up to the People's Power Party that has already seen several former Thai Rak Thai members flocking to join it.

Sutham was confident the former Bangkok Governor could help the party succeed in the upcoming polls.

As for the Assets Examination Committee's prosecution of Samak over the controversial purchase of fire equipment when he was Bangkok governor, Sutham doubts the indictment will have an impact on Samak's election campaign as he believes the new party member is innocent.

He also claimed that more than 200 former MPs have registered with the People's Power Party while about 600 members have submitted requests to run in the upcoming election under the party's banner.

Samak was expected to become the leader of the People's Power Party for the upcoming election with support from the former Thai Rak Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra.

- Thailand Outlook

[Tony Clifton]

Samak was on tv tonight and he looked like he's having some serious health problems.

[aaaaaa]

Once again: WHY NOT concentrate on more important issues of what is PRESENT situation and its impact on FUTURE of this country and democratic developments, instead of furiously assaulting Thaksin, TRT, who are banned, dissolved, OUT of politics officially for who knows how long ? at least directly...

I think this is a good read with many good points:

Thai politics beyond 2006 coup

By Pasuk Phongpaichit

(Based on the Supha Sirimanond Memorial Lecture

delivered at the Political Economy Centre,

Chulalongkorn University on July 25)

The 2006 coup

The crucial point for understanding the participation by the ruling elites and army is to realise that 2006 is actually one point in a sequence going back to the coups of 1947, 1957 and 1976.

In all these four events, the army and royalists moved in alliance to eject an elected government on grounds that the elected government was too weak, too strong, too corrupt, too disrespectful of the monarchy, or too something else.

In 2006, ... army also saw an opportunity to gain redemption for the army’s role in 1992, which had reduced their status so dramatically. The military had long wanted to regain some of its former prominence, and the opportunity to overthrow Mr Thaksin gave them the chance...

What next?

The best guide is history. The alignment of social forces around the 2006 coup is similar to that around the coup of 1976. On one side are the ruling elites, army, and urban middle class. On the other is the rest, with a strong rural weightage.

In both 1976 and 2006, the coup was a reaction against a political challenge with its centre of gravity in the countryside. In 1976, Bangkok felt threatened by a Maoist insurgency, a peasant movement, and a student movement which sympathised with rural demands.

In 2006, Bangkok again felt threatened, but this time by a political leader and political party which had built unprecedented support in the rural areas of the North and the Northeast by delivering a range of populist programmes, and promising more.

After 1976, the establishment solution was a formula of ‘‘managed democracy’’ with three main parts: constitutional engineering to produce a system that was democratic in form but insulated against the risk of mass takeover, military oversight of political activity from top to bottom and a public campaign for national unity around the monarchy. All these three parts are seen again in 2006.

The 2007 draft constitution deliberately sets out to weaken the prime minister and the political parties. It installs a semi-appointed senate to serve as a conservative deadweight on the parliament. It aims for a return to the fluid coalition politics of the 1980s and 1990s.

The Internal Security Bill gives massive powers to the army chief to oversee politics from top to bottom. The military has tried desperately to undermine support for Mr Thaksin using old-fashioned methods of disruption and intimidation.

This strategy of ‘‘managed democracy’’ will not be as easy as in the post 1976 period, because of the large changes over the intervening thirty years. Thailand’s globalised economy is incompatible with military rule.

The 1985-95 boom raised income levels, and multiplied the number of interests that are promoted or protected through political actions. Since the early 1980s, elections have become established for parliament and later for local government.

There is a dense pyramid of electoral organisation extending down from MPs through local government heads to village canvassers. Many have benefited from electoral democracy.

The attempt to ‘‘manage democracy’’ might fail completely, unless it is flexible. Many people are unhappy about the 2007 draft constitution, and the attempt to pass the internal security bill. Civil society groups have opposed the current army chief’s ambitions to become the next prime minister. Many in the informal mass feel Mr Thaksin and TRT have been martyred. These resentments can be explosive.

From exclusion to inclusion

Mr Thaksin’s populism, the coup and ‘‘managed democracy’’ are all strategies to exclude opponents from the democratic process. Mr Thaksin hijacked the constitution in order to neutralise opponents to his political ambitions. The coup tore up the constitution in order to undermine Mr Thaksin’s massive electoral support. The 2007 constitution is written with the single-minded aim to prevent the return of Mr Thaksin and the social forces he has come to represent.

Politics will only become stable when the political system reflects and accommodates all the important social forces and political aspirations in the society.

Competitive strategies of exclusion will only add to social division and political tension.

Democracy succeeds in societies where enough of the major social forces come to realise that elections, parliaments and public debate (for all their messy faults) are better ways to resolve the conflicts in society than power, repression, exclusion and violence.

In such societies, everyone agrees to accept a set of rules and institutions, and to play within them, rather than trying to subvert the rules or tear them up at the first opportunity.

The first step towards such a stable system has to be an inclusive procedure for writing the rules. Whatever faults the resulting charter had, the 1997 process at least was an attempt at such an inclusive procedure. The 2007 process was not and as such will inevitably be a false start.

It is time to aim for an inclusive politics. Perhaps the most difficult task in Thai politics now is how to convince the triple alliance behind the coup of 2006 to accept a political system which accommodates everybody fairly.

I think those highlighted lines are more important to discuss than "oh, that evil Thaksin again!"

this opinion by Chula Uni lecturer is similar to what Thammasat Uni guy said few months ago:

'Thaksin's ghost haunts drafters'

Nation, Mon, March 12, 2007

Thammasat University law lecturer Kittisak Prokati is a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee's subcommittee on rights and liberty.

....................

What about an elected or appointed Senate? Are drafters working in fear that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return?

Drafting this time is based on the fear and suspicion of Thaksin's ghost, I agree. It would be better if it was based on research about the future of the country.

However, due to limited time no model has been produced and the problem [of drafting a new charter] is being sorted out in a dictatorial manner.

Not that the problem [of Thaksin] is not legitimate, but the process of drafting is more problem-based and without vision and under time limitations.

....................

The weakness of the 1997 constitution was that it was a charter without any constitutional or theoretical foundation....

Its weaknesses were never discussed beforehand and so the past charter left loopholes for a businessman to exploit. It was a pro-business charter.

This time, the same thing is happening but on the opposite pole. It will become an anti-political, anti-business constitution but will recall [traditional] autocrats. Most drafters come from the ranks of the elite and the high-level bureaucracy. Whether it will solve [national] problems is debatable.

But, we need more [constitutional] theoretical debate.

Otherwise there are bound to be loopholes and it will meet the same fate [as the 1997 charter] but from the opposite extreme.

Power has been transferred from an absolute monarch to bureaucrats, then to the military and to business-political groups and to local administrative bodies, so far.

The real challenge is whether local communities are conscious of the power within them.

I still regard a coup as an act of treason. And its only justification is that if it's not done it will put [the country] in more harm and that such a claim can be proven. I'm still waiting for the Council for National Security to prove its claim.

so, why can't be seen any comments on Unelected PM, appointed Senate and other important matters?

instead only gleeful twits about who joined which party, what funny faces this or that person made on some occasion....

[sriracha john]

and I mistakenly thought the road from Mae Hong Son to Chiang Mai involved a lot of twists and turns...

Critics flay decision of PPP to take in Samak

Former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej has decided to join the Palang Prachachon (People Power) Party - which is made up of the remnants of Thai Rak Thai - after he was approached by the group.

Surapong Suebwonglee, a Thai Rak Thai Group leader, said that after his group approached Samak to lead the party, Samak signed an application to become a party member.

He said the party's executive board would decide whether Samak should become its new leader.

Surapong yesterday dismissed criticism that Thai Rak Thai has announced an all-out war on the Council for National Security with its attempt to make Samak the party leader.

He said the group notes that Samak has extensive experience in politics. He dismissed criticism that Samak's heated attack against Privy Council chief General Prem Tinsulanonda would adversely affect the party his group has joined.

"We do see his past deeds as limitations. We should not brand someone as left wing or right wing, or talk about who has conflicts with whom. We need people who are qualified to help the country," he said.

Asked if Samak may not be qualified to be an MP according to the draft constitution because he is fighting court cases, Surapong said the party has yet to check the details with Samak.

Asked how the October 1976 group feels about Samak's joining the party - since he was on the opposite side to that group at the time - Surapong said it was time for both sides to join hands to propel the development of democracy.

Campaign for Popular Democracy secretary-general Suriyasai Katasila said the Thai Rak Thai Group was charting a course for the to return power of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra by having Samak lead the new party.

"Samak was the first to come out to attack Prem, whom Thai Rak Thai accuse of being behind the coup," Suriyasai said.

He said the move to bring Samak into politics proves that the Thai Rak Thai Group is not sincere about building a democratic foundation for the party as they claim. "It is just a power hunt," he said.

Suriyasai said if they truly wanted to provide hope for society, people like Chaturon Chaisang, Adisorn Piangket, Prommin Lertsuridej, Phumtham Wechayachai and even Surapong should have resisted Samak's membership.

"These people are the October group but today they abandoned their proud past to pave the way for Samak to seize power back for their true leader. There is no more left and right but only profit and loss," Suriyasai said.

Campaign for Human Rights coordinator Metha Mas-kao questioned the October faction of the Thai Rak Thai Group as to why they support a person who has been allegedly linked to the brutal killing of students at Thammasat University and Sanam Luang in October 1976.

"They should have maintained the spirit of the October protests and sought justice for those who were killed," he said.

Meanwhile, the Democrat Party's chief adviser Chuan Leekpai said yesterday that political expediency is the reason behind a move to install political veteran Samak Sundaravej as the new leader of the People Power Party.

"The fight for survival by members of the disbanded party is normal," former Democrat chief Chuan Leekpai said.

Although Samak had once appeared as the extreme opposite of the Thai Rak Thai, he modified his stance in recent years to eventually side with the ousted government, Chuan said.

"In the last few years before the end of the last regime, Samak stepped out to defend Thaksin Shinawatra," he said.

He said he believed the new party under Samak's leadership would have to depend on the financial backing of Thaksin.

"Even though Thaksin is out of the picture, his money is still around," he said.

He said his fellow Democrats would not mind rival candidates contesting the poll under fair rules, unlike the massive cheating in the 2005 general election. He also dismissed speculation about possible reprisals against the junta, saying coup leaders already had immunity from prosecution.

Thai Rak Thai adviser Sutham Saengpratoom voiced optimism that Samak could secure an election victory for the new party.

"Compared to a tree, People Power equals new branches and leaves from the Thai Rak Thai trunk," he said.

Sutham denied that Thai Rak Thai planned political confrontation by picking the outspoken Samak as its leader.

At the last count, some 207 former Thai Rak Thai MPs had become People Power members and 618 aspiring candidates had applied to run for election under the new banner, he said.

- The Nation

[hammered]

Once again: WHY NOT concentrate on more important issues of what is PRESENT situation and its impact on FUTURE of this country and democratic developments, instead of furiously assaulting Thaksin, TRT, who are banned, dissolved, OUT of politics officially for who knows how long ? at least directly...

I think this is a good read with many good points:

Thai politics beyond 2006 coup

By Pasuk Phongpaichit

(Based on the Supha Sirimanond Memorial Lecture

delivered at the Political Economy Centre,

Chulalongkorn University on July 25)

The 2006 coup

The crucial point for understanding the participation by the ruling elites and army is to realise that 2006 is actually one point in a sequence going back to the coups of 1947, 1957 and 1976.

In all these four events, the army and royalists moved in alliance to eject an elected government on grounds that the elected government was too weak, too strong, too corrupt, too disrespectful of the monarchy, or too something else.

In 2006, ... army also saw an opportunity to gain redemption for the army’s role in 1992, which had reduced their status so dramatically. The military had long wanted to regain some of its former prominence, and the opportunity to overthrow Mr Thaksin gave them the chance...

What next?

The best guide is history. The alignment of social forces around the 2006 coup is similar to that around the coup of 1976. On one side are the ruling elites, army, and urban middle class. On the other is the rest, with a strong rural weightage.

In both 1976 and 2006, the coup was a reaction against a political challenge with its centre of gravity in the countryside. In 1976, Bangkok felt threatened by a Maoist insurgency, a peasant movement, and a student movement which sympathised with rural demands.

In 2006, Bangkok again felt threatened, but this time by a political leader and political party which had built unprecedented support in the rural areas of the North and the Northeast by delivering a range of populist programmes, and promising more.

After 1976, the establishment solution was a formula of ‘‘managed democracy’’ with three main parts: constitutional engineering to produce a system that was democratic in form but insulated against the risk of mass takeover, military oversight of political activity from top to bottom and a public campaign for national unity around the monarchy. All these three parts are seen again in 2006.

The 2007 draft constitution deliberately sets out to weaken the prime minister and the political parties. It installs a semi-appointed senate to serve as a conservative deadweight on the parliament. It aims for a return to the fluid coalition politics of the 1980s and 1990s.

The Internal Security Bill gives massive powers to the army chief to oversee politics from top to bottom. The military has tried desperately to undermine support for Mr Thaksin using old-fashioned methods of disruption and intimidation.

This strategy of ‘‘managed democracy’’ will not be as easy as in the post 1976 period, because of the large changes over the intervening thirty years. Thailand’s globalised economy is incompatible with military rule.

The 1985-95 boom raised income levels, and multiplied the number of interests that are promoted or protected through political actions. Since the early 1980s, elections have become established for parliament and later for local government.

There is a dense pyramid of electoral organisation extending down from MPs through local government heads to village canvassers. Many have benefited from electoral democracy.

The attempt to ‘‘manage democracy’’ might fail completely, unless it is flexible. Many people are unhappy about the 2007 draft constitution, and the attempt to pass the internal security bill. Civil society groups have opposed the current army chief’s ambitions to become the next prime minister. Many in the informal mass feel Mr Thaksin and TRT have been martyred. These resentments can be explosive.

From exclusion to inclusion

Mr Thaksin’s populism, the coup and ‘‘managed democracy’’ are all strategies to exclude opponents from the democratic process. Mr Thaksin hijacked the constitution in order to neutralise opponents to his political ambitions. The coup tore up the constitution in order to undermine Mr Thaksin’s massive electoral support. The 2007 constitution is written with the single-minded aim to prevent the return of Mr Thaksin and the social forces he has come to represent.

Politics will only become stable when the political system reflects and accommodates all the important social forces and political aspirations in the society.

Competitive strategies of exclusion will only add to social division and political tension.

Democracy succeeds in societies where enough of the major social forces come to realise that elections, parliaments and public debate (for all their messy faults) are better ways to resolve the conflicts in society than power, repression, exclusion and violence.

In such societies, everyone agrees to accept a set of rules and institutions, and to play within them, rather than trying to subvert the rules or tear them up at the first opportunity.

The first step towards such a stable system has to be an inclusive procedure for writing the rules. Whatever faults the resulting charter had, the 1997 process at least was an attempt at such an inclusive procedure. The 2007 process was not and as such will inevitably be a false start.

It is time to aim for an inclusive politics. Perhaps the most difficult task in Thai politics now is how to convince the triple alliance behind the coup of 2006 to accept a political system which accommodates everybody fairly.

I think those highlighted lines are more important to discuss than "oh, that evil Thaksin again!"

this opinion by Chula Uni lecturer is similar to what Thammasat Uni guy said few months ago:

'Thaksin's ghost haunts drafters'

Nation, Mon, March 12, 2007

Thammasat University law lecturer Kittisak Prokati is a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee's subcommittee on rights and liberty.

....................

What about an elected or appointed Senate? Are drafters working in fear that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return?

Drafting this time is based on the fear and suspicion of Thaksin's ghost, I agree. It would be better if it was based on research about the future of the country.

However, due to limited time no model has been produced and the problem [of drafting a new charter] is being sorted out in a dictatorial manner.

Not that the problem [of Thaksin] is not legitimate, but the process of drafting is more problem-based and without vision and under time limitations.

....................

The weakness of the 1997 constitution was that it was a charter without any constitutional or theoretical foundation....

Its weaknesses were never discussed beforehand and so the past charter left loopholes for a businessman to exploit. It was a pro-business charter.

This time, the same thing is happening but on the opposite pole. It will become an anti-political, anti-business constitution but will recall [traditional] autocrats. Most drafters come from the ranks of the elite and the high-level bureaucracy. Whether it will solve [national] problems is debatable.

But, we need more [constitutional] theoretical debate.

Otherwise there are bound to be loopholes and it will meet the same fate [as the 1997 charter] but from the opposite extreme.

Power has been transferred from an absolute monarch to bureaucrats, then to the military and to business-political groups and to local administrative bodies, so far.

The real challenge is whether local communities are conscious of the power within them.

I still regard a coup as an act of treason. And its only justification is that if it's not done it will put [the country] in more harm and that such a claim can be proven. I'm still waiting for the Council for National Security to prove its claim.

so, why can't be seen any comments on Unelected PM, appointed Senate and other important matters?

instead only gleeful twits about who joined which party, what funny faces this or that person made on some occasion....

The PM will be an elected PM under the new consty draft, so why comment on a hypothetical situation that Thailand will not face whatever the result of the election.

We could equally say why is nobody debating the difference between 2007 and 1997 consty regarding the basic rights of people? In 2007 they are directly enshrined in the draft. In 2007 they were left to politiciains to decide on. Then again it isnt fashionable to look at what in 2007 may be an improvement on 1997, and which may not be a vast amount but is certainly something. The truth is that if everyone took a step back and looked at the two constys they would see there are good and bad points in both and some amalgam of the two would be better than either on their own. Sadly we are at a position where debating the consty is not what this is about. There is more talk about who wrote them than about what is in them. The referendum is being used as a popularity poll. As an outsider looking in I have to say it doesnt look like anyone on any side really cares about the people of the country getting a constitution that is the best possible as they continue their unbridled push for the ultimate power at the expense of anything. As such the light relief of the election campaign is og more interest to someone who has no say in the outcome anyway, and any serious observer of Thai politics over the years wil notice the light relief of who joins who exposes one extremely serious fact: that those involved in Thai politics have not changed over the years. We still have the same faces with the same agendas, just in different partes. Nothing much has changed in terms of who gets to run the country and carve the pie up. Oh yes the fun of a Thai election. Watching the same old faces in new and old parties forging new and old alliances. That is what we see happening again.

[jumnien]

Kind of like the lovely prospect in the US of the second Bush being replaced with the second Clinton. Thailand is similar to other places, same faces rotating in and out of office. Most Thais just wish the Army wasn't on the rotation list.

[hammered]

Kind of like the lovely prospect in the US of the second Bush being replaced with the second Clinton. Thailand is similar to other places, same faces rotating in and out of office. Most Thais just wish the Army wasn't on the rotation list.

But mdeland over the years since 1932 they are the most frequent visitors to the government house;)

Yes everywhere has its political elite that domiante. The infighting this time in Thailand has just got a bit extreme. It may take a ltrtle lnger than normal for the opponents to make up. On the other hand politiciains are remakably adaptable