New Political Party Ready To Launch

[Tony Clifton]

Don't put too much importance into Thaksin's future role following the elections. I am convinced the man has already long been under surveillance and investigation for a while already (not by local authorities) for money laundering, human rights issues and maybe even terrorism related to bomb threats, and is about to face the utmost humiliation when he will be handcuffed on foreign ground. China has put a stop to his secret meetings and taken away his visa for a good reason, his activities will intensify in the next few days and he will become an even hotter political hot potato.

[marshbags]

BREAKING NEWS Bangkok Post 20-12-2007

16:51 Police arrest carriers of B60m into country

Quote

(BangkokPost.com) - Royal Thai Police arrested five Hong Kong nationals late Wednesday for allegedly carrying cash into Thailand worth 69.2 million baht on Nov 20.

The cash report has put authorities on the alert following ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra's call in an interview in Hong Kong the week before for a national unity government after the Dec 23 election.

Unquote.

ref url :- http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=124585

Please edit if it,s covered elswhere, i couldn,t find any reference.

I reckon the authorities are getting their case cemented and Thaksin is gradually reaching saturation point and may well disappear up his own what ever !!!!!! via self infliction.

marshbags

Edited December 20, 2007 by marshbags

[younghusband]

Don't put too much importance into Thaksin's future role following the elections. I am convinced the man has already long been under surveillance and investigation for a while already (not by local authorities) for money laundering, human rights issues and maybe even terrorism related to bomb threats, and is about to face the utmost humiliation when he will be handcuffed on foreign ground. China has put a stop to his secret meetings and taken away his visa for a good reason, his activities will intensify in the next few days and he will become an even hotter political hot potato.

You forgot to mention his sabotaging Abhisit's BMW.

[Tony Clifton]

Younghusband:

If I read post 1471, then 1472, post 1473, (yours) does indeed look like sabotage to me when both 1471 and 1472 connected perfectly.

Now who's the saboteur?

Aaaanyway, what reason will Thaksin come up with for not watching the election from Hong Kong as he planned now that some of his Hong Kong money carrying mules have been arrested?

Edited December 20, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[John K]

How suddenly that business meeting got canceled... but by who??? Thaksin.... The other parties in the meeting.... or the Thai police? ..... Hmmm.

[Jai Dee]

PPP - Democrat coalition possible: Dr Surapong

People Power Party secretary general SURAPONG SUEBWONGLEE (สุรพงษ์ สืบวงศ์ลี) has made public in a television interview that though his party wishes to head up the next coalition, it is not averse to joining forces with the Democrat party.

The PPP secretary-general refuted rumors that he will be named by his party to the post of premier, and disclosed additionally that party leader, SAMAK SUNDARAVEJ is prepared to assume the position of prime minister.

According to Mr. SURAPONG, the PPP’s key objective at the moment is campaigning. A serious action plan for a coalition would need to be decided on following the results of the December 23 election. One point he made clear is that his party will not create a government that may be deemed a parliamentarian dictatorship.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 21 December 2007

[Tony Clifton]

Never would the democrats have a coalition with the PPP.

On another note:

Thaksin calls on Thais to reconcile after polls

Meaning, there will be trouble

(BangkokPost.com) - Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra called on the Thais to reconcile, adding that he hopes to see a free and fair election.

Mr Thaksin's message has been sent to the Thais through his legal adviser Noppadon Pattama.

Mr Thaksin said free and fair election means that the political party that wins the most seats will get to form the government as expected by voters, Mr Noppadon said.

He added that the deposed premier is currently (not for long ) in Hong Kong and will remain there during the Thai election.

Deputy Prime Minister Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, meanwhile, said he is not worried that Mr Thaksin will be monitoring vote results in Hong Kong.

"It is his right," Gen Sonthi said.

Edited December 21, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[marshbags]

Just got the latest from my wife via one of the more sensible locals. ( Elderly and frightened to speak up she said. )

PPP have been handing out further gifts of 100, 500 and 1000 baht, depending on who is who ????????

Any gifts not taken, like the ones my wife refused are going into the pocket of the woman handing it out.

No wonder her life and fortune has improved, along with the phoney status that goes with it.

We thought about my wife taking it and vote against them anyway ( we all know Thia mentality when freebies are going ) but then thought this would give the impression we approve of the bribing and in turn supporting Samaks, Thaksin party and this was a definite NO! NO! , i,m pleased to say for wifey.

We were having tea and exchanging our views on the Moo Ban situation just before coming online.

Acccording to the elderly lady mentioned at the beginning of my post, most of the government workers are against the PPP party / Thaksin and will not be voting for them.

Several Teachers, hospital staff, gov. officials and military live in this area, but are massively out numbered by the other locals, sadly.

I nearly threw up when we got onto why the rest of the Moo Ban are still supporting Thaksin / PPP, they are saying they love him and even more sicknening was that " they feel sorry for his children who have had their money taken away and pity them " <deleted>, i kid you not.

They mean it as well, god knows who,s brain washed them into this kind of mind set, apart from the local paid Puyai Ban and certain supporters.

O.K. some are poor, but most are not and manage with a reasonable standard of living, but compared to the children they pity and their ilk they have nothing.

As with most locals, they are greedy for money and handouts, even at the expense of those unfortunates who scrummage for scraps of food and are not considered important enough to warrant a bribe and the ongoing rice handouts ect. ect.

The bigger the status / wealthier they are, the greedier and selfish they are, you can guarantee they are always at the front of the trough.

The constant wai..ing, arse licking and all that goes with, to phoney non deserving citizens, enough i say.

That,s my rant of the day and well justified, in releasing a bit of frustration at the thought of WHY

marshbags

Edited December 21, 2007 by marshbags

[marshbags]

Never would the democrats have a coalition with the PPP.

On another note:

Thaksin calls on Thais to reconcile after polls

Meaning, there will be trouble

(BangkokPost.com) - Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra called on the Thais to reconcile, adding that he hopes to see a free and fair election.

Mr Thaksin's message has been sent to the Thais through his legal adviser Noppadon Pattama.

Mr Thaksin said free and fair election means that the political party that wins the most seats will get to form the government as expected by voters, Mr Noppadon said.

He added that the deposed premier is currently (not for long ) in Hong Kong and will remain there during the Thai election.

Deputy Prime Minister Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, meanwhile, said he is not worried that Mr Thaksin will be monitoring vote results in Hong Kong.

"It is his right," Gen Sonthi said.

Thaksin is obviously on stand by while anticipating a PPP victory and then a pre arranged short and speedy return to join in the celebrations.

After assessing that no negative fallout stops this happening, of course.

God forbid him rejoicing and let those of us who care, witness the opposite of his expectations and see instead, a new beginning in Thai politics.

marshbags

Edited December 21, 2007 by marshbags

[blaze]

The constant wai..ing, arse licking and all that goes with, to phoney non deserving citizens, enough i say.

marshbags

Totally agree Marshbags- when the public ceases to grant blind support to phoney non-deserving citizens - coups will be a thing of the past.

Edited December 21, 2007 by blaze

[hammered]

Thailand has a long way to go in terms of democracy. Mistakes will be made along the way but lets hope something is learned from them. MInd u how long ago was it women and blacks got the vote in the US? Certainly not within 70 years of independence, so in some ways with universal sufferage maybe Thailand isnt doing too bad after 70 years. Anyway we have avote coming and there has ben much cheating by all but at ther end of the day however flawed the result it is the best that can be expected right now and should be respected.

[blaze]

...the result it is the best that can be expected right now and should be respected.

And within a day after the results are announced, watch this board to find out if those results are respected. Or even accepted as legitimate.

[hammered]

...the result it is the best that can be expected right now and should be respected.

And within a day after the results are announced, watch this board to find out if those results are respected. Or even accepted as legitimate.

There are many reasons why the election is flawed and whoever wins there will be questions and no doubt the EC will have to red card a few legitimitely but at the end of the day there is no alternative except to accept the results.

And to be honest it doesnt really matter what a bunch of expats obsessed with Thai politcs like us think.

Persoanlly i think PPP will be the biggest party and if they do I hope they get the 241 they actually need to win. However, if the Dems are able to get a coalition of 241 together that should also be accepted even if they are not the biggest party. If opponents are not able to accept either of these scenarios there really is little hope, and I say this in full knowledge of all kinds of shanenigans up to now.

[sriracha john]

PPP man refuses to talk about Thaksin

Deposed PM Thaksin Shinawatra may be an idol for many PPP candidates, but not Piya Angkinant. The six-time MP in the central province of Phetchaburi has avoided mentioning his name during his campaign, saying it could pose a threat to his election hopes. While many PPP candidates have put a strong focus in their campaigns of bringing back Thaksin and spoken about the alleged injustices against him, Piya and his team have tried not to talk about Thaksin because they are afraid it could make the former PM's opponents turn their backs on him. Phetchaburi is one of the provinces where a large number of voters abstained in the annulled polls last year, which was seen as a move opposing the Thaksin administration, which was allegedly plagued with corruption. The abstention votes defeated all three candidates of the Thai Rak Thai Party, which was founded by Thaksin.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/22Dec2007_news09.php

Edited December 22, 2007 by sriracha john

[hammered]

PPP man refuses to talk about Thaksin

Deposed PM Thaksin Shinawatra may be an idol for many PPP candidates, but not Piya Angkinant. The six-time MP in the central province of Phetchaburi has avoided mentioning his name during his campaign, saying it could pose a threat to his election hopes. While many PPP candidates have put a strong focus in their campaigns of bringing back Thaksin and spoken about the alleged injustices against him, Piya and his team have tried not to talk about Thaksin because they are afraid it could make the former PM's opponents turn their backs on him. Phetchaburi is one of the provinces where a large number of voters abstained in the annulled polls last year, which was seen as a move opposing the Thaksin administration, which was allegedly plagued with corruption. The abstention votes defeated all three candidates of the Thai Rak Thai Party, which was founded by Thaksin.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/22Dec2007_news09.php

Phetchaburi has for quite some time bben a democrat province and Thaksin wasnt popular there

[sriracha john]

PPP candidate taunts EC

People’s Power Party candidate Prasaeng Mongkolsiri has utilized tactics that the Election Commission (EC) earlier warned him to not engage in by incorporating photographs and video of ouster Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in his campaigning.

During a recent rally in Uthai Thani, Prasaeng presented citizens with a large photo of Thaksin and also gave a speech attacking the work of the EC. He also presented a video CD of the former premiere.

Prasaeng had recently been warned of such actions by the EC, which stated that he may be given a red or yellow card which would bar him from participating in the election.

- ThaiNews

Election Commissioner Sumeth Upanisakorn said the poll agency has decided to take legal action against Prasaeng Mongkolsiri, a People Power Party candidate for Uthai Thani province's constituency 1, for violating election law.

Prasaeng was accused of using pictures of Thaksin in his election campaign.

EC regulations forbid candidates from using pictures of former party executives banned from politics by the Constitution Tribunal earlier this year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/18Dec2007_news02.php

People Power Party MP Candidate Quits after Using Ousted PM's VCD in Campaign

An Uthai Thani MP candidate of the People Power Party has quit the party after the poll panel found that he used the deposed prime minister's VCD, containing a message to support People Power, in his poll campaign.

The Deputy Secretary-General of the People Power Party, Sukhumpong Ngonkam, announced that Prasaeng Mongkolsiri, the Uthai Thani MP candidate, has submitted his resignation to the party.

His resignation came after the Election Commission (EC) found that he used ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's VCDs containing a message to urge locals to vote for the People Power Party, as it is against the law.

Prasaeng tendered his resignation letter via postal mail and it has been effective since yesterday.

Asked to comment about Praseng's move to use Thakin's VCDs in his election campaigns, the People Power Party's Deputy Secretary-General says it is his personal matter and that the party earlier forwarded a warning to Prasaeng asking him to stop the action.

Meanwhile, the head of the People Power Party's legal team, Chusak Sirinil, commented on the distribution of documents with the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party's symbol in Yasothorn Province, saying the deposed prime minister had transferred a sum of money to a local MP candidate to hand out 1,000 baht each to local villagers.

Chusak affirms that the People Power Party had no involvement with the documents and expresses confidence that Thaksin was not the mastermind behind the distribution.

However, a Yasothorn MP candidate from the People Power Party has reported to Kamkuenkaew District Police Station and will later present the police report to the provincial EC office.

- Thailand Outlook

[marshbags]

The Nation breaking news

Community radio station of Thaksin's supporter set fire to

Udon Thani - Four men armed with knives broke into a community radio station owned by a supporter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and set fire to it.

But they set fire to the reception room instead of the transmission room and a station official, who happened to hide inside the station, managed to put the blaze out before it could damage the transmitter.

The station was owned by Kwanchai Sarakham, a staunch supporter of Thaksin.

The arson attack took place at 4:15 am.

The Nation

Unquote

I am not in any way supporting these people ( thugs are thugs, no matter who they represent ) but it shows if it is a genuine incident that even in Udonthani there is resentment unheard of in past times, of this nature, and against the TRT / PPP party.

Kinda compliments a lot of the feed back i have heard.

Sounds too much like another discrediting fairy story to gleen yet more sympathy for Hong Kong Observer and his Ilk, though, i,m inclined to think on the face of it.

A bit like the no bomb effort of pre coup days.

Alarming until you read between the lines and wonder why nothing more serious happened from the actions.

marshbags

Edited December 22, 2007 by marshbags

[sriracha john]

Thai Rak Thai

The Nation

HOUSE NO. 111

A cuckoo's nest for birds of the same feather

It's a home of sorts for the banned TRT executives to exercise their 'political rights'

Politics in the upcoming election may employ the same grammar and logic as previous campaigns but new words, labels and expressions have been created to capture the imagination of the voters.

This new vocabulary may not change the political discourse - but it does make it easier for voters to remember.

The Constitution Tribunal's historic ruling to dissolve the Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT) and strip its 111 executives of their electoral rights for five years has inspired the media and politicians to come up with all kinds of labels.

The new phrase "Baan Lek Thi 111" (House No 111) is now all over the media. Unlike No 10 Downing Street, the office of the British Prime Minister, House No 111 is not literally a residence, but a shelter for the 111 banned TRT executives. It was founded by banned TRT executive Chaturon Chaisang after the Election Commission (EC)resolved to prohibit them from taking part in public rallies in the run-up to the December 23 election.

The EC also decided to prohibit the former TRT executives from having their photos taken with election candidates, taking any political position in any party, and being a member of any party.

The residence, in fact, doesn't exist. Its members will simply use a stage as their "house" in rallies around the country to defy the EC's decision. They did plan to publicly open their new house and unveil their "Baan Lek Thi 111 Meets the People" show today in Lumpini Park - but their request to use the area was turned down by the city authorities.

So who lives in the house?

Well, the Chomrom Kon Hiew Hua (Head Carrier Association) or the Chomrom Kon Hua Hai (Headless Association). This is another expression dubbed by the media to label the 111 banned members. It was teasingly named after a comedy movie called "Kon Hiew Hua" or The Head Carrier.

The movie is about a good-for-nothing father who swears that he will not die unless he finds a large sum of money to pay for his young son's tuition. He then gets involved with a crime, robbing a gambling circle of millions of baht. But his accomplices get greedy. They cut off his head and dump the body and head separately. Before the father is killed, he hides the money and keeps the key to the hidden loot on his person. The head knows where the money is but needs the key to get to it - which is with the body. The challenge then is to get body and head reunited, and stitched back together.

In a political context, the name is used to describe those who are (temporarily) dead in politics but who would like to carry on living for the sake of their parties.

The banned TRT executives are likened to the "head" in the movie and the PPP members are compared to the "body". Even if the head and the body were cut off, they both still need each other. So the body has to carry the head all the time otherwise they cannot reach their goal.

"Ponlamuang Chan Song" (Second-Class Citizen) is another expression used to describe the members of House No 111 by one of its members Sudarat Keyuraphan. She complained that the 111 members are now being treated like second class citizens. Sudarat plans to invite the other 110 banned executives, and anyone else who is interested in creating a website, www.secondclass111.com, to air their political views. Sudarat expects to launch the website in the next two weeks.

Chaiyan Chaiporn, a political scientist from Chulalongkorn University, said creating words and expressions to use in a political context or news does have an impact on voter recall - but not on the decision on how to vote.

"Sudarat chose the right label for herself. However, her fans felt sorry for her before she even gave herself that label, but it won't get much sympathy from those who realise the wrongdoers need to be punished," he said.

The word "GMO Party" is currently being used for the political parties that broke away from the TRT after the September coup. They are Matchima Thipataya, Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana, and Puea Pandin.

Chaiyan said the term "GMO Party" or calling Samak a "nominee" of exiled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra are not a new phenomenon. This behaviour has happened before - but in a time when "GMO" and "nominee" were not yet in use.

Many years ago, the Social Action Party split from the Democrats and conservative leader Luang Phibulsongkram (Plaek Phibulsongkram) then appointed Democrat leader Khuang Apiwong to be PM, as a nominee for him, said Chaiyan. Meanwhile, "Bonsai" is used as a verb to describe the junta's attempt to check the growth of the PPP.

Normally, the media creates a phrase or a short and easy to remember sentence when writing the news. If the media uses them enough, then the readers will remember, Chaiyan said.

However, he believes these words are only temporary and will go out of fashion when new events overtake them and new words are invented, he said.

For example, the Chart Thai Party is dubbed "Pla Lhai" (or 'eel') as it has a reputation of being a slippery political party. If in the next 20 years the eel becomes extinct - then a new word will have to be created, he said.

- The Nation

UPDATE...time to take this one off the shelf and dust it off...

House Number 111 Foundation

The House Number 111 Foundation is set to debut on May 2 and former Thai Rak Thai Party Leader Thaksin Shinawatra has been to asked to take the role of chief adviser, former Thai Rak Thai Party executive Pongthep Thepkanchana said yesterday.

Pongthep said the foundation was aimed at allowing the 111 banned former Thai Rak Thai executives contribute to society.

Among dozens of founding members, Pongthep said he would be an adhoc Chairman of the foundation while Wichit Plangsrisakul would be Secretary-General.

Establishing the foundation is under the legal process, he said.

The former executives' voting rights were revoked after the party was dissolved by Constitution Tribunal last May.

- The Nation (today)

Edited April 17, 2008 by sriracha john

[Tony Clifton]

Snakes.