Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan warns that those in power who support coups still exist

[OneMoreFarang]

5 minutes ago, Enoon said:

Coups had **** all to do with the "morality" of the Shins.

 

They were too ****** popular.

 

Anyone who challenges the "Ancien Regime" is in the firing line.

 

Did you not get the memo?

Good that we have experts like you who know everything. 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

3 minutes ago, Enoon said:

You think the Senate/PPP coalition are not criminals?

 

What ******* planet are you on!?

 

Which part of my last paragraph are you not able to understand? 

[RichardColeman]

I want more coups - may help with the wife's asylum claim in a few years

[jaywalker2]

I like the way he pretends he had nothing to do with the previous coup. And I never owned any watches either! Vote for me if you don't want another coup because I'm the guy who'll launch it!

[pomchop]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Yes, the Thai voters don't care about what I think. I accept that. 

And the Thai voters also don't care about what you think.

And millions of Thai people supported the coups and the tanks against the criminal Thaksin and his family - even if you don't like it. 

 

Personally I think it would be best if Thais would vote for honest and competent politicians. But somehow many Thais, especially those up country, prefer to vote for corrupt criminals. 

again you "think" that what you think would be best for the Thai people...again they don't care what you or me "think"...and millions of Thais did not support the coups even if you don't like it.  Leave Thai government to the Thai people as you are but "one more farang".

[jaywalker2]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

They did accept it and will accept it if that is the smaller evil.

I was in Bangkok when the soldiers were on the streets after the coups and lots of people gave them flowers and soft drinks. People were happy that Thaksin was removed - at least temporary. 

 

The demonstrations against Thaksin in  Bangkok were massive.  The middle and upper class hated him and, yes, they celebrated when the coup took place. It didn't take long though for them to realize the mistake they had made.

 

I had thai friends who marched in those protests and defended the coup. Later, they told me they were never going to get involved in politics again.

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Academics have long argued that Thailand is trapped in a ‘vicious cycle’ of coups which have stunted its economic and political development since 1932 but more especially since the 11th coup in 2006 and the 12th in 2014.

Thai society is by-and-large too lethargic to change the way Thailand operates.

If the masses got off their proverbial backsides and protested in their thousands things would be better.

But while they sit on their thumbs the elite families, and military regimes will run amok.

[Venom]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Thailand needs honest politicians who work for all Thais and Thailand.

Good luck with that.

[klauskunkel]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

‘I have become aware that those who support coups never cease to exist in the power structure,’ General Prawit said

He woke up and became self-aware all at once. That's quite evolutionary for a mollusk,... must be a mutation.

[heybruce]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Thanks for your post.

I live in Bangkok since years before 2000. And I know that Thaksin did some good things. And he could have possibly been PM for the last 20 years if he would have concentrated on those good things. 

When he looked for voters before he became PM, he told people that he is already rich and don't need more money. And soon after he was elected it came out that he was hiding wealth in the name of his maids, gardeners, and others. That's what he called an honest mistake. It wasn't honest and it wasn't a "mistake". It was deliberately hiding money and controlling assets which he pretended he didn't control. And that continued as long as he and his minions were PM. He enriched himself and his family and supporters. And when he was found out and prosecuted, he fled the country. 

He was and is greedy and he thought and thinks he is above the law. Thailand does not need a PM like that.

Seriously?  You object to an elected PM who is dishonest about his wealth and enriches himself in office, but you are OK with coup leaders who do the same?

 

It's clear you have the Bangkok perspective, and only support "democracy" when the people vote the way you think they should vote.  Don't feel bad, there are a great many faux democrats like you.  However, have you ever lived outside of Bangkok and learned the perspective of the majority of Thai people?

[heybruce]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Throughout history there are many examples of people breaking the laws for good reasons.

Was it good that the military staged the last coups in Thailand (I only remember the last two)? No, not really. Was it better that the alternative? I think so. 

How is Thailand a better place under the coup leaders?  Is the economy better?  No.  Has corruption declined?  No.  Are human rights being better respected?  H*ll no!

[heybruce]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Yes, the Thai voters don't care about what I think. I accept that. 

And the Thai voters also don't care about what you think.

And millions of Thai people supported the coups and the tanks against the criminal Thaksin and his family - even if you don't like it. 

 

Personally I think it would be best if Thais would vote for honest and competent politicians. But somehow many Thais, especially those up country, prefer to vote for corrupt criminals. 

Millions of Thai people support the military?  Great.  Let's have a free, fair, internationally monitored election and see if they are in the majority.

[heybruce]

2 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Look beyond the naive display.

The coup was accompanied by a curfew.

 

Yet the "right people" were able to source large quantities of identical flowers - which could only have come by arrangement with the overnight wholesale flower markets.

 

Similarly, they just happened to have large ice boxes of cooled soft drinks on hand, as one does, just in case!

 

And handy passing film crews from the "appropriate" TV stations!

 

 

I was in Chiang Mai at that time.  Martial law, soldiers on the streets, a military road block a short distance from where I lived and a strictly enforced curfew that lasted weeks and hurt a lot of businesses.

 

As usual, there is one set of rules for the Bangkok elite and different rules for the rest of the country.

[Eric Loh]

Certainly coups which has been Thailand mainstay since 1932 will never go away. However the chances of a coup happening has reduced by many changes. Since 2014, there were sweeping changes in the army chain of command. The crack 7,000 Bangkok troops now pledge allegiance to the Majesty rather than to the head of the army. That will take away the power of the head of army to give orders to the troops. Bangkok troops has always been been used for coups due to its proximity to the city and thus ensure swift control and success of the coup.

 

More army units are moving out of Bangkok to Lopburi, Saraburi and Samut Prakarn. The 2nd Cavalry Division in Bangkok is scheduled to move out this year. Authority said it was for traffic reason, I think it is lots to do with the exploitation of these units by corrupt army heads to launch a coup. Next coup will have to endure long journey to Bangkok and may meet with resistance. 

 

By and large, coups alway gave excuse that it was necessary for stopping breakdown of law and order. The likelihood of the resurgence of yellow and red shirts that have lead to chaos in Bangkok may not occur. Both camps are disunited due to fear of prosecution and persecution and their leaders are disenchanted with the post coup politics.  

 

Keeping my finger crossed that Thailand will breakway from the coup mentality and have faith in democratic right of voters to solve political problems.

[Srikcir]

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Just don't vote for criminals and their family who do what is good for them and their families but not what is good for the country.

Remember, Yingluck was accepted until she concentrated on getting her criminal big brother back to Thailand.

I am sure if Thaksin's daughter will do the same the result will be the same.

 

Thailand needs honest politicians who work for all Thais and Thailand. Voting for the same known corrupt politicians or their lackeys and then expecting things will get better is just stupid. 

 

It's for the voters to decide. Not street gangs, not the military,  not the opposition party who wants to become an unelected government. Yingluck was overthrown because the royalist pro-military factions knew she was likely to be re-elected. Period.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, heybruce said:

Seriously?  You object to an elected PM who is dishonest about his wealth and enriches himself in office, but you are OK with coup leaders who do the same?

 

It's clear you have the Bangkok perspective, and only support "democracy" when the people vote the way you think they should vote.  Don't feel bad, there are a great many faux democrats like you.  However, have you ever lived outside of Bangkok and learned the perspective of the majority of Thai people?

As far as I know the idea about democracy is that informed people make informed decisions. They decide which people should represent them and work for the country.

Democracy which depends on uniformed people who vote for politicians who promise them anything just to get elected happens in many places. But is it good? I have my doubt.

 

Only about 10% of Thai people pay income tax. Most of them are in Bangkok. It's easy for the people up country to vote for politicians who distribute other peoples' money. Like if Thaksin gets a billion more, no problem, it is not our money... 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, heybruce said:

How is Thailand a better place under the coup leaders?  Is the economy better?  No.  Has corruption declined?  No.  Are human rights being better respected?  H*ll no!

No red shirts on the streets. Peace. Never forget!

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, heybruce said:

Millions of Thai people support the military?  Great.  Let's have a free, fair, internationally monitored election and see if they are in the majority.

Ok, let's also have internationally monitored courts so that criminal politicians are prosecuted and go to jail.

The last two coups wouldn't have happened is the courts would have removed the corrupt leaders. 

[OneMoreFarang]

8 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

It's for the voters to decide. Not street gangs, not the military,  not the opposition party who wants to become an unelected government. Yingluck was overthrown because the royalist pro-military factions knew she was likely to be re-elected. Period.

She tried to whitewash her criminal brother. That was clearly the beginning of her end. 

[Burma Bill]

6 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I was in Bangkok when the soldiers were on the streets after the coups and lots of people gave them flowers and soft drinks. People were happy that Thaksin was removed

With respect, I was living up north during the coups and I can assure you no flowers or soft drinks were handed out to soldiers manning the military checkpoints. People were unhappy that Thaksin had been removed by the "Bangkok Elite"! 

[OneMoreFarang]

3 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

With respect, I was living up north during the coups and I can assure you no flowers or soft drinks were handed out to soldiers manning the military checkpoints. People were unhappy that Thaksin had been removed by the "Bangkok Elite"! 

That's really sad for those people up country.

Maybe next time they shouldn't vote for a criminal then they wouldn't be surprised if that criminal is removed.

[CLW]

Upcountry voters might lean towards Yinluck, Bangkok voters towards FF/PMP.

PPR, Bhumjaithai and Democrats might be the big loosers.

Elites are unhappy about this, making a coup not unlikely...

[heybruce]

14 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That's really sad for those people up country.

Maybe next time they shouldn't vote for a criminal then they wouldn't be surprised if that criminal is removed.

Once again you show that you only approve of democracy when people vote for people you approve of.

 

I hope you realize that the generals who stage the coups acted illegally, and are guilty of breaking many laws before, during and after.  Just because they are above the law doesn't mean they aren't criminals.

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

No red shirts on the streets. Peace. Never forget!

Redshirts were protesting the overthrow of democracy.  Never forget!

 

Besides, it was Suthep and his minions on the street in 2014, though their protests were dying of apathy when Prayuth decided to launch his coup to preserve the peace.

Edited March 13, 2023 by heybruce

[Burma Bill]

14 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

shouldn't vote for a criminal

With respect again, he was not regarded as a criminal but a Champion of the people (and still is - he and his family). IMO he was stitched up by the "Bangkok Elite" using political skullduggery!! Whatever, if it isn't  Pheu Thai then possibly Move Forward.

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Ok, let's also have internationally monitored courts so that criminal politicians are prosecuted and go to jail.

The last two coups wouldn't have happened is the courts would have removed the corrupt leaders. 

Shouldn't these international courts first deal with the coup leaders?

 

I agree that the Thai courts are too subject to political influence regardless of whether the government is elected or appointed by the military.  However I think that is a problem more likely to be dealt with by a democratic government than a military government.

Edited March 13, 2023 by heybruce

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

As far as I know the idea about democracy is that informed people make informed decisions. They decide which people should represent them and work for the country.

Democracy which depends on uniformed people who vote for politicians who promise them anything just to get elected happens in many places. But is it good? I have my doubt.

 

Only about 10% of Thai people pay income tax. Most of them are in Bangkok. It's easy for the people up country to vote for politicians who distribute other peoples' money. Like if Thaksin gets a billion more, no problem, it is not our money... 

I realize that it's a typo, but I find it ironic that you posted "Democracy which depends on uniformed people...." instead of "uninformed people".  There's no denying that democracy lives and dies at the whim of uniformed people in Thailand.

 

Thailand's government derives income from many sources, and everyone pays directly or indirectly the property registration taxes, VAT taxes, import taxes, etc., not to mention the mandatory envelopes handed over to the police and civil servants.  So if you're arguing that only people who pay taxes should vote, you are opening the vote to a lot of people, not all of them Thai citizens.

 

BTW:  Your reply to my post didn't address anything I posted.

Edited March 13, 2023 by heybruce

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

She tried to whitewash her criminal brother. That was clearly the beginning of her end. 

Clearly the voters should have been allowed to decide if that was to be the end.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, heybruce said:

Redshirts were protesting the overthrow of democracy.  Never forget!

In 2010 red shirts barricaded the streets for months, and they burnt a substantial part of the city, because their leader paid them to do that. Thaksin wanted "his" money back. It had nothing to do with democracy. 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, heybruce said:

Clearly the voters should have been allowed to decide if that was to be the end.

The same voters who vote again and again for criminals and known corrupt politicians?