4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

No, the elephant is Thaksin. He should stay in the desert or go to jail. 

Which shows that, like thais, also among expat political views are devided.

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What can we expect from a Thai political party with a young and inexperienced PM candidate? And that party is clearly controlled by a criminal from outside of Thailand.

It's amazing that so many people think that will have a happy ending.

Thaksin wants revenge. Will that unite Thailand? NO! It will divide Thailand even more.

I hope he dies in the desert. The sooner the better. 

  Criminal? Dont you know that in Thailand even drug convicts are allowed as minister.

33 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Ummm...nope. ????

 

7 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

If Taksin comes back, then I want Chalerm to come back to politics again also. I somehow miss him, he made the whole charade bearable thru sheer buffoonery.

yep agree as much as he was Greedy as most Western Government's are these days,  life was better under Thaksin than Jaunta , unfortunately best PM l lived + when worked in Thailand was under I Thai PM Chaun lekpai 

1 hour ago, NemoH said:

What kind of country has a criminal think that he can get pardoned from his crime if he wins an election ????????????

military jaunta?

Finally......he will make Thailand great again. At least for his own benefit.

However, big brother is watching, tanks are ready.....

48 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

Still he cannot be PM. He is now a citizen of Montenegro.

 

Mr. T surrendered his Thai PP long ago.

 

I hope he knows he will have to apply for a Thai visa, extension of stay, 90 day report, TM 30 etc ????

Mere details to a man like Thaksin.

 

He will rule through a proxy as he did before.

 

(Also he'd probably get an ED visa through an agent.)

Phew! What a relief! All will soon be well and equatable for all.

 

I guess his disciples will line the streets with palm fronds in worship and welcome ?

58 minutes ago, Phoenix Rising said:

The kind that has a PM that has already pardoned himself and his henchmen for any past or future crimes.

Thai military Jaunta coup d'etat are criminals ???? He Thaksin won the election in landslide,  life was better for Thais & expats than criminals in charge today ,When l did work live in Thailand/Laos Chaun lekpia wins hand down best PM Thailand ever had,  better than Gob + Banharn Gov he was laught as for sh__Jaunta take  Crown of corruption criminality seize power That's the biggest crime

2 hours ago, sandrew33 said:

Thaksin isn’t the future but some sort of reconciliation with the establishment is likely necessary for the country to end these insane political cycles. 

 

If him returning is a part of that then so be it. He’s no greater risk to the future of the country than leaving things as they are now and have been since 2014. 
 

 

 

 

He’s a lost cause, and at the same time tired of being overseas. Most likely he’ll bow down to the elite because the police force is not longer with him. 
 

Prayut managed to cleanse Thaksin loyalists within the force, so once he comes back there won’t be anyone he can rely on. 
 

This was obviously all planned. He wasn’t going to be exiled forever. If the elite is now working together, then the people are fvcked, with zero opposition. 
 

Pure speculation, but the puzzle is all over the place. A champion of democracy hides in Saudi Arabia. What a joke!

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Everyone had been telling him that had been sorely lacking in most of the last decade.

Careful. The big P will have you for slander. 

better than a junta 

Can I hear the tanks revving up? I still think Thaksin is just trying to stir things up and he'll stay away...but I could be wrong, eh?

I used to be a thaksin fanboy too, but by now I rather keep uncle another 5 or even 10 years, if that means not getting him or his family back in control.

4 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Would any of this actually happen under Thaksin, or would it simply be a regime change and business as usual?

Yes, not that the current lot are necessarily any better, but human rights and democracy were never part of Thaksin’s agenda.

Here are some interesting facts that will have a bearing on the coming election. Number of eligible voters according to the Bureau of Registration.

 

Total qualified voters - 52,322,824 which can be categorized as follows:-

Gen Z (1997-2017) 7,670,354 (representing only those above 18)

Gen Y (1965-1980) 15,144,468

Baby boomers (1946-1964) 11,153,133

Silent Generation (1925-1946) 2,227,540

Above 99 - 36,179

 

Gen Z and Y hold the key. The voters that gave Thaksin the mandate years ago are now lesser and Unlikely to play a big part to influence the election results. PTP's landslide win may not be a sure bet but if they do win big, the Thaksin's factor is minimal. PTP will have to win over the Gen Z and Y with the right candidates and winning strategies. 

1 hour ago, NemoH said:

What kind of country has a criminal think that he can get pardoned from his crime if he wins an election ????????????

Haha. I can think of a couple of countries like that.

2 hours ago, NemoH said:

What kind of country has a criminal think that he can get pardoned from his crime if he wins an election ????????????

It doesn't hit the big news, but have a look what criminals get pardoned from US presidents and what the reason is....it is as scary as Thailand

24 minutes ago, 3NUMBAS said:

better than a junta 

Which isn't in power anymore since 2019

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

Whether it’s drug addiction nor drug related murders and crimes has to be fixed. 80% of the overcrowded prisons are drug related. Post coup government  investigation of Thaksin’s war on drugs didn’t come to any conclusion but there were extra judiciary killings by rogue policemen. Drug dealers are killing lots of people and should be severely punished. In some countries, it’s capital punishment. 

We complete agree that something must be done. And the laws are a complete joke....there are people in prison which shouldn't be there and people running around who should be in prison.
No the dealer are not killing lots of people. Neither do car of firearm manufacturer. The dealer only fill the demand. If you kill dealer, prices and profit will go up. It may reduce the narcotics a bit but it does not fix the problem and cost a fortune + makes the mafia stronger.
The only way is to take the money out of the business. The steps with Kratom and Marijuana were already good. The only way is to give addicted people their narcotics in the pharmacy. It will bankrupt the dealer. It will end all criminality which is done to fund the narcotics. Unfortunately it will also remove the heavy user from society in a rough 1-2 years.

Reported flame and a response removed.

2 hours ago, bannork said:

No, Suthep was allowed to run around Bangkok disrupting traffic and even demanded civil servants report to him.

Anyone else would have been arrested for treason.

Prayut did nothing 

After the coup Suthep even boasted on how the coup had been planned- make Bangkok ungovernable, then the army has to step in.

Prayuth even had to tell Suthep to shut up.

A truly shameful episode in Thai politics 

 

 

yes that does not contradict what I am saying. And Suthep went to jail/court on and off (with release on bail and going into jail again), tried to escape into monkhood which did not work. No it is not a shameful episode. It was not great, but it was resolved with relative little loose of life (and limbs because of police brutality). A truly shameful episode was 1992. 2014 was a sign that Thailand learned from it and did not repeat it.
 

25 minutes ago, h90 said:

Which isn't in power anymore since 2019

The same generals that stage the coup are the same post 2019 government. Still it couldn't win the majority of seats but their fall back plan with the appointed senators gave them the false legitimacy. 

42 minutes ago, h90 said:

It doesn't hit the big news, but have a look what criminals get pardoned from US presidents and what the reason is....it is as scary as Thailand

Yes it is scary that the 3 Ps got their pardon with their self written amnesty and may stage another coup. 

11 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Yes it is scary that the 3 Ps got their pardon with their self written amnesty and may stage another coup. 

 

I'm not scared.....

6 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

I'm not scared.....

No reason for you to be scared. You not voting and not your democracy. 

1 hour ago, h90 said:

Which isn't in power anymore since 2019

Ah yes! The very free and fair election. 

I might be in the minority with the rest of the foreigners living in Thailand but having lived here for over 18+ years I thought the guy was okay and had there not been a coupe I believe the country would be in a far better shape than the current bunch of clowns who flip flop with changes of rule that suit themselves 

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What can we expect from a Thai political party with a young and inexperienced PM candidate? And that party is clearly controlled by a criminal from outside of Thailand.

It's amazing that so many people think that will have a happy ending.

Thaksin wants revenge. Will that unite Thailand? NO! It will divide Thailand even more.

I hope he dies in the desert. The sooner the better. 

Sorry but in my humble opinion he is no worse than the people who are are currently running the country 

All this angst and disgust over a figure that isn't even present, nor can we do anything about the situation. 

 

Yet, we forget about the variety of criminals that currently [and have been for a while] rule the roost.

 

Why not concern ourselves with what is, right now in our presence, instead of the dreamy possibilities of what might come. 

 

Twisted or ignored priorities.

7 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

With the return of democracy, all things change including human rights and rule of law because people can vote the government out if nothing improved.

That is certainly the way it should be. If only they could find some way of keeping any soldiers well away from parliament.