3 hours ago, racket said:

A champion of democracy hides in Saudi Arabia. What a joke!

He was in Dubai last time I met him & the lovely Yingluck.

Just when things were getting boring. Ahhh Thailand, there is life in the old dog yet.

32 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

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.

Some of us remember the time when he was present. And the time when his red-shirts terrorized Bangkok.

We have reasons to be concerned that terror will happen again.

 

5 hours ago, bannork said:

The drugs war did result in some innocent casualties and for thos guilty there was no due process of law. In my local town, a pickup pulled up, no licence plates, 4 men in plain clothes got out, want into the video shop and shot the owner dead. Back into the pick-up in seconds and off they went.

Thaksin's obsession with marketing meant local officials were given targets to reach, allegedly in two categories: to be arrested and to be executed.

How did the authorities get the names of suspects? 

Some districts had boxes where members of the public could drop names in anonymously. Have a business rival? Put his name down.

Thaksin didn't like Westerners, remember the names of his parties, 'Thais Love Thais', ' For Thais'. He told the UN they were not his father regarding human right. For foreign retirees, he increased the minimum sum required in the bank from 200,000 baht to 800,000 baht 

His puritanical Interior Minister sent his children to study in New Zealand but allegedly refused to approve any Western applications for citizenship during his tenure.

 

; 

 

"he increased the minimum sum required in the bank from 200,000 baht to 800,000 baht". That was bad but any westerner could go to the border every 90 days, and get a stamp without being forced to do a 90 day report. Can they do that now?

We need rid of the soldiers at all costs.

15 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Some of us remember the time when he was present. And the time when his red-shirts terrorized Bangkok.

We have reasons to be concerned that terror will happen again.

 

.....and some of us ignore the ideals of history repeating itself.

So is the manner of contemporary Thailand. 

8 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What can possibly go wrong?

 

 

There goes Richard Branson's favourite bus stop again!

My Sao sum noi ( young lady) thinks 

“ they” will find something to accuse Thaksin for just like in your country!

Better not come.

Imop if thats true what she says ,Thaksin would have to prove his innocence while being held captive. Aint know way “ they”will allow Thaksin to leave again.Issan people love the guy too much, thats for sure.

7 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Thaksin took it to a whole new level.  You should look it up.  Especially the "rice pledge scheme".  It's like something from a Hollywood movie.

Was the "rice pledge scheme" anything like the recently introduced scheme for the sugar cane farmers?

 

I just thought I would ask?

4 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

Was the "rice pledge scheme" anything like the recently introduced scheme for the sugar cane farmers?

 

I just thought I would ask?

It doesn't appear to be anything like it, based on one article I just looked at.

3 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

It doesn't appear to be anything like it, based on one article I just looked at.

What about Prayut’s rubber price pledging scheme. More than one time.

25 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

Was the "rice pledge scheme" anything like the recently introduced scheme for the sugar cane farmers?

 

I just thought I would ask?

Which should be a reflection that they're all one-n-the-same - belonging to the same club. 

Will only return with a deal somewhere and not be arrested somewhere.Only reason  to talk about it his return

4 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

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. 

Figures only add up to 36 million. ????

Thaksin and Trump all at once. Man, what a great year so far!

Thaksin is not a dumb man.

He is old and needs a lot of medical care.
If he dies in a cell, he will be a "Martyr" and Thailand will go down in a never ending war between the North and Bangkok (fuelled by Thaksin's family).

If he is treated well, he will cost the country lots of money and he will have control over his followers from the country within, which will throw Thailand back to 2006.

Any way you can chose, it as win-win for Thaksin.

Thailand was much better off with Thaksin abroad.

10 hours ago, Phoenix Rising said:

Who knew that these news would set you off!

No way he's coming back without someone major having OK'ed it. Whatcha gonna do OMF when the sheriff is back in charge and he comes for you?

 

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you

Do what Yingluk did, do a runner to the Cambodian border, with as rummers had it, with the help from him now at the top of the ladder .

10 hours ago, Phoenix Rising said:

Who knew that these news would set you off!

No way he's coming back without someone major having OK'ed it. Whatcha gonna do OMF when the sheriff is back in charge and he comes for you?

 

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you

Do what Yingluk did, do a runner to the Cambodian border, with as rummers had it, with the help from him now at the top of the ladder .

10 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Hope so, she's alright.

I think you mean "a bit of alright" as my dad used to say:)

31 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

Thaksin is not a dumb man.

He is old and needs a lot of medical care.
If he dies in a cell, he will be a "Martyr" and Thailand will go down in a never ending war between the North and Bangkok (fuelled by Thaksin's family).

If he is treated well, he will cost the country lots of money and he will have control over his followers from the country within, which will throw Thailand back to 2006.

Any way you can chose, it as win-win for Thaksin.

Thailand was much better off with Thaksin abroad.

You think 2006 is worse that 2023? At least that damned rail link on Changwattana may get finished. It's been over 5 years and it barely gets worked on. Ans I don't know ne of the last 5 years on ym gaduating students who would vote for Prayut. He's dead in the water, and rightly so. 

28 minutes ago, kickstart said:

Do what Yingluk did, do a runner to the Cambodian border, with as rummers had it, with the help from him now at the top of the ladder .

You must understand that they are much less of a threat out of the country, than in it. So of course they are helped/or allowed to leave, although its not portrayed that way by the powers that be.

"With better law and order, human rights....."

Two things that were much worse under him.

46 minutes ago, kickstart said:

Do what Yingluk did, do a runner to the Cambodian border, with as rummers had it, with the help from him now at the top of the ladder .

Indeed.

And the twisted irony attached to it all was completely missed.

The only black I can see are the words to the song by Black Sabbath ~ War Pigs. Only sayin' ya all.

11 hours ago, bob smith said:

I for one will be at the airport to welcome him back home if/when he arrives.

 

Thailand misses you sir ????

I lived in Thailand during his rule and remembering how anti-foreigner he was and how he divided the country, that's a very weird statement from a farang. Does Thailand really need the vote buying & his own brand of corruption back that he was so good at? I doubt it. 

3 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

What about Prayut’s rubber price pledging scheme. More than one time.

Again, it doesn't look like it.

 

Perhaps the problem comes, with sugar cane and rubber, from the fact that someone is seeing "[crop] pledge" and assuming (or perhaps hoping?) that it is the same as the rice pledge scheme.

 

The two mentioned schemes appear to differ from the rice pledge scheme in a number of ways.

 

The sugar cane scheme appears to be about encouraging farmers to harvest their crop rather than burn it, while the rubber scheme seems to be about guaranteeing prices through subsidisation to prevent farmers from becoming destitute.  Both schemes appear to be funded directly from the government and keep the prices around similar levels to what they have been previously.

 

Both the sugar cane and rubber price pledge schemes were also being bought buy the manufacturers and being used.  That's quite important to remember.

 

With the rice scheme, rice was guaranteed to be purchased at a price much higher than the market price in order to buy votes.  The plan for the funding was that the rice would be stockpiled, the global price would go up, then the rice would be sold for much more than it would have been previously on the global market.

 

The rice scheme went wrong in a number of areas.  In many cases the rice was not properly stored and spoiled or went missing.  People were importing lower quality rice below the rice scheme pledge rate and then passing that off as Thai rice (this might have been done by some of the people running the thing, can't remember).  IIRC, there was a lot of corruption in general around the scheme by those organising it.  Many people didn't get paid as promised and when they complained red-shirt roughs went to threaten them.  The global shortage was picked up by other countries, so rather than increasing the price it allowed more producers into the market, eventually lowering the price of Thai rice (the damage to the reputation had a similar effect).

 

I'm sure you can see the difference here.

 

Like I said, the kind of thing you might see in a movie.  You should look into it.  Very interesting.

9 hours ago, wolf81 said:

Looking at the election posters, it seems his daughter is the hottest candidate by a landslide. Dunno if that would help getting votes. Of course she also promises to double the minimum wage, so that might help a bit more.

 

Then again, my Thai ain't great, but it seems other candidates make similar promises. 

Saw a long TV interview in English with her when I was in Thailand recently. Definitely good looking (so was Yingluck for that matter lol)  but intellectually unimpressive. Thaksin et al will be back seat drivers for sure. 

 

Top Silpa-Archa was also interviewed and came across a lot better imo. Excellent command of English language due to overseas education in UK and US. 

Is he definitely coming back?

13 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Thaksin took it to a whole new level.  You should look it up.  Especially the "rice pledge scheme".  It's like something from a Hollywood movie.

 

In most places, people would remember what Thaksin did in the past and would never vote for him again.  In Thailand they simply think "he gave me money, I like him".

 

People are free to vote for him, of course, it's just funny when someone says something about democracy, human rights, or law and order when discussing a Thaksin proxy being elected.

While some may never vote for him again at least he was elected and not installed by a bunch of generals and tanks in the dark of night while he was away on business.  It's called an election where the Thai people vote for their choice in spite of what some farangs may prefer.  It would be nice if the generals would honor the results of elections and if they have a beef with those elected take their concerns to the courts to resolve rather than to the streets in coups.

4 hours ago, Inepto Cracy said:

The only black I can see are the words to the song by Black Sabbath ~ War Pigs. Only sayin' ya all.

What happens on Waterkant Street ?

17 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

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

So you think democracy is the problem not coups and military rule.