3 hours ago, pomchop said:

How many people would NOT want to run away after being removed by a military coup and their courts?  He would have been an idiot not to hit the road as the deck was stacked against him.

Much of Taksins corruption was before the military took power. Go look at the list, and fell sorry then for the fall guys who stuck around and did go to jail

It would be very risky to lock up Thaksin at this time. Very, very risky.

 

I hated Bush Jr. at the time he was president. Then came Trump. And Jr. seemed like a statesman and a patriot by comparison. I feel the same way about Thaksin. Loathed him at the time. Now, compared to Prayuth he seemed like a stable genius, a highly competent leader and a man who actually cared about the masses. Corrupt? They all are. At least he got stuff done. There is a reason why millions still love him, and only a slim minority of highly conservative, very conventional, very closed minded people still support Prayuth. What this guy should be saying right now is:

We are very, very sorry. We are stubborn and obstinate men. We have been big bosses for a long time, and been surrounded by yes people. So, it very hard for us to be humble.

But, we have seen the collapse in the export market.

We have seen the utter demise of the tourism industry, that some corrrectly blame us for. We realize Covid was just one factor. Keeping the nation closed for far too long was a big mistake. We have seen that millions are out of work, and we fear this economic meltdown will last many years. Did we cause that? Well, we admit we are at least partly responsible. 

Prayuth has never had any sincere interest in helping the proletariat here. They are the furthest thing from his mind, unless he needed them for an upcoming election. Then, it is only a charade. By comparison, Thaksin actually did things that benefitted the masses, and the elite despised him for that. Yet, all these years later, millions still love and support him. And by comparison, Prayuth is deeply despised by all but a small percent of the nation. Why? Because he is the very definition of an empty suit, he and his deeply flawed health minister allowed Covid to spread, with their highly selective economic shutdowns, and their historic vaccine failure. In addition, he has done little to nothing to help his people in their greatest time of need, and he spends his days protecting goons. 
 
I could go on. Nobody I speak with, nobody I know, no Thais I encounter support him, at this time. All is lost. Woe is Thailand with dinosaurs like these guys in charge.
 

Let's wait until August the 10th then we will have a answer ????

3 hours ago, newnative said:

    Sad figure, in my opinion.  Desperately needs the limelight.  Desperately needs to still feel relevant.  Desperately needs to still feel important.  Desperately needs to still feel powerful.  I can't imagine why he would risk years of prison except for the previous mentioned desperate needs.

Plan a was PT to get majority or at least power of leadership.

 

Plan b was make a deal with MFP so thaksin would be included in 112 vote and come back free

 

Plan c make enough payment to senators to get vote

 

Plan d renew property lease in Dubai 

13 minutes ago, kennw said:

Much of Taksins corruption was before the military took power. Go look at the list, and fell sorry then for the fall guys who stuck around and did go to jail

Absolutely. His sister too. Fled the scene whilst the civil servants implementing the rice scheme, for example, got years in the slammer 

Actually his fate in Thailand will depend on the will of the ruler.

This announcement of "My Return!" is No. 20, I think. I wonder when Thaksin will make his 21st announcement of "I'm returning on (date). For sure this time. Really, really!"

Didn't the coup happen while he was in the USA? How to trust some of these people? 

3 hours ago, pomchop said:

How many people would NOT want to run away after being removed by a military coup and their courts?  He would have been an idiot not to hit the road as the deck was stacked against him.

But you missed several  serious items, he broke several seious laws, evidence has been published and they weren't 'concocted' by the junta. 

 

Re several charges the actions of the courts was well publicised, not a kangaroo court. 

 

Nobody is above the law.

Edited July 31, 20232 yr by scorecard

1 minute ago, scorecard said:

But you missed several  serious items, he broke several seious laws, evidence has been published and they weren't 'concocted' by the junta. 

 

Re several charges the actions of the courts was well publicised, not a kangaroo court. 

 

Nobody is above the law.

Oh yes they are! 1000s here in Thailand. The real life Untouchables.

28 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Thaksin actually did things that benefitted the masses

The 30 baht medical plan being one good example.  LBJ's Medicare also benefited the masses.

 

Future Forward seems more focused on long term structural change much like LBJ's Voting Rights Act.

Would be very surprised if he actually comes back at a time of such political termol. Don t blame him from wanting to return to his country who would not 

So let me get this right Taksin that low life POS is the defacto boss of the Phue Thai party that is trying to take over this country,, but the guy that really won had some shares his dead father left him and he's kicked out,,, this country is crazy. 

1 minute ago, Ironmike said:

So let me get this right Taksin that low life POS is the defacto boss of the Phue Thai party that is trying to take over this country,, but the guy that really won had some shares his dead father left him and he's kicked out,,, this country is crazy. 

The first part of your comment is purely conjecture.

The last part....... is a fair call.

Relax. It is their country and they all know that the tanks are idling behind the barrack gates.????????

5 hours ago, 2baht said:

Do the crime, do the time!

What crime?

6 hours ago, bannork said:

He's a coward because when the red shirts faced off against the army, he said he would be back on the front line as soon as the first shots were fired 

When the first shots were fired, he went shopping in a Paris luxury brand store.

He's a coward because he didn't dare debate Abhisit on TV prior the election ( years back). He claimed it wasn't Thai style.

He's a coward because he tried to shut down criticism of himself. Papers were deprived of state revenue and individuals were sued. 

I'm pretty sure you'd be a coward too, faced with prison time in Thailand vs living a life of luxury abroad. It's easy to talk tough on a forum.

9 hours ago, 2baht said:

I tend to believe Chuwit!

Personally, I think that there is no way that Thaksin will return to Thailand to spend any time at all in a jail cell.

He will either get a King's Pardon, or he will stay put, and organise  the Pheu Thai Party from the sidelines. 

To be in the wind is the logic of the dead leaves.

9 hours ago, 2baht said:

I tend to believe Chuwit!

I have placed my beliefs alongside yours.

 

I got 4.5+ on a Tuesday.

 

But......ssshhhhh????????

1 hour ago, shortstop2 said:

The 30 baht medical plan being one good example.  LBJ's Medicare also benefited the masses.

 

Future Forward seems more focused on long term structural change much like LBJ's Voting Rights Act.

Don't foget the 30Baht medical scheme was not Thaksin's idea, it was a promise of another party which thaksin realized was a vote winner and (very unusual in politics anywhere) another party offered the same to sweeten the voters. 

11 minutes ago, sambum said:

Personally, I think that there is no way that Thaksin will return to Thailand to spend any time at all in a jail cell.

He will either get a King's Pardon, or he will stay put, and organise  the Pheu Thai Party from the sidelines. 

And the pardon will need to be signed and sealed in advance or he won't come.

 

Is it really on offer, guaranteed in advance?

14 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

I'm pretty sure you'd be a coward too, faced with prison time in Thailand vs living a life of luxury abroad. It's easy to talk tough on a forum.

Not really the point is it? 

 

There's not a snowballs chance in hell that he will step off a plane onto Thai soil without a deal signed and sealed in advance which is trusted (by the paymaster) to be rock solid, guaranteed. 

 

Is that really on offer?

He's not coming back. He's a liar and a thief. The little boy crying wolf. He's also irrelevant, if the media would just ignore this sad little attention starved twit. He's so 2544. This is 2566.

 

Helloooo Thailand...WAKE UP and GTFO of Rip Van Winkle land❗????

5 hours ago, 2baht said:

How cowardly is it to run away in the first place?

Trumped up political charges brought on by the Junta that overthrew him and the elected parliment. 

 

Setting in motion the most corrupt and useless unelected government (junta) ever in Thailand's history.

 

Now these same people are at it again. 

 

Of course he's not going to stick around. 

 

5 hours ago, 2baht said:

Don't you just love democracy! 

That's exactly what Thais had under Thaksin and Yingluk.

22 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

He's not coming back. He's a liar and a thief. The little boy crying wolf. He's also irrelevant, if the media would just ignore this sad little attention starved twit. He's so 2544. This is 2566.

 

Helloooo Thailand...WAKE UP and GTFO of Rip Van Winkle land❗????

So irrelevant that he's got you excited.

Those of us who were here when Taksin was PM should remember his MO quite well.  He frequently made announcements that sounded serious, but never came true.  This was just his way of floating an idea to see what the reaction was.  If people liked it, it would happen in some form or another, but if it was not popular, it simply disappeared. 

 

The August 10 announcement was just a fishing expedition to get a response from the PTB.

2 hours ago, bannork said:

Absolutely. His sister too. Fled the scene whilst the civil servants implementing the rice scheme, for example, got years in the slammer 

Ahem..the civil servants (middle managers) who implemented the rice scheme got years in the slammer because they were the ones ripping off the farmers and, ultimately, the government.

Okay it was on her watch that this happened but the resulting coup has damaged Thailand more.

Rogues on all sides (except MFP, I think) and noone trusts anyone else, but noone (not perhaps even the Army any more) has the power to form a government and actually run the place without all the others they distrust & loath.

 

This is how a corrupt society ends up: Unable to move and unable to fix itself. 

 

(WW1, the 1930s and WW2 showed what can happen next: Widespread violence.)

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

It would be very risky to lock up Thaksin at this time. Very, very risky.

 

I hated Bush Jr. at the time he was president. Then came Trump. And Jr. seemed like a statesman and a patriot by comparison. I feel the same way about Thaksin. Loathed him at the time. Now, compared to Prayuth he seemed like a stable genius, a highly competent leader and a man who actually cared about the masses. Corrupt? They all are. At least he got stuff done. There is a reason why millions still love him, and only a slim minority of highly conservative, very conventional, very closed minded people still support Prayuth. What this guy should be saying right now is:

We are very, very sorry. We are stubborn and obstinate men. We have been big bosses for a long time, and been surrounded by yes people. So, it very hard for us to be humble.

But, we have seen the collapse in the export market.

We have seen the utter demise of the tourism industry, that some corrrectly blame us for. We realize Covid was just one factor. Keeping the nation closed for far too long was a big mistake. We have seen that millions are out of work, and we fear this economic meltdown will last many years. Did we cause that? Well, we admit we are at least partly responsible. 

Prayuth has never had any sincere interest in helping the proletariat here. They are the furthest thing from his mind, unless he needed them for an upcoming election. Then, it is only a charade. By comparison, Thaksin actually did things that benefitted the masses, and the elite despised him for that. Yet, all these years later, millions still love and support him. And by comparison, Prayuth is deeply despised by all but a small percent of the nation. Why? Because he is the very definition of an empty suit, he and his deeply flawed health minister allowed Covid to spread, with their highly selective economic shutdowns, and their historic vaccine failure. In addition, he has done little to nothing to help his people in their greatest time of need, and he spends his days protecting goons. 
 
I could go on. Nobody I speak with, nobody I know, no Thais I encounter support him, at this time. All is lost. Woe is Thailand with dinosaurs like these guys in charge.
 

Agree with every word..Îwas in Phuket during the Bird Flu.Thaksin arranged a,platform on Bangla road, every hotel and restaurant took part opening stands, and cooking free chicken dishes for everyone ! I saw the hundreds of Thais who came from the country side to have the free chicken, and to see their leader. He gave a very good speech and shook hands with all and everyone. I saw him a second time on the beach in Patong just after the tsunami ruined all the local Thai peoples lives. Again, he was so kind and partaking in their grief. 
Any choice, I’d take him any day over the lying cheating robbing gang there now.