Thaksin Has Arrived At Don Mueang Airport

[VinnieK]

42 minutes ago, impulse said:

The 300,000+ Thais who voluntarily emigrated to America will be devastated to hear that.  And the 80,000+ who eagerly moved to Australia.

..and I know Saudis who converted to Christianity.

There are always be renegades.

Btw...those immigrant Thais are free to come and go...and I bet most of them plan to retire here

[scorecard]

27 minutes ago, shackleton said:

Well he proved a lot of us wrong by returning to Thailand ???????? 

Going to be interesting in the coming days / weeks as to what his future plans are retired or not ????

Agree, and I have little doubt there's a strategy not yet revealed. 

[Hunz Kittisak]

46 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Hero's welcome. Really? Didn't see that.

I wasn’t there at DMK in person

But I saw the TV news and read the news reports 

 

“Crowds of jubilant supporters, many dressed in red and carrying welcome signs, gathered at an airport in Bangkok to greet Thaksin”

[newnative]

According to my Thai partner, he arrived wearing a $1,200,000 watch.  Yeah, a real man of the people.  He and the ancient tub of lard who is apparently still alive can swap watches and have a grand old time.

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, rbkk said:

Exchange rates at  about x2 today's rates (UK Pound/Thai baht =60/70+ baht) certainly benefitted me in the construction of a house in 2001. 

 

It was certainly not good for Thai people though.

Taksin was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Banharn Silpa-archa's cabinet. Barharn is widely considered to be the most corrupt Thai PM ever. Who do you think made $billions a year later during the Tom Yam Gung crisis in 1997?

[TimeMachine]

54 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

Does a Thai Military Academy education not count? 

Do you think he will ve whipped? How sexy!

[gaucan]

3 hours ago, retarius said:

Sound advice but it was the escalator that chewed the leg off the woman, he should avoid escalators as well.

whale whale whale, that *escalated* quickly

[herfiehandbag]

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

I acknowledge Thaksin's political skills and tactics. He does hold an antipathy, however, for people from the West.

I am not so sure that he holds a particular antipathy towards people from the West. Any antipathy comes, I think, mainly, from the uniformed elements further down the food chain, within the immigration system.

 

He may have some antipathy towards the UK, the then (Gordon Brown) government bowed to pressure from the Junta and refused to let him stay in London when he first went into exile. Mind you, I have some antipathy towards "Bruin the Nokia bouncer" as well!

 

Interestingly his sister seems to have no problems spending time in the UK. Mind you, when she was PM, and visited the UK, she had an audience with Queen Elizabeth. The late Queen was apparently quite taken by her! That of course would have had no formal bearing upon her treatment in exile, but then again...

[jwest10]

2 hours ago, MrMojoRisin said:

Some expats support democracy, simple as that.

Well USA and UK democracy never  only so-called but frankly 11 parties in a colition Government!!!

[Heng]

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

 

These Xenophobic Chinese Thais  detest foreigners getting into their society.

 

As a Thai Chinese I can confirm this.   It's not xenophobia though, it's just preference.   Kind of like not wanting mustard on one's burger.   We don't hate or fear the mustard.   ????

[Walker88]

Some hear say he hates the West. Not sure, but he does love those Westerners' technology, as it was that tech that became the source of his fortune. It isn't as if any Thai or Chinese had any hand in inventing telecommunications.

[MrMojoRisin]

5 minutes ago, newnative said:

According to my Thai partner, he arrived wearing a $1,200,000 watch.  Yeah, a real man of the people.  He and the ancient tub of lard who is apparently still alive can swap watches and have a grand old time.

He got on the plane with a 113 million baht watch on his wrist and got off the plane with a different “cheap” watch.

[Irish star]

3 hours ago, TimeMachine said:

Hope to see him involved in getting tourism and immigration back to where it was. Lets see.  A big mess of who wants to be the leaders.  Why cant they have written tests to see who is the most capable.  General knowledge.  Science.  1pc of zero. That kind of thing.  Factual stuff.  Smartest gets the lollies. Too many low smartness people around in positions they dont belong. Anyway,  putting aside any evil he has done,  the cruel feeling of being kept away from your home is over for Thaksin. Good luck friend. 

Friend to who not Thailand he’s a grifter and murderer 

[MrMojoRisin]

7 minutes ago, jwest10 said:

Well USA and UK democracy never  only so-called but frankly 11 parties in a colition Government!!!

Indecipherable.

[Neeranam]

2 minutes ago, Heng said:

As a Thai Chinese I can confirm this.   It's not xenophobia though, it's just preference.   Kind of like not wanting mustard on one's burger.   We don't hate or fear the mustard.   ????

????Thanks for confirming, old buddy.

 

 

 

[damian]

17 minutes ago, madmitch said:

Today Sreetha will be elected PM. 

 

Early Parliamentary debate will indirectly involve pardon of Thaksin.

 

Royal pardon officially occurring next month.

 

Out of his luxury cell in the Bangkok Hilton within a month.

 

All pre-planned and pre-agreed with the Parliamentary partners, the uncles and someone else.

 

And they all live happily ever after.

So first act of this play is in place. 

 

I reckon Settha will fail and Prawit will be nominated in the second act. Then Thaksin will be freed or pardoned and will stay out of politics as the third and final act. 

 

The real interesting part is whether Prawit will double cross Thaksin and keep him in jail!!!

 

Cue the crime scene mystery music.

 

[Toby1947]

3 hours ago, Trippy said:

He looks good for being 71.

Still an ugly b#stard though, mind you ain't they all. ????????????

[findlay13]

3 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

Thaksin's major contribution to tourism and immigration was the Thai Elite card that he fraudulently claimed would allow foreigners to own land. In reality he actually made it harder for foreigners to own land. Apart from that he had all the PR and citizenship applications knocked back and either rejected completely or delayed for 3 years.  He also increased visa fees.

 

Thaksin's approach was always to pander to the super rich foreigners, clear out the bottom tier and make things harder for the middle of the road expats. Visas for super rich are now saturated with Elite Card and LTR visas.  So he can just focus on clearing out the bottom tier and raising visa fees and financial hurdles.

Closing Petrol stations at midnight .Opening shopping centres later [10.30 am] and no alcohol to be sold between 11 am and 2 pm is it? All Taksins great Ideas.The war on drugs,[how many dead] the war on poverty[hows that going]

One thing good for the people was the 30 bht medical scheme but I've been told the 30 bht standard of care isn't  high[ this I don't know]

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Toby1947 said:

Still an ugly b#stard though, mind you ain't they all. ????????????

Who........?

[Donga]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

For a moment, I was thinking anyone was better than Prayuth, Anutin and Prawit. Those goons have no leadership ability. Other than some infrastructure, they did nothing for Thailand, except move it backwards. 

 

Now that Pheu Thai has cut the treasonous deal with the army, all bets are off. They completely betrayed their base of support, and the nation. The army is the last institution in the world this nation wants anything to do with. Any reputation they may have once had, has gone down the drain with those very long 9 years of ineptitude, malfeasance, corruption and theft. 

 

So, where does the nation go from here? It is likely to continue it's backwards spin. Perhaps into near oblivion and even a greater degree of irrelevance. 

 

Watch. It is likely after jumping in bed with the army, all charges will be dropped. Two or three days in a cushy jail. Did they sacrifice the long term well being of the nation to avoid his prison term? 

So many sweeping statements, like "move it backwards" which fly in the face of data. Maybe take off the gloom goggles and compare Thailand's performance objectively... while we enjoy the freedom and lifestyle in this wonderful country, recognising its faults and challenges.

The nation is recognized by the World Bank as "one of the great development success stories" in social and development indicators... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Thailand

Btw, which countries would you nominate as paragons of virtue and performance?

[newnative]

10 minutes ago, MrMojoRisin said:

He got on the plane with a 113 million baht watch on his wrist and got off the plane with a different “cheap” watch.

   Okey dokey.  Guess he didn't want it misplaced in prison--although it could have kept him in cigarettes and other prison niceties for awhile.

[Sig]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

Gosh, you sure think highly of the majority of Thai people...

That's funny... I think you might be a bit off there... or maybe a lot.
 

"BANGKOK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Most Thais disagree with the leading plan for a coalition government which includes military-backed groups, an opinion poll showed on Sunday, two days before a parliamentary vote aiming to end a three-month political stalemate.

About 64% of 1,310 respondents disagreed or totally disagreed with the idea of the Pheu Thai party forming a "special government" with military-backed rivals, according to the survey by the National Institute of Development Administration."

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/most-thais-oppose-plan-pheu-thai-military-coalition-government-poll-2023-08-20/

 

So, if a majority already disagreed or totally disagreed with his party doing what they were doing 2 days before the parliamentary vote. Now that they've sold their souls to the devil for Thaksin's return and made them even more angry, you suppose that what was already a minority, by a long shot, is suddenly a majority, even by a tiny bit???

[peter48]

For those who knew Thailand back in the earlier 2000s this was a great leader who looked outwards to the world. He lifted Thailand higher & brought in the tourists and ex pats who like me bought into property. far more Brits came regularly as over 50bht to £ was typical. But for lower income Thais he was hightly popular with universal health care and other socio-economic reforms. Later we saw Thailand wellbeing fall & European tourism stall as like now quiet and lacking the dynamism of those happier Thaksin years. The LOS changed & there were less smiles.  

[Kevbo]

3 hours ago, retarius said:

Sound advice but it was the escalator that chewed the leg off the woman, he should avoid escalators as well.

It was a travelator, (moving walkway)

[rbkk]

22 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

2 hours ago, rbkk said:

Exchange rates at  about x2 today's rates (UK Pound/Thai baht =60/70+ baht) certainly benefitted me in the construction of a house in 2001. 

 

It was certainly not good for Thai people though.

I spent 50,000GBP in 2001 with Thai construction supply companies. Do they count?

[findlay13]

13 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

Some hear say he hates the West. Not sure, but he does love those Westerners' technology, as it was that tech that became the source of his fortune. It isn't as if any Thai or Chinese had any hand in inventing telecommunications.

Yes not bad from deputy head of  Royal Thai Police to selling a satellite  to sing tel for $2 billion.I heard his daughter [working at McDonalds at the time] before his exile was the richest woman in Thailand 

[mfd101]

9 minutes ago, damian said:

So first act of this play is in place. 

 

I reckon Settha will fail and Prawit will be nominated in the second act. Then Thaksin will be freed or pardoned and will stay out of politics as the third and final act. 

 

The real interesting part is whether Prawit will double cross Thaksin and keep him in jail!!!

 

Cue the crime scene mystery music.

 

No, it's a Shakespearean tragedy dressed out (typically) with comic interludes. There has to be 5 acts.

[hotandsticky]

37 minutes ago, MrMojoRisin said:

You’re allowing your envy, jealousy, bitterness and ignorance to consume you.

By some pot.

Relax.

 

 

 

"buy"

[findlay13]

11 minutes ago, peter48 said:

For those who knew Thailand back in the earlier 2000s this was a great leader who looked outwards to the world. He lifted Thailand higher & brought in the tourists and ex pats who like me bought into property. far more Brits came regularly as over 50bht to £ was typical. But for lower income Thais he was hightly popular with universal health care and other socio-economic reforms. Later we saw Thailand wellbeing fall & European tourism stall as like now quiet and lacking the dynamism of those happier Thakin years. The LOS changed. 

SOME of what you say is true.Sort of 9 for Takisn 1 for the people. as opposed to the usual 10 for us 0 for you I've been here since 1999 and Thais were still doing tough then but I admit they seemed happier.Wether that was naive newbie me or true I don't know

[LarryLEB]

3 hours ago, Trippy said:

He looks good for being 71.

He is actually 74 years old.