Supreme Court Takes New Case Against Thaksin Over Myanmar Loan

[sriracha john]

Thai court takes new case against Thaksin over Myanmar loan

BANGKOK (AFP - 55 minutes ago) — Thailand's Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear new corruption charges against deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, involving a controversial loan to military-ruled Myanmar.

The case is the second against Thaksin accepted by the court this week, after judges on Monday agreed to consider charges against the billionaire and his aides stemming from a lottery scandal.

In the latest case, military-backed investigators accused the fallen premier of conflict of interest in a loan granted by the Export-Import Bank of Thailand so that Myanmar could buy satellite services from Thaksin's Shin Satellite.

The investigators claim Thaksin wrongly ordered the Exim Bank to increase a three-billion-baht (89.6-million-dollar) loan to four billion baht, so that Myanmar's ruling junta could buy more services from ShinSat.

ShinSat is part of the Shin Corp telecom firm, which Thaksin founded. His family sold the company to Singapore's state-linked Temasek Holdings in January 2006 in a tax-free deal that prompted street protests leading to the military coup against him.

"The charges submitted by the (investigators) are enough to warrant a hearing. The court decided to take the case," Judge Panya Suthibodi told the court, setting the first hearing for September 15.

Neither Thaksin nor his lawyer attended the hearing Wednesday.

The case is the latest in the mounting legal challenges against Thaksin. He also faces trial at the Supreme Court for allegedly arranging for his wife to buy a prime chunk of real estate for just one-third its appraised value, while other graft cases are pending.

[sriracha john]

Top Thai court hits Thaksin over Myanmar loans

BANGKOK, July 30 (Reuters) - Thailand's Supreme Court said on Wednesday it would hear a case against ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra relating to allegations he arranged soft loans to Myanmar while in office to benefit his family's telecoms business.

The court's decision is the latest blow to Thaksin's bid to clear his name after his removal in a 2006 military coup, in which he was accused of "rampant corruption".

Given the general perception that he is the driving force behind the coalition that came to power after an election in December, it is also another blow to an administration already being hammered by the courts, nationalists and an ailing economy.

A graft panel has accused Thaksin of ordering a state bank in 2004 to increase the size of a loan to the military-ruled former Burma to buy telecoms equipment from a company owned by Thaksin's family.

The deal caused the bank to lose 670 million baht, the panel alleged. Thaksin has denied any wrongdoing.

[sriracha john]

Supreme Court decides to consider the Exim Bank loan case against Thaksin

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday to consider the Exim Bank loan case filed by Assets Examination Committee against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The high court's Criminal Division of Political Office Holders has scheduled September 16 for the first hearing of witnesses.

AEC accused Thaksin of abusing his position to order a 1 Billion Baht increase in the amount of loans to Burma, allegedly for the benefit of his family's satellite and broadband businesses.

A total of 4 Billion Baht was extended to the Burmese government to improve its infrastructure and telecom sector in 2004. This came with the condition that the Burmese government purchase materials from the Shinawatra family's Shin Corp.

This is a third graft case linked to Thaksin. His first litigation is the Ratchadapisek land case and the second is the lottery case.

- The Nation

[sriracha john]

BREAKING NEWS

Court agrees to hear Exim bank loan against Thaksin

The Supreme Court decided Wednesday to hear a case against ex-PM Thaksin Shianwatra, which involved a 4 Billion Baht loan given Burma during his administration. The first hearing is set for September 16, at 10am. The lawsuit was filed by the now-defunct Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) against Thaksin for alleged conflict of interest and abuse of authority. In the lawsuit, the ASC accused Thaksin of approving the Export-Import Bank's four-billion-baht loan to the Burmese government to improve telecoms infrastructure in that country, which would have eventually benefited Thaksin's telecoms business. According to the ASC, the Burmese government sought the loan for the development of its national telecommunications system, and it was expected to buy equipment from Shin Satellite Co, an affiliate of Shin Corporation Plc, in which Thaksin's family was formerly the major

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=129162

[hammered]

Politcally this case is an easy one to understand. Government of which he was PM leant money to another country to buy from his company. Legally it may not be so simple but politcally it is a case that looks as dodgy as they come.

[sriracha john]

[hammered]

Nice Pic but somehow I dont think it will be quite so easy

[jbowman1993]

Months after Thaksin and his lot were booted, the Thaksin lover's rally cry was "Where is the evidence", "where are the charges". Now that they are rolling out, and he is poised to be recognized as the criminal that he was, the silence is deafening.

Bring on Aphisit, please.

[hammered]

Months after Thaksin and his lot were booted, the Thaksin lover's rally cry was "Where is the evidence", "where are the charges". Now that they are rolling out, and he is poised to be recognized as the criminal that he was, the silence is deafening.

Bring on Aphisit, please.

We may find we have the cheerleader of massacres for a while longer yet

[younghusband]

Nice Pic but somehow I dont think it will be quite so easy

Possibly the fact that in a free and fair election the people of Thailand would still vote Thaksin back as PM is a slight impediment.

[sriracha john]

Nice Pic but somehow I dont think it will be quite so easy

Agreed. The finale of the movie is not for awhile... time for some more Milk Duds and a Pepsi refill.

[hammered]

Nice Pic but somehow I dont think it will be quite so easy

Possibly the fact that in a free and fair election the people of Thailand would still vote Thaksin back as PM is a slight impediment.

I pretty much agree with that although I dont think Thai elections are ever particulalrly free or fair but that aside.

To be honest I am a bit mystified right now that so many are writing Thaksin off and even talking about some kind of takeover of the PPP to remove it from his grip. I may be misreading the situation but I cant see Thaksin just giving up or letting his party be removed from him and I also cant see many of his MPs deserting him. I would say from experience that Thaksin is a gambler and will take risks and that as the pressure on him increases the more he will repsond through his proxy party even if the proxy head cant be relied on too much.

[sriracha john]

even more international media attention for Thaksin...

Thai court accepts another case against Thaksin

BANGKOK, Thailand: The Thai Supreme Court accepted Wednesday a lawsuit alleging abuse of power by ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in connection with a government loan to Myanmar.

It was the fourth case to go to court involving allegations of corruption and abuse of power against Thaksin, who was deposed in a September 2006 military coup.

The first hearing is set for Sept. 16, a court statement said.

The complaint, brought by the Assets Examination Committee, said a 2004 low-interest loan to Myanmar by the state-controlled Export-Import Bank of Thailand was meant to benefit the Shin Satellite company, then owned by Thaksin's family.

Thaksin faces charges of conflict of interest and abuse of power for approving a loan to the company on terms more favorable to the borrower than available commercially, the statement said.

The complaint filed by the anti-graft body alleges that Thaksin used his influence to extend the US$127 million loan in exchange for satellite services and orders of satellite equipment from the company.

The acceptance of the new lawsuit came as prior cases against Thaksin and his allies appeared to be gaining momentum, with a ruling on one expected on Thursday. The Criminal Court is to rule on charges of tax evasion against his wife.

Three other pending cases include conflict of interest and malfeasance charges related to his wife's purchase of a piece of prime Bangkok real estate in 2003. She bought the land from a state agency despite an anti-corruption law barring politicians and their spouses from doing business with government offices.

In another, Thaksin is accused of concealing ownership of shares in a company in violation of stock market regulations.

On Monday, the court also accepted a lawsuit alleging abuse of power against a group of officials, including Thaksin. The targets of the lawsuit are accused of malfeasance in a 2003 lottery scheme initiated by Thaksin's government.

Thaksin was deposed after months of street demonstrations in Bangkok demanding he step down because of the allegations. He returned to Thailand earlier this year after his political allies in the People's Power Party set up a six-party coalition government.

- Associated Press

[hammered]

Funny thing is from an international perspective it is better the cases have come up after the return of democracy and when his party is in power. It would have looked right dodgy if it had all happened under the Junta. It may have still looked dogy if his politcal opponents were in power. Now it looks a lot better and will only look dodgy if the government interferes in the judicial procedure.

Whoever planned that timeframe was a bit of a genius if it was actually planned and didnt just happen by accident.

[Gravelrash]

In a country where the wealthy and well connected can virtually do as they wish without recrimination including killing people, then I really wonder if the former PM is losing any sleep. Just going through the motions to be dismissed later due to "lack of evidence"?

[goonerthegooner]

Op's a daisy,the bigger they are the harder they fall.

Som-Num-Nah.

Hope you lose Man City as well.

[NanaFoods]

I am glad they are finally charging him with this blatant case of conflict of interest and corruption.

Thaksin essentially robbed Thai Taxpayer's of their revenues, "loaned" it to the Junta in Myanmar, who took a cut, and then passed a cut back to Thaksin via his comm company.

So sly.... NOT.

This was such an obvious case of corruption from the get-go, I was rather surprised when bells and whistles weren't ringing from day one.

[ilyushin]

SJ great reporting. Glad they have another charge on T.

Isn't his wife sentenced tomorrow (31/7) on the Ratchada land deal?

This will indicate what direction these charges are going.

He will spend money, but probably will not serve any time.

[Boater]

buisness with the Junta? well need anyone say more!

[sjaak327]

^ surely nothing shocking considering Thailand's good relationship with myanmar....

A corrupt Thai politician, how shocking.

But one that would surely be voted in office again if given half the chance (in 5 years maybe). And also one that at least on the surface, seemed to care for the majority of poor people. I bet half of the accusations will turn out to be false as well.

But of course the PAD, and the democrats would want to run this country again, and why not, the same level of corruption, and if all fails I'm sure some generals will come to the rescue, sooner or later

[Plus]

To be honest I am a bit mystified right now that so many are writing Thaksin off and even talking about some kind of takeover of the PPP to remove it from his grip. I may be misreading the situation but I cant see Thaksin just giving up or letting his party be removed from him and I also cant see many of his MPs deserting him.

Any one of these cases going against him will remove him from politics for a few years. In the meantime MPs need to look after their own business. That could be the reason they don't want elections - papa Thaksin is not going to pay for it, but that could also be the reason why his grip on them is slipping away.

For a moment it looked like he was going to storm back and reclaim his white knight crown but now this scenario is simply imlpausible. So non-essential posts are given away for free - neither MPs nor Thaksin are interested in foreign policy or finance posts. There's no money in them, only face and pride.

Politically PPP is a headless chicken, they have absolutely no clue what they are doing and where they are going, they've abandoned all their election promises and stay popular only through quick fix measures that don't cost a lot of money - a loose change, paraphrasing Tirayuth, but they keep their image intact and that's all they need for re-elections. Why worry about macro-economy and shit? They need to concentrate on skimming off money in Commerce and Transport and Agriculture, not Finance with their boring inflation debates.

Their own survival is the priority now, not Thaksin's. Just wait and see their next constitution amendment proposals - I bet there will be nothing about AEC status, which could help exonerate Thaksin, they will propose only changes to save their own party.

>>>>

The arrangement where PPP can feed itself but lets outsiders to control the country is a solution suitable for everybody. It can last for a while, at least until the outsiders decide to tighten PPP's belts, but few months is all that is needed now.

[younghusband]

I am glad they are finally charging him with this blatant case of conflict of interest and corruption.

Thaksin essentially robbed Thai Taxpayer's of their revenues, "loaned" it to the Junta in Myanmar, who took a cut, and then passed a cut back to Thaksin via his comm company.

So sly.... NOT.

This was such an obvious case of corruption from the get-go, I was rather surprised when bells and whistles weren't ringing from day one.

I think the real charge here is that Thaksin illegally or improperly intervened to insist the export credit package went through bypassing cabinet and other procedures.This will have to be proved in court of course.Silly really because it would have almost certainly have been approved witout his intervention

The rest of the post above is just ignorant nonsense and the fellow clearly doesn't understand why and how Thai Exim Bank (and every other export credit institution) works.If memory serves the Shin interests were a relatively minor part of the package supporting Thai industry, and the loan has been serviced on time by the Burmese.

[tracer]

^ surely nothing shocking considering Thailand's good relationship with myanmar....

A corrupt Thai politician, how shocking.

But one that would surely be voted in office again if given half the chance (in 5 years maybe). And also one that at least on the surface, seemed to care for the majority of poor people. I bet half of the accusations will turn out to be false as well.

But of course the PAD, and the democrats would want to run this country again, and why not, the same level of corruption, and if all fails I'm sure some generals will come to the rescue, sooner or later

Looks to me that when politicians are corrupt and its proven, kick them for life out...

What is the use of 5 years...

[^_^]

Looks to me that when politicians are corrupt and its proven, kick them for life out...

What is the use of 5 years...

Because...then they won't have enough relatives, comrades, close aides, etc. to replace their position

[sriracha john]

Funny thing is from an international perspective it is better the cases have come up after the return of democracy and when his party is in power. It would have looked right dodgy if it had all happened under the Junta. It may have still looked dodgy if his political opponents were in power. Now it looks a lot better and will only look dodgy if the government interferes in the judicial procedure.

Whoever planned that time frame was a bit of a genius if it was actually planned and didn't just happen by accident.

Thaksin's delaying court proceedings were the the biggest reason the charges are just now being processed... so yep, pure genius maneuvering on his part in light of the above observation which is very accurate IMHO.

[sriracha john]

SJ great reporting. Glad they have another charge on T.

Isn't his wife sentenced tomorrow (31/7) on the Ratchada land deal?

Yes, she is... but he won't be there for her... Being the great supportive husband, he's leaving for China tomorrow.

[sriracha john]

I bet half of the accusations will turn out to be false as well.

That'd be ok as then he'd have 12 convictions and be facing a very, very long time in prison.

[sriracha john]

<snipped>

<snipped except for>

The rest of the post above is just ignorant nonsense

Found another TV member to flame I see...

[sjaak327]

^ I bet he will be back as PM in a few years time instead

Since when has the Thai legal system been delivering justice ?

Of course I'm not implying that they would deliver justice by convicting Thaksin, maybe he is corrupt, maybe he isn't. It doens't matter.

We are talking about a country where half of the police is corrupt as hel_l, where money seems to be much more important then the law, and where lies and bullshit seems more important then the truth all in the name of keeping or gaining face, or whichever explanation seems rational. Thaksin's main opponents have shown themselves to be at least in the same league or worse.

It's a bit like that bullshit process where TRT was abolished, yet the democrats (very much not deserving that name) were allowed to operate.

Don't get me wrong here, I dislike Thaksin and TRT, but just know that the other side isn't any better.

[younghusband]

<snipped>

<snipped except for>

The rest of the post above is just ignorant nonsense

Found another TV member to flame I see...

Once again you personalise when you are unable to deal with the substantive point.The post under discussion was factually complete nonsense and if you are similarly ignorant about the purpose and procedure of export credits I would be happy to enlighten you.I did in my original comment acknowledge that Thaksin had a case to answer in terms of bypassing procedures and acting in an arbitrary fashion.Whether he is guilty or not is a matter for the courts, but the accusation made by ChefHeat was just a confused muddle.

Finally for the umpteenth time don't accuse people of flaming when you simply disagree with their opinion.This is Thai Visa a forum for all opinions not a PAD meeting.