Samak Will Announce Resignation Thursday Morning?

[Gnarpjohan]

Meanwhile, the Khon Kaen branch of the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD) yesterday mobilised locals to join its protest in Samut Prakan province, saying they would be rewarded with Bt10,000 for every ASTV reporter or photographer killed, a source said yesterday.

From : http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/09/04...cs_30082506.php

I would question the validity of the source since it was in the middle of this article.

[/b]

A "source said"...what does that mean exactly? Someone from PAD trying to whip up their own mob? Coming from PAD-friendly "The Nation", I would take this as an unconfirmed rumor from the PAD side until there is more tangible evidence of DAAD putting prices on journalist heads.

[chuang]

quote name='sgtpeppers' post='2190213' date='2008-09-03 20:19:59'].

.

. Who is going to want to be PM now, .

Of course Sondhi Limtungkul, who else...

[jbhh]

...

its truly amazing people actually votes for this moron. and will probably continute to vote for whoever the next puppet is

same could be said for one of the most powerful nations on this planet...

----------

you could answer the questions like this...

1. Should the government continue in office, resign, or dissolve the House for a snap election?

no, yes, yes

2. Should the PAD continue or end its protests?

yes, no

3. Should the PAD's proposal on new politics to revamp the electoral system be accepted?"

yes

reading just the answers like a sentence is probably what Samak is thinking about whether he should resign or not

Edited September 4, 2008 by jbhh

[geovalin]

This referendum with these questions does not make any sense because they are centered on the Sondhi propositions. It would confirm that this guy is the mainspring of Thai political life. Too easy: just be a violent delinquent and the people will listen to you.

The ones who have to make propositions are the gvt members. If they have nothing to propose, no referendum.

If Sondhi wants the population be questioned about his propositions, he has to follow the constitutional rules.

[Insight]

Clearly haven't thought this referendum through properly.

How's your average paddy field worker supposed to remember the answers to all those questions?

[ellisg]

I just told the wife about this "news", and she asks why it is not being reported on TV? Then I log on to here and see it is merely a rumor. Passing on rumors this way is not very helpful, in my estimation, anyone can dream up stuff like that. Let's see what happens tomorrow, huh?

I would take anything ripped from The Nation's website with a grain of salt. I worked there for two years after many years as an investigative reporter in the U.S. They're standards for writing articles are quite low. I had many run-ins with reporters trying to write one-source stories based on an interview with an "anonymous" source. The paper is getting worse these days having laid off the majority of its foreign editors and pared down the local staff to a skeleton crew.

"They're" standards for writing articles are quite low...tch tch..and a from a reporter to boot

[ubonjoe]

This referendum with these questions does not make any sense because they are centered on the Sondhi propositions. It would confirm that this guy is the mainspring of Thai political life. Too easy: just be a violent delinquent and the people will listen to you.

The ones who have to make propositions are the gvt members. If they have nothing to propose, no referendum.

If Sondhi wants the population be questioned about his propositions, he has to follow the constitutional rules.

This article came from the Nation and was one of the first stories put out. I suspect some of it could be poorly translated.

Later stories were much better. Suggest you go to the other thread it is getting better updates.

[jitagon]

Suthin suggested for a referendum to be held with three simple questions which the voters could answer by yes or no.

1. Should the government continue in office, resign, or dissolve the House for a snap election?

2. Should the PAD continue or end its protests?

3. Should the PAD's proposal on new politics to revamp the electoral system be accepted?"

It beats me what they think result will be. The Kingdom is highly polarised and apparently split almost 50:50. How will a referendum help under these circumstances - unless of course it is delayed, but then what happens meantime?

Ridiculous. They'll have to take one of the second and third options anyway if the electorate refuses to participate in this silly referendum! And if the answer is a flat NO to continuing in office. Then what? This is just stalling for time.

Edited September 4, 2008 by jitagon

[hammered]

If I were heading up the PAD - God forbid- I would simply say well this referendum is not binding in any way whatsoever and sets a precedent for future administrations therefore I propose that all of those who support us vote in the way Samak wants. ie vote for gov to stay and PAD to go home. This will be an act of civil disobedience to preserve true democracy where people and groups are not subject to willy nilly referenda and that referenda in the future are preserved for the purposes they are used in democracies such as changes to laws and treaties. That way Samak gets his referenda which costs a fortune and gets a result that is uninterpretable and which as we already know carries no weight at all.

When will politicains start to talk instead of just wa*king themselves off and organising to send poor innocents to their deaths

[notime]

My sources are telling me that Samak is going to resign at midnight on the next Full Moon. He got a Phone Call and is not allowed to carry on past the next Full Moon Party.

Both PAD and PPP are going to form a National Unity government according to the same sources. The are going to amalgamate their letters to help the people to understand what they stand for. The new movement is going to be called PAP which stands for People's Alliance for People. Some of the best traditions of Thai Rak Thai are going to be incorporated in their policies.

And who si going to became the Prime Minister? ... me. The sources say PAP is going to change the constitution at their first sitting to allow Farang to become PM. I'm waiting for the Phone Call ...

[sabaijai]

Mr Samak, step down!

When reporters asked you about the dead man, you shot back belligerently: "Whose side was he on?" Your eyes tell all. The heartlessness. The cruelty. When you started dividing even among the dead, we knew we could not let you carry on.

By Sanitsuda Ekachai

Assistant Editor (Outlook), Bangkok Post

If you did not know then, you should know by now. The man who died in a pool of blood during the free-for-all when your supporters attacked the protesters at Makkhawan Bridge was your man.

There was little information about him when you held the press conference to defend your decision to declare a state of emergency.

When reporters asked you about the dead man, you shot back belligerently: "Whose side was he on?"

Your eyes tell all. The heartlessness. The cruelty. When you started dividing even among the dead, we knew we could not let you carry on.

For your information, the dead man was Narongsak Kobthaisong from Korat, Nakhon Ratchasima, a Thaksin supporter. And since you are Mr Thaksin's proxy, he supported you.

Narongsak was a nobody in your eyes. He was just a pawn in a larger ploy to incite violence so the state of emergency could bring in the military to eradicate the protesters.

Say what you like. Deny all you can, that you had nothing to do with your supporters attacking the protesters.

But who will believe it?

The violence may very well be the work of Mr Thaksin's other generals whom you cannot control.

But you still cannot deny responsibility.

One man has died, and the game isn't going according to plan.

The military has refused to carry out your order to crack down on the gathering of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) at Government House.

So what's next?

full story

[Heng]

Why stop at 70-30? May as well make the gov't 99.9% appointed. The bumpkin/baan nok crowd can vote for who will fill the last spot in parliament, who will also automatically get the treasury position that oversees the government lottery.

Sorted. Everyone's happy.

[jitagon]

What Samak needs to do is call in the military and if they refuse to do what he wants. Fire them. He as the Prime Minister has that authority. Get the military in line then TELL the PAD protesters that they are threatening the lifeblood of Thailand. By their actions they are depriving their country of the lifeblood they need to be viable. If they refuse to leave then have the troops fire on these losers and FREE Thailand from these MOBS.

oh sod off.

[lor]

I do not know how many other people have said this (I know at least one) but I wish to complain about the way Thaivisa gets people to visit the site.

The mass e-mail you sent out said "Breaking News: Samak to resign Thursday, Foreign Minister already resigned"

This was not true, and when you go to your site the "News" item said Rumour. To contact all your members as if it was true was a pure ploy to increase your visitor count. Anyone who has been a member of the forum for some time can see how commercial it has become. I have no problem with money making busineses but I believe you are deliberatly misleading members just to increase your profits. This mass e-mail was just one example.

Please be a bit more ethical in your attempts to make money.

Chris Heaton

[Gravelrash]

(09-03) 11:33 PDT BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) --

Sondhi Limthongkul says he is fighting to save Thai democracy from the corrupt politicians who have abused it to remain in power.

But analysts say that the agenda pushed by Sondhi — and his comrades who have occupied Bangkok's seat of government for a week — would severely set back the country's fragile political system.

The 61-year-old media mogul and protest leader for the People's Alliance For Democracy wants to abandon the Thailand's popularly elected parliament for one in which a majority of members would be appointed.

"Democracy has been here 46 years and we keep getting the same vicious circle," Sondhi told The Associated Press in an interview on the grounds of the Government House, as the prime minister's office compound is known. "Something has to be wrong with the system."

Sondhi's media empire includes a daily newspaper, a popular news Web site and a satellite television station that effectively serves as the voice of the protest alliance and a counterpoint to government-controlled stations.

Thousands of alliance supporters — who include royalists, the urban elite and union activists — say their protests are aimed at forcing Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign, accusing him of being a proxy for his predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and has since fled to Britain.

But their real target appears to be the country's electoral system.

The alliance's plan "turns out to be a startlingly reactionary proposal to move Thailand's parliamentary system towards ... what might be called a selectoral democracy," Michael Connors, an expert on Thai politics who teaches at La Trobe University in Australia, wrote on the Thai Web site Prachatai.com in July.

Connors and other academics have said Sondhi's plan would enhance the power of the country's military and monarchy at the expense of the poor.

"The majority of Thais, especially in the rural areas, will suffer the most because they will lose their voices and the bargaining power given to them by the 1997 constitution," said Thanet Charoenmaung, a political science lecturer at Chiang Mai University.

The 1997 charter was billed as an attempt to broaden democracy, but critics charge it backfired by marginalizing the power of small parties and allowing bigger, richer groups — such as Thaksin's now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party — to grab bigger pieces of the pie for themselves.

Thaksin and his political allies have won four consecutive elections since 2001, leaving opposition leaders like Sondhi demoralized and struggling to find a way to woo the country's rural majority — key to political victory in Thailand.

Thaksin's success has largely depended on his populist policies that provided rural residents with cheap health care, village development funds and debt forgiveness schemes.

Promising similar policies, Samak's People's Power Party won elections in December and formed the current government.

Sondhi started a one-man crusade against Thaksin — a former business ally with whom he fell out — in late 2005 and attracted followers with his sharp speaking style and media savvy. The movement broadened into the People's Alliance for Democracy in early 2006.

Instead of trying to win the rural vote themselves, Sondhi and his allies have proposed amendments that would minimize the power of the electorate altogether. They say some voters are too easily manipulated by Thaksin and just aren't smart enough to cast their own ballots.

"Somebody said 'don't the poor have the right to vote,'" Sondhi said. "They do have the right to vote. We also have the right to educate them. Give them access to the information. The problem is they don't have access to the right information now."

Currently, Samak's six-party coalition controls two-thirds of the seats in the 480-member House, an elected body. The Senate, which had also been an elected body, was changed under the influence of the coup leaders to one in which half the members are appointed.

Sondhi's plan would do something similar to the lower house, stripping it of most elected members.

It is far from clear whether his vision can be realized. He first must get rid of Samak, who has so far refused to resign. And even then, he would have to persuade politicians to largely ignore their own self-interest and hand over power to a collection of academics, union heads and business leaders.

Samak pointed out the paradox to lawmakers who met Sunday to debate the crisis.

"This is not democracy and I do not know why you — parliament members — can accept that kind of proposal," Samak said.

Articles like this go in one ear and out the other for the deluded mob here acting as the PAD cheer squad. I also don't think it is really about outing Samak, that is just a simplistic catch phrase the protest supporters can understand, a much larger agenda under way here, and one that will only benefit the real figures backing this attempted coup.

[sriracha john]

Too bad the Thai government do not have the courage to just slaughter a few of the PAD protesters.

same as I told Britmaveric to his "crack their heads" suggestion... napalm would be quicker

Edited September 4, 2008 by sriracha john

[h90]

It is amazing how ignorant the masses could be. Especially considering some of the beer swilling prostitute mongering Expats who haven't a clue of what's going around them. PAD really stands for "People who Are Depriving your votes" coalition. It is pathetic that for a organization that is trying to take Thais' democracy away to call themselves "Democratic". I am also amazed at the stupidity of some of the Expats to have no clue. It must be the Formaldehyde they put in the Singha:-)

Posting number 26....the next one....

[Tony Clifton]

If Abhisit does not has any other platform, why doesn't he create a platform?

Actually the Democrat party has an entire shadow cabinet with its own set of policies for every ministry. Sometimes they agree with the government, sometimes they don't.

Are you surprised that the media coverage of their activities and policies is minimal?

The government refused to provide an air time to Abhisit for a reason, and it wasn't his lack of policies.

Still , within hours they managed to find airtime for Jakaprob to TRY and explain what he said that triggered Lèse Majesté charges.

The same can be said for the parasitic PTV zombies who shut down PTV and invaded their submissive NBT host.

[britmaveric]

Too bad the Thai government do not have the courage to just slaughter a few of the PAD protesters.

same as I told Britmaveric to his "crack their heads" suggestion... napalm would be quicker

Nah non-lethal ways of dispersing a crowd....

Teargas

rubber bullets

Batons

Water Canons (mind you - prob think it was Songkran)

Looks as if Samak will wait them out, so seems he is more patient then one would think.

[oblict]

Hopefully its just a rumour - Thailand doesn't need Samak, but it needs the govt to stand up and squash the PAD for this political blackmail. If he resigns this definitely isn't good for Thailand and then we will repeat the same rubbish again and again.

I agree with this 100%. Samak is trying to make changes what a lot of people do not like. He should stand up an show the PAD who is in charge.

[ThaiFelix]

I do not know how many other people have said this (I know at least one) but I wish to complain about the way Thaivisa gets people to visit the site.

The mass e-mail you sent out said "Breaking News: Samak to resign Thursday, Foreign Minister already resigned"

This was not true, and when you go to your site the "News" item said Rumour. To contact all your members as if it was true was a pure ploy to increase your visitor count. Anyone who has been a member of the forum for some time can see how commercial it has become. I have no problem with money making busineses but I believe you are deliberatly misleading members just to increase your profits. This mass e-mail was just one example.

Please be a bit more ethical in your attempts to make money.

Chris Heaton

I agree. I think its called media sensationalism!! Very disappointed.

[Crushdepth]

I agree with this 100%. Samak is trying to make changes what a lot of people do not like. He should stand up an show the PAD who is in charge.

Do you know why a lot of people don't like his changes? Because they will increase the tolerance of electoral fraud (coincidentally, PPP has been recommended for dissolution for same). Do you think that will improve democracy in Thailand?

[Plus]

Samak is trying to make changes what a lot of people do not like. He should stand up an show the PAD who is in charge.

He did, now everyone can see that he is NOT in charge. The police, the army, and now civil service refuse to follow his orders.

He might want to crack a few PAD heads to teach them a lesson, but he can't find anybody who'd do the dirty work for him. DAAD won't be allowed anywhere near PAD anymore, the army, under SOE, won't let them. In the meantime the army lets PAD continue its rally unobstructed.

[Johpa]

Rather like the US then. Just keep feeding the people Fox News and lots of soaps and unreality shows, and you get to pilfer other countries in the name of 'patriotism' and the 'war on terror'.

No, just as in Thailand, the US the elites really are just pilfering their own country, they do it through the smoke and mirrors of corporations, publicists, and lawyers instead of the old school bribery and tea money favored by Thai politicians. Feigning to pilfer other counties is just part of the smoke screen.

[IAmMarchHare]

For the 774th time. He wasn't 'democratically elected'. He didn't get nearly enough votes and had to form a coalition with the other ones who were not 'democratically elected'.

So, all those coalition governments in other countries aren't democratically elected? Face it, there are different forms of democracy, and no country comes close to the original form of democracy. Even the US is a republic. You can keep repeating that he wasn't democratically elected, but the fact remains his party received the most votes and formed a coalition. That is a valid form of democracy.

[h90]

Too bad the Thai government do not have the courage to just slaughter a few of the PAD protesters.

same as I told Britmaveric to his "crack their heads" suggestion... napalm would be quicker

Nah non-lethal ways of dispersing a crowd....

Teargas

rubber bullets

Batons

Water Canons (mind you - prob think it was Songkran)

Looks as if Samak will wait them out, so seems he is more patient then one would think.

"crack their heads" from Britmaveric I can recall that posting.

[h90]

Hopefully its just a rumour - Thailand doesn't need Samak, but it needs the govt to stand up and squash the PAD for this political blackmail. If he resigns this definitely isn't good for Thailand and then we will repeat the same rubbish again and again.

I agree with this 100%. Samak is trying to make changes what a lot of people do not like. He should stand up an show the PAD who is in charge.

I don't think he want to do that, because it does not look like he is in charge.

[ironhut]

I do not know how many other people have said this (I know at least one) but I wish to complain about the way Thaivisa gets people to visit the site.

The mass e-mail you sent out said "Breaking News: Samak to resign Thursday, Foreign Minister already resigned"

This was not true, and when you go to your site the "News" item said Rumour. To contact all your members as if it was true was a pure ploy to increase your visitor count. Anyone who has been a member of the forum for some time can see how commercial it has become. I have no problem with money making busineses but I believe you are deliberatly misleading members just to increase your profits. This mass e-mail was just one example.

Please be a bit more ethical in your attempts to make money.

Chris Heaton

I agree. I think its called media sensationalism!! Very disappointed.

Agreed.

I've been finding that there is far more opinion on this site than fact...and most of the opinions are rarely based upon logic. This email may be the last straw as I believe I'm pretty much done with ThaiVisa.com.

It's unfortunate since the site used to be much more dependable regarding occurrences within BKK and surroundings. Many of the posts now prefer to bashing of Bush/Americans, Europeans, Thai government affairs, etc. and likely written by misfits...instead of providing valued information concerning BKK, Thailand, and environs.

[britmaveric]

H90 - crack heads, euphemism for clamp down, however I doubt you would understand smth as subtle as that.

Edited September 4, 2008 by britmaveric

[h90]

For the 774th time. He wasn't 'democratically elected'. He didn't get nearly enough votes and had to form a coalition with the other ones who were not 'democratically elected'.

So, all those coalition governments in other countries aren't democratically elected? Face it, there are different forms of democracy, and no country comes close to the original form of democracy. Even the US is a republic. You can keep repeating that he wasn't democratically elected, but the fact remains his party received the most votes and formed a coalition. That is a valid form of democracy.

For the 775th time, massive vote buying, therefore PPP and the coalition partners are on the way to get dissolved. Vote buying is no valid form of democracy.