Prime Minister Worries About Thailand Image

[Plus]

What are you on about?

At the time of Catmac's comment and my reply there were no response.

Credibility of Sondhi's claim is non-existent. Is it wrong for "us" not to take it seriously? Why should "we" explain ourselves?

KP's cases are between AOT and themselves, and the courts ruled favourably to them before Dems took power. Why would KP pay montly to ALL Democrat MPs? Vast majority of them have absolutely no power when it comes to manipulating AOT board, the only possible link.

>>>

I'm half expecting a two thousand words post from Steve elaborating how we should all leave our jobs and dedicate all our time to pursuing this nonsense till the end.

[Steve2UK]

What are you on about?

At the time of Catmac's comment and my reply there were no response.

Credibility of Sondhi's claim is non-existent. Is it wrong for "us" not to take it seriously? Why should "we" explain ourselves?

KP's cases are between AOT and themselves, and the courts ruled favourably to them before Dems took power. Why would KP pay montly to ALL Democrat MPs? Vast majority of them have absolutely no power when it comes to manipulating AOT board, the only possible link.

>>>

I'm half expecting a two thousand words post from Steve elaborating how we should all leave our jobs and dedicate all our time to pursuing this nonsense till the end.

As usual, no way of knowing to whom the first part of this post is addressed - are you incapable of using the reply button? Others manage it.

The second part uses my name (but incorrectly - it is "Steve2UK" here) so I can respond.........

[Plus]

I was replying to the latest post at that time and excessive quotes don't help anyone. Hammered beat me by two minutes.

[Duangta]

Puea Thai: Oxford says 'no' to PM

By: BangkokPost.com

Published: 12/03/2009 at 02:17 PM

Puea Thai party spokesman Prompong Nopparit held a press conference on Thursday and exposed the letter written by Lee Jones, a researcher in international relations at the University of Oxford who expressed his concern over Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's plan to deliver an address on democracy at Oxford's St John's College this Saturday.

According to the letter, Mr Jones believed it would not be appropriate for Oxford-graduate Abhisit to give such speech to the Oxford community since he was not democratically elected and his government attained power because of the military coup as well as the street violence between authorities and the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) when the court-dissolved People Power party was administering the country last year.

He deemed that inviting Mr Abhisit to give a speech on democracy at the college would be humiliating even though the college may feel proud to have an Oxford-graduate serving as Thailand's prime minister, adding that there is neither freedom of speech, academic freedom nor democracy in the country.

[sriracha john]

borrowed from another thread to put the above in pespective...

It seems PTP in their latest effort to discredit Abhisit have exposed a letter written by an Oxford lecturer "opposing" Abhisit's speech. Interestingly the dude has spent time on NM to state he doesn't oppose the speech, that the letter was a private letter penned very quickly to another college representative, that the letter was "leaked" by Prachathai (without permission) etc

[Old Man River]

Indeed, did Abbi get 100K baht too ?

Will he talk about any 100K payments in Oxford at the weekend ? Democrats got this due to democracy in Thailand......errrr........... ??????????

Do you know if anyone received anything? I doubt it as a THB 100,000 gift would be an insult and King Power, of all companies, would know this.

[Journalist]

borrowed from another thread to put the above in pespective...

It seems PTP in their latest effort to discredit Abhisit have exposed a letter written by an Oxford lecturer "opposing" Abhisit's speech. Interestingly the dude has spent time on NM to state he doesn't oppose the speech, that the letter was a private letter penned very quickly to another college representative, that the letter was "leaked" by Prachathai (without permission) etc

Its a free country not an authoritarian state, the researcher is allowed to say what he thinks and Abhisit Vejajiva is free to make his speech and say exactly what he wants to. He can criticise the British Royal Family if he feels like it.

[Koo82]

According to the letter, Mr Jones believed it would not be appropriate for Oxford-graduate Abhisit to give such speech to the Oxford community since he was not democratically elected and his government attained power because of the military coup as well as the street violence between authorities and the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) when the court-dissolved People Power party was administering the country last year.

If I were Abhisit, I would be shy to death and would not dare to make face.

Do you know how one can view the rating of his tv talk every Sunday morning on NBT? I've heard the rating is very low as very few people watch it.

[Koo82]

Its a free country not an authoritarian state, the researcher is allowed to say what he thinks and Abhisit Vejajiva is free to make his speech and say exactly what he wants to. He can criticise the British Royal Family if he feels like it.

I haven't seen Abhisit criticize PAD yet. Or am I missing something here?

[cmsally]

From what I heard there is a connection between Newin and King Power. Paying them monthly I wouldn't be surprised. But from what I heard Newin threatened to pull out of the coalition unless operations are moved to Suwann.

[stumonster]

I haven't seen Abhisit criticize PAD yet. Or am I missing something here?

it is the British royal family that Abhisit would be allowed to criticise.

[Old Man River]

From what I heard there is a connection between Newin and King Power. Paying them monthly I wouldn't be surprised. But from what I heard Newin threatened to pull out of the coalition unless operations are moved to Suwann.

Paying who monthly? You say there is a connection between Newin and King Power. Is Newin the "they" you are referring to?

I wouldn't include the entire government with what you or your friends think one or two people may be up to.

[sriracha john]

Do you know how one can view the rating of his tv talk every Sunday morning on NBT? I've heard the rating is very low as very few people watch it.

ahh... if we could only return to someone whose Sunday shows were always an exciting event with never knowing from one week to the next, "who" would show up....

Vintage Samak....

Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej gestures at the studios of Thai state broadcaster NBT in Bangkok August 31, 2008.

REUTERS

The ever-changing, but always-weird looks of Samak continues...

In times of national turmoil, it's always reassuring to turn to the Leader and be faced with a tie-less, disheveled old man who looks like he's coming off a 3 day bender....

Thai PM reiterates: Won't dissolve House, nor resign; Parliament will meet

BANGKOK, Aug 31 (TNA) -- Reiterating that he would neither resign nor dissolve the House *which directly contradicts the Chiang Mai People Power Party MP's declaration posted earlier*, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Sunday he is duty-bound to inform members of Parliament of the ongoing political chaos in Thailand when they meet Sunday afternoon.

Speaking during his weekly Sunday TV and radio address, Samak

[Steve2UK]

I was replying to the latest post at that time and excessive quotes don't help anyone. Hammered beat me by two minutes.

"excessive" for you being any number higher than zero, I take it..............

As evidenced by the vast majority of members posting here, quoting helps everyone - it's common sense as well as common courtesy. Duh.

Edit: Unless, of course, you mean Lazarus Sriracha John quoting and re-quoting himself over and over again ad nauseam? That, I agree, is gross excess.

Edited March 12, 2009 by Steve2UK

[LevelHead]

Edit: Unless, of course, you mean Lazarus Sriracha John quoting and re-quoting himself over and over again ad nauseam? That, I agree, is gross excess.

[animatic]

I finds it interesting that so many think the PM actually has time to deal with every police misstep,

every border crossing incident, every industrial scandale that spilt over into public policy

and every single MP's private business affairs. Or every business weasel trying to take advantage.

The PM needs to deal with the big picture and not the details.

That's his job.

Quite right, of course. However, I remember when the PADistas would hold Thaksin personally to account for every single thing that went wrong!

The only flaw with your observation is that so many stupid things are now making the headlines (just cast your eyes down the news section of TV!), that the details are in danger of becoming the big picture. Has Abhisit any idea of what is really going on? Or does he persist in his fantasy world of freedom of the press, etc? I've yet to hear a single word from him that wasn't either a downright lie, or a load of waffle. How can a man who spent his formative years in the elitist cocoon of Eton and Oxford have tha faintest idea of what is really happening in Thailand?

Thaksin got held responsible for each thing HIS fingers were into.

As he aged on the job he lost cabinet minister yes men

and was finally quoted as saying,

Paraphrased:

So what if they leave I am the only one working here anyway....

He encouraged no delegation of responsability and that likely contributed a lot of his down fall.

One must draw distinctions between stump speech rhetoric and actual blame channeling.

A lot of stones were thrown, hoping for a few broken windows,

and that's different than a well timed perfect kill shot to the temple.

I see Poo T. has not filed something today... cold feet or disorganization?

[sriracha john]

whether it's 2006, 2007, 2008, or 2009... their violent ways always seems to come to the forefront...

Soldier Attacked by Red-shirts Still in Coma

Police are now seeking CCTV footage from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the government in response to a report that a soldier was beaten by supporters of the red-shirt anti-government last night.

Sergeant Major Aumnuay was sent to Phramongkutklao Hospital and is now in a coma.

* followed by more 2009 Red Shirt violence *

UDD supporters beat up opponent

Phitsanulok - A group of about 20 red-clad supporters of the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) Saturday beat up one resident of Phitsanulok who did not welcome their movement there, said police.

The victim was a man who expressed his opposition to the UDD's campaign encouraging locals to join its protest against the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). He yelled at 100 UDD supporters who were marching against the PAD, telling them to get out of the province.

They rounded on him. Some of his attackers hit him repeatedly with a flagpole before police standing guard nearby were able to rescue him.

3 Red-Shirt Members Turn Themselves in to Police for Egg Throwing Charge

Three red-shirt supporters reported to police in Lampang Province today to face allegations that they threw eggs at a former prime minister and the chief advisor of the Democrat Party during his recent campaign for the government.

The three members of the anti-government red-shirt supporters reported to police at Muang Lampang Police Station. They are accused of throwing eggs at former prime minister Chuan Leekpai, a chief adviser to the Democrat Party, during Chuan's campaign for the government.

The three suspects are Injan Takul, Somsak Na Lampang, and Prinya Sanitsakul. They were escorted to the police station by the leader of the group Love Lampang 2008, a red-shirt faction.

Before their appearance, police had been preparing to issue a summons for the three men and 10 others on charges of intending to threaten and hurt others, and creating turmoil.

They face up to six months in jail and a maximum fine of 10,000 baht.

The Love Lampang 2008 leader said the names and whereabouts of the other 10 men pictured in photos of the incident were unknown, indicating that they were from outside the province.

Police Major-General Uttakij Korntong, recently appointed as the Commissioner of the Lampang Provincial Police, said he has received no political pressure regarding the case, and vowed that everyone would be treated fairly.

- TOC / 2009-03-12

[jayboy]

From The Times (of London)

" The charmer making a mess of his country.The Prime Minister of Thailand, best friends at Eton with Boris Johnson, is presiding over a chaotic and callous regime.

However indignant you felt about him, and the calamitous mess over which he presides, it would be impossible ever to throw a shoe at a man such as Abhisit Vejjajiva. Among his peers, the new Prime Minister of Thailand challenges even Barack Obama for the title of World's Most Decent Leader.

As a young politician, he was a heart-throb among middle-aged Bangkok matrons. At Eton, where he was known by the name “Mark Vejj”, he was best friends with Boris Johnson. He is handsome, youthful, brilliant, cosmopolitan, impeccably well mannered and rather posh. So when he gives a speech at his old university, Oxford, tomorrow, it is safe to assume that the audience at St John's College will be keeping its brogues securely laced.

But Mr Abhisit's charm should not be a distraction from ugly truths about what is happening in Thailand. In the past four years, it has gone from being one of the most free and stable countries of South-East Asia to one of its most chaotic and divided. Writers, academics and journalists have been imprisoned or hounded into exile for harmless comment on Thailand's monarchy. Helpless boat people have been chased out to sea to their deaths. Democratically elected governments have been forced out, first by the army and then by the power of the mob.

All of this has been done with the approval - sometimes passive, sometimes explicit - of the nice Mr Abhisit. The title of his talk at St John's tomorrow, “Taking on the Challenges of Democracy”, could not be more appropriate, for Thailand's leader is indeed democratically challenged. Rarely since the days of Dr Faustus has a gifted and promising man achieved power through such grubby and disreputable means.

Since Mr Abhisit became the leader of the Democrat Party in 2005, there have been two general elections in Thailand. He boycotted the first one in 2006, which was won, for the third time in a row, by the man at the centre of 21st-century Thai politics, Thaksin Shinawatra. His next electoral test came in 2007, when he was defeated decisively. The greatest “challenge” of democracy for Mr Abhisit has been as simple as that - whenever they have been given a chance to elect him, Thai voters have chosen someone else.

Thaksin represents another challenge: a profoundly unsavoury politician who is adored by the majority of his own people. As Prime Minister, he used his great wealth to political and personal advantage (last year he and his wife were convicted in absentia of a multimillion-pound property cheat). In southern Thailand he ordered a brutal campaign against Islamic insurgents which left scores of innocent people dead.

Thaksin's version of the war on drugs was to license the police to execute without trial anyone they suspected of being a dealer. But for all of this, he changed for the better the lives of millions of rural Thais.

His cheap healthcare programme gave the poorest people access to affordable medical treatment for the first time ever. A micro-credit scheme allowed many villagers to lift themselves out of subsistence level poverty. But the majority of Thais chose him as their leader, time and again - and after he was forced into exile, and then criminally convicted, they have gone on voting for his political heirs and supporters.

By contrast Mr Abhisit owes his job, not to the will of his people, but to the support of powerful friends - and even they have required a comically large number of attempts to propel their boy to power. First there was the army, which drove Mr Thaksin into exile in a bloodless coup in 2006. Over the course of a year, the generals convened an assembly of tame delegates who rewrote the country's constitution to give Mr Abhisit a better chance of winning. To imagine the election which followed in footballing terms: the Democrat Party was playing downhill, against a team without a striker, in a game refereed by one of their dads. And still Thaksin's side won.

At this point, Mr Abhisit was helped out by a new and sinister force in Thailand - the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). At times he has had the decency to appear slightly embarrassed by this mob of yellow-shirted anti-Thaksin activists, led by a rich media owner and apparently supported by the Thai Queen. What exactly the PAD believes in is not easy to pin down, but at heart they want to strip the vote from those silly people who can't be trusted not to vote for Thaksin's side.

When they don't get their way, they resort to force, occupying first the Prime Minister's office and then Bangkok's international airport last year, in chaotic scenes that were broadcast across the world.

The Democrats have never employed such tactics themselves, but they have benefited from them. After the latest pro-Thaksin Government was forced from power by a court ruling last year, they formed a Government by jumping into bed not only with PAD supporters, but even former Thaksin cronies, under the watchful supervision of the army. Mr Abhisit might argue that these were political compromises necessary so that a decent man could finally get his hands on the levers of government. But in the three months since he became Prime Minister, he has come to look more like the puppet than the master of those who hoisted him to power.

A series of disgraceful incidents have made it harder than ever to understand what has happened to the liberalism for which he used to stand. In January, the Thai military beat up and set adrift some 1,000 boat people from Burma, scores of whom died at sea. Journalists and academics continue to be arrested and imprisoned under Thailand's Kafakaesque lèse-majesté law, under which a prison sentence of 12 years can be imposed for dispraise of the Thai King and his family.

At times, it has looked as if someone in power is consciously making a fool of Mr Abhisit - such as the speech he gave last week about the importance of media freedom, which was followed a few hours later by the arrest of the webmaster of an independent website.

Thailand is no Zimbabwe or China, and by comparison with most of their Asian neighbours, Thais are blessedly free and prosperous. But it has the alarming air of a democracy lurching into reverse and out of control, in which familiar freedoms are flying out of the window with unpredictable speed. It is all the more painful that this should be happening under a leader of such obvious talent, a man with all the qualifications except the essential one - democratic legitimacy".

Richard Lloyd Parry is Asia editor of The Times

Edited March 13, 2009 by jayboy

[Plus]

Someone's been reading Thaivisa too much.

Also goes for credibility of Western media - Rohingyas were pushed out in December, when the cabinet hasn't even been properly set, and following procedures laid out by the previous government.

Democrats won the largest number of seats in their history and a national party list vote.

But nice rant, makes it easy to spot a moron.

[jayboy]

Someone's been reading Thaivisa too much.

Also goes for credibility of Western media - Rohingyas were pushed out in December, when the cabinet hasn't even been properly set, and following procedures laid out by the previous government.

Democrats won the largest number of seats in their history and a national party list vote.

But nice rant, makes it easy to spot a moron.

Not only a moron but undoubtedly in the pay of the exiled Great Beast.

Presumably the writer has no connection with Richard Lloyd-Parry, the distinguished Asian correspondent who wrote a very well received book on Indonesia "In the Time of Madness"

[Plus]

Maybe he is a moron in his own right, no need to pay for displays of his stupidity.

Oh, wait, he can't be wrong, he is world famous such and such. We don't question the judgement of famous people. We absorb any crap they feed us without questioning.

[jumnien]

From The Times (of London)

" The charmer making a mess of his country.The Prime Minister of Thailand, best friends at Eton with Boris Johnson, is presiding over a chaotic and callous regime.

However indignant you felt about him, and the calamitous mess over which he presides, it would be impossible ever to throw a shoe at a man such as Abhisit Vejjajiva. Among his peers, the new Prime Minister of Thailand challenges even Barack Obama for the title of World's Most Decent Leader.

As a young politician, he was a heart-throb among middle-aged Bangkok matrons. At Eton, where he was known by the name “Mark Vejj”, he was best friends with Boris Johnson. He is handsome, youthful, brilliant, cosmopolitan, impeccably well mannered and rather posh. So when he gives a speech at his old university, Oxford, tomorrow, it is safe to assume that the audience at St John's College will be keeping its brogues securely laced.

But Mr Abhisit's charm should not be a distraction from ugly truths about what is happening in Thailand. In the past four years, it has gone from being one of the most free and stable countries of South-East Asia to one of its most chaotic and divided. Writers, academics and journalists have been imprisoned or hounded into exile for harmless comment on Thailand's monarchy. Helpless boat people have been chased out to sea to their deaths. Democratically elected governments have been forced out, first by the army and then by the power of the mob.

All of this has been done with the approval - sometimes passive, sometimes explicit - of the nice Mr Abhisit. The title of his talk at St John's tomorrow, “Taking on the Challenges of Democracy”, could not be more appropriate, for Thailand's leader is indeed democratically challenged. Rarely since the days of Dr Faustus has a gifted and promising man achieved power through such grubby and disreputable means.

Since Mr Abhisit became the leader of the Democrat Party in 2005, there have been two general elections in Thailand. He boycotted the first one in 2006, which was won, for the third time in a row, by the man at the centre of 21st-century Thai politics, Thaksin Shinawatra. His next electoral test came in 2007, when he was defeated decisively. The greatest “challenge” of democracy for Mr Abhisit has been as simple as that - whenever they have been given a chance to elect him, Thai voters have chosen someone else.

Thaksin represents another challenge: a profoundly unsavoury politician who is adored by the majority of his own people. As Prime Minister, he used his great wealth to political and personal advantage (last year he and his wife were convicted in absentia of a multimillion-pound property cheat). In southern Thailand he ordered a brutal campaign against Islamic insurgents which left scores of innocent people dead.

Thaksin's version of the war on drugs was to license the police to execute without trial anyone they suspected of being a dealer. But for all of this, he changed for the better the lives of millions of rural Thais.

His cheap healthcare programme gave the poorest people access to affordable medical treatment for the first time ever. A micro-credit scheme allowed many villagers to lift themselves out of subsistence level poverty. But the majority of Thais chose him as their leader, time and again - and after he was forced into exile, and then criminally convicted, they have gone on voting for his political heirs and supporters.

By contrast Mr Abhisit owes his job, not to the will of his people, but to the support of powerful friends - and even they have required a comically large number of attempts to propel their boy to power. First there was the army, which drove Mr Thaksin into exile in a bloodless coup in 2006. Over the course of a year, the generals convened an assembly of tame delegates who rewrote the country's constitution to give Mr Abhisit a better chance of winning. To imagine the election which followed in footballing terms: the Democrat Party was playing downhill, against a team without a striker, in a game refereed by one of their dads. And still Thaksin's side won.

At this point, Mr Abhisit was helped out by a new and sinister force in Thailand - the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). At times he has had the decency to appear slightly embarrassed by this mob of yellow-shirted anti-Thaksin activists, led by a rich media owner and apparently supported by the Thai Queen. What exactly the PAD believes in is not easy to pin down, but at heart they want to strip the vote from those silly people who can't be trusted not to vote for Thaksin's side.

When they don't get their way, they resort to force, occupying first the Prime Minister's office and then Bangkok's international airport last year, in chaotic scenes that were broadcast across the world.

The Democrats have never employed such tactics themselves, but they have benefited from them. After the latest pro-Thaksin Government was forced from power by a court ruling last year, they formed a Government by jumping into bed not only with PAD supporters, but even former Thaksin cronies, under the watchful supervision of the army. Mr Abhisit might argue that these were political compromises necessary so that a decent man could finally get his hands on the levers of government. But in the three months since he became Prime Minister, he has come to look more like the puppet than the master of those who hoisted him to power.

A series of disgraceful incidents have made it harder than ever to understand what has happened to the liberalism for which he used to stand. In January, the Thai military beat up and set adrift some 1,000 boat people from Burma, scores of whom died at sea. Journalists and academics continue to be arrested and imprisoned under Thailand's Kafakaesque lèse-majesté law, under which a prison sentence of 12 years can be imposed for dispraise of the Thai King and his family.

At times, it has looked as if someone in power is consciously making a fool of Mr Abhisit - such as the speech he gave last week about the importance of media freedom, which was followed a few hours later by the arrest of the webmaster of an independent website.

Thailand is no Zimbabwe or China, and by comparison with most of their Asian neighbours, Thais are blessedly free and prosperous. But it has the alarming air of a democracy lurching into reverse and out of control, in which familiar freedoms are flying out of the window with unpredictable speed. It is all the more painful that this should be happening under a leader of such obvious talent, a man with all the qualifications except the essential one - democratic legitimacy".

Richard Lloyd Parry is Asia editor of The Times

Great post! Most of us agree that its time for Abhisit to step down. The corruption and anti-democratic slant to his administration is only getting worse and absolutely no good is coming from his clinging to power.

[sriracha john]

Richard Lloyd Parry is Asia Editor of The Times and has been based in Tokyo since 1995.

Based on his inaccuracies and glaring omissions, it's a shame he doesn't get to Thailand very much.

[jayboy]

Maybe he is a moron in his own right, no need to pay for displays of his stupidity.

Oh, wait, he can't be wrong, he is world famous such and such. We don't question the judgement of famous people. We absorb any crap they feed us without questioning.

I'm not sure he's famous but he's certainly a distinguished journalist.Actually I also have a number of issues with his article which I regard as being rather unfair on Abhisit since Lloyd-Parry seems to underestimate the tight corner the PM finds himself in and the pressures he is under.I would quite like a rational discussion in which our advantage of being Thailand based could bring more depth to some of these international perspectives.To be fair L-P makes some very good points as well which are not as well understood locally as they should be.

Perhaps I'm also being a little unfair but one gets the impression that whenever PAD is exposed or questioned, the possibility all rational discussion disappears and some simply take refuge in ad hominem attacks.

[catmac]

Maybe he is a moron in his own right, no need to pay for displays of his stupidity.

Oh, wait, he can't be wrong, he is world famous such and such. We don't question the judgement of famous people. We absorb any crap they feed us without questioning.

Do I detect a note of panic setting in?

Answering a few of Parry's allegations would carry more weight that the usual knee-jerk reaction of "they're all wrong!", "They must be being paid by Thaksin!", etc.,etc.(Not so long ago that all the anti-PAD posters here were accused of being in the pay of some Thaksin-funded PR outfit in Hong Kong!)

It wasn't so long ago, either, that Thaksin was being accused of wanting to become a dictator, funny that the "Democrats" now seem hel_l-bent on putting that into practise.

P.S. Nice to see Siracha John back on line - his announced resignation obviously was as meaningless as some of Abhisit's declarations on democracy. Good to see him posting such gems as a reply to his own reply to his own post! Is that an ego trip, or what?

[sriracha john]

Sorry if posting Thailand News Clipping articles in the Thailand News Clippings Forum confuses you.

Edited March 13, 2009 by sriracha john

[Journalist]

Oh, wait, he can't be wrong, he is world famous such and such. We don't question the judgement of famous people. We absorb any crap they feed us without questioning.

...lucky for us that we can't be thrown into jail for exercising free speech about Lloyd-Parry.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Journalist

[animatic]

When you say 'most of us agree' Abhisit should step down,

I suspect that means far fewer of US than you think.

Most of the Thai people I meet, seem pretty happy with

ANYONE leading them forward.

We have a functioning government and times are too tough to blythly surrender it

to the likes of Pheu Thai and Chalerm, on the basis of righting some marginally perceived inequity.

The country can't afford changing to a significantly smaller, and leaky boat in these roughening seas.

(I did have a lovely line about also counting voices in your head,

but won't really use it per se. So not an actual flame.... )

[jumnien]

Flame away my friend, no worries!

You may be right, you may be wrong; I like your attitude.

Put it to the test. Election time!

[Plus]

Answering a few of Parry's allegations would carry more weight that the usual knee-jerk reaction of "they're all wrong!"

I'm not a shrink billing by hour. If he can't get even the basics right, I'm not going to waste time and effort on dissecting fantasies he built on those wrong premises.

Abhisit's position is getting stronger and stronger every day.

Red "people power" fizzled out, opposition is in disarray, coalition partners are busy strenghtening their own bases - there are no serious threats to his position at all.