Thailand Revokes Thaksin's Passport

[ff978472]

Just getting it on this forum is a help (not sucking up like, but it does get its fair share of hits). Also have put it on my Facebook page asking people to share. Would encourage others to do the same also.

I believe some one in Serithai.net already contacted people in govt to help her.

There are several people from Abhisit's govt hanging around there.

[brahmburgers]

Correction. according to Forbes list

Thailand's Richest

#1 Chaleo Yoovidhya has assets of US$4 billion

#16 Thaksin Shinawatra & family assets in total of US$400million

this was as of September 2008

IIRC Before he became PM taksin was the wealthiest person in Thailand and among the 10 wealthiest in asia. Are you actually suggesting that Taksin gave away 90% of his wealth at that point or is it possible that he just shifted it to off shore locations? There is a very interesting article permanently linked on bkkpost discussing who was the actual recipient of the Termasek deal. By carefully tracing the shell companies to the source and there are about 15 of them you will find that they are actually owned by ....

Thaksin's #2 order of business since he first became PM was to continually find schemes to hide his assets in every way possible. His #1 priority has always been to amass as much money as possible. Forbes magazine doesn't know his worth.

He got caught doing a very juvenile and dumb plan, very early in his first term, of heaping assets on his chauffeur and cleaning woman. Everyone saw it for what it was, but some of the high court judges wouldn't bust him for it because, as one said, 'he was elected.' In other words, the high judge articulated what all Thais know already: justice in Thailand is meted in accordance with one's social status.

Edited April 16, 2009 by brahmburgers

[animatic]

According to THE NATION he has left Dubai already on his Thai passport and is now on the way to a"secret" destination in Africa.

I hear Chad is nice this time of year.

Yes,

but he might want to sleep with you on the first night!

and he's a top.

[helvetian]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

I remember 2 days ago everyone that was claiming that "the noose is tightening" around Thaksin's neck. Hilarious.

He's not the least bit worried and the Thai government continues to make a joke out of themselves at the international stage. If worst comes to worst, Thaksin will drop his Thai citizenship and taken another country's (like Nicaragua) citizenship and nobody will ever extradite him. Don't you think he's pumped dozens or hundreds of millions into Nicaragua already?

And this is what Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua's first lady and government spokeswoman, had to say:

"Thaksin Shinawatra was democratically elected by the majority of Thai people, and was then forced to abandon his duty by a coup in 2006"

Thaksin was forced from office by an army coup in 2006, well before he was convicted of the land purchase fraud. Then he was convicted of the land purchase fraud by the army and the new puppet government, so that he won't ever be able to return and they could hold onto power forever. Anyone that believes this whole circus is brainwashed or suffers from severe tunnel vision.

The whole prosecution and arrests of the red shirts and the promotion of yellow shirts to government positions proves this point to international leaders. They're laughing at Thailand's army puppet government and will steer well clear of Thailand for as long as they're in power.

[Priceless]

May be a little off topic but about passports, did you know Abhisit has 2 Passports?

I guess he will have to give one up as its against the constitution to be dual nationality?

Conflict of interest and all that red tape stuff.

Unless he changes the law of course.

He doesn't have to change the constitution, or any other law for that matter. It is completely legal for a Thai citizen to also be a citizen of another country, i.e. dual citizenship is allowed (just to be absolutely clear).

E.g. my girlfriend has dual citizenship, as do several of her friends. The reason is simply that we lived abroad for a number of years, before moving here. Before she applied for her new (second) citizenship, we went to the Thai embassy specifically to check the legality.

In southern Thailand there are thousands of people with dual Thai/Malaysian citizenship.

PLEASE check your facts before posting.

/ Priceless

[brahmburgers]

If I walk through history I realize and come to the conclusion that most of these crooks

found/find a save heaven in Middle- or South America.

Why?

many despots have found their way to a state in my home country, namely: Florida. Nicaragua's Samoza, Haiti's Little Doc, to name just a couple. Ugunda's Idi Amin got comfy in the middle east (Saudi Arabia?). Marcos and wife holed up for awhile in Hawaii, didn't they? - though his wife, Imelda, is back in Philippines now. Bokassa from Central African Republic, was a another total tyrant. Where did he wind up - France?

Anyhow, if wouldn't surprise me if Thaksin wound up in Florida. Maybe he could get a sideline job counting hanging chads from the 2000 presidential election, (all those ballots are being kept in cold storage, btw).

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! I remember 2 days ago everyone that was claiming that "the noose is tightening" around Thaksin's neck. Hilarious. He's not the least bit worried and the Thai government continues to make a joke out of themselves at the international stage. ......They're laughing at Thailand's army puppet government and will steer well clear of Thailand for as long as they're in power.

I don't agree. All indications are Abhisit is respected for who he is: a young leader who was tested, early in his first term, and came through the recent tough times looking relatively good. Look at the world leaders at the G20 meeting recently. They appear to have gone out of their way to show support for Abhisit. I don't doubt they still support him, perhaps even more now - that he's been tempered by the heat of recent events.

[webfact]

May be a little off topic but about passports, did you know Abhisit has 2 Passports?

I guess he will have to give one up as its against the constitution to be dual nationality?

Conflict of interest and all that red tape stuff.

Unless he changes the law of course.

He doesn't have to change the constitution, or any other law for that matter. It is completely legal for a Thai citizen to also be a citizen of another country, i.e. dual citizenship is allowed (just to be absolutely clear).

E.g. my girlfriend has dual citizenship, as do several of her friends. The reason is simply that we lived abroad for a number of years, before moving here. Before she applied for her new (second) citizenship, we went to the Thai embassy specifically to check the legality.

In southern Thailand there are thousands of people with dual Thai/Malaysian citizenship.

PLEASE check your facts before posting.

/ Priceless

I confirm that. My son is Thai and has dual citizenship! He has 2 passports. All legal!

[Tony121]

just to show how popular the reds are, also has anyone seen the video of the taxi been driven into the soldiers ?

[animatic]

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

I remember 2 days ago everyone that was claiming that "the noose is tightening" around Thaksin's neck. Hilarious.

He's not the least bit worried and the Thai government continues to make a joke out of themselves at the international stage. If worst comes to worst, Thaksin will drop his Thai citizenship and taken another country's (like Nicaragua) citizenship and nobody will ever extradite him. Don't you think he's pumped dozens or hundreds of millions into Nicaragua already?

And this is what Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua's first lady and government spokeswoman, had to say:

"Thaksin Shinawatra was democratically elected by the majority of Thai people, and was then forced to abandon his duty by a coup in 2006"

Thaksin was forced from office by an army coup in 2006, well before he was convicted of the land purchase fraud. Then he was convicted of the land purchase fraud by the army and the new puppet government, so that he won't ever be able to return and they could hold onto power forever. Anyone that believes this whole circus is brainwashed or suffers from severe tunnel vision.

The whole prosecution and arrests of the red shirts and the promotion of yellow shirts to government positions proves this point to international leaders. They're laughing at Thailand's army puppet government and will steer well clear of Thailand for as long as they're in power.

He was forced from office as CARETAKER P.M.

after the election was annulled from HIS PARTY'S frauds.

Don't try and make this seem he was on solid electoral ground,

he was marking time as a care taker, and attempting to rig the replacement election,

and finally his irrationality under pressure became to much.

The removed him as CARETAKER.

Edited April 16, 2009 by animatic

[animatic]

If I walk through history I realize and come to the conclusion that most of these crooks

found/find a save heaven in Middle- or South America.

Why?

many despots have found their way to a state in my home country, namely: Florida. Nicaragua's Samoza, Haiti's Little Doc, to name just a couple. Ugunda's Idi Amin got comfy in the middle east (Saudi Arabia?). Marcos and wife holed up for awhile in Hawaii, didn't they? - though his wife, Imelda, is back in Philippines now. Bokassa from Central African Republic, was a another total tyrant. Where did he wind up - France?

Anyhow, if wouldn't surprise me if Thaksin wound up in Florida. Maybe he could get a sideline job counting hanging chads from the 2000 presidential election, (all those ballots are being kept in cold storage, btw).

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! I remember 2 days ago everyone that was claiming that "the noose is tightening" around Thaksin's neck. Hilarious. He's not the least bit worried and the Thai government continues to make a joke out of themselves at the international stage. ......They're laughing at Thailand's army puppet government and will steer well clear of Thailand for as long as they're in power.

I don't agree. All indications are Abhisit is respected for who he is: a young leader who was tested, early in his first term, and came through the recent tough times looking relatively good. Look at the world leaders at the G20 meeting recently. They appear to have gone out of their way to show support for Abhisit. I don't doubt they still support him, perhaps even more now - that he's been tempered by the heat of recent events.

Ditto.

The man has earned his stripes in a very short time.

It's not how old you are, but how old you ACT that really matters.

Abhisit is acting like a world leader.

Thaksin is acting like toddler denied a second cup of pudding

and chucking the 1st cross the table into the new curtains in a tantrum.

Edited April 16, 2009 by animatic

[baht&sold]

The Nation are apparently asking for assistance translating en Español text from the Nicaraguan Govt regarding Dr Thaksin's visa...

See article via link HERE

[baht&sold]

Bit of an odd request but according to google's (loose) translation:

"adolece de sustentacion"

suffers sustainability

"La Embajada de la Republica de Nicaragua informa a la Honorable Embajada Real de Tailandia en Mexico, gue la noticia referida adolece de sustentacion"

The Embassy of the Republic of Nicaragua informed the Honorable Embassy of Thailand in Mexico, the war news suffers referring sustainability

It might help if The Nation posted the entire 3 paragraphs en Español for context as well.

Regardless, it does appear Nicaragua are toeing the well-crafted line sung from Mr Thaksin and his PR team headed by former 'The Economist & Business Week' partner Sam Moon to the Intnl press over and over (chiefly via BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, etc- oh, and The Economist, conveniently).

Mr Moon's invaluable assistance in preparing a solid Thaksin PR war in the outside world (prior to Dr Thaksin attempting to start a REAL war inside Thailand recently) allegedly began shortly after the 'business' of divorcing Pojaman and being denied his UK visa.

More:

http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/print.php?id=6850

And:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/11/18...es_30088689.php

Dr Thaksin and Mr Moon 'Building a better future':

http://www.buildingbetterfuture.org/advisors/sam-moon

March 2009:

And more recently, former Executive Editor for Time Magazine Asia (Anthony Spaeth) turned down Mr Moon's request to take 'Thaksin money' to write a book for him (which Mr Spaeth brought up to a flustered Dr Thaksin in a March 2009 foreign correspondents live video interview)

http://blogs.straitstimes.com/2009/3/12/the-untold-story

Edited April 16, 2009 by baht&sold

[baht&sold]

Asked a Thai friend who is presently at uni in the States (whom also speaks Spanish) if she could help decipher. This is her response:

----------

-My Spanish teacher classmate has never seen the phrase "adolece de sustentacion" before, and neither has my Hispanic American classmate, who says in his 30 years, he has NEVER seen that phrase before.

He adds that in diplomatic/legal issues, it is common to have excessively wordy, flowery wording, such as a long, fancy phrase that boils down to "lawyer-speak".

Edited April 16, 2009 by baht&sold

[farseer]

Asked a Thai friend who is presently at uni in the States (whom also speaks Spanish) if she could help decipher. This is her response:

----------

-My Spanish teacher classmate has never seen the phrase "adolece de sustentacion" before, and neither has my Hispanic American classmate, who says in his 30 years, he has NEVER seen that phrase before.

He adds that in diplomatic/legal issues, it is common to have excessively wordy, flowery wording, such as a long, fancy phrase that boils down to "lawyer-speak".

So, sorry, got the Spanish speakers over here stumped as well! There's also a guy who spent a year in Nicaragua, but he's on the other side of the class so I'll try to catch him after class (1 hour left)

It means lack of support, in other words, there is absolutely no proof that this story is true, as there is no evidence to substantiate it. It is just hearsay.

"La Embajada de la Republica de Nicaragua informa a la Honorable Embajada Real de Tailandia en Mexico, gue la noticia referida adolece de sustentacion"

The Nicaragua Embassy is informing the Thai Embassy in Mexico, that the story they are referring to lacks any evidence. (It is basically nonsense and bullshit, it ain't true.)

Edited April 16, 2009 by farseer

[colino]

Meanwhile Nicaragua said it had given Mr Thaksin a diplomatic passport, a day after his Thai papers were revoked.

Full Story BBC

Nicaragua said Mr Thaksin was to be accredited as an ambassador with a "special mission" to help bring investment to the country.

sorry if its been posted before i trawled 3 pages lol

Edited April 16, 2009 by LivinginKata

[roamer]

Can we clear up this misunderstanding about the value of a diplomatic passport, it only gives any form of immunity if you are an accredited diplomat in any particular country. So for example a Thai carrying a diplomatic passport and accredited to the Court of St James (UK) has diplomatic immunity in the UK but that does not extend beyond the UK, if he travels to France or USA he has no diplomatic immunity. Yes he can use diplomatic check-ins but that is merely a government to government courtesy. Therefore his Nicaraguan diplomatic passport is merely a document to travel that confers no right to entry or immunity from arrest. He still has to be extremely careful where he steps....

[Thaifan2]

[brahmburgers]

In the strictest sense, a diplomatic passport, may only carry weight in the context of whether it's legit for the right reasons. However, in day to day happenings, it can be useful. In the US, for example, diplomatic passport holders get away with breaking laws on a daily basis, particularly in NYC and Wash.D.C. Even for serious crimes, holders are either immune or able to whisked out of the country by their respective embassies without being detained by border guards - in some, but not all situations. I'd venture that Thaksin can wave his diplmt passport around in some places and get privaleges and skirt around dealing with some of the things he does/did wrong. It would depend on circumstance and scenario.

Nicaragua is 'penny wise and pound foolish' in issuing a diplmt passport to T (and likely to his family members as well). It will bode ill for Nicaragua's int'l image - not that it had a sterling image to begin with.

[JR Texas]

Can we clear up this misunderstanding about the value of a diplomatic passport, it only gives any form of immunity if you are an accredited diplomat in any particular country. So for example a Thai carrying a diplomatic passport and accredited to the Court of St James (UK) has diplomatic immunity in the UK but that does not extend beyond the UK, if he travels to France or USA he has no diplomatic immunity. Yes he can use diplomatic check-ins but that is merely a government to government courtesy. Therefore his Nicaraguan diplomatic passport is merely a document to travel that confers no right to entry or immunity from arrest. He still has to be extremely careful where he steps....

I find it hard to believe that a man with his power/wealth (and access to a team of top international lawyers) does not understand what you pointed out above.

That leads me to the assumption that his new passport, from a legal standpoint, is "accredited." I would be surprised is he is arrested.

He may wake up one day with a horse head underneath his sheets..........but I don't think the Thai government really wants him back in Thailand........that would only cause more internal problems.

Some people talk about how issuing him a passport hurts the image of Nicaragua. No doubt Ortega just got a million dollars in cash placed on his table (lets call it a gift from a friend).

But what about the image of the UK, allowing him to own a football team? Are the owners of that team worse than Ortega?

Don't forget that TOXIN no doubt has other passports, bank accounts all over the planet.........if he wants to travel I think he can find a way to do it. He may have to go to an African state, but he can travel.

[britainmal]

Thailand's ex-PM Thaksin given Nicaraguan passport

by Roland de Courson Roland De Courson

Thu Apr 16, 5:57 am ET

BANGKOK (AFP) – Thailand's fugitive ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra has been given a Nicaraguan diplomatic passport, authorities there said Thursday after his Thai passport was revoked following political unrest.

Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and lives in exile to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption, but in recent weeks has called for "revolution" as his supporters have taken to the streets.

Thailand revoked his passport after his supporters stormed a summit of Asian leaders at the weekend, forcing the meeting to be cancelled, and then fought street battles with security forces in Bangkok on Monday.

Nicaragua said that Thaksin had been appointed "an ambassador of Nicaragua on a special mission" earlier this year, so he could help attract investment to the impoverished central American country.

"Thaksin Shinawatra was democratically elected by the majority of Thai people, and was then forced to abandon his duty by a coup in 2006," said Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua's first lady and a government spokeswoman.

Pro-Thaksin demonstrators say his allies were unlawfully pushed from power by a court ruling last year, and have demanded that current premier Abhisit Vejjajiva step down and hold fresh elections.

Foreign ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said that Thailand had diplomatic relations with Nicaragua but no extradition agreement.

"Nicaragua can give whatever they want to," Tharit told AFP, adding that Thailand had "not yet" issued a formal protest.

The government said Wednesday that Thaksin's passport was withdrawn over the assault on the summit, which forced Asian leaders to be evacuated from the hotel venue -- some by helicopter from the rooftop.

"The ministry can cancel or recall a passport if it can prove that a person has caused damage to the country," government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said.

Thaksin, a 59-year-old billionaire tycoon, denied the charges of inciting violence in a television interview filmed in Dubai earlier this week.

"I feel very tragic on what is happening among the Thai people. But I am not instigating it," he told Al-Jazeera. "I keep telling them every day, the message is peaceful, peaceful, peaceful."

He said he would be prepared to return to Thailand to face justice if numerous cases against him, which also include previous charges of graft, were investigated by a "neutral body."

Thai authorities have stepped up their campaign against Thaksin and his allies, mounting a hunt for the main organisers of the demonstrations that left two people dead and 123 injured this week.

Abhisit has vowed to prosecute all leaders of the rallies, which broke up on Tuesday after troops threatened to use force against thousands of demonstrators camped outside his Government House offices.

On Thursday he returned there for the first time since the offices were besieged three weeks ago, arriving in a heavily guarded motorcade to brief foreign diplomats on the recent turmoil.

Authorities issued arrest warrants for 36 more "Red Shirt" protest leaders Thursday, widening their campaign after seeking the arrest of Thaksin and 12 top supporters earlier in the week.

The 36 were targeted over the storming of the Asian summit in the beach resort of Pattaya, and two attacks on Abhisit's motorcade -- one in Pattaya last week and another at the interior ministry in Bangkok on Sunday.

On Thursday three protest leaders who were arrested after turning themselves in to authorities were brought to court amid tight security. Their detention was extended under the state of emergency measures currently in place.

Thailand's stock market re-opened after three days of public holidays, but losses were modest with the key index just 0.14 percent weaker at noon, as investors were reassured by the quick handling of the demonstrations.

[Jai Dee]

Thaksin flew to Africa after government's revocation of his passports

Dubai-based 7 Days newspaper reported on Thursday (April 16) that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra traveled to a secret location in Africa after the Thai government revoked all of his passports.

The former Prime Minister's Spokesman, meanwhile, said the government could say whatever they wanted but nothing could prevent him since every Thai national had the rights to hold a passport which could not simply be revoked.

He added that former prime minister would land somewhere in Africa and foreign governments were expected to continue to accept his passport even after it was revoked by Thai authorities.

Meanwhile, the Royal Thai Embassy in Mexico was informed by the Government of Nicaragua that the report on Nicaragua's appointment of Mr.Thaksin Shinawatra as its special ambassador was untrue.

Source: National News Bureau of Thailand - 17 April 2009

[Jai Dee]

Govt dismisses forming team to hunt Mr. Thaksin down

Deputy interior minister Thavorn Senniem on Thursday (April 16) denied speculation that the government was set to form a special team during the special Cabinet meeting to search for fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

He said setting-up teams to chase after an individual would be a waste of money since his extradition would likely be conducted according to judicial procedure and diplomatic relations with other countries concerning the legal framework for extradition.

He said the best solution would be for Mr.Thaksin to realize what was right and what was wrong, and return to Thailand on his own free will to face trials. He guaranteed that the former leader would be fairly treated, like all fellow Thai people.

Source: National News Bureau of Thailand - 17 April 2009

[webfact]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP

And the translation is....

By Tulsathit Taptip

THE NATION 17.4.09

Nation online readers have joined hands to help translate a Nicaraguan Embassy letter regarding Thaksin Shinawatra

Our desperate plea for help with the translation of a letter the Nicaraguan Embassy sent to the Thai Embassy there regarding Thaksin Shinawatra's special passport status has receiving overwhelming responses. We would like to thank everyone of you _ from Spanish natives to those who resorted to google translator to help as well as one man who advised us that singer Paiboon "Pan" Kiatkiewkaew should be able to help thanks to his Spanish knowledge.

Almost everyone of you agreed that "adolece de sustentacion" means "lacks basis" or "lacks support". Therefore, the Nicaraguan Embassy was telling the Thai Embassy that news reports about Thaksin getting citizenship or passport in Nicaragua were unfounded, groundless or baseless.

One reader also noted that the Nicaraguan press statement confirming Thaksin's special ambassador status does not necessarily mean he was granted honorary citizenship with a travel document that can take him anywhere in the world.

There are some cautious voices, though. "The translation is 'the said report lacks substance'," said Alastar Adams. "But I would be very cautious about interpreting this as a denail that a passport has been issued. A denial would be written along the lines "the Nicaraguan government confirms that a passport was not issued".

Louis Macareo gave a similar caution. "Keep in mind that they are not technically denying the possibility of it being true. It simply can not be confirmed," he said. "The translation is a very diplomatic way of saying that "the news to which you refer can no be substantiated" i.e., at least from the information that they have, it is NOT true."

Giancarlo Galavotti saw the opposite. "The verb "adolecer" literally means to suffer beacuse of an illness, and in diplomatic terms is used to soften the impact of a simple "It's a LIE".

Eduardo Campos-Tortosa, who was kind enough to offer to translate the whole embassy letter, has come up with full translation that seems to confirm that the embassy was denying Thaksin had been given a passport:

QUOTE (Seal, that reads "Republic of Nicaragua - Central America") EMBASSY OF NICARAGUA IN MEXICO EDNIC/EMB/91/2009

The Embassy of the Republic of Nicaragua in Mexico presents its compliments to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand in Mexico and has the honor to refer to the latter's Note No. 31001/126/2552, by which the Embassy requested assistance in order to verify the news reported by the Press in Thailand, concerning the alleged grant of Nicaraguan citizenship and Nicaraguan Passport to Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra, Ex-Primer Minister of Thailand.

The Embassy of the Republic of Nicaragua informs the Royal Thai Embassy in Mexico that the news under scrutiny have no substance ( or "are unsupported". Either version is acceptable).

The Embassy of the Republic of Nicaragua in Mexico avails itself of this opportunity to reiterate to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand in Mexico the assurances of its highest and most distinguished consideration.

Mexico, D.F. 15 April 2009 Seal and Signature TO THE ROYAL THAI EMBASSYCIUDAD (In town) UNQUOTE

Well, this should settle the embassy issue, although the translation raised some questions concerning the Nicaraguan government's stand on Thaksin over the past few days.

We would like to thank all of you again for following our website and responding to our plea without hesitation. Someone looked in the Spanish dictionary, another contacted his Mexican co-worker and several others emailed people they know in order to help us. Many thanks. We do appreciate it.

Gracias y buena suerte

/publication date edited

Edited April 17, 2009 by webfact

[madi]

It is too funny this joke in Thailand.

It took this long for the government to take his passport away?

They said he was this and that and yet they let him travel with his Thai passport for years.

HAAAAAA HAAAAAA

What idiots are in charge here?

[slapout]

Surprised T. has not headed to North Korea for a look for the future. If what we hear about satisfying the appetite of Kim is true, as well as his mental condition, Tacky and he should get along fine.

[raro]

at least we know now where is next war on drugs will happen

[johnnyk]

So did he go to Khao San Road to get the Nicaraguan passport shown in the photo?

[johnnyk]

It is too funny this joke in Thailand.

It took this long for the government to take his passport away?

They said he was this and that and yet they let him travel with his Thai passport for years.

HAAAAAA HAAAAAA

What idiots are in charge here?

They didn't care if he spent money flying around as long as he wasn't in Thailand.

He was less of a problem that way though still a pain in the rectum. And the "idiots" could lean on governments lke the UK to not admit him or kick him out. Not really stupid, IMO.

[chrislarsson]

What is the penalty for Treason - if found guilty?

as you likely know, most of Thai law is based on English law and treason was a capital offence

although hanging was abolished in 1965, treason remained on the statute as a hanging offence

i suspect it still may be, but i am not 100% sure

certainly its not been used as a punishment for treason for many years

i would guess its still on the thai statute.

errmmm... Sorry, but the Thai law code adopted more of the French Code Napoleon than English law. That's one reason they don't have juries. It's also why Thai judges have more discretion than judges in England. Of course, they also retained features from the Ayuthaya legal system. I'm not a lawyer, so I can't provide many more details, but I've read that when the legal system was reformed under Rama V the judiciary adopted a culture of narrow interpretation of the text of the statutes. Of course, as we've seen, this can lead to some very tortured arguments and decisions when they decide beforehand what result they want, and courts are not required to follow their own precedents nor those of other courts. In fact the Supreme Court decided that the asset disposition panel was NOT a government agency subject to the Prime Minister's supervision, which is the legal opinion Thaksin was relying on.

As for the Treason question, once again I'm not a lawyer, but I think the provision journalists translate as "treason" would be better translated as "insurrection". That was why the court decided the PAD leaders should not be charged for that offense (aside from the fact that they were supported by Those Who Must Not Be Named). Right now I'm not convinced that Thaksin could be convicted of that because I don't trust the reports in The Nation or the Bangkok Post of what Thaksin said in his calls. Both papers are solidly behind the PAD and pretty shameless about distorted reporting. But it does seem that he could be charged with that if their reports were accurate.

Once again, though, This Is Thailand.

correct, in the European system each case is judged on his own merrits, and don't take previuos verdicts in similar cases in account. Evendo I must emphazise that for capital crimes there is almost always a jury in Europe, exept in Holland and a few other northern European countries.

I think too many people are mixed up after seen too many Hollywood movies. The European juridical system is completely different than the Anglo-saxon system. Also the behaviour of lawyers in the court are not even remotly similar as in the States.

There is no European juridical system. There is Civil Law based on the Napoleonic Code and Common Law based on the English legal system.

The system of both Holland and Thailand is Civil law. The main difference is that in civil law judicial precedents are persuasive, while in common law they are binding.

[animatic]

There is no European juridical system. There is Civil Law based on the Napoleonic Code and Common Law based on the English legal system.

The system of both Holland and Thailand is Civil law. The main difference is that in civil law judicial precedents are persuasive, while in common law they are binding.

Not so. There is at least :

European Court of Human Rights

European Court of Justice of European Communities

European Court of Auditors

European Court of First Instance

European Civil Service Tribunal.

Edited April 17, 2009 by animatic