Has Thailand Made Progress? Thaksin Taunts

[webfact]

Has Thailand made progress? Thaksin taunts

By THE NATION ON SUNDAY

Published on September 20, 2009

Fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra last night asked what good had been done for the country over the past three years, after his government was overthrown in a military coup.

"I would like both my admirers and haters to think what good has been done over the past three years. Has the economy improved? What about justice and human rights? And is there fair treatment for bureaucrats?" Thaksin asked.

"They accuse me of interfering with independent organisations, and what about the situation these days? They accused me of interfering in the mass media and what's going on today?" he said during his speech.

"See you in Thailand soon," he said to conclude his video-link broadcast to red-shirt supporters at their anti-government rally at the Royal Plaza.

Earlier, the former premier posted a new Twitter message asking the coup leaders and Thais to analyse if the country was in a better shape three years after the coup toppled his government.

"They accused me of not being loyal [to the monarchy], interfering in the media, the independent agencies and failing to solve problems in the three southern border provinces and causing national divisions. Today, are these problems getting solved and is there an improvement?" his message said.

-- The Nation 2009/09/20

[animatic]

Of course this blithly ignores the world wide recession

and near total loss of the world economy...

It ignores his own PPP party doing absolutely NOTHING in

relation to that visibly arriving economic perfect storm.

And by extension himself since he was the puppet master in charge of PPP.

It ignores utterly the extended efforts of his protegés to

derail ALL possible good works by the current government at EVERY TURN.

It ignores the utter uselessness of his 2nd proxy party PTP

to do ANYTHING FOR the people of Thailand, besides try to get in power.

It ignores the grandly bad press caused by his actions or machinations...

When reading these words, the only qualification needed is to:

Consider The Source.

[lensta]

Nothing is better and never will be because the government of Thailand (doesn't matter which side they come from)

will never make the hard decissions that need to be made in order to move this country forward. But hel l I like the

sunshine, the beach and the girls, so as long as I can continue to enjoy these things I am happy to live here and

the Thai people can continue to live in bliss like they have for years and years.

[Plus]

Thaksin has been trying to overthrow Thai state during all this time, and now he asks why there's not much progress - he's the main reason why.

[sibeymai]

Has Thailand made progress ?

Anyone built an aquaduct in Thailand recently ?

[jamesjdaly]

Is there any limit to this scumbag's arrogance?

[Cayenne]

Hahahaha what a guy! Totally deluded but the sad thing is all those red shirts are ready to believe every word he says despite the obvious total lack of logic in what he is saying. I could go on and list that lack of progress Thailand made under Thaksin's government for those very same criteria Thaksin mentioned, but I'm sure it would fall on deaf ears anyway because the red shirts would believe they were living in utopia before the coup.

[Sandstone Art]

Thaksin has been trying to overthrow Thai state during all this time, and now he asks why there's not much progress - he's the main reason why.

Right on!

This convicted criminal does not find any fault on himself. He is such almighty and think that only he can save Thailand.

[KevinBloodyWilson]

Belief is a wonderful thing - and convenient too, it means you don't have to think.

Evidence is what you are prepared to accept in support of, or contrary to, your beliefs.

The thing that distinguishes people from soi dogs is their ability to reason and to change beliefs based on observation and reasoning. What a shame more people succumb to the lure of simple belief as an easy way of not doing what the soi dogs cannot do. At least we have a choice. Well, some of us do.

The more stupid people I meet, the more I like my dog.

[Plus]

The more stupid people I meet, the more I like my dog.

Do you mean that this is the reason you hang out on Thaivisa now?

Thanks.

Or maybe you were replying in Pets and animals forum and there was some technical screw up?

[givenall]

Thaksin has been trying to overthrow Thai state during all this time, and now he asks why there's not much progress - he's the main reason why.

It is all about money and controlling the Thailand Wealth and power. And Thaksin probably knows he has lost them and just too stupid to accept it

Edited September 20, 2009 by givenall

[slapout]

reminds me of a has been CEO/politician who has yet to realize that their way of conducting business is out of date with the rational thinkers/people. Leaders through out history have come on strong in the initial song and dance but when reality sets in, the smoke screen does not stand up to the law of the people nor the courts at the local or international level. Many western countries with all of their faults are starting to acknowledge the glass offered by this cross threaded nut is not half full after all.

[KevinBloodyWilson]

The more stupid people I meet, the more I like my dog.

Do you mean that this is the reason you hang out on Thaivisa now?

Thanks.

Or maybe you were replying in Pets and animals forum and there was some technical screw up?

Oh, I think the meaning was plain enough. You understood it just fine.

Edited September 20, 2009 by KevinBloodyWilson

[Jingthing]

Is there any limit to this scumbag's arrogance?

The Sky's the Limit

[tigerbalm]

Mr T was fortunate to preside most of his term during a economic boom and seems to take credit for this of course Thailand did well during this time as most other countries did.

i find it a little hypocritical of him to say where has the country gone since he left or forced to leave if you like, i wonder what good he did for all those farmers if any (May be some one can answer this) as from my own perspective it seems all the easily available loans did more harm than good just got them deeper in to dept.

[Artisi]

Getting rid of thaksin was probably one of Thailands greatest achievements, any thing else that was to follow pales in comparison.

Once the convicted crimial scumbag realises this the better for all, including himself as he will save heaps of his ill-gotten money.

[Scott]

the problem is that doesn't seem to be any limit to the number of scumbags in the country.

[animatic]

Has Thailand made progress ?

Anyone built an aquaduct in Thailand recently ?

Well a direct effluent transmission 'Turdaduct' from Dubai to Bangkok.

With an extra high speed 'red bile' channel and little septic filtering.

[Rumfoord]

why getting overemotional and reply with banter, insults and cant?

[CockneyGit]

It's a perfectly reasonable question really..!! Where is Thailand now..??

Agreed, when he was in power the economy was good and Thailand was ticking along quite nicely. However, forget the current economic climate around the world and surely everyone can see that since he has departed this place has gone into full meltdown.

Airport stormed and closed, political turmoil not seen for decades, an inept government (not democratically elected!). The list goes on and on.

Whether you like Thaksin or not, things (in my opinion) were a whole lot better when he was PM.

I laugh at the posts on here, "Thaksin is a criminal", "he's corrupt".. bla, bla, bla. Do you honestly believe that Thailand is in a better social state now..??

Yes, a few dodgy deals here and there, so what's unusual about that in Thai politics. Better the devil you know I say. It's just the elite of Thai society who wanted him out and as is normal they got their way. Money talks!

A lot of the posters on here need to get out of the bars and go and see the "real" Thailand. Ask around and see what the locals think about the state of their country now!!

[KevinBloodyWilson]

why getting overemotional and reply with banter, insults and cant?

We only use the tools we've got.

[KevinBloodyWilson]

It's a perfectly reasonable question really..!! Where is Thailand now..??

Agreed, when he was in power the economy was good and Thailand was ticking along quite nicely. However, forget the current economic climate around the world and surely everyone can see that since he has departed this place has gone into full meltdown.

Airport stormed and closed, political turmoil not seen for decades, an inept government (not democratically elected!). The list goes on and on.

Whether you like Thaksin or not, things (in my opinion) were a whole lot better when he was PM.

I laugh at the posts on here, "Thaksin is a criminal", "he's corrupt".. bla, bla, bla. Do you honestly believe that Thailand is in a better social state now..??

Yes, a few dodgy deals here and there, so what's unusual about that in Thai politics. Better the devil you know I say. It's just the elite of Thai society who wanted him out and as is normal they got their way. Money talks!

A lot of the posters on here need to get out of the bars and go and see the "real" Thailand. Ask around and see what the locals think about the state of their country now!!

Fully agree. Even though he was crooked and a thief, he has been consistently been the people's democratic choice (when they have been given a democratic choice). He has been tipped out twice by illegal (army coup) or unconstitutional (judicial coup) means. The real anti-democratic scoundrels are the ones who did the tipping out. And everyone in Thailand now knows who that was.

And so do the international community, which is why Thailand has no friends. For goodness' sake, even Burma, Cambodia and Laos look down their noses at Thailand these days. How are the once-mighty fallen.

Edited September 20, 2009 by KevinBloodyWilson

[animatic]

Irony, Satire and disdain.

Tools of the trade in some circles,

lost on the path to of myopia in squarer head circles.

[KevinBloodyWilson]

Irony, Satire and disdain.

Tools of the trade in some circles, <snip>

Exactly right. And only ever used to cover the failure of rationality. Fig leaves.

[Plus]

It's a perfectly reasonable question really..!! Where is Thailand now..??

Agreed, when he was in power the economy was good and Thailand was ticking along quite nicely. However, forget the current economic climate around the world and surely everyone can see that since he has departed this place has gone into full meltdown.

Airport stormed and closed, political turmoil not seen for decades, an inept government (not democratically elected!). The list goes on and on.

No, it pretty much stops right there.

Political turmoil revolves around Thaksin's fate, nothing else.

The government IS democratically elected, the vote was televised and I saw it myself. The other candidate lost by a large margin.

Whether you like Thaksin or not, things (in my opinion) were a whole lot better when he was PM.

His last years in charge the growth slowed down to 4-5% and stayed that way all through the crisis, until the meltdown in the rest of the world reached Thailand this year.

I laugh at the posts on here, "Thaksin is a criminal", "he's corrupt".. bla, bla, bla. Do you honestly believe that Thailand is in a better social state now..??

Yes, a few dodgy deals here and there

Twelve outstanding court cases with one conviction under his belt, and the political ban for electoral fraud. Current ministers suspected of corruption are removed even before the opposition gets a whiff of impropriety, and the only case they brought to people's attention in a censure debate is some posters from five years ago involving people who are no longer with the party.

How can you NOT see the difference in the way the country is run under Democrats.

[Rumfoord]

How can you NOT see the difference in the way the country is run under Democrats.

nobody knows and nobody is interested in.

Abhisit is the name of the current PM, right? how often did you see here new topics about him, his party and the work of his government? rarely.

much more easy to report something about thaksin thaksins latest twitter fart. repeat and reapeat it. feed the hysterical TVforum mob. they can blabber, rant and vomit virtual, count the members of anti thaksin facebook groups and feel themselves as experts on thai politics.

okay, plus, you know a little bit more than the others here. (e.g. the juridical niceties of the 'crimes' of the convict) so you should be actually aware that it is also a question of interpretation and hyperbole on one side and understatement, sugercoat and whitewash on the other.

[Thai at Heart]

I find it interesting that people think the situation that Thailand is, either politically, economically or socially better than say 4 years ago.

Yes there is a global crisis, and this must be acknowledged. However, the situation right now is politically dire. The Dems are hamstrung by Newin and his bunch, the PAD and whoever had a hand in putting this government together. Hardly a great outcome. It was a gerrymander job and the best/chosen/engineered/approved option at the time, but it in no way reflects anything that represents political progress.

I expect this government to stumble towards the next election having achieved very little indeed. And with the current structure making it virtually impossible to achieve a single party majority, the next government to be hamstrung in exactly the same way. I do come from a country where first past the post tends to deliver clear majorities, and at least it means that the government of it's time can get on with the job in hand without having to pander to a tiny group or coalition government.

Believing that none of the parties have a particularly strong economic left or right wing ethos, one can argue about whether TRT/PPP is more interested in social redistribution than the Dems. I am not so sure. I think if the either party could generate a true majority, at least they can get on with truly tackling the issues of the day instead of getting dragged down into the mire of issues such as selecting the new police chief. FTA's, stimulating FDI, government borrowing, education, Foreign business act reforms, currency, social security, taxation. These are the important issues

Hands up westerners who can name the head of the army and police chief in their home country? It is something that should not become the headline grabbing cause celebre of government.

[animatic]

They only get larger or slightly smaller minorities.

The Thai politicians are so self serving in general,

they can't hold a coalition together if ANY one side doesn't get it's self interest coming first.

Not to say ALL are that bad, just far too many.

I think Newin's crew is more of an aching hemorrhoid for Abhisit, than a hamstring pull.

It makes sitting still difficult and you don't work as well, but your gotta anyway.

They periodically make progress difficult, but not impossible.

The police selection is about MONEY, and not much else. But for Abhisit it is a national security issue.

And I suspect he will continue hardball much as the moribund bus leasing set to, where he prevailed.

Painting pluralism and populism on a anteater's side doesn't suddenly make it nice to ants.

Even if a few ants believe it for a bit... munch.

It is impossible to imagine PTP would be LESS ineffective in the lead than PPP was.

The Dems in opposition were much less disruptive and negative than PTP by a far stretch.

Add to this the economy was still good when Thaksin had it, no doing of himself of course.

And PPP completely MISSED the coming economic storm, while so busy trying to write

a free pass for Thaksin and the 111 TRT cronies.

A confluence of negatives leaving us at this juncture, that can hardly be blamed on the Dems.

Not to say they are without faults and faultl-ines.

Edited September 20, 2009 by animatic

[Supernova]

No one can deny Thailand has been in a downward spiral since the coup three years ago. What this country desperately needs is 'unity', but somehow I don't think that will happen any time soon.

Funny how some folks on here see the Democrat Party as being godsend. You really are blind aren't you? Perhaps being so anti-Thaksin has affected your better judgment. The Democrats are no better than Thaksin, if not worse. Like the previous Governments of Samak and Somchai, the Democrats haven't done diddly-squat since taking office. The only thing their capable of doing it seems, is the relentless pursuit of their political opponents; day in, day out. And to what end??

If the Democrats had any common sense, they'd focus their efforts on running the country. Let's face it: Thaksin is irrelevant; he's been shoved into a corner and has remained cornered for the past 3 years. Why not use this opportunity to impress those who have lost faith in your ability to govern? This country has plenty of problems waiting to be solved. The fact that the Democrats aren't doing their job, doesn't help improve ratings either. Keep this up, they can kiss their chances of being re-elected goodbye come next election.

Edited September 20, 2009 by Supernova

[animatic]

Not so.

But you don't believe what has been seen so no point in listing the good.

And certainly not a god send, but the lesser of many evils in comparison.

A large section of the downward spiral was with PPP at the helm, they set the stage,

and compared to how badly they dropped tha ball things have improved.

The Dems got the helm JUST as the world economy tanked..

PPP or PTP would be totally out of it's depth dealing with it....

Edited September 20, 2009 by animatic