Thaksin Allies In Thai Election Landslide: Exit Polls

[webfact]

Thaksin calls to congratulate sister on poll win

BANGKOK, July 3, 2011 (AFP) - Fugitive Thai ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra called his youngest sister Sunday to congratulate her on what exit polls showed was a stunning election win by her opposition party.

"Thaksin has called to congratulate and said there was a tough job ahead," a smiling Yingluck Shinawatra told jubilant supports at the Puea Thai Party's headquarters in the Thai capital.

Thaksin lives abroad, mostly in Dubai, to avoid a jail term for corruption but his 44-year-old sister is seen as his political proxy.

"Thank you to the people who came out to vote," Yingluck said, adding that even though the exit polls were encouraging, she wanted to wait for the official results before declaring victory.

Thaksin's Puea Thai Party is set to win 313 seats out of 500, against 152 for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrats, according to a projection by Suan Dusit University.

Other exit polls painted a similar picture.

The election was the first major electoral test for the elite-backed government since mass protests by Thaksin's "Red Shirt" supporters last year paralysed Bangkok and unleashed the worst political violence in decades.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-07-03

[longtom]

Champaign for Abhisit, he made it six losses in a row. A great achievement. And the win seems to be big enough for thr courts and army to think twice of messing again with the good people of Thailand.

They may be good, but SMART, they ain't.

Abhisit was a do nothing Prime Minister, lacking any vision! He should carry a lot of the blame for this result.

I'm not surprised it's turned out to be a landslide.

And yet he was hyperactive compared to Samak or Somchai ...

[animatic]

They may not realize it now, but they will eventually.

It is a sad day for Thailand.

If you don't like it then go home. It's called democracy. Deal with it.

Simplistic response, and no sense of Thai history at all.

[happysanook]

The Thai people have voiced their will. As long as the election result is not yet again overturned by the powers that be democracy has been returned to Thailand.

With ya bud. Excellent result today.

[Mystory]

everyone in the village (Korat) received 300thb each. It is a bloody disgrace.

you want to tell us "it should have been more"?

Hard evidence please, I have heard this from both sides, but where is the evidence? This is how violent protests start from rumours.

[MILT]

They may not realize it now, but they will eventually.

It is a sad day for Thailand.

If you don't like it then go home. It's called democracy. Deal with it.

I don't know where your from but this is not true democarcy, You know it as well as any western member on this forum. All the people you seem to support would be in jail already in your country. Take a vacation

[dude007]

Taksin back = civil war! He better continues to pull the strings of his cloned-sister and stay out of Thailand! The first weeks will be decisive! :unsure:

[CosmicSurfer]

Get a life Taksin and Peau Thai haters...voice and rights of the majority must be respected!

A Majority DOES NOT MAKE A DEMOCRACY !!!!

Look it up !!!

And I can never respect Buffaloes!

Respect MUST be earned!

CS

Edited July 3, 2011 by CosmicSurfer

[Goshawk]

They may not realize it now, but they will eventually.

It is a sad day for Thailand.

A very sad day. This is not a democracy, it is all about money.

Last night my g/f's mother confirmed that all 7 members of her family and virtually everyone in the village (Korat) received 300thb each.

It is a bloody disgrace.

Are you sure it was from P.T.? if so ,they are cheap skates. In Buriram Bhum. Jai Thai was apparently handing out B500.

well there is the answer.. The Democrats weren't paying enough !

a few from our village, Mrs G & other family members included, piled into a pick up a couple of weeks ago & headed off to a large Democrat rally in Saraphi.. They each surprisingly & unexpectedly received a crisp 100 baht note!

[AlexMcAllister]

They may not realize it now, but they will eventually.

It is a sad day for Thailand.

Indeed.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Shows how out of touch the Thai Visa news section regulars are with the opinions of the majority of Thai people IMO.

Great day for Thailand - putting the military and elite firmly in their places once and for all.

Thaksin is the elite. And now expect Thailand to be under his one family rule for decades. North Korea, Thai style. Be afraid.

You go ahead and be afraid. I for one rejoice in a small step forward.

Only good thing coming out of all this is going to be that their dreams will soon turn in nightmares for a lot of people and that is when hopefully they will realized what kind of mistake they made voting for them....

It will be too late. Total power will be solidified. Democracy is DEAD in Thailand, starting today.

And this is a little puzzling. If you mean it (don't know) then that's really quite out of touch. Democracy was always dead in Thailand, as proven by the 2006 coup. It wasn't a democracy before, it wasn't then and it certainly hasn't magically become one today.

Something that isn't alive can't die. So you can take some comfort in that, JT: The people who always ruled Thailand STILL rule Thailand. The sherade that goes on in government and parliament is just the bickering over scraps, and some clever window dressing. Not all that much to either get sad about, or be overly happy about no matter who 'wins'.

[whybother]

Democracy is DEAD in Thailand, starting today.

Let's hope so

Much better to have the Army running things than these feeble excuses for politicians.

Time to step up, General Prayuth.

No. The Thai's have to learn from their mistakes. A coup won't solve anything. ... at least not yet.

[Xangsamhua]

'TheWalkingMan' timestamp='1309682619' post='4530196']<br />

First step completed - winning the election.

Second step - Flowery speech.

Third step - Thaskin returns before Christmas.

Fourth step - Another flowery speech.

Fifth step - Thaskin becomes PM.

TheWalkingMan

Or, possibly:

Step 1- completed

Step 2 - huge celebrations in the northeast and north

Step 3 - courts investigate elections

Step 4 - both PT and Dems found guilty of vote-buying

Step 5 - elections invalidated and major parties disbanded

Step 6 - army steps in to take "temporary" control; martial law declared

Step 7 - G_d knows.

Alternative Step 6 - Sections of military attempt coup; opposed by other sections

Alternative Step 7 - Internecine war; volunteers flock to support "red" side

Step 8 - Red victory secured by military a la Portugal 1975

[CosmicSurfer]

It appears that PTP have won.

Now, will they keep their promises?

The first one will be coalition partners.

Another one will be who will be the PM ...

It's a MAJORITY... No Coalition Needed!!

CS

[Jingthing]

Democracy is DEAD in Thailand, starting today.

Let's hope so

Much better to have the Army running things than these feeble excuses for politicians.

Time to step up, General Prayuth.

Can't really support another coup, but there might still be time to invalidate the victory IF major corruption can be found via the courts. Of course, that would probably start a full on civil war, so it's tough to say that is preferable to letting this result stand and hope it isn't as bad as our rational worse fears about it.

[SteeleJoe]

How many times do people have to be told that "A majority of Votes" is NOT the ONLY criteria for a democracy...

Been saying that for years. And just spent the morning trying to get it across to some people in my neighborhood.

[AndyPooots]

The most important questions is;

If Thaksin gets back to Thailand and takes control, will the pound strengthen against the baht?

[dobadoy]

So what if her name is Shinawatra? Who cares? A new era is about to open with hi so people forced to share.

You think the family name ain't important? You think the Shin's ain't hi so? You think they're all about sharing wealth with the poor?

You really don't know too much about the Shinawatra's, Thailand, or the situation here at all, do you?

[AnNieChAa]

Love Thailand. Love Abhisit.

hahaha

[RapidMethod]

It will be too late. Total power will be solidified. Democracy is DEAD in Thailand, starting today.

I thought that was the whole point of "democracy" - allowing the voters to choose who they want, whether it's Bush, Thatcher, Blair or Thaksin. Democracy allows for people to be stupid and make mistakes and, hopefully, once they realize their mistake to choose differently the next time.

Besides, who amongst the electorate really knows which party or leader will be best for the country in the end... It's a really difficult choice, choosing between the best of a bad lot...

Who are we to judge, anyway? It's not our country. In the UK recently, the people voted inexplicably yet resoundly to reject proportional representation - the hallmark of free and fair elections! And even in the "land of the free", Americans can only choose out of two parties, each of which is a pretty awful choice.

[renaissanc]

Maybe the courts can invalidate this if massive PT corruption is found. Yes that would be violent, but is that worse than allowing Thaksin to take total power. And you know their family will NEVER let it go again, once burned, you know.

This is the problem. The Shinawatra family will dominate Thailand for many years to come now. Prime Minister 1: Yingluck. Prime Minister 2: Thaaksin Prime Ministers 3 and 4: His other children. Then Repeat. Perhaps we should rename Thailand "Shinawatraland Corporation".

[animatic]

Scary to see all the ignorants here that are not aware of the danger a 0ne-party state represents.

corruption will fall because they don't need it anymore.

ROTFLOL.

I needed a good laugh and this one takes the prize....

Edited July 3, 2011 by animatic

[MAJIC]

The Fox is on his way back to the Chicken shed,door wide open,

a deeply sad result for the people of Thailand!

[TechnikaIII]

They may not realize it now, but they will eventually.

It is a sad day for Thailand.

I did not fell this sick for a very long time. Simply do not understand how apparently also a lot of people that you would consider "educated" voted for this circus. How can they forget that easily???

Only good thing coming out of all this is going to be that their dreams will soon turn in nightmares for a lot of people and that is when hopefully they will realized what kind of mistake they made voting for them....

As far as Yingluck, I give her at a maximum of 6 month and then she will disappear from the political arena...but PLEASE, let us all enjoy at least one interview of her on BBC Hard Talk or similar before she is gone, will you! ;-)

I did not fell this sick for a very long time ...really ?

I felt sicker when the majority vote for the USA Democrats was pushed aside, in favour of that idiot George W. Bush.

[nod]

Only good thing coming out of all this is going to be that their dreams will soon turn in nightmares for a lot of people and that is when hopefully they will realized what kind of mistake they made voting for them....

It will be too late. Total power will be solidified. Democracy is DEAD in Thailand, starting today.

Democracy means "One man one Vote"! They have voted. That is democracy!

[eeconomist]

It appears that PTP have won.

Now, will they keep their promises?

The first one will be coalition partners.

Another one will be who will be the PM ...

If they really win more than 300 seats, then they have not need for coalition partners. Maybe just have one or two as a token number!!

[Gonsalviz]

i don't give a sh*t who's in power, just don't start protesting again and kill tourism.

In reality, I don't give a sh*t if there is protesting. It won't be near me and Thailand will stay more like Thailand.

But you're right and it will not be good for those that have invested in the tourist industry.

My girls will get educated and hopefully escape the B***S*** that the latest elitist elected will inflict on them.

[sevenhills]

Only good thing coming out of all this is going to be that their dreams will soon turn in nightmares for a lot of people and that is when hopefully they will realized what kind of mistake they made voting for them....

It will be too late. Total power will be solidified. Democracy is DEAD in Thailand, starting today.

Democracy has finally arrived in Thailand don't you mean? If the majority voted for them (as happens in all democracies) then democracy has won. Or do you see democracy differently from others?

[eeconomist]

The most important questions is;

If Thaksin gets back to Thailand and takes control, will the pound strengthen against the baht?

Get real. The Sterling is a gonna for now!!

[atyclb]

Thai Democracy definition= the party that is able to purchase the most votes wins. the freedom to democratically purchase votes