Pardon petition handed to Pracha: dept

By Piyanuch Tamnukasetchai

The Nation on Sunday

The Corrections Department has finished checking the more than three million names supporting a petition seeking a royal pardon for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, director-general Chartchai Suthiklom said yesterday.

Out of 3.6 million signatures, two million were verified against census records, while the others contained irregularities, mostly regarding last names, Chartchai said.

The director-general said he had submitted his findings to Justice Minister Pracha Promnok for consideration, according to established procedure. His department's work in relation to the petition, therefore, was done, he said.

Last week, a pro-red-shirt weekly published an article asking what had happened to the petition, which was handed to authorities two years ago.

The anonymous article in the latest edition of Maha Prachachon calls on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Pracha to follow the issue up with the Corrections Department, which oversees the royal pardon process and regulations.

-- The Nation 2011-04-09

All is takes is one signature to request a pardon, but the request must be from a family member or the prisoner himself. The request must be certified that the requester is who he/she is reported to be.

If they hadn't had submitted millions of names, the request could have been certified ages ago.

What the Red Shirts thought was a very good plan ("see, we have millions wanting a pardon to be granted"), was actually a very stupid plan ("sorry, it's going to literally take years to certify each and every one of these signatures"). Now that it has been through the certification process, we can see that nearly half the Red Shirt signatures on it were bogus for one reason or another and only about half were able to be verified.

Still, besides the certification process, there's quite a few other criteria that the Red Shirts failed at with their petition, eg. the convicted has never spent any of his sentence behind bars, the convicted has never admitted guilt for his crimes, the convicted has never expressed remorse for his crimes.

In short, the pardon will never be approved.

Wouldn't it be just a little presumptuous to pardon somebody while they still have outstanding charges? Or are they seeking a pardon for all crimes of which he has been found guilty, those not yet heard in court, those committed but not yet discovered, those being committed now, those still in the planning stage, and those that may be committed in the future?

Perhaps the Reds can also pardon the thousands who were killed extrajudiciously in Thaksin's failed 'War against Drugs" Oops, can't do that, they're dead.

Or maybe pardon the nearly 100 young men who were killed in Thailand's south while in custody under Thaksin's watch. Oops again, can't do that, they're dead.

However long it takes, we must bring Thaksin the patriot home!

However long it takes, we must bring Thaksin the patriot home!

patriot is an understatement...

The Corrections Department has finished checking the more than three million names supporting a petition seeking a royal pardon for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, director-general Chartchai Suthiklom said yesterday.

Just finished? Seems like rather convenient timing.

Out of 3.6 million signatures, two million were verified against census records, while the others contained irregularities, mostly regarding last names, Chartchai said.

Exactly two million? That's a nice round number.

Why not be exact? All the time that has been spent, least they could do is give us the actual numbers.

However long it takes, we must bring Thaksin the patriot home!

patriot is an understatement...

HaHa,,,5555555555555 and he looks so camp

The Corrections Department has finished checking the more than three million names supporting a petition seeking a royal pardon for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, director-general Chartchai Suthiklom said yesterday.

Just finished? Seems like rather convenient timing.

Out of 3.6 million signatures, two million were verified against census records, while the others contained irregularities, mostly regarding last names, Chartchai said.

Exactly two million? That's a nice round number.

Why not be exact? All the time that has been spent, least they could do is give us the actual numbers.

It is indeed classic timing. While the Dems were in power put it on the super slow track and when the PTP get in time to fast track. Civil servants have to protect their positions by responding to the wants of political masters whoever they are

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

Perhaps for similar PR value, "the opponents" should compile a list of signatures of all those who don't want him back and free of all charges. Target, two million and one.

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

Perhaps for similar PR value, "the opponents" should compile a list of signatures of all those who don't want him back and free of all charges. Target, two million and one.

Why not? It is difficult to actually get a few million signatures though

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

Perhaps for similar PR value, "the opponents" should compile a list of signatures of all those who don't want him back and free of all charges. Target, two million and one.

Why not? It is difficult to actually get a few million signatures though

Do it online, like the dogs one.

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

Perhaps for similar PR value, "the opponents" should compile a list of signatures of all those who don't want him back and free of all charges. Target, two million and one.

There is not enough paper to list all the names who DON,T want to see that rat come back to rob this nation again...Dubai Deserves Thaksin....

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

OR...

it can be reflective of the sort of available money that can be expended to fulfill this scenario.

At the time, many were saying they were offered cash to sign the pardon petition... not unlike being offered cash for election votes. It was also proclaimed at the time, they had 6 million signatures, which was constantly getting downgraded to end up with barely more than half that... and now, following verification, it's a third of that initial claim.

However, it is true it's not going anywhere, for any number of reasons such as posted earlier.

The PR value is diminished by the stupidity of getting "millions" of so-called signatures when actually only one is needed. Did any of the Shinawatra clan sign the petition?

.

if he does get the pardon,the rat escaped justice so very wrong.only because yingluck is in charge now

all of the thai family around me said before the election they would vote for yingLUCK (not) so that she could bring thakSIN back home and take over the reigns again.my thai teacher back home told our class that the majotity of farmers are fairly ignorant and believe all the bull that their told by the red leaders and living in the country this became very apparent very quickly.so expect to see thaksin sometime in the near future.bad luck for thailand will surely follow.

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

Perhaps for similar PR value, "the opponents" should compile a list of signatures of all those who don't want him back and free of all charges. Target, two million and one.

Why not? It is difficult to actually get a few million signatures though

Not so hard when you realise that the anti-Thaksinists are more likely to be able to write.

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

Perhaps for similar PR value, "the opponents" should compile a list of signatures of all those who don't want him back and free of all charges. Target, two million and one.

Why not? It is difficult to actually get a few million signatures though

Not so hard when you realise that the anti-Thaksinists are more likely to be able to write.

Maybe this will be the first time the Dems can actually beat the PTP fair and square, delivering what is expected of them given the kind of significant advantage you allude to in your post.

So far so good closer and closer, Big T will be home soon. The number one election agenda will have been acomplished

all of the thai family around me said before the election they would vote for yingLUCK (not) so that she could bring thakSIN back home and take over the reigns again.my thai teacher back home told our class that the majotity of farmers are fairly ignorant and believe all the bull that their told by the red leaders and living in the country this became very apparent very quickly.so expect to see thaksin sometime in the near future.bad luck for thailand will surely follow.

It's good to see your Thai teacher preaching reconciliation by stating that the majority of farmers are fairly ignorant. Did you ask him how and why he came to that conclusion? In fact did you even think about the fact that some Thai people other than farmers also support the Red Shirt faction and cast their vote for PTP. Or did you just accept it, as due to you living in the country you have quickly realised his "facts" are true and they support your opinion?

All is takes is one signature to request a pardon, but the request must be from a family member or the prisoner himself. The request must be certified that the requester is who he/she is reported to be.

If they hadn't had submitted millions of names, the request could have been certified ages ago.

What the Red Shirts thought was a very good plan ("see, we have millions wanting a pardon to be granted"), was actually a very stupid plan ("sorry, it's going to literally take years to certify each and every one of these signatures"). Now that it has been through the certification process, we can see that nearly half the Red Shirt signatures on it were bogus for one reason or another and only about half were able to be verified.

Still, besides the certification process, there's quite a few other criteria that the Red Shirts failed at with their petition, eg. the convicted has never spent any of his sentence behind bars, the convicted has never admitted guilt for his crimes, the convicted has never expressed remorse for his crimes.

In short, the pardon will never be approved.

That is the legal position precisely. The purpose of reviving this issue is not, however, to secure a pardon for the convicted felon directly. The intent is to be able to harping back to the petition as evidence that many Thais want him pardoned as a back drop to justify other future moves to bring him back with the conviction and all pending charges quashed and keep the issue in the news.

However long it takes, we must bring Thaksin the patriot home!

Fine!!! If he agrees to serve his prison sentence for assorted crimes first and stands trial on those others still pending.

On your calling him a patriot - a patriot doesn't steal billions from the people does he so I don't somehow think that he is patriotic in the slightest, not to Thailand anyway - maybe to all things Shinawatra!!!!!

All is takes is one signature to request a pardon, but the request must be from a family member or the prisoner himself. The request must be certified that the requester is who he/she is reported to be.

If they hadn't had submitted millions of names, the request could have been certified ages ago.

What the Red Shirts thought was a very good plan ("see, we have millions wanting a pardon to be granted"), was actually a very stupid plan ("sorry, it's going to literally take years to certify each and every one of these signatures"). Now that it has been through the certification process, we can see that nearly half the Red Shirt signatures on it were bogus for one reason or another and only about half were able to be verified.

Still, besides the certification process, there's quite a few other criteria that the Red Shirts failed at with their petition, eg. the convicted has never spent any of his sentence behind bars, the convicted has never admitted guilt for his crimes, the convicted has never expressed remorse for his crimes.

In short, the pardon will never be approved.

Love it when somebody who knows what they are talking about makes a comment.

I remember us debating on this forum over a year back on this subject, and some veiled comments from the establishment at the time as to the petition needing to be submitted to correct party (a hint that this hadn't even happened).

Usually, a "royal pardon" is exactly what it it's title suggests and means that it cannot be issued by a government department or the courts, it needs a certain further endorsement.

Quote from the Nation's article:

"The anonymous article in the latest edition of Maha Prachachon calls on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Pracha to follow the issue up with the Corrections Department, which oversees the royal pardon process and regulations."

So, next, the Corrections department would need to apply for such an endorsement, and since, as discussed, the application firstly needs to be submitted by the pardon-seeker or member of their family (well, I guess then Yingluck needs to perorm that duty!), and secondly the convicted needs to have spent some of their sentence behind bars, and admitted guilt and remorse for his crimes.

The current PM gonna be made to look even more of a laughing stock if she dare carry out the final step of a pardon request, since although the first part of the requirement would have been fulfilled, the second would definitely have not been.

However long it takes, we must bring Thaksin the patriot home!

patriot is an understatement...

Excellent work.

The Corrections Department does all the legwork and prepares all the lists of PRISONERS to be considered for Royal Pardon. Like a short list of recommended convicts (least likely to come back??).

The goal of this management of public perception and thinking looks more like an attempt to create the type of "PRESIDENTIAL" pardons used in the USA to per-emptively pardon guys not even convicted of anything yet like Ford did, Bush, did, etc.

I always thought it so funny that a guy who hasn't yet been convicted of doing anything wrong needed the leader of the country to "forgive" him for it.

What's wrong with this picture?

I seem to have lost something, anyone seen it?

All those who think this is a hollow victory for the Shinawats and their supporters are mistaken. Their goal is ultimately to get Thaksin cleared, get the money back (he was fined), and quite possibly get his butt back in the PM's seat. I didn't think the Thai people would allow these things to happen, particularly allowing the Red shirt heads (who unabashedly trashed Bangkok two years in a row - to become political players), but they've done so and more, in successive stages. It's as though the majority of Thais are saying loud and clear, "We know he's a cheat and a liar, but we like him, and we'll go along with every move to bring him back to full power. Plus we really like the promises that we'll all get more money. After all he's filthy rich, so he must be able to aid us in getting rich also." Few might remember this, but a popular belief among Thais, when T was running his first national campaign 9 years ago was: "He won't be corrupt, because he's already so rich." Sadly, many Thais still believe such idiotic ideas.

The other thing that a pardon produces is a public contempt or at least a disregard for all the efforts and decisions of the judiciary - including the thousands of hours of investigations and such. Puea Thai's new motto should be: "We Thumb Our Noses at the Judicial Process."

This one of course is not probably going anywwhere except it has PR value in being a hell of a lot of signatures and it reminds the opponents of Thaksin that there a lot of people who want him back

Perhaps for similar PR value, "the opponents" should compile a list of signatures of all those who don't want him back and free of all charges. Target, two million and one.

Why not? It is difficult to actually get a few million signatures though

Not so hard when you realise that the anti-Thaksinists are more likely to be able to write.

No comments about Thaksin, but living in the North for many years, I haven’t actually met any that could not read and write (Thai that is) people and class bashing again?? That attitude goes a long way for reconciliation and a better Thailand

Why stereotype everyone because they are not like you? Good hearts are healthier than a crippled mind

^ Best estimates put the illiteracy (can't read/write) total for Thailand at around 7 million.

If one doesn't get out much and interact with a cross-section of Thais, I can imagine one has never met any of these 7 million Thais.

I have.

.