Newspaper, Internet Site Gagged By Thaksin

[lomatopo]

http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/07Dec2005_news52.php

PM drops all lawsuits against rival

Friday's Sondhi show has nation guessing

Post reporters

All eyes will be on Manager Daily founder Sondhi Limthongkul this Friday when he again moderates his controversial talk show Muang Thai Rai Sapda (Thailand Weekly) in Lumpini park after the prime minister yesterday dropped all libel and civil cases against him and his associates.

Mr Sondhi is expected to focus on alleged government corruption and abuse of power, but leave the issue of royal power alone.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's lawyer Thana Benjathikul yesterday told the Criminal Court that Mr Thaksin no longer wanted to take legal action against Mr Sondhi, his talk show co-host Sarocha Porn-udomsak or Manager Group's media firms. He asked the court to drop the three libel cases against them.

The lawyer also asked the Civil Court to withdraw the three civil cases brought by Mr Thaksin against Mr Sondhi, Ms Sarocha and eight others. The suits sought two billion baht in compensation plus 7.5% a year interest.

The six cases were in connection with allegations made by Mr Sondhi that the prime minister abused power and was disloyal to the King.

Mr Thaksin's lawyer said His Majesty's birthday speech on Sunday, in which he advised the prime minister against over-reacting to critics, was the main reason the prime minister dropped the cases.

But Mr Thana said he will monitor the Thailand Weekly talk show and any other programmes criticising the government.

"Though the cases have been dropped, I'll check if there are unacceptable criticisms and unfair accusations. I'm not saying there will be no more lawsuits. No one should overstep the line because the constitution protects both sides. The media has every right to criticise the government, but individual rights must be protected," Mr Thana said.

Mr Sondhi's lawyer Suwat Apaipak reaffirmed a promise to Mr Thana that Mr Sondhi would not file a countersuit against the prime minister, saying his client had simply performed his duty as a member of the media.

"Once they stop, we are ready to stop, too, for the sake of national unity. Mr Sondhi said he holds no grudge against anyone. As the cases have been dropped, a court order barring dissemination of Thailand Weekly video CDs is considered null and void," he said.

Mr Suwat also quoted Mr Sondhi as saying he would still host his Thailand Weekly mobile talk show at Lumpini park on Friday. Mr Sondhi also meant to refute accusations by some newspapers that his dispute with Mr Thaksin was a hoax.

The lawyer said his client was not hoping for his talk show to return to Channel 9, but would be pleased if MCOT Plc board members Thongthong Chandrangsu, Rawat Chamchalerm and Mingkwan Saengsuwan apologised to him.

A source close to Mr Sondhi said the Manager Daily founder would tomorrow reaffirm his decision to host the talk show on Friday and focus on issues not yet clarified by the prime minister.

The issues are alleged corruption, the appointment of an ecclesiastical panel to act on behalf of the Supreme Patriarch and abuse of power for vested interests by those close to the prime minister.

Mr Sondhi will also unveil secrets about his former schoolmate, Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya, who had accused him of having an ulterior motive for criticising the prime minister.

Government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee quoted the prime minister as telling yesterday's cabinet meeting that he dropped all the cases against Mr Sondhi to demonstrate he was listening to criticism as the King had advised in his speech.

Mr Thaksin also apparently told all government agencies which had filed lese majeste charges against anyone to consider dropping the cases if it cannot be clearly established the offence took place.

Opposition Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the prime minister's withdrawal of the suits against Mr Sondhi would help improve the political atmosphere, adding it was improper to involve the monarch in any conflicts and court battles.

Chart Thai party leader Banharn Silpa-archa suggested the government put Mr Sondhi's talk show back on Channel 9 and form a panel to clarify any allegations.

[ratcatcher]

Opposition Leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the prime minister's withdrawal of the suits against Mr Sondhi would help improve the political atmosphere, adding it was improper to involve the monarch in any conflicts and court battles.

The above from lomatopo's post.

Make no mistake, Thaksin was well and truly humbled by the wise words uttered by H.M. the King.

He will now have to rethink a lot of his strategies that have up until today been based on wielding massive power and intimidation to anyone who stepped out of line with criticism. Discussing what H.M. said is not allowed and most interested parties will by now have read the translation.

As for Sondhi, he has lost some momentum with Thaksin's olive branch but he still has a lot of information about corruption and Thaksin's government that still needs to be aired. That he will do over the next month. Tomorrow's (9th December) rally in Lumpini Park will,IMHO be the make or break gathering. If many show he will be able to maintain his momentum, too few and he will fizzle and evaporate like a firework.

I personally wish him luck as someone needs to be tackling Thaksin on a one to one basis and it seems the politicians are unable or unwilling to do so as vocally.

Stay tuned.

[Sangsom]

Tonight there is another Sondhi show. I was thinking the wisest thing Thaksin could do is to show up there in person and directly respond to his queries and accusations. However one needs quite some courage to do that and I doubt if Thaksin could face up to this. However it would no doubt give him back a lot of credibility that he has lost now, particularly over the past few weeks.

Edited December 9, 2005 by Sangsom

[Jai Dee]

See also this thread.

[lomatopo]

Tonight there is another Sondhi show. I was thinking the wisest thing Thaksin could do is to show up there in person and directly respond to his queries and accusations. However one needs quite some courage to do that and I doubt if Thaksin could face up to this. However it would no doubt give him back a lot of credibility that he has lost now, particularly over the past few weeks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Unless the PM knows exactly what issues Sondhi will surface, and unless he could instantly, and without question, repudiate Sondhi's claims, he would be exposed to tremendous problems. What if Sondhi were to reveal some issue that the PM was completely unaware of? Say some minister or family member having done something bad? I'd say the PM would look very bad in such a situation. Another free plane ride scenario (revealed in a recent Sondhi show), involving both family and government favors, would be a nail in his coffin were he to be present and not be able to explain it. No, I think the PM should stay away, concentrate on his job and let the opposition exercise their right to address the public. Once Mercury is in a better position the PM can respond.

[Jai Dee]

OVERDRIVE: Say ‘cheese’ to the PM’s Google Earth

Editorial Opinion Published by The Nation on December 09, 2005

Am, Orr and Noi are office ladies working in downtown Bangkok. These good friends are hanging out together at a fast-food outlet near the Skytrain after another hard day’s work. Like many others, they can’t really make up their minds as to whether they should go to Lumpini Park to listen to Sondhi’s latest Friday talk show or go shopping at the just-opened Siam Paragon.

This is a big dilemma today not only for these ladies but also for many others living in the nation’s capital. They do care about the national problems, but they also love shopping. hel_l might break loose in Lumpini Park – nobody knows. But Siam Paragon, Southeast Asia’s largest mall, is a shopper’s paradise.

Am: So what should we do? I think we should all go to Lumpini Park to listen to Sondhi’s bashing of the prime minister. Otherwise we might look like fools.

Orr: Can’t we just buy Sondhi’s VCD and listen to him later on? I don’t want to miss the spectacle of the grand opening of Siam Paragon.

Noi: I’m not sure I want to go to Lumpini because I didn’t dress well and I don’t look good today. I’m afraid Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra might laugh at my appearance when he sees me on Google Earth.

Am: Don’t worry, you look fine. Just look at the sky and wave to the prime minister. You can even blow him a kiss if you like.

Orr: Do you think the quality of pictures of Google Earth is good enough? Can I order a print of a picture of me taken at Lumpini?

Am: Maybe. But you might want to call Government House to check on that. They might be offering a photo-printing service through a satellite network. I’ve heard that Khun Sita and Khun Suranand like to log on to Google Earth too. They are seriously preparing to count the heads of those attending the Sondhi rally today.

Orr: What for?

Am: It’s part of their job. If they can come up with a small figure, they’ll probably get an Interior portfolio from the prime minister. If they produce a big figure for the Sondhi rally, the prime minister will certainly give them a hard look that will send a shiver down their spines.

Noi: Still, I don’t want Sita and Suranand to laugh at me as they might compare me to Sarocha Pornudomsak. I don’t think I match her beauty. I think Google Earth will make Sarocha look more beautiful than ever.

Am: Khun Sondhi has pledged to attract some 500,000 people to his reality show. If 500,000 people really do show up at Lumpini, how would he know it? He just can’t do the counting on stage with Sarocha. Even if they really start counting, they won’t be finished by midnight.

Orr: That’s why the government needs Google Earth to do the counting. Technology doesn’t lie.

Noi: How do you know? Last time Khun Sondhi claimed that his reality show attracted more than 100,000 people. But our hi-tech PM said that Google Earth photos indicated that only about 7,000 to 8,000 turned up.

Orr: Who should we believe then? I think I trust the prime minister because he uses Google Earth, whereas Khun Sondhi might just do quick guesswork just to boost his image.

Am: I don’t know what’s going on with our country. We now have a farmer mob demanding debt forgiveness at Silom, a teacher mob in front of Parliament calling for an end of decentralisation, the Sondhi mob at Lumpini urging for regime change and the Siam Paragon mob that’s shopping like there’s no tomorrow.

Noi: How big are these mobs? What’s Google Earth telling the government?

Am: By the count it made using Google Earth, the government said it saw only about 500 farmers rallying in front of Bangkok Bank. That’s peanuts. But the teacher mob is a big deal – 50,000 showed up for that rally. Some of the teachers have burnt their Thai Rak Thai ID cards and vowed never to vote Thai Rak Thai again. Google Earth will be zooming into Lumpini this evening. I don’t think they need Google Earth to monitor the Siam Paragon mob.

Noi: Is thiswhat we call democracy? Should we belong to a mob to show that we are responsible citizens?

Orr: I’d rather be part of the Siam Paragon mob. As you know, I really want to check out the latest beauty products and see what’s on sale.

Noi: Come to think of it, I agree. It’s better that we go to Siam Paragon now. I’m not in the mood to have my picture taken by Google Earth.

Am: As you wish! We can leave the national problems and the mobs under the glaring eyes of Google Earth behind us for the moment. Let’s go shopping.

[OZONE]

This is what happened when you put CEOs or self-made billionaires at the top. Never trust businessmen to run a country effectively. They just can't. Politics and company politics are two different things.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good point. A good example of that would be the US vice president "Dick Cheney" and his company "Haliburten". What a disgrace to the country he is. I'm a republican and I hate this dual of Bush & Cheney. Shame Shame