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Govt Aims To Amend Charter To Facilitate Thaksin's Return


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WATCHDOG

Govt aims to amend charter to facilitate Thaksin's return

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

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The Yingluck government is planning to start the process of amending the Constitution after the New Year.

According to Dr Weng Toji-rakarn, a party-list MP of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, draft legislation to amend the charter is now ready for Cabinet consideration.

There will also be a national assembly of charter drafters, called Sor Sor Lor 3, similar to two previous assemblies set up to draft the 1997 and 2007 charters.

Sor Sor Lor 3's task is to nullify articles added to the current charter following the 2006 coup detat.

This attempt will be highly politically divisive, as critics and opponents of the government will likely mount strong opposition to any such alterations. This could lead to another round of political confrontations between the pro- and anti-Thaksin Shinawatra groups.

Ex-premier Thaksin, the older brother of Prime Minister Yingluck, reportedly hopes that a sweeping revamp of the current charter will re-set his political time machine. His wish is that the after-effects of the 2006 coup that overthrew his government will be nullified via the constitutional amendment being prepared by his sister's administration.

The former premier is currently a fugitive, avoiding a two-year jail term handed down for abuse of powers under the national anti-corruption law while he was in office.

In addition, more than Bt40 billion of his wealth was confiscated by the state during the tenure of the previous Abhisit Vejjajiva government, after the Supreme Court on political offences ruled that he had abused his powers for personal and family benefits.

The Bt40-billion-plus asset confiscation by the state was a big chunk of the funds resulting from the sale of a controlling stake in Thaksin's Shin Corp to Temasek Group of Singapore.

The Supreme Court ruled that the ex-premier had misused his powers to benefit the stock rating of Shin Corp while he was in office.

Shin Corp's subsidiaries include AIS, the country's largest mobile phone operator, and Shin Satellite, which holds a state concession on satellite services.

However, despite the government's apparent enthusiasm, constitutional amendments to undo all these barriers to Thaksin's return to Thailand will be a Herculean and time-consuming task. There will be several hurdles to cross, including a national referendum on politically explosive issues concerning the integrity of the country's judicial system.

At this stage, Dr Weng, a leader of the pro-Thaksin red-shirt movement, says that such a referendum will allow voters to choose between the 1997 charter and the current 2007 charter.

Weng also noted that the role of independent bodies such as the Election Commission, and other crucial issues, would be reviewed during the process of amending the current charter.

This fresh attempt to amend the Constitution follows a botched bid to seek a royal pardon for Thaksin on the occasion of His Majesty the King's December 5 birthday celebration.

Besides the two-year jail term resulting from violation of the national anti-graft law, Thaksin would also face another three or four criminal lawsuits pending in court if he does eventually return to Thailand.

As a result, the ex-premier may prefer constitutional amendments to other methods, hoping that his grassroots support of 15 million voters in the last general election will help ensure success.

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-- The Nation 2011-12-17

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Posted

Please remember the crimes committed by Thaskin

Where committed before the Coup

Exactly. The good coup was to get rid of him for the crimes he did before the coup.

Posted

Is this a step closer for the army to kick in?

Hopefully.....this Red Shirt bunch of crooks are really showing their true colours now. Democracy, yeah right. :angry:

Posted

Is this a step closer for the army to kick in?

i definitely think that changing your countrys constitution for the benefit of one convicted criminal is a great idea. the prime minister never knows what's happening regarding her brother the criminal, she

is always" just finding out about" some measure being taken by one of her henchmen. i believe that although the army couldn't do much worse democracy must prevail, people everywhere get the governments they deserve. the people here REALLY deserve what they are seeing now.

Posted

The only words that would describe this government are stupid , foolish, incompetent idiots, if this go's ahead.:bah:

I wonder if this reflect the kind of voters that put them in government in the first place?

Posted

Surely another coup is in the hatching..... Military rule is a much better option than PTP and their Red Shirt private army...

Well with the red villages and the military style red shirts the question is if we have a Red Army dictatorship or the green Army.

The Surayud government was slow and ineffective but it didn't do anything bad, there was no major corruption, no one got beaten up for their political ideas.

So a coup is the best thing that can happen....

Posted

Reading the sorts of comments that have been posted above expressing desire for military coups it is no wonder so many foreigners are despised by the Thais.

If it turns bloody and the military start to put the boot in, which has happened so many times before, you can always go home right?

Posted

...

So a coup is the best thing that can happen....

A coup won't solve anything. All it will do is put things off for a couple of years, IF things don't go pear shaped before that.

The only way for things to get better are for the people to learn, and the only way they will learn is for them to experience.

Things will get worse before they get better.

Posted

The worlds human rights watchdogs do monitor and bring to world attention those commanders whose troops go on a rape/pillage/killing rampage. The civilian/elected governments who do essentially the same, seem to take longer to be confronted with their disregard for the public they are suppose to represent. In some cases neither group is ever brought to justice, in this life.

Posted

...

So a coup is the best thing that can happen....

A coup won't solve anything. All it will do is put things off for a couple of years, IF things don't go pear shaped before that.

The only way for things to get better are for the people to learn, and the only way they will learn is for them to experience.

Things will get worse before they get better.

how long should the people learn? Shorter or longer than in say North Korea or in Soviet empire (50 years) ?

Posted

Reading the sorts of comments that have been posted above expressing desire for military coups it is no wonder so many foreigners are despised by the Thais.

If it turns bloody and the military start to put the boot in, which has happened so many times before, you can always go home right?

Almost all Thais I know either like the Army or at least don't care. The last military coup wasn't bloody, or?

Posted

Reading the sorts of comments that have been posted above expressing desire for military coups it is no wonder so many foreigners are despised by the Thais.

If it turns bloody and the military start to put the boot in, which has happened so many times before, you can always go home right?

its ok my man taksin will come back save world and welcome a saint Oh I forgot he is a saint If you get your wish Taksin will make sure it turns very bloody so he can totally get a 100% grip on power here On other hand even those who support this megalomaniac will then see him for what he is and shame on them for such support of a evil nasty would be Mugabwie bah.gif

Posted

Reading the sorts of comments that have been posted above expressing desire for military coups it is no wonder so many foreigners are despised by the Thais.

If it turns bloody and the military start to put the boot in, which has happened so many times before, you can always go home right?

Foreigners are looked upon jealously for their wealth, not looked down upon for their political views. If all the foreigners that showed up here were dirt poor, the wealthy Thais here would give them the same amount of thought they do for a soi dog walking past.......

Regarding coups, Thailand has had 18 of them, showing they really seem to like them. Most of them occurring long before any real foreigner presence here. Not really sure that TV posters are blood thirsty. I think what they are truly afraid of, including myself, is that the return of Thaksin that may morph into a full on dictatorship as he slowly increases his stranglehold on the country. Compared to that, a coup certainly seems more agreeable....I witnessed one of the " drug crackdown" executions, and my contempt for Thaksin knows no bounds. And by the way when he returns and consolidates his power, there will not be any more critical posts of him on ThaiVisa...... I can see the new forum rule now. :D

1. Effective immediately, any posts or comments considered critical of Khun Thaksin or his immediate family, will be not be tolerated and removed at once.

Posted

They want a referendum because they know they can buy the people's support with Thaksin's money. The referendum will be a corrupt affair.

Posted

...

So a coup is the best thing that can happen....

A coup won't solve anything. All it will do is put things off for a couple of years, IF things don't go pear shaped before that.

The only way for things to get better are for the people to learn, and the only way they will learn is for them to experience.

Things will get worse before they get better.

how long should the people learn? Shorter or longer than in say North Korea or in Soviet empire (50 years) ?

The 2006 good coup did a good job in keeping the criminal thaksin out of Thailand.

Posted

A coup won't solve anything. All it will do is put things off for a couple of years, IF things don't go pear shaped before that.

The only way for things to get better are for the people to learn, and the only way they will learn is for them to experience.

Things will get worse before they get better.

how long should the people learn? Shorter or longer than in say North Korea or in Soviet empire (50 years) ?

If it takes them that long to learn, then what can you do? But I would expect they would learn in less time than that.

They certainly won't learn if there is a coup.

Posted

Being a convicted criminal is obviously no problem at all in Thailand,

as long as you divert enough money into your pockets.

That at least is the impression Yingluck, Chalerm etc. give to the people.

Posted

All this talk of an Army Coup is foolish.

Why are the Reds arming themselves and militarizing themselves?

it's to protect themselves against the Army, and certain Army units are certain to follow the Reds too.

If the Army steps in there will be a bloody civil war.

Toxsin doesn't care about how many people die and the damage it's done to Thailand as long as he can 'come back' and save face.

Welcome to the Communist dictatorship of Thailand......

It won't affect me or my family as most of our income derives from outside Thailand but I feel for the millions of poor Thai's that believed the bullsh*t peddled by the red propaganda machine.

Posted

Being a convicted criminal is obviously no problem at all in Thailand,

as long as you divert enough money into your pockets.

That at least is the impression Yingluck, Chalerm etc. give to the people.

Isn't it amazing the name Chalerm rhymes with Worm ...... Maybe there is something in that.....

Posted

The only words that would describe this government are stupid , foolish, incompetent idiots, if this go's ahead.:bah:

I wonder if this reflect the kind of voters that put them in government in the first place?

I would agree with that sentiment, the Thai people, like everywhere else, get what they deserve, end of story, mind you the talent is pretty soft in most places in the world, from what I can see. :D

Posted

Reading the sorts of comments that have been posted above expressing desire for military coups it is no wonder so many foreigners are despised by the Thais.

If it turns bloody and the military start to put the boot in, which has happened so many times before, you can always go home right?

Foreigners are looked upon jealously for their wealth, not looked down upon for their political views. If all the foreigners that showed up here were dirt poor, the wealthy Thais here would give them the same amount of thought they do for a soi dog walking past.......

Regarding coups, Thailand has had 18 of them, showing they really seem to like them. Most of them occurring long before any real foreigner presence here. Not really sure that TV posters are blood thirsty. I think what they are truly afraid of, including myself, is that the return of Thaksin that may morph into a full on dictatorship as he slowly increases his stranglehold on the country. Compared to that, a coup certainly seems more agreeable....I witnessed one of the " drug crackdown" executions, and my contempt for Thaksin knows no bounds. And by the way when he returns and consolidates his power, there will not be any more critical posts of him on ThaiVisa...... I can see the new forum rule now. :D

1. Effective immediately, any posts or comments considered critical of Khun Thaksin or his immediate family, will be not be tolerated and removed at once.

Yes sir???:D

Posted

How will changing the constitution help Kun Thaksin? His problems stem from criminal prosecutions for laws that are older than the current constitution. Reverting to old constitutions will not change those laws or how they are interpreted.

Posted

If he had any honor or respect for the rule of law, he could have already been back home and "actively" back in the political mix instead of playing puppet master from abroad. All he had to do was spend a couple years (more than likely months, if not weeks) in a Thai jail (more than likely with special accommodations). How anyone can still respect a person like this is beyond belief.

Posted

If he had any honor or respect for the rule of law, he could have already been back home and "actively" back in the political mix instead of playing puppet master from abroad. All he had to do was spend a couple years (more than likely months, if not weeks) in a Thai jail (more than likely with special accommodations). How anyone can still respect a person like this is beyond belief.

Never underestimate how much some people suck up to power and money. Morality just doesn't get into it, history is plagued with caudillos that drive nations to their ruin on their ego trips; there's never a shortage of minions to follow them.

Posted

A coup won't solve anything. All it will do is put things off for a couple of years, IF things don't go pear shaped before that.

The only way for things to get better are for the people to learn, and the only way they will learn is for them to experience.

Things will get worse before they get better.

how long should the people learn? Shorter or longer than in say North Korea or in Soviet empire (50 years) ?

If it takes them that long to learn, then what can you do? But I would expect they would learn in less time than that.

They certainly won't learn if there is a coup.

No millions of dead people aren't worth it

Posted

...

So a coup is the best thing that can happen....

A coup won't solve anything. All it will do is put things off for a couple of years, IF things don't go pear shaped before that.

The only way for things to get better are for the people to learn, and the only way they will learn is for them to experience.

Things will get worse before they get better.

how long should the people learn? Shorter or longer than in say North Korea or in Soviet empire (50 years) ?

Have you EVER visited to those 2, to be able to speak about the things there?

FYI, the things there are much MUCH better than here in TH.

Say, the majority of soviet ppl just crying for good old times to be back - but instead, they have the circus of clowns called themselves "a current democratically elected govt".

And...another coup is very close there as well. The Communist party has doubled their supporters within last 4 years, while "democratic" one has lost 2/3 of supporters, as seen on the last election.

Don't talk the things you never learned, bro.

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