Korn Warns Thai Govt Not To Fall Into Thaksin 'Death Trap'

[scorecard]

Its so funny how Abhisit has been thrown under the bus. If Korn had been in Abhisit's place when Thaksin played his red riot anarchy endgame, it would be Abhisit that would now be touted as the intelligent great Thai hope.

The thread is about Korn and I commented specifically about Korn

However If a list of highly capable people is wanted, then I would quickly add Abhisit.

Edited January 3, 2012 by scorecard

[lungmi]

Korn is easily the most intelligent politician in Thailand. Your mindless comment was ill placed.

--------

Thaksin had a competent Finance Minister at the same level of K .Korn.

He was kicked out because he didn't accept the limitations prescribed by K. T.

All 'populist' measures must be useful for all Thai districts, not only for the departments of T. voters, his position.

[Jingthing]

Korn is easily the most intelligent politician in Thailand. Your mindless comment was ill placed.

--------

Thaksin had a competent Finance Minister at the same level of K .Korn.

He was kicked out because he didn't accept the limitations prescribed by K. T.

All 'populist' measures must be useful for all Thai districts, not only for the departments of T. voters, his position.

Great reminder. That was a totally disgusting policy of Thaksin.

[lungmi]

One of, if not the prime reason for Thaksin and the 'red hordes' attaining power, and hanging on to it, is the crass ignorance and gullibility of the up country electorate.

The main reason for the Democrat's unpopularity in that region of the country is down to their bitter medicine policies under Chuan in the late 90's.

The 'up country electorate' are not so stupid or gullible than you may think. There are actual reasons why they tend to vote the way they do that go beyond low intellect or being paid to vote.

Why only mention Chuan's government? He inherited a disastrous economy following Chavalit's mismanagement leading to the 1997 crisis & the devaluation of the Baht.

I agree that the 'up-country' people are not as stupid as portrayed but they are short-sighted in accepting hand-outs which do nothing for their long-term economic welfare.

The depth of the BOT after the 1997 crash is due yo Chavalit. And now the Thai taxpaxers have to pay for the megaprojects, M.T..projected.

[lungmi]

Sad comment: Chuan Leek Pai and Abhisit are not corrupt enough for Thai politics.

I met Chuan Leek Pai during the elections campaign last year on a market place: no visible security guards, speaking with everyone, no show off, honesty was his big point.

And many people believed him, asking him if he is the oncle of Yingluck (two days before at the same place to campaign)

[maidu]

Part of me is inclined to like the man, yet another part of me thinks he has his head in the clouds of academia, and leans too much on economic data. In order for a person to resonate on a national level with Thai people, they've got to be prepared to get some mud on their boots, and speak to ordinary Thais in language they understand.

Ordinary Thais want more money, more opportunities, less insistance on 'tea money' at every step of advancing.

I didn't see, in Mr. Korn's dissertation, any tangible suggestions for innovative ways forward. He can gaze in to his crystal ball and make some vague predictions (some of which are obvious), but being a spokesperson in the opposition, he's allowed to get more brazen and forthright. He doesn't have to mince words or sound haughty.

He says in the article, "The economic expansion in the US is also not good and will impact the Thai economy. " Was that a mis-print? What economic expansion is currently going on in the US? Maybe it should have read, "the economic expansion OF the US....."

[Skywalker69]

"He said" ... 8 times. Next step, SMS journalism. U 4 REALZ.

See you there.

Korn is easily the most intelligent politician in Thailand. Your mindless comment was ill placed.

+1

[ozzieman05]

One of, if not the prime reason for Thaksin and the 'red hordes' attaining power, and hanging on to it, is the crass ignorance and gullibility of the up country electorate.

The main reason for the Democrat's unpopularity in that region of the country is down to their bitter medicine policies under Chuan in the late 90's.

The 'up country electorate' are not so stupid or gullible than you may think. There are actual reasons why they tend to vote the way they do that go beyond low intellect or being paid to vote.

My Thai wife after I read your statement to her, would like to know how long you have lived in the Issan villages?

She lived there fo just under 30 years, and what you speak about is not what she has seen

Money and Face are number 1 and good judgement does not get you either

[AleG]

Agree, Korn is in the very small group of Thais who have shown that they could change Thailand for the better.

Shown what exactly?

The last government he was part of failed miserably. He failed miserably. A finance minister that presided over record levels of inflation, failed fiscal policy, poor economic performance and a budget that saw the poor cheated while the Army spent billions on divining rods, hot air balloons and rusty subs.

Or were his financial skills channeled into enriching Democrat MPs' personal wealth, which grew by an astonishing B4.3 Billion during his tenure?

For those who may take what you said as facts:

The first GT200 bomb "detectors" were procured during Thaksin's government, in fact Abhisit himself was the first PM (AFAIK) to plainly state that the things didn't work, the subs you say cost billions were never purchased and the blimp was rendered useless (not that it would had been tremendously useful to begin with IMHO) by the contractor not delivering the high resolution cameras it was supposed to have due to US restrictions on exports.

Someone else may want to tackle the economic points.

[Moruya]

Agree, Korn is in the very small group of Thais who have shown that they could change Thailand for the better.

Shown what exactly?

The last government he was part of failed miserably. He failed miserably. A finance minister that presided over record levels of inflation, failed fiscal policy, poor economic performance and a budget that saw the poor cheated while the Army spent billions on divining rods, hot air balloons and rusty subs.

Or were his financial skills channeled into enriching Democrat MPs' personal wealth, which grew by an astonishing B4.3 Billion during his tenure?

For those who may take what you said as facts:

The first GT200 bomb "detectors" were procured during Thaksin's government, in fact Abhisit himself was the first PM (AFAIK) to plainly state that the things didn't work, the subs you say cost billions were never purchased and the blimp was rendered useless (not that it would had been tremendously useful to begin with IMHO) by the contractor not delivering the high resolution cameras it was supposed to have due to US restrictions on exports.

Someone else may want to tackle the economic points.

There's no point to be honest. His other points are every bit as vaccuous.

Korn was viewed as a serious contender for the head if the IMF.

[hellodolly]

One of, if not the prime reason for Thaksin and the 'red hordes' attaining power, and hanging on to it, is the .

The main reason for the Democrat's unpopularity in that region of the country is down to their bitter medicine policies under Chuan in the late 90's.

The 'up country electorate' are not so stupid or gullible than you may think. There are actual reasons why they tend to vote the way they do that go beyond low intellect or being paid to vote.

You are not paying attention there is reasons.

1 money in their hand and.

2 crass ignorance and gullibility of the up country electorate

Edited January 3, 2012 by hellodolly

[hellodolly]

I really like the arrogance of a number of posters here. What they say is basically "Democrats lost because people are unable to recognize their intellectual superiority" Laughable !

The democrats had their chance, they blew it, they should show some humility and learn from their mistake instead of blaming everybody but themselves for their failure to win the last election.

The Democrats lost because the people were able to recognize their intellectual superiority.

To cover up their inferiority they voted against them.

May be you have not noticed it but Thai's as a rule do not recognize anything as better than them. they tend to ignore it unless they can find a way to hit back.

[hellodolly]

Yes, agreed, Korn is easily the most intelligent man in Thai politics.. Dems are lucky to have this guy..!

Really?

And the statement

Economic growth was a paltry 1.1 per cent last year, according to the Finance Ministry, he said. This is very low, and stemmed from the mismanagement of the flood crisis.

did not cause you to to go <deleted>?

Think about it. the brunt of the floods was in October, November. what about the 7 months of the year when the Democrts were in power with Mr. Korn running the finance ministry? Put aside your hatred of the PTP and look at it from the perspective that the economic restriction and pressure on growth occurred long before the PTP was elected. This is cheap politics, of pointing the finger of blame so as to avoid having to be held responsible for the situation while the Democrats were in power. The PTP did not change economic policies as soon as they were elected. The Democrat budget was still in effect even after the PTP was elected. The PTP hadn't even brought in its budget when the weakened numbers started appearing.

Unlike some people here, I'm not going to blame Korn for the numbers even though it was his budget that produced the numbers. The ongoing economic issues in the rest of the world were a large factor. energy prices started increasing and for an energy importer like Thailand, it's a killer.

gt you are using sound judgement for a change it looks good on you. Mind you the rest of the Thaksinites will hold it against you.

"Unlike some people here, I'm not going to blame Korn for the numbers even though it was his budget that produced the numbers. The ongoing economic issues in the rest of the world were a large factor. energy prices started increasing and for an energy importer like Thailand, it's a killer"

Common sense.

I don't have the figures to hand but I would bet that 1.1% growth was better than most other countries can say.

[MaiChai]

I am predicting this government will be as inept as the other Taksin puppet governments. Eg the cook and the brother inlaw governments.

It will interesting to see if the current finance minister can respond to Korns comments?

[dominique355]

I really like the arrogance of a number of posters here. What they say is basically "Democrats lost because people are unable to recognize their intellectual superiority" Laughable !

The democrats had their chance, they blew it, they should show some humility and learn from their mistake instead of blaming everybody but themselves for their failure to win the last election.

You mean, the Dem didn't have enough populistic (short term) policies, which the stupid people believe to be intelligent and the intelligent people believe to be stupid?

Since the majority (of stupids) rules, the Dems lost. (Vox populi vox dei or Vox populi vox bovi).