Can PM Yingluck Win Over A Foreign Audience?

[metisdead]

A baiting post has been removed.

[birdpooguava]

She butchers the english language with appauling skill.

Brilliant!!

[Thai at Heart]

Where I do criticize her is that she continues to lead people to believe she earned a Master's Degree from an American university and that just isn't possible given her lack of English language ability. So that's got to be a lie, which any other world leader would have had to resign over.

So what was her degree at KSU if it wasn't a Master's Degree? Are you suggesting it was a different degree or that perhaps she didn't graduate at all? If you say she is being dishonest about this matter, you had better have some pretty good evidence.

She got a BA in Political Science at Chiang Mai Uni in 1988 and the MA in Public Administration from KSU in 1991.

love it. Arts degree in a science and a masters in public admin.

What the hell do you study in public administration? please dont tell me it teaches how to administer in public service. Please god no. a degree in david beckham studies would be more value.

[pastitche]

She butchers the english language with appauling skill.

Brilliant!!

You should perhaps learn to spell in the English language before you use appalling in that form. Edited March 19, 2012 by pastitche

[Jingthing]

Where I do criticize her is that she continues to lead people to believe she earned a Master's Degree from an American university and that just isn't possible given her lack of English language ability. So that's got to be a lie, which any other world leader would have had to resign over.

Perhaps one day, the actual thesis will be posted online... like her brother's was and which clearly reflects a level of English he has never demonstrated in real life and indicative of someone else writing it

Thaksin's "alleged" doctoral thesis:

https://docs.google....E5ZWRkODJj/edit

.

Are you suggesting that this is not his own work based on your assessment of his written English skills as opposed to your opinion of his oral skill? What else have you seen written in English by him?

Many of the posters on here are very critical of the standard of the universities that the Shinawatras attended but very few, apart from Jayboy, have disclosed which lofty seats of learning they graced with their presence; perhaps you could be next to tell us and encourage your confreres to do the same. Mine was the University of Edinburgh - and yours?

Where the members here went to school is completely irrelevant to the topic.

[pastitche]

Where I do criticize her is that she continues to lead people to believe she earned a Master's Degree from an American university and that just isn't possible given her lack of English language ability. So that's got to be a lie, which any other world leader would have had to resign over.

So what was her degree at KSU if it wasn't a Master's Degree? Are you suggesting it was a different degree or that perhaps she didn't graduate at all? If you say she is being dishonest about this matter, you had better have some pretty good evidence.

She got a BA in Political Science at Chiang Mai Uni in 1988 and the MA in Public Administration from KSU in 1991.

love it. Arts degree in a science and a masters in public admin.

What the hell do you study in public administration? please dont tell me it teaches how to administer in public service. Please god no. a degree in david beckham studies would be more value.

It might be valuable for your own understanding if you were to look at the syllabi of the many universities which offer these degrees and post-graduate qualifications before pronouncing your ignorance in public

[kawaiimomo]

This woman is just a puppet in her brother hands. What is incredible is that she didn't have a group of translators (specially japanese because they are a big economic force here). I wonder what kind of shitty team she has (probabibly friends of friends or family instead of paying for a qualified groups of experts [not htat they share her views but that thay can work professionally])

[theblether]

Give her a chance, she has been thrown to the wolves in the past 9 months, an almost impossible task. The amount of character asassination has been appaling and the pressure would crush anybody. Just give her a chance.

Good point, it's unrealistic for the leader of any country to have to demonstrate they are capable of doing the job they were elected to do. Poor dear needs some TLC.

It's quite obvious to anyone she was shoehorned into this job...........there are powers at play here that you well know that are beyond her control.

There have been multitude's of predictions as to the return of her brother etc, all wrong. There have been multitude's of predictions as to the inevitable melt down of Yingluck and her government, to this point, all wrong.

I would suggest to you that the Thai political situation is as stable just now as it has been for a long time, and whatever way you spell it, Yingluck has to get a bit of credit for that.

Quite frankly if she can survive until the next election without any mass demonstrations, blood on the streets, or military coups, that in itself would be an outstanding result.

I'm not an apologist for her or any faction in Thailand, but anyone with an interest knows that Thai politics is volatile at the best of times, knows the reality of how Yingluck was shoehorned into this position, and knows that it doesn't matter how much you think things are bad today, they could get a lot lot worse very rapidly.

Give her a chance.

[pastitche]

Where I do criticize her is that she continues to lead people to believe she earned a Master's Degree from an American university and that just isn't possible given her lack of English language ability. So that's got to be a lie, which any other world leader would have had to resign over.

Perhaps one day, the actual thesis will be posted online... like her brother's was and which clearly reflects a level of English he has never demonstrated in real life and indicative of someone else writing it

Thaksin's "alleged" doctoral thesis:

https://docs.google....E5ZWRkODJj/edit

.

Are you suggesting that this is not his own work based on your assessment of his written English skills as opposed to your opinion of his oral skill? What else have you seen written in English by him?

Many of the posters on here are very critical of the standard of the universities that the Shinawatras attended but very few, apart from Jayboy, have disclosed which lofty seats of learning they graced with their presence; perhaps you could be next to tell us and encourage your confreres to do the same. Mine was the University of Edinburgh - and yours?

Where the members here went to school is completely irrelevant to the topic.

It has been made relevant by the number of posters who have suggested that her Masters was worthless because of the university she attended and was probably bought. Do you believe that US academic institutions sell qualifications?

I do get tired of the constant comparison between Yingluck and Abhisit; he had the great fortune (because of his family's fortune) to attend the best Public School in England and the top university there. Since he spent his youth and early adulthood there, it is no surprise that English is in effect his first language.

It would be interesting, I believe, for those posters who consistently ridicule the qualifications of Yingluck and question how she obtained them to demonstrate that the degrees, masters, doctorates that they have are so superior by revealing where they obtained.

[Jingthing]

No, it's not relevant. She's a public figure. We're not.

[Buchholz]

Give her a chance, she has been thrown to the wolves in the past 9 months, an almost impossible task. The amount of character asassination has been appaling and the pressure would crush anybody. Just give her a chance.

Good point, it's unrealistic for the leader of any country to have to demonstrate they are capable of doing the job they were elected to do. Poor dear needs some TLC.

It's quite obvious to anyone she was shoehorned into this job...........there are powers at play here that you well know that are beyond her control.

She didn't have to accept the leadership.... she could have refused.... same as she did previously...

After the governing People's Power Party was dissolved and its executive board was banned from political activity on 2 December 2008, former People's Power Party MPs formed the Pheu Thai Party.

Yingluck was asked to become the leader of the party but she declined, stating that she did not want to be Prime Minister and wanted to focus on business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yingluck_Shinawatra

.

[hellodolly]

"Can the PM win over a foreign audience?" #1^

No problem, in spite of the opposition's hopes otherwise.

She is where she is legitimately as a democratically elected PM.

Her ability to calm the political waters in Thailand after her election, keeping her electoral base in tack and the Opposition nuetralized, is significant political achievement.

As for the charge she is a proxy for someone else, this doersn't fly either. All circumstances were fully declared and understood by the voters.

As a result she has no difficulties with Foreign audiences. I have seen many instances where significant international figures were only too happy to be photo-opped with the well respected and photogenic Thai Prime Minister.

"Doubts expressed over Yingluck's ability to 'think on her feet'

Only by those who would be advantaged, if such a perception found traction.

Her politiocal support has no such concerns, in fact they don't even think about it.

This is pure Opposition agenda.

"Top bureaucrats are going through some nail-biting moments as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra contemplates an invitation to attend an upcoming summit, the UN Conference on Trade and Development"

Says who?

The bureaucracy better be in line, recognizing their place vis-a-vis the political leadership.

Why not mention a name?....Who is biting his/her nails?

"Some bureaucrats fluent in English went as far as describing the performance as a "disaster".

Who?

Should this be true, this is more an indication of the PTP not cleaning house well enough after their electoral victory.

I have often heard accusations of the PTP electoral victory being followed by the installation of their "cronies'.

Should the above be true, obviously they didn't do enough, leaving some of Mr. Abhisit's cronies in place.

"Some think the invitation from Supachai was a trap so Yingluck can give the same mediocre performance as in Davos"

I have seen this frequently mentioned by the Oppositiuon media. This opinion stated as fact.

A little bit like saying the flood disaster management was not up to par. Another statement projected as fact, with no supporting data.

When compared to other Nations handling similar disasters of similar magnitude, Thailand's handling of it may be deemed exemplary.

When opposition accusations are expressed as fact, raises many red flags.

The same messages again....

-She is democratically elected so whatever she does is good.

-It's the opposition's fault

-It's the court's fault

-It's the military's fault

-It's .......fault

You talk like a red shirt leader.

He is a trolling red shirt leader so don't waste your time ...

You are exactly right WS. He is nothing but a troll.

Well ever one has a right to their opinion I personally think you are giving him to munch credit.

[monkfish]

Know a lot of Thai's who read and write almost perfect English some way better than me infact yet they can't speak one sentence of English.

Not sure why that is but I also read and write German and French very well but speaking is difficult.

In the future she stick to making public speaches in her mother toungue as many other government leaders do i.e Germany, France, Italy, Spain,Japan, China etc. etc.

Of course Marcs English is good it's his mother toungue isn't it?

[Thai at Heart]

Her wikI page she graduated from kentucky in management information systems. Hmmmmmm

[pastitche]

No, it's not relevant. She's a public figure. We're not.

Sorry JT I disagree - she is singled out repeatedly for her lack of English skills by people who can't spell and have difficulty in constructing grammatical English. I find that at least ironic. It's all part of the TVF syndrome - try to outperform each other in denigrating anything related to Thaksin because that will get the troops going. We both probably know who I mean; the semi-literates who think they have to post a contribution whether it adds to the debate or not. Many of those are the people who criticise her education; if they know anything about tertiary education then they are in a position to comment. I suspect however that many of them are not.

This of course will have me tarred as a PTP supporter when in fact all I am asking is why there is so much unproven nonsense spouted for effect here.

Incidentally you didn't answer my question - do you believe that US qualifications can be bought?

[rubl]

Know a lot of Thai's who read and write almost perfect English some way better than me infact yet they can't speak one sentence of English. Not sure why that is but I also read and write German and French very well but speaking is difficult. In the future she stick to making public speaches in her mother toungue as many other government leaders do i.e Germany, France, Italy, Spain,Japan, China etc. etc. Of course Marcs English is good it's his mother toungue isn't it?

K.Abhisit's parents are Thai, so Thai would be his mother tongue, even when having been born in England.

[AleG]

No, it's not relevant. She's a public figure. We're not.

Sorry JT I disagree - she is singled out repeatedly for her lack of English skills by people who can't spell and have difficulty in constructing grammatical English. I find that at least ironic. It's all part of the TVF syndrome - try to outperform each other in denigrating anything related to Thaksin because that will get the troops going. We both probably know who I mean; the semi-literates who think they have to post a contribution whether it adds to the debate or not. Many of those are the people who criticise her education; if they know anything about tertiary education then they are in a position to comment. I suspect however that many of them are not.

This of course will have me tarred as a PTP supporter when in fact all I am asking is why there is so much unproven nonsense spouted for effect here.

Incidentally you didn't answer my question - do you believe that US qualifications can be bought?

That is hardly fair, the difference between the average poster here and Yingluck is that she is Thailand's PM (at least putatively), a position of obvious public exposure, responsibilities and one could only hope meant for people of extraordinary caliber.

You are basically saying that criticism of her performance is restricted to those with the same or higher education, which frankly, it's rubbish.

A mundane analogy, sometimes my GF watches one of those singing competition programs on TV, once I complained about the ear piercing wailing and my GF told me I shouldn't criticize the singer because I sing worse than that; I said, that's right, but when I sing I do it at home, I don't do it on live TV.

[monkfish]

Know a lot of Thai's who read and write almost perfect English some way better than me infact yet they can't speak one sentence of English. Not sure why that is but I also read and write German and French very well but speaking is difficult. In the future she stick to making public speaches in her mother toungue as many other government leaders do i.e Germany, France, Italy, Spain,Japan, China etc. etc. Of course Marcs English is good it's his mother toungue isn't it?

K.Abhisit's parents are Thai, so Thai would be his mother tongue, even when having been born in England.

Well he was educated at Eton and whilst his parents lived in Newcastle I assume he spent most of his childhood at bording school speaking english and not Thai.

[rubl]

Know a lot of Thai's who read and write almost perfect English some way better than me infact yet they can't speak one sentence of English. Not sure why that is but I also read and write German and French very well but speaking is difficult. In the future she stick to making public speaches in her mother toungue as many other government leaders do i.e Germany, France, Italy, Spain,Japan, China etc. etc. Of course Marcs English is good it's his mother toungue isn't it?

K.Abhisit's parents are Thai, so Thai would be his mother tongue, even when having been born in England.

Well he was educated at Eton and whilst his parents lived in Newcastle I assume he spent most of his childhood at bording school speaking english and not Thai.

Your casual remark on 'Mark's mother tongue' is just as suspicious as other posters' comments on Ms. Yingluck's education in the States.

Mother tongue or 'first language'

"

A first language (also native language, mother tongue, arterial language, or L1) is the language(s) a person has learned from birth^[1] or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity. In some countries, the terms native language or mother tongue refer to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language.^[2] Sometimes, there can be more than one mother tongue, when the child's parents speak different languages. Those children are usually called bilingual.

By contrast, a second language is any language that one speaks other than one's first language."

http://en.wikipedia....i/Mother_tongue

Edited March 19, 2012 by rubl

[monkfish]

Know a lot of Thai's who read and write almost perfect English some way better than me infact yet they can't speak one sentence of English. Not sure why that is but I also read and write German and French very well but speaking is difficult. In the future she stick to making public speaches in her mother toungue as many other government leaders do i.e Germany, France, Italy, Spain,Japan, China etc. etc. Of course Marcs English is good it's his mother toungue isn't it?

K.Abhisit's parents are Thai, so Thai would be his mother tongue, even when having been born in England.

Well he was educated at Eton and whilst his parents lived in Newcastle I assume he spent most of his childhood at bording school speaking english and not Thai.

Your casual remark on 'Mark's mother tongue' is just as suspicious as other posters' comments on Ms. Yingluck's education in the States.

Mother tongue or 'first language'

"

A first language (also native language, mother tongue, arterial language, or L1) is the language(s) a person has learned from birth^[1] or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity. In some countries, the terms native language or mother tongue refer to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language.^[2] Sometimes, there can be more than one mother tongue, when the child's parents speak different languages. Those children are usually called bilingual.

By contrast, a second language is any language that one speaks other than one's first language."

http://en.wikipedia....i/Mother_tongue

Sorry to sound so casual but spending most of his childhood in an English boarding school means he would have been exposed to English more than Thai so I think the argument sticks.

P.S. How's your spoken English? perfect yet?

[yoshiwara]

Know a lot of Thai's who read and write almost perfect English some way better than me infact yet they can't speak one sentence of English. Not sure why that is but I also read and write German and French very well but speaking is difficult. In the future she stick to making public speaches in her mother toungue as many other government leaders do i.e Germany, France, Italy, Spain,Japan, China etc. etc. Of course Marcs English is good it's his mother toungue isn't it?

K.Abhisit's parents are Thai, so Thai would be his mother tongue, even when having been born in England.

Well he was educated at Eton and whilst his parents lived in Newcastle I assume he spent most of his childhood at bording school speaking english and not Thai.

Hopefully better than your written English.

I hope Yingluck's is better also.

Edited March 19, 2012 by yoshiwara

[ALFREDO]

She butchers the english language with appauling skill.

Brilliant!!

Should it not be written.

She butchers the english language with appalling skill?

I just realized, that my inexpensive -ASUS- Laptop, not only shows me, when I write something wrong, but on

-Google Translate- I can also let the Laptop talk complete sentences, articles ect.

My GF is sorry, I will use these opportunities intensive!

Edited March 20, 2012 by metisdead
Large font removed.

[theblether]

Give her a chance, she has been thrown to the wolves in the past 9 months, an almost impossible task. The amount of character asassination has been appaling and the pressure would crush anybody. Just give her a chance.

Good point, it's unrealistic for the leader of any country to have to demonstrate they are capable of doing the job they were elected to do. Poor dear needs some TLC.

It's quite obvious to anyone she was shoehorned into this job...........there are powers at play here that you well know that are beyond her control.

She didn't have to accept the leadership.... she could have refused.... same as she did previously...

After the governing People's Power Party was dissolved and its executive board was banned from political activity on 2 December 2008, former People's Power Party MPs formed the Pheu Thai Party.

Yingluck was asked to become the leader of the party but she declined, stating that she did not want to be Prime Minister and wanted to focus on business.

http://en.wikipedia....luck_Shinawatra

.

Here lies the nub of the problem, and forgive my ad hominem response.....................you don't know, and I don't know, the pressure she was put under.

Neither of us can answer for what has gone on behind closed doors. I would suggest to you that her response in 2008 was her genuine heartfelt response, her response last year was under duress.

That's how I read it, and I am prepared to be totally wrong............but I won't be alone in being wrong when it comes to Yingluck.

There is a contradiction at the heart of many of the arguments that posters put forward here on Thaivisa in regards to this lady, and it boils down to this one simple question.

Do you believe she is a puppet for her brother?...............if you believe yes, then the natural conclusion is that she was forced to stand for a job she did not want. That being the case, no wonder she is struggling under the weight of the job.

Do you believe she is not a puppet for her brother and she willingly sought the job as PM?...................if that is the case, and if that is true, then hell mend her, she better grow into the job quickly. Be careful what you ask for, as sometimes you get it.

So do you believe she asked for this job? I don't. I maintain though. as long as she can keep the country stable she will have done a worthwhile job. Some jobs are well nigh impossible, and I fear being PM of Thailand is one of them.

[OzMick]

Here lies the nub of the problem, and forgive my ad hominem response.....................you don't know, and I don't know, the pressure she was put under.

Neither of us can answer for what has gone on behind closed doors. I would suggest to you that her response in 2008 was her genuine heartfelt response, her response last year was under duress.

That's how I read it, and I am prepared to be totally wrong............but I won't be alone in being wrong when it comes to Yingluck.

There is a contradiction at the heart of many of the arguments that posters put forward here on Thaivisa in regards to this lady, and it boils down to this one simple question.

Do you believe she is a puppet for her brother?...............if you believe yes, then the natural conclusion is that she was forced to stand for a job she did not want. That being the case, no wonder she is struggling under the weight of the job.

Do you believe she is not a puppet for her brother and she willingly sought the job as PM?...................if that is the case, and if that is true, then hell mend her, she better grow into the job quickly. Be careful what you ask for, as sometimes you get it.

So do you believe she asked for this job? I don't. I maintain though. as long as she can keep the country stable she will have done a worthwhile job. Some jobs are well nigh impossible, and I fear being PM of Thailand is one of them.

ALL jobs are well nigh impossible for the incompetent (by definition). She could start with an understanding that Prime Minister is not the same as a President, and is expected to appear and take part in parliamentary debate.

[theblether]

Here lies the nub of the problem, and forgive my ad hominem response.....................you don't know, and I don't know, the pressure she was put under.

Neither of us can answer for what has gone on behind closed doors. I would suggest to you that her response in 2008 was her genuine heartfelt response, her response last year was under duress.

That's how I read it, and I am prepared to be totally wrong............but I won't be alone in being wrong when it comes to Yingluck.

There is a contradiction at the heart of many of the arguments that posters put forward here on Thaivisa in regards to this lady, and it boils down to this one simple question.

Do you believe she is a puppet for her brother?...............if you believe yes, then the natural conclusion is that she was forced to stand for a job she did not want. That being the case, no wonder she is struggling under the weight of the job.

Do you believe she is not a puppet for her brother and she willingly sought the job as PM?...................if that is the case, and if that is true, then hell mend her, she better grow into the job quickly. Be careful what you ask for, as sometimes you get it.

So do you believe she asked for this job? I don't. I maintain though. as long as she can keep the country stable she will have done a worthwhile job. Some jobs are well nigh impossible, and I fear being PM of Thailand is one of them.

ALL jobs are well nigh impossible for the incompetent (by definition). She could start with an understanding that Prime Minister is not the same as a President, and is expected to appear and take part in parliamentary debate.

I'm not her cheerleader..........and I agree she is doing all she can to avoid parliament, but even that shows that she is a conscript to this job. I truthfully believe she was effectively bullied into this position.

[Buchholz]

It's quite obvious to anyone she was shoehorned into this job...........there are powers at play here that you well know that are beyond her control.

She didn't have to accept the leadership.... she could have refused.... same as she did previously...

After the governing People's Power Party was dissolved and its executive board was banned from political activity on 2 December 2008, former People's Power Party MPs formed the Pheu Thai Party.

Yingluck was asked to become the leader of the party but she declined, stating that she did not want to be Prime Minister and wanted to focus on business.

http://en.wikipedia....luck_Shinawatra

Here lies the nub of the problem, and forgive my ad hominem response.....................you don't know, and I don't know, the pressure she was put under.

Neither of us can answer for what has gone on behind closed doors. I would suggest to you that her response in 2008 was her genuine heartfelt response, her response last year was under duress.

That's how I read it, and I am prepared to be totally wrong............but I won't be alone in being wrong when it comes to Yingluck.

There is a contradiction at the heart of many of the arguments that posters put forward here on Thaivisa in regards to this lady, and it boils down to this one simple question.

Do you believe she is a puppet for her brother?...............if you believe yes, then the natural conclusion is that she was forced to stand for a job she did not want. That being the case, no wonder she is struggling under the weight of the job.

Do you believe she is not a puppet for her brother and she willingly sought the job as PM?...................if that is the case, and if that is true, then hell mend her, she better grow into the job quickly. Be careful what you ask for, as sometimes you get it.

So do you believe she asked for this job? I don't. I maintain though. as long as she can keep the country stable she will have done a worthwhile job. Some jobs are well nigh impossible, and I fear being PM of Thailand is one of them.

I have no doubt that she was pressured by Thaksin to take the position after having had refused it, literally, for years.

Before the last election, much of the focus was on having his brother, Payup, take the position. This proved to be ultimately unacceptable to Thaksin as Payup had shown himself to be even more unsuitable. When his incompetence became so overwhelming evident, the focus was changed to his finding someone else. Thaksin, who was frustrated by the failure of Samak and Somchai administrations to do his bidding, was determined to have a blood relative to do his bidding for Thaksin, ver. 4.0 , and realizing that it was futile to pursue having Payup do the job, latched upon the notion of having Yingluck do so, despite the multiple times she had declined earlier. Thaksin, at his despicable best, abused his position to pressure her to accept.

Thaksin Shinawatra, on the subject of Yingluck Shinawatra...

" I raised her like my eldest daughter. "

Yingluck Shinawatra, on the subject of Thaksin Shinawatra...

She described Thaksin as her “second father”

- Bloomberg News

http://www.businessw...-investors.html

Ultimately, after a documented family conference in Dubai, which included her banned sister Yaowapa, amongst others in the clan, where undoubtedly others pressured her as well, she relented and accepted the nomination less than 2 months before the election.

Is she a puppet for Thaksin? Absolutely. It was clearly evident from the very beginning of her acceptance when he called her his clone. It is reinforced by all her previous work experience being associated with her brother's companies and her role in all the financial shenanigans the Shinawatra clan has conducted.

Do I believe she asked for the job? Absolutely not.

Where we differ is that I refuse to accept that she was "forced to stand for a job she didn't want." She was certainly prodded, urged, coerced, and manipulated into accepting the position by her "second father," but as a believer in free will, I don't accept she was "forced". As a 44 year-old mother, she has control over her own actions. She was not physically tortured to accept the position (or at least I hope Thaksin didn't go that far). Her son was not held captive until she accepted (again, another hope).

In the end, her capitulation to her brother's wish (which probably rose to the level of a demand during the Dubai family conference), her abandonment of what she wanted for herself, her caving in after refusing earlier... has put the country where it is now. All it took for her to avoid the predicament she finds herself in today..... was a simple, "no".

At the end of the day, she chose to become PM, she was not forced.

In doing so, she has to face the consequences of being responsible for her decision and being held accountable for what she accepted.

.

Edited March 20, 2012 by Buchholz

[mrtoad]

Having watched that interview, I have absolutely no idea what she was saying - her grasp of the English language is comical, her lack of depth in knowledge is even worse. At one point she was trying to push an ear phone into her ear, I wonder if this was a hotline to the DL in Dubai telling her what to say. Would certainly explain the dross coming out of her mouth.

[Thai at Heart]

Whether or not she can speak English fluently isn't a primary issue for her being able to do the job of PM of Thailand. However, it would undoubtedly be better if she then declined to be put front and centre in international forums such as the one in Davos. It doesn't matter that she may not know how to say what she thinks, in English, the problem is she now has everyone thinking, does she think anything at all?

It is one thing to be put into a job by your brother, it is another to overestimate your own abilities. It happens every day in business, but usually the system is set up so that the employees can cover for the boss. Problem is that there isn't anyone to hold Yingluck up above the tide. If anything, she may well be the best of a very bad bunch. I don't know about you, but this country probably desperately needs the banned 112 (or however many it is) to get back into government one minute after the bans end.

[hyperdimension]

I do get tired of the constant comparison between Yingluck and Abhisit; he had the great fortune (because of his family's fortune) to attend the best Public School in England and the top university there.

The Shinawatra family had (and still has) great fortune too. Why couldn't Yingluck attend a top university?

[lannarebirth]

Paper Mills exist in the USA but this would be the first example of a government institution of "higher learning" that I'm aware of that participates in that enterprise. Usually it is the domain of private commercial companies that can't get accreditation from any serious oversight body. I'm not sure which body gives KSU its accrediatation.

That said, KSU does have an "Asian Affairs Dept." whose director promises:

Asian Affairs

Kentucky State University has a program of residential study for International students, focusing on development of skills in English, exposure to American university academic content, and an experience of American culture

That isn't a sufficiently rigorous academic curriculum for any accreditaion body of which I am aware.