Abhisit vows to make Thailand Asean hub

The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK:-- Opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday affirmed his party would lead Thailand to become the No 1 country in Asean by restructuring the country's social, economic and political sectors.

During the party seminar "Join forces to restructure Thailand", Abhisit said to achieve the goal, the Democrat Party proposed building four social pillars: reconciliation society, knowledge society, welfare state, and fair society.

"Reconciliation must start from the family institution and should not be achieved through force, or majority vote, and threat. The Democrats plan education reform that will bring about a knowledge society in which the quality of education will not drop, as is happening. The welfare state will be created with sustainability. The fair society will be achieved through fair management of rights and natural resources,'' he said.

The party's restructuring plan also includes strengthening the economic sector by empowering farmers with systematic management, building a creative economy in which income is made not by selling labour but knowledge and creativity. Economic development must be environmentally friendly. Afforestation will be implemented across the country to prevent flooding.

To create political stability, the party proposes building a strong democracy by allowing freedom of expression and free media, including creating an anti-corruption network and calling for transparency in state projects.

To make Thailand an economic hub of Asean, Abhisit said a logistics and transportation network must be established, for instance developing a high-speed train from South China to Singapore.

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai Party deputy spokesperson Sunisa Lertpakawat said she believed the Democrats have lost touch with reality by proposing strategies to develop the country that have no specific target and lack details. "The Democrat plan focuses only on winning elections but they have not touched on political morality and ethics. Their plan is only to bring Abhisit, their leader back to power,'' she said.

Sunisa said the Democrat Party planned to spend more than Bt151 million to win the next election by building a network of canvassers under its strategies to return to power.

-- The Nation 2012-04-01

Hub hub hub hub.

Did any of the other countries get asked if they want Thailand to become the hub of asean?

"The Democrat plan focuses only on winning elections but they have not touched on political morality and ethics

As if the PTP even knows the definition of political morality and ethics much less has any. Her party is the epitome of moral decay.

This wantabe looser is still trying to be a player. Something hes not and never will be.

Hubba Hubba

"During the party seminar "Join forces to restructure Thailand", Abhisit said to achieve the goal, the Democrat Party proposed building four social pillars: reconciliation society, knowledge society, welfare state, and fair society."

How cute! Blah blah blah ad infinitum...I want the two minutes of my life back that it took to read this nonsense.

This wantabe looser .......

So logically if abhisit wants to lose that must mean he is a winner??

"During the party seminar "Join forces to restructure Thailand", Abhisit said to achieve the goal, the Democrat Party proposed building four social pillars: reconciliation society, knowledge society, welfare state, and fair society."

How cute! Blah blah blah ad infinitum...I want the two minutes of my life back that it took to read this nonsense.

So true, everytime I read of a new policy irresepctive of it being Dem, PTP ot any of the others....I just think <deleted> if that will ever happen. Sadly in Thai politics the term polcy is only a word, not a means to improve peoples lives. Or is that too cynical for a Sunday??

I like the basic idea of what he is trying to achieve, especially the bit about improving the quality of education. But This is Thailand, and I am sure the powers that be will see to it that it never happens. After all, an educated electorate would be much more difficult to control, and much more difficult to continuously pull the wool over their eyes.

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai Party deputy spokesperson Sunisa Lertpakawat said she believed the Democrats have lost touch with reality by proposing strategies to develop the country that have no specific target and lack details. "The Democrat plan focuses only on winning elections but they have not touched on political morality and ethics. Their plan is only to bring Abhisit, their leader back to power,'' she said.

Sunisa said the Democrat Party planned to spend more than Bt151 million to win the next election by building a network of canvassers under its strategies to return to power.

Wow, what a moutfull of lies from PTP. I have never seen or heard of any plan for anything from the Thaksin group that gave specific details. And the PTP don't focus only on winning elections? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. EVERY political party has as it's main goal to win the election.

I wonder how much the PTP re-election budget is?

Either way, I would put more faith in Abhisit actually trying to accomplish what he outlines than I would anything that came out of Thaksin's, or any PTP politician's mouth. The main problem Abhisit would have would be Thaksin and the PTP doing their utmost to twart anything constructive the Democrats were to try to accomplish.

This wantabe looser is still trying to be a player. Something hes not and never will be.

You are right, he is far too honest to be a Thai politician.

This wantabe looser is still trying to be a player. Something hes not and never will be.

You are right, he is far too honest to be a Thai politician.

I recall the case of Victor Bout where he had no problem lying and sending him to a country which tortures him even he had done no crime in Thailand.

So it is not that far with being honest.

April Fools Day today so it could be a joke but then with Thai politics every day could be the first day of april.

Abhisit shakes hands with Than Shwe [aka the Devil] several months prior to the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. He'd just signed off on the port construction project that is now mired in controversy for the way villagers have been forced off their land. This is Abhisit's vision in practice.

oh my god ...not ANOTHER HUB.........its getting that way where are small booklet needs to printed entitled "HUBS in Thailand where to find, where to go...A guide for tourists and locals alike"

"To create political stability, the party proposes building a strong democracy by allowing freedom of expression and free media, including creating an anti-corruption network and calling for transparency in state projects".

Considering his Coup association and R'song baggage, I just cannot envison a 'pathway for his return' to political leadership outside his own narrow political base or via "special arrangements". He embodies 'political instability', so hard to see how he would achieve the opposite. I still see the 'flip flops' with his and Suthep's face on them, being used extensively. Hard to rise from that level politically. For these reasons, I don't understand why the Democrats don't take a page from Western Democracies and go through a Leadership contest, culminating in a Convention. There must be politically untainted, brighter lights in that Party who might shine, going through such a process....To me that is a no-brainer.

This wantabe looser is still trying to be a player. Something hes not and never will be.

You are right, he is far too honest to be a Thai politician.

I recall the case of Victor Bout where he had no problem lying and sending him to a country which tortures him even he had done no crime in Thailand.

So it is not that far with being honest.

Ever heard of "extradition"? You don't need to commit a crime in a country to be sent to another country to be judged on it.

Besides that, what was Abhisit's lie regarding Bout? And when was Bout tortured in the US?

Posts using derogatory nicknames or intentional misspelling of people’s names will be deleted. If you don’t want your post to be deleted, spell people’s names correctly.

"The Democrat plan focuses only on winning elections but they have not touched on political morality and ethics

As if the PTP even knows the definition of political morality and ethics much less has any. Her party is the epitome of moral decay.

I must admit, it was this line, with the PTP-spokesperson criticising the Dems for not touching on political ethics or morals, and only being interested in putting a former-PM back into power, which had me wondering whether this story might not be an April-Fools-Day wind-up !

well this must be the aprils fools day joke ?

Why not just settle for being ineffective crackdown hub of ASEAN? LOL.

This wantabe looser is still trying to be a player. Something hes not and never will be.

Before you wind yourself up over your morning coffee, have a look at the date today....

Grumpy old men tend to forget there is a day, where the rest of the world pulls their legs..

"The Democrat plan focuses only on winning elections but they have not touched on political morality and ethics

As if the PTP even knows the definition of political morality and ethics much less has any. Her party is the epitome of moral decay.

I must admit, it was this line, with the PTP-spokesperson criticising the Dems for not touching on political ethics or morals, and only being interested in putting a former-PM back into power, which had me wondering whether this story might not be an April-Fools-Day wind-up !

Yup - was it 2 days ago, that the Dems was being put on the spot for not wanting to reconcile ?

This wantabe looser .......

So logically if abhisit wants to lose that must mean he is a winner??

Never thought of it that way, so logically yes. But he's still a looser.

This wantabe looser is still trying to be a player. Something hes not and never will be.

You are right, he is far too honest to be a Thai politician.

Surely you can't actually mean that. He's as corrupt as anyone in the government. He did nothing while in office except help himself and his fello Bangkokans and hi-so's.

I like the PTP policy on ASEAN, you know, the one that involves hundreds of thugs invading the hotel that is hosting the meetings and sending the various delegates scampering back to their own countries. I wonder what the red shirt reaction to some yellow shirts attempting to drag Yingluck from an automobile and assaulting her would be.

This wantabe looser is still trying to be a player. Something hes not and never will be.

You are right, he is far too honest to be a Thai politician.

I recall the case of Victor Bout where he had no problem lying and sending him to a country which tortures him even he had done no crime in Thailand.

So it is not that far with being honest.

Although, I would like to bash Abhisit, on this you are wrong. Viktor Bout was not tortured. Mr. Bout did however, support those that did torture in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire. Mr. Abhisit had no choice in the matter as he faced very strong pressure from the west.

"The Democrat plan focuses only on winning elections but they have not touched on political morality and ethics

As if the PTP even knows the definition of political morality and ethics much less has any. Her party is the epitome of moral decay.

Really? Decay goes hand in hand with weakness, deterioration and collapse. The PTP has been growing in strength, solidifying gains and attracting new supporters. It is how they won the past election. As the economy recovers and Thailand probably gets through flood season with minimal damage this year, you will see a surge in support. The PTP faced a rough start inheriting a weak economy and getting hit with the floods. With time. the PM has steered a steady course winning the hearts and minds of the population.

"With time. the PM has steered a steady course winning the hearts and minds of the population" #27^

That is true, but even more impressive to me, has been the retention of her political support base. The centrist path she chose, mollifying, emasculating and avoiding 'the mud' with significant and powerful elements of the opposition, while retaining that support, seemed impossible to me. But she continues to do it.

'for instance developing a high-speed train from South China to Singapore.'

That would be a very interesting project if it could be implemented

"With time. the PM has steered a steady course winning the hearts and minds of the population" #27^

That is true, but even more impressive to me, has been the retention of her political support base. The centrist path she chose, mollifying, emasculating and avoiding 'the mud' with significant and powerful elements of the opposition, while retaining that support, seemed impossible to me. But she continues to do it.

Her job is to provide the lipstick on the pig.