Democrats To Write To Us Congress About Thaksin

[ggold]

It's in the timing of the letter, by the time it gets to John Kerry! Thaksin would have left the USA so no real need to take any notice of the letter yet alone act on it.

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[animatic]

US congressional members and their staff (who are the ones who might read such letters), are more concerned about upcoming US elections. However, they do care for Thailand. Most see Thais as nice people who inhabit a little country which is in a strategic spot near China. And they're of the generation who remember Thailand allowed US jets to base here during the VN war, and enabled monthly gaggles of horny guys to go apeshit with spending money on pretty girls.

Thai Dems and anyone else who might be interested in the fact that the US broke its own rules to enable T to travel to enter the US, should probably have written such warning letters earlier.

The bottom line is, there's a Shinawatre as head of gov't and another Shinawatre running the show, and a majority of Thai voters chose them. It's not much concern (for US politicians) whether those voters were paid to vote and/or promised they'd get rich. The US likes Thailand, partly because it has a semblence of democracy and it's friendly towards the US. When your enemies are so gnarly (like Iran and N.Korea) you tend to be forgiving with your friends.

Senator John Kerry is a Viet nam vet and no doubt did R n R in Thailand, and remembers Thailand fondly.

I've met him and he is a good and thoughtful man.

Whether it is in USA's interests to expend much energy on Thaksin is another issue.

He is just one of many blips on the foreign policy scene.

[Jingthing]

Yes, Kerry is a good man. Too bad he got Swift boated.

[kimamey]

I would have thought this was rather dangerous territory for the Democrats.Since they have never been committed to an in depth investigation of the events of 2010 it would seem odd to ask a foreign power to consider just one part of it (the allegations against Thaksin) when the actions of their own leaders (Abhisit, Suthep) and the brutal generals remain unscrutinised.I don't for a moment believe the US Congressional Committee will take much notice of the Democrats' silly grandstanding but hypothetically the Americans might just start asking some questions about the deaths of civilians that the Dems prefer not to examine.

If memory serves me correctly, not only have the Dems in question not fled the country to live in exile but they have repeatedly refused amnesty and made themselves freely available for investigators.

Now if you compare that to the other side.....

Jayboy clearly doesn't read this forum much if he thinks there's no investigation into the events of 2010. I seem to remember one story that said there was proof that Abhisit and Suthep were responsible for the orders. Seems strange that nothing has been done about it yet if that's the case. In fact the only people who seem to actively want to avoid any accountability for the actions of Abhisit and Suthep are Thaksin and the present government who want to give up on justice for those that were killed so Thaksin can avoid his prison sentence.

I don't know if any orders to kill were given and although I would say that I think Abhisit one of the better politicians in Thailand if he's done something wrong then deal with it correctly and get on with it.

Given that as far as I know Abhisit and Suthep have cooperated with the investigation it makes me wonder why nothing appears to be happening. Could it be that Thaksin wants to get his sentence out of the way before it's discovered what the true roles of himself, Abhisit and Suthep were in 2010.

I must admit I don't know why they've waited so long to send a letter.

Edited August 19, 2012 by kimamey

[Buchholz]

I don't think there have ever been any charges against Thaksin for Terrorism, only allegations.

He has been charged and an arrest warrant has been issued in this potential death penalty case.

Thaksin Faces Thai Terrorism Charges

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704026204575265750458640676.html

Yup the elite want him back to face the death penalty.Strange that they already paid him back a chunk of his confiscated wealth.Truth is that the elite badly want a deal and eventually one will be done.

The Attorney-General wants him back to face his charges. Not so strange is Thaksin continues to not wish to do so. Truth is that he wants his sister to provide amnesty for him.

.

Edited August 19, 2012 by Buchholz

[rixalex]

Given that as far as I know Abhisit and Suthep have cooperated with the investigation it makes me wonder why nothing appears to be happening.

Thaksin has no great interest in pursuing such an investigation because there's always the danger that the conclusion will be there was no wrong-doing by Abhisit and Suthep, and if that were to happen, he loses what he considers to be his main bargaining chip with which to broker a get-out-of-jail-free deal.

[bigbamboo]

I think you might find Obama and his pals have other things on their minds just now.

Like that other tax dodger, Mitt Romney, for example.

Edited August 19, 2012 by bigbamboo

[Rancid]

Thaksin was corrupt, but for the life of me I can't see why members here are under some delusion that the alternatives are any better, the ship of corruption sails along relentless without regard as to who is at the bridge.

Thitinan Journal of Democracy

"The wider opportunities that he (Taksin) opened for the downtrodden and his ambitious plans for Thailand’s future were inextricably entangled with his self-dealing, his penchant for corruption, and his habit of abusing the powers of his office. Thaksin Incorporated went hand-in-hand with Thailand Incorporated.

Yet Thaksin’s enemies have shown their own limits in refusing to admit that there is more to him and what he stands for than graft and corruption. They should have weighed his policy innovations and put forward their own ideas for assisting the impoverished and marginalized. In the end, they came up with the Abhisit government and its programs for “welfare” and fostering a “sufficiency economy” that most voters find insufficient. For Thaksin’s establishment foes, conceding to his spectacularly successful populism would have been tantamount to admitting that most people in the hospitable, smiling, conspicuously tourist-friendly Kingdom of Thailand have been—and have been kept— poor. Wittingly or not, Thaksin has been the catalyst for propelling Thailand into the twenty-first century while his adversaries have stayed stuck in Cold War times. Although he committed many infractions, Thaksin’s most egregious crime and gravest sin were that he changed the way Thais see themselves and their country."

[GentlemanJim]

An exercise in futility highlighting political stupidity!

[nietzche]

They are just going to make themselves look stupid again on the international stage when the obvious question is asked of why they did nothing about it when they were in power to get a red notice/international arrest warrant issued. Lets hope at least their everything they send to congress is in english this time

Is this a real news article??

They should send their letter. Let the U.S. know how stupid and funny they all are

U.S. seems to have their hands full with stirring up anti-Chinese sentiment in this part of the world.

I could see the U.S. being interested if their was oil or an opportunity to antagonize the Chinese involved, but alas.....

Their letter will probably go unread....

[pisico]

They are just going to make themselves look stupid again on the international stage when the obvious question is asked of why they did nothing about it when they were in power to get a red notice/international arrest warrant issued. Lets hope at least their everything they send to congress is in english this time

They are trying to be relevant. It is easy to level accusations instead of supporting them with evidence and facts. The Dems always resort to such tactics when they are desperate and have run out of mental wherewithal to address important issues for the country and the economy (not to mention corruption that in all the years the were in power was never a priority) in a meaningful and responsible manner. By grand standing and claiming in the national "sympathetic press" they have receptive ears in the US Senate, all they will accomplish will be to auto stroke their egos. As if they were important and relevant. What matters to the Dems is not reality, but how they feel about themselves.

[kimamey]

Given that as far as I know Abhisit and Suthep have cooperated with the investigation it makes me wonder why nothing appears to be happening.

Thaksin has no great interest in pursuing such an investigation because there's always the danger that the conclusion will be there was no wrong-doing by Abhisit and Suthep, and if that were to happen, he loses what he considers to be his main bargaining chip with which to broker a get-out-of-jail-free deal.

Absolutely right. I should have put that but I was busy and forgot to read through before I posted.

Thanks