How Thaksin Rules Thailand With Skype And Instant Messenger

[LuckyLew]

If he ruled Thailand he would be back in Thailand.........is there anybody here who cannot follow this simple logic?.........Let us be clear about this Thaksin influences Thai politics from Dubai....nothing more.

He could be back in Thailand anytime of his choosing, whether he 'ruled' Thailand or not. You seem to be confused. Perhaps you mean he cannot make his criminal convictions disappear by decree, well not yet anyway.

I expect he will do his best to keep a low profile until the Bangkok elections are over anyway, before pushing for his amnesty.

I think he will try to keep a low profile, but I would put a 20 in him

opening his yap sooner or later, his ego is far too big and he

has a never ending need to hear his own voice

[Greer]

AIM? Blackberry Messenger? SMS? Camfrog?

AIM is not very popular in Thailand. I think that you will find that Blackberry is not popular with the younger demographic. I ditched my device for an iphone. It is simpler to use. SMS does nto provide real time interaction and Camfrog is more of a social interaction kind of thing, sort of for people chatting or exposing their genitalia to others. I believe that MS software dominates the Thai market for PCs and laptops.As such, Skype & Windows messenger are the dominanant programs. Also easier to use for unsophisticated folks like me. Our office software now features annoying messenger options that allows us to comminicate in real time with the other offices without having to run up long distance telephone charges. It also allows our corporate security unit to more effectively spy on the empoyees.

Off topic but I have Skype, Line, Viber, and Tango on the phone and Skype and Line on the laptop...not to mention Google Messenger. I was given an iPhone by the company but I dumped it in its box in a cupboard as I prefer Android... as do my kids, who are Thai.

How is it that we still have fools writing reports glorifying the acts of a convicted criminal who is on the run? How do we still have the ridiculous situation where almost any Thai national with a totally clean slate still has to jump through hoops so they can get visitor visas to almost anywhere in the rest of the world, but a convicted Thai criminal on the run is virtually invited in by places that damned well should know better and should be ashamed of themselves for this hypocrisy? Obviously graft and corruption are well advanced in the UK, USA, and other supposedly first world countries - yes - corruption of the rule of law because this man has money...unbelievable.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Greer

[whybother]

That's what happens when you get the military involved in the political process. History repeats itself in Thailand... Over and over again.

Now any charges against Thaksin will be tainted with the coup no matter how legit.

The PAD and the coup were terrible mistakes, and Thailand will pay for them for decades to come.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

You could also suggest that without the coup, Thailand would have been paying for it for decades.

[jayboy]

That's what happens when you get the military involved in the political process. History repeats itself in Thailand... Over and over again.

Now any charges against Thaksin will be tainted with the coup no matter how legit.

The PAD and the coup were terrible mistakes, and Thailand will pay for them for decades to come.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

You could also suggest that without the coup, Thailand would have been paying for it for decades.

You could but there would be no evidence to support it.The tide had turned against Thaksin and eventually he would have been voted out of office.You can argue against this to the effect that he was about to impose totalitarian controls, but again there is no evidence to support this.The truth is that the coup was an unmitigated disaster for Thailand, the ostensible "cure" that was worse than the disease.The terrible irony is that, even putting aside the criminality of those involved and taking their declared motives at face value, history will demonstrate that their efforts were counter productive.

[whybother]

You could but there would be no evidence to support it.The tide had turned against Thaksin and eventually he would have been voted out of office.You can argue against this to the effect that he was about to impose totalitarian controls, but again there is no evidence to support this.The truth is that the coup was an unmitigated disaster for Thailand, the ostensible "cure" that was worse than the disease.The terrible irony is that, even putting aside the criminality of those involved and taking their declared motives at face value, history will demonstrate that their efforts were counter productive.

Actually, given some of the things he had already done, there is evidence of the direction it was going.

[thaicbr]

That's what happens when you get the military involved in the political process. History repeats itself in Thailand... Over and over again.

Now any charges against Thaksin will be tainted with the coup no matter how legit.

The PAD and the coup were terrible mistakes, and Thailand will pay for them for decades to come.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

You could also suggest that without the coup, Thailand would have been paying for it for decades.

You could but there would be no evidence to support it.The tide had turned against Thaksin and eventually he would have been voted out of office.You can argue against this to the effect that he was about to impose totalitarian controls, but again there is no evidence to support this.The truth is that the coup was an unmitigated disaster for Thailand, the ostensible "cure" that was worse than the disease.The terrible irony is that, even putting aside the criminality of those involved and taking their declared motives at face value, history will demonstrate that their efforts were counter productive.

Think Chavez.... that's what would have happened.

I do not condone the coup. But I would say the coup was NOT a disaster. The disaster was allowing this man to finance a protest that got out of hand and subsequent teachings from the communist leaning leaders calling for a democracy that they do not even believe in. That's the shame of all this.

Edited January 28, 2013 by thaicbr

[jpinx]

Skype and Instant Messenger ! Whom is he trying to reach.....the rice farmers?

One of my friends has a family rice farm. He has an iphone, We facetalk. The brilliance of this option is that as long as he has a wifi connection we can connect anywhere for free if I am on an Apple device. I get treated to updates such as last week when he called to let me know that some guy who I only met a couple times finally hooked up with the girl in the next village that he's been chasing for years. Without our Apple technology, I'd never have learnt of this very important gossip.

BTW, skype has replaced Hotmail instant messenger and will be the only option available for MS users in March for those users that relied upon the hotmail instant messenger service. Google purchased Motorola phones and is putting all of its messaging and mail services access on the devices. Anyone that has a mobile phone now has access to instant messaging services. It is one of the most low cost and efficient methods of connecting with people.

AIM? Blackberry Messenger? SMS? Camfrog?

Yahoo messenger, facebook, IRC, ICQ, Twitter --- the list is endless

[Robby nz]

You could but there would be no evidence to support it.The tide had turned against Thaksin and eventually he would have been voted out of office.You can argue against this to the effect that he was about to impose totalitarian controls, but again there is no evidence to support this.The truth is that the coup was an unmitigated disaster for Thailand, the ostensible "cure" that was worse than the disease.The terrible irony is that, even putting aside the criminality of those involved and taking their declared motives at face value, history will demonstrate that their efforts were counter productive.

Well J boy I dont know if you were in Thailand when the coup took place, heck I dont even know if you have ever been to Thailand.

I was here and saw how well the army was received, with smiles, handshakes and red roses even.

Then what did the army do? did they hold on to power like in Burma? no they held an election and when Thaksins proxy party won the did the army interfear, no they accepted the peoples choice.

You must know Thaksins status at the time of the coup, a caretaker PM who had overstayed his term and showed no sign of holding an election.

The coup would appear to be a desperation thing (The only way to get rid of Thaksin and return to an elected Govt) by an army who did not want to be in control or in power, the fact that they held an election shows that.

If you want to comment on unmitigated disaster you should look no farther then the red shirt riots, something that Fuller seems to have missed.

Fullers badly researched article which in places is completly in error seems to be some sort of attempt to show that Thaksins manipulation of the country is a good thing, why that would be I could only guess.

[Nickymaster]

His sister is the big boss. Why doesn't he return? He has the support of the masses

Perhaps, his love of Thailand is paramount.

I expect that the much beloved former PM has chosen to remain in exile during the period of reconciliation.

It looks like you too miss him, as do many millions of Thais. You will have to maintain your resolve and try to understand that the beloved former PM is sacrificing his own life for the future of the nation. Do not be glum, but instead, take solace in the dedication to Thailand that the former PM shows. Turn your frown upside down and support the national reconciliation effort.

And remember, you can tune in to some of the many inspirational talks that former PM Thaksin provides.

Unfortunately, I haven't been watching as the work schedule has been rather heavy. Laundry, trimming the cat's nails, annual budgets, checking out the birds etc.

"You will have to maintain your resolve and try to understand that the beloved former PM is sacrificing his own life for the future of the nation"

......and making a few billions on the side. He could come back but then he has to face the court and the beloved criminal former PM is not man enough to do so.it seems, hence trying to rule the country by Skype.

Just thought you forgot some points.

[Nickymaster]

That's what happens when you get the military involved in the political process. History repeats itself in Thailand... Over and over again.

Now any charges against Thaksin will be tainted with the coup no matter how legit.

The PAD and the coup were terrible mistakes, and Thailand will pay for them for decades to come.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

You could also suggest that without the coup, Thailand would have been paying for it for decades.

Correct. The 2006 coup is the best thing that happened to Thailand. It eliminated (sort of) a ruthless and corrupt politician with terrible human rights records.

[scorecard]

His sister is the big boss. Why doesn't he return? He has the support of the masses

Perhaps, his love of Thailand is paramount.

I expect that the much beloved former PM has chosen to remain in exile during the period of reconciliation.

It looks like you too miss him, as do many millions of Thais. You will have to maintain your resolve and try to understand that the beloved former PM is sacrificing his own life for the future of the nation. Do not be glum, but instead, take solace in the dedication to Thailand that the former PM shows. Turn your frown upside down and support the national reconciliation effort.

And remember, you can tune in to some of the many inspirational talks that former PM Thaksin provides.

Unfortunately, I haven't been watching as the work schedule has been rather heavy. Laundry, trimming the cat's nails, annual budgets, checking out the birds etc.

"You will have to maintain your resolve and try to understand that the beloved former PM is sacrificing his own life for the future of the nation"

......and making a few billions on the side. He could come back but then he has to face the court and the beloved criminal former PM is not man enough to do so.it seems, hence trying to rule the country by Skype.

Just thought you forgot some points.

Hey g'kid, your a laugh a minute.

[Thai at Heart]

You could but there would be no evidence to support it.The tide had turned against Thaksin and eventually he would have been voted out of office.You can argue against this to the effect that he was about to impose totalitarian controls, but again there is no evidence to support this.The truth is that the coup was an unmitigated disaster for Thailand, the ostensible "cure" that was worse than the disease.The terrible irony is that, even putting aside the criminality of those involved and taking their declared motives at face value, history will demonstrate that their efforts were counter productive.

Well J boy I dont know if you were in Thailand when the coup took place, heck I dont even know if you have ever been to Thailand.

I was here and saw how well the army was received, with smiles, handshakes and red roses even.

Then what did the army do? did they hold on to power like in Burma? no they held an election and when Thaksins proxy party won the did the army interfear, no they accepted the peoples choice.

You must know Thaksins status at the time of the coup, a caretaker PM who had overstayed his term and showed no sign of holding an election.

The coup would appear to be a desperation thing (The only way to get rid of Thaksin and return to an elected Govt) by an army who did not want to be in control or in power, the fact that they held an election shows that.

If you want to comment on unmitigated disaster you should look no farther then the red shirt riots, something that Fuller seems to have missed.

Fullers badly researched article which in places is completly in error seems to be some sort of attempt to show that Thaksins manipulation of the country is a good thing, why that would be I could only guess.

The coup was carried out impeccably, at a time when very few people saw it coming, and the Reds didn't even exist as a militant force. Hence little opposition. Thaksin didn't even really see it coming, otherwise, why would he have been overseas?

Well received? I think it had been so long since the previous coup, most people were pretty surprised, but largely ambivalent and confused about what it all really meant. Considering, that history had shown that if you go up against the army during a coup, you ordinarily get shot, that would have put a lot of people off trying anything. Times are very very different now though.

[Robby nz]

Indeed they are, for a start we do have an elected Govt even though they leave a lot to be desired.

There is also an armed (proved that during the riots) red mob who would most certainly start shooting and bombing.

Although some silly buggers have suggested it I can see no reason now for another coup unless the army wanted to seize power and keep it and I very much doubt that would happen

I suspect that PT will eventually implode under the weight of their own corruption and Thaksins greed, unfortunatly the country will be in a sorry mess by then.

[R10wota]

His sister is the big boss. Why doesn't he return? He has the support of the masses

Geeeez! ... you surely do not understand "Politics"...

[tragickingdom]

A coincidental post earlier today

Those responsible and in command will, I hope, eventually be brought to court.

From the top down.

Thaksin Skypes

.

You mean just as the people that occupied the airports, and the judges on the take that were exposed on Youtube. Or did you had Suthep and Abhisit in mind for ordering mass murder on the streets of Bangkok. Or maybe you wanted to see Sonthi brought to justice for being in a mosque ordering young boys stapled on to 10 wheelers 5 high killing many? Or were you referring to Prem with his disregard for democracy that he ordered two handful of coup d'etats. It could be of course that you are referring to him not paying taxes or selling his company to Singapore but in that case why are you so quiet about Dtac with its Norwegian and Singaporean owners while Boonchai was left alone after the sales. Or maybe you are referring to the Banharn family who never paid taxes and got all the government orders for big construction projects.

The bottom line with you guys is that you are selectively pissed off when you have lost yet another election.

[Tatsujin]

I find it amazing that any country can be run and controlled by remote control by a person who was NOT elected to run that country. The "amazing" tagline just seems to have endless uses here in Thailand.

[Nickymaster]

A coincidental post earlier today

Those responsible and in command will, I hope, eventually be brought to court.

From the top down.

Thaksin Skypes

.

You mean just as the people that occupied the airports, and the judges on the take that were exposed on Youtube. Or did you had Suthep and Abhisit in mind for ordering mass murder on the streets of Bangkok. Or maybe you wanted to see Sonthi brought to justice for being in a mosque ordering young boys stapled on to 10 wheelers 5 high killing many? Or were you referring to Prem with his disregard for democracy that he ordered two handful of coup d'etats. It could be of course that you are referring to him not paying taxes or selling his company to Singapore but in that case why are you so quiet about Dtac with its Norwegian and Singaporean owners while Boonchai was left alone after the sales. Or maybe you are referring to the Banharn family who never paid taxes and got all the government orders for big construction projects.

The bottom line with you guys is that you are selectively pissed off when you have lost yet another election.

hahaha, talking about off topic.

Pissed off or telling the truth...

[Baerboxer]

AIM? Blackberry Messenger? SMS? Camfrog?

AIM is not very popular in Thailand. I think that you will find that Blackberry is not popular with the younger demographic. I ditched my device for an iphone. It is simpler to use. SMS does nto provide real time interaction and Camfrog is more of a social interaction kind of thing, sort of for people chatting or exposing their genitalia to others. I believe that MS software dominates the Thai market for PCs and laptops.As such, Skype & Windows messenger are the dominanant programs. Also easier to use for unsophisticated folks like me. Our office software now features annoying messenger options that allows us to comminicate in real time with the other offices without having to run up long distance telephone charges. It also allows our corporate security unit to more effectively spy on the empoyees.

Off topic but I have Skype, Line, Viber, and Tango on the phone and Skype and Line on the laptop...not to mention Google Messenger. I was given an iPhone by the company but I dumped it in its box in a cupboard as I prefer Android... as do my kids, who are Thai.

How is it that we still have fools writing reports glorifying the acts of a convicted criminal who is on the run? How do we still have the ridiculous situation where almost any Thai national with a totally clean slate still has to jump through hoops so they can get visitor visas to almost anywhere in the rest of the world, but a convicted Thai criminal on the run is virtually invited in by places that damned well should know better and should be ashamed of themselves for this hypocrisy? Obviously graft and corruption are well advanced in the UK, USA, and other supposedly first world countries - yes - corruption of the rule of law because this man has money...unbelievable.

I'm ashamed at how the UK now applies different interpretations when it suits. No principles anymore.

[sirchai]

Just read Thaksin and had to throw up.==

[Baerboxer]

A coincidental post earlier today

Those responsible and in command will, I hope, eventually be brought to court.

From the top down.

Thaksin Skypes

.

You mean just as the people that occupied the airports, and the judges on the take that were exposed on Youtube. Or did you had Suthep and Abhisit in mind for ordering mass murder on the streets of Bangkok. Or maybe you wanted to see Sonthi brought to justice for being in a mosque ordering young boys stapled on to 10 wheelers 5 high killing many? Or were you referring to Prem with his disregard for democracy that he ordered two handful of coup d'etats. It could be of course that you are referring to him not paying taxes or selling his company to Singapore but in that case why are you so quiet about Dtac with its Norwegian and Singaporean owners while Boonchai was left alone after the sales. Or maybe you are referring to the Banharn family who never paid taxes and got all the government orders for big construction projects.

The bottom line with you guys is that you are selectively pissed off when you have lost yet another election.

Or pissed off when yet another criminal avoids any kind of justice, carries on with his criminal activities and spews out hypocricy. Seems to be required traits for a modern politician - rich, crooked and self-delusional.

[Baerboxer]

That's what happens when you get the military involved in the political process. History repeats itself in Thailand... Over and over again.

Now any charges against Thaksin will be tainted with the coup no matter how legit.

The PAD and the coup were terrible mistakes, and Thailand will pay for them for decades to come.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

You could also suggest that without the coup, Thailand would have been paying for it for decades.

Correct. The 2006 coup is the best thing that happened to Thailand. It eliminated (sort of) a ruthless and corrupt politician with terrible human rights records.

If only it had........... now he's effectively running the country and siphoning off his share of the takings. All from the comfort of Dubai. Not bad going for someone "eliminated" by a coup.

[Bella BKK]

In reality, It’s like Thaksin is chairman of the board and Yingluck is CEO of the Pheu Thai Party, so she should be thankful to Skype and Instant messenger for letting her run the country somewhat smoothly for the time being...lol; and let's hope there won't be any military coup attempt(s) until her political term is completed, but that's very doubtful because the Thai politics has always been unstable ever since I can remember due to the fighting factions among old and new elites, bureaucrats, and the millitary gernerals. So yeah, Yingluck..good luck!

[Baerboxer]

You could but there would be no evidence to support it.The tide had turned against Thaksin and eventually he would have been voted out of office.You can argue against this to the effect that he was about to impose totalitarian controls, but again there is no evidence to support this.The truth is that the coup was an unmitigated disaster for Thailand, the ostensible "cure" that was worse than the disease.The terrible irony is that, even putting aside the criminality of those involved and taking their declared motives at face value, history will demonstrate that their efforts were counter productive.

Actually, given some of the things he had already done, there is evidence of the direction it was going.

Yes - certain directions were very predictable.

[thaibeachlovers]

His sister is the big boss. Why doesn't he return? He has the support of the masses

As I remember the last election, Yingluk only got around 50% of the vote- hardly an overwhelming "masses".

[animatic]

One can conclude a few things from Fuller's article. That he, in fact, had to see Thaksin in London in order to do an interview and the article. Yet there was not one quote from Thaksin nor does Fuller "clearly" state that he did in fact interview Thaksin face to face in London. Fuller uses quotes from supposed Thaksin lackeys and his own paraphrasing.

Second, Fuller seems to be patronizing this "Thaksin remote management" phenomena by pointing out sound bite economic facts that tourism is booming and unemployment is non existent as well as the implication that Thaksin's methodology gets big deals done, Thailand is on the move while the rest of the world is in a "slump," and Thaksin cuts through the government red tape with some sort of "remote single point of accountability." As other posters, and everyone who really knows Thailand point out, Fuller ignores the facts that Thaksin is a convicted criminal, "cannot" legally return to Thailand, and does not meet with world heads of state or represent the country as any legal representative of the people at anytime or place.

Fuller, by his patronizing point of view that Thaksin is using technology to forge some sort of clever "new global state leadership model," is actually making the rest of world leadership considering doing deals with Thailand look life a laughing stock analogous to countries who are sitting down to negotiate or "wink" at the meeting table about major trade deals with the Somalia pirates as the legal heads of state of Somalia. Can you imagine if Richard Nixon had setup shop in some Bahamas compound and started running the USA by telex? How long do you think it would have taken the US military to take him out?

Fuller seems to want us to see that Thaksin's remote use of technology to command all important decision making and budget authorizations of Thailand in a version of Hakim Bey's Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ) is a very cool thing for a country. Fuller's article expresses a view that is very dangerous for the world. Just think of all the convicted leaders such as Charles Taylor, for example, who might have escaped to some TAZ state such as Thaksin and still be pulling the strings in the goldfields of Sierra Leone. Or a Ferdinand Marcos, had he operated today in the day of technology, with all his looted wealth of the Philippines still commanding the country from some smartphone somewhere in a TAZ.

The New York Times is clearly no longer "all the news that's fit to print." Fuller's patronizing view of Thaksin and lack of truth and reality about the real background around this strange case of a nation, Thailand, becoming a prisoner of a pirate operating in some TAZ clearly illustrates that. Thaksin being a criminal leader at large is not a good thing for Thailand and not a good thing for the world. Fuller should be aware of this.

I have a hard time understanding how anyone can make a serious argument with the above post. Totally spot on.

It's clear there is Patron & Client relationship between Thaksin and the writer.

Anyone can use Skype and other communications means to get information around the world,

this is not some amazing new leadership paradigm. What is clearly left out is the amoral component of,

Thaksin's controlling a land he could be arrested in for crimes committed, and one absconded from,

or assassinated on his return by those he has harmed in his past.

Purchase P.R. exercise on display, not a new paradyne of leadership on parade.

So a writer puts together a hagiography of Thaksin. No surprise there.

This would be little different that Robert Amsterdams doing or saying what ever he thinks will give his patron an edge. That the greater part of the international press is recycling old back file stories to add to the paucity of new info, is not at all surprising, but shows them to be a tissue of their past existences as actual journalists.

Edited January 28, 2013 by animatic

[Lancelot]

The charges brought by the coup makers where and are legit....

Pray do share with us the legitimate, unbiased charges

[whybother]

The charges brought by the coup makers where and are legit....

Pray do share with us the legitimate, unbiased charges

Here's one:

[puipuitom]

IF it is correct and the Thais let it happen..... who am I to have any comment ?

Second: all goes so very well in Thailand... no water problems, high dikes along the rivers ready to avoid any new supmersion of the land.. all waterways to the sea open

Rice is exported at higher prices as ever, Thailand by far the biggest exporter of every commodity, all farmers so rich they can drive a Maserati

with all these successes... who blames a governor / stuart to be under control by skype form Dubai .. or.. ..

Edited January 28, 2013 by puipuitom

[scotbeve]

Skype and Instant Messenger ! Whom is he trying to reach.....the rice farmers?

By their own admission, he's successfully reaching the government...

.

Ah yes, yet another snippet from which newspaper??? Your esteemed Nation???? For that matter, there are very few viable media resources remaining on this planet.... Most of the Dems sheeple on these forums can only read (very) selectively. Not sticking up for Thaksin, just making the point that the dems are FAR from being squeaky clean....

[animatic]

The charges brought by the coup makers where and are legit....

Pray do share with us the legitimate, unbiased charges

There were many charges brought well before the coup.

Much of the obvious instigation for the coup was because of these charges being quashed by several means used by Thaksin.

Edited January 28, 2013 by animatic