Thailand's D S I Calls In Democrat M Ps Over Party Donations

[webfact]

POLITICS
DSI calls in Democrat MPs over party donations
Opas Boonlom
The Nation


File photo : Suthep

BANGKOK: -- The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has begun summoning 43 Democrat Party MPs, accused of violating the political-party donation law, for questioning.

The department has decided to press charges against the MPs, although its investigation file does not cite any motive for the alleged offences.

On Tuesday, the DSI began summoning six Democrat MPs per day to acknowledge the charge of violating the 2007 Political Party Act. Parliament is not in session, so the MPs are no longer protected by special immunity.

Out of 48 MPs originally targeted, three have passed away. Meanwhile, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra have already turned themselves in to face the charge.

Abhisit, however, will be summoned on May 2 to face an additional charge for the same offence, this one allegedly committed during his time as premier. The other MPs allegedly committed the offence between 2008 and 2012.

Article 57 of the Act stipulates that donations of more than Bt20,000 to political parties must be made by crossed cheques or bills of exchange (cashier cheques).

-- The Nation 2013-04-23

[sjjmmi]

Joke of the Day

[BuddyPinkham]

But the PTP can give and get as much as they want with no problem!

[BrianCR]

It's okay Sir, the donations were made by Thaksin, I read it in a TV posting!

[chainarong]

Is there anyone from the P.T.P that is a member of parliament and has a criminal record, thought I'd Ask.

[Robby nz]

So he is still on that stupidity.

Someone tell Thaksin it isn't going to work, stuff like that wont make them vote for his amnesty.

[khunken]

The prime example of how the DSI has been compromised.

It's supposed to go after the big stuff, the sort that the ordinary police are not equipped to handle. There is surely a case here for Tarit wasting the DSI's time & taxpayers' money.

I wonder if any of the usual suspects will be stupid enough to defend this baloney.

[Baerboxer]

The prime example of how the DSI has been compromised.

It's supposed to go after the big stuff, the sort that the ordinary police are not equipped to handle. There is surely a case here for Tarit wasting the DSI's time & taxpayers' money.

I wonder if any of the usual suspects will be stupid enough to defend this baloney.

It's an apalling waste of tax payers money, as you say. Completely politcally motivated and petty. The DSI is now a disgrace and purely a lacky for the PTP.

Presumably they have been tasked with causing as many problems as possible to opponents of the clan.

Can we assume that all donations to PTP have been checked with equal rigour and due diligence? Does the money coming from Dubai count as a donation or is it classed as salary?

I'm sure we'll get one or more of the usual suspects on soon, saying rules are rules and applauding the DSI for bringing these wanton criminals to jsutice. They usually defend all the crap like this.

[lostmebike]

So he is still on that stupidity.

Someone tell Thaksin it isn't going to work, stuff like that wont make them vote for his amnesty.

Yes exactly. Who instigated this investigation and why? If it is who we know it is, it stinks of hypocrisy!

[kimamey]

'Article 57 of the Act stipulates that donations of more than Bt20,000 to
political parties must be made by crossed cheques or bills of exchange
(cashier cheques).'

This seems like half is missing. It doesn't mention what was wrong in the donations only how they should be paid.

I'm sure it's been mentioned before but what did they do wrong?

[Locationthailand]

The DSI wants to try to charge people over this rubbish? As already clearly stated, politically motivated and a complete waste of time and money. And PTP - blameless and squeaky clean for the same issue? BullXXXX.

Edited April 23, 2013 by metisdead

[lostmebike]

The DSI wants to try to charge people over this rubbish? As already clearly stated, politically motivated and a complete waste of time and money. And PTP - blameless and squeaky clean for the same issue? BullXXXX.

My thoughts exactly old chap

[whybother]

One thing that points out how ridiculous these charges are is that no forum PTP / Red Shirt / Thaksin (or "I don't support Thaksin but") supporters have piped in yet.

[NCFC]

Well if you can fire a PM for cooking on TV, I suppose anything is possible.

[whybother]

Well if you can fire a PM for cooking on TV, I suppose anything is possible.

He wasn't fired for "cooking". He was fired for having two jobs (one being PM) and lying about it in court.

[Thaddeus]

The question that is just begging to be asked is, when did Thaksin last sign a check?

Anyone?

[NCFC]

Well if you can fire a PM for cooking on TV, I suppose anything is possible.

He wasn't fired for "cooking". He was fired for having two jobs (one being PM) and lying about it in court.

How correct you are!

In between parliamentary sessions he was nipping out the back door to his noodle stand, serving up barmee moo daeng to the hungry office workers, before getting back to vote in the afternoon division lobbies.

At thirty baht a plate it soon adds up, you know.

[Tatsujin]

I wonder how many of those "bad" donations actually originated in Dubai?

[Tatsujin]

One thing that points out how ridiculous these charges are is that no forum PTP / Red Shirt / Thaksin (or "I don't support Thaksin but") supporters have piped in yet.

I don't support Thaksin, but . . .

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[Tatsujin]

The question that is just begging to be asked is, when did Thaksin last sign a check?

Anyone?

Quite some time ago I believe, as he has a lackey to do it for him now. Besides, writing cheques is so "old school" and Thaksin is a man of the times what with his Skype'ing etc, he uses those new fangled credit card things instead.

[Thait Spot]

Well if you can fire a PM for cooking on TV, I suppose anything is possible.

He was fired by Thaksin

[webfact]

UPDATE
30 Democrats show up to face charges
Piyanut Tumnukasetchai
The Nation

Legal expert says case groundless as all financial transactions were revealed

BANGKOK: -- As many as 30 Democrat Party MPs turned themselves in yesterday to face the charge that they violated the Political Party Act by donating money to their party.

This is despite the fact that the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) had decided to call six MPs at a time to face the charge.

Democrat MP for Songkhla, Wiratana Kalayasiri, who led the other party-list MPs to hear the charge, said the case was politically motivated because Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung and his cronies had come up with a majority vote to have the DSI take up the case.

He said the accusations were groundless as Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva had asked the Secretariat of the House of Representatives to make deductions from the salaries of Democrat MPs and donate them to the party in one cheque and issue a list of names of the donors.

He said that since 2007, the party has given Parliament a receipt for the donations every month and provided information on its financial transactions and donations to the Election Commission. The EC has never questioned the donation method, he added.

Wiratana, who is also the party's legal expert, said he had told the 30 MPs that they did not have to put their signature down to acknowledge the charge, though the DSI had the power to get their fingerprints.

Also, he said, the DSI was not allowed to take their photographs or make an audio recording while the charges are being read out.

He said the Democrats were confident of winning the case, because if it turns out that they have violated the law, then the Secretariat of the House of Representatives and the EC would also be held responsible.

Chief investigator Pol Colonel Niran Adulyasak said that though the case was not serious, the DSI had to ensure that the law was strictly followed.

He said the department would not include the House secretariat and the EC in the investigation. Democrats Kanok Wongtrangan, Korn Chatika-vanij, Kiat Sithiamorn, Kasit Piromya, Kalaya Soponpanich and Kowit Tharana were the first six summoned to face the charge.


-- The Nation 2013-04-24

[NongKhaiKid]

The prime example of how the DSI has been compromised.

It's supposed to go after the big stuff, the sort that the ordinary police are not equipped to handle. There is surely a case here for Tarit wasting the DSI's time & taxpayers' money.

I wonder if any of the usual suspects will be stupid enough to defend this baloney.

It's an apalling waste of tax payers money, as you say. Completely politcally motivated and petty. The DSI is now a disgrace and purely a lacky for the PTP.

Presumably they have been tasked with causing as many problems as possible to opponents of the clan.

Can we assume that all donations to PTP have been checked with equal rigour and due diligence? Does the money coming from Dubai count as a donation or is it classed as salary?

I'm sure we'll get one or more of the usual suspects on soon, saying rules are rules and applauding the DSI for bringing these wanton criminals to jsutice. They usually defend all the crap like this.

If ever the unthinkable was to happen and the Democrats win a general election would the DSI change their allegiance and become the Democrats lackeys or suddenly decide that they are really " independent " ? Just a wild thought.

[webfact]

UPDATE
No motive cited as summonsing begins
Opas Boonlom
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has begun summonsing 43 Democrat Party MPs, accused of violating the political-party donation law, for questioning.

The department decided to press charges against the MPs, though its investigation file does not cite any motive for the alleged offence.

Yesterday the DSI began summoning six Democrat MPs per day to acknowledge the charge of violating the 2007 Political Party Act. Parliament is not in session, so the MPs are no longer protected by special immunity.

Of the 48 MPs originally targeted, three have passed away, while Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra have already turned themselves in to face the charge. Abhisit, however, will be summoned on May 2 to face an additional charge for the same offence, this one allegedly committed during his time as PM. The other MPs allegedly committed the offence between 2008 and 2012.

Article 57 of the Act stipulates that donations of more than Bt20,000 to political parties must be made by crossed cheques or bills of exchange. The 43 Democrat MPs, however, got the Secretariat of the House of Representatives to deduct their salaries and write crossed cheques to the party.

Election Commissioner Sodsri Satayatham said she believes the Democrats did not violate the law because the Parliament carried out the transactions through a bank in order to deduct the MPs' salaries and write the crossed cheques. The MPs can thus obtain withdrawal slips as evidence from the bank.

The DSI's Pol Colonel Niran Adulyasak, chief investigator in the case, said the DSI viewed the offence as a "technical" one.

"It's as if the law says you must step out of the house left-foot first; if you step out right-foot first, then you've broken the law,'' he said.

However, the DSI believed MPs must strictly abide by this law, he said, because the intention of the law was to make it easy for officials to cross-check sources of donations to political parties. Parties were supposed to issue a receipt to each donor, but the 43 Democrats shared one receipt issued to all of them.

Defending themselves against the allegation, the Democrats have given several reasons for their action.

The strongest defence is that the party has carried out financial transactions in a transparent manner by reporting to the Election Commission (EC) and the Political Registrar, who endorsed the transactions, guaranteeing that the donation to the party was done correctly.

The Democrats also said the DSI did not have authority to investigate the case, which they say is in the EC's jurisdiction.

The DSI, however, has its own legal interpretation. It believes the nature of the case is not political but criminal, so it will submit its investigation to prosecutors, rather than the EC, for indictment.


-- The Nation 2013-04-24

[Ricardo]

Well if you can fire a PM for cooking on TV, I suppose anything is possible.

He wasn't fired for "cooking". He was fired for having two jobs (one being PM) and lying about it in court.

He also claimed that he wasn't being paid, for the 'cooking & politics' show, until someone produced a receipt for the payment.

However he might still have been re-nominated as PM, and returned to his job the next day, except that ...

He was fired by Thaksin

Spot On ! Former-PM Samak was feeling too independent, for the Big Boss's liking, so when the opportunity arose he was changed for a family-member, who turned out to be fairly useless, instead.

Yay for Red Democracy !

And on the subject of this thread, isn't malfeasance in party-funding more a task for the Electoral-Commission, than the DSI ?

[Tatsujin]

The EC has already stated that donations were "correct" I believe, so this is nothing more than a sponsored witch hunt. It's the EC that should be investigating if needs be, not the DSI.

No motive ... my ass.

[Locationthailand]

I wonder how many of those "bad" donations actually originated in Dubai?

None - because it is the Dems under the microscope so doubtful unless Thaksin could have course, planted a few to get DSI involved. After all this would only be petty cash to this crim.

[AleG]

The DSI's Pol Colonel Niran Adulyasak, chief investigator in the case, said the DSI viewed the offence as a "technical" one.

"It's as if the law says you must step out of the house left-foot first; if you step out right-foot first, then you've broken the law,'' he said.

, just

Perhaps they should investigate things with more serious implications, like when Thaksin threatened to withhold MPs allowances if they didn't do as he said.

Fat chance of that happening, though.

[muttley]

The DSI's Pol Colonel Niran Adulyasak, chief investigator in the case, said the DSI viewed the offence as a "technical" one.

"It's as if the law says you must step out of the house left-foot first; if you step out right-foot first, then you've broken the law,'' he said.

, just

Perhaps they should investigate things with more serious implications, like when Thaksin threatened to withhold MPs allowances if they didn't do as he said.

Fat chance of that happening, though.

Apart from an article in the Nation that fleetingly mentioned the supposition that Thaksin said allowances would be cut

From issuing orders to MPs and ministers to threatening to cut down their role or cut their allowances if their performance falls short of his expectations, Thaksin showed them he was running the show http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Thaksin-still-very-much-the-CEO-of-this-govt-30201913.html

do you have any proof that this is what he said? Or is this going to be another "Thaksin Quote" which will be set in stone and quoted on this forum as if they were his very words?

[rubl]

The discussion here reminds me of a similar discussion I had with a departed member. It was about k. Thaksin allegedly talking with terrorist parties in Malaysia. No proof? Took 11 months for the parties concerned to admit that talks had taken place.

Fortunately our criminal fugitive is skyping a lot. Anonymous remarks on donations abound. for the time being DSI states not sufficient proof to investigate and refers to TV member muttley to support their view.