' Peace Process' Will Unravel As Truth Emerges: Thai Editorial

[MrSlatersParrot]

There possibly will be no peace with a Surname like Shinawatra walking the corridors of power.

The very name Shinawatra is synonymous with violence.

The very name Shinawatra Abhisit is synonymous with violence. Remind me who is it that is facing murder charges?

The PTP are bringing all kinds of phoney charges up so as the public will not ask them why they are not charging people like Thaksin who paid money to have terrorists take illegal possession of parts of downtown Bangkok knowing that they were armed and death would occur,

I know it is hard for you to grasp but when there was a coup against Thaksin it was bloodless, When Thaksin attempted a coup against Abhist it was not bloodless. The people did not want him back. That is why when he ran for reelection using a clone he received less than half the votes and of the ones he received many were not for him they were for the clone.

Thailand does not want Thaksin back unless it is to do his time in jail and answer for his many other crimes.

Here a supporter of "bloodless coup."

You're not from Kansas?

Coups popular in your home country?

They are here amongst a certain crowd here.

17 and counting.

The people do want him back but you won't read it in your newspaper.

Thaksin's many other crimes....... Are what?

Obviously so far you approve of the theft of his money? Check out what he actually did for pay as you go networks. All approved by the courts at the time.

The 2 year prison sentence, we were assured that Interpol were after him, haha. They never were and aren't.

It's pretty rum when you get 2 years for letting your wife buy land in a PUBLIC auction with her own money!

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

[PREM-R]

There possibly will be no peace with a Surname like Shinawatra walking the corridors of power.

The very name Shinawatra is synonymous with violence.

The very name Shinawatra Abhisit is synonymous with violence. Remind me who is it that is facing murder charges?

The PTP are bringing all kinds of phoney charges up so as the public will not ask them why they are not charging people like Thaksin who paid money to have terrorists take illegal possession of parts of downtown Bangkok knowing that they were armed and death would occur,

I know it is hard for you to grasp but when there was a coup against Thaksin it was bloodless, When Thaksin attempted a coup against Abhist it was not bloodless. The people did not want him back. That is why when he ran for reelection using a clone he received less than half the votes and of the ones he received many were not for him they were for the clone.

Thailand does not want Thaksin back unless it is to do his time in jail and answer for his many other crimes.

So I say again, let the Thais have a general election and let those who are entitled to vote make their decision. Remember the Dems had been rejected at the ballot box for years before Thaksin entered politics.

[OzMick]

[

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

It does apply in Kansas, and most other US states and other countries. Public officials and their close families are precluded from buying state assets for very good reasons. It not only stops corruption, it stops the appearance of corruption.

In Thailand, a man and his wife are the same legal entity. This and the asset purchase ban have been Thai law for many years; some people just think they are above the law, and their apologists try to confuse the issue.

[bigbamboo]

There possibly will be no peace with a Surname like Shinawatra walking the corridors of power.

The very name Shinawatra is synonymous with violence.

The very name Shinawatra Abhisit is synonymous with violence. Remind me who is it that is facing murder charges?

The PTP are bringing all kinds of phoney charges up so as the public will not ask them why they are not charging people like Thaksin who paid money to have terrorists take illegal possession of parts of downtown Bangkok knowing that they were armed and death would occur,

I know it is hard for you to grasp but when there was a coup against Thaksin it was bloodless, When Thaksin attempted a coup against Abhist it was not bloodless. The people did not want him back. That is why when he ran for reelection using a clone he received less than half the votes and of the ones he received many were not for him they were for the clone.

Thailand does not want Thaksin back unless it is to do his time in jail and answer for his many other crimes.

Here a supporter of "bloodless coup."

You're not from Kansas?

Coups popular in your home country?

They are here amongst a certain crowd here.

17 and counting.

The people do want him back but you won't read it in your newspaper.

Thaksin's many other crimes....... Are what?

Obviously so far you approve of the theft of his money? Check out what he actually did for pay as you go networks. All approved by the courts at the time.

The 2 year prison sentence, we were assured that Interpol were after him, haha. They never were and aren't.

It's pretty rum when you get 2 years for letting your wife buy land in a PUBLIC auction with her own money!

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

That's government land.

Thai law expressly forbids government officials or their families from purchasing government owned land for because of obvious conflicts of interest. Thaksin personally authorised the deal and that was the reason he was charged. He knew he was guilty, so did his lawyers and so the only course he saw open to him was to flee the scene.

[PREM-R]

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

That's government land.

Thai law expressly forbids government officials or their families from purchasing government owned land for because of obvious conflicts of interest. Thaksin personally authorised the deal and that was the reason he was charged. He knew he was guilty, so did his lawyers and so the only course he saw open to him was to flee the scene.

wikipedia on the Democrats:-

The first Chuan government (1992–1995) fell when members of the Cabinet

were implicated in profiting from Sor Phor Kor 4-01 land project

documents distributed in Phuket province.^[18] Chuan was again Premier from 1997 to 2001, in the midst of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and its aftermath. The Party lost a landslide election victory to Thaksin Shinawatra's populist Thai Rak Thai party, winning 128 seats compared to the TRT's 248 in the 2001 general election.

But of course there was NO corruption in Thailand before Thaksin

[OzMick]

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

That's government land.

Thai law expressly forbids government officials or their families from purchasing government owned land for because of obvious conflicts of interest. Thaksin personally authorised the deal and that was the reason he was charged. He knew he was guilty, so did his lawyers and so the only course he saw open to him was to flee the scene.

>wikipedia on the Democrats:-

The first Chuan government (1992–1995) fell when members of the Cabinet

were implicated in profiting from Sor Phor Kor 4-01 land project

documents distributed in Phuket province.^[18] Chuan was again Premier from 1997 to 2001, in the midst of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and its aftermath. The Party lost a landslide election victory to Thaksin Shinawatra's populist Thai Rak Thai party, winning 128 seats compared to the TRT's 248 in the 2001 general election.

But of course there was NO corruption in Thailand before Thaksin

So Thaksin's corruption is understandable, forgivable and just a naughty mistake? The man is a habitual criminal, but loveable to some.

[Thaddeus]

So I say again, let the Thais have a general election and let those who are entitled to vote make their decision. Remember the Dems had been rejected at the ballot box for years before Thaksin entered politics.

It appears that this is all you have to say on any subject.

How this is relevant to this topic, I have no idea,

[PREM-R]

So I say again, let the Thais have a general election and let those who are entitled to vote make their decision. Remember the Dems had been rejected at the ballot box for years before Thaksin entered politics.

It appears that this is all you have to say on any subject.

How this is relevant to this topic, I have no idea,

A quote out of context does you no credit

[PREM-R]

OZMick - So Thaksin's corruption is understandable, forgivable and just a naughty

mistake? The man is a habitual criminal, but loveable to some.

If you say so

[bigbamboo]

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

That's government land.

Thai law expressly forbids government officials or their families from purchasing government owned land for because of obvious conflicts of interest. Thaksin personally authorised the deal and that was the reason he was charged. He knew he was guilty, so did his lawyers and so the only course he saw open to him was to flee the scene.

>>wikipedia on the Democrats:-

The first Chuan government (1992–1995) fell when members of the Cabinet

were implicated in profiting from Sor Phor Kor 4-01 land project

documents distributed in Phuket province.^[18] Chuan was again Premier from 1997 to 2001, in the midst of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and its aftermath. The Party lost a landslide election victory to Thaksin Shinawatra's populist Thai Rak Thai party, winning 128 seats compared to the TRT's 248 in the 2001 general election.

But of course there was NO corruption in Thailand before Thaksin

There has always been corruption in Thailand, there certainly is now and there probably always will be.

The fact remains Thaksin broke the law. You may as well say release everyone from jail everywhere because some people got away with their crimes.

Edited May 3, 2013 by bigbamboo

[MrSlatersParrot]

[

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

It does apply in Kansas, and most other US states and other countries. Public officials and their close families are precluded from buying state assets for very good reasons. It not only stops corruption, it stops the appearance of corruption.In Thailand, a man and his wife are the same legal entity. This and the asset purchase ban have been Thai law for many years; some people just think they are above the law, and their apologists try to confuse the issue.

Wrong again.

There was a public auction. Anyone could bid except anyone who worked at the bank of Thailand. Those were the rules extant at the time.

Like the Bank of England the bank of Thailand was and is notionally independent.

The FDIC!? Was tasked with selling assets/ debts from the ASEAN crisis taken from Thai hiso's who got into difficulties.

The land in question was independently valued at 750 million baht and sold at auction to the highest bidder for 775 million baht.

End of story.

These were not state assets but private assets the state took hold of, serviced the interest and were and are TASKED with selling through public auction to reimburse state funds.

Yingluk and her government have just now made the bank solely responsible for repaying the interest and selling off these assets. It could have been argued that there was a lack of incentive for the bank to sell the assets when previously the government alone was responsible for paying the costs/ interest. They had tried before to sell this land at a far greater price and received no bidders so they reluctantly agreed to have the actually valued!

The pad inspired and controlled assets scrutiny committee tried for 3 months to get the bank officials to testify and only finally succeeded after some behind the scenes arm twisting.

Thaksin's wife has not been prosecuted. She did no wrong. To buy the land she had to get a senior male member of her family to witness with ID card the sale. That is the law.

[PREM-R]

bigbamboo There has always been corruption in Thailand, there certianly is now and there probably always will be.

The fact remains Thaksin broke the law. You may as well say release

eveyone from jail everywhere because some people got away with their

crimes.

No, only the rich and connected alsways escape jail, did Chuan's pals every do time, Nah. It is not a matter of releasing everyone from jail, just making sure that ALL those who deserve it do their time.

[hellodolly]

It would be interesting to know who the families of the 2,000+ people murdered in K.T war on drugs, families of the Krue Se Mosque murders and the families of the deaths of the Tak Bai event would like to face murder charges.

Well as to the Krue se mosque it was the Thai army whot dunnit!

Pure humbug!

This ain't Kansas. If the Mexican government declared all out war ( and they have done in the past) against the drug barons the majority of the Mexican population would applaud.

So too did they here in Thailand.

As we know the BIB and members of the army are involved in the production, importation and distribution of yaba etc in Thailand.

Rewards were offered for arrests in posession to get results only these warped from caught in possession to "resisting arrest"and drugs found (planted) on bodies.

The cop shop where the cops currently out on bail with death sentences were stationed were responsible for another 27 unexplained deaths.

60,000 people were detained for drug offences at the same time. It was a massive operation.

Under abhisit there was zilch. Of course the status quo had to be preserved.

Hardly a day goes by now without reading about drug busts here now.

Hardly a day goes by now with some thing worthwhile reporting by the press other than corruption and stupidity from the PT and there goons.

Hardly a day goes by now that drug using does not increase.

Every day goes by where there is no report of a upper level drug dealers being caught just the little people. A commodity that the PT has a large quantity off to sacrifice. Easily identified by wearing red shirts.

The difference being now with Thaksin no longer at the controls they are not killed out of hand. With him suspicion was good enough reason to murder them.

Edited May 3, 2013 by hellodolly

[bangon04]

The genus of the problem can then be seen with the Pibun right wing nationalist regime stemming from their treatment of the malay in the south, joining the nazis and Japanese Axis the same day that Pearl Harbor was attacked.

It's worth therefore remembering that pridi Banomyong, thailand's true hero and founder of democracy in Thailand, a socialist to boot, was ambassador to the us at the time. Pibun ordered pridi to declare war against the us and Britain.

He refused and helped set up the Thai resistance.

He was regent of Thailand after the war. He drew up plans for the redistribution of wealth from the feudal elite.

Well that didn't happen and he had to flee and died an exile in France.

My point being that it is not the liberal elite who helped foster the problems in the south nor the rest of the country.

It is those who have propagated 17 coups so far who are responsible. For me there is a clear divide. The Thai army takes the lions share of the blame for the current crisis.

In Britain we had to talk to the IRA. The Irish have long memories that the English forget.

I believe there was only one unit of resistance in Ireland the IRA not a constantly changing hand full of them. And the IRA had their own political party to maintain contact with the English.

Not even in the same ball park as the southern provinces.

What a very strange thing to say... Did you learn this in a history lesson in a Thai school????

[hellodolly]

Well the nation certainly pins its heart on its sleeve. I don't think they support this government .

Can anybody tell me what these sentences have to do with the Peace Process?

"Thai authorities, in their haste to help Thaksin Shinawatra, have botched the latest attempt to the end the insurgency in the deep South"

"Moreover, sources in the Thai government say the thinking behind this peace plan came from a small number of people whose priority is to whitewash former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the current administration headed by his sister Yingluck."

"Certainly there are other ways to derail the process, such as Hasan admitting that the entire thing is a set-up to save Thaksin's hide."

Yet in the entire rant there is not a jot of evidence how the peace plan is supposed to help, whitewash or save Thaksins hide.

What a pathetic, nasty little piece of "journalism"

Good points Mut

Now let us look a little deeper.

Was it peace talks or a sham by the Thai government to cover up their inability to do any thing.

Could it not have been a joint venture with the BRN a group of burned out terrorists who wanted off the merry go round. They knew that the only way off was to turn themselves in but thought maybe a fake peace talk would make them look good. It would get them freedom from all charges.

In short it was nothing but a face saving device on both sides.

[bigbamboo]

[

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

It does apply in Kansas, and most other US states and other countries. Public officials and their close families are precluded from buying state assets for very good reasons. It not only stops corruption, it stops the appearance of corruption.In Thailand, a man and his wife are the same legal entity. This and the asset purchase ban have been Thai law for many years; some people just think they are above the law, and their apologists try to confuse the issue.

Wrong again.

There was a public auction. Anyone could bid except anyone who worked at the bank of Thailand. Those were the rules extant at the time.

Like the Bank of England the bank of Thailand was and is notionally independent.

The FDIC!? Was tasked with selling assets/ debts from the ASEAN crisis taken from Thai hiso's who got into difficulties.

The land in question was independently valued at 750 million baht and sold at auction to the highest bidder for 775 million baht.

End of story.

These were not state assets but private assets the state took hold of, serviced the interest and were and are TASKED with selling through public auction to reimburse state funds.

Yingluk and her government have just now made the bank solely responsible for repaying the interest and selling off these assets. It could have been argued that there was a lack of incentive for the bank to sell the assets when previously the government alone was responsible for paying the costs/ interest. They had tried before to sell this land at a far greater price and received no bidders so they reluctantly agreed to have the actually valued!

The pad inspired and controlled assets scrutiny committee tried for 3 months to get the bank officials to testify and only finally succeeded after some behind the scenes arm twisting.

Thaksin's wife has not been prosecuted. She did no wrong. To buy the land she had to get a senior male member of her family to witness with ID card the sale. That is the law.

'The land was independenty valued at 750 million'

Rubbish. It was purchased at close to 2 billion, subsequently reassessed by the government at 750m and curiously sold later for 1.8 billion.

[Thai at Heart]

The genus of the problem can then be seen with the Pibun right wing nationalist regime stemming from their treatment of the malay in the south, joining the nazis and Japanese Axis the same day that Pearl Harbor was attacked.

It's worth therefore remembering that pridi Banomyong, thailand's true hero and founder of democracy in Thailand, a socialist to boot, was ambassador to the us at the time. Pibun ordered pridi to declare war against the us and Britain.

He refused and helped set up the Thai resistance.

He was regent of Thailand after the war. He drew up plans for the redistribution of wealth from the feudal elite.

Well that didn't happen and he had to flee and died an exile in France.

My point being that it is not the liberal elite who helped foster the problems in the south nor the rest of the country.

It is those who have propagated 17 coups so far who are responsible. For me there is a clear divide. The Thai army takes the lions share of the blame for the current crisis.

In Britain we had to talk to the IRA. The Irish have long memories that the English forget.

Yes, Pridi. A great man, but far too socially minded for many. I really have to keep reading more history to work out what good the Thai army has actually done for this country.

[Thaddeus]

I really have to keep reading more history to work out what good the Thai army has actually done for this country.

As far as the boys on the ground are concerned, a heck of a lot more during the last major flooding of the capital than the other blokes in uniforms, and with no self aggrandisement into the bargain, no stickers claiming falsehoods, and no 'aren't we great' statements afterwards.

You could say that they were only following orders, couldn't you, but I doubt you will.

[rubl]

I really have to keep reading more history to work out what good the Thai army has actually done for this country.

As far as the boys on the ground are concerned, a heck of a lot more during the last major flooding of the capital than the other blokes in uniforms, and with no self aggrandisement into the bargain, no stickers claiming falsehoods, and no 'aren't we great' statements afterwards.

You could say that they were only following orders, couldn't you, but I doubt you will.

The Army may also have helped a bit to keep Thailand 'communist free' (or at least up to a point). Now some may think that was a mistake as surely those red-shirts did lots of good in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Mind you the topic is only on a peace process of which Thaksin said more than a year ago "Who am I to do such". Btw no need to answer, that was a non-answer combined with a retorical question.

[hellodolly]

The very name Shinawatra is synonymous with violence.

The very name Shinawatra Abhisit is synonymous with violence. Remind me who is it that is facing murder charges?

It would be interesting to know who the families of the 2,000+ people murdered in K.T war on drugs, families of the Krue Se Mosque murders and the families of the deaths of the Tak Bai event would like to face murder charges.

Well as to the Krue se mosque it was the Thai army whot dunnit!

Pure humbug!

This ain't Kansas. If the Mexican government declared all out war ( and they have done in the past) against the drug barons the majority of the Mexican population would applaud.

So too did they here in Thailand.

As we know the BIB and members of the army are involved in the production, importation and distribution of yaba etc in Thailand.

Rewards were offered for arrests in posession to get results only these warped from caught in possession to "resisting arrest"and drugs found (planted) on bodies.

The cop shop where the cops currently out on bail with death sentences were stationed were responsible for another 27 unexplained deaths.

60,000 people were detained for drug offences at the same time. It was a massive operation.

Under abhisit there was zilch. Of course the status quo had to be preserved.

Hardly a day goes by now without reading about drug busts here now.

From Kansas to Mexico to buses in Bangkok. You really got a grip on this one. I was half expecting you to drag Burma or some war torn country in to this.

[hellodolly]

The "insurgency" in the south has been festering for years.

it can not be solved in a short time, or by talking to one of the many groups that are involved.

Prior to the 1930's those provinces in the south of Thailand were partially autonomous and had their own local government systems in conjunction with the Thai government authorities.

Those provinces were ceded to the then Kingdom of Siam in about 1900 by an agreement with the then British Empire in Malaya.

The Thais were given the right to control those provinces in exchange for giving up all claims to the Malay area of a state in Eastern Malaya,

The British need that Malay territory in Eastern Malaya to consolidate there control of Malaya.

I believe (though I could be mistaken) that the agreement was known as the treaty of Bangkok and signed in 1902 between the British and the then Kingdom of Thailand. It gave Thailand control of the area that later became these "Thai southern provinces" and the Thais gave up any claims to other territory in Malaya for those provinces.

For the first 20 to 30 years the parallel Thai and local governments co-operated in running those provinces.

In the 1930's a very nationalistic Thai military ruler came to power in Thailand.

He benefited politically from a very nationalistic "Thai first" policy; and he began stripping away many of the local Muslim friendly government benefits, and enforcing a more Thai centered government.

As an exam[le he changed the local education system to a Thai based education system taught in Thai.

Prior to these changes there had been a mostly unified Muslim based political party.

This Muslim based political party was regarded as being to pro Thai, and other Muslim organizations began to develop to oppose the mainstream Muslim political party.

Of course, WW2 intervened and basically put everything on hold until the end of the war.

In the 1950's with the independence of Malaya the British Empire was no longer in the game.

Since the1960's more radical Islamic parties have also joined the game.

Bottom line, the old Muslim political party (of which the BRN is basically what's left of the moderate wing) has been losing it's influence.

Far more radical Islamist groups have taken over, especially for the more radicalized youth, and the BRN is regarded by many of those youth as "traitors" in collusion with the Thais in the "oppression" of the Muslim minority.

My main point here: this Southern province "problem": took years to develop, and therefore it won't be solved quickly.

It will take years of good will to rebuild the trust of moderates on both sides of the problem, and co-operation of all parties.

That won't be easy, or a quick process,

Both sides need to grow up and see the reality of the complex problem to solve it with time.

Interesting history lesson.

Are the Malaysian provinces Siam gave up trying to reunite with the southern three provinces of Thailand.

Are they living in daily fear of terrorists. Or are they content because they have the Muslim law in place for them.

As usual when it comes to this topic you are frighteningly ignorant. Malaysia does not have hudud/sharia law in lace but you seem to forget that every time you are provided links to that effect . . . and Malaysia has no interest in absorbing the southern provinces . . . yet another point you keep raising and keep getting proven wrong.

>Unfortunately for any peace process because of past actions,Tak Bai in particular, the number one hate figure in the south is a Shinawatra. It is extremely unlikely that any real progress will be made under the present regime.

It is unlikely that any real progress will be made under any government - or can you show me where Abisith's reign coincided with harmony in the south.

This is both a face-saving exercise (Thais giving up any of 'their' territory???) and simple bloody-mindedness by Bangkok . . . with bloodshed from both sides added to the mixture

You might want to to try reading my posts. Many the time I have said Malaysia does not want them.

This post I asked if the ones Siam signed over to the British want to come back to Thailand?

It was tongue in cheek as I know they are happy with a Muslim government.

You are probably rite on the law it was my understanding that if you were a Muslim they would try you under Islamic law.

Do you just scan through my posts and fill in the parts you didn't read?

[hellodolly]

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

That's government land.

Thai law expressly forbids government officials or their families from purchasing government owned land for because of obvious conflicts of interest. Thaksin personally authorised the deal and that was the reason he was charged. He knew he was guilty, so did his lawyers and so the only course he saw open to him was to flee the scene.

>wikipedia on the Democrats:-

The first Chuan government (1992–1995) fell when members of the Cabinet

were implicated in profiting from Sor Phor Kor 4-01 land project

documents distributed in Phuket province.^[18] Chuan was again Premier from 1997 to 2001, in the midst of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and its aftermath. The Party lost a landslide election victory to Thaksin Shinawatra's populist Thai Rak Thai party, winning 128 seats compared to the TRT's 248 in the 2001 general election.

But of course there was NO corruption in Thailand before Thaksin

From all your posts and a few other posters here I am getting the feeling the peace talks were indeed a sham. Rather than defend the piss poor attempt at peace you travel all over the world and through time.

Why don't you come out and say they were a sham instead of traveling off to Kansas Mexico Bangkok and then go back into the early 1990s

Wake up this is Thailand 2013.

[OzMick]

[

Furthermore just to add note the " letting your wife buy land" quote above.

That does not apply in Kansas or most anywhere else in the west.

The wife doesn't need her husband to provide his "ID" card so she can buy land.

Just another law in the Thai "free" Thai state. Or police state really.

It does apply in Kansas, and most other US states and other countries. Public officials and their close families are precluded from buying state assets for very good reasons. It not only stops corruption, it stops the appearance of corruption.In Thailand, a man and his wife are the same legal entity. This and the asset purchase ban have been Thai law for many years; some people just think they are above the law, and their apologists try to confuse the issue.

Wrong again.

There was a public auction. Anyone could bid except anyone who worked at the bank of Thailand. Those were the rules extant at the time.

Like the Bank of England the bank of Thailand was and is notionally independent.

The FDIC!? Was tasked with selling assets/ debts from the ASEAN crisis taken from Thai hiso's who got into difficulties.

The land in question was independently valued at 750 million baht and sold at auction to the highest bidder for 775 million baht.

End of story.

These were not state assets but private assets the state took hold of, serviced the interest and were and are TASKED with selling through public auction to reimburse state funds.

Yingluk and her government have just now made the bank solely responsible for repaying the interest and selling off these assets. It could have been argued that there was a lack of incentive for the bank to sell the assets when previously the government alone was responsible for paying the costs/ interest. They had tried before to sell this land at a far greater price and received no bidders so they reluctantly agreed to have the actually valued!

The pad inspired and controlled assets scrutiny committee tried for 3 months to get the bank officials to testify and only finally succeeded after some behind the scenes arm twisting.

Thaksin's wife has not been prosecuted. She did no wrong. To buy the land she had to get a senior male member of her family to witness with ID card the sale. That is the law.

You make a much stronger defence for Thaksin than his legal team managed, as all they could come up with was a bribery attempt. So was this evidence presented at trial for testing by experts at Thai law? Or merely the unsupported claims of an anonymous TVF poster?