Push for anti-coup law: Thailand

[hellodolly]

This is quite subversive. Yingluck becomes DM and now enjoys "good relations" with the top brass. Now they try to bring in a law that she (with big brother's approval) must endorse future promotions to the rank of general. Guess what, only their relatives, friends, cronies and paid sympathisers will ever get promoted. Once the military are under control the pesky Red Stormtroopers will be surplus to requirements and can be dumped. Emergency decree brings big brother home and he becomes leader. The police and military are under control, and the democratically elected governement can now pass any laws they want, borrow trillions off budget and really get super amply rich. Sweet.

Look to history. Hitler did the same - used the SA brown shirts as private army, until he got control of the military and police. Then bye bye SA and anyone else who wasn't wanted or disagreed. Stalin purged the military to keep control and through is meglania paranoia, so did all the other dictators.

This strategy is hardly subtle yet no one seems to worry about the consequences.

It is not always the Generals who initiate the coups.

To many Thaksinite generals can demoralize the rest of the army.

[animatic]

Well, if all appointees have to be approved by the defence minister in future, that would mean, a coup wouldn't be particularly good for your future career.

Quite a subtle and clever move.

And we know who suddenly was made Defense Minister, regardless of absolutely no qualifications..

This would tie the bow around things nicely.

[Bkungbank]

In 60's -70's those some coup done by power crazy Generals but nowdays Generals are very caring for the people

like big flood the armies helped the people, in southern they die for the people to protect this wonderful country so that we can lived in peace.

You don't have to affraid of coup if the government done noting wrong to the country.

If you cross the line then the army have to interfere, so don't cross the line. Passing the law doesn't actually help to stop from future coup.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Bkungbank

[tonneke breda]

They should pass a law which forbids politicians to not do their jobs, but ooohps, then they all will violate it.

[Hyponeros]

It is amazing that people coming from democratic countries keep defending military coups! Maybe they don't understand democracy either?

Of course we all know that generals are honest in comparison to politicians, right? If they rule the country there would be no more corruption, right? Knowing that is enough to justify a military coup!

And I mean in every real democratic country the government never get's involved in military affaris, right? No civilian governmet ever approves the nomination of a general, right? So why should Thailand do?

Wake up guys, you've been in Thailand for too long to believe that soldiers are bettter than civilians!

[EyesWideOpen]

Funny stuff..... Everyone knows that coups are an integral part of the Thai political process.

Step 1. Get your party into office by using vote buying and promises.

Step 2. Appoint cronies and relative into positions of power

Step 3. Loot the country as fast and as hard as you can

Step 4. The military steps in, throws everyone out ,takes control for a while, a new party comes in, and the whole process

starts again.

And Thailand wonders why other countries do not take them seriously. :-)

Edited July 25, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[Wavefloater]

Funny stuff..... Everyone knows that coups are an integral part of the Thai political process.

Step 1. Get your party into office by using vote buying and promises.

Step 2. Appoint cronies and relative into positions of power

Step 3. Loot the country as fast and as hard as you can

Step 4. The military steps in, throws everyone out ,takes control for a while, a new party comes in, and the whole process

starts again.

And Thailand wonders why other countries do not take them seriously. :-)

You seem to be right.

Haven't coups in Thailand been a regular occurrence for the past century? I remember seeing something that gave the impression there is one approximately every 5 or 6 years (on average).

[DiNiro]

Thais love democracy but the 'wrong' side keeps winning.

The invisible hand will call out the Army soon.

[EyesWideOpen]

why are there so many generals in thailand ? and why are they all so rich ?

because they can be bought or hired and have deep fingers in all illegal activity

There are a mere 1700 generals in Thailand, and this for a country that has in essence never been at war in modern times, and most likely never will be. When I first came to Thailand, a very long term expat told me all corruption activities are divided up between the police and the military, and in essence there is no " Thai mafia".

And apparently there are even some joint ventures such as the selling of the Burmese refugees that were captured in the Ranong area. Sort of bizarre to think that the military is the only thing standing between us and a dictatorship by Thaksin..... :-)

Edited July 25, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[EyesWideOpen]

why are there so many generals in thailand ? and why are they all so rich ?

because they can be bought or hired and have deep fingers in all illegal activity

There are a mere 1700 generals in Thailand, and this for a country that has in essence never been at war in modern times, and most likely never will be. When I first came to Thailand, a very long term expat told me all corruption activities are divided up between the police and the military, and in essence there is no " Thai mafia".

[smedly]

when you have a government that won't step down failure after failure then there is only one solution

any other civilised country in the world the government would have stepped down long ago with performance like PTP - they are obviously not fit for purpose and make a mockery of democracy and the law

not to mention having a leader that fled the country to avoid prison and is running things from another country, if it wasn't so serious it would be funny

[DiNiro]

This is quite subversive. Yingluck becomes DM and now enjoys "good relations" with the top brass. Now they try to bring in a law that she (with big brother's approval) must endorse future promotions to the rank of general. Guess what, only their relatives, friends, cronies and paid sympathisers will ever get promoted. Once the military are under control the pesky Red Stormtroopers will be surplus to requirements and can be dumped. Emergency decree brings big brother home and he becomes leader. The police and military are under control, and the democratically elected governement can now pass any laws they want, borrow trillions off budget and really get super amply rich. Sweet.

Look to history. Hitler did the same - used the SA brown shirts as private army, until he got control of the military and police. Then bye bye SA and anyone else who wasn't wanted or disagreed. Stalin purged the military to keep control and through is meglania paranoia, so did all the other dictators.

This strategy is hardly subtle yet no one seems to worry about the consequences.

It is not always the Generals who initiate the coups.

To many Thaksinite generals can demoralize the rest of the army.

The Wikileaks cables from the US Ambassador back to Washington and a few other sources explain who ordered the Thaksin coup.

Wonder why The Nation didn't cover it?

[Bof]

What's the point. The Royal Thai army is above law .

[animatic]

Well, if all appointees have to be approved by the defence minister in future, that would mean, a coup wouldn't be particularly good for your future career.

Quite a subtle and clever move.

And we know who suddenly was made Defense Minister, regardless of absolutely no qualifications..

This would tie the bow around things nicely.

[Thai at Heart]

Well, if all appointees have to be approved by the defence minister in future, that would mean, a coup wouldn't be particularly good for your future career.

Quite a subtle and clever move.

And we know who suddenly was made Defense Minister, regardless of absolutely no qualifications..

This would tie the bow around things nicely.

The thing is, if the other side proposed it, we'd all support it.

[scorecard]

Asked whether the armed forces had agreed to embrace the bill, Prasop said all soldiers had to respect laws.

However it would seem that MP's and cabinet ministers and those wearing red shirts do not.

Quote:

"Asked whether the armed forces had agreed to embrace the bill, Prasop said all soldiers had to respect laws."

Well pt and mr. prasop, you should get your own picture of credibility and righteousness in order before you try to throw stones at others.

The pt mob and many of the pt senior members, in parliament, the one directing parliament from his mansion abroad, and the red machine leaders have zero respect for the law, no hesitation to break or ignore the law and perhaps even more important don't have any moral values which protects and encourages respect for the law, and/or fair justice for all Thai citizens.

In essence they are just looking at anything that just might help in some way to get the whitewash through.

Put it all another way, if push really came to shove and things got way out of hand, corruption rising even further, circumventing of fair elections (even more vote buying), more populist polices which break the bank and benefit only the manipulated voters, more nepotism (the family now occupies nearly all the powerful positions, all totally blatant - no shame to put all the family in the big seats), etc etc., then I wonder whether the military would eventually just go ahead with another coup, regardless of the law.

[rafish]

Like a law isn't already on the books. Gullibility index is quite high these days.

[hawker9000]

an anti-coup law is an oxymoron

Exactly. Consider what a coup IS by definition! Does the current charter provide in some manner for "coups"? Of course not. It's like passing a law against breaking the law. It DOES sound like some sort of attempt to cement the current regime's hold on power.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

when you have a government that won't step down failure after failure then there is only one solution

any other civilised country in the world the government would have stepped down long ago with performance like PTP - they are obviously not fit for purpose and make a mockery of democracy and the law

not to mention having a leader that fled the country to avoid prison and is running things from another country, if it wasn't so serious it would be funny

Did GW step down?

Did Tony Blair step down?

[Rimmer]

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[DiNiro]

In 60's -70's those some coup done by power crazy Generals but nowdays Generals are very caring for the people

like big flood the armies helped the people, in southern they die for the people to protect this wonderful country so that we can lived in peace.

You don't have to affraid of coup if the government done noting wrong to the country.

If you cross the line then the army have to interfere, so don't cross the line. Passing the law doesn't actually help to stop from future coup.

Pitiful post.

Forget the voters.

Let some billionaire Thai Army General decide.

Remember the very caring General they put in power last coup? You know..the one with the home in the national forest preserve.....

Cleanest guy they could find.

[khunken]

This has all the hallmarks of the paymaster attempting to out-fox the foxes. An anti-coup law - yeah!

It's a smokescreen for PTP to take complete charge of military appointments (remember General Chaisit Shinawatra) and give rocket-propelled promotions to supporters and, especially, clan members. Just like what they do with the police.

In established democracies it is right for the military to be under civilian rule. There are enough checks & balances (not to mention media unrestrained by highly restrictive defamation laws) to mostly prevent nepotism & partiality.

Not in Thailand though.

[DiNiro]

In 60's -70's those some coup done by power crazy Generals but nowdays Generals are very caring for the people

like big flood the armies helped the people, in southern they die for the people to protect this wonderful country so that we can lived in peace.

You don't have to affraid of coup if the government done noting wrong to the country.

If you cross the line then the army have to interfere, so don't cross the line. Passing the law doesn't actually help to stop from future coup.

Pitiful post.

Forget the voters.

Let some very caring billionaire Thai Army General decide?

Remember the very caring General they put in power last coup? You know..the one with the home in the national forest preserve.....and he put the economy in a tailspin.

Cleanest guy they could find. Guess where he is now.

[hellodolly]

In 60's -70's those some coup done by power crazy Generals but nowdays Generals are very caring for the people

like big flood the armies helped the people, in southern they die for the people to protect this wonderful country so that we can lived in peace.

You don't have to affraid of coup if the government done noting wrong to the country.

If you cross the line then the army have to interfere, so don't cross the line. Passing the law doesn't actually help to stop from future coup.

Pitiful post.

Forget the voters.

Let some very caring billionaire Thai Army General decide?

Remember the very caring General they put in power last coup? You know..the one with the home in the national forest preserve.....and he put the economy in a tailspin.

Cleanest guy they could find. Guess where he is now.

Didn't he switch to the PTP?

Are you blaming him for the world recession.

I supose the world economy booming had niothing to do with Thaksin's good times he did it all by himself single handedly.

[khunken]

When you have been through the Thaksin direct-rule years and seen the rape of the country's finances with a few Baht handed out to poor people - before and after elections - in order to get them to vote for you, It's hardly surprising that any alternative looks good.

The choice facing Thailand now is one-man dictatorship or a coup. Given that lousy choice, I'd take the coup because at least it's not one person running the show.

Coups will become a rarity here when a proper democratic system is in place. Political parties with some sort of foundation - left or right of centre, centrist, agrarian, green or whatever - are needed to give people a real choice. The current 'choice' is which party will give the most handouts, subsidies or bribes - a woeful choice.

I have written a fair amount about democracy here on various TV threads and strongly disagree with those shallow-thinking Farangs who think that the democracy of their home country can be applied or imposed on a developing country like Thailand.

[hellodolly]

when you have a government that won't step down failure after failure then there is only one solution

any other civilised country in the world the government would have stepped down long ago with performance like PTP - they are obviously not fit for purpose and make a mockery of democracy and the law

not to mention having a leader that fled the country to avoid prison and is running things from another country, if it wasn't so serious it would be funny

Did GW step down?

Did Tony Blair step down?

I thought GW was American and Tony Blair was British. How did they get here?

[scorecard]

when you have a government that won't step down failure after failure then there is only one solution

any other civilised country in the world the government would have stepped down long ago with performance like PTP - they are obviously not fit for purpose and make a mockery of democracy and the law

not to mention having a leader that fled the country to avoid prison and is running things from another country, if it wasn't so serious it would be funny

Did GW step down?

Did Tony Blair step down?

No, but many people believe they should have stepped down!

[h90]

In 60's -70's those some coup done by power crazy Generals but nowdays Generals are very caring for the people

like big flood the armies helped the people, in southern they die for the people to protect this wonderful country so that we can lived in peace.

You don't have to affraid of coup if the government done noting wrong to the country.

If you cross the line then the army have to interfere, so don't cross the line. Passing the law doesn't actually help to stop from future coup.

Pitiful post.

Forget the voters.

Let some very caring billionaire Thai Army General decide?

Remember the very caring General they put in power last coup? You know..the one with the home in the national forest preserve.....and he put the economy in a tailspin.

Cleanest guy they could find. Guess where he is now.

Indeed cleanest guy in Thailands politic as long as people can recall. That national forest preserve case is really nothing in compare to the huge corruption of everyone else.

As well he removed it at his own costs.

He did nothing with the economic neither good nor bad....

[metisdead]

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[klubex99]

Thai coups do no good anyway. Like another poster pointed out. It just replaces one inept and corrupt government with another. Which gets voted out at the next election only to put the party back in power at the hands of the uneducated masses who vote back the terrible populists only to reign till the next coup and so it goes on and on and on with no improvement to the country.

Thailand seems proud of its style of bloodless coup. However, in my opinion it is the 'bloodless' part that is the main problem. Bent politicians will never mend their ways so long as the worst thing that could happen was to have to live in luxury in Dubai or Hong Kong... Dragged into the street and put in front of a firing squad then hung upside down from lamp posts.... now that is how they do a coup in other parts of the world.

That should act as an incentive to future politicians to behave themselves and start looking after the interests of the country and its people rather than themselves.

I am not the sort of person that normally condones violence. But if you are going to have a coup, do it properly or don't do it at all.