FUGITIVE EX-PM
Birthday boy calls on Thais to rely on one another
Praphan Jindalertudomdee
The Nation


Supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra celebrate his 64th birthday at the Kaew Far Temple.

BANGKOK: -- Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra may have been in Beijing, but his figure was standing right there next to Deputy Education Minister Sermsak Pongpanit as he lit and blew out candles on a 64 pound (29-kilogram) cake to celebrate the former leader's 64th birthday yesterday.

In a brief phone-in at the event, Thaksin said Thais had no choice but to rely on one another to solve the country's conflicts.

Meanwhile, many Pheu Thai MPs flew to Hong Kong yesterday and more were to follow today to deliver their birthday wishes in person.

Hundreds of people flocked to Nonthaburi's Wat Kaew Far to join the event, while hundreds of others held similar events in their home towns.

Ceremoniously blessed

Just before Thaksin called after the clock struck noon, Sermsak performed Buddhist, Hindu and Chinese blessing rituals using 65 candles to extend the former leader's life span.

In a five-minute video clip posted by Thaksin's son Panthongtae on Facebook yesterday, Thaksin is heard calling on people to trust one another to help solve their problems.

"Brothers and sisters, I care for Thailand. There are many things that can be fixed but haven't been fixed because of doubts and distrust owing to the conflicts. If we turn towards each other, we can achieve reconciliation in the country.

"We talk like Thais, in our language, when we discuss the core of the problems and how we can solve them together. If we focus on our country, I'm sure it will become prosperous again," he said.

Thaksin recalled that he was overthrown when he was 57, and though he returned briefly when he was 59, he had not returned since.

He said the benefit of his exile was that he was able to see the world and learn new things. He promised to share his new knowledge on Facebook when he returns to Dubai.

He went on to say that he missed his family, but commended his children for visiting him often so he is not lonely.

Up to 50,000 cards, depicting a caricature of Thaksin along with a message written in his own hand, were handed out along with a "reconciliation dessert", which came in the form of red and white intertwined pastry.

"I thank my Thai brothers and sisters for not having forgotten me. I would like to see peace return for the future of our descendants and the country.

"I hope to pass on happiness from all corners of the world to each and every Thai," the message on the card read.

Thousands of people gathered at temples nationwide to make merit on Thaksin's behalf and wrote birthday wishes on a long, white cloth that will be taken to the former leader as a present.

In Chiang Mai, the Rak Chiang Mai 51 group hosted an event titled "64 Years: The Good Man of the Country" to toast the birthday boy at the Warorot Grand Palace Hotel.

In Nakhon Ratchasima, red-shirt supporters prepared a 4.5kg cake to mark the event.

In Udon Thani, Pheu Thai MPs along with 500 supporters attended a merit-making ceremony at Wat Thip Santiwan, where up to Bt65,000 was raised in donations.

Red-shirt leader Kwanchai Sarakham was unable to attend because he had a court appointment, though his wife arranged a similar event at another temple.

In Trang, which is a Democrat Party base, a few hundred red shirts from that province and adjacent ones gathered at the Rose Inn to celebrate Thaksin's birthday.


-- The Nation 2013-07-27

This was wonderful and heartwarming news.

I wish Mr Thaksin a belated happy 64th and hope that this event may continue for many years to come.

His faithful supporters gathering around the country to reminisce about the good old days.

I hope Mr Thaksin will be able to phone his fans in 10 years time and still be as positive.

His birthdays celebrated from China and Dubai or wherever, keep up the spirits of the misguided fools who believe every word he utters.

"Hundreds of people flocked to Nonthaburi's Wat Kaew Far to join the event, while hundreds of others held similar events in their home towns."

That's a bit of a disappointing turnout for such a revered and popular criminal and to make matter worse.....

"Thaksin Shinawatra was in a conciliatory mood in a video posted for his 64th birthday yesterday on the Facebook page of his son Panthongtae .....The message from afar touched the heartstrings of plenty of people. The video drew more than 13,000 "likes" and hundreds of "shares". But over at YouTube, many of the comments waxed nasty. "Why don't you come home? No one banned you," someone asked the fugitive from Thai justice. Others said he should stop wasting their time by pretending he cares about the country. By early afternoon the viewer-comment section on YouTube was disabled, erasing everything that had been posted through the morning. Panthongtae was meanwhile filtering out negative remarks on Facebook" http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Digital-cake-fight-erupts-at-Thaksins-birthday-bas-30211233.html

Looks like you better ask for a refund on your cyber warrior program.

hi its my birthday

Whilst this man walks free ,he's bother Thai's will live in a divided nation, most decent people of any country would shudder at the antic's this birthday boy pulls, while on the run in exile , third world countries would be hard pressed to beat this fiasco, the democrats have a lot to answer for , in letting this man go to Beijing in the first instance ,as he has lied before , Thaskin is a man who cannot be trusted, did Thaskin or the Democrats sum up the risk or the consequences in letting him go to Beijing , obviously not.

Thaksinists at the Wat Far Kew seems appropriate.

BTW asked the red g/f if we should have a party for Thaksin's birthday. She got the hump and wouldn't talk to me for an hour.

I think you are right, "whilst this man walks free, he's bother". The problem here is that he is free anywhere in the world except Thailand.

He would be a lot more bother if he was walking free IN Thailand, since, I think you would agree, there is little likelihood of his spending a nano second behind prison bars.

I somehow suspect that the Democrats knew what might happen, and it did. He divorced his beautiful wife Potjaman, presumably for financial convenience, and now has to dream of returning to Thailand, as he doesn't have the guts to return and stand and defend himself in a court of law. A court, which as you know, would operate in a country run by his proxy sister Yingluck.

The man knows that there are too many cases against him, that is why the amnesty bills are so important to him.

The Democrats under Abhisit seem to have no problem with the 'people's amnesty' by Payao Akahad, they do have a problem with the bill proposed by Worachai Hema.

The only concern Thai people should have is that Labour Minister Chalerm will be headless come 2014.

Whilst this man walks free ,he's bother Thai's will live in a divided nation, most decent people of any country would shudder at the antic's this birthday boy pulls, while on the run in exile , third world countries would be hard pressed to beat this fiasco, the democrats have a lot to answer for , in letting this man go to Beijing in the first instance ,as he has lied before , Thaskin is a man who cannot be trusted, did Thaskin or the Democrats sum up the risk or the consequences in letting him go to Beijing , obviously not.

The Democrats wasn´t running Thailand when Thaksin went to Bejing, Samak Sundaravej was PM. A proxy to Thaksin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministers_of_Thailand

The "birthday boy," 50,00 cards written in his own hand. Isn't that just swell how the newspaper deifies him? These Thais, boy oh boy, they are something else.

Rely on each other. Even if they tried to burn Bangkok down as per his instructions. Rely on them.

the man is beyond ignorant. His lust for power and money at all costs has and will continue to keep the people divided.

Then you get the ones who think give him a free ride drop all charges and revoke his conviction will save Thailand.

It will just further deepen the divide. the man is a waste off oxygen.

If he was an ancient Samurai he would do the decent thing and fall on his own sword, He is not unfortunately.

anyone had any idea why is thaksin so popular?

anyone had any idea why is thaksin so popular?

Simple. He spent a lot of money to buy that support over the years. And (in all honesty) a few of his policies in previous years (on the face of it) did actually benefit "Thai's" to a small degree. However, this was all done whilst raping the country left, right and centre to his own benefit, something most people just don't seem (or want) to see.

anyone had any idea why is thaksin so popular?

I guess the red mobs missed this interview with the dear leader on Friday Jan 7, 2011 by Tracey Tyler of the Toronto Star Newspaper.

Old news and no supporting link: Violation of fair use policy, post removed.

Post using nickname has been removed, spell people's names correctly when posting.

I can imagine that rent-a-crowd after free whiskey and cake were singing under their breath..............

Happy birthday to you

You think and we do,

We just like your money,

and your sisters cute to.

anyone had any idea why is thaksin so popular?

Quite easy, if you give free gifts to the poor and uneducated you will be carried on their hands.

The fact that the free gifts come out of the state coffers and are unwarranted for will not damp the joy.

In a brief phone-in at the event, Thaksin said Thais had no choice but to rely on one another to solve the country's conflicts.

That's right, they certainly can't rely on Thaksin to solve the country's conflicts, however, they can rely on him taking the credit.

One more time, the same people saying the same things against Taksin every time there's a post. Having nothing better to do than that constantly in SaYaam is pathetic. Get a life. I wish this group had members who didn't come across as lager louts and sexpats.

I can imagine that rent-a-crowd after free whiskey and cake were singing under their breath..............

Happy birthday to you

You think and we do,

We just like your money,

and your sisters cute to.

Rumor going around that Mick Jagger off the Rolling Stones who turned 70 on the 26th found out it was Thaksions birthday and is now trying to change his birthday.

Democratically elected prime Minister on a visit to the UN HQ ousted by the 5 families using the army as their guard dogs...simple innit.

Agree that until he returns (under whatever conditions)then the country will remain divided.

Next few years should be interesting

Democratically elected prime Minister on a visit to the UN HQ ousted by the 5 families using the army as their guard dogs...simple innit.

Agree that until he returns (under whatever conditions)then the country will remain divided.

Next few years should be interesting

Democratically elected doesn't necessarily mean a democrat society or that the one elected has democratic intentions. See: Egypt.

One more time, the same people saying the same things against Taksin every time there's a post. Having nothing better to do than that constantly in SaYaam is pathetic. Get a life. I wish this group had members who didn't come across as lager louts and sexpats.

lager louts and sexpats,,,are you still at school

One more time, the same people saying the same things against Taksin every time there's a post. Having nothing better to do than that constantly in SaYaam is pathetic. Get a life. I wish this group had members who didn't come across as lager louts and sexpats.

After your massive contribution to the thread, in your 4th post, please remember you are free to leave. No one forces you to spend your valuable time reading the threads, and you can even choose the ones you want to.

You presumably frequent with lager louts and sexpats if that is your benchmark.

Democratically elected prime Minister on a visit to the UN HQ ousted by the 5 families using the army as their guard dogs...simple innit.

Agree that until he returns (under whatever conditions)then the country will remain divided.

Next few years should be interesting

Was he still the democratically elected PM when ousted? Or perhaps parliament had been dissolved and the self appointed caretaker PM was refusing to go?

What should a country do if its democratically elected government starts to remove the vestiges of democracy, ignores laws, places family members and cronies in key positions, undermines the constitution, uses threats and law suits to intimidate, openly lies and is riddled with increasing corruption. When such a government exists and becomes more dangerous through an arrogance created by seemingly getting away with more and more, how should a country react?

The dangers of taking no action can been seen in the histories of countless countries.

It will be an interesting few years indeed. Thailand must chose between becoming a modern democracy or succumbing to a potential ruthless dictator's machinations.

I think you are right, "whilst this man walks free, he's bother". The problem here is that he is free anywhere in the world except Thailand.

He would be a lot more bother if he was walking free IN Thailand, since, I think you would agree, there is little likelihood of his spending a nano second behind prison bars.

I somehow suspect that the Democrats knew what might happen, and it did. He divorced his beautiful wife Potjaman, presumably for financial convenience, and now has to dream of returning to Thailand, as he doesn't have the guts to return and stand and defend himself in a court of law. A court, which as you know, would operate in a country run by his proxy sister Yingluck.

The man knows that there are too many cases against him, that is why the amnesty bills are so important to him.

The Democrats under Abhisit seem to have no problem with the 'people's amnesty' by Payao Akahad, they do have a problem with the bill proposed by Worachai Hema.

The only concern Thai people should have is that Labour Minister Chalerm will be headless come 2014.

Better headless than legless.

One more time, the same people saying the same things against Taksin every time there's a post. Having nothing better to do than that constantly in SaYaam is pathetic. Get a life. I wish this group had members who didn't come across as lager louts and sexpats.

I cannot speak for the other people on this forum who condemn Thaksin, the PTP, and his redshirt terrorists. But I can say that I am neither a "lager lout" or a "sexpat" (gee I hate that term) and I don't see my posts giving that impression. If I am guilty of anything it is my hatred of corruption, involving anyone, anywhere, any time. And braindead rednecks, got no time for those tossers.

And you should get a life and stop bagging us for airing our opinions.

There was a popular song in the 70's in Germany that went something like this:

"60 years old and not one iota wiser,

having learnt nothing from previous mistakes,

60 years old and slowly becoming a geezer,

and yet still acting like an ignorant child..."

[it rhymes much better in German ]

Replace the "60" with "64" and this - in its Thai translation - could well become Thaksin's personal hymn. Not that he's a particularly gifted singer, of course.

Does this now mean he can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear.

Democratically elected prime Minister on a visit to the UN HQ ousted by the 5 families using the army as their guard dogs...simple innit.

Agree that until he returns (under whatever conditions)then the country will remain divided.

Next few years should be interesting

How many times do we have to read people coming on here with absolutely zero idea of what ACTUALLY happened and making it up as they go along, either that or listening to some red yokel who has red radio on all day at 100db's. Please read the post by Baerboxer above. Thaksin was NO LONGER Prime Minister and was self appointed caretaker Prime Minister. He kept using delaying tactics to avoid the 'overdue' elections. The criminal was not ousted by a coup, the Military stepped in to stop what were becoming blatant moves towards a Dictatorship.

Where was Sermsak's head when he blew out the candles?

Thaksin was a late bloomer in his quest as head 'bully' . He has shown that some individuals never mature and grow up and accept accountability for their misques.

The court decisions and the coup were a real deserving bitch slap to him/ It appears his memory has been affected in these regards, thus another round is probably due him.

Hos criminal conduct started prior to entering government service and since then has been expanded to include his family and the majority of those he has associated with. His mother may have seen some redeeming qualities in his life style/behavior but it would take a 'mother blind love' to do so. The majority of the Thai know him for what he is, but his supporting holligans know they are not qualified to make any meaningful contribution to society, thus they browbeat the opposition just like 'dear leader' has done.