Anger over DSI chief's 'inappropriate' reference to Yingluck

[webfact]

Anger Over DSI Chief's 'Inappropriate' Reference To Yingluck
By Khaosod Online



BANGKOK: -- The chief of the Division of Special Investigation (DSI) is criticised by senior members of the Democrat Party for taking a legal action against a Democrat spokeswoman′s teasing of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, and for referring to Ms. Yingluck as the ′head of state′.

Ms. Mallika Boonmetrakul, the deputy spokeswoman of the Democrats, has previously posted an edited photo of Ms. Yingluck as she visited Kui Buri National Park in Prachuap Kiri Khan Province during one of her recent official trips.

In the original photo, Ms. Yingluck stood next to a sign that says ′a spot to observe wide elephants and gaur′, However, in the photo Ms. Mallika posted on her Facebook, the text was changed to ′Tiger, Lion, Gaur...′.

In Thai idiom, the phrase ‘Tiger, Lion, Guar, …’ is followed by the word rhino. When placed together, the 4 words refer to a slutty woman (rhino also hold the same meaning as a standalone word). Basically, Ms. Mallika was demeaning Ms. Yingluck in the way many of her critics have done - a gesture criticised by many as a sexist slandering.

Many of Ms. Mallika′s supporters found the joke funny. Mr. Tharit Pengdit, the director of the DSI, apparently did not. He said in a press conference that the doctored photo amounts to a direct insult against Ms. Yingluck, a criminal action, and a special investigation has been launched.

That decision alone would have been criticised by critics of Ms. Yingluck′s government as overreaction and an unnecessary curb on freedom of expression, but Mr. Tharit also provided another kind of ammunition for the opposition: he referred to Ms. Yingluck during the press conference as "head of state".

The head of state of Thailand is His Majesty the King. The Democrats, long known for their royalism, and their supporters seized the remark to attack the DSI chief.

For instance, Mr. Wirat Kanlayasiri, the Songkla MP from Democrat Party, raised his concern that Mr. Tharit speech was ‘inappropriate’, as His Majesty the King is the one and only ‘Head of State’ in Thailand.

After a storm on the social network, Mr. Tharit clarified himself, saying that his reference to Ms. Yingluck was ′theoretically correct′ as the Prime Minister is also the head of the executive power.

He further defended himself by insisting that the allegation that the DSI is disrespectful to the monarchy is nonsensical, because the DSI has been cracking down on those who insult the Royal Family.

Source: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNM05qVTVNRGszTlE9PQ==

-- KHAOSOD English 2013-08-16

[webfact]

POLITICS
Tarit slammed on stance over bogus pic
Prapasri Osathanon,
Piyanut Tumnukasetchai
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Democrat Party yesterday cast doubt on the judgement of Tarit Pengdith, director-general of the Department of Special Investigation, for agreeing to look into the allegedly doctored picture of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that was posted on the Internet by a Democrat spokeswoman.

Democrat MPs including their leader Abhisit Vejjajiva questioned how this situation meets the qualifications for a case to be taken up by the DSI.

On Wednesday, Winyat Chartmontree, a lawyer for the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship, petitioned the DSI to probe Democrat spokeswoman Mallika Boonmeetrakul for posting the altered picture of Yingluck taken with a sign of Kui Buri National Park.

Tarit said he immediately ordered that the complaint be accepted as a special case, which takes priority over other inquiries.

"I am not taking the side of politicians or serving politicians [in power]. But a prime minister is the head of the country. I have to do this, as the message is a Thai expression. It is a statement understandable as to what it means. Besides, the complainant clearly asked [us] to probe all people involved. So the DSI will investigate [everyone] from Mallika to the people who shared the picture," Tarit said on Wednesday.

According to the law, it is the special case committee, not only the DSI director-general, that decides whether a suspected crime warrants the DSI's urgent attention.

Anti-government activists yesterday called on Yingluck to punish Tarit for falsely identifying her as the head of the country, which was deemed in contempt of the monarchy.

Tarit said there was no need to hold a press conference to clarify his identification of Yingluck, as listeners would know that he meant nothing offensive.


-- The Nation 2013-08-16

[apetley]

Can Yingluck remind everyone what she was saying about reconciliation and freedom of speech only two days ago?

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[Moruya]

DSI or Gestapo?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Thai at Heart]

The apology should be to the parliament.

[Pomthai]

If the powers that be put as much effort into moving this country forward with positive contribution as do with libel and slander threats amazing things could happen.

At the moment Thailand 'is' amazing, but for all the wrong reasons.

[Bluespunk]

"Democrat MPs including their leader Abhisit Vejjajiva questioned how this situation meets the qualifications for a case to be taken up by the DSI."

Because the UDD fascists told DSI to do it.

[chooka]

If only the Government listened to Ms. Mallika Boonmetrakul in the first place when she called for the complete shutdown of facebook and other social media sites then this would never of happened.

In extreme case, she wants the Yingluck Shinawatra government to totally close down all social networking sites, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, citing that the Chinese government has successfully implemented restrictions on these websites.

Ironically, her party has made use of Facebook in fielding the “Fight Bad Web” campaign together with the email <[email protected]> to serve as a place where complaints can be lodged in regards to those who violate the Computer Act of 2008 in four areas: insulting the monarchy; threatening national security; lewd conduct; and drugs/gambling. She said,

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2011/11/29/mallika-boonmetrakul-an-appalling-thai-politician/

[theblether]

Western politicians need to have a thicj skin when it comes to insults, the Australians are probably the best at it............

http://www.crikey.com.au/2007/07/11/great-australian-political-insults-a-crikey-list/

Though the Brits and the Americans are not bad too.........

http://www.insults.net/html/historical/political_insults.html

Stories like this are pathetic, the country needs to grow up.

[huanga]

Good going, guys. Just when you are trying to push through reconciliation bill and the littlest, the most trivial thing can spark an outrage on both sides....simply put, grow up!

I don't see reconciliation on the horizon but I do see the repeat of suppression of freedom of speech since the Thaksin regime. I guess it's the Shinawatra's brand of politics - silence the critics by all means necessary!

[chooka]

Good going, guys. Just when you are trying to push through reconciliation bill and the littlest, the most trivial thing can spark an outrage on both sides....simply put, grow up!

I don't see reconciliation on the horizon but I do see the repeat of suppression of freedom of speech since the Thaksin regime. I guess it's the Shinawatra's brand of politics - silence the critics by all means necessary!

It is actually both sides acting the same. The democrats wanted social media shut down to stop having the same thing done to them. It's time for all parties to grow up and concentrate on the real issues being the Thai people and the country and not ones own vanity.

[Tatsujin]

Well, if you ever needed confirmation of exactly who the DSI are working for, this confirms it.

"Head of State" . . . exactly where I said this was all heading to and so many of you TV pundits laughed.

I like the "rhino" reference though . . . funny

[RickBradford]

They remind me of a bunch of 5-year-olds squabbling over a pile of toy bricks.

[dcutman]

So the DSI will investigate [everyone] from Mallika to the people who shared the picture," Tarit said on Wednesday.

Those who only "liked" it will be spared from this witch hunt? Or is Tharit going to waste 100's of man hour investigating those individuals a well?

BTW what is the crime here that the DSI needs to make this a special case? I'm missing it. I would think this would just be another frivolous defamation law suit.

[AleG]

In Thai idiom, the phrase ‘Tiger, Lion, Guar, …’ is followed by the word rhino. When placed together, the 4 words refer to a slutty woman (rhino also hold the same meaning as a standalone word).

Rhino (raeet) is not used as "slut", AFAIK, a "rhino" is an annoying, pretentious person. I can't thing many things more pretentious than pretending to be the PM of a country, so there's that.

[Roadman]

Anti-government activists yesterday called on Yingluck to punish Tarit for falsely identifying her as the head of the country, which was deemed in contempt of the monarchy.

Tarit said there was no need to hold a press conference to clarify his identification of Yingluck, as listeners would know that he meant nothing offensive.

After a storm on the social network, Mr. Tharit clarified himself, saying that his reference to Ms. Yingluck was ′theoretically correct′ as the Prime Minister is also the head of the executive power.

He further defended himself by insisting that the allegation that the DSI is disrespectful to the monarchy is nonsensical, because the DSI has been cracking down on those who insult the Royal Family.

Rubbish it is not theoretically correct. Go to any of the commonwealth countries and request who is the head of state. For all of them there is only one and that is the English Queen and where her representative is defined in the world's best democracy it is not the elected parties who hold executive power as the Shinawatra mafia dynasty and their cronies have moved before this incident, but the Attorney General. Simply put the world's best democracy's do not trust the executive power holders to not have someone vetoing them. The Shinawatra mafia and their cronies slip ups are but an insight of what their future populist police state is going to look like.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Roadman

[jayboy]

In Thai idiom, the phrase ‘Tiger, Lion, Guar, …’ is followed by the word rhino. When placed together, the 4 words refer to a slutty woman (rhino also hold the same meaning as a standalone word).

Rhino (raeet) is not used as "slut", AFAIK, a "rhino" is an annoying, pretentious person. I can't thing many things more pretentious than pretending to be the PM of a country, so there's that.

Wrong."Slut" is too strong agreed, but it can mean something like eagerly flirtatious.It's usually mentioned in fun or in a self mocking way.

This is one of those Thai stories that to use a cliche is Kafkaesque.Nobody comes off well whether it Yingluck, Tarit or the Democratic spokeswoman - though the latter is particularly contemptible in my view for her sheer vulgarity and bad manners.

[OzMick]

Tarit's confusion is understandable, as it appears it is shared by the Shinawatra family in general. Yingluk's style of "leadership" is also more presidential - she actually seems to forget she is an MP, finding any excuse to avoid attending.

As to the joke with the implied punchline - good luck with that.

[chooka]

Couldn't find it on her facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/Mallikaboonmeetrakool?fref=ts

Yes I know it is an offence to like a politician who is currently in opposition so I was very careful not to accidently hit the like button.

[OzMick]

Wrong."Slut" is too strong agreed, but it can mean something like eagerly flirtatious.It's usually mentioned in fun or in a self mocking way.

This is one of those Thai stories that to use a cliche is Kafkaesque.Nobody comes off well whether it Yingluck, Tarit or the Democratic spokeswoman - though the latter is particularly contemptible in my view for her sheer vulgarity and bad manners.

After the US president's visit, doesn't your description seem accurate? But how do we get from 'fun or in a self mocking way' to 'particularly contemptible in my view for her sheer vulgarity and bad manners'?

[ridkun]

Good going, guys. Just when you are trying to push through reconciliation bill and the littlest, the most trivial thing can spark an outrage on both sides....simply put, grow up!

I don't see reconciliation on the horizon but I do see the repeat of suppression of freedom of speech since the Thaksin regime. I guess it's the Shinawatra's brand of politics - silence the critics by all means necessary!

It is so ironic that this charge comes from the government that its supporters claim to be pro-democracy, liberal or free-speech supporter.

[chooka]

Good going, guys. Just when you are trying to push through reconciliation bill and the littlest, the most trivial thing can spark an outrage on both sides....simply put, grow up!

I don't see reconciliation on the horizon but I do see the repeat of suppression of freedom of speech since the Thaksin regime. I guess it's the Shinawatra's brand of politics - silence the critics by all means necessary!

It is so ironic that this charge comes from the government that its supporters claim to be pro-democracy, liberal or free-speech supporter.

Does seem just a tad hypocritical doesn't it.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

In Thai idiom, the phrase ‘Tiger, Lion, Guar, …’ is followed by the word rhino. When placed together, the 4 words refer to a slutty woman (rhino also hold the same meaning as a standalone word).

Rhino (raeet) is not used as "slut", AFAIK, a "rhino" is an annoying, pretentious person. I can't thing many things more pretentious than pretending to be the PM of a country, so there's that.

Wrong."Slut" is too strong agreed, but it can mean something like eagerly flirtatious.It's usually mentioned in fun or in a self mocking way.

This is one of those Thai stories that to use a cliche is Kafkaesque.Nobody comes off well whether it Yingluck, Tarit or the Democratic spokeswoman - though the latter is particularly contemptible in my view for her sheer vulgarity and bad manners.

i have always understood the term to mean 'horny' as in aroused, but not exactly polite usage.

[jabek]

Couldn't find it on her facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/Mallikaboonmeetrakool?fref=ts

Yes I know it is an offence to like a politician who is currently in opposition so I was very careful not to accidently hit the like button.

It's hardly hidden - it's not in the timelime, try photos

Classy that Mallika, real classy. Nice photos of Mark, too.

Edited August 16, 2013 by jabek

[jayboy]

Wrong."Slut" is too strong agreed, but it can mean something like eagerly flirtatious.It's usually mentioned in fun or in a self mocking way.

This is one of those Thai stories that to use a cliche is Kafkaesque.Nobody comes off well whether it Yingluck, Tarit or the Democratic spokeswoman - though the latter is particularly contemptible in my view for her sheer vulgarity and bad manners.

After the US president's visit, doesn't your description seem accurate? But how do we get from 'fun or in a self mocking way' to 'particularly contemptible in my view for her sheer vulgarity and bad manners'?

Because there is a huge difference between ribbing among friends and making a malicious posting on Facebook.It's a question of class - which some will immediately understand and some never will,

[jayboy]

In Thai idiom, the phrase ‘Tiger, Lion, Guar, …’ is followed by the word rhino. When placed together, the 4 words refer to a slutty woman (rhino also hold the same meaning as a standalone word).

Rhino (raeet) is not used as "slut", AFAIK, a "rhino" is an annoying, pretentious person. I can't thing many things more pretentious than pretending to be the PM of a country, so there's that.

Wrong."Slut" is too strong agreed, but it can mean something like eagerly flirtatious.It's usually mentioned in fun or in a self mocking way.

This is one of those Thai stories that to use a cliche is Kafkaesque.Nobody comes off well whether it Yingluck, Tarit or the Democratic spokeswoman - though the latter is particularly contemptible in my view for her sheer vulgarity and bad manners.

i have always understood the term to mean 'horny' as in aroused, but not exactly polite usage.

Yes there is an element of that but it's normally in jocular context between friends.

[geriatrickid]

DSI or Gestapo?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Unfortunately, if some politicians are unable to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and instead behave as petulant bullies, then the grownups must step in and deal with the bullies.

[robblok]

I don't like Yingluck much as I am pro Democrat but to call her a slut is going to far why make it personal. Just attack the government on it faults there are enough of those.

[dominique355]

I thought in a democracy the people are the most .... oops

[GentlemanJim]

After the US president's visit, doesn't your description seem accurate? But how do we get from 'fun or in a self mocking way' to 'particularly contemptible in my view for her sheer vulgarity and bad manners'?

Because there is a huge difference between ribbing among friends and making a malicious posting on Facebook.It's a question of class - which some will immediately understand and some never will,

is that like the 'class' that the Shiniwatra's are supposed to be getting rid of on behalf of the poor of Thailand. The 'class' that put themselves above the law and retain all the power and money...the Elite............Doh!

DSI or Gestapo?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Unfortunately, if some politicians are unable to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and instead behave as petulant bullies, then the grownups must step in and deal with the bullies.

GK, you are really on a roll today, what with this and all the comments on the other thread I am left thinking you have run out of medication.