Corruption today 'unprecedented', says Abhisit

[JoeThePoster]

"Contrary to the government's propaganda, the economy has contracted for two consecutive quarters, he said, emphasising this was the first time the country had suffered such a decline when not facing an international crisis."

If this is true then perhaps we will see the Baht weaken and the value of my pension worth more. Or maybe not.

My crystal ball is in the shop, so I had to use the Taro Cards in conjunction with reading chicken entrails. From what I see, the Baht will weaken and lots of us retired folk will eat imported steak soon after.

That imported steak will cost much more when the baht devalues, I suspect.

[waza]

"Contrary to the government's propaganda, the economy has contracted for two consecutive quarters, he said, emphasising this was the first time the country had suffered such a decline when not facing an international crisis."

If this is true then perhaps we will see the Baht weaken and the value of my pension worth more. Or maybe not.

My crystal ball is in the shop, so I had to use the Taro Cards in conjunction with reading chicken entrails. From what I see, the Baht will weaken and lots of us retired folk will eat imported steak soon after.

That imported steak will cost much more when the baht devalues, I suspect.

Inflation will cover the devaluation of the baht

[whybother]

Even though Thailand's most prosperous and stable times during that period were between 2001 and 2006 when Thaksin was in power?

Bizarre.

<snip>

Thaksin is so amazing, he got the global economy booming while he was in power.

[marcusd]

So true, this administration has conducted corruption on an industrial scale that will affect the Thai quality of life for generations to come.  Thaksin culturists think of him as a Robin Hood type thief when in fact he is just a criminal out to amass a fortune of corrupted funds that will dwarf anything that has ever been attempted in Thailand.  Hopefully the Dems education program will highlight that to those that are blinded by Red spin. 

This is Thailand. Are they really any different or better?

I dislike thaksin and co moreso. But I ask.. Really any different? This country wont change till there is no more too to the var.

Sent from my RM-892_apac_laos_thailand_219 using Tapatalk

[Pattaya28]

Awareness campaign

Everybody is very aware of the corruption.

Why does this need to be pointed out ?

[HAL9000]

If he has personal knowledge about something, why doesn't he have it prosecuted?

[centrala]

If he has personal knowledge about something, why doesn't he have it prosecuted?

That requires action by the administration-controlled Attorney-General and the administration-controlled DSI.

Both offices seem content with their inaction.

[smutcakes]

I agree with Mikemac that the Democrats were outdone in the corruption stakes by the master & his clan. It appears that the more corrupt the party, the better they are at winning.

As for identifying incidents of corruption there are reasons why it is difficult. Take the lady who spoke out about the real losses in the rice scheme. Her treatment was a warning to anyone else to keep their mouth shut.

Another reason is the defamation laws. Accusing another person, either directly or indirectly, of 'benefitting' from a deal or project immediately brings the legal suits.

Yet another reason is that there is no anti-corruption body with teeth. Yingluck has been vocal sometimes about it but has never done anything to follow the words with action.

Yes, the Dems were far from perfect especially with Newin's lot in support. But Thaksin has taken corruption & nepotism to a new level - the outstanding cases against him don't involve satangs & are likely the tip of the ®iceberg.

Not disagreeing, but why oh why did the Democrats and Abhisit not do anything about this previously???? Or the other decades they and their aliases/military and cronies have been in power?? Why didn't they tighten corruption laws, why didn't they reform the military or the police etc etc They didn't because they were quite happy to rape the money from the country with not a thought to the average Thai. In fact they were so busy raping the country dry that they did not even see the TS populism coming until it was late. At least over the past 15 years or so there has been some measure of reporting on corruption etc even if it lacks in detail. Just think how much of the countries assets/reserves have been siphoned off previous to that when there was no reporting, tv etc etc

It is quite possible that the corruption is at its very worst at the current, but at the end of the day we really have no idea, as there are simply no verifiable facts, it is all perception. Instead of moaning, Abhisit should start taking action, providing evidence of claims, not just speculation in the press. I presume all the talk falls on deaf ears much of the time, as it was simply a few years ago when he was in power and did sweet FA about corruption then. I can guarantee when he is back in power he will do sweet FA about it then as well.

Closing the door after the horse has bolted comes to mind.

And just a quick LOL for someone who commented that the Dems were trying to bring Thailand into the 21st Century. They have positives and negatives like any party, but being progressive and forward thinking is certainly not one of them.

[Pops]

"Corruption today 'unprecedented"

Does he mean "unprecedented" in that his cronies aren't at the receiving end? "The crooks are in control of the government and the economy, but they aren't our crooks".

Well said "jaltsc".

Abhisit talks a mean talk now he is in opposition but did nothing but playing puppet for his cronies when he was PM.

Why did he not root out corruption when he was "in power" ??

[Pops]

Quote:

"A whopping Bt235 billion could be spent on four mass-transit routes, or 2,000 hospitals, or a million teachers instead of being wasted in kickbacks, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Monday."

It always amazes me that politicians know exactly how much money (in this case 235 billion THB) is being wasted or will be wasted on kick backs but seem unable to do something about it.

If you know the amount of kickbacks you probably also have a clue where it goes !

Even better, you know exactly who handles the budget so just have to follow the payments.

Sounds easy enough, right ?

The democrats know the total budget, they know that 235 billion THB of this budget will be wasted on kickbacks, they know what this amount is based on, they know which departments/politicians handle these budgets and they have insight in who the recipients are !!

Lets get to work then and make a start with rooting out corruption !!