Here we go again, Thailand

[george]

OPINION

Here we go again, Thailand
By Tom Kruesopon, Bangkok

Well it looks like, "here we go again in Thailand." Seven years after the coupe, 5 or is it 6 governments later, over 90 deaths, airports being taken over, centra Bangkok looking like a war zone. We get right back to where we started. People being fooled to go out and protest for the benefit of one side or the other, the Amats or the ones who are against.

Let me make this clear all of you who are going to go out and protest, you are being fooled to think you are doing it for the benefit of Thailand, or even the Royal Family.

No, no, no you are being tricked to do so by one side or the other. It is purely a power play between the haves and the have mores, while Thailand is left to rot.

One side say its one man's fault. That we have to protest or else the rule of law gets thrown out of the window. That a criminal will go free. Well lets be clear on one thing, the rule of law that that side is speaking about was written and enacted by the people who first broke the law by staging a coup in the first place.

As for the man himself, he wants to come home. Well who wouldn't want to live in Thailand. 7 years out, 1 divorce, a daughter getting married without he being able to walk her down the aisle, 1.5 billion usd confiscated, and a parai with a large chunk of Thai society for as long as he lives, oh all because he didn't stand in the way of his ex wife doing a legal bid for a piece of land that by the way was approved by the finance minster in the coup makers government.

Is the man clean. NO!!!! But ask yourself has all the crap that Thailand has gone through and is about to go through been worth it just so that this guy can come back and serve a 2 year jail sentence for a land deal.

Heck the son of Red Bull owner is still having fun in Thonglor and he ran over a police officer. Is anyone protesting against Kranting Dang.

The Santika pub owner just walked free and how many died there?

Of course the man use his powers for his personal gain, ah Khun Sutep im sure you never did (Samui) nor has anyone ever in the Democrats. Yes im being sarcastic.

This is not a post to defend, but rather just something to think about. Has all this hatred for one man been worth it for Thailand. I say let him back and let society have its say as to whether ornot he can stay.

Don't be fooled. Enough is enough. I'm tired of hearing Singaporeans, Malaysians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, laughing at our own infighting.

Don't let our country go down a path of which this time there would be no return.

-- Tom Kruesopon 2013-10-28

[MrMalarkey]

Life is destined to repeat if certain people are to dumb to wake up and smell the roses.

[jbrain]

Don't let our country go down a path of which this time there would be no return.

I've seen this country going on a path of no return since the time I arrived here in 94, and I think it had been going in that direction for some time already by then.

[dave2]

i read a report in a newspaper that cant be mentioned

here that the red and yellow shirts might start having demonstrations because of this amnesty law / bill /

whatever , that seems to be being pushed through

which is not good news for thailand

just before high season

dave2

[MrMalarkey]

Don't let our country go down a path of which this time there would be no return.

I've seen this country going on a path of no return since the time I arrived here in 94, and I think it had been going in that direction for some time already by then.

Yes but the pressure cooker is bubbling.

We saw some slight release in 2010 or whenever the burn Bangkok episode was and look how close that came to anarchy.

A little bit more...a little bit more and one day soon....BOOM

[centrala]

Never hurts to hear the views of Thaksin Advisor and Thai Rak Thai Party Member Tom Kruesopon ... as long as one keeps his frame of reference in mind when reading it.

[jbrain]

Never hurts to hear the views of Thaksin Advisor and Thai Rak Thai Party Member Tom Kruesopon ... as long as one keeps his frame of reference in mind when reading it.

Hmm, that declaration makes the OP a bit one sided i would think.

[surangw]

the only winners are the ones that sell the printed up protest shirts and other related trinkets.

[ballpoint]

Never hurts to hear the views of Thaksin Advisor and Thai Rak Thai Party Member Tom Kruesopon ... as long as one keeps his frame of reference in mind when reading it.

Indeed, the attempted deception and very real desperation from the Thaksin camp becomes greater each day.

"Tom Kruesopon, a member of ruling party and an advisor to Mr Thaksin, said “the prime minister has not given up his power. He is not seeking asylum.”"

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8affeb80-47f3-11db-a42e-0000779e2340.html#axzz2j1uSHYev

[rkidlad]

Is the man clean. NO!!!! But ask yourself has all the crap that Thailand has gone through and is about to go through been worth it just so that this guy can come back and serve a 2 year jail sentence for a land deal.

Thai people say this sort of thing a lot. "So and so is not as corrupt as what's his face" It's as if being rich and powerful means you can be bad - but just don't be too bad!

If I see some guy stealing from a supermarket, am I allowed to get away with it 'cos I stole less?

So very childish. I think when I was a kid I grassed on a total of two people for doing something bad simply because it was worse than what I had done. I genuinely thought I'd be spared because they'd done worse. Not only was I punished, but I was smacked in the face for grassing.

Someone in a position of trust who abuses their power to gain whatever should absolutely be made an example of.

Edited October 28, 2013 by rkidlad

[Soi Sauce]

No, no, no you are being tricked to do so by one side or the other. It is purely a power play between the haves and the have mores, while Thailand is left to rot.

Looking at his Facebook page, its not easy to see whether he's a have, or a have more. But he does say in one comment 'Daddy ran out of money' and his wife and kids had to eat sandwiches, the poor things. Oh how his friends laughed at his wit!

He was bang on the money for the first three paragraphs, the lot of them are ****s.

Sandwiches are expensive in Thailand.

The cost of an Au Bon Pain or Subway sarnie could feed at least 3 people for a day!

Where's he coming from?

Edited October 28, 2013 by Soi Sauce

[centrala]

No, no, no you are being tricked to do so by one side or the other. It is purely a power play between the haves and the have mores, while Thailand is left to rot.

Looking at his Facebook page, its not easy to see whether he's a have, or a have more. But he does say in one comment 'Daddy ran out of money' and his wife and kids had to eat sandwiches, the poor things. Oh how his friends laughed at his wit!

He was bang on the money for the first three paragraphs, the lot of them are ****s.

Sandwiches are expensive in Thailand.

The cost of an Au Bon Pain or Subway sarnie could feed at least 3 people for a day!

Where's he coming from?

Now, he's looking for investors in his company that is making taxi meters for motorcycle taxis.

Julpas "Tom" Kruesopon, Director

Moto-Meter

http://www.worldmoto.com/moto-meter.php

Today, shares of stock in his company were 4 American pennies, so he could use any help.

http://www.worldmoto.com/investors-stock.php

Edited October 28, 2013 by centrala

[kimamey]

Never hurts to hear the views of Thaksin Advisor and Thai Rak Thai Party Member Tom Kruesopon ... as long as one keeps his frame of reference in mind when reading it.

Hmm, that declaration makes the OP a bit one sided i would think.

Maybe but there is a certain amount of truth in it. There are others who seem to be getting away with crime and there may well be others including Democrats who aren't squeaky clean. There are other cases against Thaksin which may well be avoided if there is an amnesty. Of course a lot of this trouble could be avoided if the version of the amnesty which covers just the minor players and which has wide support on both sides was adopted instead.

[Vo Nguyen Giap]

my theory is that the powers that be have a hugh interest in prostitution and so like to keep the populous poor so that there is a ready flowing supply of new girls. girls with even a little money are reluctant to work full time in the trade, and they get very fussy.

[selftaopath]

Don't let our country go down a path of which this time there would be no return.

I've seen this country going on a path of no return since the time I arrived here in 94, and I think it had been going in that direction for some time already by then.

Yes but the pressure cooker is bubbling.

We saw some slight release in 2010 or whenever the burn Bangkok episode was and look how close that came to anarchy.

A little bit more...a little bit more and one day soon....BOOM

As I view the definition of anarchy I wonder if in fact Thailand is already experiencing this.

[DocN]

So...what he IS makes what he SAYS less true?!

[GeorgeO]

Never hurts to hear the views of Thaksin Advisor and Thai Rak Thai Party Member Tom Kruesopon ... as long as one keeps his frame of reference in mind when reading it.

I wasn't aware of his allegiance, but it became clearer as I read through his fanciful rant...!

Another t#@#, blinded by his love for the fugitive ex-PM, trying to tell those with more common sense that they are the ones who have got it all wrong...!

[AleG]

So...what he IS makes what he SAYS less true?!

It´s not wheter what he says is true or not, what he is saying is immoral. He is saying that, hey! other people commit crimes so why can´t we give Thaksin a break?

What he is, and who he works for is perfectly a valid consideration in view of his biased opinion.

[brewsterbudgen]

Aren't the Reds angry about the amnesty bill as it will mean the people responsible for the deaths during the 2010 disturbances will be let off?

Whatever Thaksin's faults, his government was overthrown by a military coup which started the current unrest.

[DocN]

So...what he IS makes what he SAYS less true?!

It´s not wheter what he says is true or not, what he is saying is immoral. He is saying that, hey! other people commit crimes so why can´t we give Thaksin a break?

What he is, and who he works for is perfectly a valid consideration in view of his biased opinion.

But that is not ALL he says!

[centrala]

Aren't the Reds angry about the amnesty bill as it will mean the people responsible for the deaths during the 2010 disturbances will be let off?

Whatever Thaksin's faults, his government was overthrown by a military coup which started the current unrest.

The current unrest predates the coup.

As for angry Reds, they could always do as before and give out the addresses and phone numbers for the Pheu Thai MP's and encourage their members to intimidate and threaten the MP's and their families.

.

[Loles]

But please, DO YOU THINK the protesters are reading this forum ???????

[noitom]

This Tom Kruesepon opinion piece makes good points. However, it is essential to keep in mind that the 2006 coup was merely the 17th or 18th Thai coup since 1932 and they didn't start with Thaksin. Keep in mind also that Thaksin didn't invent corruption, drug dealing and counterfeit property in Thailand either. So the author should bear in mind what's really what about Thailand and look beyond Thaksin -

Look back to all the corruption and graft and manipulation of power at the expense of the Thai poor for all these years. Look at all the pent up frustration and exclusion in Thai society. Look at all the cultural denial and decit. Look at all the money in military aid and funding received from the US that has been squandered on limousines, fancy 2nd and 3rd homes and university educations in London for the military generals, colonels and bureaucrats as well as designer handbags, shoes, clothes and Ferraris. These things and abuses in Thailand weren't invented or caused by Mr. Thaksin.

[ratcatcher]

Aren't the Reds angry about the amnesty bill as it will mean the people responsible for the deaths during the 2010 disturbances will be let off?

Whatever Thaksin's faults, his government was overthrown by a military coup which started the current unrest.

According to what I have read on TVF, Mr Thaksin didn't have a government when the coup occurred.

Apparently he'd resigned as P.M.?

[manarak]

the yellow and the red are not important.

the big question for Thailand is continuity

to ensure the continuity of its develoment strategy and of the principles of the sufficiency economy.

some forces are in favor of that, others are in favor of transforming the country into a populist capitalist social-democracy which will at the end run into the same problems as now face by many western countries. Due to the specificities of Thai mentality, I'm not even sure Thailand would last that long once the "free money for nothing" mentality will have been kicked off.

Edited October 29, 2013 by manarak

[Thaddeus]

Don't be fooled. Enough is enough. I'm tired of hearing Singaporeans, Malaysians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, laughing at our own infighting.

If everyone else is laughing at you, there is a very simple solution to that problem, stop behaving like a total prat.

[brewsterbudgen]

the yellow and the red are not important.

the big question for Thailand is continuity

to ensure the continuity of its develoment strategy and of the principles of the sufficiency economy.

some forces are in favor of that, others are in favor of transforming the country into a populist capitalist social-democracy which will at the end run into the same problems as now face by many western countries. Due to the specificities of Thai mentality, I'm not even sure Thailand would last that long once the "free money for nothing" mentality will have been kicked off.

"Sufficiency economy"? Isn't that about convincing the poor that they should be happy in their poverty?

[AleG]

So...what he IS makes what he SAYS less true?!

It´s not wheter what he says is true or not, what he is saying is immoral. He is saying that, hey! other people commit crimes so why can´t we give Thaksin a break?

What he is, and who he works for is perfectly a valid consideration in view of his biased opinion.

But that is not ALL he says!

No, it´s not all what he says, but whitewashing Thaksin is the gist of the text and comprises about two thirds of the paragraphs. Why would you choose to ignore the main point to focus on vague, biased platitudes?, i.e "People being fooled to go out and protest for the benefit of one side or the other, the Amats or the ones who are against.", implying that one needs to be an Amat (sic) to oppose Thaksin.

Another example "the rule of law that that side is speaking about was written and enacted by the people who first broke the law by staging a coup in the first place." implying that there was a functional state of rights in Thailand vis-a-vis the Thaksin government before the coup, ignoring his fraudulent assets declaration, changing laws to benefit his business interests, electoral fraud, thousands of extra judicial killings, violent repression of anti-Thaksin demostrations, etc, etc, etc... Thaksin and his regime was running roughshod over the law well before the coupe happened so take the "fact" that lawlessnes emmanates from the coup and bin it.

[patayayaya]

Don't let our country go down a path of which this time there would be no return.

I've seen this country going on a path of no return since the time I arrived here in 94, and I think it had been going in that direction for some time already by then.

was it ever going uphill???

[SuwadeeS]

As Thailand and also specially Thai people are not ready take critism and advice from foreigners,

They damn to do the same mistakes again and again.

Don't blame me, but they are to fashistic to learn from others.

Edited October 29, 2013 by SuwadeeS