Suthep vows to 'eradicate Thaksin regime'

[hellodolly]

Yes, Abhisit has indeed been to Suthep's great show.

There is evidence that Abhisit was on the stage.

PT is already seeking the dissolution of the democrat party for that reason.

Everything is on track

Nobody knows which track, of course

Sent from my iPhone...

You should be able to find it on u tube. Not a word being said about burning Bangkok down. Talking about improving the government.

Here we have a very Brave man,who is speaking good common sense,let us hope Thai people will recognise words of wisdom,and back him,to the hilt!

It would appear the people with out red shirts are backing him. The amazing thing is they don't have to be paid or bussed in from all over the country and given money such as the red shirts are doing.

All very well, apart from the fact that a majority of the Thai population voted for the Taxin family......... alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

Less than 50% is not a Majority! That's why you can only own 49% of your own Business!

This is another post that not only deserves an I like but shows the clear need for a that's funny button.

[fab4]

All very well, apart from the fact that a majority of the Thai population voted for the Taxin family.........

Wrong! Try researching the facts. They are often very different from what the Shins often claim.

Of course you are correct. The PTP received approx 44% of the Constituency electorates vote, the dems 32% - it still means that more of the electorate cast their vote for PTP than they did for the dems. They got to form the government.

What do the Shinawatra family often claim according to you?

ps It's Shinawatra not "Shins" and Thaksin not "Taxin" I believe there are rules about this?

Do try and do your own research a little bit. It's not hard with the technology these days! Rather than keep asking other posters to do it for you.

Stone and glasshouses always spring to mind with your posts.

Do as we say and not as we do .............. now who is that reminiscent of ?

I ask you to prove these things because I can't guess what you mean when you state that the "facts" about what? are often claimed differently by the Shinawatra family.

Otherwise its just more empty noise.

It would be a rare post of mine thats not backed up by some documentation of one sort or another or not obviously proved as true.

Edited November 16, 2013 by fab4

[thaicbr]

 

 

 

All very well,  apart from the fact that a majority of the Thai population voted for the Taxin family.........

 

 

Wrong! Try researching the facts. They are often very different from what the Shins often claim.

 

 

Of course you are correct. The PTP received approx 44% of the Constituency electorates vote, the dems 32% - it still means that more of the electorate cast their vote for PTP than they did for the dems. They got to form the government.

 

What do the Shinawatra family often claim according to you?

 

ps It's Shinawatra not "Shins" and Thaksin not "Taxin" I believe there are rules about this?

 

 

Do try and do your own research a little bit. It's not hard with the technology these days! Rather than keep asking other posters to do it for you. 

 

Stone and glasshouses always spring to mind with your posts. 

 

Do as we say and not as we do .............. now who is that reminiscent of ?

 

 

I ask you to prove these things because I can't guess what you mean when you state that the "facts" about what? are often claimed differently by the Shinawatra family.

 

Otherwise its just more empty noise.

 

It would be a rare post of mine thats not backed up by some documentation of one sort or another. 

What does this tweet say? Presuming it is really Thaksin. It is on social media.

Seemly it says he will come back to be Mr President and can red shirts fight for him.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

[hellodolly]

He seems to be getting the publicity. He's firing up the crowds. He's pressing a few buttons. And few give a dam_n about his history. Add the group-frenzy mentality to the fiery rhetoric and there could be the makings of something we are reluctant to predict. I don't like this at all. We may not like this character, but if he strikes a chord ... well, I hate to think. Whether we like it or not, Suthep is prepared to push things as far as he can. It's heady stuff, despite our cynicism about him personally. Suthep is clearly trying to manoeuvre this situation into a new level. and that's what worries me.

sorry anything to get rid of the Thaksin clan will be welcome to me and if others are to nice to play dirty well then it needs someone like him even with his obvious dark side to stop Thailand descending slowly into a one party state. Also if it comes to it I hope the army will again stop the megalomaniac

turning Thailand into his own north Korea. Pol pot was also elected. I doubt sheep will ever agree but its only way if people here are happy to sell their votes and so naive as to believe Thaksin will do them any good. Ive lived here through many coups and bad governments but this lot is worst of any ive seen.

No argument from me. I'm only concerned about another round of violence - I just don't want to see any more deaths, especially if the alternatives have not been exhausted (although I have no idea what they might be). I saw friends and colleagues turned into cripples and alcoholics after both 1992 and 2010. Please, no more.

That is a good reason to get behind this movement it is a peaceful one and I doubt very much the Army would move in on them. If nothing else they might move in on the Police if they started using weapons against all the unarmed protestors. This is not like the last one where the protestors came armed with guns and rocket launchers and in fact used them to fire on defenders of Thailand who had not shot at them.

[hellodolly]

All very well, apart from the fact that a majority of the Thai population voted for the Taxin family......... alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

WRONG no where near a " Majority " and those that did were paid to.

Well it was a 4% difference in the voting. Had the Yellow Shirts the sense God/Buddha/Allah gave a goose and voted the PTP might not even be in power.

[jayboy]

He seems to be getting the publicity. He's firing up the crowds. He's pressing a few buttons. And few give a dam_n about his history. Add the group-frenzy mentality to the fiery rhetoric and there could be the makings of something we are reluctant to predict. I don't like this at all. We may not like this character, but if he strikes a chord ... well, I hate to think. Whether we like it or not, Suthep is prepared to push things as far as he can. It's heady stuff, despite our cynicism about him personally. Suthep is clearly trying to manoeuvre this situation into a new level. and that's what worries me.

sorry anything to get rid of the Thaksin clan will be welcome to me and if others are to nice to play dirty well then it needs someone like him even with his obvious dark side to stop Thailand descending slowly into a one party state. Also if it comes to it I hope the army will again stop the megalomaniac

turning Thailand into his own north Korea. Pol pot was also elected. I doubt sheep will ever agree but its only way if people here are happy to sell their votes and so naive as to believe Thaksin will do them any good. Ive lived here through many coups and bad governments but this lot is worst of any ive seen.

No argument from me. I'm only concerned about another round of violence - I just don't want to see any more deaths, especially if the alternatives have not been exhausted (although I have no idea what they might be). I saw friends and colleagues turned into cripples and alcoholics after both 1992 and 2010. Please, no more.

That is a good reason to get behind this movement it is a peaceful one and I doubt very much the Army would move in on them. If nothing else they might move in on the Police if they started using weapons against all the unarmed protestors. This is not like the last one where the protestors came armed with guns and rocket launchers and in fact used them to fire on defenders of Thailand who had not shot at them.

I agree your view this protest is most likely to be peaceful.But you have got the reasoning the wrong way round.People like the crazier type of quasi fascist (Pitak movement etc), though obviously wouldn't admit it now, could envisage nothing better than a blood stained incident.Equally the government is concerned that such an incident might occur, and will do everything to prevent it.The reason of course is that shedding blood on the streets of Bangkok is either catastrophic or very counter productive for the perpetrators.That's a rather obvious lesson of history.But having said that I don't think we are anywhere near that point even with the dubious Suthep at the helm.However whatever his faults he isn't a fool and knows that violence can have very unpredictable results.His aim is the obliteration of Thaksin and his influence.Hence I'm surmising his strategy is to keep a febrile atmosphere going to give background to a judicial intervention.Whether it will work is for discussion.

Edited November 16, 2013 by jayboy

[kingalfred]

Instead vowing to overthrow the Thaksin regime, which is just a pipe dream and a power grab, he should think about giving back the land he (acquired )

Samui and Koh Pha Ngan

if politics in thailand gets any worse it will end up like the standard of politicians and politics in Oz .I mean what a foul mouth bunch of louts there.The language they use against each other needs censoring before young children hear it.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited November 16, 2013 by kingalfred

[Emptyset]

1384596398535.jpg

What does this tweet say? Presuming it is really Thaksin. It is on social media.

Seemly it says he will come back to be Mr President and can red shirts fight for him.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

It's a fake, as you can see: https://twitter.com/Thaksinlived - it's been pretty typical of Thaksin's opponents to make this sort of allegation during the last several years (beginning, I think, with entirely fabricated 'Finland Plot' business put out by PAD). There's no evidence that any of this is true, and there never has been. Quite the contrary in fact. You can get a sense of Thaksin's true thoughts on these matters from reading the Wikileaks Thailand related stuff. He certainly comes across as far more of a traditionalist than someone who wants to see any sort of radical change. His views actually seem to reflect the Thai standard view.

Of course, you don't need social media to create malicious rumours. Look at the 'lom chao' plot fabricated by CRES during the red shirt protests in 2010. In fact social media can allow people to challenge official narratives. But it's a double-edged sword because any mischief maker can get into the act with the likes of the above tweet and before you know it, it's already all over Facebook and many have accepted it as fact, especially if it fits with the narrative they already believe in. Anyway, realize I'm veering way off topic here lol, so... Thaksin's actual twitter is Thaksinlive btw, with exactly the same picture. He's said nothing since August, guess he leaves the social media stuff to Oak these days.

[thaicbr]

1384596398535.jpg

What does this tweet say? Presuming it is really Thaksin. It is on social media.

Seemly it says he will come back to be Mr President and can red shirts fight for him.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

It's a fake, as you can see: https://twitter.com/Thaksinlived - it's been pretty typical of Thaksin's opponents to make this sort of allegation during the last several years (beginning, I think, with entirely fabricated 'Finland Plot' business put out by PAD). There's no evidence that any of this is true, and there never has been. Quite the contrary in fact. You can get a sense of Thaksin's true thoughts on these matters from reading the Wikileaks Thailand related stuff. He certainly comes across as far more of a traditionalist than someone who wants to see any sort of radical change. His views actually seem to reflect the Thai standard view.

Of course, you don't need social media to create malicious rumours. Look at the 'lom chao' plot fabricated by CRES during the red shirt protests in 2010. In fact social media can allow people to challenge official narratives. But it's a double-edged sword because any mischief maker can get into the act with the likes of the above tweet and before you know it, it's already all over Facebook and many have accepted it as fact, especially if it fits with the narrative they already believe in. Anyway, realize I'm veering way off topic here lol, so... Thaksin's actual twitter is Thaksinlive btw, with exactly the same picture. He's said nothing since August, guess he leaves the social media stuff to Oak these days.

ok. Thanks

I suppose a VERY good reason to NEVER use social media like twitter.

Although i am surprised that Thaksin hasn't complained to twitter about that feed.

Edited November 16, 2013 by thaicbr

[fab4]

1384596398535.jpg

What does this tweet say? Presuming it is really Thaksin. It is on social media.

Seemly it says he will come back to be Mr President and can red shirts fight for him.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

I can't read Thai and I'm hardly likely to rely on a tweet appearing on social media as a reliable source but that's just me. Have all the Shinawatra family flown to London yet? Social media my ass.

Edited November 16, 2013 by fab4

[thaicbr]

 

1384596398535.jpg

What does this tweet say? Presuming it is really Thaksin. It is on social media.

Seemly it says he will come back to be Mr President and can red shirts fight for him.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

 

I can't read Thai and I'm hardly likely to rely on a tweet appearing on social media as a reliable source but that's just me. Have all the Shinawatra family flown to London yet? Social media my ass.

What do you think is a reliable source? Because some you quote are either great(when it suits you) or terrible journalism (when it doesn't)

Also if the tweet had ACTUALLY been from Thaksins tweet channel I think that WOULD have been reliable.

As for your question reference the Shinawatra family. I have no idea. Maybe Yingluck will be in Parliament soon. It would certainly make a change

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

[infernalman7]

1384596398535.jpg

What does this tweet say? Presuming it is really Thaksin. It is on social media.

Seemly it says he will come back to be Mr President and can red shirts fight for him.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

I can't read Thai and I'm hardly likely to rely on a tweet appearing on social media as a reliable source but that's just me. Have all the Shinawatra family flown to London yet? Social media my ass.

What do you think is a reliable source? Because some you quote are either great(when it suits you) or terrible journalism (when it doesn't)

Also if the tweet had ACTUALLY been from Thaksins tweet channel I think that WOULD have been reliable.

As for your question reference the Shinawatra family. I have no idea. Maybe Yingluck will be in Parliament soon. It would certainly make a change

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

I can read Thai

And that tweet is definitely fake and the poster would likely have committed the 112 crime.

[penwithcris]

I am married to a Thai lady from Isaan and she has little but praise for Thaksin Shinawatra. She accepts that, like Thai politicians of all parties he benefitted from a degree of corruption, but his premiership was hugely beneficial to Thailand economically and he transformed the lives of many of the poor.

Better schools, better roads, better power and water supplies, the 30baht healthcare scheme the list goes on.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it

Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin? I for one don't think so. The country now has a terrible drug problem and crime is forever on the increase. The political system is broken. Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable

As a farang I accept that Thaksin had little time for foreigners when in office but why should he? The very fact that we can travel to and live in Thailand shows that we can be self supporting

If Suthep is to be the new face of Thailand then the country might as well go to Hell in a handcart now

[ratcatcher]

I am married to a Thai lady from Isaan and she has little but praise for Thaksin Shinawatra. She accepts that, like Thai politicians of all parties he benefitted from a degree of corruption, but his premiership was hugely beneficial to Thailand economically and he transformed the lives of many of the poor.

Better schools, better roads, better power and water supplies, the 30baht healthcare scheme the list goes on.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it

Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin? I for one don't think so. The country now has a terrible drug problem and crime is forever on the increase. The political system is broken. Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable

As a farang I accept that Thaksin had little time for foreigners when in office but why should he? The very fact that we can travel to and live in Thailand shows that we can be self supporting

If Suthep is to be the new face of Thailand then the country might as well go to Hell in a handcart now

"Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable"

The country is struggling because of Thaksin's rice pledging scheme scam and the massive corruption, among other things. Most people in Isaan have little but praise for Thaksin. I am sure you've noticed the number of expensive cars tooling around Isaan roads. Not driven by poor rice farmers I can assure you.

Suthep is just another crazy politician but he's here in Thailand, not scurrying around overseas from one safe haven to another. Thaksin won't be back anytime soon.

You are wise to agree with your wife.

[whybother]

I am married to a Thai lady from Isaan and she has little but praise for Thaksin Shinawatra. She accepts that, like Thai politicians of all parties he benefitted from a degree of corruption, but his premiership was hugely beneficial to Thailand economically and he transformed the lives of many of the poor.

Better schools, better roads, better power and water supplies, the 30baht healthcare scheme the list goes on.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it

Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin? I for one don't think so. The country now has a terrible drug problem and crime is forever on the increase. The political system is broken. Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable

As a farang I accept that Thaksin had little time for foreigners when in office but why should he? The very fact that we can travel to and live in Thailand shows that we can be self supporting

If Suthep is to be the new face of Thailand then the country might as well go to Hell in a handcart now

And ofcourse, Thaksin was so good that he caused the global economy to boom, and after he was deposed, it caused the global economy to crash.

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Thaddeus]

I am married to a Thai lady from Isaan and she has little but praise for Thaksin Shinawatra. She accepts that, like Thai politicians of all parties he benefitted from a degree of corruption, but his premiership was hugely beneficial to Thailand economically and he transformed the lives of many of the poor.

Better schools, better roads, better power and water supplies, the 30baht healthcare scheme the list goes on.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it

Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin? I for one don't think so. The country now has a terrible drug problem and crime is forever on the increase. The political system is broken. Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable

As a farang I accept that Thaksin had little time for foreigners when in office but why should he? The very fact that we can travel to and live in Thailand shows that we can be self supporting

If Suthep is to be the new face of Thailand then the country might as well go to Hell in a handcart now

Better schools?..... in what way? smaller class sizes, better materials, better teachers, don't think so.

Better roads? ..... certainly more blacktop, that needs constant repair if anything heavier than a bicycle uses it.

Better power?.... more households now have power, that they have to pay for, natural progression for a profit making industry.

Better water? .... more households now have water, that they have to pay for, natural progression for a profit making industry.

30B Health scheme? ... it used to be free.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it? ..... by killing hundreds of innocent people, and the problem is still around, much worse than it was from what I see. Only change is the price of street drugs has gone up, I wonder which tight trouser wearing, gun toting clan of untouchable thugs are happy about that.

Thaksin had little time for anything while he was in office, except himself.

[jayboy]

I am married to a Thai lady from Isaan and she has little but praise for Thaksin Shinawatra. She accepts that, like Thai politicians of all parties he benefitted from a degree of corruption, but his premiership was hugely beneficial to Thailand economically and he transformed the lives of many of the poor.

Better schools, better roads, better power and water supplies, the 30baht healthcare scheme the list goes on.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it

Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin? I for one don't think so. The country now has a terrible drug problem and crime is forever on the increase. The political system is broken. Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable

As a farang I accept that Thaksin had little time for foreigners when in office but why should he? The very fact that we can travel to and live in Thailand shows that we can be self supporting

If Suthep is to be the new face of Thailand then the country might as well go to Hell in a handcart now

As a matter of fact Thaksin and his appalling drugs war did not "get on top" of the problem.This was the most heinous of all the abuses of his office.However there has never been a serious attempt to make him accountable for it even when the old unelected elites were manically casting round for a crime to indict him with.This is because the drugs war policy, flawed as it was, had very high level support as well as being welcomed in the country at large.Occasionally now his critics will raise the drugs war as a means of attacking Thaksin secure in the knowledge there will never be an investigation in to it.The vast majority of his critics were silent when the crimes were being carried out.

[Thaddeus]

Occasionally now his critics will raise the drugs war as a means of attacking Thaksin secure in the knowledge there will never be an investigation in to it.The vast majority of his critics were silent when the crimes were being carried out.

No one is too keen on becoming another victim.

[smutcakes]

Occasionally now his critics will raise the drugs war as a means of attacking Thaksin secure in the knowledge there will never be an investigation in to it.The vast majority of his critics were silent when the crimes were being carried out.

No one is too keen on becoming another victim.

The reason nothing will happen is that high ranking military, police, politicians and just about every other organization were supportive of it. No one is going to contribute to their own downfall.

[mikemac]

I am married to a Thai lady from Isaan and she has little but praise for Thaksin Shinawatra. She accepts that, like Thai politicians of all parties he benefitted from a degree of corruption, but his premiership was hugely beneficial to Thailand economically and he transformed the lives of many of the poor.

Better schools, better roads, better power and water supplies, the 30baht healthcare scheme the list goes on.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it

Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin? I for one don't think so. The country now has a terrible drug problem and crime is forever on the increase. The political system is broken. Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable

As a farang I accept that Thaksin had little time for foreigners when in office but why should he? The very fact that we can travel to and live in Thailand shows that we can be self supporting

If Suthep is to be the new face of Thailand then the country might as well go to Hell in a handcart now

To be honest with you, when I first read your ridiculous comment I thought fab4 had changed his name, yet again, hard to keep up with him sometimes.

But getting back to your post, it is just the same old boring copied and pasted drivel we are used to reading from Thaksin fans and trolls alike. A lot of bold claims that can't be backed up or proven, mixed with absolutely crazy statements like "Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable..................................."

Your illustrious hero Thaksin is the sole reason the country is unstable, who do you think has been stirring up all the trouble and bankrolling it ? Do you remember what happened back in 2010 ?

And this classic line - "Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin?"....................Who do you think has been running the country for the last couple of years ? Yingluck ?

Funny how he gets all the credit for "transforming the lives of many of the poor" when all he was doing really was using the peoples' money to buy his way into power so he could rip the same people off. Anyone who looks up to this poor excuse for a human being needs their head read.

[fab4]

All very well, apart from the fact that a majority of the Thai population voted for the Taxin family.........

Wrong! Try researching the facts. They are often very different from what the Shins often claim.

Of course you are correct. The PTP received approx 44% of the Constituency electorates vote, the dems 32% - it still means that more of the electorate cast their vote for PTP than they did for the dems. They got to form the government.

What do the Shinawatra family often claim according to you?

ps It's Shinawatra not "Shins" and Thaksin not "Taxin" I believe there are rules about this?

Even if 99% would have voted them, they wouldn't have the right to stand above the law and pardon themself.

That destroys the rule of law.

Well, that's curious because the existing constitution has an amnesty written in by the authors of that constitution that is for their benefit only. I haven't heard anybody complain about that (though they should have and right after it happened).

Don't get me wrong I'm against this amnesty bill, but we're not talking about the amnesty bill, you're the only one doing that.

The rest of us are talking about Sutheps threat to eradicate the Shiniwatra "Regime"

Edited November 17, 2013 by fab4

[mikemac]

All very well, apart from the fact that a majority of the Thai population voted for the Taxin family......... alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

Wrong! Try researching the facts. They are often very different from what the Shins often claim.

Of course you are correct. The PTP received approx 44% of the Constituency electorates vote, the dems 32% - it still means that more of the electorate cast their vote for PTP than they did for the dems. They got to form the government.

What do the Shinawatra family often claim according to you?

ps It's Shinawatra not "Shins" and Thaksin not "Taxin" I believe there are rules about this?

Maybe you should have said that the Shin Gang had only "bought" 44% of the vote, otherwise they would have had more !

"ps It's Shinawatra not "Shins" and Thaksin not "Taxin" I believe there are rules about this?".............??????????

I don't believe this, you of all people quoting the forum rules to another TV member. Now I have seen everything. Talk about people in glass houses, Cal.

[fab4]

1384596398535.jpg

What does this tweet say? Presuming it is really Thaksin. It is on social media.

Seemly it says he will come back to be Mr President and can red shirts fight for him.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

I can't read Thai and I'm hardly likely to rely on a tweet appearing on social media as a reliable source but that's just me. Have all the Shinawatra family flown to London yet? Social media my ass.

What do you think is a reliable source? Because some you quote are either great(when it suits you) or terrible journalism (when it doesn't)

Also if the tweet had ACTUALLY been from Thaksins tweet channel I think that WOULD have been reliable.

As for your question reference the Shinawatra family. I have no idea. Maybe Yingluck will be in Parliament soon. It would certainly make a change

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

I regard a reliable source as one that is verified in two or more places and that have named sources in the article somewhere at least as opposed to one of those The Nation articles with no author name and based entirely on un-named sources. Tweets have been hacked before, even Barack Obamas' http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/28/technology/barack-obama-twitter-hack/

The reference to the Shinawatra family was a dig at those on this board such as gentlemen jim and robby nz who get all excited about rumours on social media and then post them on here as fact. This one was the rumour that the entire family were fleeing because of mad dog suthep and his peers were going to tear down the government.

[h90]

Wrong! Try researching the facts. They are often very different from what the Shins often claim.

Of course you are correct. The PTP received approx 44% of the Constituency electorates vote, the dems 32% - it still means that more of the electorate cast their vote for PTP than they did for the dems. They got to form the government.

What do the Shinawatra family often claim according to you?

ps It's Shinawatra not "Shins" and Thaksin not "Taxin" I believe there are rules about this?

Even if 99% would have voted them, they wouldn't have the right to stand above the law and pardon themself.

That destroys the rule of law.

Well, that's curious because the existing constitution has an amnesty written in by the authors of that constitution that is for their benefit only. I haven't heard anybody complain about that (though they should have and right after it happened).

Don't get me wrong I'm against this amnesty bill, but we're not talking about the amnesty bill, you're the only one doing that.

The rest of us are talking about Sutheps threat to eradicate the Shiniwatra "Regime"

I am not aware of any amnesty against corruption the constitution. If the amnesty against the coup if you mean that, isn't something this government wants to change, actually the coup leader is in coalition with this government.

If it is right to write it in the constitution is a complete different discussion than pardon your own corruption (25.000 cases were mentioned somewhere on TV)

[h90]

I am married to a Thai lady from Isaan and she has little but praise for Thaksin Shinawatra. She accepts that, like Thai politicians of all parties he benefitted from a degree of corruption, but his premiership was hugely beneficial to Thailand economically and he transformed the lives of many of the poor.

Better schools, better roads, better power and water supplies, the 30baht healthcare scheme the list goes on.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it

Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin? I for one don't think so. The country now has a terrible drug problem and crime is forever on the increase. The political system is broken. Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable

As a farang I accept that Thaksin had little time for foreigners when in office but why should he? The very fact that we can travel to and live in Thailand shows that we can be self supporting

If Suthep is to be the new face of Thailand then the country might as well go to Hell in a handcart now

Better schools?..... in what way? smaller class sizes, better materials, better teachers, don't think so.

Better roads? ..... certainly more blacktop, that needs constant repair if anything heavier than a bicycle uses it.

Better power?.... more households now have power, that they have to pay for, natural progression for a profit making industry.

Better water? .... more households now have water, that they have to pay for, natural progression for a profit making industry.

30B Health scheme? ... it used to be free.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it? ..... by killing hundreds of innocent people, and the problem is still around, much worse than it was from what I see. Only change is the price of street drugs has gone up, I wonder which tight trouser wearing, gun toting clan of untouchable thugs are happy about that.

Thaksin had little time for anything while he was in office, except himself.

The healthcare scheme is actually a project from the Democrats which they had to postpone after Chavalit with Thaksin as deputy crashed the Economic 1997.

[Moobahn]

This morning I read in a famous Thai English newspaper that the people have been asked to boycott products on a list that are linked to the Shinawatra clan as part of the eradication process this thread started with. I'm really curious which companies are on that boycott list but so far I haven't seen any list. Does anyone know if this list is real or not?

[jayboy]

I am married to a Thai lady from Isaan and she has little but praise for Thaksin Shinawatra. She accepts that, like Thai politicians of all parties he benefitted from a degree of corruption, but his premiership was hugely beneficial to Thailand economically and he transformed the lives of many of the poor.

Better schools, better roads, better power and water supplies, the 30baht healthcare scheme the list goes on.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it

Is Thailand a better country without Thaksin? I for one don't think so. The country now has a terrible drug problem and crime is forever on the increase. The political system is broken. Economically Thailand is struggling because it is so unstable

As a farang I accept that Thaksin had little time for foreigners when in office but why should he? The very fact that we can travel to and live in Thailand shows that we can be self supporting

If Suthep is to be the new face of Thailand then the country might as well go to Hell in a handcart now

Better schools?..... in what way? smaller class sizes, better materials, better teachers, don't think so.

Better roads? ..... certainly more blacktop, that needs constant repair if anything heavier than a bicycle uses it.

Better power?.... more households now have power, that they have to pay for, natural progression for a profit making industry.

Better water? .... more households now have water, that they have to pay for, natural progression for a profit making industry.

30B Health scheme? ... it used to be free.

He also tackled the drug problem head on and got on top of it? ..... by killing hundreds of innocent people, and the problem is still around, much worse than it was from what I see. Only change is the price of street drugs has gone up, I wonder which tight trouser wearing, gun toting clan of untouchable thugs are happy about that.

Thaksin had little time for anything while he was in office, except himself.

The healthcare scheme is actually a project from the Democrats which they had to postpone after Chavalit with Thaksin as deputy crashed the Economic 1997.

You couldn't make it up.The usual suspects always spoil their case by going over the top.For example this suggestion that Thaksin's populist policies were in fact initiated by the Democrats only they didn't quite get time to put any of them in place.Also a first for me was the zany idea that Thaksin was responsible for the Asian Crisis.If this level of insanity is to be the usual suspectrs mantra why not go the whole hog and make him responsible for cholera,global warming, junk food,James Blunt and alchopops.It's the same deranged mindset that queries the Thaksinite parties electoral success because it was all down to "vote buying" or that an absolute majority of Thais didn't vote that way.

[Emptyset]

The healthcare scheme is actually a project from the Democrats which they had to postpone after Chavalit with Thaksin as deputy crashed the Economic 1997.

Let's try to clear this up once and for all since people seem to say this in every topic that the 30 baht scheme is mentioned in. I have never seen any evidence, despite the continual assertions here, that the 30 baht scheme was first proposed by the Chuan government. Everything I've read suggests that although a very similar idea for universal healthcare was first proposed at the time of the Chuan government, it was the creation of a civil servant, Dr. Sanguan from the Ministry of Health. Hence not a 'project from the Democrats'. 50,000 signatures were gathered to try to get parliament to pass the bill, but whether due to the financial crisis or otherwise, nothing concrete came of it. Then Surapong, a former medical doctor himself, and a key figure in TRT, invited Sanguan to work with him and other NGOs who were pushing for universal healthcare, and the 30 baht was the result of that collaboration.

There were other schemes in place before that, perhaps Democrat initiated schemes (I don't know), but none of them were universal. Here is an extract from Pasuk and Baker's paper 'Thaksin's Populism' which discusses the scheme: 'Thaksin’s government had launched three major schemes of social provision, and promised many more. The distinctive characteristic of most of these schemes was that they were available to all. Previous governments had provided cheap or free health care for the poor by distributing cards. However, through corruption and inefficiency, these cards reached only a minority of the families that deserved and needed them. Using these cards carried a stigma, and often subjected the holder to poor treatment. Thaksin’s health scheme was available to all as a right, and significantly extended access to health care. According to the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), which was generally critical of Thaksin, the scheme lifted more people out of poverty than any other single government measure. While there remained a service differential between the 30 baht scheme and private treatment, participation in the scheme conveyed no stigma and the treatment was mostly judged to be good (Viroj and Anchana, 2006). In polls, the health scheme regularly rated as the TRT government’s most popular measure (e.g. The Nation, 26 September 2004). This popularity outstripped actual experience of the scheme. People who had not used the scheme liked the idea of it.'

Edited November 17, 2013 by Emptyset

[whybother]

You couldn't make it up.The usual suspects always spoil their case by going over the top.For example this suggestion that Thaksin's populist policies were in fact initiated by the Democrats only they didn't quite get time to put any of them in place.Also a first for me was the zany idea that Thaksin was responsible for the Asian Crisis.If this level of insanity is to be the usual suspectrs mantra why not go the whole hog and make him responsible for cholera,global warming, junk food,James Blunt and alchopops.It's the same deranged mindset that queries the Thaksinite parties electoral success because it was all down to "vote buying" or that an absolute majority of Thais didn't vote that way.

Why do you always generalise? "The usual suspects" "Thaksin's populist policies"

In this case, ONE poster has suggested ONE Thaksin policy was suggested before Thaksin was in power.

IIRC, this policy was suggested a few years before Thaksin was in power, but it was found to be unaffordable at the time, so wasn't implemented. It seems that they were correct at that time given that it costs more to collect the fee than the fee itself.

[fab4]

Well, that's curious because the existing constitution has an amnesty written in by the authors of that constitution that is for their benefit only. I haven't heard anybody complain about that (though they should have and right after it happened).

Don't get me wrong I'm against this amnesty bill, but we're not talking about the amnesty bill, you're the only one doing that.

The rest of us are talking about Sutheps threat to eradicate the Shiniwatra "Regime"

I am not aware of any amnesty against corruption the constitution. If the amnesty against the coup if you mean that, isn't something this government wants to change, actually the coup leader is in coalition with this government.

If it is right to write it in the constitution is a complete different discussion than pardon your own corruption (25.000 cases were mentioned somewhere on TV)

Once again trying to steer the discussion away from the thread. I'm not going to encourage you.