Two trillion baht bill likely to be killed by charter court

[GrantSmith]

The issue here is not the merits of the infrastructure bill, but the fact that the Constitutional Court is being asked, time and time again, to make policy. I find it quite ironic that a political party dubbed "The Democracts" would attempt to legislate not through a majority in Parliament brought about by actual elections but through the courts. I suppose it is to be expected. The Democrats apparently feel no need to compete in national elections so therefore they have no choice but to use the courts.

No, that might be your issue with it, but that's certainly not the issue that the Senators plus 11 MP's have.

Honestly, you expected this 2.2 Trillion Baht loan just to go straight through without any "checks and balances" ?

[thaicbr]

The issue here is not the merits of the infrastructure bill, but the fact that the Constitutional Court is being asked, time and time again, to make policy. I find it quite ironic that a political party dubbed "The Democracts" would attempt to legislate not through a majority in Parliament brought about by actual elections but through the courts. I suppose it is to be expected. The Democrats apparently feel no need to compete in national elections so therefore they have no choice but to use the courts.

I find it ironic that a political party and serving government Phua Thai have a protest wing called the UDD (United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship)

And a leader/owner who is a convicted criminal on the run/ self imposed exile and has reportedly signed resignation letters from all MP's in his party. Dictatorship!!!!

[15Peter20]

Military coup - too obvious. Judicial coup - too divisive. Welcome to 'Subverting Democracy Pt III - Rule By Constitution Court'. 555.

[thaicbr]

Military coup - too obvious. Judicial coup - too divisive. Welcome to 'Subverting Democracy Pt III - Rule By Constitution Court'. 555.

Or exactly the opposite.. Rule of law rather than rule by convicted self imposed exiler.

All this government have to do is follow the rules and laws of the land.. it ain't difficult.

The infrastructure plan got through the senate because the Senate speaker lied about ending the meeting and pulled a vote at 2.35am after stating that the meeting would end at 12 and reconvene the nest day at 9am...

The amnesty bill was due for 3 days of deliberation in Parliament 31 Oct-2 Nov.

day1 and 2 on part 2 and day 3 part 3 and final vote. it was all done and dusted at 4.45am on the 1 Nov after 19 hours.. again the House speaker stated that each day should end at midnight.. Go figure.

Edited November 22, 2013 by thaicbr

[Issangeorge]

I don't agree with the bill, but where were the 40 senators when the vote was taken? It was only approved 63 to 14. Should there not have been at least 40 dissenting votes?

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[stoli]

Yes, they could buy 330 new planes to supplement what they have. however, there are different issues to deal with. Planes would certainly go from Bangkok to Chang Mai, but what about the Thai citizens that want to go to the cities in between. Flights between Bangkok & Chang Mai will not help them. Trains solve different problems and offer different solutions. Replacing one with the other is not same-same.

Goods can be shipped by rail to all of the towns as well, reducing the trucks on the roads.

I agree that this 2.2 trillion can not move forward without transparency. That would be foolish. But a country does need to continue to build its infrastructure to grow.

[whybother]

I don't agree with the bill, but where were the 40 senators when the vote was taken? It was only approved 63 to 14. Should there not have been at least 40 dissenting votes?

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The Senate Speaker had said that the debate would finish at midnight and the vote would be taken the next day. He changed his mind and the vote was taken at 2:50am that morning.

[Issangeorge]

So as soon as the group of 40 left he changed the rules and called a vote. That should be enough grounds to rule the bill unconstitutional.

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[thaicbr]

I don't agree with the bill, but where were the 40 senators when the vote was taken? It was only approved 63 to 14. Should there not have been at least 40 dissenting votes?

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I'm just guessing but probably they were already tucked up in bed as the session had officially finished at midnight to be resumed at 9am the next morning as told by the Senate house speaker. But the vote was done at 3am PTP democracy in action.

Interesting article here..

http://asiancorrespondent.com/116166/thailands-69-5bn-transport-plan-faces-legal-test/

It states that these projects will be finished by 2020. Really!!!!!

[cornishcarlos]

I don't agree with the bill, but where were the 40 senators when the vote was taken? It was only approved 63 to 14. Should there not have been at least 40 dissenting votes?

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The Senate Speaker had said that the debate would finish at midnight and the vote would be taken the next day. He changed his mind and the vote was taken at 2:50am that morning.

Did the 40 senators not smell a rat at midnight...

"ok guys meetings over, see you at 9am"

"you not coming with us ?"

"no, we are just going to tidy up and empty the bins.. Off you go now.."

[Skywalker69]

how much is this in USD? My calculator wont go past nine zeros and I cant be bothered to think of another way to covert it

62 billion 62,000,000,000 USD.

[wolf5370]

The issue here is not the merits of the infrastructure bill, but the fact that the Constitutional Court is being asked, time and time again, to make policy. I find it quite ironic that a political party dubbed "The Democracts" would attempt to legislate not through a majority in Parliament brought about by actual elections but through the courts. I suppose it is to be expected. The Democrats apparently feel no need to compete in national elections so therefore they have no choice but to use the courts.

Well I am sure they would like to democratically challenge it - if it had been budgeted (as it should have been) and put through Financial planning (as it should have been) then they might have had the chance - but as they side tracked it without planning detail or recourse to finance, it bloody hard to challenge it! They tried to break the rules SO that it could not be challenged democratically - THAT IS THE ISSUE - and that is why the CC is being asked to look at it.

[wolf5370]

Yes, they could buy 330 new planes to supplement what they have. however, there are different issues to deal with. Planes would certainly go from Bangkok to Chang Mai, but what about the Thai citizens that want to go to the cities in between. Flights between Bangkok & Chang Mai will not help them. Trains solve different problems and offer different solutions. Replacing one with the other is not same-same.

Goods can be shipped by rail to all of the towns as well, reducing the trucks on the roads.

I agree that this 2.2 trillion can not move forward without transparency. That would be foolish. But a country does need to continue to build its infrastructure to grow.

Parachutes?

Seriously though - High speed train would be pointless for interim stops too - would stop it being high speed. I think the guy was just making a point with respect to the planes. He said it right, they should concentrate on normal rail link improvements - much cheaper, more useful, and further upgradable and extendable.

[Arkady]

Hard to justify approving a massive loan for projects that have not even passed any form of feasibility study. There is hardly a token effort to pretend this is anything other than rampant corruption.

[Moruya]

Military coup - too obvious. Judicial coup - too divisive. Welcome to 'Subverting Democracy Pt III - Rule By Constitution Court'. 555.

No. It's simply a case of PTP being caught with their pants down cheating again on the votes.

You couldn't get a loan from your bank without giving a valid reason - imagine attempting to lend 2.2 trillion baht for a non-existent list of projects that haven't even been costed out or approved?