Thai PM rejects protest demands in national address

[smedly]

'Might as well forget it. Jack expects you to "prove" the vote-buying to him... Like he's a commissioner and you're some sort of official investigator with subpoena-power. Lol. It's the tack voter-fraud defenders always take - they know no one's got such "proof" because voter anonymity totally precludes systematic collection of any such evidence. And then they simply reject out-of-hand even first-hand accounts & news videos such as the one you mention and those posted here and elsewhere. Yes, he could get off his butt and do his own internet research (like there are any shortage of reports & analyses out there on the net, including those actually submitted to the elections committee " to be investigated"), but he'd rather have others list something so he can then devolve the argument into individual he-said-she-saids that don't meet his standard of "proof", which of course can't be met, by definition. There's actually little question of the vote-buying and rent-a-mobs; the only question is to what extent both sides engage in it. I personally doubt ten democrat parties could amass vote-buying and crowd-buying funds sufficient to challenge the man from Dubai's warchest.

Lots of blah blah but again, no proof. Just say it, you have no proof for your allegations. There's nothing wrong with hallucinations, even the greatest madmen of our time have had them.

If I had a bone, I'd throw it for you to go fetch. But I don't have one, so you'll have to find something else to play with.

can you prove you don't have a bone and chew on it every day

If you chose not to believe certain things then that is up to you, if you want to disprove or argue against some ones opinion here then give us some evidence and put forward a case - otherwise give it a rest

[rametindallas]

Even if she resigns it will be a big NO to dissolving parliament.

Nothing will change and Thaksin will still run the PTP, the amnesty bill will not be killed by the YS resignation, it is a PTP bill supported by YS. It still remains in the house. IF PTP are still there after the limbo period expires, their new PM can easily restart it for the 50 + 1 and make it legal.

Then the party can call on dissolution and the bill can not be undone. Then Thaksin can do what he wants with the new elections. If he fails, there is time and money to see eventually he is back in the big seat.

If his life extends that far.

100% agree. This is the crux of the matter.

Crux: an essential point requiring resolution or resolving an outcome <the crux of the problem>

[rametindallas]

If she resigns now, this would lead to an endless story of come and go come and go, dancing after whoever fancy to start a personal vendetta against the sitting power to be. When it comes down to Thaksin and his family just about the only thing they havent been accused of is the high fatalities in traffic accidents. Who will be the next target of the street mob. Surly a country can not be run like this, that whoever feels a fancy, start street protests and demand incredible stupid things like a peoples council. Tell me someone, where the hell in a modern society would this pass for good value. I cant think of anywhere except maybe one of the piss poor African countries. It is one word, and one word only for the things set in motion by Suthep these days, and that is anarchy, and he seems well on the way reaching his goal. I just hope for the Thai people that this will end peacefull, but i have my doubts.

Too bad you didn't make this speech in 2010 when the paid Red Army occupied the main commercial district of Bangkok and made the whole country ungovernable by the Democrat coalition.

[rubl]

This an interesting and, in my opinion accurate assessment of how vote buying works in Thailand.

http://asiancorrespondent.com/116697/vote-buying-thaksin-and-the-democrats/

Scroll down to the bottom, the last few sentences are illuminating.

The Thaksin haters on here probably won't be able to stomach it all, as it doesn't reinforce their hatreds and stereotypes, but please do try.

You are a wee bit unfair here, dear phil. To only mention Thaksin haters, that is

The article states all parties involved in vote buying, vote buying being less important than 20 years ago. What the article doesn't touch on is the 'social pressure' in villages to vote correctly as that will ensure a repayment AFTER.