Yingluck using state funds to woo voters: Dems

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POLITICS
Yingluck using state funds to woo voters: Dems
Prapasri Osathanon,
Praphan Jindalertudomdee
The Nation



Opposition gives her till Sunday to step down, warns of civil unrest otherwise

BANGKOK: -- The Democrat Party yesterday demanded that caretaker PM Yingluck Shinawatra step down by Sunday, as it accused her of using state funds to boost her popularity in the North and Northeast and campaign for votes for the February 2 election.

Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said she was putting other political parties at a disadvantage by using the state funds and resources at her disposal to visit provinces and campaign for votes.

"By doing that, she can win the hearts of people in the North and Northeast, but people in the South cannot accept her behaviour and see her running away from problems," he said, adding that the People's Democratic Reform Committee would stage a mass rally on Sunday.

"We don't want to see civil unrest, so she has 48 hours to contribute to the country by stepping down,'' he said.

The Democrat Party has asked its 180 provincial branches to seek their constituents' opinions about whether the party should boycott the February 2 election. Chavanond said the party would call a meeting tomorrow to make a final decision on the matter.

Meanwhile, former Democrat deputy leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot (@alongkornpb) tweeted that he was sticking with the Democrat Party after rumours were heard that he was planning to defect to Chart Thai Pattana for not being elected as a party executive.

Former Democrat party-list MP Boonyod Suktinthai, meanwhile, said he would gather evidence of wrongdoings by permanent officials who may abuse their power by serving politicians in the government camp during the election campaign. He also warned the TV Pool of Thailand against using media coverage for political interests.

He said he would file formal complaints with the Election Commission if any wrongdoing were committed during the election campaign. Boonyod also called on Yingluck not to gain the upper hand by using state funds to campaign for votes.

Meanwhile, Sunisa Lertpakawat, deputy spokeswoman for the caretaker government, said Yingluck's position as caretaker prime minister would not necessarily help her win the election, as it did not help Abhisit Vejjajiva win while he was caretaker PM in 2011.

Pheu Thai spokesman Promphong Nopparit said the party was ready to take up the challenge of the February 2 election and next Monday, party leader Churupong Ruangsuwan would lead members to register as party-list MPs.

He added that the party's policies were resolving people's problems, especially in terms of business and political reform. He also warned that if the Democrat Party did not participate in the poll, he would call on the EC to dissolve the party and recall the subsidies granted to political parties.


-- The Nation 2013-12-20

[Calimotty]

Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut

When dial a coup doesn't work anymore all he can serve up is this rubbish.

[angsta]

And this is the best they've got? Weak. Very,very weak. It is becoming embarrassing. Another crappy march yesterday that served only to annoy commuters in Bangkok. Another on Sunday which will do much the same. Smart move morons, smart move.

[dcutman]

Yingluck using state funds to woo voters

OK. So nothing has changed over the last 2 1/2 years then.

[OZEMADE]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

[worgeordie]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

They will not use their own money,when they can get the Government to

use populist polices,loose the peoples tax money,to ensure they win again,

and think up more stupid polices to finally bankrupt the country.

regards Worgeordie

[whybother]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

She doesn't have to, but it appears that she is.

[Samaaw]

Amazing Thailand!

[Valentine]

The Dems need to take a long overdue look at themselves in the mirror. Alongkorn stood up & proposed a total reform of the party but there are still too many dinosaurs & he did not even get elected to the executive. What they need to do so come up with a comprehensive election manifesto focusing on the positives they can achieve rather than just slanging off their rivals. We all know corruption happens with every government although PTP have taken it to new heights & seemingly do not care what anybody thinks but the Dems would be better served by specifying exactly how they will tackle it. I agree there certainly needs to be reform in not only the election process but all through the bureaucratic sector including the police & military.

If the election does go ahead on the 2nd Feb then there should be a binding commitment by all parties they will immediately proceed with reform or be forced to step down if they don't. However, that could drag on forever knowing how things work here so IMO reform should be complete before any election. It does not have to be how it is envisaged by Suthep but all parties need to be happy with the outcome which necessitates compromise. Perhaps the leaders of all sides including party leaders. those from reds, yellow et al should all kneel before the king & make that solemn oath. It seemed to work well in 1992 when Chamlong & Suchinda did just that.

[Estrada]

In the past 30 years, successive Governments, including the Democrats, have used their incumbency to pour money into marginal seats to boost their popularity. Not much different to most other Countries. In Thailand, election time is for repaving potholed roads to remote villages, and similar

vote buying projects. And of course promising to reduce taxes, increase the minimum wage, first buyer's schemes, and upping the price they pay for rice and various food stuffs. The mistake that the Thaksin regime made, was actually keeping their promises after they won the election.

I always remember in the UK, prior to an election during a previous crisis, the Liberals told the truth and informed the electorate that the UK

economy was in dire straits and that in order to sort the economy out, taxes would have to go up if they were voted in. Whereas the Labour and

Conservative Parties promised to cut taxes. The electorate voted in the Labour Party and taxes were immediately raised. The Liberals who told the

truth, lost the election. So it is not much different here, it doesn't pay them to be honest to win votes.

[Thait Spot]

"Meanwhile, Sunisa Lertpakawat, deputy spokeswoman for the caretaker government, said Yingluck's position as caretaker prime minister would not necessarily help her win the election, as it did not help Abhisit Vejjajiva win while he was caretaker PM in 2011."

Another candidate for Smart Woman Thailand

[Emptyset]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

She doesn't have to, but it appears that she is.

So this essentially means she's travelling as caretaker PT rather than prospective candidate? Surely though she is still PM so gets security and travel provided by state funds? Would like to know the rules on this and whether the Democrats did the same during the last election. Of course trying to use the civil service and interior min to your advantage is something done in every election, as is using state owned TV. Not saying it's right, in fact it obviously isn't, but it'd again be singling PT out for something everyone else has done to make too much of this.

[moe666]

Where are you PTP supporters when the thread is about that gigantic failure the all mighty rice scam.

[whybother]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

She doesn't have to, but it appears that she is.

So this essentially means she's travelling as caretaker PT rather than prospective candidate? Surely though she is still PM so gets security and travel provided by state funds? Would like to know the rules on this and whether the Democrats did the same during the last election. Of course trying to use the civil service and interior min to your advantage is something done in every election, as is using state owned TV. Not saying it's right, in fact it obviously isn't, but it'd again be singling PT out for something everyone else has done to make too much of this.

She can travel for "state" purposes and have security as care-taker PM. What she can't do is campaign while she is doing that.

But, as usual, the OP doesn't actually go into detail about what she is supposed to have done.

[shawndoc]

The dems were set for some of their biggest gains, perhaps even enough to be able to form a coalition government. The have the rice and flood scandals turning many previous PTP fans against them, then you got the "amnesty" bill and PTP saying they would ignore the court ruling. The protests were largely peaceful and managed to get Yingluck to dissolve the government and hold fresh elections. However instead of calling it victory, and spending the next 2 months campaigning on exposing how the government lied and mistreated the poor farmers and other scandals, they've got Suthep and the Dems running around calling for a "people's coup" and demanding an overthrow of the constitution and threatening to shut down Bangkok this Sunday.

The took a huge political victory and great chance to turn people against the PTP, and instead managed to botch the whole thing and piss off a lot of people. The protests now instead of shining light on the actions of the current government, have become the story themselves with their outrageous demands.

[Yunla]

I'm sure most voters know who she is, and that her face is nice etc. so promo isn't really needed from that POV. Also a lot of her voters are family loyalty membership for life, similar to old Labour families in the North of England.

I think what the Dems should look at is not the Yingluck pro-PTP machine, but the current Suthep situation which will annoy and alienate a lot of middleground voters.

Re; the funds, its chickenfeed, should be addressed, but not high priority. The important thing is that whoever is in power goes Robocop Prime Directive mode and fixes ; the roads, vehicles/ driving-standards, electrics, water, pesticide controls, schools, living and working conditions etc.etc.. These are priority issues to campaign on, not this OP issue at all. And yes neither party has offered much concrete progress on those key infrastructure issue policies which is why Parliament needs a new external Odin watchdog figure to oversee the processing of critical priority work first, and to keep the system running as it can and should.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Yunla

[JRSoul]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

I remember a statement that the Shinawatra's don't need to be corrupt because they were already amply rich. There is a vast difference between 'need" and "want" which is the basis of Shinawatra's popularity - they offer voters what they want rather than what they need, irrespective of the long term cost.

Edited December 20, 2013 by JRSoul

[Thait Spot]

Watch out!!!!

Poo on the campaign trail

[falangadang]

Nobody seemed to mind when it was "Yingluck uses State funds to go on shopping trips" but now to "woo voters" is just terrible!

[Bpuumike]

In the past 30 years, successive Governments, including the Democrats, have used their incumbency to pour money into marginal seats to boost their popularity. Not much different to most other Countries. In Thailand, election time is for repaving potholed roads to remote villages, and similar

vote buying projects. And of course promising to reduce taxes, increase the minimum wage, first buyer's schemes, and upping the price they pay for rice and various food stuffs. The mistake that the Thaksin regime made, was actually keeping their promises after they won the election.

I always remember in the UK, prior to an election during a previous crisis, the Liberals told the truth and informed the electorate that the UK

economy was in dire straits and that in order to sort the economy out, taxes would have to go up if they were voted in. Whereas the Labour and

Conservative Parties promised to cut taxes. The electorate voted in the Labour Party and taxes were immediately raised. The Liberals who told the

truth, lost the election. So it is not much different here, it doesn't pay them to be honest to win votes.

The difference is that here the voters get paid cash in hand. And we know that most Thais don't think about tomorrow.

[SICHONSTEVE]

And this is the best they've got? Weak. Very,very weak. It is becoming embarrassing. Another crappy march yesterday that served only to annoy commuters in Bangkok. Another on Sunday which will do much the same. Smart move morons, smart move.

Maybe you don't realise but Suthep has already won the main battle!!!

He has made it impossible for Thaksin to return to Thailand in his life time. All he has to do now is turf out the other corrupt Shinawatras from politics and that will be mission accomplished.

At some stage, these peasants masquerading as politicians will mess up Thailand so much that the people will have no other choice than to elect (abstain from voting) the Democrats in to sort the mess out.

Abhisit and Korn proved their worth after having engineered, in their last year of office in 2010 the best growth rate since 1995 from the previous years -2.33 to 7.8% (a turn around of over 10%) in a calendar year. Then the incompetents bribed and lied their way into power and it has been disastrous ever since!!

[Baerboxer]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

She doesn't have to, but it appears that she is.

So this essentially means she's travelling as caretaker PT rather than prospective candidate? Surely though she is still PM so gets security and travel provided by state funds? Would like to know the rules on this and whether the Democrats did the same during the last election. Of course trying to use the civil service and interior min to your advantage is something done in every election, as is using state owned TV. Not saying it's right, in fact it obviously isn't, but it'd again be singling PT out for something everyone else has done to make too much of this.

To much corrupt behavior and ignoring of rules is justified by "they did it before us, it always been like that".

Nothing will change until someone is brave enough to draw a line in the sand and rules are enforced.

The OP doesn't make it clear if in fact she has broken any election rules or if he's just warning her not to. If she has then she should be stopped - regardless of what others did in the past. And so should anyone else in the future.

[catmac]

Where are you PTP supporters when the thread is about that gigantic failure the all mighty rice scam.

You seem to be in a minority of one here, everyone else is is correctly commenting on the thread's title.

[khaowong1]

Don't all politicians the world over do the same thing? When it's time for an election, it's get out and meet the people. On the govt.'s nickel.

[lostinsurin]

Where are you PTP supporters when the thread is about that gigantic failure the all mighty rice scam.

Moe , do you comment on football threads?

"your not singing anymore, your not singing any more"

good morning

Edited December 20, 2013 by lostinsurin

[Nibbles48]

This is a complete pre- election campaign. Started days after they announced elections and due to go on right up too the elections (that won't happen) and the tax payer is footing the bill for Yinglick.

Highly illegal, and PTP should be automatically banned.

Thieves, thieves, thieves.

[slapout]

The opposition has pointed out the possible legal breach, so let Ms (give me a chance) get deeper into the sh.t storm she, her family, and cronies, have brought on themselves.

I just don't know how to refer to this potential train wreck, as a new 'High' or 'Low' in stupidity or incompentance.

[MaxYakov]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

Sure, sure. But why use their own funds when they can use the state's? Besides, who are you to determine what is 'enough' for others?

[belg]

they will have to make a

5000 baht entry fee per person for tourists

to clean up the vote buying, rice scam, flood scam, graft, corruption, new villas and mercs for all involved

[tingtongteesood]

She does not have to use state funds, as the Shinawatra family has enough of their own funds to use.

And where do you think Thaksin got his 'funds' from ? Shady illegal business deals and the tax payers pot....