CNN, BBC all English news really love Thaksin and hate Abhisit

[manarak]

Ah yes, let's go back to the 18th and 19th century when only rich landowners could vote; provided they were white, Anglo Saxon, protestant and male.

Do you also believe in sending children down mines and up chimneys?

In the UK we have a welfare state; people do abuse it but it is also there for those who genuinely need it.

We also have the NHS which is paid for from taxation and free at the point of delivery with treatment based upon need, not ability to pay.

Not even the most right wing of British political parties have suggested abolishing either or restricting the franchise.

From the way you have misspelt 'modernization' I assume you are American. I cannot fathom out why the richest country in the world lets it's citizens suffer and die if they don't have health insurance and why so many of it's citizens condemn a president who is trying to change that.

why ridicule a point of view?

what many socialists are doing in Europe is nothing more than vote buying, western style.

I propose that only people who pay more taxes than they get aided by the government can vote. This includes the working class and is an elegant way to balance political power. Give away too much and the socialist base is eroded, reduce welfare and then more socialist voters flow in.

The current trend is: the poorer people get, the more they chase the rich and companies away, which is plain stupid.

BTW, and since I have to show an alibi to the spelling police, I'm not American, English is my third language, apologies for any mistakes.

[truk39]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_federal_election,_March_1933

Your own source shows that Hitler did not get a 51% majority as you claimed (43.9%)...even after intimidation, outright violence, and outlawing communism, he still didn't have a majority on his own.

[MAJIC]

I think Mark's best off moving back to the UK.

In fairness he did reject the Amnesty Bill and just stated he'd accept the death penalty if it were handed down to him by the courts.

Yes in fairness! no other Politician has given a so concise statement of intent.don't hold your breath,and expect a similar message from Dubai via Skype. That guy will not even acccept a luxury cell,and laid on,Gourmet meals. You have to compare a weasel,convicted criminal, with a man of honour!

[MAJIC]

They're not on the side of Thaksin or Abhisit

They're on the side of democracy.

"What Democracy"

Like it or not, the Thai people voted for the current shower.

So what if it was on the back of populist policies? Populist policies aren't illegal, are they?

What government hasn't promised the earth to win a freakin' election?

"What Democracy"

Oh come on "Hardened Soul" you know very well,there is no concept of Democracy! Thaksin has already stated,that he has no interest in Democracy. And don't you remember his speech "The United Nations is not my Father" ?

[7by7]

I propose that only people who pay more taxes than they get aided by the government can vote. This includes the working class and is an elegant way to balance political power. Give away too much and the socialist base is eroded, reduce welfare and then more socialist voters flow in.

So, under your regime

• Many pensioners couldn't vote because many pensioners don't have an income high enough to pay tax.
• Disabled people unable to work through no fault of their own couldn't vote; including ex service men and women disabled whilst serving their country.
• What about someone working and paying tax who gets laid off or otherwise loses their job through no fault of their own in an election year?
• Then there's the rich company directors who arrange to be paid offshore to avoid paying tax; they couldn't vote either.

But of course in most countries everyone pays some tax through VAT or the equivalent on nearly everything they buy.

I may be ridiculing your point of view; but only because it's ridiculous.

[mogandave]

I cannot fathom out why the richest country in the world lets it's citizens suffer and die if they don't have health insurance and why so many of it's citizens condemn a president who is trying to change that.

You lefties crack me up. Where all these suffering people?

[Maestro]

Removed a nonsensical post.

[truk39]

I cannot fathom out why the richest country in the world lets it's citizens suffer and die if they don't have health insurance and why so many of it's citizens condemn a president who is trying to change that.

You lefties crack me up. Where all these suffering people?

Dead.

[maccaroni man]

I started watching aljazer before the bbc when I wanted balanced reporting

[maccaroni man]

I started watching aljazer before the bbc when I wanted balanced reporting and CNN is still Clinton network news

[Donnie Brasco]

Thaksin is a Hitler. He hasn't killed millions yet because it is 2013 and a lot harder to kill millions (of course his buddy Hun Sen of the Khmer Rouge would disagree). He has shown a complete disregard for human life over and over again. Go back and look at what Thaksin created in the South, the drug killings and look at the sniper executions he ordered in the 2010 protests. he is a criminal on the run from the law running a puppet government... and apparently that is all fine with you enlightened farang because he got 48% of the vote and formed a government. Awesome! To answer your question: no the opposition is nowhere near as corrupt or amoral as old square face. The red shirts need to get rid of Squareface and all of his kin and maybe then the rest of the country can take them and their problems seriously.

I am sympathetic to the poor farmers and inequality but as long as their leader is a psychopathic criminal there will be no real reforms or meaningful long lasting changes.

Maybe.

But your simplistic analysis and your puerile analogies betray the immaturity of intellect required to blow a whistle. The blown whistle or tweet have much in common with idiot farang tourists who wai everyone in site so they will not be perceived as impolite.

Reception, wait staff, maid, taxi drivers, rentals and their mamasans (another fake concept BTW)

[kandi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_federal_election,_March_1933

Maybe you should read that yourself. Hitler didn't get his governmental powers through a democratic election, he got it when he was appointed Chancellor by the president of the Weimarer Republik on January 30, 1933. At the time of the 1933 election, Germany was already a dictatorship, and this "election" was everything but a democratic process.

[billd766]

CNN, BBC all English news really love Thaksin and hate Abhisit

what a complete misrepresentation of the actual interviews in which Abhisit was given full reign to make his points and clarify his objectives. The OP heading should be changed as many people will simply read the title and make a totally wrong judgement.

Having watched both videos each time the interviewer tried to override him and not let him answer the questions.

I cannot vouch for CNN but from what I gave seen and heard from the BBC it is incorrect for at least half of the information and the rest is usually 2 to 3 days late in reporting.

The BBC for many years had a high reputation for honesty and accuracy but over the last 15 to 20 years it has gone downhill and is lazy and slapdash. If something happens in a country now the first thing they ask in a report, Is anybody there, how does this affect you.

Do your job and send a proper reporting crew to the scene, not the one that is here at the moment.

[DiamondKing]

they made him look like an idiot contradicting him with THE TRUTH, in the form of Video as he says we did not go in as they showed a tank going in LOL the demonstrations are peaceful as they show the protesters throwing rocks and a monk with petrol bombs LOL

What an idiot he is

And the reason he is made to look a fool is the real democracys can SEE THROUGH all this BS and will ask him the hard questions which he cannot answer without looking like an idiot.

[Ulysses G.]

I cannot fathom out why the richest country in the world lets it's citizens suffer and die if they don't have health insurance and why so many of it's citizens condemn a president who is trying to change that.

You lefties crack me up. Where all these suffering people?

The emergency rooms, where a law passed by Ronald Reagan assures them that they must be treated for free.

[culicine]

They're not on the side of Thaksin or Abhisit

They're on the side of democracy.

Like it or not, the Thai people voted for the current shower.

So what if it was on the back of populist policies? Populist policies aren't illegal, are they?

What government hasn't promised the earth to win a freakin' election?

They may well not be illegal (what's illegal in this country anyway), but they are immoral.

In the not too distant future, Thailand will be the next Argentina. Look it up.

[HardenedSoul]

They're not on the side of Thaksin or Abhisit

They're on the side of democracy.

Like it or not, the Thai people voted for the current shower.

So what if it was on the back of populist policies? Populist policies aren't illegal, are they?

What government hasn't promised the earth to win a freakin' election?

They may well not be illegal (what's illegal in this country anyway), but they are immoral.

In the not too distant future, Thailand will be the next Argentina. Look it up.

By your reasoning, the people in any country currently engaged in, say, the immoral policy of quantitative easing* - namely Britain, the US and Japan - ought to be occupying government ministries, shooting at police and insisting that power be handed over to a bunch of corporate fat cats who, in rooms suitably darkened to facilitate backhanders, will decide between them who runs the country, right?

* look it up

[chuang]

If Thaksin actually cared about the country wouldn't it be best to let the red shirt movement go on without him and his family at the helm?

Another Thaksin-probic farang....555

[7by7]

I cannot fathom out why the richest country in the world lets it's citizens suffer and die if they don't have health insurance and why so many of it's citizens condemn a president who is trying to change that.

You lefties crack me up. Where all these suffering people?

The emergency rooms, where a law passed by Ronald Reagan assures them that they must be treated for free.

And after the initial emergency treatment?

Or if their condition is long term and not yet an emergency?

But this is not a topic about American healthcare; apols for causing it to be side tracked.

[DavidMavec]

Thaksin is more pro big business/ interests of the U.S. elite as is the mainstream media, that's why

[Maybole]

I cannot comment on the CNN interview since I have no access to domestic TV in the USA. However the BBC interview seemed mild compared with what he could have faced from one of the UK domestic presenters such as John Humphreys or Jeremy Paxman

[writeshack]

Like it or not, the Thai people voted for the current shower.

Hitler was democratically elected and immensely popular. Is getting 51% of the vote really a blank slate for corruption?

No, Hitler wasn't democratically elected.

Hitler headed a minority government and his brownshirt thugs intimidated other parties into accepting the infamous Enabling Act.

[Baerboxer]

Like it or not, the Thai people voted for the current shower.

Hitler was democratically elected and immensely popular. Is getting 51% of the vote really a blank slate for corruption?

Neither Hitler or PTP got 51% of the vote.

No, being democratically elected, even with a majority rather than a large minority, is not a green light for corruption and acting in defiance of the law.

[peecee]

CNN, BBC all English news really love Thaksin and hate Abhisit

what a complete misrepresentation of the actual interviews in which Abhisit was given full reign to make his points and clarify his objectives. The OP heading should be changed as many people will simply read the title and make a totally wrong judgement.

If there is any bias it's for properly elected government by the people and not someone put up by a group who have overturned elected representatives seats and ousted them from government. That's 1930 politics and illustrates how far Thailand has to climb up the democratic ladder as does the present situation!

[brit1984]

put it this way... they don't love suthep

and who does?... (except suthep)

[Maggusoil]

Like it or not, the Thai people voted for the current shower.

Hitler was democratically elected and immensely popular. Is getting 51% of the vote really a blank slate for corruption?

I'll ignore your invocation of Godwin's law; but will remind you:

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

Sir Winston Churchill, Hansard, November 11, 1947

I'll also say that as someone who is following the crisis via the BBC that on the whole I have found their reporting to be fair and balanced.

I can only assume that you consider it otherwise because they haven't supported the same side as you.

Haven't seen any CNN coverage, so cannot comment on that.

The problem now being that democracy is not what it was in 1947. The worldwide trend, especially during the last ten years, is that those power mongery thieves, have had time to adapt the system to their own ends and the idea that a "vote" gives you anything more than a choice of "which thief", is dwindling.

Thailand is governed by an elected autocracy, and that's all it has to do with real democracy as it was intended.

Here its a case of choose your autocrat.

Modern democracy in the West is actually declining in its effectiveness, as people presume too much of their politicians,

which is why there was a recent spate of hung parliaments and narrowly won elections.

You get to "vote" and that's presumed to be enough.

We clap ourselves on the back and say, "We live in a democracy."

It is most certainly not enough. Choosing the party or leader that has the better marketing campaign, does not make for healthy

competition.

Unless societies make their governments and their employees accountable, it will never be enough.

Thailand is, in its ignorance. racing toward political turmoil which could easily end in much more violence than there is now.

[tingtongteesood]

Ah yes, let's go back to the 18th and 19th century when only rich landowners could vote; provided they were white, Anglo Saxon, protestant and male.

Do you also believe in sending children down mines and up chimneys?

In the UK we have a welfare state; people do abuse it but it is also there for those who genuinely need it.

We also have the NHS which is paid for from taxation and free at the point of delivery with treatment based upon need, not ability to pay.

Not even the most right wing of British political parties have suggested abolishing either or restricting the franchise.

From the way you have misspelt 'modernization' I assume you are American. I cannot fathom out why the richest country in the world lets it's citizens suffer and die if they don't have health insurance and why so many of it's citizens condemn a president who is trying to change that.

So far your posts have proven that you don't understand either the situation in Thailand or America.

The BBC report you linked to was ok as far as it goes but it just scratches the surface of what is really going on here and the history and political power play. You need to read a lot of reports from here about what happened at the times they happened and put the pieces together. You need to learn to see through the lies, propaganda and hypocrisy, then you can see the big picture which is all about Thaksin's personality cult akin to that of of a certain Kim family..

As for Obamacare, it is a total debacle, people have lost their doctors, their costs for insurance have increased - in some cases doubled or even more - businesses have suffered as if they have over 40 full time employees they must provide Obamacare at the higher prices leading to many job losses and many full timers having their hours cut to classify as part timers so the businesses don't have to pay for the plans. It has become a total pain in the ass of millions of people and a vast majority seem to want it repealed, and rightly so in my opinion. It is all about young healthy people having to pay the costs for old sick people which a great many young healthy people see as unfair, so they are opting out and going on free medicaid instead thus overburdening that system.

[laobali]

I cannot comment on the CNN interview since I have no access to domestic TV in the USA. However the BBC interview seemed mild compared with what he could have faced from one of the UK domestic presenters such as John Humphreys or Jeremy Paxman

Or good old Tim Sebastian!

[bangarang]

LoL... Whats with the first video that has a monk at 35 seconds carry what looks to possibly some kind of bomb and a gas mask... I thought they were supposed to be peaceful and not get involved with this sort of thing and are above all of these earthly quarrels.

[7by7]

Maggusoil,

Whilst you make some valid points, Churchill's remark is as pertinent today as it was in 1947.

Which of the other forms of government would you prefer?

tingtongseesood,

I have not made any remark supporting any side in this; but Yingluk, however one may dislike her, and my wife hates her and her brother, is the leader of an elected government. I ask you the same question; which form of government would you prefer?

As for healthcare, I firmly believe that, like in the UK, it should be free at the point of delivery and based upon need rather than the ability to pay. Like democracy, the NHS is far from perfect; but it's better than any other system.