People's uprising about to reach 'critical mass': Thai opinion

[Centrum]

Yet another delusional, borderline hysterical piece from The Nation. Will they ever stop with the gross exaggerations, half-truths, deceit, obfuscation, manipulation? This is meant to be a newspaper with some reasonable sense of balance and proportion, even in an op-ed piece, rather than a full on rant giving a very lop-sided view of the situation. Not worth the paper its written on. God forbid that anyone would actually ever buy the rag.

Well if they stop with their delusional, borderline-hysterical offerings, will you stop with yours?

That would be most welcome.

[Robby nz]

Read the following and consider the implications carefully :

http://thaifinancial...ent-in-mid-jan/

Pheu Thai to finalize the charter amendment in mid Jan

Published on December 29, 2012 by TFP · No Comments

The ruling Pheu Thai party has expected that the conclusion of the charter amendment will be drawn in the middle of next month.

According to Pheu Thai Party Spokesperson Prompong Nopparit, the government is waiting for a resolution from the Commission of Referendum Studies, which has been appointed by the cabinet last week.

The final resolution will be reviewed during the party seminar which will be held in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima on January 6-7.

Party members of parliament have been assigned to visit people and make them understand about the disadvantages of the 2007 constitution and what they will get from the charter amendment in order to ensure that the new constitution will be widely accepted.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Police Captain Chalerm Ubumrung said he will not feel disheartened if his proposal to amend the charter by section is rejected by the party. He said he will always follow the party resolution regardless of the final decision.

Police Captain Chalerm also reaffirmed that no amendment will be made in Article 309 of the constitution which deals with the actions of the 2006 coup-makers who overthrew former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as well as any sections related to the monarchy.

By RADIO THAILAND & INSIGHT INFO

My take on it .

In the light of this article I think it needs to be realized that the latest move from PT is not about reform but about going back to the charter (constitution) changes they origionally proposed but did not hold a referendum on.

They appointed a group, (without telling anyone) to rewrite the charter.

It would seem very likely that the changes that are to be recommended would include section 109 and quite possibly some mechanism to allow amnesty.

"In order to ensure the new constitution is widely accepted"

How would they do that ?

Incorporate in the election process maybe ?

[chooka]

If the uprising is so powerful, why don't they just win the elections?

Because of the vote buying.

Any election is vote buying in some sense. Why don't Sutheps buy the votes if they are so smart and clever?

He does. The Dems gave my wife's family a donation last time for their vote. The Family gladly accepted the money and then voted the way they wanted to. Paying people doesn't guarantee they are going to vote for you.

[GentlemanJim]

 

Yet another delusional, borderline hysterical piece from The Nation. Will they ever stop with the gross exaggerations, half-truths, deceit, obfuscation, manipulation? This is meant to be a newspaper with some reasonable sense of balance and proportion, even in an op-ed piece, rather than a full on rant giving a very lop-sided view of the situation. Not worth the paper its written on. God forbid that anyone would actually ever buy the rag.

 

I take it "reasonable sense of balance" means a news article that you agree with, perhaps something that appeals to your "lop-sided " view of the situation.

[theslime]

If the uprising is so powerful, why don't they just win the elections?

Because of the vote buying.

Any election is vote buying in some sense. Why don't Sutheps buy the votes if they are so smart and clever?

He does. The Dems gave my wife's family a donation last time for their vote. The Family gladly accepted the money and then voted the way they wanted to. Paying people doesn't guarantee they are going to vote for you.

News to me, most Thai people I,ve met wouldn,t vote any other way if they accepted someones pay off,I think your being a tad too cynical

[jonclark]

The idea of 1 person 1 vote as an electoral panacea to Thailand ills is far to simplistic - both sides have been shown that with sufficient financial backing that this ideal is easily manipulated and corrupted.

And that is part of the problem, democracy or rather our western concept of democracy, for whatever multitude of reasons is a corrupted, broken system. It doesn't work here or at least not yet. Thai politicians simply have found a way to cheat the system and eventually the system fails and breaks as people get bored with the cheating and politicians who have become bigger and more important than the democratic system they claim to support, when in fact they actually run and control our democracy.

I'm not condoning Suthep but it seems there are two choices; maintain the current broken and corrupted democratic system. Or dismantle it and rebuild it and start again. And I'm sure all of us have our own views on what the possible consequences of each will be.

Maybe in 20 years Thailand will have matured enough and we will look back on the past 10 years as a period of 'growing pains for Thailand's democracy.

Edit - spelling

So what do you propose to replace democracy with ?

Replacing democracy is the wrong question.There needs to be some serous tweaking with the system. Starting with the MPs

I would start with abolishing immunity for MPs. Why do MPs need immunity? Immunity attracts dishonesty and criminality as it provides protection for their actions which often subvert the course of justice. MP - our leaders - should not need immunity as they should act to uphold the law in spirit and action.

Next do some serious legal amendment to the 'defamation' law. Often used as a weapon to silence critics whilst MP hid from behind their castle of parliamentary immunity. - I can hit you legally but you can't hit me back so to speak

Next - Freedom of speech in all aspects, so the media is free in all aspects from political interference and political censorship. So journalists can investigate our MPs and report back to the people/

Finally - Freedom of information - So MP and governments can hid information from the public under vague 'national security' banners.

The bigger issues of health, education,distribution of wealth etc all need addressing in good time

Most problems occur as MP are untouchable once into office and can do what they want. By the time the law catches up with them most of the evidence has been lost, destroyed, forgotten or bribed away and so they can continue. Which they do by cheating democratic system at election time with ridiculous promises, which they are then free to get away with as they are immune, don't need to provide information for, can sue you for defamation if you so something slightly out of sync with their view and so the circus continues until it reaches breaking point as it does with regular frequency.

So keep democracy, just changes the rules of the game for the MP we vote in so they understand their performance can and will be checked and they will be held to public account and scrutiny with real and meaningful sanctions. No hiding behind immunity.

edit spelling

So you really think Suthep & the PDRC are about reform? That the PDRC are against corruption? This is only about one thing: removing the Shin-clan from Thai politics.

If the PDRC wins this power struggle the Shins will be gone and then it will be business as usual. The blatant corruption, abuse of power and vote buying will still be there.

About taxpayers: everyone in Thailand pays tax. But most people only pay indirect taxes (sales tax, tax on alcohol, cars, tobacco etc.). In most countries the total indirect tax collected is bigger than the total direct tax.

I couldn't give a stuff about Suthep or the PRDC and I couldn't give a stuff about the Shins and PTP.

They are both symptoms of a failed democratic system, a system which serves MPs and their interests, not the people.

My post was not a pro suthep post.

It was what i think needs to be done to rid Thailand of these bottom feeders that suck the life out of the process of development, as they are all free to get away with whatever they wish as they are all immune from any form of sanction once in office and as i pointed out once voted into office with ridiculous promises they are feee to get away with whatever they wish and the circus continues until breaking is point is reached and the cycle repeats itself.

End immunity. End defamation. Give freedom of speech and freedom of information and watch the change in the quality of politicians.

[Ulic]

Suthep saying, "the government has lost its moral and political legitimacy" after his record

when the Democrats were in power after 2006 is like the pot calling the kettle black. Suthep

clearly has no "moral or political legitimacy" When is someone on either side with "moral integrity"

going to step up to the plate. The people are looking to end the corruption in politics that is endemic

at all levels in both/all parties.

[FangFerang]

Democracy at its finest. Well done The Nation!

Why should they relinquish power just because some failed, corrupt politician who can't win an election decides they should.

February 2nd sunshine. One person one vote...get involved!

We have now corrupt politicians who can't win an election so they bought it.......

It's ignorant in the extreme to think Thaksin's popularity is down to vote buying

"We have now corrupt politicians who can't win an election so they bought it......." I actually thought he was referring to the Democrats...

[SamMunich]

First, can we keep the quotes and re-quotes in replies short and to the point instead of quoting the whole previous post. Most times the argument is only about one little piece of the quoted text. Kind of keeps reading the posts a lot easier...

Secondly I would propose you all to read a nice piece of text from the Bangkok Pundit blog site:

Polls suggest economic performance trumps corruption in the eyes of voters

at: http://asiancorrespondent.com/117796/political-competence-is-still-valued-over-corruption/
(The Bangkok Pundit is a site worth to follow)

That is kind of an eye-opener. And at the same time it shows, where the work is waiting for Thias,- i.e. in showing, how corruption reduces the quality of life and the income of all Thais. Because only then will this country be able to move on and get rid of bloodsucker politicians and gansters in high political places.

And I think, most of the protesters out on the street these days have understood that.

What makes me wonder is, why nobody tries to bridge the narrow gap between the normal redshirt andf the normal protester. They aren't so far apart as the redshirt big-shots try to convince everybody,- the big shots are the ones to loose most, if the anti-corruption sentiment takes over on both sides.

[Prbkk]

If the uprising is so powerful, why don't they just win the elections?

Because of the vote buying.

Any election is vote buying in some sense. Why don't Sutheps buy the votes if they are so smart and clever?

Well, they tried that...one Democrat candidate convicted of vote buying and still lost....

[GarryP]

I couldn't give a stuff about Suthep or the PRDC and I couldn't give a stuff about the Shins and PTP.

They are both symptoms of a failed democratic system, a system which serves MPs and their interests, not the people.

My post was not a pro suthep post.

It was what i think needs to be done to rid Thailand of these bottom feeders that suck the life out of the process of development, as they are all free to get away with whatever they wish as they are all immune from any form of sanction once in office and as i pointed out once voted into office with ridiculous promises they are feee to get away with whatever they wish and the circus continues until breaking is point is reached and the cycle repeats itself.

End immunity. End defamation. Give freedom of speech and freedom of information and watch the change in the quality of politicians.

There are so many people that cannot see that there is another issue involved, and that is simply whether or not there needs to be reform. Instead you get the simplistic, "If you are are against the Thaksin run PTP, you must be for Suthep (PRDC), or vice versa.

Many people believe that reform is absolutely necessary, myself included, to stop the perpetuation of money politics, nepotism, paternalism, corruption, denial of responsibility and immunity (whether Democrat or PTP). Is that possible through holding elections in February? I very seriously doubt it. Is that possible by having the PRDC take responsibility for refrom? I very seriously doubt it. But something needs to give and a committe acceptable to both sides of the divide needs to be established to address the reform process. That is more likely to occur if some kind of interim "neutral body" takes the reins for a year or so while the reforms are brought into play.

[Prbkk]

 

Yet another delusional, borderline hysterical piece from The Nation. Will they ever stop with the gross exaggerations, half-truths, deceit, obfuscation, manipulation? This is meant to be a newspaper with some reasonable sense of balance and proportion, even in an op-ed piece, rather than a full on rant giving a very lop-sided view of the situation. Not worth the paper its written on. God forbid that anyone would actually ever buy the rag.

 

I take it "reasonable sense of balance" means a news article that you agree with, perhaps something that appeals to your "lop-sided " view of the situation.

No, I like to read both sides of the argument and in that regard The Bangkok Post is a much better choice. For example, it is now raising questions from both the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Thai Federation of Industry about the impact of the protest...ignored completely by The Nation

[theslime]

If the uprising is so powerful, why don't they just win the elections?

Have you been following any of the multitude of articles/opinion pieces et al spelling out for you why this is so? Or do you simply come on to TV and give your uneducated opinion after a night of gabbing with the chaps down Soi Cowboy?

I do not have any opinion. I just asked a simple question and got insulted by you.

Well you seem to have an opinion on sleights, I think you should do some research as to why all this is happening before writing, Why dont they just win elections, have you not heard of the slave like mentality, that makes them believe in the Pu Yai words. 100 years ago they were nearly all slaves so its not surprising that they believe Thaksins words without knowing its costing them an arm and a leg.

[Prbkk]

The reason behind this movement has really always been an emotionally charged one - the disgust over Thaksin's iron grip on the affairs of this country for his own personal gain. There is no sector of Thai society that is unaware of that, or even denies it, albeit privately. But it has become so pervasive it has essentially strangled the administration, with rampant corruption that it can no longer hold or even contain. It is just spilling out all over the place. It is collapsing from within. The people have never felt empowered to deal with the machinations of administrative power. It has mainly been a passive resignation. Passivity has been Thaksin's greatest asset. But the amnesty bill changed all that. And the people are discovering - much to their surprise - that they had the power to express themselves all along. And they are jubilant with that new-found power.

Strangely, the people I speak with are far from jubilant as you put it. they may not like Thaksin but they can't abide Suthep and loather what he stands for.They are enraged by being blackmailed by the minority of protesters planning to stop them going about their business.

Obviously you are speaking to the wrong peoples.... speak to some tax-payers.. you certainly do not live in Bangkok..

By wrong people, I assume people of no consequence to you. That may be the case. However, they are taxpayers and I certainly do live in middle-class Bangkok. They are salary earning taxpayers and small business owners. Not so hiso

[Dimpys Dad]

Yet another delusional, borderline hysterical piece from The Nation. Will they ever stop with the gross exaggerations, half-truths, deceit, obfuscation, manipulation? This is meant to be a newspaper with some reasonable sense of balance and proportion, even in an op-ed piece, rather than a full on rant giving a very lop-sided view of the situation. Not worth the paper its written on. God forbid that anyone would actually ever buy the rag.

The Nation is not a balanced publication. Google it.

[BirdsandBooze]

It'll all end in tears as usual. Doesn't matter what colour has an axe to grind. The followers may have genuinely held beliefs, but the leaders of these various factions act in a fit of pique because their access to the public pot is barred.

[DeepInTheForest]

Yet another delusional, borderline hysterical piece from The Nation. Will they ever stop with the gross exaggerations, half-truths, deceit, obfuscation, manipulation? This is meant to be a newspaper with some reasonable sense of balance and proportion, even in an op-ed piece, rather than a full on rant giving a very lop-sided view of the situation. Not worth the paper its written on. God forbid that anyone would actually ever buy the rag.

I thought it was very well written, perhaps because of not finding too many truthful press stories over the decades. What by the way do find wrong with the article, it clearly notes the bullshit amnesty bill to allow convicted and pending corruption figures to be freed. also the fact that the then ruling party tried to manipulate the senate and then spat the dummy. Please again enlighten me if I,ve missed anything and I,m not talking about Tax evasion, Murder of innocents,land grabs

I have no love for Thaksin, but in my view Thanong Khanthong is one of the nuttier columnists I have ever read. He tends to get overexcited, and in times of crisis can crank out hyperventilated posts that have little connection to reality. His predictions are often wrong. I confess to often finding him amusing. Some of my favorite posts of his are when he trots out astrology as an explanation for the course of events. He has a sort of romantic attachment for tradition, which does not always stand him in good stead in terms of making a coherent argument. The man can be enormously entertaining, but take him seriously at your peril. Perhaps he should stick to the piano, for which he has some talent, and demonstrates good taste.

Edited January 3, 2014 by DeepInTheForest

[kingalfred]

Democracy at its finest. Well done The Nation!

Why should they relinquish power just because some failed, corrupt politician who can't win an election decides they should.

February 2nd sunshine. One person one vote...get involved!

your definition of" democracy" which the current corrupt proxy government want people to believe

[gerry1011]

The idea of 1 person 1 vote as an electoral panacea to Thailand ills is far to simplistic - both sides have been shown that with sufficient financial backing that this ideal is easily manipulated and corrupted.

And that is part of the problem, democracy or rather our western concept of democracy, for whatever multitude of reasons is a corrupted, broken system. It doesn't work here or at least not yet. Thai politicians simply have found a way to cheat the system and eventually the system fails and breaks as people get bored with the cheating and politicians who have become bigger and more important than the democratic system they claim to support, when in fact they actually run and control our democracy.

I'm not condoning Suthep but it seems there are two choices; maintain the current broken and corrupted democratic system. Or dismantle it and rebuild it and start again. And I'm sure all of us have our own views on what the possible consequences of each will be.

Maybe in 20 years Thailand will have matured enough and we will look back on the past 10 years as a period of 'growing pains for Thailand's democracy.

Edit - spelling

So what do you propose to replace democracy with ?

Replacing democracy is the wrong question.There needs to be some serous tweaking with the system. Starting with the MPs

I would start with abolishing immunity for MPs. Why do MPs need immunity? Immunity attracts dishonesty and criminality as it provides protection for their actions which often subvert the course of justice. MP - our leaders - should not need immunity as they act to uphold the law in spirit and action.

Next do some serious legal amendment to the 'defamation' law. Often used as a weapon to silence critics whilst MP hid from behind their castle of parliamentary immunity. - I can hit you legally but you can't hit me back so to speak

Next - Freedom of speech in all aspects, so the media is free in all aspects from political interference and political censorship. So journalists can investigate our MPs and report back to the people/

Finally - Freedom of information - So MP and governments can hid information from the public under vague 'national security' banners.

The bigger issues of health, education,distribution of wealth etc all need addressing in good time

Most problems occur as MP are untouchable once into office and can do what they want. By the time the law catches up with them most of the evidence has been lost, destroyed, forgotten or bribed away and so they can continue. Which they do by cheating democratic system at election time with ridiculous promises, which they are them free to get away with as they are immune, don't need to provide information for, can sue you for defamation if you so something slightly out of sync with their view and so the circus continues until it reaches breaking point as it does with regular frequency.

So keep democracy, just changes the rules of the game for the MP we vote in so they understand their performance can and will be checked and they will be held to public account and scrutiny with real and meaningful sanctions. No hiding behind immunity.

All that and scrap the Party List BS. The worst use of the crony-rewarding political patronage system.

Making the MP's individually accountable is a big step towards actual proper governance.

Then have a double election like France does.

Election 1;

All the parties run against each other, if one gets 50.x % they get the seat,

if not 50% or more, then

Election 2

Where the top 2 winning parties go head to head with the whole country voting ONLY between them,

on a race by race basis.

Very good idea !

But then... What will the yellows and Suthep do when the PT wins again the election under your recommended "French system"?

Mass protests and topple the elected government again?... In order to change once more the rules?

However you change the rules, there are still more people voting for PT than for the other parties.

So, the result will be the same...

To change the result, other parties should be more appealing to the voters. Especially the Dems, who should get away with their sense of superiority towards the biggest part of the population...

The present situation is not caused by the electoral system. It is caused by those who want power but can't get it through democratic elections. It's that simple...

[Hardy99]

Democracy at its finest. Well done The Nation!

Why should they relinquish power just because some failed, corrupt politician who can't win an election decides they should.

February 2nd sunshine. One person one vote...get involved!

I was thinking "the Nation" is independet.. I did, but thats the past. Seldom read such a nonsens and stupid article in a newspaper!

[blabth]

Yet another delusional, borderline hysterical piece from The Nation. Will they ever stop with the gross exaggerations, half-truths, deceit, obfuscation, manipulation? This is meant to be a newspaper with some reasonable sense of balance and proportion, even in an op-ed piece, rather than a full on rant giving a very lop-sided view of the situation. Not worth the paper its written on. God forbid that anyone would actually ever buy the rag.

I thought it was very well written, perhaps because of not finding too many truthful press stories over the decades. What by the way do find wrong with the article, it clearly notes the bullshit amnesty bill to allow convicted and pending corruption figures to be freed. also the fact that the then ruling party tried to manipulate the senate and then spat the dummy. Please again enlighten me if I,ve missed anything and I,m not talking about Tax evasion, Murder of innocents,land grabs

Well written it is bias naive and it is absurd for a news paper a disgrace of journalism no facts only personnel opinion that what this is.

By the way the amnesty bill would have benefitted both sides and may be could be a good start for reconciliation, only had to exclude TS from it. Wait after the democrats will get the power or any other government as puppets on the string will take over a new amnesty will be drafted and tabled to release Suthep from the hook.

[nidieunimaitre]

When "the people's" uprising reaches critical mass, we could call it " V day" perhaps?

Or has that one been copy righted already?

[Spalpeen]

I'm getting sick and tired of people saying "The People" when what they actually mean is "A disgruntled minority of the people". A million people waving clappy-hands in Bangkok means nothing in a nation of more than 60 million people. If they had even half of "The People" behind them they would run in the election and take power legitimately.

Blockading Bangkok will cause great hardship to.....the people of Bangkok. It will have very little effect on the up-country people living in the rural economy. It's like a toddler threatening to hold his breath until he gets his way.

[newcomer71]

A perfect piece of propaganda. Exactly what was needed for dilute tensions and mounting fears.

Thanks "The Nation"... Thanks to every biased rant you gave us almost on every day.

Thanks also to every other press and media doing the same on both sides.

Let's hope for the best on 13th, but I foresee troubles, especially with such biased propaganda written and aired each and every day.

Edited January 3, 2014 by newcomer71

[winstonc]

The idea of 1 person 1 vote as an electoral panacea to Thailand ills is far to simplistic - both sides have been shown that with sufficient financial backing that this ideal is easily manipulated and corrupted.

And that is part of the problem, democracy or rather our western concept of democracy, for whatever multitude of reasons is a corrupted, broken system. It doesn't work here or at least not yet. Thai politicians simply have found a way to cheat the system and eventually the system fails and breaks as people get bored with the cheating and politicians who have become bigger and more important than the democratic system they claim to support, when in fact they actually run and control our democracy.

I'm not condoning Suthep but it seems there are two choices; maintain the current broken and corrupted democratic system. Or dismantle it and rebuild it and start again. And I'm sure all of us have our own views on what the possible consequences of each will be.

Maybe in 20 years Thailand will have matured enough and we will look back on the past 10 years as a period of 'growing pains for Thailand's democracy.

Edit - spelling

So what do you propose to replace democracy with ?

how about real working democracy instead of the one thats wrapped up in tinsel,...

[citizen33]

I, personally, strongly resent that my taxes are wasted on populist policies that for the most part aren't even benefiting those they are supposedly aimed at.

This is a key issue, which perhaps is not highlighted sufficiently. Putting it slightly differently, a large section of the metropolitan middle and upper classes oppose redistributive social policies, including the early TRT policies such as the universal coverage healthcare scheme and the village loan funds, because they perceive that their tax monies are going to support a part of the population they perceive to be undeserving of such assistance. They would like to halt what they believe is a long term trend that will erode their position, but cannot muster the votes to elect their preferred government. However, to achieve this end they are willing to use extra-constitutional means, as they did in 2006.

Edited January 3, 2014 by citizen33

[winstonc]

I'm getting sick and tired of people saying "The People" when what they actually mean is "A disgruntled minority of the people". A million people waving clappy-hands in Bangkok means nothing in a nation of more than 60 million people. If they had even half of "The People" behind them they would run in the election and take power legitimately.

Blockading Bangkok will cause great hardship to.....the people of Bangkok. It will have very little effect on the up-country people living in the rural economy. It's like a toddler threatening to hold his breath until he gets his way.

bless,your feeling sick,,aaaah,tell me how would yoy fit 30.000.000 million in bkk,not possible is it ..if you think its a minority your blind to reality,...you still dont get what its about do you,where have you been..????.stop trolling and get a grip,i wont enlighten you .your a grown up try an unbiased look at the problems here,..ban the politicons.and start again..the country is going bancrupt,..2 more years and greece it is .then who will you blame

[kingalfred]

I, personally, strongly resent that my taxes are wasted on populist policies that for the most part aren't even benefiting those they are supposedly aimed at.

This is a key issue, which perhaps is not highlighted sufficiently. Putting it slightly differently, a large section of the metropolitan middle and upper classes oppose redistributive social policies, including the early TRT policies such as the universal coverage healthcare scheme and the village loan funds, because they perceive that their tax monies are going to support a part of the population they perceive to be undeserving of such assistance. They would like to halt what they believe is a long term trend that will erode their position, but cannot muster the votes to elect their preferred government. However, to achieve this end they are willing to use extra-constitutional means, as they did in 2006.

You fail to refer to the quote you highlighted.namely these "populist policies" aren't benefitting the masses. eg the rice wasting scheme' They are just plunging the economy into a downward spiral and what good will that do the "poor " of the north? The so called "Bangkok elite" are rather more knowledgeable and caring about the future of the country than you give it credit. And just a reminder what government ended fees having to be paid to go to a government school Benefitting millions of "non middle and upper classes"?ahhh yes that dreadful previous Abhisit administration. Edited January 3, 2014 by kingalfred

[JHenry]

If the uprising is so powerful, why don't they just win the elections?

Have you been following any of the multitude of articles/opinion pieces et al spelling out for you why this is so? Or do you simply come on to TV and give your uneducated opinion after a night of gabbing with the chaps down Soi Cowboy?

I do not have any opinion. I just asked a simple question and got insulted by you.

Well you seem to have an opinion on sleights, I think you should do some research as to why all this is happening before writing, Why dont they just win elections, have you not heard of the slave like mentality, that makes them believe in the Pu Yai words. 100 years ago they were nearly all slaves so its not surprising that they believe Thaksins words without knowing its costing them an arm and a leg.

In other words you call the majority of Thais slaves. This is refreshing.

[GarryP]

I, personally, strongly resent that my taxes are wasted on populist policies that for the most part aren't even benefiting those they are supposedly aimed at.

This is a key issue, which perhaps is not highlighted sufficiently. Putting it slightly differently, a large section of the metropolitan middle and upper classes oppose redistributive social policies, including the early TRT policies such as the universal coverage healthcare scheme and the village loan funds, because they perceive that their tax monies are going to support a part of the population they perceive to be undeserving of such assistance. They would like to halt what they believe is a long term trend that will erode their position, but cannot muster the votes to elect their preferred government. However, to achieve this end they are willing to use extra-constitutional means, as they did in 2006.

I think you have put a bit of a twist on what I am saying. Had the money reached the hands of the (supposed) intended recipients, i.e. the poor rice farmers, I would not be anywhere near so resentful. The people benefiting, for the most part, are the rice millers and land owners (not their tenant farmers). I do not think anyone with one ounce of compassion could begrudge healthcare coverage to the masses and such a policy did in fact reach the intended recipients (there is argument here as to which party started the ball rolling on the scheme and which should take the praise). The village loan scheme, on the other hand, was/is just another populist scam.