"What right does the EC have in making the invitations? The ECs duty is to hold the election." Nice coming from a Pheu Thai fellow, the party which keeps on telling the EC what they should do and what is legal and how the constitution should be interpreted in this case.

Well the EC obviously need guidance on how elections should be held judging by the erroneous statements that have issued from them. If the Election is not held according to the constitution you would probably be one of the first on here to bleat about it, so why decry the PTP for guiding the EC?

"Why decry the PTP for guiding the EC?"

Pheu Thai's abuse of its majority in the lower House in recent weeks has been widely reported. Its amnesty bill with hidden provisions to whitewash corruption charges against party financiers, including Yingluck's fugitive brotherThaksin Shinawatra, was halted in the Senate amid growing whistle-blowing protests. Next, the bill for an all-elected Senate was passed by both Houses, before being struck down by the Constitutional Court as an illegal bid to change the political system.

Altogether 383 Pheu Thai MPs, including Yingluck and Pheu Thai leader and Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan, plus pro-Thaksin senators now face an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). If found guilty, these lawmakers will be banned from politics for five years and prosecuted for abusing their power.

I think the EC, as an independent election commission, needs no advice from the PT.

Btw. Google the first 12 people on the electoral list.

1. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra

2. Mr. Somchai Wongsawat

3. Mr. Jarupong Ruangsuwan

4. Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul

5. Mr. Chaikasem Nitisiri

6. Mr. Chalerm Yubamrung

7. Mr. Sanoah Tianthong

8. Mr. Pracha Promnok

9. Mr. Phongthep Thepkanjana

10. Mr. Plodprasop Suraswadi

11. Mr. Phokin Phalakul

12. Mr. Sompong Amornvivat

How many of them have criminal records?

How many running free around on bail?

How many were already banned from parlament in the past?

Against how many are corruption cases opened?

Please

No place for criminals and/or corrupt people in government, parliament or as a civil servant.

Some suggested vote-winning PTP-policies :-

"Vote for Us, if you ever want to get paid, for the rice you recently delivered to the warehouse !"

"Amnesty for Abhisit & Suthep, Oh & for Dear Brother Leader too, Not that He's done anything Wrong, Of Course !"

"Every School-Child to get a Lap-Top Not Just Like Mine !"

"50-Year-Loans-R-Us !"

"PTP ... A Wholly-Owned Family-Subsidiary We You Can't Trust !"

"A Pie-In-The-Sky For Every Family !"

"Increased Minimum-Wages, sometime or other, at the appropriate juncture, in the fullness of time, and long after inflation has eroded any effect !"

"Your New Car Can Be A Life-Long Asset Debt !"

"Vote For Us, or we'll put up the interest-rate, on all your new loans !"

"Free Money, from the BAAC, terms & conditions apply, and you might not get paid !"

"Our Word Is Our Your Bond !"

"Stamp Out Nepotism & Corruption ... Vote Anybody Except PTP !"

"Vote PTP ... or there will be another peaceful protest coup !"

"Free Ringside Seats ... for Chalerm's execution !"

Don't give up the day job............

Is the reality of PTP's dire situation starting to get to you 473geo?

At least Ricardo's post is true and somewhat humorous, but then guys like you hate the truth about PTP, too inconvenient..

"Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will concentrate more on national administration without too much involvement in the election campaign, he said."

Hide the idiot son in the closet until the guests leave, in other words.

""Free Ski-trips, in the Thai-Expired-Rice Mountains, for all our supporters !"

Is this off piste? Too funny, Ricardo.

Pua Thaitanic Party launching election campaigns lifeboats tomorrow (Jan 4)

This beautiful captain need not go down with the ship.

"Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will concentrate more on national administration without too much involvement in the election campaign, he said."

Hide the idiot son in the closet until the guests leave, in other words.

""Free Ski-trips, in the Thai-Expired-Rice Mountains, for all our supporters !"

Is this off piste? Too funny, Ricardo.

Oddly enough, after having posted that one, I later read a story on Notthenation.com which had PM-Yingluck supposedly proposing much the same thing !

Darn, they beat me to it !

Pua Thaitanic Party launching election campaigns lifeboats tomorrow (Jan 4)

tt.jpg cap.jpg

This beautiful captain need not go down with the ship.

"But I delegated iceberg-avoidance to the flood-mitigation department !"

"Abandon Shit Ship, there's an Election Dead Ahead !"

"Weren't there supposed to be Six Funnels, on this thing, in the original plans ?"

"We were only trying to push the flood-waters up-stream !"

"Blasted Democrat-Controlled Icebergs, I blame the third hand for this !"

'Pua Thaitanic' sunk by riceberg ?

Could the PTP do Thailand a favour , make no promises you cant keep , don't bulls!!t , lie, bribe or abuse and drop all members that have criminal records , and try if you can , run a clean campaign , betcha can't.

sir you are asking for a bit much there....i wonder if any of those red saps on here will be helping ptp out ..

For starters, try and google Suthep and corruption in the same search!

(475.000 hits in 0.23 secs)

Before I get the question!! Same search for Thaksin:

(1.280.000 in 0.34 secs)

So if any posters here honestly believe, that any of those two gentlemen are the answer to Thailands problems, I am afraid you are very wrong!

The only politicians I can think of for a better future here is either Korn Chakivanij or Surin Pitsuwan!

Surin's surely let himself down with his somewhat over the top statements in support of the protesters... I know we can't just go on their Twitter feed for evidence of someone's suitability for office, but I find the general tone of his tweets makes him seem rather clownish. See for yourself: https://twitter.com/spitsuwan

Korn's doing the right thing staying well out of it. Or appearing to stay well out of it, at any rate. He's probably realized that anyone involved will inevitably be tainted. Abhisit backing the protests to the extent he is will not make him more electable, to say the least.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will concentrate more on national administration without too much involvement in the election campaign, he said.

National administration What has she done apart from dragging Thailand down the drain?

Pua Thaitanic Party launching election campaigns lifeboats tomorrow (Jan 4)

tt.jpg cap.jpg

This beautiful captain need not go down with the ship.

"But I delegated iceberg-avoidance to the flood-mitigation department !"

"Abandon Shit Ship, there's an Election Dead Ahead !"

"Weren't there supposed to be Six Funnels, on this thing, in the original plans ?"

"We were only trying to push the flood-waters up-stream !"

"Blasted Democrat-Controlled Icebergs, I blame the third hand for this !"

'Pua Thaitanic' sunk by riceberg ?

Pheu Thaitanic Ltd - we have a special on deck chairs today, delivered and arranged.

Thai ruling party to launch election bid amid protests

BANGKOK, January 4, 2014 (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's party is due Saturday to kick off campaigning for controversial elections boycotted by the opposition and rejected by anti-government protesters preparing to "shut down" Bangkok.

The Puea Thai party will launch its bid for re-election next month with rallies in its northern heartlands and on the outskirts of the capital, which has been shaken by weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations that have left eight people dead and about 400 wounded.

"I am confident that the campaign will go smoothly -- we are not the ones triggering conflict," said party leader Jarupong Ruangsuwan, adding that the election slogan would be urging people to vote to "preserve democracy".

Yingluck called snap elections after coming under intense pressure from demonstrators vowing to rid the country of the influence of her brother -- controversial former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is widely believed to control her party from self-exile in Dubai.

Thailand has been periodically convulsed by political bloodshed since Thaksin was overthrown by royalist generals in a coup in 2006.

The current protests, led by a former opposition MP, erupted over a now-shelved amnesty plan that could have allowed the former leader to return.

Demonstrators, who have vowed to disrupt the election on February 2, want Thai democracy to be suspended for a year or more, with a "people's council" installed to implement loosely defined reforms.

The protesters, largely made up of southerners, royalists, middle-class Thais and the urban elite, accuse billionaire tycoon-turned-politician Thaksin of corruption.

Thailand's main opposition Democrat Party, which has not won an elected majority in two decades, has thrown its support behind the rallies and opted to boycott the elections.

Protesters have prevented candidates registering for the polls in several opposition-dominated southern provinces, which could result in a situation in which there are not enough elected members of parliament after the polls to select a prime minister.

They have vowed to occupy Bangkok from January 13, to prevent government officials from going to work and cut off power and water to official buildings.

Protesters also plan several marches in the capital starting from Sunday to build momentum ahead of the occupation attempt.

The country's election commission, whose call to postpone the polls was rejected by the government, said on Friday the election was expected to go ahead.

Thai stocks and the baht currency have fallen sharply on concerns that the deepening crisis will scare off foreign tourists and discourage international investment.

Former premier Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, said the current demonstrations could potentially be more damaging than those that led to his expulsion from power in 2008, when opposition protesters paralysed Bangkok's main airports.

"They don't want an election. They want to overthrow government. It is dangerous," he told AFP.

A number of foreign governments have advised their nationals to avoid the current protest sites.

But the protest movement has insisted tourists have nothing to fear and pledged not to disrupt the airports.

Yingluck's government still enjoys strong support in the northern half of the country and is expected to win the election if it goes ahead.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-01-04

The campaign starts and the only thing free flowing will be bullshit and money.

If their following in Isan is not seriously curtailed by their pathetic performance to date then it would indicate that ignorance and greed are past redemption