Crime and punishment: they apply to Thai govt as much as to individuals

[hellodolly]

Sure. The rice scheme is now, but the energy and transport sectors are next. The diesel prices are set to rise by 30%+ next month. Let's see how the people react to that doozy.

Not sure but I think I saw a spot that said they are going to put that off.

They will eventually have to raise it.

Right now they are very busy looking under every government rock they can find to get the money to pay the rice farmers.

They are not going to look in the closets of the politicians. They do not want to open up that can of worms.

The baht weakened.

Everyone got what they wanted. Now eat the inflation.

Not against the Canadian dollar.

I don't think it weakened against the American one either. They just got stronger.

Don't know about other countries.

[hellodolly]

The rice-scheme together with the first-car subsidy were clearly strategic policies dreamed up by Thaksin, to cement his influence over a larger part of the population.

The fact that neither policy were designed to benefit the poor, suggests that he felt confident that his original supporters had been bought off successfully enough, to be able to ignore them for the time being. The rice-scheme in particular was designed to gain support in areas that previously were less solidly 'red', Central, Upper South and Lower Isaan. These are coincidentally the areas that have been most hit by the non-payment of rice pledges.

The first-car subsidy, not yet investigated but fully open to corruption and as equally damaging to the car industry as the rice-scheme to the rice industry, was aimed at people with a high enough income to afford the average 20,000 baht a month in payments. It simply gave a subsidy making the initial deposit easier to finance. I doubt very much that the poor in Thailand have had any benefit at all from either of these policies, yet the fact that the Shinawatras are still defended by their supporters, suggests that they think that the poor should be satisfied with the few crumbs they have been given, while the more wealthy have profited from the billions thrown at rice farmers and the comparatively wealthy.

The rice "scheme" as you put it, was a government approved price support system; a subsidy, so to speak, just like in the United States, where billions are spent each year for agricultural supports (including rice). The reason the payments are being delayed is because certain elements in the Thai power structure are stopping Thai banks from honoring previously agreed to payments. A Trojan Horse move to weaken voter support and bring down a duly elected government.

You do of course realize that the payments were due before the protest started.

Also that the government could have gotten the loans and then shut the government down.

All they accomplished by dissolving the house was to sucker people who are clueless in to believing they couldn't pay the rice farmers because some people don't like the corruption they have been involved with. In the mean time the ones who for one reason or another defend them. I always wonder when I see them what is there cut in the deal? For the life of me I can not see any other reason to defend them.

Well if they are Thai the lack of education could lead them to back them. Even then a lot of them got paid to vote for them and look forward to more money.

[espinoza]

The facts and stats about this massive theft of taxpayers' money are quite horrifying

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I do not care so much of the taxpayers money, the taxpayers have enough for their daily bread. I care about the poor people.