Caretaker premier Yingluck says she's willing to die on the democratic battlefield

[Blackmirage2013]

Yingluck has no credibility...

If she had said, "I'd die defending corruption...." My opinion might have gone up a bit for her for at least being honest for the first time in her life!!!

[jennywren]

Looks like she really is digging in and a coup is going to be very difficult and painful for the country if it happened.

Lots of reform is needed from all the parties, institutions and most of all the people on both sides. Transition this time as opposed to grabbing back power... we hope.

With the reds clearly on the rise and posturing ready to oppose a judicial coup, lets hope there are enough wise heads in Bangkok to realise they have to adapt to this new post coup era...

4 months in, and the Army looking very edgy as well they might.

[mrtoad]

I think he was having a laugh. I'd like to know though who he sees as the greatest female monarch?

Queen Victoria. She also serves as model for some of the tough reforms that must be initiated in Thailand. Consider the 3 major reforms that she supported, that fundamentally changed the world.

1.Abolition: In 1863 slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. An application to Thailand would be reforms in respect the quasi indentured servitude small farmers face. The rice pledging program was intended to free the Thai farmers from the hardship they face.

2. Improved Labour Conditions: The Factory Act of 1847 reduced the work hours in the sweat shop textile mills to 10 hours. Some basic conditions were imposed such as access to drinking water. In Thailand, we have seen a move to increase the subsistence wage for a similar type of worker demographic.

3. The Right to Vote: The Third Reform Act of 1884, granted the right to vote to all male householders. This gave the vote to a large segment of the economically disadvantaged population who had until then not been allowed to vote. In Thailand, we see Suthep and his allies seeking to deny the right to vote.

Queen Victoria reigned during the period when Great Britain was at its zenith. No other king or emperor in history has occupied such a position, nor been sovereign during a period of similar prosperity and modernization. Appreciably. some of the occupied countries will have a different interpretation.

Thanks for the history lesson, although I'm pretty familiar with it from my school days. The last sentence is somewhat telling though.

Maybe some might argue that QEII or QEI were as comparable, although at differing times. Agreed though Queen Vic was certainly in a position of great power at the time.

[Jingthing]

Looks like she really is digging in and a coup is going to be very difficult and painful for the country if it happened.

Lots of reform is needed from all the parties, institutions and most of all the people on both sides. Transition this time as opposed to grabbing back power... we hope.

With the reds clearly on the rise and posturing ready to oppose a judicial coup, lets hope there are enough wise heads in Bangkok to realise they have to adapt to this new post coup era...

4 months in, and the Army looking very edgy as well they might.

There are worse things than coups. Like civil wars.

[Dogmatix]

Caption-competition time ?

"Khun Thida suspected that her disavowal of separatism had not been well-received by the UDD-crowd"

"Chinese tourists visiting the new D.P.R.Lanna were welcomed in a special ceremony at Chiang Mai University !"

"The bureaucrats longed for the Good-Old-Days, of sideways-promotions, to an inactive-position !"

"No, No, you've got it all wrong, I'm really an undercover-policeman, who's left his ID-papers at home !"

"The recruits to the new Democratic-Defence-Force were most impressed by the proposed disciplinary-code !"

"Members of '51 Rak Chiang Mai' demonstrated their commitment to Freedom-Of-Speech for dissenters"

"The meat-supply problem, at Chiang Mai Night-Safari, was thus solved at-a-stroke !"

"OK, I give in, I'll buy a Thailand-Elite-Card ! Get-out-of-jail Free privilege is very convincing !"

Yingluck lost her head thinking she was going to the new P.D.R.L. (Lanna not Laos) but went to the P.D.R.C. by mistake.

All these new acronyms are getting confusing.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Dogmatix

[ravip]

WOW!

I envy Thailand so much!

Reading the majority of the posts it seems Thailand has attracted the 'cream' of the world to settle down there as expatriates!

Lucky Thailand! You are in good hands.

[Dogmatix]

Looks like she really is digging in and a coup is going to be very difficult and painful for the country if it happened.

Lots of reform is needed from all the parties, institutions and most of all the people on both sides. Transition this time as opposed to grabbing back power... we hope.

With the reds clearly on the rise and posturing ready to oppose a judicial coup, lets hope there are enough wise heads in Bangkok to realise they have to adapt to this new post coup era...

4 months in, and the Army looking very edgy as well they might.

Whose idea do you think it was for her to dig in? How do the reds oppose a "judicial coup". Are they going to oust madame's caretaker government, so they can rip up the constitution and write a new one without independent agencies and no Constitutional Court.

Attacking the independent agencies and judges when you don't like them dealing with corruption seems a really cool idea when you're fired up with lao khao in a Chiang Mai village but where do you go from there? Add an extension to the Amnesty Bill to cover Yingluck and ram it through? Is this another move that Thaksin hasn't thought out properly like what to do when the global rice price doesn't spike up according to plan?

It's just as well that the Suthep has stepped aside and left the stage clear for the reds to come on and shoot themselves in the foot with their M76s and RPGs.

[bigbamboo]

I think he was having a laugh. I'd like to know though who he sees as the greatest female monarch?

Queen Victoria. She also serves as model for some of the tough reforms that must be initiated in Thailand. Consider the 3 major reforms that she supported, that fundamentally changed the world.

1.Abolition: In 1863 slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. An application to Thailand would be reforms in respect the quasi indentured servitude small farmers face. The rice pledging program was intended to free the Thai farmers from the hardship they face.

2. Improved Labour Conditions: The Factory Act of 1847 reduced the work hours in the sweat shop textile mills to 10 hours. Some basic conditions were imposed such as access to drinking water. In Thailand, we have seen a move to increase the subsistence wage for a similar type of worker demographic.

3. The Right to Vote: The Third Reform Act of 1884, granted the right to vote to all male householders. This gave the vote to a large segment of the economically disadvantaged population who had until then not been allowed to vote. In Thailand, we see Suthep and his allies seeking to deny the right to vote.

Queen Victoria reigned during the period when Great Britain was at its zenith. No other king or emperor in history has occupied such a position, nor been sovereign during a period of similar prosperity and modernization. Appreciably. some of the occupied countries will have a different interpretation.

Queen Victoria may have been the longest serving monarch and was around when Britain was at it's zenith in terms of Empire but does that make her it's greatest? There were positives but they can be balanced with negatives too and she was hardly the most visible or inspirational queen.

A more telling view is that a survey of historians and a BBC Radio Four poll came up with remarkably similar results for the top five monarchs in history.

1 Queen Elizabeth 1

2 Queen Elizabeth 2

3 Alfred the Great

4 Henry 2

5 Queen Victoria.

All subjective of course but in both cases the top two polled more than half the total vote.

[Thanet]

This pretty much summarises Thailand at the moment ...

[Thanet]

Another interesting article on why countries like Thailand are in such a mess:

http://www.economist.com/node/21596796

[The Deerhunter]

Guess that's something her brother told her to say too.

Aw, she is only trying t get people to feel sorry for her. People have been just SOOOOO nasty about her, lately. This was not was Big Brother told her it was going to be like

[SheungWan]

Guess that's something her brother told her to say too.

Like in every other reliable news we need to know when and where.

Its on Facebook. Thaksin writes the script.

[mmh8]

or possibly just accept responsibilty and walk away with a little dignity. how many leaders would do this, the woman should be embarrassed ( coming from someone who thinks all sides have a lot of improvement to do before I would let them make me a cup of tea)

its all about the power, but, if one wishes to hold the power perhaps one could follow the example of a mugabe of zimbabwe or such, no obviously that is not the way.

[mmh8]

or possibly just accept responsibilty and walk away with a little dignity. how many leaders would do this, the woman should be embarrassed ( coming from someone who thinks all sides have a lot of improvement to do before I would let them make me a cup of tea)

its all about the power, but, if one wishes to hold the power perhaps one could follow the example of a mugabe of zimbabwe or such, no obviously that is not the way.

[maxme]

dutchisaan claims surprise that Yingluck can spell democracy and then continues to tell us "those red tinted lenses or out of facion by now." Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black!

The facts on the ground are that Thaksin's parties have won the last 5 elections. The PDRC represents a large, vocal and extremely well financed minority bent on gerrymandering the electoral map so that they can finally win an election. I could care less about the Shinawatra family but the point is Thaksin has, for whatever reason, empowered the rural poor. They are not going to give up that power no matter what happens to the Shinawatras.

The political snot noses here that revel in deriding Yingluck seem incapable of comprehending the underlying social forces that will very soon determine the fate of the Thai state.

One would hope that posters are capable of debate, - or at least passing comment - without having to resort to such puerile and derogatory language...... A forlorn hope, it would seem. It may have been that a poster has a valid point to make, but it is masked by school yard tactics. Do try to play nicely, won't you?

In any case, this is one of the most ridiculous and implausible threads ever,,,, There is no way that YL will fall on the battlefield. Should she receive a mortal wound, it is far more likely to be from a pair of falling slingbacks in a shopping mall, rather than a slingshot in battle.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Derogatory... That's rich coming from a man who likes to take pot shots at the PM just because she is a woman.

Edited March 3, 2014 by maxme

[Rob8891]

Don't try to claim criticism of this failed PM is mysogeny...that's just you trying to hide from the truth. She rarely (if ever) attends parliamentary debates, the true battlefield of democracy.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

Edited March 3, 2014 by Rob8891

[maxme]

Don't try to claim criticism of this failed PM is mysogeny...that's just you trying to hide from the truth. She rarely (if ever) attends parliamentary debates, the true battlefield of democracy.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

I don't give a rat's ass about that. Even I think she's incompetent. I just called out on your hypocrisy. Every time you guys talk about the govermment, you can't stick to civilized manners.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[SheungWan]

To sum up: PM Yingluck is still PM and Suthep has been forced to shut down his squatter camps and blockades.

Apparently some foreigners wish to ridicule her position. However, her statement was intended for supporters and to reassure those Thais who want a firmer approach to the protests. IMO it's a long overdue statement and serves a very important political purpose. She's asserting her position.

She is not asserting anything whatsoever. That is Thakin speaking and you know it, so please save us the nonsense.

[LindsayBKK]

Yingluck lying in a hospital bed, began to flail about and make motions as if she would like to speak. The priest, keeping watch at the side of her bed, leaned quietly over and asked, "Do you have something you would like to say?"

Yingluck nodded to the affirmative and the priest handed her a pad and pen.

The priest said, "I know you can't speak, but write a note and I will give it to your husband. He's waiting just outside."

Gathering her last bit of strength, she scrawled her message on the pad and stuffed it into the priest's hands.

Moments later, she died.

After administering the last rites, the priest left to break the sad news to the husband. After consoling him a bit, the priest handed him the note.

"Here are your wife's last words. She wrote them just for you."

The husband tearfully opened the note which read: "Get off of my oxygen hose!!"

[maxme]

To sum up: PM Yingluck is still PM and Suthep has been forced to shut down his squatter camps and blockades.

Apparently some foreigners wish to ridicule her position. However, her statement was intended for supporters and to reassure those Thais who want a firmer approach to the protests. IMO it's a long overdue statement and serves a very important political purpose. She's asserting her position.

She is not asserting anything whatsoever. That is Thakin speaking and you know it, so please save us the nonsense.

Where's the proof? Any recorded conversations or skype messages you like to share?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Brevity]

"Yingluck stressed that as caretaker prime minister, she is the country's rule keeper of both country and its democratic principles..."

That is really funny.

Has the woman forgotten that she is only a puppet for her brother? Does she really not know that she wouldn't be within a thousand miles of being in politics is it wasn't only to represent her brother's interests? I guess she has been pretending to be a real PM for so long that it has actually got into her head and convinced her that she is legitimate. That is really very funny.

And then it gets even funnier. ....."willing to die for on the democratic battlefield"........Such drama!! Come on Yingluck, and admit that you would not even be willing to buy non-designer fashion in the name of democracy.

I think she's gearing up for a career in comedy, knowing that her days are numbered before she has to flee the country and go live with big brother in the Middle East.

[LindsayBKK]

To sum up: PM Yingluck is still PM and Suthep has been forced to shut down his squatter camps and blockades.

Apparently some foreigners wish to ridicule her position. However, her statement was intended for supporters and to reassure those Thais who want a firmer approach to the protests. IMO it's a long overdue statement and serves a very important political purpose. She's asserting her position.

She is not asserting anything whatsoever. That is Thakin speaking and you know it, so please save us the nonsense.

Where's the proof? Any recorded conversations or skype messages you like to share?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Ummmm checkmate!

Edited March 3, 2014 by LindsayBKK

[Publicus]

The battlefield for Suthep and his backers has shrunk to a small public patch of grass in the middle of a bustling city that is busy and ignoring them.

With Suthep out of the picture for good, Yingluck has now turned her attention to the institutional struggle.

If the old guard oligarchs and autocrats can't beat the likes of Chalerm and Surapong in the streets, maybe it is the old guard feudalists who should abandon the fight they themselves started, disturbers of the peace that they are.

[bigbamboo]

To sum up: PM Yingluck is still PM and Suthep has been forced to shut down his squatter camps and blockades.

Apparently some foreigners wish to ridicule her position. However, her statement was intended for supporters and to reassure those Thais who want a firmer approach to the protests. IMO it's a long overdue statement and serves a very important political purpose. She's asserting her position.

She is not asserting anything whatsoever. That is Thakin speaking and you know it, so please save us the nonsense.

Where's the proof? Any recorded conversations or skype messages you like to share?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

It's official....Yingluck is in charge. Thaksin has already given the order.

[Publicus]

To sum up: PM Yingluck is still PM and Suthep has been forced to shut down his squatter camps and blockades.

Apparently some foreigners wish to ridicule her position. However, her statement was intended for supporters and to reassure those Thais who want a firmer approach to the protests. IMO it's a long overdue statement and serves a very important political purpose. She's asserting her position.

She is not asserting anything whatsoever. That is Thakin speaking and you know it, so please save us the nonsense.

Where's the proof? Any recorded conversations or skype messages you like to share?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

It's official....Yingluck is in charge. Thaksin has already given the order.

Suthep's backers have given him the order to cease and desist.

Suthep's backers have ordered him to retreat to lick his wounds, turn the fight they started over to his lawyers to file charges in the bureaucracy and courts that are stacked in their favor by the 2007 coup written constitution.

Yingluck seems to have the better and more effective advisors pitted against the feudalists who wrote the laws, so the struggle will continue.

[aimbc]

Comparing Yingluck to Chrchill and Lincoln, give me a break. As for Churchill, maybe you need to look a little closer as to how he became PM before World War II.

Not through an election.

I know the history, thank you and it was another poster who introduced Churchill to the discussion, which inspired me to quote Lincoln - or don't you read the threads before commenting.

The bottom line here is when you people force me to defend Yingluck, it's a sure sign your side is losing.

Hmm....you would actually defend YS in the court of law for her handling of the rice scheme?

[Publicus]

Comparing Yingluck to Chrchill and Lincoln, give me a break. As for Churchill, maybe you need to look a little closer as to how he became PM before World War II.

Not through an election.

I know the history, thank you and it was another poster who introduced Churchill to the discussion, which inspired me to quote Lincoln - or don't you read the threads before commenting.

The bottom line here is when you people force me to defend Yingluck, it's a sure sign your side is losing.

Hmm....you would actually defend YS in the court of law for her handling of the rice scheme?

She would need a lawyer - and honest nonpolitical impartial judges of an independent judiciary. A constitution not written in 2007 by appointed agents of the military coup rulers who deposed her brother would be good too.

Thanks for asking.

[JRSoul]

She would need a lawyer - and honest nonpolitical impartial judges of an independent judiciary. A constitution not written in 2007 by appointed agents of the military coup rulers who deposed her brother would be good too.

Thanks for asking.

Because there is nothing wrong with the rice scam, right? No corruption, and certainly no negligence by the PM who installed it.

[Publicus]

She would need a lawyer - and honest nonpolitical impartial judges of an independent judiciary. A constitution not written in 2007 by appointed agents of the military coup rulers who deposed her brother would be good too.

Thanks for asking.

Because there is nothing wrong with the rice scam, right? No corruption, and certainly no negligence by the PM who installed it.

Rice on the brain.

You can't succeed in trying to politicize corruption when everyone is corrupt.

When everyone is corrupt, the sides screaming the loudest are invariably the ones being excluded from their corrupt taking of the nation's wealth resources.

Presently, corruption is the pretext of the feudal oligarchs who can't win elections any more to mangle democracy, or to murder it, so they can get back into the money and power game. People who claim to be cleansing the system of corruption while trying to corrupt democracy are not to be trusted or believed, not for one moment.

Corruption in Thailand is no longer a game of musical chairs among the elites with the army occasionally but regularly taking its turn too. Now it's a winner take all game.

Lose-lose for Thailand.

[JRSoul]

She would need a lawyer - and honest nonpolitical impartial judges of an independent judiciary. A constitution not written in 2007 by appointed agents of the military coup rulers who deposed her brother would be good too.

Thanks for asking.

Because there is nothing wrong with the rice scam, right? No corruption, and certainly no negligence by the PM who installed it.

Rice on the brain.

You can't succeed in trying to politicize corruption when everyone is corrupt.

When everyone is corrupt, the sides screaming the loudest are invariably the ones being excluded from their corrupt taking of the nation's wealth resources.

Presently, corruption is the pretext of the feudal oligarchs who can't win elections any more to mangle democracy, or to murder it, so they can get back into the money and power game. People who claim to be cleansing the system of corruption while trying to corrupt democracy are not to be trusted or believed, not for one moment.

Corruption in Thailand is no longer a game of musical chairs among the elites with the army occasionally but regularly taking its turn too. Now it's a winner take all game.

Lose-lose for Thailand.

So any attempt to curb corruption should be derided because everybody is doing it, or wants in on it? A government buys its way into power with populist policies and then wastes billions through stupidity and ineptitude, and its critics have "Rice on the brain." What I need to know is what is on the brain of the sycophants who defend every action of a government and its supporters, no how blatantly criminal these may be, simply because they were elected. Do you have sense of morality, of right and wrong?

I suggest you try a course, Ethics 101.