'Outsiders' can't help Thailand solve political crisis: Singapore PM Lee

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INTERVIEW WITH SINGAPORE PM
'Outsiders' can't help Thailand solve political crisis: Lee
Yasmin Lee Arpon
Asia News Network
Singapore



BANGKOK: -- ONLY THAIS - the government and society in general - can solve the political crisis that has hobbled the Kingdom's economic and domestic affairs since October, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says.

In a roundtable discussion on Tuesday with editors from the Asia News Network, an alliance of 21 media groups in the region, Lee discussed a wide range of issues including Thailand's political crisis.

"We are concerned about it because Thailand is a very important member of Asean, and if Thailand is preoccupied with domestic difficulties, then you will not be able to contribute your full weight to the Asean endeavour," the prime minister said in reply to a question posed by Nation Multimedia Group chairman Suthichai Yoon.

"We see this as a very difficult problem that Thai people and society will have to solve. It's not easy to do, it's a very deep problem. I don't think there's anything that outsiders will be able to contribute to that, even well-meaning outsiders within Asean. I don't think we outside of the country have either the authority or the knowledge or the influence, and certainly not the power [to interfere]."

Lee added that the ruling Pheu Thai Party and the opposition People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) should sit down and discuss solutions "to find [a] basis on which to work [that] is viable over the longer term and where you are one society and one country".

The PDRC, whose leaders have been accused of sedition, wants Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra - the younger sister of ousted fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra - to step down.

Lee also drew comparisons between Thailand and Singapore, noting that the former has more benefits in building a stronger nation because it is the "most natural nation in Southeast Asia".

"Natural in the sense that you have one race, one religion, one language, one history over quite a long period of time. Singapore has a very short history compared [with] Thailand. We are a very artificial country compared with Thailand because we are multiracial, we have many religions, our history was as a colony and not as a country. So to build a nation out of these conditions is very hard, but to build a nation out of what Thailand has, you already have most of the pieces.

"But evidently there are difficulties that are not easy to overcome, and we wish you all the best."

He said a "prosperous Thailand is beneficial to Asean", adding that if the country did not have these political upheavals, it would have more significant contributions to the regional grouping.

Lee also said there was no way for Asean to interfere in Thailand's domestic affairs, emphasising that the grouping has been successful "because we have not interfered in one another's domestic affairs".

The one-hour roundtable meeting with Lee was held at the Istana, the official residence of the president of Singapore, where the president and prime minister officially receive their guests. The prime minister discussed a wide range of regional issues from the elections in Indonesia and India to territorial disputes and trade relations with Asian countries, among others.

The meeting with Lee was held alongside the annual board meeting of ANN, which was hosted this year by The Straits Times newspaper with the support of Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation.


-- The Nation 2014-04-10

[WoopyDoo]

I suppose this is a hint to Surapong to stop sending him (and everyone else outside Thailand) cringe worthy and Whinging letters like a big baby and sort it out.

[notmyself]

So basically Singapore is not going to back the PTP government.

[Torkmada]

Democracy and freedom are not exactly flourishing in the little tax haven to the south.

---Wikipedia on Singapore---

The government in Singapore has broad powers to limit citizens' rights and to inhibit political opposition.^[1] In 2009, Singapore was ranked 133rd out of 175 nations by Reporters Without Borders in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Freedom in the World 2006 ranked Singapore 5 out of 7 for political freedom, and 4 out of 7 for civil liberties (where 1 is the most free), with an overall ranking of "partly free".

Sounds like the sort of thing Suthep is aiming for here.

[tezzainoz]

The world has now told the PTP

You made your bed now sleep in it

Fix your wn problems we all have problems of our own

[noitom]

Hi comments about Thailand being the most natural country with one race, one culture, one language, one history demonstrates his failure to comprehend the reality of Thailand.

[Torkmada]

Hi comments about Thailand being the most natural country with one race, one culture, one language, one history demonstrates his failure to comprehend the reality of Thailand.

I believe he was talking about Singapore when he mentions these things, not Thailand.

[Torkmada]

The world has now told the PTP

You made your bed now sleep in it

Fix your wn problems we all have problems of our own

Singapore is very, very tiny and not easily confused with the entire world, so you have surprised me here.

[Hardback]

Lee also drew comparisons between Thailand and Singapore, noting that the former has more benefits in building a stronger nation because it is the "most natural nation in Southeast Asia".
"Natural in the sense that you have one race, one religion, one language, one history over quite a long period of time.

Nonsense.

[Torkmada]

Hi comments about Thailand being the most natural country with one race, one culture, one language, one history demonstrates his failure to comprehend the reality of Thailand.

I believe he was talking about Singapore when he mentions these things, not Thailand.

I am wrong, he was talking about Thailand - what a fool.

[notmyself]

Lee also drew comparisons between Thailand and Singapore, noting that the former has more benefits in building a stronger nation because it is the "most natural nation in Southeast Asia".

"Natural in the sense that you have one race, one religion, one language, one history over quite a long period of time.

Nonsense.

Perhaps that should have been neutral rather then natural?

[PatOngo]

Lee also drew comparisons between Thailand and Singapore, noting that the former has more benefits in building a stronger nation because it is the "most natural nation in Southeast Asia".

"Natural in the sense that you have one race, one religion, one language, one history over quite a long period of time.

Nonsense.

Perhaps that should have been neutral rather then natural?

No.....the word they were looking for was NEUROTIC.

[tezzainoz]

The world has now told the PTP

You made your bed now sleep in it

Fix your wn problems we all have problems of our own

Singapore is very, very tiny and not easily confused with the entire world, so you have surprised me here.

So your posting means ???????

[Pimay1]

Lee added that the ruling Pheu Thai Party and the opposition People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) should sit down and discuss solutions "to find [a] basis on which to work [that] is viable over the longer term and where you are one society and one country".

Lee is the epitome of a hypocrite. Any time the opposition party in Singapore exposes corruption of the Lee government they are sued for defamation and the lapdog judges rule in favor of the government 100% of the time and impose fines upon the person of the opposion which bankrupts them. This is one of Lee's favorite tricks during an election.

[Tatsujin]

Hi comments about Thailand being the most natural country with one race, one culture, one language, one history demonstrates his failure to comprehend the reality of Thailand.

I believe he was talking about Singapore when he mentions these things, not Thailand.

You believe wrongly.

Lee also drew comparisons between Thailand and Singapore, noting that the former has more benefits in building a stronger nation because it is the "most natural nation in Southeast Asia".

Thailand was mentioned first in the statement, and "the former" relates to the first country mentioned, Thailand. If he was referring to Singapore it would have been "the latter".

He's wrong anyway, Thailand is a mix of many different cultures and languages, with the Thai-Chinese contingent running the place on the whole.

[Torkmada]

The world has now told the PTP

You made your bed now sleep in it

Fix your wn problems we all have problems of our own

Singapore is very, very tiny and not easily confused with the entire world, so you have surprised me here.

So your posting means ???????

I'm not a primary school teacher.

[Torkmada]

Hi comments about Thailand being the most natural country with one race, one culture, one language, one history demonstrates his failure to comprehend the reality of Thailand.

I believe he was talking about Singapore when he mentions these things, not Thailand.

You believe wrongly.

Lee also drew comparisons between Thailand and Singapore, noting that the former has more benefits in building a stronger nation because it is the "most natural nation in Southeast Asia".

Thailand was mentioned first in the statement, and "the former" relates to the first country mentioned, Thailand. If he was referring to Singapore it would have been "the latter".

He's wrong anyway, Thailand is a mix of many different cultures and languages, with the Thai-Chinese contingent running the place on the whole.

Yes, I did.

I also acknowledged my error in a follow up post.

[allan michaud]

To rephrase that. "You bunch of numpties should get your act together. You have it easy, we built a top nation out of a swamp in just a few years, while you lot clearly couldn't organise the proverbial pi$$ up in a brewery. Anyway, your very much on your own as you never accept advice from foreigners anyway. Best, El Presidente Lee"

[Cats4ever]

'Outsiders' can't help Thailand solve political crisis: Lee

Lee obviously is not a contributor to TV.

[Pimay1]

'Outsiders' can't help Thailand solve political crisis: Lee

Lee obviously is not a contributor to TV.

We all can be thankful for that.

[virtualtraveller]

Thaksin always modelled Thailand's ideal democracy on Singapore and Malaysia where one family or party rule indefinitely suing the opposition into bankruptcy or jailing opposition leaders for sodomy, so that you deconstruct a pluralist democracy. You get things done but you walk all over political freedoms. Singapore is not a very free country, Malaysia is a joke. Of course, Singapore is one of the least corrupt countries in the world so they can get away with it. But they have corrupted power. That's the issue here in Thailand.

[klauskunkel]

"We see this as a very difficult problem that Thai people and society will have to solve. It's not easy to do, it's a very deep problem. I don't think there's anything that outsiders will be able to contribute to that, even well-meaning outsiders within Asean. I don't think we outside of the country have either the authority or the knowledge or the influence, and certainly not the power [to interfere]."

The Thai government would, however, gladly accept any financial support.

[Dogmatix]

Natural in the sense that you have one race, one religion, one language, one history over quite a long period of time.

Very insensitive to the Malay speaking Muslims in the South whose sultanate was only annexed in to Thailand at the beginning of the last century.

[Bluespunk]

Democracy and freedom are not exactly flourishing in the little tax haven to the south.

---Wikipedia on Singapore---

The government in Singapore has broad powers to limit citizens' rights and to inhibit political opposition.^[1] In 2009, Singapore was ranked 133rd out of 175 nations by Reporters Without Borders in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Freedom in the World 2006 ranked Singapore 5 out of 7 for political freedom, and 4 out of 7 for civil liberties (where 1 is the most free), with an overall ranking of "partly free".

Sounds like the sort of thing Suthep is aiming for here.

No it doesn't and I don't like suthep.

[Mentors]

Lee added that the ruling Pheu Thai Party and the opposition People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) should sit down and discuss solutions "to find [a] basis on which to work [that] is viable over the longer term and where you are one society and one country".

Lee is the epitome of a hypocrite. Any time the opposition party in Singapore exposes corruption of the Lee government they are sued for defamation and the lapdog judges rule in favor of the government 100% of the time and impose fines upon the person of the opposion which bankrupts them. This is one of Lee's favorite tricks during an election.

I think Mr. Lee fears a Domino Effect inside ASEAN if the outside world tries to negotiate in Thailand.

[rickirs]

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So basically Singapore is not going to back the PTP government.

Nor anyone else. They will deal with whom ever leads Thailand in their own best interests.

[Bluespunk]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

So basically Singapore is not going to back the PTP government.

Nor anyone else. They will deal with whom ever leads Thailand in their own best interests.

That's ASEAN in a nutshell. The money's the thing.

[Thai at Heart]

Come on then PDRC, let's have a moan about foreigners interfering in Thai issues like u have about the USA.

Falang no understand. Oh woops, he's Asian.

[bkkgooner]

Thaksin always modelled Thailand's ideal democracy on Singapore and Malaysia where one family or party rule indefinitely suing the opposition into bankruptcy or jailing opposition leaders for sodomy, so that you deconstruct a pluralist democracy. You get things done but you walk all over political freedoms. Singapore is not a very free country, Malaysia is a joke. Of course, Singapore is one of the least corrupt countries in the world so they can get away with it. But they have corrupted power. That's the issue here in Thailand.

Great post, Thksin wants prosperity for Thailand but at the cost of democratic rights and freedoms.

[Just1Voice]

Come on then PDRC, let's have a moan about foreigners interfering in Thai issues like u have about the USA.

Falang no understand. Oh woops, he's Asian.

Yes, but he's not THAI, therefore, that sill makes him an outsider who just isn't capable of understanding "Thainess".