Rice scheme probe now more important than ever: Thai opinion

[Piichai]

There is a high probability that Thaksin was involved in some very dodgy dealings, but the thing that struck me after the 2006 coup was that a huge effort to prove wrongdoing drew a virtual blank. As others have said, the sealed bid land sale conviction looks weak: it is a bit like getting Al Capone for income tax evasion, but without the cut and dried evidence..

Don't forget there's a stack of arrest warrants waiting Thaksin's return.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Piichai

[seajae]

This is the best thread I have read on Thai Visa in the last year! The last 6 months has been nothing more than lynch squad to string up Yingluck with posters stating rumors as if they were facts.

Once faced with the arguments other than the same daily yellow circle jerk posters, nothing seems be proven about the rice stocks missing. Then they deflect the argument to Thaksins increase in wealth , once that is debunked they go to his ex-wife’s land deal which they were sure was stolen from the gov. because they had all facts, now that is debunked. Where will they take their reasoning now? Maybe they will accuse YL of using public funds for the purchase of burberry rain boots she wore during the floods. That must be an impeachable offense to them that should also remove the entire PTP as well.

I am all for debate, just don't let your political bias blind you.

When you use terms like "yellow circle jerk posters" you might be seen by some as not really interested in unbiased discussions.

but notice he refers to these "yellow circle jerk posters" as a red apologist jerk poster himself when anyone else doesnt approve of his totally biased red crap, some people just cant help themselves unfortunately as they are unable to accept the truth because it destroys all their innuendo

[marinediscoking]

This is the best thread I have read on Thai Visa in the last year! The last 6 months has been nothing more than lynch squad to string up Yingluck with posters stating rumors as if they were facts.

Once faced with the arguments other than the same daily yellow circle jerk posters, nothing seems be proven about the rice stocks missing. Then they deflect the argument to Thaksins increase in wealth , once that is debunked they go to his ex-wife’s land deal which they were sure was stolen from the gov. because they had all facts, now that is debunked. Where will they take their reasoning now? Maybe they will accuse YL of using public funds for the purchase of burberry rain boots she wore during the floods. That must be an impeachable offense to them that should also remove the entire PTP as well.

I am all for debate, just don't let your political bias blind you.

When you use terms like "yellow circle jerk posters" you might be seen by some as not really interested in unbiased discussions.

but notice he refers to these "yellow circle jerk posters" as a red apologist jerk poster himself when anyone else doesnt approve of his totally biased red crap, some people just cant help themselves unfortunately as they are unable to accept the truth because it destroys all their innuendo

I have always said I am not a fan of Taksin, but for months TV posters have stated as 100% fact day after day the scheme was used to embezzle government funds. Maybe it is a bad program but stating fact without verified truth is wrong, and it seems the same posters trust a military dictatorship over an elected gov. No gov. will be liked by everyone but can any of you who like the coup care to explain why the generals who orchestrated it are so wealthy?

[Luger2]

I have always said I am not a fan of Taksin

Could you point us to some or any of your posts that reflect that?

[seajae]

marinediscoking, if you want to check out all the facts you can find out for yourself instead of just repeating the red mantra. The majority of thais and tv posters that are backing the coup are not yellows by the way, we are simply people that can see the truth of the ptp govt and the corruption they used. How can you not like thaksin but approve of the govt he appointed and told what to do, you have contradicted yourself, the reds are the heavies for thaksin and the ptp and have done all the killing and attacks as recent cache finds have proven. Anyone with half a brain can see that the ptp was totally wrong and needed to be reigned in for the good of Thailand, that is why the general is getting support, it is nothing to do with his wealth but what he is prepared to do to make this country better and that is what he is doing, he is grinding the corruption to a much slower pace, he paid the farmers, he has stopped the red attacks and found a lot of their weapons. How can you honestly not see that truth of all this, I really think a lot of the red appologists are simply doing what their wife/gf/families tell them to because they dont want to be kicked out for going against their red indoctrination. Other than that I cannot see how anyone could not see how corrupt yl and the ptp/reds are even though suthep is in the same barrel.

[northernjohn]

Thaksin's rice subsidy scheme, the scam that just keeps taking. On top of these losses are the disappearance of 3 million tons of rice and the debt the coup government is creating to pay the farmers.

Pretty sure the current money is included in the figure which is only an estimate. Pridiyathorn's estimate is 460 billion, whilst a subcommitee under the last govt estimated the losses from the first three pledging schemes at 332 billion. So if you add in the two more since then, 500 or so seems about right. However, it's possible some of that will be recouped after current stocks are sold, not sure if the estimates are taking that into account or not.

By the way the president of the PWO says that the "missing rice" isn't actually missing, it was just undocumented at the time due to it being milled. Everything should be taken with a pinch of salt now though because there are those who will want to exaggerate the scale of the losses, and there are also those with reputations to defend (presumably the latter with be transferred quite quickly though).

Are they saying that they do not document how much rice is being milled?

Also I wonder if they are figuring in the cost of storage on the loss side?

Now the government will have to reveal the cost of the Government to Government sales.

That could be the basis for other charges. We will just have to wait and see on that.

[Thai at Heart]

is it a miracle, after all the lost money, people still are not sure this was a scam ????

thai economics, part of thainess

u no understaan, u no khun thai

If its so bloody obvious why hasn't the junta been able to dig up thousandd of cases. And believe me, when you have millions of farmers selling 100k baht of rice, believe me you need thousands of cases to add it up to 500 bn baht.

Thing is the money hasn't even been lost. It has either been spent or banked. Once this final lot has been paid out that is it. I will bet that at the end, the loss adds up very closely to the difference of what was paid to farmers, millers, transport and all the rest and that which will be generated by selling it.

There will be some fraud, but when you shout that the difference in what is paid and what is recouped from selling as having to be fraud you are missing the point completely.

There are still god knows how.many million tons in the warehouse waiting to be sold.

[Thai at Heart]

Thaksin's rice subsidy scheme, the scam that just keeps taking. On top of these losses are the disappearance of 3 million tons of rice and the debt the coup government is creating to pay the farmers.

Pretty sure the current money is included in the figure which is only an estimate. Pridiyathorn's estimate is 460 billion, whilst a subcommitee under the last govt estimated the losses from the first three pledging schemes at 332 billion. So if you add in the two more since then, 500 or so seems about right. However, it's possible some of that will be recouped after current stocks are sold, not sure if the estimates are taking that into account or not.

By the way the president of the PWO says that the "missing rice" isn't actually missing, it was just undocumented at the time due to it being milled. Everything should be taken with a pinch of salt now though because there are those who will want to exaggerate the scale of the losses, and there are also those with reputations to defend (presumably the latter with be transferred quite quickly though).

Are they saying that they do not document how much rice is being milled?

Also I wonder if they are figuring in the cost of storage on the loss side?

Now the government will have to reveal the cost of the Government to Government sales.

That could be the basis for other charges. We will just have to wait and see on that.

The g to g stuff never happened. It was all letters of intent to give confidence to the market.

[noitom]

Rice scheme "probe" - a euphemism for Thai style "railroading."

[farang000999]

Nobdoy on the Red side will actually go to prison, the Yellow Shirt leaders will see to that. The reason is simple, they do not want to set any precedent whatsoever of powerful people going to jail for corruption. The game is simple. We fight for power and when we get power we rob as much as we can until we lose power because of our corruption.

[issanaus]

The inquires need to be continued to separate fact from fiction. If this does not happen then it will be a continuing source of division and ensure that the same problems are continued. Accountability for what actually happened will be a useful bonus that will act as a disincentive (but not eliminate) future problems.

It is desirable that at least the political level of corruption and those involved should be addressed before the next election to ensure that people vote for representatives who will not be disqualified after the election as a result of continuing fall out from the scheme.

[Piichai]

The inquires need to be continued to separate fact from fiction. If this does not happen then it will be a continuing source of division and ensure that the same problems are continued. Accountability for what actually happened will be a useful bonus that will act as a disincentive (but not eliminate) future problems.

It is desirable that at least the political level of corruption and those involved should be addressed before the next election to ensure that people vote for representatives who will not be disqualified after the election as a result of continuing fall out from the scheme.

What about the 300 MPs waiting to learn their fate?