Intelligence Reveals Plot To Assassinate Thaksin

[Plus]

Unless Thaksin openly challenges the monarchy, which I believe will never ever happen, there won't be any danger to his life. Even if they try to seize his assets, they will leave enough for him to live happily ever after.

If, however, he insist on hanging on and openly defies everyone, I mean EVERYONE, then god help him.

[sriracha john]

Total bull. Pity orientated spin.

I have to categorically state that I am in NO way involved in this alledged conspiracy. My absence is completely and totally unconnected to this coincidence.

P.S.

At an internet cafe that's using a squirrel-on-a-treadmill-powered generator to post this from the wilds of rural Chiang Rai province... and loving it.

Still no progress on the political front... save for this wonderfully funny news that the American Navy Seals are targetting Thaksin now for elimination.

Will be back later on down the road somewhere...

Edited July 12, 2006 by sriracha john

[penzman]

If the Moderators dont keep a close eye on this thread i can see assassination attempt on ThaiVisa in the not to distant future.

They'd better hurry, the nicotine will beat them to it. By the way, we give out all of our plastic bags and live at ground level.

Here's the score:

Drug related executions: 2000 or so.

Southern lawyers: 1

PM: 0

Vegas bookies would say the odds are pro-life for him.

Anyway, no arrests have been made or names revealed. Pure spin that I'm sure can be matched to outdated threads on many Thai forums.

[John K]

From Post #1

Without naming anyone, the reports alleged that “opponents” of the caretaker premier had pooled their money to hire the foreign hitmen.

Pooling money? It makes it sound like they are poor. How much do they need anyway, Thaksin has devalued himself over the last 10 months. Just take his money and he will probably do himself.

[penzman]

Does anyone remember the elections in Taiwan in 2004?

3-19 shooting incident

On March 19 2004, the day before the Republic of China presidential election, President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu were both shot while campaigning in Tainan, in what then appeared to be a political assassination attempt.

Their injuries were not life-threatening, and both Chen and Lu were released from Chi-Mei Hospital on the same day without losing consciousness or having surgery. Nevertheless, the attack provoked shock and unease in Taiwan, where political violence of this kind is virtually unheard in recent times. The incident has earned Chen and Lu sympathy votes, helping to win them the election on the next day by a mere 29,500 votes.No hard evidence was found to exclude the possibilities that the assassination attempt was either staged or faked to influence an election that formerly appeared to tip in favor of the Pan-Blue Coalition.

[Scott]

This is a lot of hype. Of course there are threats and plans--as there are with almost any leader and certainly any controversial leader. I can't figure out why they decided to make it public, that sounds like an attempt at the sympathy vote and attention getting behavior.

[jdinasia]

hmmm an unnamed "opposition" ... is it being lead by "charismatic people" that are also unnamed?

But I am truly hoping that this is all hype and spin

[Artisan]

This is a lot of hype. Of course there are threats and plans--as there are with almost any leader and certainly any controversial leader. I can't figure out why they decided to make it public, that sounds like an attempt at the sympathy vote and attention getting behavior.

Sympathy vote, in Thailand? There's no such thing and he is the last person who needs sympathy..and he knows it. Popularist policies are much more effective in securing votes in this country.

Attention getter? He has had and will have, all the attention he has ever needed or will ever need. What else can he do, that he hasn't done already, to gain even more attention?

[Jai Dee]

PM admits receiving the report of an assassination attempt against him

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra admitted that he has received the report over an assassination attempt against him. The said the matter is in the process of investigation.

Prime Minister Thaksin spoke about an assassination plot against him and his family, saying it is not a worrying issue and is deemed normal. He said the matter is in the investigation process and is still unclear. He said further that the matter should not be related to the ‘charismatic’ figure.

As for the demand of Gen. Charan Kullavanich (จรัล กุลละวณิชย์) for him to reveal the name of ‘charismatic’ figure, the premier said he has no idea about such issue.

Dr. Thaksin also referred to the decision of Pol. Lt. Gen. Chumpol Manmai (จุมพล มั่นหมาย), the Director of the National Intelligence Agency, to increase safety measures for him and his family, conceding that such decision is true.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 13 July 2006

[Hermano Lobo]

The report of an assassination plot is bogus.

The letters to G W Bush and reply are forgeries.

from The Nation's editor's desk:-

THAI TALK

Why I think the 'Thaksin-Bush' letters were forged

If you have seen the text dated June 23, supposedly written by Thailand's caretaker prime minister, bemoaning the political problems he is having with those protesting against his rule to "Dear Mr President", and the subsequent reply dated July 3, you must take them with a full measure of salt.

You could be hoodwinked. And don't say you haven't been warned.

Why? Because these supposed letters are simply too comical - and even preposterous - to be true. Now, we know why the Thai government has been so reluctant to release them to the Thai public in the first place.

I even suspect that they were forged to tarnish the good reputations of Thaksin Shinawatra and President George W Bush.

Thaksin was supposed to have said in the first paragraph of the note that he was writing as a "caretaker prime minister" complaining about "a threat to democracy in Thailand since early this year". Any sensible Thai citizen would find it hard to understand why someone who has assigned himself the task of "preparing the best possible democratic path for the next government following new national elections this fall" would tell the US president that Thai democracy is under threat.

In fact, any educated Thai would consider it a great insult for a caretaker premier to find it necessary to write to the head of another country declaring himself the champion of democracy - not only of Thailand but throughout Asia as well.

This racket of letter-forging constitutes a real menace to Thailand's democratic future. They even made Thaksin write another paragraph to "assure" Bush in a way the Thai leader must have thought would please the superpower's chieftain. No way, Thaksin, in his right mind, would ever write something like this:

"During this period, I want to assure you that I will take steps to help get the country ready for free and fair elections, and to work to shift the national debate from one that is emotionally charged to one that reasonably discusses the central questions of Thailand's future, including whether the country's political governance will be decided through the ballot box or in the street. The answer to that question, Mr President, will have an important impact on the future course of democracy in Asia."

If Thaksin had really written that and meant it, then someone else must have forged the earlier part of the note to Bush that said: "My political opponents, because they knew they would again lose, boycotted the April elections and left the political situation in Thailand in deadlock."

You simply can't claim to hold "free and fair elections" while predicting that your party would win and that your opponents would surely lose. And these forgers expect Bush to read it without laughing his head off?

The real smoking gun, though, is when Thaksin was supposed to have blamed "various extra-constitutional tactics to co-opt the will of the people" allegedly employed by his "opponents" who, according to the text had tried to "provoke violence and disorder" - and failed.

You could argue that on June 29, six days after the letter was supposedly sent to Bush, Thaksin did mention "extra-constitutional charismatic figure(s)," in a specially-convened conference of senior bureaucrats from around the country, and as such the note must be genuine.

I doubt it. Any leader in his right mind wouldn't string out his country's dirty linen all the way across the Pacific Ocean. Besides, Thaksin is supposed to be intelligent enough to know that when he uses that sort of subtle language ('poo mi barami' or charismatic person), which confuses many Thais, could create utter linguistic chaos at the White House. Thaksin had no reason to befuddle Bush. He couldn't have written such a complicated letter.

I was also inclined to conclude the letter was faked when I read: "There has been a threat to democracy in Thailand since early this year. Key democratic institutions, such as elections and the observance of constitutional limitations on government, have been repeatedly undermined by interests that depend on creating chaos and mounting street demonstrations in Bangkok as a means to acquire political power that they cannot gain through winning elections…"

Thaksin, of course, knew that Bush must have been briefed by his aides, who must have read in-depth analytical reports from the US Embassy in Bangkok.

He couldn't possibly have written anything that would suggest that the US president was naive enough to assume that the hundreds of thousands of protesters who rallied against the sins of the "Thaksin regime" were only stooges organised by the caretaker premier's opponents.

But the most tell-tale sign that the supposed exchange of letters between Thaksin and Bush was a shameful scam, a frame-up to besmirch Thaksin and Bush's honour and reputation, was in Bush's alleged reply. Bush didn't show any personal sympathy or support for the supposedly embattled Thaksin at all. The US president's supposed note only emphasised "our two nations' friendship" that remains strong.

If it was really from Bush, the letter couldn't possibly have carried such a condescending tone, such as when Bush tells Thaksin: "Free and open political systems can be unpredictable…but the Thai people are resilient and Thai democracy is strong and I know that your country will emerge from the current situation with renewed focus on that which makes Thailand great." Good old friends don't try to lecture each other on the fundamentals of political science.

For "Bush" not to show some degree of sympathy for his embattled friend called "Thaksin" is unthinkable.

How could "Bush" not condemn the "extra-constitutional tactics" employed against his good friend "Thaksin" back home when it was so obvious that it was a cry for help from a friend in need? No, a true friend doesn't simply brush off a friend's desperate request for help by saying: "…it is my sincere hope that all parties can find a way forward that respects the great achievements of Thai democracy…"

No, real friends don't write these sorts of letters to each other. What you read is nothing but part of a huge scam cooked up by letter-forging rackets in both countries determined to undermine good bilateral relations.

Suthichai Yoon

Edited July 13, 2006 by Hermano Lobo

[marshbags]

Just maybe Toksin is beginning to realise how many people he,s rubbed up the wrong way, and has invented the story to up the stakes in security and awareness.

Covering his ****............................................................................

.......behind i guess.

Please god don,t make him a martyr of corruption, thereby giving him some sort of weird respectability should he be assasinated. pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I go with the flow that he shouldn,t be met by this senario.

But possibly for different reasons as i really would be pissed off if they turned him into some sort of hero !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that i couldn,t stomach.

Let karma do it,s work, but don,t let it be to long.

marshbags

P.S. Nice to know your still around S.J., i was wondering where you,d gone to, thread / post wise.

Edited July 15, 2006 by marshbags

[Siripon]

It was amusing to hear the PAD say last night that a source in The Ministry Of Health said the Ministry had to send a food taster to every Cabinet meeting to check if the food was poisoned!

Like in the days of General Pibunsongkhram when he feared death by stealth as much as the bullet.

[Plus]

Really??? What if the food really is poisoned? Aren't there any "humane" methods of poison checking, like feeding dogs first?

[sriracha john]

I think between the "charasamatic individual", the George Bush "letters," and the "murderers-are-after-my-family" plotting, as well as any others I've not heard about whilst on the road, that Thaksin is the one responsible for his own "assasination." He's killing himself with all these recent revelations and pronouncements.

.... have hit the apex of our journey in Chiang Khong... and now will begin the trek back southwards.... and back down towards civilization...

[plachon]

I think between the "charasamatic individual", the George Bush "letters," and the "murderers-are-after-my-family" plotting, as well as any others I've not heard about whilst on the road, that Thaksin is the one responsible for his own "assasination." He's killing himself with all these recent revelations and pronouncements.

.... have hit the apex of our journey in Chiang Khong... and now will begin the trek back southwards.... and back down towards civilization...

Hey John, he'll kill us all laughing first with his levels of paranoia, if this carrries on much longer. It's becoming such a hub of plots, sub-plots and counter-plots these days, that anyone can be forgiven if they've totally lost the plot.

[alexth]

I think is just campaign BS. He's just trying to look like a martyr..."poor PM, good man, everybody is against him, poor, poor, poor PM...". It's just my opinion, but I think nobody is trying to kill Thaksin...just campaign BS