Scotland trip for work not sightseeing, Thai EC insists

[webfact]

Scotland Trip For Work Not Sightseeing, EC Insists
By Khaosod English


Photos of Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn visiting museums in Scotland have been widely circulated on social media, drawing outrage from critics of the EC who say the photos are proof that Mr. Somchai was blatantly wasting the state budget on personal leisure.

BANGKOK — The secretary-general of Thailand's Election Commission has defended the group's ten-day trip to Scotland, calling it an opportunity to learn about "improving the election procedure" in Thailand.

EC officials traveled to Scotland from 10 to 21 September to "observe" the independence referendum, in which Scottish residents voted on whether Scotland should remain a part of the United Kingdom.

Critics of the trip called it a waste of taxpayer money, as Thailand's constitution does not permit separatism or a referendum on secessions. In addition, the Scotland trip puzzled many given the EC’s notorious reluctance to organise elections in Thailand earlier this year.

But Puchong Nutrawong, sec-gen of the EC, said today that the trip was an important educational experience.

"Officials went on the trip to record all the information [they saw]," Mr. Puchong told reporters. "They did not go for sightseeing. They were there to perform their duties per their assignment."

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1411379009


-- Khaosod English 2014-09-22

[pedro01]

10 days? That's a lot of witnessing!

[Greenhill]

How many people exactly went on this little jaunt??

[FangFerang]

Ah, it is standard procedure for visiting dignitaries to see some local sites during non-work hours. Frankly, if anyone visited Scotland, with her magnificent scenery and fascinating history -- and didn't take some Non-Work time to see the landscape and visit a few museums, I would think they were blatantly stupid.

I admit I am jealous. However, I am slow to write it off as a paid vacation when the referendum was -well--alarming. All eyes were on Scotland for a couple days. And it's not over, by any means...the "no" vote was fueled by promises many are all too willing to break -- and that will have repercussions.

If they only thing they learned was the difference between a real whisky and the frightening dehumanizing concoctions they drink here and call whisky, I consider the trip paid in full. A single malt from a traditional, small batch Scottish distillery is nothing to scoff at in any way, shape or form. I was told by a good friend, it was said that God created alcohol so the Scottish could perfect it.

My friend always had a way of understating things.

[Prbkk]

We await reports of his findings on how to improve the election system in Thailand. Anything would be better that the fiasco over which he presided earlier this year, so I hope he has some good ideas to present. Vain hope I suspect.

[fobuff]

"to "observe" the independence referendum, in which Scottish residents voted on"

Yes they voted.. when will than happen again in thailand under the great leader

[noitom]

Did the stay at the Balmoral hotel, do fine dining and make that walk up the hill to see the castle and stop at those dozens of shops along the way to sample those fine clan scotch whiskys? The army should audit the expense vouchers for hotel, meals and miscellaneous. How many went? Will there be a detailed report with findings, conclusions and recommendations?

[Thailand]

No doubt they have found out how elections should be held and what may happen if third parties try to disrupt those elections and prevent others from voting in them.

Nah, doubt it.

[Mango Bob]

I never liked this guy. And this story just adds to it.

[nkg]

He's enjoying posing with that sword!

"Somchailander!"

Edited September 22, 2014 by nkg

[lungmi]

Why don't they go to Mongolia? Highest developped democracy in Asia. Constitution on the basis of German and French Constitution. Member of the OSCE.

Buddhist country and no Death Penality. They can send OSCE observers for the Elections in Thailand.

No, they would not. After the Teaching of Yingluck about "Democracy" in Mongolia they are not ready for the Thai level.

[nkg]

Why don't they go to Mongolia? Highest developped democracy in Asia. Constitution on the basis of German and French Constitution. Member of the OSCE.

Buddhist country and no Death Penality. They can send OSCE observers for the Elections in Thailand.

No, they would not. After the Teaching of Yingluck about "Democracy" in Mongolia they are not ready for the Thai level.

Excellent point. We don't hear enough about Mongolian democracy on this forum.

[worgeordie]

I hope they took note,that NO votes were bought or sold.

regards worgeordie

[fab4]

Why don't they go to Mongolia? Highest developped democracy in Asia. Constitution on the basis of German and French Constitution. Member of the OSCE.

Buddhist country and no Death Penality. They can send OSCE observers for the Elections in Thailand.

No, they would not. After the Teaching of Yingluck about "Democracy" in Mongolia they are not ready for the Thai level.

I understand the Afghanis held a successful election recently - according to some on this forum Thailand was a warzone during the 7 months of disruption by suthep and his merry pranksters, so one would have thought the EC vacationers could have gone there for some valuable tips.

Did they go there? Did they @#$%!

[Greenhill]

Why don't they go to Mongolia? Highest developped democracy in Asia. Constitution on the basis of German and French Constitution. Member of the OSCE.

Buddhist country and no Death Penality. They can send OSCE observers for the Elections in Thailand.

No, they would not. After the Teaching of Yingluck about "Democracy" in Mongolia they are not ready for the Thai level.

Maybe it's because the single-malt whiskey is not nearly so abundant and the quality is poor!!! No doubt they also spent some time in London, as they were 'in the area'??!! How long were they actually away for?

[Baerboxer]

Did the stay at the Balmoral hotel, do fine dining and make that walk up the hill to see the castle and stop at those dozens of shops along the way to sample those fine clan scotch whiskys? The army should audit the expense vouchers for hotel, meals and miscellaneous. How many went? Will there be a detailed report with findings, conclusions and recommendations?

The expense claims should indeed be checked in accordance with the rules and procedures.

By the way, how is the audit going into the billions of baht spent by the inept and ineffective CAPO?

[BirdsandBooze]

Thais do love their whiskey. Single malt must be the Holy Grail for those members of the EC lucky enough to be selected for this jolly.

[Baerboxer]

Why don't they go to Mongolia? Highest developped democracy in Asia. Constitution on the basis of German and French Constitution. Member of the OSCE.

Buddhist country and no Death Penality. They can send OSCE observers for the Elections in Thailand.

No, they would not. After the Teaching of Yingluck about "Democracy" in Mongolia they are not ready for the Thai level.

I understand the Afghanis held a successful election recently - according to some on this forum Thailand was a warzone during the 7 months of disruption by suthep and his merry pranksters, so one would have thought the EC vacationers could have gone there for some valuable tips.

Did they go there? Did they @#$%!

Maybe there was a realization the British democracy is a good place to start,

Warzone in Thailand - indeed but thankfully the NCPO restored peace and order, which for some reason the high spending CAPO were unable to achieve.

Still, lets hope some good comes from this visit, unlike all those 50 plus record breaking trips the former Prime Minister / Defense Minister made. Mind she did get closer ties to Montenegro, which could still come in useful.

Remember PTP's trip to London to visit the British Parliament? Unfortunately they picked a time when parliament was in recess. Best laid plans and all that - still the premier league was good and their wives/girl friends and / or kids probably enjoyed the shopping and sightseeing.

[naboo]

I'm not sure the Scotch in Scotchland would have been as good as the Thai 100 Pipers, after all Thai whisky is second to none.

[tx22cb]

Odious man, passing himself off as the great Defender of the Unelectables Faith.

Pretending to doing his job, but in cahoots with Suthep's crowd to do everything he could not to hold an election.

11 days to "observe" a minor election in a small "country" which conditions nothing like Thailand's. No wonder he had time to visit tourist sites and play golf.

Nevertheless, regard this as part of his "reward" for the good deeds he performed for the Righteous rabble.

[MaiChai]

Did they do the whiskey trail too in their research on election processes? Would be a shame to go to Scotland and miss visiting all those world famous distilleries?

[NongKhaiKid]

This sort of thing makes Thailand a laughing stock once again although this probably won't make the international news.

Let's not forget in the early days of the junta it was made clear this type of overseas jolly would not be permitted unless absolutely justifiable.

I knew that some interested parties had sent observers such as the Flemish, Catalans, Bavarians even the Texas Independence Movement but nothing said about LoS.

I contacted my daughter in Scotland and asked what she could find out as she had been involved with the YES campaign and had access to people and information.

She got back to me saying she couldn't anyone or anything that indicated the Thai delegation had been there but that of course doesn't mean they weren't in Scotland but it does beg the questions -

a ) how much ' observing ' did they actually do and by that I mean the referendum ? and

b ) why were they there at all ?

I'm sure these questions will never be answered and their ' report ' on the trip will never see the light of day.

[siampolee]

EC officials traveled to Scotland from 10 to 21 September to "observe" the independence referendum, in which Scottish residents voted on whether Scotland should remain a part of the United Kingdom.

Strange how the E.C. fellows wish to ''observe'' the voting process in the recent Scottish independence referendum, yet they vigorously bar any attempts to let outside independent bodies view the ''election process'' here in Thailand.

Indeed a classic example of ''Don't do as I do. Do as I say.''

[GentlemanJim]

our local council are going to NZ !!!

[mca]

At a recent press conference with foreign journalists EC member Khun Sombat Lochaiwattana said the allegations that he used his subsidized "fact-finding" mission to Scotland as a chance to spend taxpayers' money on gifts for himself and his family as " spurious and totally lacking in any substance whatsoever" and that " my lawyers were looking into the possibility of taking legal action regarding the smear on my unblemished character"

Edited September 23, 2014 by mca

[robblok]

If this is sightseeing.. get the guys for it let them pay it all back. That someone is sigh-seeing one or two days.. I would not care about if they worked the other 8 days. The question is of course did they work. Let them make a nice report about what they have seen grill them about it to find out if they really did do some work over there.

Part of it is good going to other countries and observe, however if its used as excuse for a trip then let them pay it back. I have no problem with genuine study trips of anyone as long as there is some benefit.

[cacruden]

I hear all this talk that Western democracy is NOT a model for Thailand -- that it is a different culture, then they travel halfway around the world to observe a referendum in Scotland .... and they would like the people to believe that it is not for sightseeing? Anyone going on this jaunt should be fired....

[aussieinthailand]

This sort of thing makes Thailand a laughing stock once again although this probably won't make the international news.

Let's not forget in the early days of the junta it was made clear this type of overseas jolly would not be permitted unless absolutely justifiable.

I knew that some interested parties had sent observers such as the Flemish, Catalans, Bavarians even the Texas Independence Movement but nothing said about LoS.

I contacted my daughter in Scotland and asked what she could find out as she had been involved with the YES campaign and had access to people and information.

She got back to me saying she couldn't anyone or anything that indicated the Thai delegation had been there but that of course doesn't mean they weren't in Scotland but it does beg the questions -

a ) how much ' observing ' did they actually do and by that I mean the referendum ? and

b ) why were they there at all ?

I'm sure these questions will never be answered and their ' report ' on the trip will never see the light of day.

I mentioned this a couple of days ago here on TV, Thanks' again to the missus.

The problem is that he say's it's not a sight seeing holiday but for work, 555555555555555, BULLSH*T!!!!! not according to his FB page, plenty of photo's there of him enjoying the sights, and the local restaurant's ,around the UK, but wait that's not all, there was a little side trip too Italy, and the leaning tower of Pisa, maybe they had a referendum also and the world didn't know about it?

now just how many of the EC went on this little farce of a trip, and how many had their family's with them and did said family's pay for their own plane tickets, hotels, restaurants, ECT,,, convenient that now the PM is out of town this hits the news, enough time for it to blow over before he gets back.

Seems that government officials just keep getting slapped again and again, So when these guy's get caught doing this snouts in the trough stuff, just when is the Thai saving face bit gunna kick in? Think his FB page is being smashed for all incriminating photos just now along with his holiday buddy's FB page's.

[tomyummer]

Why don't they go to Mongolia? Highest developped democracy in Asia. Constitution on the basis of German and French Constitution. Member of the OSCE.

Buddhist country and no Death Penality. They can send OSCE observers for the Elections in Thailand.

No, they would not. After the Teaching of Yingluck about "Democracy" in Mongolia they are not ready for the Thai level.

Could it possibly be a 'one way' trip please?

[Plutojames88]

This man is also banned from Australian soil.

And the Europeans should follow suit