It is easy to blame the past government, but the problem has been in high gear for at least the past 10 years as acknowledged by General P, so that brings the former Abhisit government and the military regime that preceded it into the picture. How about being fair and refraining from using this as an opportunity to score points? As the former PM pointed out , the major factor was corruption in the government and she's right. The major trafficking delivery points have always been to the south. Whether it was Rohingya or the fishing fleets. Try as the former government did it couldn't get the Royal Thai Navy to act. It couldn't make a dent in the endemic and deeply routed corruption in the south particularly in the Suthep stronghold of Nahkon Si Thammarat-Surat Thani-Phuket. Abhisit was handcuffed for political reasons because he needed the south's support and the former military regime didn't care. The problem can't be effectively dealt with until their is a relentless and severe attack on the corruption in the south.

We keep hearing the stories about evil Bangkok, or the corrupt North, but the reality is that it is the south where the corruption is at its worst. Instead of placing Issan under martial law, apply it to Phuket and conduct the same types of house to house searches. I can guarantee more illegal weapons, illegal workers, yaba and other illegal activities would be uncovered than what we hear about elsewhere.

Which families government has been in power the longest in the past 10 years?

The sad thing here is, that Yingluck has to use Facebook to get heard, because all other avenues for getting her point of view out there has been shut down by the general!!

Don't care if she is right or wrong, but at least during her government there was freedom of speech!!

You mean freedom of the 'right' speech ?

In the last days of the YingluckThaksin government we even had Chalerm as head CAPO, or whatever succeeding organisation warn the news outlets not to publish on the anti-government protesters in a way which could be deemed to be positive.

Does she even understand what is written for her? So they made reports and had interest in it. So what! You can not fight this with paper and reports. Unfortunately I can not recall any news about human trafficking and I know for sure many karaoke and massage parlors that had Laotian women working there as well as some own by gov and police hotshots. More lip service from YL to make herself be seen in a better light. Don't get me wrong though. It is not easy to end this and Mr. P may only be scratching his nose. But this is the first time in many years I have read news about arrests and police transfers or convictions and even in this small city raids are now being done regularly on massage parlors and karaoke bars.

Human trafficking in the fishing industry has always been run by the Thai navy. The truce between the military and Yingluck's government from its election in 2011 up until late 2013 was based on a quid pro quo of you leave me alone (don't interfere with or money making ventures) and I'll leave you alone (there will be no coups) - this is why there was no progress on stamping out the slave trade under Yingluck's watch. Military corruption is and has always been the cause of Thailand's miseries.

The General's current interest in this issue is due only to the recent downgrading of Thailand on this issue by the US

Downgraded? I guess I missed that

2014-06-21

"Kingdom may face sanctions after downgrade; Malaysia also 'shamed'

Thailand was yesterday downgraded to the lowest level in the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report - a move that could trigger sanctions by the United States.

After years of warnings, the US named and shamed Thailand, Malaysia and Venezuela, dumping them at the bottom of a list of countries accused of failing to tackle modern-day slavery, AFP reported from Washington."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thailand-downgraded-to-be-among-worst-trafficking--30236781.html

you're posting links to contradict yourself? yes downgraded to the lowest (worst) level a month after the coup, thus prayuths interest in this issue. sanctions from the us would destroy the thai economy 10 times quicker than the generals own incompetence is doing right now

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"Yingluck wrote in a statement recalling her government’s interest on the issue since she was elected to power in 2011".

Such statement would be true if members of her government were profiting from it too...

So what did she do about it???

Didn't a well to do "Elitist" (Don't like calling them Yellow shirts) Raise a Deformation case against a Reporter not from these shores, who reported about the use of slave labour in his company. I don't think you can blame anyone , If the Junta with Marshall law cant do much , what can a civilian Government do

Does she even understand what is written for her? So they made reports and had interest in it. So what! You can not fight this with paper and reports. Unfortunately I can not recall any news about human trafficking and I know for sure many karaoke and massage parlors that had Laotian women working there as well as some own by gov and police hotshots. More lip service from YL to make herself be seen in a better light. Don't get me wrong though. It is not easy to end this and Mr. P may only be scratching his nose. But this is the first time in many years I have read news about arrests and police transfers or convictions and even in this small city raids are now being done regularly on massage parlors and karaoke bars.

Human trafficking in the fishing industry has always been run by the Thai navy. The truce between the military and Yingluck's government from its election in 2011 up until late 2013 was based on a quid pro quo of you leave me alone (don't interfere with or money making ventures) and I'll leave you alone (there will be no coups) - this is why there was no progress on stamping out the slave trade under Yingluck's watch. Military corruption is and has always been the cause of Thailand's miseries.

The General's current interest in this issue is due only to the recent downgrading of Thailand on this issue by the US

Downgraded? I guess I missed that

2014-06-21

"Kingdom may face sanctions after downgrade; Malaysia also 'shamed'

Thailand was yesterday downgraded to the lowest level in the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report - a move that could trigger sanctions by the United States.

After years of warnings, the US named and shamed Thailand, Malaysia and Venezuela, dumping them at the bottom of a list of countries accused of failing to tackle modern-day slavery, AFP reported from Washington."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thailand-downgraded-to-be-among-worst-trafficking--30236781.html

you're posting links to contradict yourself? yes downgraded to the lowest (worst) level a month after the coup, thus prayuths interest in this issue. sanctions from the us would destroy the thai economy 10 times quicker than the generals own incompetence is doing right now

The downgrade based on data collected and processed before happened on the 21st of June, 2014 almost full month after the coup. Therefore the junta is to be blamed for the downgrade?

Makes sense, to some that is.

The sad thing here is, that Yingluck has to use Facebook to get heard, because all other avenues for getting her point of view out there has been shut down by the general!!

Don't care if she is right or wrong, but at least during her government there was freedom of speech!!

Not exactly. Say the wrong thing, draw the wrong cartoon and it was get sued time. Then Tarit would come along and say he found a link to some obscure law that had been transgressed so would be hounding the shit out of anyone the Shins took offence too. Failing that shit, blood or the odd grenade might be lobbed your way.

Then of course there was her (brother's) government's attempts at muffling social media. Remember the cyber police chief (was it Kuhn Pissit?) who warned that you could be tracked down and prosecuted for even just clicking on "like" of a post critical to the Shin regime let alone writing it. Thaksin also did his up most to control the media when in office.

The myth that free speech flourished under the Shins is exactly that - a myth.

It is easy to blame the past government, but the problem has been in high gear for at least the past 10 years as acknowledged by General P, so that brings the former Abhisit government and the military regime that preceded it into the picture. How about being fair and refraining from using this as an opportunity to score points? As the former PM pointed out , the major factor was corruption in the government and she's right. The major trafficking delivery points have always been to the south. Whether it was Rohingya or the fishing fleets. Try as the former government did it couldn't get the Royal Thai Navy to act. It couldn't make a dent in the endemic and deeply routed corruption in the south particularly in the Suthep stronghold of Nahkon Si Thammarat-Surat Thani-Phuket. Abhisit was handcuffed for political reasons because he needed the south's support and the former military regime didn't care. The problem can't be effectively dealt with until their is a relentless and severe attack on the corruption in the south.

We keep hearing the stories about evil Bangkok, or the corrupt North, but the reality is that it is the south where the corruption is at its worst. Instead of placing Issan under martial law, apply it to Phuket and conduct the same types of house to house searches. I can guarantee more illegal weapons, illegal workers, yaba and other illegal activities would be uncovered than what we hear about elsewhere.

The disgraced former PM also claimed that there was no corruption in her government. Now she said corruption was the major factor. Is she a little confused? Or was she telling yet another lie when she said there was no corruption in her government? Maybe she's changed ghost writers for her FB page?

Apart from the usual waffle of reading reports, focusing on this, etc etc what did she or her government actually do and what results did they achieve?

How many trafficked victims were rescued, the culprits arrested and successfully prosecuted? How many trafficking gangs and Mr. Big's caught and prosecuted? Her head of DSI Tarit ignored serious trafficking cases bought to his attention as he was busy hounding political opponents and the judiciary for her brother.

Sure other governments haven't addressed it - including two officially headed by her brother. But others aren't now writing dross on their FB page claiming they did something. Once again, she claims to have done this that and the other without any actual examples or results to support the rhetoric.

Just candy floss - all fluff and no substance.

The sad thing here is, that Yingluck has to use Facebook to get heard, because all other avenues for getting her point of view out there has been shut down by the general!!

Don't care if she is right or wrong, but at least during her government there was freedom of speech!!

Even when in power she and her siblings used Facebook for semi official announcements. Nothing new really!!!

And I expect that like then the newspapers are reporting on it!

RESPONDING TO PRAYUT
Yingluck defends record on human trafficking, fishing 'slaves'
THE SUNDAY NATION

BANGKOK: -- FORMER prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday defended her administration after Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha claimed that it did nothing to solve human trafficking or forced labour on trawlers.

Yingluck posted a message on Facebook saying her administration had taken the issue seriously and perhaps Prayut had not been informed about the matter by government officials.

She said his comments in a recent interview might be the result of "a misunderstanding because [he] has a lot of duties so he didn't have time [to find out the true facts] or because officials did not have time to explain it to him".

Yingluck said she had to defend herself and her administration in order to prevent a wider misunderstanding domestically and internationally.

Prayut commented after the media revealed that more than |20 Thais had been trafficked |and used as forced labour on trawlers and found themselves trapped on a remote island in Indonesia. The prime minister vowed to make human trafficking suppression a national priority.

He said during his weekly TV address to the nation on Friday night that Thailand's fishing industry had been plagued with human trafficking problems over the past 10 years, which must be seriously addressed.

Yingluck said her administration had always taken the issue seriously.

She said that in 2013 Thailand was upgraded in the United States' Trafficking in Persons report due to her administration delivering a clear plan to tackle the problem.

"The government held several meetings, with either myself as chair or [former] Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanchana as chair on my behalf, and a small working group was set up to tackle specific problems such as [trafficked] trawler boat workers," the former PM said.

Yingluck said that in December 2013 her administration's efforts to tackle the problem resulted in it being praised by senior US diplomat Luis CdeBaca, who is US Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

She added that her administration had compiled the results of its anti-human trafficking work, both quantitatively and qualitatively, adding that 1,300 centres were set up throughout the Kingdom during her tenure to hear complaints and deal with human trafficking.

However, she said human trafficking could not be eradicated overnight.

In a related development, relatives of freed forced trawler workers welcomed home their loved ones at Don Mueang Airport on Friday night.

Yuparat Yothasri, 50, a native of Kalasin, said her son Wuthichai, 30, sought work on a trawler in Samut Sakhon due to poverty and until this week she had not heard of him since 2011.

Some 26 Thais caught in |forced labour were rescued and returned to Thailand on Friday night. They are temporarily being sheltered in Pathum Thani for questioning.

Ten more "rescued" Thais are still on Ambon Island in Indonesia - six of them scheduled to return on Wednesday.

A large number of Burmese are reportedly stuck on other islands in eastern Indonesia.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Yingluck-defends-record-on-human-trafficking-fishi-30256967.html

-- The Nation 2015-03-29

"She said his comments in a recent interview might be the result of "a misunderstanding because [he] has a lot of duties so he didn't have time [to find out the true facts] or because officials did not have time to explain it to him"."

She added "it's happened to me all the time. Those government guys could never keep up with me".

Anyway, upgraded in 2013 and downgraded a year later? I guess 'only talk' doesn't only apply to some other former PM either.

Who was the head military man when the military were involved in the trafficking and have charged foreign journalists with defamation for reporting on the Thai military actions. Wasn't me it was my boss but we don't follow orders of the government anyway and we military people are our own identity.

Yes agree Yingluk like all previous governments didn't do enough to tackle the problem. The military were feeding of the industry and heavily involved and building personal fortunes. There may very well be some of those trying to run the country being involved and pushing all the blame elsewhere. When the military doesn't answer to a government it makes the job extremely hard.

Who was the head military man when the military were involved in the trafficking and have charged foreign journalists with defamation for reporting on the Thai military actions. Wasn't me it was my boss but we don't follow orders of the government anyway and we military people are our own identity.

Yes agree Yingluk like all previous governments didn't do enough to tackle the problem. The military were feeding of the industry and heavily involved and building personal fortunes. There may very well be some of those trying to run the country being involved and pushing all the blame elsewhere. When the military doesn't answer to a government it makes the job extremely hard.

Obviously the military are to be blamed for various governments failing to curb their independence. Equally obvious that only the military are involved in trafficking, or at least that seems to be the suggestion some try to position.

Of course, if all was black and white and true, we have lots of posters acknowledging Thailand to be a failed state. time to call on the UN again I guess?

recalling her government’s interest on the issue

Being interested in a problem is not the same as actually doing something about it.

attempt to solve the problem was always on the agenda

Having something on your agenda is not the same as positive action on the matter.

her government’s concerted effort in tackling human trafficking

Why was not even one of those efforts mentioned? Did the press intentionally leave out where she described where her government took action?

cited her latest report of her government’s effort to dove the problem

Why was not even one of those efforts mentioned? Did the press intentionally leave out where she described where her government took action?

her government’s report which attributed corruption among government officials in solving human trafficking in the fishing industry particularly the Rohinya migrant labour.

Her government attributed the problem to corruption. But what did she DO about the the corruption? Attributing is not the same as positive action on the matter.

the problem could serve as a good lesson for the government to realise the significance of media reports, as well as calls by the human rights groups so as to be efficiently achieve solution of human trafficking on a sustainable basis.

She realized the significance of reports. Realizing is not the same as positive action on the matter.

the first significant step of solving any problem is to accept that the problem does exist so that all efforts could be mobilised to solve this challenging international level problem.

Her government accepted that the problem exists. Accepting is not the same as positive action on the matter.

I believe that Ms Yingluck subscribes to the saying, "If you can't dazzle them with you brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit".

Is the press being biased/incompetent or did she really not say her government did anything of substance? There are a lot of words but "where's the beef". Can anyone name one positive effort by the Yingluck government to end/reduce human trafficking (since Ms Yingluck herself, didn't)? IIRC, there were always stories of human trafficking in the news during her tenure but I can't recall any story of action to prevent/reduce such during her tenure. Does anyone have a link to show her government did anything?

I'm sorry to sound like a troll but this will probably be the way she defends doing nothing to stop the corruption in the Rice Support Program.

if anyone here has been baffled by bullshit, it is those with liberal western upbringings cheerleading the generals oppressing a nation and its citizens

Interesting posts from a 3 hour member, all critical of the current government of the Kingdom....

I tried to highlight Mr. fatjack's info to see his join date. It doesn't highlight so he must no longer a member of the forum. That was fast.

RESPONDING TO PRAYUT

Yingluck defends record on human trafficking, fishing 'slaves'

THE SUNDAY NATION

BANGKOK: -- FORMER prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday defended her administration after Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha claimed that it did nothing to solve human trafficking or forced labour on trawlers.

Yingluck posted a message on Facebook saying her administration had taken the issue seriously and perhaps Prayut had not been informed about the matter by government officials.

She said his comments in a recent interview might be the result of "a misunderstanding because [he] has a lot of duties so he didn't have time [to find out the true facts] or because officials did not have time to explain it to him".

Yingluck said she had to defend herself and her administration in order to prevent a wider misunderstanding domestically and internationally.

Prayut commented after the media revealed that more than |20 Thais had been trafficked |and used as forced labour on trawlers and found themselves trapped on a remote island in Indonesia. The prime minister vowed to make human trafficking suppression a national priority.

He said during his weekly TV address to the nation on Friday night that Thailand's fishing industry had been plagued with human trafficking problems over the past 10 years, which must be seriously addressed.

Yingluck said her administration had always taken the issue seriously.

She said that in 2013 Thailand was upgraded in the United States' Trafficking in Persons report due to her administration delivering a clear plan to tackle the problem.

"The government held several meetings, with either myself as chair or [former] Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanchana as chair on my behalf, and a small working group was set up to tackle specific problems such as [trafficked] trawler boat workers," the former PM said.

Yingluck said that in December 2013 her administration's efforts to tackle the problem resulted in it being praised by senior US diplomat Luis CdeBaca, who is US Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

She added that her administration had compiled the results of its anti-human trafficking work, both quantitatively and qualitatively, adding that 1,300 centres were set up throughout the Kingdom during her tenure to hear complaints and deal with human trafficking.

However, she said human trafficking could not be eradicated overnight.

In a related development, relatives of freed forced trawler workers welcomed home their loved ones at Don Mueang Airport on Friday night.

Yuparat Yothasri, 50, a native of Kalasin, said her son Wuthichai, 30, sought work on a trawler in Samut Sakhon due to poverty and until this week she had not heard of him since 2011.

Some 26 Thais caught in |forced labour were rescued and returned to Thailand on Friday night. They are temporarily being sheltered in Pathum Thani for questioning.

Ten more "rescued" Thais are still on Ambon Island in Indonesia - six of them scheduled to return on Wednesday.

A large number of Burmese are reportedly stuck on other islands in eastern Indonesia.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Yingluck-defends-record-on-human-trafficking-fishi-30256967.html

-- The Nation 2015-03-29

Yingluck said her administration had always taken the issue seriously.

Prove it, honey. Just how seriously did your administration take human trafficking? Name something, anything, concrete your government did to end/reduce human trafficking. How many trafficked persons did your government liberate? In the meantime, General PM Prayut is freeing trafficked persons left, right, and center; from karaoke shops to fishing boats. Prayut isn't just talk, he's a man of action. Too bad he won't stay on long enough to really clean the cesspool. Oh, well, if he can at least remove the Shinawatra turds from the system it will flow more freely.

"She said his comments in a recent interview might be the result of "a misunderstanding because [he] has a lot of duties so he didn't have time [to find out the true facts] or because officials did not have time to explain it to him"."

She added "it's happened to me all the time. Those government guys could never keep up with me".

Anyway, upgraded in 2013 and downgraded a year later? I guess 'only talk' doesn't only apply to some other former PM either.

"She added "it's happened to me all the time. Those government guys could never keep up with me"."

Perhaps if she'd made fewer foreign-trips, the former-PM's government-advisers might have been able, to get in to brief her more-easily ? And she might actually have got to rice-committee meetings, or Parliament, or to implement positive-steps against people-trafficking, more often ? Instead of spending time making speeches in Mongolia and the like.

As I've commented previously, the former-PM might have been better positioned as FM, but then who would the Great Thinker have trusted to do as told lead his party/government, in her place ?

I still feel a little sorry for Yingluck, arguably she was placed in a very difficult role, probably promoted beyond her capabilities, and tried her best out of family-loyalty. Still, she'll always have been Thailand's first female PM, good-for-her in achieving that, at least.

Other than make her family and friends very wealthy ... did she do anything positive while PM?

Dear Yingluck stop smoking Yaba You were take out of office last year and all you did was write a report when all along this was openly considered good business. How many arrested and tried? caught any kingpins? Anyone sent to prision and done time and I mean not the standard here of judges handing 20 years terms but since the person involved gave good information which was never acted got suspend sentence and did no real time behind bars. So you got what was coming and for all hope you get what you earned Oh no Gucci's in Remand.

...actually, I highly doubt she has the skills to write the report herself.

And I'm not convinced she can even read the report and comprehend it.

One doesn't wish to be selfish in the presences of greatness , but lets see what marks the headmaster gives P.M. Prayuth - O and the Junta school of happiness and see if the passing grade for such academic achievements in human trafficking is a plus or minus, previous marks have been anything but disgraceful.

It's Prayut's problem now, the rest of the world doesn't care one bit who he inherited it from.

Man up mate.

True, true, and since he got where he is via a coup, he can only blame himself for having inherited all problems created by others before. Now if only he could indeed be a terrible dictator and order things righted. Fortunately the demands for being democratic are ever growing.

Help me understand. Yingluck is at fault for sea going slavery because she could not get the Thai military look into the matter ? A matter they possibly knew something about ? Most feel, rightly or wrongly, having lived in Thailand, that the military does not answer to the civilian government ? The are self regulating ?

It might be safe to say that it is a shortcoming of all Thai governments past and present. The good general is on record trying to stop the spread of this story. We shall see what happens next.

Of course, Yingluck was the chair of the Human Trafficking Committee.....

How many meetings did she attend?

About the same as in the rice committee.

I guess non of them provided the right 'refreshments

"She said his comments in a recent interview might be the result of "a misunderstanding because [he] has a lot of duties so he didn't have time [to find out the true facts] or because officials did not have time to explain it to him"."

She added "it's happened to me all the time. Those government guys could never keep up with me".

Anyway, upgraded in 2013 and downgraded a year later? I guess 'only talk' doesn't only apply to some other former PM either.

"She added "it's happened to me all the time. Those government guys could never keep up with me"."

Perhaps if she'd made fewer foreign-trips, the former-PM's government-advisers might have been able, to get in to brief her more-easily ? And she might actually have got to rice-committee meetings, or Parliament, or to implement positive-steps against people-trafficking, more often ? Instead of spending time making speeches in Mongolia and the like.

As I've commented previously, the former-PM might have been better positioned as FM, but then who would the Great Thinker have trusted to do as told lead his party/government, in her place ?

I still feel a little sorry for Yingluck, arguably she was placed in a very difficult role, probably promoted beyond her capabilities, and tried her best out of family-loyalty. Still, she'll always have been Thailand's first female PM, good-for-her in achieving that, at least.

I agree with most of that Ric, apart from the last little bit, you don't credit the monkey for buying the organ.

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Who was the head military man when the military were involved in the trafficking and have charged foreign journalists with defamation for reporting on the Thai military actions. Wasn't me it was my boss but we don't follow orders of the government anyway and we military people are our own identity.

Yes agree Yingluk like all previous governments didn't do enough to tackle the problem. The military were feeding of the industry and heavily involved and building personal fortunes. There may very well be some of those trying to run the country being involved and pushing all the blame elsewhere. When the military doesn't answer to a government it makes the job extremely hard.

"Who was the head military man when the military were involved in the trafficking and have charged foreign journalists with defamation for reporting on the Thai military actions."

Well yingluck was the defense minister, she was in charge.

Now back to the topic, Ms. Yingluck's government was really concerned, like with corruption they paid special attention and (barely) managed to stay in the same Tier-2 group. Now please excuse me, I'm going to yahoo a bit. Thanks to Ms. Yingluck's fascination with photo-ops and widely broadcasted or published statements, I have no doubt I can find a lot on how much wonderful 'work' the previous government did and how truly they understand the need and value of 'perception'.

PS I assume the "can guarantee" is a manner of speech. For the moment I'm willing to assume you are not (so deeply) involved as to know up to the "can guarantee" level.

Instead of offering up your smug snotty tangent, I remind you that the former government was not alone in being sabotaged and intimidated when the Rohingya issue was front and centre. It was the Royal Thai Navy that has relentlessly pursued the two reporters on Phuket for their reprinting of the key details of a Reuters news story. Wasn't it I the Royal Thai Navy that did not fully carry out PM Abhisit's instructions and who embarrassed him with the allegations of towing refugees out to sea?

It is a cop out to blame the former government for this mess. The local power structure in the south is so strong and so corrupt that it functions as a state within a state, much as the drug cartels operated as a defacto state until the acting government of the time crushed. The same needs to be done now. The General is right to hold the fishing fleet operators responsible.

If you are so keen on blaming the former PM for this, please explain how the transport mob, and the jet ski thugs still run amok pin Phuket. Please explain to me why the same people implicated in past land encroachments are still at it and are walking free. A mangrove reforestation undertaken by concerned locals was just ripped up, and all their hard work as volunteers squandered by a land developer who decided he "owned" the land. No action has been taken. Not one illegal land developer has faced charges. The land titles office in Phuket wouldn't even co-operate with the central government when there was an investigation undertaken.

Please explain to me why the same small group of powerful wealthy families who were aligned with the Suthep faction of the Democrat party remain untouched. A resort owner who recently had her illegal road through an important drainage area removed. threatened the environmental department officials with retribution as she had important government friends in Bangkok. She is rebuilding her road. PM Yingluck isn't there to blame, so who are her important friends? Who are these powerful allies in Bangkok who have protected the corrupt Phuket cabal and who allowed the human trafficking to flourish, who protected the theft of protected lands and who have protected the criminal monopolies on Phuket?

"Who was the head military man when the military were involved in the trafficking and have charged foreign journalists with defamation for reporting on the Thai military actions."

Well yingluck was the defense minister, she was in charge.

Cute. You know damn well that no civilian defense authority has ever had any control over the military. The military has proclaimed multiple times that it does not answer to civilian governments.

Want to try smearing the former PM again?

It's Prayut's problem now, the rest of the world doesn't care one bit who he inherited it from.

Man up mate.

True, true, and since he got where he is via a coup, he can only blame himself for having inherited all problems created by others before. Now if only he could indeed be a terrible dictator and order things righted. Fortunately the demands for being democratic are ever growing.

I can't wait for the time when you and others are arrested without warrant, or subject to search without warrant or face a military court because you pissed off the wrong person. It eventually happens under military administrations. Law of averages and all that good stuff you know. Old adage of giving someone enough rope to hang himself etc.

Now back to the topic, Ms. Yingluck's government was really concerned, like with corruption they paid special attention and (barely) managed to stay in the same Tier-2 group. Now please excuse me, I'm going to yahoo a bit. Thanks to Ms. Yingluck's fascination with photo-ops and widely broadcasted or published statements, I have no doubt I can find a lot on how much wonderful 'work' the previous government did and how truly they understand the need and value of 'perception'.

PS I assume the "can guarantee" is a manner of speech. For the moment I'm willing to assume you are not (so deeply) involved as to know up to the "can guarantee" level.

Instead of offering up your smug snotty tangent, I remind you that the former government was not alone in being sabotaged and intimidated when the Rohingya issue was front and centre. It was the Royal Thai Navy that has relentlessly pursued the two reporters on Phuket for their reprinting of the key details of a Reuters news story. Wasn't it I the Royal Thai Navy that did not fully carry out PM Abhisit's instructions and who embarrassed him with the allegations of towing refugees out to sea?

It is a cop out to blame the former government for this mess. The local power structure in the south is so strong and so corrupt that it functions as a state within a state, much as the drug cartels operated as a defacto state until the acting government of the time crushed. The same needs to be done now. The General is right to hold the fishing fleet operators responsible.

If you are so keen on blaming the former PM for this, please explain how the transport mob, and the jet ski thugs still run amok pin Phuket. Please explain to me why the same people implicated in past land encroachments are still at it and are walking free. A mangrove reforestation undertaken by concerned locals was just ripped up, and all their hard work as volunteers squandered by a land developer who decided he "owned" the land. No action has been taken. Not one illegal land developer has faced charges. The land titles office in Phuket wouldn't even co-operate with the central government when there was an investigation undertaken.

Please explain to me why the same small group of powerful wealthy families who were aligned with the Suthep faction of the Democrat party remain untouched. A resort owner who recently had her illegal road through an important drainage area removed. threatened the environmental department officials with retribution as she had important government friends in Bangkok. She is rebuilding her road. PM Yingluck isn't there to blame, so who are her important friends? Who are these powerful allies in Bangkok who have protected the corrupt Phuket cabal and who allowed the human trafficking to flourish, who protected the theft of protected lands and who have protected the criminal monopolies on Phuket?

" please explain how the transport mob, and the jet ski thugs still run amok pin Phuket. Please explain to me why the same people implicated in past land encroachments are still at it and are walking free."

The same reason as anywhere in Thailand. Powerful local politicians of all ilks. Just look at Pattaya, same same Phuket but different political spectrum. Phuket is a nightmare they have been getting away with stuff for far to long.. They should be stopped, I believe the Army and Police have been trying in the last few months. No ?

For once, Yingluck is right. As regards Yingluck and her action on the human rights front, her appointment to a ministerial position of Ms Nalinee Taveesin (who is on a US blacklist for her links to human rights champion Robert Mugabe) says it all. The clans interests in blood diamonds and financial shenanigans with the Zimbabwean dictator trumps any thoughts of the poor brutalized souls that suffer for their amply rich pickings.

" please explain how the transport mob, and the jet ski thugs still run amok pin Phuket. Please explain to me why the same people implicated in past land encroachments are still at it and are walking free."

The same reason as anywhere in Thailand. Powerful local politicians of all ilks. Just look at Pattaya, same same Phuket but different political spectrum. Phuket is a nightmare they have been getting away with stuff for far to long.. They should be stopped, I believe the Army and Police have been trying in the last few months. No ?

Try as they might, short of a major intervention, nothing much has happened. The former PM Abhisit made an effort and it was ignored. As was explained to me, certain politicians supposedly aligned with him, told the locals, just ignore him. The same is happening now.

The military has cleaned some commercial businesses off some beaches, but the businesses are making a slow return. There are entrenched figures such as Marine Police, Division 5 responsible for enforcing the laws that BAN all commercial activity such as jet skis and para sail rides. MP5 does nothing. The local mayor of Patong wants change as do others, but the local governor has his own ideas now. Every honest government senior law enforcement official in the past 5 years who started to make headway has faced violence and threats and eventually been forced out. What is one supposed to do when the local land titles office says bugger off we don't have to answer questions when they are told to hand over documents to allow investigations? The tourist police volunteers walked off the job a couple weeks ago because of the current relationship with the police, even going so far to complain that the coppers on Patong beach were in league with the jet ski thugs over the shakedown of tourists. According to my sources, the payoffs from bar owners to the local officials and cops is unchanged from before and continues, although more discreetly.

The army needs to take control of Phuket and arrest any and all officials who refuse to clean up their behaviour. Once that happens, the human trafficking will magically drop off. I'd go so far as to advocate public executions of corrupt officials, but that would be a bit draconian, and could eventually lead to a genocide as I would expect much of the local population would be killed under such a circumstance

"She said his comments in a recent interview might be the result of "a misunderstanding because [he] has a lot of duties so he didn't have time [to find out the true facts] or because officials did not have time to explain it to him"."

She added "it's happened to me all the time. Those government guys could never keep up with me".

Anyway, upgraded in 2013 and downgraded a year later? I guess 'only talk' doesn't only apply to some other former PM either.

"She added "it's happened to me all the time. Those government guys could never keep up with me"."

Perhaps if she'd made fewer foreign-trips, the former-PM's government-advisers might have been able, to get in to brief her more-easily ? And she might actually have got to rice-committee meetings, or Parliament, or to implement positive-steps against people-trafficking, more often ? Instead of spending time making speeches in Mongolia and the like.

As I've commented previously, the former-PM might have been better positioned as FM, but then who would the Great Thinker have trusted to do as told lead his party/government, in her place ?

I still feel a little sorry for Yingluck, arguably she was placed in a very difficult role, probably promoted beyond her capabilities, and tried her best out of family-loyalty. Still, she'll always have been Thailand's first female PM, good-for-her in achieving that, at least.

Yes, she was Thailand's first female PM and first female Defense Minister.

Her brother appointed her to the former and she appointed herself to the latter. Not sure nepotism and self appointment counts as much of an achievement,

She was also removed from the caretaker PM role by a court for abuse of power. Another achievement, the first female PM to be removed by a court.

"Who was the head military man when the military were involved in the trafficking and have charged foreign journalists with defamation for reporting on the Thai military actions."

Well yingluck was the defense minister, she was in charge.

Cute. You know damn well that no civilian defense authority has ever had any control over the military. The military has proclaimed multiple times that it does not answer to civilian governments.

Want to try smearing the former PM again?

Stop pretending GK. Yingluck was the PM and Defense Minister. The DSI and Police were under her (her brother's) control. She could, and should have done far more.

But to easy too luck the other way, especially when you've got both hands firmly in other very nice cookie jars at the time.

He isn't smearing the disgraced former PM/DM. She managed that perfectly well herself by doing nothing other than what her brother instructed which was focused on his amnesty whitewash, enriching the family further, and protecting the family from future criminal accountability.

Just check - how many times did she attend parliament, how many defense meetings did she chair, how many anti-trafficking meeting did she chair? How many trips did she make to the South in either or both capacities?