An NRC member believes the draft charter will be dumped by the NRC

[Lite Beer]

An NRC member believes the draft charter will be dumped by the NRC

BANGKOK: -- The amended draft constitution is likely to be voted down because of there are over 100 proposed amendments and there is no way that every proposed amendment will be accepted by the Constitution Drafting Committee, said Mr Wanchai Sornsiri, a member of the National Reform Council, on Friday.


The widespread resentment caused by the rejection of their proposed amendments may motivate the dissenters to try to dump the draft charter, he said.

Mr Wanchai pointed out that the approval of the draft charter would lead to a referendum on the draft charter and on reforms which will eventually lead to more debates, more arguments and conflicts.

With the draft charter dumped by the NRC, there will be no referendum and no election and no spending on staging an election. The the process will start all over again with the creation of another NRC, a new CDC to draft a new charter and the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha will stay on in its interim capacity for a certain period of time, said Mr Wanchai.

(Photo : Thai PBS File)

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/an-nrc-member-believes-the-draft-charter-will-be-dumped-by-the-nrc

-- Thai PBS 2015-06-12

[JOC]

And the nonsense in Disneyland continues.......................

And Mickey Mouse just found yet another excuse to extend his stint !!

Normally you would call behavior like this childish, but that would be an insult to the kids...

[phoenixdoglover]

Don't worry, some other guy from the NRC will completely contradict this in 3........2........1........

[Srikcir]

It looks like the democratic soldier Prayut may be without a democracy.

General Prayut forgot that the highest rank in the land is not General but PRIVATE - private citizen that is.

[Srikcir]

Over 100 amendments proposed to the draft 2015 constitution.

There is something fundamentally wrong in NRC's approach. The United Kingdom as one of the oldest constitutional monarchies has no constitution while the USA has one of the most notable democratic constitutions with only 33 amendments since its adoption in 1789.

[smedly]

too many people are full of self importance in Thailand and have this need to be heard, quite a few of them would be better just saying nothing - referring to the OP

Prayuth - take a look at Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew, the man who faced corruption head on and won the battle, a National and International hero and a respected man RIP

If you are 'just" and have a "just" cause then pursue it with great conviction - history will remember you Prayuth Chan (O) Cha as the man who shaped Thai history for the people

[Fat Haggis]

Do you honestly believe what you just wrote?

History in Thailand is repetitive, he will be remembered till the next coup and there will be another one, it's what the army do best

Thise who ignore history are doomed to repeat it !!

[NongKhaiKid]

What's the chances that come the appropriate time all the posturing is likely to be dumped and replaced by an announcement that ' in the best interests of the country the junta has decided to stay on ' ?

[Fat Haggis]

Words like "National Security" and "reconciliation" will be inserted into the announcement as well.

Its all part of the master plan, if the economy survives and starts to rise, imposing their plan long term over the country to the point that the people don't know any different, pretty much the way it is in rural Thailand anyway, the non elected will continue to appoint their friends and colleagues into positions and an election before 2020 will be ruled out.

[JAG]

"With the draft charter dumped by the NRC, there will be no referendum and no election and no spending on staging an election. The the process will start all over again with the creation of another NRC, a new CDC to draft a new charter and the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha will stay on in its interim capacity for a certain period of time, said Mr Wanchai."

Sounds like a result then!

[baboon]

Do you honestly believe what you just wrote?

History in Thailand is repetitive, he will be remembered till the next coup and there will be another one, it's what the army do best

Thise who ignore history are doomed to repeat it !!

Sad thing is, those who have learned from history are doomed to stand helplessly by while those who haven't learned from history repeat it...

[Acharn]

What's the chances that come the appropriate time all the posturing is likely to be dumped and replaced by an announcement that ' in the best interests of the country the junta has decided to stay on ' ?

I don't think that's likely. I think that pattern was broken decisively in 1992. I hope it was. What happens is that after a couple of years people start hearing about the massive corruption in the junta and become restive. At that point the Army installs a new civilian government and goes back to the barracks until the next time, when people have forgotten how corrupt they were. Look, corruption is universal. In every country the rich run things and pay each other off for favors done and steal from the poor. That's just the way the world is. Look at the U.S., for example.

[smedly]

What's the chances that come the appropriate time all the posturing is likely to be dumped and replaced by an announcement that ' in the best interests of the country the junta has decided to stay on ' ?

if the redshirt terrorists are murdering people on the streets or even threatening to then I am all for it

[smedly]

Words like "National Security" and "reconciliation" will be inserted into the announcement as well.

Its all part of the master plan, if the economy survives and starts to rise, imposing their plan long term over the country to the point that the people don't know any different, pretty much the way it is in rural Thailand anyway, the non elected will continue to appoint their friends and colleagues into positions and an election before 2020 will be ruled out.

the most prolific user of buzz words like "reconciliation" was Thaksin and look were that was heading last year, I honestly can't figure you out mate, you post some great informative stuff and yet you still miss the obvious, were do you think we would be now if the military hadn't stepped in ? I have a fair idea and it isn't pretty

[Fat Haggis]

What streets would that be for your terrorists to be killing on pattani? Yala?

Selective terrorists well who would have thought it?

The South IS VERY MUCH a part of Thailand and the killings via terrorism hasn't stopped since the Junta took control?

Oh wait, silly me, it's only relevant if it's terrorists of a red persuasion, red, white yellow green, hijab, balaclava whatever a terrorist is a terrorist no matter what ideology he follows, or am I missing the point that it's really only about Bangkok?

[aussieinthailand]

What's the chances that come the appropriate time all the posturing is likely to be dumped and replaced by an announcement that ' in the best interests of the country the junta has decided to stay on ' ?

SShhhhhhh!!!!!!! You just told everyone the end game,,,,,,,,,,,, stop it or you'll upset some of his bro-mance buddy's here on TV as they don't like the truth when it's exposed to them.

[Fat Haggis]

Words like "National Security" and "reconciliation" will be inserted into the announcement as well.

Its all part of the master plan, if the economy survives and starts to rise, imposing their plan long term over the country to the point that the people don't know any different, pretty much the way it is in rural Thailand anyway, the non elected will continue to appoint their friends and colleagues into positions and an election before 2020 will be ruled out.

the most prolific user of buzz words like "reconciliation" was Thaksin and look were that was heading last year, I honestly can't figure you out mate, you post some great informative stuff and yet you still miss the obvious, were do you think we would be now if the military hadn't stepped in ? I have a fair idea and it isn't pretty

we wouldn't be anywhere, if your eluding towards a civil war, then pretty much all farangs would have been evacuated on a huge scale, but you know my feelings about these claims of civil war, bogus!!

The players that were around last year are still around this year, the same UDD nutters from last year are still around now, so what's stopping them from staring a civil war now?

The arms caches discovers post coup were token finds, propaganda stuff, you of all people should know how powerful propaganda is within he media, there are still millions of weapons on the streets of Thailand, so really the threat of civil war is no different today than it was last year.

I just drove all the way from Korat to BKK this morning, not a single checkpoint to be seen, and yet the Thais are constantly told about National Security Issues, what a load of crap, it's controlling measures, nothing more.

If there was huge security concerns the country would have the Armed Forces on high alert, I only saw a handful of soldiers on my 4 weeks leave and they were shopping in the Korat Mall.

Someone is creating an issue out of nothing, rural Thailand is the same as it has been for the past 3 years.... Quiet!!

Seriously you think the Reds could muster up the forces the weapons, ammo and logistical support to have taken Thailand into an extended conflict, as there's already a civil war in the South, which the army hasn't managed to pacify in 10 years.

I respect your beliefs, but I think you're way off the mark about civil war, based on my own experiences in one, and how long it lasted, and how it was conducted.

For sure the country would be in shit state, but there was a call for elections on February last years, the dems boycotted, and the PDRC blockaded it.

Then there would have been elections called again for July. You know as per the constitution, and the PTP would have been voted out, and the dems would be running the country and the PTP the opposition, so where would the country have been headed? Oh yeah this is what the PDRC and many here claimed, as in the PTP were done, shame the Thais never got to prove them right, or wrong.

Instead their having a NEW constitution that allows coups, gives amnesties to coup makers, puts their people in the right places, what possibly could go wrong there mate?

[phoenixdoglover]

I'm guessing the coup was supposed to happen several months before it did. The Suthep led demonstrations were supposed to provoke a huge red shirt backlash, and the Yingluck government was supposed to crack down some. But that didn't happen. There was a backlash, but it was small scale, and the Yingluck government refused to come down hard on the protesters.

So the protests dwindled (from 7 sites blocking traffic and government offices, to one site and a scattering of marches and protests). And while there were almost daily occurrences of small scale violence (March/April 2014) it was nothing that could not be handled by a police action.

And then, before Suthep gave up completely (he was pretty exhausted at this point), the Army stepped in. Because how ridiculous would it be to have a peaceful Bangkok before the coup?

So this brings us back to the question of "what would have happened without the coup?"

Not much, probably, except a string of setbacks for Yingluck in the Supreme Court. And some resolution for rice farmers, as that was untenable, and Yingluck had pledged to release funds to pay them.

Would the rules about chairs on beaches be different? Would the 80 baht price for lottery tickets be enforced? Would Bangkok street racers feel the glare of official scrutiny? Would farmers be removed from land they occupied and would the government be cutting down their rubber trees? Probably not.

Would the head of CID be arrested? Yes.

Would illegal fishing and human trafficking be addressed? Probably, due to external pressures.

Would Thaksin still have his passports and would he be driving people crazy? Yup.

Edited June 13, 2015 by phoenixdoglover

[phycokiller]

too many people are full of self importance in Thailand and have this need to be heard, quite a few of them would be better just saying nothing - referring to the OP

Prayuth - take a look at Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew, the man who faced corruption head on and won the battle, a National and International hero and a respected man RIP

If you are 'just" and have a "just" cause then pursue it with great conviction - history will remember you Prayuth Chan (O) Cha as the man who shaped Thai history for the people

Prayuth is in a completely different position to Lee Kuan Yew, cant really talk about it but Prayuth is following orders

[somo]

too many people are full of self importance in Thailand and have this need to be heard, quite a few of them would be better just saying nothing - referring to the OP

Prayuth - take a look at Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew, the man who faced corruption head on and won the battle, a National and International hero and a respected man RIP

If you are 'just" and have a "just" cause then pursue it with great conviction - history will remember you Prayuth Chan (O) Cha as the man who shaped Thai history for the people

Lee governed a city state and Prayuth could possbly do the same if he just had Bangkok to worry about (not sure he is capable though) His problem is that he has those pesky poor farmers to deal with as well and they have a lot of votes and don't like him much. Lee won a lot of elections I doubt Prayuth could ever win one.

[smedly]

What streets would that be for your terrorists to be killing on pattani? Yala?

Selective terrorists well who would have thought it?

The South IS VERY MUCH a part of Thailand and the killings via terrorism hasn't stopped since the Junta took control?

Oh wait, silly me, it's only relevant if it's terrorists of a red persuasion, red, white yellow green, hijab, balaclava whatever a terrorist is a terrorist no matter what ideology he follows, or am I missing the point that it's really only about Bangkok?

you know exactly what I am talking about, I'll narrow it down for your benefit - Bangkok last year, your getting close to my ignore button which is rather sad really

[smedly]

Words like "National Security" and "reconciliation" will be inserted into the announcement as well.

Its all part of the master plan, if the economy survives and starts to rise, imposing their plan long term over the country to the point that the people don't know any different, pretty much the way it is in rural Thailand anyway, the non elected will continue to appoint their friends and colleagues into positions and an election before 2020 will be ruled out.

the most prolific user of buzz words like "reconciliation" was Thaksin and look were that was heading last year, I honestly can't figure you out mate, you post some great informative stuff and yet you still miss the obvious, were do you think we would be now if the military hadn't stepped in ? I have a fair idea and it isn't pretty

we wouldn't be anywhere, if your eluding towards a civil war, then pretty much all farangs would have been evacuated on a huge scale, but you know my feelings about these claims of civil war, bogus!!

The players that were around last year are still around this year, the same UDD nutters from last year are still around now, so what's stopping them from staring a civil war now?

The arms caches discovers post coup were token finds, propaganda stuff, you of all people should know how powerful propaganda is within he media, there are still millions of weapons on the streets of Thailand, so really the threat of civil war is no different today than it was last year.

I just drove all the way from Korat to BKK this morning, not a single checkpoint to be seen, and yet the Thais are constantly told about National Security Issues, what a load of crap, it's controlling measures, nothing more.

If there was huge security concerns the country would have the Armed Forces on high alert, I only saw a handful of soldiers on my 4 weeks leave and they were shopping in the Korat Mall.

Someone is creating an issue out of nothing, rural Thailand is the same as it has been for the past 3 years.... Quiet!!

Seriously you think the Reds could muster up the forces the weapons, ammo and logistical support to have taken Thailand into an extended conflict, as there's already a civil war in the South, which the army hasn't managed to pacify in 10 years.

I respect your beliefs, but I think you're way off the mark about civil war, based on my own experiences in one, and how long it lasted, and how it was conducted.

For sure the country would be in shit state, but there was a call for elections on February last years, the dems boycotted, and the PDRC blockaded it.

Then there would have been elections called again for July. You know as per the constitution, and the PTP would have been voted out, and the dems would be running the country and the PTP the opposition, so where would the country have been headed? Oh yeah this is what the PDRC and many here claimed, as in the PTP were done, shame the Thais never got to prove them right, or wrong.

Instead their having a NEW constitution that allows coups, gives amnesties to coup makers, puts their people in the right places, what possibly could go wrong there mate?

The players that were around last year are still around this year, the same UDD nutters from last year are still around now, so what's stopping them from staring a civil war now?

Two reasons, the UDD lost a lot of support after the murder of two innocent children at a market in Trat from a grenade thrown by terrorists and to add insult to the event - the pigs cheered from a redshirt stage.

The army has a deserved tight grip on everyone right now preventing them from taking a (deleted) without them knowing about it

[JAG]

too many people are full of self importance in Thailand and have this need to be heard, quite a few of them would be better just saying nothing - referring to the OP

Prayuth - take a look at Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew, the man who faced corruption head on and won the battle, a National and International hero and a respected man RIP

If you are 'just" and have a "just" cause then pursue it with great conviction - history will remember you Prayuth Chan (O) Cha as the man who shaped Thai history for the people

Lee governed a city state and Prayuth could possbly do the same if he just had Bangkok to worry about (not sure he is capable though) His problem is that he has those pesky poor farmers to deal with as well and they have a lot of votes and don't like him much. Lee won a lot of elections I doubt Prayuth could ever win one.

So disenfranchise them. I suspect that is where we are heading. The problem is how to do it subtly enough to prevent domestic and international reaction. However I'm not sure subtlety is Prayuth or the militarys strong suite.

[pisico]

Words like "National Security" and "reconciliation" will be inserted into the announcement as well.

Its all part of the master plan, if the economy survives and starts to rise, imposing their plan long term over the country to the point that the people don't know any different, pretty much the way it is in rural Thailand anyway, the non elected will continue to appoint their friends and colleagues into positions and an election before 2020 will be ruled out.

Kudos to you!!!

You have described the essense of Thainess as rulers understand it.

It is ingrained in their feudal psyche.

Weapons will rule, not civility.

[heybruce]

I'm guessing the coup was supposed to happen several months before it did. The Suthep led demonstrations were supposed to provoke a huge red shirt backlash, and the Yingluck government was supposed to crack down some. But that didn't happen. There was a backlash, but it was small scale, and the Yingluck government refused to come down hard on the protesters.

So the protests dwindled (from 7 sites blocking traffic and government offices, to one site and a scattering of marches and protests). And while there were almost daily occurrences of small scale violence (March/April 2014) it was nothing that could not be handled by a police action.

And then, before Suthep gave up completely (he was pretty exhausted at this point), the Army stepped in. Because how ridiculous would it be to have a peaceful Bangkok before the coup?

So this brings us back to the question of "what would have happened without the coup?"

Not much, probably, except a string of setbacks for Yingluck in the Supreme Court. And some resolution for rice farmers, as that was untenable, and Yingluck had pledged to release funds to pay them.

Would the rules about chairs on beaches be different? Would the 80 baht price for lottery tickets be enforced? Would Bangkok street racers feel the glare of official scrutiny? Would farmers be removed from land they occupied and would the government be cutting down their rubber trees? Probably not.

Would the head of CID be arrested? Yes.

Would illegal fishing and human trafficking be addressed? Probably, due to external pressures.

Would Thaksin still have his passports and would he be driving people crazy? Yup.

I'm largely in agreement, except I think there were other factors driving the timing of the coup. I think the military's first choice was for another judicial coup, with both Yingluck and the PTP removed from office. However when the courts removed Yingluck in April 2014 but left the PTP, the decision was made to stage a military coup before the proposed July election.

The third week of May was chosen since many major Thai universities were on a between term break that week. Also, a very prominent person who benefited from disengagement was out of the country (journalists aren't sure if that was planned or luck). It was still something of a rush job, they barely got their propaganda office in place the day before the coup http://asiancorrespondent.com/126917/why-are-some-opinion-poll-results-so-positive-of-the-thai-junta/. However I agree that it was thought essential that the coup be staged before the July elections and before Suthep's protests fizzled entirely.

[Acharn]

<snip>

The players that were around last year are still around this year, the same UDD nutters from last year are still around now, so what's stopping them from staring a civil war now?

<snip>

Excellent point. There's absolutely nothing stopping them from starting a civil war now except (maybe) the fact that it wasn't them that was promoting civil war last year, it was the PDRC. Good heavens, man, don't you remember Suthep's speeches? The Final Push? The Final War? The last I heard Suthep was still a monk, although I haven't been following that news so maybe he left the temple against the "advice" the NPOC was giving him.

[Fat Haggis]

Words like "National Security" and "reconciliation" will be inserted into the announcement as well.

Its all part of the master plan, if the economy survives and starts to rise, imposing their plan long term over the country to the point that the people don't know any different, pretty much the way it is in rural Thailand anyway, the non elected will continue to appoint their friends and colleagues into positions and an election before 2020 will be ruled out.

the most prolific user of buzz words like "reconciliation" was Thaksin and look were that was heading last year, I honestly can't figure you out mate, you post some great informative stuff and yet you still miss the obvious, were do you think we would be now if the military hadn't stepped in ? I have a fair idea and it isn't pretty

we wouldn't be anywhere, if your eluding towards a civil war, then pretty much all farangs would have been evacuated on a huge scale, but you know my feelings about these claims of civil war, bogus!!

The players that were around last year are still around this year, the same UDD nutters from last year are still around now, so what's stopping them from staring a civil war now?

The arms caches discovers post coup were token finds, propaganda stuff, you of all people should know how powerful propaganda is within he media, there are still millions of weapons on the streets of Thailand, so really the threat of civil war is no different today than it was last year.

I just drove all the way from Korat to BKK this morning, not a single checkpoint to be seen, and yet the Thais are constantly told about National Security Issues, what a load of crap, it's controlling measures, nothing more.

If there was huge security concerns the country would have the Armed Forces on high alert, I only saw a handful of soldiers on my 4 weeks leave and they were shopping in the Korat Mall.

Someone is creating an issue out of nothing, rural Thailand is the same as it has been for the past 3 years.... Quiet!!

Seriously you think the Reds could muster up the forces the weapons, ammo and logistical support to have taken Thailand into an extended conflict, as there's already a civil war in the South, which the army hasn't managed to pacify in 10 years.

I respect your beliefs, but I think you're way off the mark about civil war, based on my own experiences in one, and how long it lasted, and how it was conducted.

For sure the country would be in shit state, but there was a call for elections on February last years, the dems boycotted, and the PDRC blockaded it.

Then there would have been elections called again for July. You know as per the constitution, and the PTP would have been voted out, and the dems would be running the country and the PTP the opposition, so where would the country have been headed? Oh yeah this is what the PDRC and many here claimed, as in the PTP were done, shame the Thais never got to prove them right, or wrong.

Instead their having a NEW constitution that allows coups, gives amnesties to coup makers, puts their people in the right places, what possibly could go wrong there mate?

The players that were around last year are still around this year, the same UDD nutters from last year are still around now, so what's stopping them from staring a civil war now?

Two reasons, the UDD lost a lot of support after the murder of two innocent children at a market in Trat from a grenade thrown by terrorists and to add insult to the event - the pigs cheered from a redshirt stage.

The army has a deserved tight grip on everyone right now preventing them from taking a (deleted) without them knowing about it

They lost a lot of support, but we're still close to taking the country towards a civil war?

Do you honestly believe the army has more of a grip now on key individuals, any less then they knew who these key personnel was last year?

You don't think for one minute that Army Intelligence hasn't been "monitoring" these players since 2010?

If they hadn't been, then they should have been, no love lost between PTP/UDD and Prayuth. The smart man would have kept his eye on the "trouble makers"

Now either Prayuth is indeed a smart man, who knew where his enemies were all the time last year.... Or ?

I'll leave that up to what you think, as you seem to have a strong affection towards the man, me personally think he's out of his depth, can't handle pressure, and should have retired with his huge fortune, and have had someone with more people skills and personal skills to run the country.

[geriatrickid]

too many people are full of self importance in Thailand and have this need to be heard, quite a few of them would be better just saying nothing - referring to the OP

Prayuth - take a look at Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew, the man who faced corruption head on and won the battle, a National and International hero and a respected man RIP

If you are 'just" and have a "just" cause then pursue it with great conviction - history will remember you Prayuth Chan (O) Cha as the man who shaped Thai history for the people

Please stop using Singapore as a model. There is corruption in Singapore and it is at a state sanctioned level. This issue has already been dealt with in other threads and the corruption includes activities such as; money laundering; Singapore financial institutions and intermediaries role in the aiding and abetting international tax evaders, the busting of international sanctions in the trade of endangered species and protected animals, Singapore's role as a parking place for sanctioned governments and despots' assets, and a host of other grim activities. Singapore has a very strong and well protected organized crime problem and it runs the extensive gambling, prostitution and resulting extortion rings.

Yes, corruption at the Singapore street level looks like it is non existent, but you are perpetuating a myth that the Singapore government puts out to support the draconian police state with limited civil rights that characterize the small city state. Singapore cannot be compared to Thailand. One is a compact little city, while the other is many times the others size and has problems and issues many times greater. Singapore is not a good example.

The fact is, corruption is endemic in Asia, whether it be Japan or India or Hong Kong or Thailand. It is just practiced in different forms. An appropriate example of corruption control would be Denmark, or Sweden or Australia, or Germany or any other democratic country. They all have corruption issues, but they have a culture where people do not support the practice and where there are procedures in place to deal with corruption. Corruption is not as acceptable nor as widespread in democratic countries. This is because governments and elected officials are accountable to the people. As soon as the accountability of governments is removed, corruption grows. In Thailand who watches the military? Who does the military justify its bloated budget to? Where else is a military able to run a state within a state complete with its own business operations? Aside from Thailand, examples that come to mind are China and Egypt. Corrupt despot states.

[heybruce]

too many people are full of self importance in Thailand and have this need to be heard, quite a few of them would be better just saying nothing - referring to the OP

Prayuth - take a look at Singapore - Lee Kuan Yew, the man who faced corruption head on and won the battle, a National and International hero and a respected man RIP

If you are 'just" and have a "just" cause then pursue it with great conviction - history will remember you Prayuth Chan (O) Cha as the man who shaped Thai history for the people

Please stop using Singapore as a model. There is corruption in Singapore and it is at a state sanctioned level. This issue has already been dealt with in other threads and the corruption includes activities such as; money laundering; Singapore financial institutions and intermediaries role in the aiding and abetting international tax evaders, the busting of international sanctions in the trade of endangered species and protected animals, Singapore's role as a parking place for sanctioned governments and despots' assets, and a host of other grim activities. Singapore has a very strong and well protected organized crime problem and it runs the extensive gambling, prostitution and resulting extortion rings.

Yes, corruption at the Singapore street level looks like it is non existent, but you are perpetuating a myth that the Singapore government puts out to support the draconian police state with limited civil rights that characterize the small city state. Singapore cannot be compared to Thailand. One is a compact little city, while the other is many times the others size and has problems and issues many times greater. Singapore is not a good example.

The fact is, corruption is endemic in Asia, whether it be Japan or India or Hong Kong or Thailand. It is just practiced in different forms. An appropriate example of corruption control would be Denmark, or Sweden or Australia, or Germany or any other democratic country. They all have corruption issues, but they have a culture where people do not support the practice and where there are procedures in place to deal with corruption. Corruption is not as acceptable nor as widespread in democratic countries. This is because governments and elected officials are accountable to the people. As soon as the accountability of governments is removed, corruption grows. In Thailand who watches the military? Who does the military justify its bloated budget to? Where else is a military able to run a state within a state complete with its own business operations? Aside from Thailand, examples that come to mind are China and Egypt. Corrupt despot states.

"Where else is a military able to run a state within a state complete with its own business operations?"

Egypt, Pakistan, Myanmar...

Not good role models.