Need advice for an automatic bike

[webfact]

Prayut ends long reluctance to strip Thaksin of police rank
JEERAPONG PRASERTPOLKRUNG
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- THE PRIME MINISTER has signed off on the Royal Thai Police's order stripping ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra of his title of police lieutenant-colonel, after previous governments failed to do so. "Officials are preparing to seek royal endorsement," General Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday.

"I have just signed acknowledgement of the police force's proposal."

The police were expected next to move to retract Thaksin's royal decorations, he said.

National police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang had earlier this week proposed to the Cabinet the revocation of Thaksin's police rank, after a fact-finding committee concluded that, according to police-force regulations, the ex-PM's title should be annulled because he had been sentenced to prison.

Prayut said many hundreds of police and military officers had lost their titles for similar reasons. "But their cases went unreported in the media. That was because they were not so famous.

"You should not care much about the names. Their rank will be revoked if they are guilty. As many as 600 to 700 people already got their ranks revoked. But the media didn't care because they were not big names," he said.

If Thaksin opposes the move, it will not be a concern, the general said.

"I'm not fighting with anyone. If he enters the country, he'll be arrested. And if he encourages wrongdoing, he'll be arrested. Those who do wrongdoing in the country will also be arrested. But I ask them to refrain from doing so," Prayut said.

Thaksin has been living outside the country in self-imposed exile after the Supreme Court in 2008 sentenced him to two years in jail for abusing his power while prime minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is in charge of the government's legal affairs, said Thaksin's title could be withdrawn even though he had long left the police force, as there were precedents.

"Police have reported that in some cases the persons involved had left the police force for five to 10 years. But they got their police ranks revoked for committing wrongdoing. Even someone with an honorary police title was also stripped of it," he said.

On Wednesday, Somyot said he had signed the order and forwarded it to the Cabinet Secretariat on Monday for endorsement, on recommendation from a police fact-finding committee.

The panel also cited Thaksin's recent interview with foreign media regarding the military coup last year, claiming it had adversely affected the royal institution.

Somyot insisted that he was simply doing his duty and following the law.

"I hope that people and society will understand," he said.

Some previous administrations had tried to enforce police regulations covering police titles on Thaksin, but those attempts did not succeed, as certain elements in the force refused to cooperate.

Even under this government, when the ball was in the police's court, the process of relieving Thaksin of his officer title dragged on for several months before the police chief's signing of his order on Monday.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Prayut-ends-long-reluctance-to-strip-Thaksin-of-po-30268105.html


-- The Nation 2015-09-04

[davehowden]

"Much ado about nothing"

Meanwhile, in the real World .......................

[thesetat2013]

Well now! If Mr. P thinks he will just have all wrongdoers arrested then surely they will need to build more prisons. But since the Gov decided that building more prisons would be admitting that the people are getting worse and the problems are escalating then none of this will ever happen. As for Thak! How can they arrest him for inciting trouble if he never enters the country? His police title revocation is long overdue and perhaps it may put an end to police here having to go to him and seek approval before getting high positions. Then again, maybe not

[Blackfalds]

One of the striking elements of recent political conflicts has been the deep and highly personalized nature of the opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, many of those close to the military junta and in the leadership of the various anti-democrat movements have expressed a deep personal hatred of the man.

That side of the political divide have been particularly keen to remove any royal "honors" that still adhere to Thaksin as presaged in this article, considering these a personal affront to their world of status and hierarchy.

Not sure what this accomplishes for them, other than scratching their itch against the architect of the process that lead to losing their electoral control.

In fact, this vindictiveness merely cements that electoral reality. To on one hand bite the hand of the electoral majority who have comfortably moved beyond Thaksin, but retain their strong sense of electoral entitlement, is small gain.....Their talk of reconciliation as cover for eliminating political diversity will be a steep hill to climb. Long term coercive control is their only option.

[chainarong]

I am not sure of what this accomplishes Blackfalds either , but if Junta leader Prayut - O is looking for reconciliation he's certainly doing a weird job of it, but lets not attack the man from Lotto , lets just see what this means , nothing, not a darn thing, the person concerned is not even in Thailand , it means less than losing your drivers licence and with the economic mess Thailand is tumbling into, one might be rude enough to point out the obvious, Thailand has more important fish to fry than worry about rubbish like this .

[MZurf]

One of the striking elements of recent political conflicts has been the deep and highly personalized nature of the opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, many of those close to the military junta and in the leadership of the various anti-democrat movements have expressed a deep personal hatred of the man.

The old snouts in the trough hated the new snouts pushing them out of the trough, and in particular the head snout. That the head snout in addition had the temerity to stir the tanned masses into believing they could actually have a say added insult to injury.

What we see today has (sadly) got nothing to do with principles and morality and everything to do with money and power.

[spidermike007]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

[mancub]

600-700 already had their ranks revoked - due to wrong-doing, or having been given a prison sentence, or similar reasons? Doesn't inspire much confidence in the integrity of the RTP.

[Bakseeda]

One of the striking elements of recent political conflicts has been the deep and highly personalized nature of the opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, many of those close to the military junta and in the leadership of the various anti-democrat movements have expressed a deep personal hatred of the man.

That side of the political divide have been particularly keen to remove any royal "honors" that still adhere to Thaksin as presaged in this article, considering these a personal affront to their world of status and hierarchy.

Not sure what this accomplishes for them, other than scratching their itch against the architect of the process that lead to losing their electoral control.

In fact, this vindictiveness merely cements that electoral reality. To on one hand bite the hand of the electoral majority who have comfortably moved beyond Thaksin, but retain their strong sense of electoral entitlement, is small gain.....Their talk of reconciliation as cover for eliminating political diversity will be a steep hill to climb. Long term coercive control is their only option.

Good morning Blackfalds .... Why don't you say what you mean..?? And... Long term coercive control is their only option... I hope you mean "their" as the whole Thai Nation......

Thaksin Shinewatra was and is a vile evil man of the same ilk as Adolf Hitler . His party won elections by bribery and absolute corruption. He is the worst stain in Thailands history .. ever.... "Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai acts". I'm referring of course to Thaksin's clear culpability in the matter of his 2003 "war on drugs", and following on, his responsibility for igniting the ethnic-religious conflict in the deep South. For more than 10 years now Thaksin has evaded responsibility for these _ the most heinous of his crimes.

And you say "vindictiveness" ...? get a life Blackfalds ... WAKE-UP.....

[IamNoone88]

I would have thought his arrest in another country would be more important?

[Stradavarius37]

One of the striking elements of recent political conflicts has been the deep and highly personalized nature of the opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, many of those close to the military junta and in the leadership of the various anti-democrat movements have expressed a deep personal hatred of the man.

The old snouts in the trough hated the new snouts pushing them out of the trough, and in particular the head snout. That the head snout in addition had the temerity to stir the tanned masses into believing they could actually have a say added insult to injury.

What we see today has (sadly) got nothing to do with principles and morality and everything to do with money and power.

A little more too it than that...

[MZurf]

One of the striking elements of recent political conflicts has been the deep and highly personalized nature of the opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, many of those close to the military junta and in the leadership of the various anti-democrat movements have expressed a deep personal hatred of the man.

The old snouts in the trough hated the new snouts pushing them out of the trough, and in particular the head snout. That the head snout in addition had the temerity to stir the tanned masses into believing they could actually have a say added insult to injury.

What we see today has (sadly) got nothing to do with principles and morality and everything to do with money and power.

A little more too it than that...

I do think that is the essence of the conflict. If you don't agree then please elaborate.

[NanLaew]

Maybe it means a lot in a country where people are allowed to publicly retain their police, military or government ranks even after they have given up the uniform, entered public office, went into business or just retired. I don't know of any other countries that allow this powerful enabler of feudal patronage and sycophancy that contributes significantly to the deep corruption here.

[jvs]

I think a massive loss of face comes to mind also,you can wait for a reaction to come.Someone may take this personal.

[eliotness]

One of the striking elements of recent political conflicts has been the deep and highly personalized nature of the opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, many of those close to the military junta and in the leadership of the various anti-democrat movements have expressed a deep personal hatred of the man.

That side of the political divide have been particularly keen to remove any royal "honors" that still adhere to Thaksin as presaged in this article, considering these a personal affront to their world of status and hierarchy.

Not sure what this accomplishes for them, other than scratching their itch against the architect of the process that lead to losing their electoral control.

In fact, this vindictiveness merely cements that electoral reality. To on one hand bite the hand of the electoral majority who have comfortably moved beyond Thaksin, but retain their strong sense of electoral entitlement, is small gain.....Their talk of reconciliation as cover for eliminating political diversity will be a steep hill to climb. Long term coercive control is their only option.

Good morning Blackfalds .... Why don't you say what you mean..?? And... Long term coercive control is their only option... I hope you mean "their" as the whole Thai Nation......

Thaksin Shinewatra was and is a vile evil man of the same ilk as Adolf Hitler . His party won elections by bribery and absolute corruption. He is the worst stain in Thailands history .. ever.... "Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai acts". I'm referring of course to Thaksin's clear culpability in the matter of his 2003 "war on drugs", and following on, his responsibility for igniting the ethnic-religious conflict in the deep South. For more than 10 years now Thaksin has evaded responsibility for these _ the most heinous of his crimes.

And you say "vindictiveness" ...? get a life Blackfalds ... WAKE-UP.....

Your understanding of history is rather strange as shown by saying Thaksin is of the same ilk as Adolf Hitler. I suggest you calm down, read a few good history books, and then check a few dictionaries for the definition of populist policies Vs corruption. By the way the current "government" has tried to pull a few populist moves themselves, e.g. support for farmers.

[MZurf]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

[WhizBang]

One of the striking elements of recent political conflicts has been the deep and highly personalized nature of the opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, many of those close to the military junta and in the leadership of the various anti-democrat movements have expressed a deep personal hatred of the man.

That side of the political divide have been particularly keen to remove any royal "honors" that still adhere to Thaksin as presaged in this article, considering these a personal affront to their world of status and hierarchy.

Not sure what this accomplishes for them, other than scratching their itch against the architect of the process that lead to losing their electoral control.

In fact, this vindictiveness merely cements that electoral reality. To on one hand bite the hand of the electoral majority who have comfortably moved beyond Thaksin, but retain their strong sense of electoral entitlement, is small gain.....Their talk of reconciliation as cover for eliminating political diversity will be a steep hill to climb. Long term coercive control is their only option.

What a load of rubbish.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

I think Thailand has bigger problems facing today than some wannabe hiso Montenegrian. Muzzies come to mind.

[spidermike007]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

I could not disagree more adamantly. He knew, when he went into exile, that he was going to stir things up as much as possible. He used his every asset to install his sister into power, so he could maintain control from abroad. He was too cowardly to return here, to face charges. Had he done that, he might have served 12 months in jail, and been enjoying life in his homeland. Instead he became the most divisive figure in recent Thai political history. Yes, he was clever enough to endear the poor to himself, through some progressive policies and by helping people who had never received anything from the central government, in their entire lifetimes. But, that does not forgive his methods. He is a megalomaniacal madman.

[MZurf]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

I could not disagree more adamantly. He knew, when he went into exile, that he was going to stir things up as much as possible. He used his every asset to install his sister into power, so he could maintain control from abroad. He was too cowardly to return here, to face charges. Had he done that, he might have served 12 months in jail, and been enjoying life in his homeland. Instead he became the most divisive figure in recent Thai political history. Yes, he was clever enough to endear the poor to himself, through some progressive policies and by helping people who had never received anything from the central government, in their entire lifetimes. But, that does not forgive his methods. He is a megalomaniacal madman.

I never said we should forgive his methods. He is many things ( and almost all of them negative) and Thailand would be better off if he was hit by a bus in Dubai. But don't use him as an excuse for junta rule.

[oldsailor35]

Seems that this "Self appointed" PM is more interested in retribution than reconciliation or getting the country back on its feet.

[Toscano]

My wife is a school teacher and government officer , so every Monday morning dons her uniform with gold eppaulets and medals .

Since I first came to Thailand I admired the buff coloured civil uniform . I have seen uniform shirt and trousers displayed in shop windows .

I said to my wife , " I think I'll buy a uniform , with gold eppaulets and medal and will call it Falang uniform " . Only joking of course !

My wife was very indignant that I couldn't wear a uniform as Thai professionals do ; that it would make a mockery of Thai uniforms .

The significance of stripping a long retired police officer of his rank , is born out in the importance to all Thais of uniform and rank .

All teachers and possibly all civil servants wear the same strip of medal ribons , when they haven't participated in any military campaign .

If Thaksin has his formal uniform with him , including gold eppaulets , medals , ribbon and stars , he can still put it on for a photo shoot which will be seen in Thailand ,

Much to the annoyance of the PM and Thai elite . In truth the stripping of a retired police officers rank , would mean the loss of his pension , which would really hurt .

As Thaksin is a rich man , he doesn't need a police pension and he may smile to think how important it is to the PM to strip him of his police Lt. Col. rank .

[oldsailor35]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

I could not disagree more adamantly. He knew, when he went into exile, that he was going to stir things up as much as possible. He used his every asset to install his sister into power, so he could maintain control from abroad. He was too cowardly to return here, to face charges. Had he done that, he might have served 12 months in jail, and been enjoying life in his homeland. Instead he became the most divisive figure in recent Thai political history. Yes, he was clever enough to endear the poor to himself, through some progressive policies and by helping people who had never received anything from the central government, in their entire lifetimes. But, that does not forgive his methods. He is a megalomaniacal madman.

Only an idiot would have returned to face the "Kangaroo court" that condemned him in the first place. Would you have ?

[spidermike007]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

I could not disagree more adamantly. He knew, when he went into exile, that he was going to stir things up as much as possible. He used his every asset to install his sister into power, so he could maintain control from abroad. He was too cowardly to return here, to face charges. Had he done that, he might have served 12 months in jail, and been enjoying life in his homeland. Instead he became the most divisive figure in recent Thai political history. Yes, he was clever enough to endear the poor to himself, through some progressive policies and by helping people who had never received anything from the central government, in their entire lifetimes. But, that does not forgive his methods. He is a megalomaniacal madman.

I never said we should forgive his methods. He is many things ( and almost all of them negative) and Thailand would be better off if he was hit by a bus in Dubai. But don't use him as an excuse for junta rule.

And I don't. I am no fan of Little P, nor military rule. But, to be fair, it was a very complicated situation. To be objective, I could not determine any way out of that impasse back then. Not sure if this was the answer. But, the extent of the discord, the total lack of unity, the near shutdown of the capital, the violence, the venom, the hooligans like Chalerm, the incompetents like Abhisit, and and the absolute lack of viable candidates for an election made it a very ugly situation. Here is a link to a very good summary of the events that lead to this crisis and the earlier crisis:

https://assassinationthaksin.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/back-to-thailands-future-thailands-current-explosive-political-scene-from-present-to-origin/

[MZurf]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

I could not disagree more adamantly. He knew, when he went into exile, that he was going to stir things up as much as possible. He used his every asset to install his sister into power, so he could maintain control from abroad. He was too cowardly to return here, to face charges. Had he done that, he might have served 12 months in jail, and been enjoying life in his homeland. Instead he became the most divisive figure in recent Thai political history. Yes, he was clever enough to endear the poor to himself, through some progressive policies and by helping people who had never received anything from the central government, in their entire lifetimes. But, that does not forgive his methods. He is a megalomaniacal madman.

I never said we should forgive his methods. He is many things ( and almost all of them negative) and Thailand would be better off if he was hit by a bus in Dubai. But don't use him as an excuse for junta rule.

And I don't. I am no fan of Little P, nor military rule. But, to be fair, it was a very complicated situation. To be objective, I could not determine any way out of that impasse back then. Not sure if this was the answer. But, the extent of the discord, the total lack of unity, the near shutdown of the capital, the violence, the venom, the hooligans like Chalerm, the incompetents like Abhisit, and and the absolute lack of viable candidates for an election made it a very ugly situation. Here is a link to a very good summary of the events that lead to this crisis and the earlier crisis:

https://assassinationthaksin.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/back-to-thailands-future-thailands-current-explosive-political-scene-from-present-to-origin/

Yes, you could call it a complicated situation. The last government was mind-boggingly inept, corruption (I'm sure) was rampant and PTP tried to sneak an amnesty through parliament.

But the PTP won the election (fairly) fair and square and the correct way of unseating them would have been in an election. It's fairly obvious that the current junta and their supporters created a situation where the army "had" to take over. I'm certain the PTP lost a lot of support in the last few months of their reign but it's not their fault the then opposition (Dems) were totally unable to take advantage of the situation.

[Thai at Heart]

If he didn't have so many guns, he wouldn't have a rank now either.

[billd766]

Maybe it means a lot in a country where people are allowed to publicly retain their police, military or government ranks even after they have given up the uniform, entered public office, went into business or just retired. I don't know of any other countries that allow this powerful enabler of feudal patronage and sycophancy that contributes significantly to the deep corruption here.

IIRC in the UK retired military officers are allowed to keep their substantive rank but must add Rtd after it. OTOH us poor non officer soldiers, sailors and airmen are not allowed to do so for some odd reason.

It doesn't bother me as long as I still get the pension paid.

I could always use my ex Home Office title of TET (Telecom Engineering Technician) or my Motorola title of Senior field engineer or even my own company title of Managing Director but it makes no difference as I have no "face" to save.

[Thai at Heart]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

I could not disagree more adamantly. He knew, when he went into exile, that he was going to stir things up as much as possible. He used his every asset to install his sister into power, so he could maintain control from abroad. He was too cowardly to return here, to face charges. Had he done that, he might have served 12 months in jail, and been enjoying life in his homeland. Instead he became the most divisive figure in recent Thai political history. Yes, he was clever enough to endear the poor to himself, through some progressive policies and by helping people who had never received anything from the central government, in their entire lifetimes. But, that does not forgive his methods. He is a megalomaniacal madman.

I never said we should forgive his methods. He is many things ( and almost all of them negative) and Thailand would be better off if he was hit by a bus in Dubai. But don't use him as an excuse for junta rule.

And I don't. I am no fan of Little P, nor military rule. But, to be fair, it was a very complicated situation. To be objective, I could not determine any way out of that impasse back then. Not sure if this was the answer. But, the extent of the discord, the total lack of unity, the near shutdown of the capital, the violence, the venom, the hooligans like Chalerm, the incompetents like Abhisit, and and the absolute lack of viable candidates for an election made it a very ugly situation. Here is a link to a very good summary of the events that lead to this crisis and the earlier crisis:

https://assassinationthaksin.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/back-to-thailands-future-thailands-current-explosive-political-scene-from-present-to-origin/

Yes, you could call it a complicated situation. The last government was mind-boggingly inept, corruption (I'm sure) was rampant and PTP tried to sneak an amnesty through parliament.

But the PTP won the election (fairly) fair and square and the correct way of unseating them would have been in an election. It's fairly obvious that the current junta and their supporters created a situation where the army "had" to take over. I'm certain the PTP lost a lot of support in the last few months of their reign but it's not their fault the then opposition (Dems) were totally unable to take advantage of the situation.

The problem is the countless rewrites of constitutions while failing to reform various parts of the civil service to move the country to a more steady footing to prevent corruption but allow government to rule the country.

Every constitution will have its foibles but without a strong independent judiciary, nothing will work.

The hand wringing of the constitution court to find a way to prevent the government making modification was pitiful and always open to accusation of political bias.

Until courts stop swaying to the whim of the day, to manage democracy to the wishes of the few, this stop start coup, rewrite and election will continue.

Constitutions should set a strong clear framework for the country. How many pages and clauses does the new one have? It should support various inalienable rights and step back, not be continually have to be interpreted to see how it works in reality.

[billd766]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

I could not disagree more adamantly. He knew, when he went into exile, that he was going to stir things up as much as possible. He used his every asset to install his sister into power, so he could maintain control from abroad. He was too cowardly to return here, to face charges. Had he done that, he might have served 12 months in jail, and been enjoying life in his homeland. Instead he became the most divisive figure in recent Thai political history. Yes, he was clever enough to endear the poor to himself, through some progressive policies and by helping people who had never received anything from the central government, in their entire lifetimes. But, that does not forgive his methods. He is a megalomaniacal madman.

However if Thaksin had returned to serve his sentence then he would have been back in court facing the other 15 charges against him and if the sentences were to be served consecutively instead of concurrently he would never have been released from prison.

[spidermike007]

Anything that can be done to diminish this felon is a positive thing for the nation. He has devoted so much time, effort and money trying to tear his nation apart, and he deserves whatever is coming to him, at this point. To call him disingenuous would be an insult to those types around the world. He redefines a lack of sincerity.

Yes, use the bogeyman in Dubai as a blanket excuse for anything and everything that's going on today. How ingenuous! He stirred the tanned masses of the North/North East out of their stupor (btw, purely for selfish reasons) and now the genie can't be put back into the bottle. This cannot be tolerated by the old elite, as we have clearly seen. Thaksin never wanted to tear the country apart. He's a business man - why would he? What we see today (the division in society) is just a result of him using the "peasants" as a power base.

I could not disagree more adamantly. He knew, when he went into exile, that he was going to stir things up as much as possible. He used his every asset to install his sister into power, so he could maintain control from abroad. He was too cowardly to return here, to face charges. Had he done that, he might have served 12 months in jail, and been enjoying life in his homeland. Instead he became the most divisive figure in recent Thai political history. Yes, he was clever enough to endear the poor to himself, through some progressive policies and by helping people who had never received anything from the central government, in their entire lifetimes. But, that does not forgive his methods. He is a megalomaniacal madman.

I never said we should forgive his methods. He is many things ( and almost all of them negative) and Thailand would be better off if he was hit by a bus in Dubai. But don't use him as an excuse for junta rule.

And I don't. I am no fan of Little P, nor military rule. But, to be fair, it was a very complicated situation. To be objective, I could not determine any way out of that impasse back then. Not sure if this was the answer. But, the extent of the discord, the total lack of unity, the near shutdown of the capital, the violence, the venom, the hooligans like Chalerm, the incompetents like Abhisit, and and the absolute lack of viable candidates for an election made it a very ugly situation. Here is a link to a very good summary of the events that lead to this crisis and the earlier crisis:

https://assassinationthaksin.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/back-to-thailands-future-thailands-current-explosive-political-scene-from-present-to-origin/

Yes, you could call it a complicated situation. The last government was mind-boggingly inept, corruption (I'm sure) was rampant and PTP tried to sneak an amnesty through parliament.

But the PTP won the election (fairly) fair and square and the correct way of unseating them would have been in an election. It's fairly obvious that the current junta and their supporters created a situation where the army "had" to take over. I'm certain the PTP lost a lot of support in the last few months of their reign but it's not their fault the then opposition (Dems) were totally unable to take advantage of the situation.

The problem is the countless rewrites of constitutions while failing to reform various parts of the civil service to move the country to a more steady footing to prevent corruption but allow government to rule the country.

Every constitution will have its foibles but without a strong independent judiciary, nothing will work.

The hand wringing of the constitution court to find a way to prevent the government making modification was pitiful and always open to accusation of political bias.

Until courts stop swaying to the whim of the day, to manage democracy to the wishes of the few, this stop start coup, rewrite and election will continue.

Constitutions should set a strong clear framework for the country. How many pages and clauses does the new one have? It should support various inalienable rights and step back, not be continually have to be interpreted to see how it works in reality.

All good points. But, you are talking about a strong, independent, competent, and uncompromised judiciary. How many decades might it be, until this nation is blessed with one of those? Not to mention the prosecutors, who are equally compromised, and just as weak and feeble.