Cleaning lady

[Siripon]

Th

Thaksin being petulant as usual, his vanity knows no bounds, and his minions at Krungthai Bank have just received jail terms of 18 years.As the mastermind what can he expect ? More years of counting the grains of sand in the Dubai desert.

Glad to see you retain your delightfully batty set of priorities.That's exactly what Thailand needs now - another Orwellian hate fest.After all there aren't any more pressing issues to be dealt with.Still on the plus side it has the merit of distracting attention from the daily roll call of stupidity, corruption,arrogance, incompetence and brutality.

I don't think Thaksin is too concerned at being stuck in Dubai counting grains of sand.He seems to be far more welcome in far more countries than the Generalissimo.

I think Thaksin is very concerned at being stuck in the desert and unable to come back to his homeland. His own ex-wife and mother of his 3 children hasn't visited him in 7 years, I wonder why, perhaps his vanity was too much for her finally.

The older you get the more important family becomes and it must surely hurt to only have sand dunes to gaze at. Money can only do so much.

I would love to be in his position, in Dubai, or many countries that he visits on a whim with all the money I could dream of and havng an old woman not wishing to visit me.

Bliss.

Not bliss at all if you had once had almost complete power in your homeland. Now endlessly going back and forwards between dull locations, always fearful for your life because you have committed so many sins and crimes. Hated by almost every educated person in your own country except for sycophants. No fun at all.

[toybits]

So cute....

[ikke]

The prime minister called Thaksin an unemployed while he had been working hard and more valuable than Thaksin.

Ooh, a pissing contest. I do enjoy a good pissing contest, though I doubt it's very useful to Thailand right now.

Reminds me of kids in a sandpit, but one of them is taking money from the Thai people and hasn't got the right or luxury of behaving like a big kid. No matter how good he is at it.

.........................."but one of them is taking money from the Thai people"................................

Grammar error ! What you should have written was - "but one of them was taking money from the Thai people".................but is now living in the desert in "self imposed exile" !

Oh, you junta lover boy,,,, where did the Gen get is wealth from ?

[Siripon]

Why is he scared of Thaksin?

That's a very good question. And the answer is - because Thaksin can call on an election-winning number of people to support him. Prayuth can call on his Mum, Prem and few of the barstool-squatters in TVF.

Oh, and the International community thinks he's an interloper. And they're right.

If he has so much support why does he not come home to a hero's welcome ? (this should be good)

300,000 soldiers. With guns. And tall hats.

And a few dozen folk who laughingly refer to themselves as judges - all of whom have had their orders. And about 300,000 nimrods who don't mind stopping the traffic in Bangkok. And Suthep/Abhisit'etc, collective IQ about 20 but who shout really really loud the way low-IQ people often do.

Obviously.

Did you *really have to ask why?

Thaksin plundered the nation, policy corruption to benefit his own companies, lunch boxes to judges containing millions of baht to swing criminal verdicts in his favour, he divided the country by openly saying those who voted for him would receive budgets first. The poor love him because of his populist policies but his policies have lost the nation billions, both the rice and rubber policies,All those empty rubber plantations now in Issan and the north- Thaksin's policy

Even the dreadful Airport Link was his idea..Come back Thaksin and face the charges about your NPL loans, looting of Krungthai Bank.

But the coward never admits to a mistake and runs away from responsibility.

[Siripon]

Th

Thaksin being petulant as usual, his vanity knows no bounds, and his minions at Krungthai Bank have just received jail terms of 18 years.As the mastermind what can he expect ? More years of counting the grains of sand in the Dubai desert.

Glad to see you retain your delightfully batty set of priorities.That's exactly what Thailand needs now - another Orwellian hate fest.After all there aren't any more pressing issues to be dealt with.Still on the plus side it has the merit of distracting attention from the daily roll call of stupidity, corruption,arrogance, incompetence and brutality.

I don't think Thaksin is too concerned at being stuck in Dubai counting grains of sand.He seems to be far more welcome in far more countries than the Generalissimo.

I think Thaksin is very concerned at being stuck in the desert and unable to come back to his homeland. His own ex-wife and mother of his 3 children hasn't visited him in 7 years, I wonder why, perhaps his vanity was too much for her finally.

The older you get the more important family becomes and it must surely hurt to only have sand dunes to gaze at. Money can only do so much.

How is it you are privy to the peregrinations of Thaksin's former wife?

Because Thaksin himself whined himself to the press. I don't know if the English language press picked it up or not though.

[Jon Wetherall]

The prime minister called Thaksin an unemployed while he had been working hard and more valuable than Thaksin.

Ooh, a pissing contest. I do enjoy a good pissing contest, though I doubt it's very useful to Thailand right now.

Reminds me of kids in a sandpit, but one of them is taking money from the Thai people and hasn't got the right or luxury of behaving like a big kid. No matter how good he is at it.

.........................."but one of them is taking money from the Thai people"................................

Grammar error ! What you should have written was - "but one of them was taking money from the Thai people".................but is now living in the desert in "self imposed exile" !

Oh, you junta lover boy,,,, where did the Gen get is wealth from ?

Nah, it's OK. You'll get used to Mike. The intellectual's intellectual. He tries hard.

[baboon]

Siripon - Did Thaksin run away with your missus or something? You certainly seem to have a bee in your bonnet...

[Jon Wetherall]

That's a very good question. And the answer is - because Thaksin can call on an election-winning number of people to support him. Prayuth can call on his Mum, Prem and few of the barstool-squatters in TVF.

Oh, and the International community thinks he's an interloper. And they're right.

If he has so much support why does he not come home to a hero's welcome ? (this should be good)

300,000 soldiers. With guns. And tall hats.

And a few dozen folk who laughingly refer to themselves as judges - all of whom have had their orders. And about 300,000 nimrods who don't mind stopping the traffic in Bangkok. And Suthep/Abhisit'etc, collective IQ about 20 but who shout really really loud the way low-IQ people often do.

Obviously.

Did you *really have to ask why?

Thaksin plundered the nation, policy corruption to benefit his own companies, lunch boxes to judges containing millions of baht to swing criminal verdicts in his favour, he divided the country by openly saying those who voted for him would receive budgets first. The poor love him because of his populist policies but his policies have lost the nation billions, both the rice and rubber policies,All those empty rubber plantations now in Issan and the north- Thaksin's policy

Even the dreadful Airport Link was his idea..Come back Thaksin and face the charges about your NPL loans, looting of Krungthai Bank.

But the coward never admits to a mistake and runs away from responsibility.

Well, I could sympathise if he were the only or even the biggest criminal Thailand has produced, but his takings pale into insignificance when compared to others.

The test of any Thaksin critic is" "do they ever talk about anyone else?'

Most of them never do so most of them are without merit.

[Jon Wetherall]

Why is he scared of Thaksin?

That's a very good question. And the answer is - because Thaksin can call on an election-winning number of people to support him. Prayuth can call on his Mum, Prem and few of the barstool-squatters in TVF.

Oh, and the International community thinks he's an interloper. And they're right.

If he has so much support why does he not come home to a hero's welcome ? (this should be good)

300,000 soldiers. With guns. And tall hats.

And a few dozen folk who laughingly refer to themselves as judges - all of whom have had their orders. And about 300,000 nimrods who don't mind stopping the traffic in Bangkok. And Suthep/Abhisit'etc, collective IQ about 20 but who shout really really loud the way low-IQ people often do.

Obviously.

Did you *really have to ask why?

Thaksin plundered the nation, policy corruption to benefit his own companies, lunch boxes to judges containing millions of baht to swing criminal verdicts in his favour, he divided the country by openly saying those who voted for him would receive budgets first. The poor love him because of his populist policies but his policies have lost the nation billions, both the rice and rubber policies,All those empty rubber plantations now in Issan and the north- Thaksin's policy

Even the dreadful Airport Link was his idea..Come back Thaksin and face the charges about your NPL loans, looting of Krungthai Bank.

But the coward never admits to a mistake and runs away from responsibility.

And you haven't stopped talking about him ever since. That's a special kind of obsession. Who gave it to you?

hint: No need to answer, I already know the answer. The same answer it always is.

[jayboy]

Why is he scared of Thaksin?

That's a very good question. And the answer is - because Thaksin can call on an election-winning number of people to support him. Prayuth can call on his Mum, Prem and few of the barstool-squatters in TVF.

Oh, and the International community thinks he's an interloper. And they're right.

If he has so much support why does he not come home to a hero's welcome ? (this should be good)

300,000 soldiers. With guns. And tall hats.

And a few dozen folk who laughingly refer to themselves as judges - all of whom have had their orders. And about 300,000 nimrods who don't mind stopping the traffic in Bangkok. And Suthep/Abhisit'etc, collective IQ about 20 but who shout really really loud the way low-IQ people often do.

Obviously.

Did you *really have to ask why?

Thaksin plundered the nation, policy corruption to benefit his own companies, lunch boxes to judges containing millions of baht to swing criminal verdicts in his favour, he divided the country by openly saying those who voted for him would receive budgets first. The poor love him because of his populist policies but his policies have lost the nation billions, both the rice and rubber policies,All those empty rubber plantations now in Issan and the north- Thaksin's policy

Even the dreadful Airport Link was his idea..Come back Thaksin and face the charges about your NPL loans, looting of Krungthai Bank.

But the coward never admits to a mistake and runs away from responsibility.

Very revealing.You think Thaksin achieves victory after victory because the poor have been bribed with mostly defective populist policies.The educated section of the public oppose him.A crude summary but not I think unfair.

Don't you appreciate that this tension was and can be found in every society? The answer is to work toward social equality and fairness.In Thailand the Democrat Party in particular needs to invigorate itself.

Thaksin is getting on and will soon be irrelevant.His legacy good and bad will remain.Don't you think it would be better to concentrate on narrowing differences rather than obsessively focusing on Thaksin.

[JAG]

Why is he scared of Thaksin?

Because he knows damm well that if it came to a choice, the Thai people would plump for Thaksin rather than him.

[Just1Voice]

The prime minister called Thaksin an unemployed while he had been working hard and more valuable than Thaksin.

Ooh, a pissing contest. I do enjoy a good pissing contest, though I doubt it's very useful to Thailand right now.

Reminds me of kids in a sandpit, but one of them is taking money from the Thai people and hasn't got the right or luxury of behaving like a big kid. No matter how good he is at it.

.........................."but one of them is taking money from the Thai people"................................

Grammar error ! What you should have written was - "but one of them was taking money from the Thai people".................but is now living in the desert in "self imposed exile" !

Oh, you junta lover boy,,,, where did the Gen get is wealth from ?

What? Didn't you know that the good General, like all the other multi-millionaire Generals, married a rich girl? Sheesh, I thought everyone knew that.

Edited September 8, 2015 by Just1Voice

[Siripon]

Siripon - Did Thaksin run away with your missus or something? You certainly seem to have a bee in your bonnet...

baboon, please don't display your ignorance of Thailand, I'm a woman who works in a bank that will remain nameless. I have no bee in my bonnet about Thaksin but perhaps I know more than some folks here. People in banking know all about transactions using gardeners, maids names involving millions of baht.

[coulson]

I think Thaksin is very concerned at being stuck in the desert and unable to come back to his homeland. His own ex-wife and mother of his 3 children hasn't visited him in 7 years, I wonder why, perhaps his vanity was too much for her finally.

The older you get the more important family becomes and it must surely hurt to only have sand dunes to gaze at. Money can only do so much.

How is it you are privy to the peregrinations of Thaksin's former wife?

Because Thaksin himself whined himself to the press. I don't know if the English language press picked it up or not though.

At first I was interested to know what spurred this article, do you have a link?

Doesn't really matter if you ask me, coming out with this sort of stuff is childish, provoked or not.

As far as your assertion that someone is stuck in the desert - Germany/ Singapore/ Montenegro/ USA/ South Korea.......just this year only, I'm probably missing a lot more but you get the point........nobody is stuck in the desert, counting grains of sand.

[Siripon]

Why is he scared of Thaksin?

That's a very good question. And the answer is - because Thaksin can call on an election-winning number of people to support him. Prayuth can call on his Mum, Prem and few of the barstool-squatters in TVF.

Oh, and the International community thinks he's an interloper. And they're right.

If he has so much support why does he not come home to a hero's welcome ? (this should be good)

300,000 soldiers. With guns. And tall hats.

And a few dozen folk who laughingly refer to themselves as judges - all of whom have had their orders. And about 300,000 nimrods who don't mind stopping the traffic in Bangkok. And Suthep/Abhisit'etc, collective IQ about 20 but who shout really really loud the way low-IQ people often do.

Obviously.

Did you *really have to ask why?

Thaksin plundered the nation, policy corruption to benefit his own companies, lunch boxes to judges containing millions of baht to swing criminal verdicts in his favour, he divided the country by openly saying those who voted for him would receive budgets first. The poor love him because of his populist policies but his policies have lost the nation billions, both the rice and rubber policies,All those empty rubber plantations now in Issan and the north- Thaksin's policy

Even the dreadful Airport Link was his idea..Come back Thaksin and face the charges about your NPL loans, looting of Krungthai Bank.

But the coward never admits to a mistake and runs away from responsibility.

Very revealing.You think Thaksin achieves victory after victory because the poor have been bribed with mostly defective populist policies.The educated section of the public oppose him.A crude summary but not I think unfair.

Don't you appreciate that this tension was and can be found in every society? The answer is to work toward social equality and fairness.In Thailand the Democrat Party in particular needs to invigorate itself.

Thaksin is getting on and will soon be irrelevant.His legacy good and bad will remain.Don't you think it would be better to concentrate on narrowing differences rather than obsessively focusing on Thaksin.

jayboy, I think you and I and a large number of both Democrat and Pheua Thai MPs actually agree on a lot of issues but until Pheua Thai and the red shirts can discard Thaksin Thailand is at deadlock.They have to stop being beholden to his money. But patronage politics is so deeply embedded. But despair leads nowhere. I still have hope for police and educational reform!

[Jon Wetherall]

How is it you are privy to the peregrinations of Thaksin's former wife?

Because Thaksin himself whined himself to the press. I don't know if the English language press picked it up or not though.

At first I was interested to know what spurred this article, do you have a link?

Doesn't really matter if you ask me, coming out with this sort of stuff is childish, provoked or not.

As far as your assertion that someone is stuck in the desert - Germany/ Singapore/ Montenegro/ USA/ South Korea.......just this year only, I'm probably missing a lot more but you get the point........nobody is stuck in the desert, counting grains of sand.

That's very true, but these guys need some way to assuage their irrational (and unthinking) hatred. Let them take what pleasure they can wherever they can find it.

[jayboy]

Why is he scared of Thaksin?

That's a very good question. And the answer is - because Thaksin can call on an election-winning number of people to support him. Prayuth can call on his Mum, Prem and few of the barstool-squatters in TVF.

Oh, and the International community thinks he's an interloper. And they're right.

If he has so much support why does he not come home to a hero's welcome ? (this should be good)

300,000 soldiers. With guns. And tall hats.

And a few dozen folk who laughingly refer to themselves as judges - all of whom have had their orders. And about 300,000 nimrods who don't mind stopping the traffic in Bangkok. And Suthep/Abhisit'etc, collective IQ about 20 but who shout really really loud the way low-IQ people often do.

Obviously.

Did you *really have to ask why?

Thaksin plundered the nation, policy corruption to benefit his own companies, lunch boxes to judges containing millions of baht to swing criminal verdicts in his favour, he divided the country by openly saying those who voted for him would receive budgets first. The poor love him because of his populist policies but his policies have lost the nation billions, both the rice and rubber policies,All those empty rubber plantations now in Issan and the north- Thaksin's policy

Even the dreadful Airport Link was his idea..Come back Thaksin and face the charges about your NPL loans, looting of Krungthai Bank.

But the coward never admits to a mistake and runs away from responsibility.

Very revealing.You think Thaksin achieves victory after victory because the poor have been bribed with mostly defective populist policies.The educated section of the public oppose him.A crude summary but not I think unfair.

Don't you appreciate that this tension was and can be found in every society? The answer is to work toward social equality and fairness.In Thailand the Democrat Party in particular needs to invigorate itself.

Thaksin is getting on and will soon be irrelevant.His legacy good and bad will remain.Don't you think it would be better to concentrate on narrowing differences rather than obsessively focusing on Thaksin.

jayboy, I think you and I and a large number of both Democrat and Pheua Thai MPs actually agree on a lot of issues but until Pheua Thai and the red shirts can discard Thaksin Thailand is at deadlock.They have to stop being beholden to his money. But patronage politics is so deeply embedded. But despair leads nowhere. I still have hope for police and educational reform!

I agree.In addition to the worst aspects of Thaksinism being abandoned, the governing class must radically rethink its ideas and be little less arrogant.They should accept they do not have a monopoly on patriotism.They should take a leaf from the British upper class which has retained huge influence and wealth through a much more developed sense of enlightened self interest than its Thai counterpart.

I think police reform should be perfectly possible.Not sure about education.Neither possible under Junta in my view.

[baboon]

Siripon - Did Thaksin run away with your missus or something? You certainly seem to have a bee in your bonnet...

baboon, please don't display your ignorance of Thailand, I'm a woman who works in a bank that will remain nameless. I have no bee in my bonnet about Thaksin but perhaps I know more than some folks here. People in banking know all about transactions using gardeners, maids names involving millions of baht.

Ah yes, the old 'The foreigner can never properly understand' flapdoodle. Always a good cop-out when your back is against the wall. As for your working in a bank, so what, my neighbour does too. She also knows about financial transactions using gardeners, maids names and involving millions of Baht. It is what she gets paid for.

[Siripon]

Siripon - Did Thaksin run away with your missus or something? You certainly seem to have a bee in your bonnet...

baboon, please don't display your ignorance of Thailand, I'm a woman who works in a bank that will remain nameless. I have no bee in my bonnet about Thaksin but perhaps I know more than some folks here. People in banking know all about transactions using gardeners, maids names involving millions of baht.

Ah yes, the old 'The foreigner can never properly understand' flapdoodle. Always a good cop-out when your back is against the wall. As for your working in a bank, so what, my neighbour does too. She also knows about financial transactions using gardeners, maids names and involving millions of Baht. It is what she gets paid for.

Good baboon, ask your neighbour if she knows about transactions of Shinawat employees in the 1990s.

[baboon]

Will do. To what end?

[Siripon]

Will do. To what end?

To show you how stock manipulation takes place.

[Jon Wetherall]

Why is he scared of Thaksin?

That's a very good question. And the answer is - because Thaksin can call on an election-winning number of people to support him. Prayuth can call on his Mum, Prem and few of the barstool-squatters in TVF.

Oh, and the International community thinks he's an interloper. And they're right.

If he has so much support why does he not come home to a hero's welcome ? (this should be good)

300,000 soldiers. With guns. And tall hats.

And a few dozen folk who laughingly refer to themselves as judges - all of whom have had their orders. And about 300,000 nimrods who don't mind stopping the traffic in Bangkok. And Suthep/Abhisit'etc, collective IQ about 20 but who shout really really loud the way low-IQ people often do.

Obviously.

Did you *really have to ask why?

Thaksin plundered the nation, policy corruption to benefit his own companies, lunch boxes to judges containing millions of baht to swing criminal verdicts in his favour, he divided the country by openly saying those who voted for him would receive budgets first. The poor love him because of his populist policies but his policies have lost the nation billions, both the rice and rubber policies,All those empty rubber plantations now in Issan and the north- Thaksin's policy

Even the dreadful Airport Link was his idea..Come back Thaksin and face the charges about your NPL loans, looting of Krungthai Bank.

But the coward never admits to a mistake and runs away from responsibility.

Very revealing.You think Thaksin achieves victory after victory because the poor have been bribed with mostly defective populist policies.The educated section of the public oppose him.A crude summary but not I think unfair.

Don't you appreciate that this tension was and can be found in every society? The answer is to work toward social equality and fairness.In Thailand the Democrat Party in particular needs to invigorate itself.

Thaksin is getting on and will soon be irrelevant.His legacy good and bad will remain.Don't you think it would be better to concentrate on narrowing differences rather than obsessively focusing on Thaksin.

jayboy, I think you and I and a large number of both Democrat and Pheua Thai MPs actually agree on a lot of issues but until Pheua Thai and the red shirts can discard Thaksin Thailand is at deadlock.They have to stop being beholden to his money. But patronage politics is so deeply embedded. But despair leads nowhere. I still have hope for police and educational reform!

I agree.In addition to the worst aspects of Thaksinism being abandoned, the governing class must radically rethink its ideas and be little less arrogant.They should accept they do not have a monopoly on patriotism.They should take a leaf from the British upper class which has retained huge influence and wealth through a much more developed sense of enlightened self interest than its Thai counterpart.

I think police reform should be perfectly possible.Not sure about education.Neither possible under Junta in my view.

Agree in the main, but 2 points of divergence.

First I think we should accept as established fact that Thaksin turned from being admired by the amartya as one of their own to a pariah, simply because his popularity with the Thai people threatened to eclipse the popularity of people whose popularity should not be eclipsed if the revenue streams were to continue in perpetuity. The great unwashed, who became Thaksins natural constituency were much less able to be managed than the (non-Thai) educated, wealthy and in their own eyes 'more civilised' feudal barons among Sino-Thai old money and the Thai nouveau-riche who hoped to supplant them.

Secondly, I don't believe the bulk of his loyal following followed him loyally because of his money, this is (I think) a mistake and way too simplistic. They became a loyal following because he attended to their needs and addressed their justified feelings of having been consigned to forever scrabbling in the dust for scraps from the table of the rich people who became rich by exploiting them. They became an electorate, not a herd of buffaloes fit only for growing rice and menial labour, Dignity has quite a lot to do with it and I think this is generally under-appreciated.

2c worth.

[NovaBlue05]

The very best advice to the General re Thaksin is to say NOTHING. Or to say, "he's no longer relevant", " my focus is on the future not the past", deflect, pass, ignore, but don't get angry and don't bite. He can't win if he continues to react.

I don't get the impression the General is particularly cunning, savvy or even perceptive. He seems to publicly verbalize every emotion that moves him

[jayboy]

Why is he scared of Thaksin?

That's a very good question. And the answer is - because Thaksin can call on an election-winning number of people to support him. Prayuth can call on his Mum, Prem and few of the barstool-squatters in TVF.

Oh, and the International community thinks he's an interloper. And they're right.

If he has so much support why does he not come home to a hero's welcome ? (this should be good)

300,000 soldiers. With guns. And tall hats.

And a few dozen folk who laughingly refer to themselves as judges - all of whom have had their orders. And about 300,000 nimrods who don't mind stopping the traffic in Bangkok. And Suthep/Abhisit'etc, collective IQ about 20 but who shout really really loud the way low-IQ people often do.

Obviously.

Did you *really have to ask why?

Thaksin plundered the nation, policy corruption to benefit his own companies, lunch boxes to judges containing millions of baht to swing criminal verdicts in his favour, he divided the country by openly saying those who voted for him would receive budgets first. The poor love him because of his populist policies but his policies have lost the nation billions, both the rice and rubber policies,All those empty rubber plantations now in Issan and the north- Thaksin's policy

Even the dreadful Airport Link was his idea..Come back Thaksin and face the charges about your NPL loans, looting of Krungthai Bank.

But the coward never admits to a mistake and runs away from responsibility.

Very revealing.You think Thaksin achieves victory after victory because the poor have been bribed with mostly defective populist policies.The educated section of the public oppose him.A crude summary but not I think unfair.

Don't you appreciate that this tension was and can be found in every society? The answer is to work toward social equality and fairness.In Thailand the Democrat Party in particular needs to invigorate itself.

Thaksin is getting on and will soon be irrelevant.His legacy good and bad will remain.Don't you think it would be better to concentrate on narrowing differences rather than obsessively focusing on Thaksin.

jayboy, I think you and I and a large number of both Democrat and Pheua Thai MPs actually agree on a lot of issues but until Pheua Thai and the red shirts can discard Thaksin Thailand is at deadlock.They have to stop being beholden to his money. But patronage politics is so deeply embedded. But despair leads nowhere. I still have hope for police and educational reform!

I agree.In addition to the worst aspects of Thaksinism being abandoned, the governing class must radically rethink its ideas and be little less arrogant.They should accept they do not have a monopoly on patriotism.They should take a leaf from the British upper class which has retained huge influence and wealth through a much more developed sense of enlightened self interest than its Thai counterpart.

I think police reform should be perfectly possible.Not sure about education.Neither possible under Junta in my view.

Agree in the main, but 2 points of divergence.

First I think we should accept as established fact that Thaksin turned from being admired by the amartya as one of their own to a pariah, simply because his popularity with the Thai people threatened to eclipse the popularity of people whose popularity should not be eclipsed if the revenue streams were to continue in perpetuity. The great unwashed, who became Thaksins natural constituency were much less able to be managed than the (non-Thai) educated, wealthy and in their own eyes 'more civilised' feudal barons among Sino-Thai old money and the Thai nouveau-riche who hoped to supplant them.

Secondly, I don't believe the bulk of his loyal following followed him loyally because of his money, this is (I think) a mistake and way too simplistic. They became a loyal following because he attended to their needs and addressed their justified feelings of having been consigned to forever scrabbling in the dust for scraps from the table of the rich people who became rich by exploiting them. They became an electorate, not a herd of buffaloes fit only for growing rice and menial labour, Dignity has quite a lot to do with it and I think this is generally under-appreciated.

2c worth.

Don't disagree with any of this and I admire your skill in making some sensitive points clearly but with discretion. The point about dignity in your last sentence seems to me fundamental.A turning point for me - an instinctive conservative - was the horrible way mainly middle class Sino Thais ( and actually not very well educated in any important sense) described their fellow countrymen on Facebook and other social media.Ironic too since most of them were only a generation or so away from sweating in some Swatow rice paddy.

[Siripon]

I agree with what you say Jon, Thaksin won the hearts of the rural voters because he gave the impression of caring. In fact his Cabinet contained some of the richest people in Thailand but the point is he won the hearts of the rural majority by his populist policies. The problem is his parties from Thai Rak Thai to Pheua Thai have been nothing but family politics, members have no rights, Thaksin thinks, Pheua Thai does being a particularly apt slogan.

The working class, rural or urban, have realized their voice can be heard if united but it's time for their leaders and representatives to come from themselves, the grassroots, not from billionaires with their own agenda.

But it's not easy, there is no massive industrial working class like in the West 100 years ago, Thai workers, farmers all have different and diverse agendas and education is still lacking. But there is hope I believe.

[Linky]

Will do. To what end?

To show you how stock manipulation takes place.

Why dont you stop dancing around things and just come out and say what you know he and his family did.

Instead of planting little seeds pretending you know things and hoping someone expands on the conspiracy theory.

[Baerboxer]

Th

Thaksin being petulant as usual, his vanity knows no bounds, and his minions at Krungthai Bank have just received jail terms of 18 years.As the mastermind what can he expect ? More years of counting the grains of sand in the Dubai desert.

Glad to see you retain your delightfully batty set of priorities.That's exactly what Thailand needs now - another Orwellian hate fest.After all there aren't any more pressing issues to be dealt with.Still on the plus side it has the merit of distracting attention from the daily roll call of stupidity, corruption,arrogance, incompetence and brutality.

I don't think Thaksin is too concerned at being stuck in Dubai counting grains of sand.He seems to be far more welcome in far more countries than the Generalissimo.

I think Thaksin is very concerned at being stuck in the desert and unable to come back to his homeland. His own ex-wife and mother of his 3 children hasn't visited him in 7 years, I wonder why, perhaps his vanity was too much for her finally.

The older you get the more important family becomes and it must surely hurt to only have sand dunes to gaze at. Money can only do so much.

I agree with you.Exile is painful for all the reasons you mention and others.I just question the need for a hate fest.

There is no reason for a hate fest. Thaksin should be treated like any other citizen. He has jumped bail and faces imprisonment and warrants for numerous outstanding court cases. Either do something about it - or ignore him. But don't play silly spiteful tit for tat little games.

But of course they won't do anything meaningful, just like Red Bull boy will never appear in court, various murder and criminal cases will never be really solved and disappeared people will never be found. All to inconvenient and the masses might start realizing what those at the top are really like.

Successive governments have never reformed the police and judicial system so presumably things must work they way they like.

As for Thaksin - I'm sure his billions make him welcome in lots of places, and make him lots of "friends". But he won't come back to Thailand without his amnesty - too risky.

[lildragon]

Siripon you make it sound like it's only the Shinawatra family are capable of huge corruption. Us immigrants here know all this already, but we can also step back and see the bigger picture (well, most of us) he is just one of many, MANY corrupt Thai elite that have been raping Thailand and spitting on the poor before Thaksin was even on the political scene. It happened before him, while he was in power and now that he is gone. The army are in charge right now and has thousands of billionaire generals. How do you think they all got that rich? By being good little savers/stock market experts/married to rich wives?

The corruption problem in Thailand is bigger than the Shinawatra clan.

[Siripon]

Siripon you make it sound like it's only the Shinawatra family are capable of huge corruption. Us immigrants here know all this already, but we can also step back and see the bigger picture (well, most of us) he is just one of many, MANY corrupt Thai elite that have been raping Thailand and spitting on the poor before Thaksin was even on the political scene. It happened before him, while he was in power and now that he is gone. The army are in charge right now and has thousands of billionaire generals. How do you think they all got that rich? By being good little savers/stock market experts/married to rich wives?

The corruption problem in Thailand is bigger than the Shinawatra clan.

thousands of billionaire generals.-perhaps a little exaggerated regarding numbers but you're right regarding corruption. But that doesn't make Thaksin any the better, and this thread is about Prayud stripping Thaksin of his police rank.About time.

[rubl]

reconciliation, not

economic stimulus, not

democracy, not

what is this Prem-wannabe doing?

note to General, I don't think they let B-team losers onto the Privy Council.

Oh the fun of it all. I was told Thaksin couldn't care less, but he does seem as peeved off and a number of posters here.

Somehow some seem to have no problem with a criminal fugitive retaining his former police rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Must be likewise it their own countries I guess. Makes you wonder about the moral integrity of other police forces. The level of moral integrity of the Thai Police Force is not under discussion of course, all already formed an opinion.