Thaksin tells Thailand's red shirt opposition - 'play dead'... for now

[happynthailand]

Mr. T's people read thaivisa,they get a woody every time they see his name on the internet,because it keeps Mr. T's name in the news

get a life

Edited September 20, 2015 by happynthailand

[maidee]

how hard is it to catch him, bring him back on a private "diplomatic" plane, put him in jail after trial ?

can the governement not give a 100 million reward for that ? might motivate some people

[billd766]

Bla bla bla, Hardcore Thaksinistas doing everything the man in Dubai orders, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES they get screwed over aka brainwashed again and again and again, they'd STILL follow him 4ever.

follow Thaksin forever means: while he has money to hand out!

Thaksin is an old man and will not live forever.

What will the followers do later ?

Pray to effigies of him and hope that he will give them the winning lottery numbers. It is the only chance of them getting rich.

[Jimmpy]

Good advice

yes it is.

Hope they stay dead for a long time.

[Jimmpy]

And I thought he vowed to steer clear of politics.

Yeah, right.

I want to be here when they hang him upside down in Victory Monument and let the people decide what to do with him.

[Jimmpy]

But enough to put his party into power

I agree. This is a real problem.

Perhaps Thailand isn't ready for a full, western style, democracy.

I think it will be a decade or two for this to happen but, what do do during this period is the real question now.

[metisdead]

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[ldiablo]

"The military government has slashed rural subsidies"

Not true.

Within 14 months the military government has made subsidies to

- rubber farmers

- cassava growers

- rice farmers

- palm oil producers

- egg producers

- milk producers

And when you add them all together, and they don't even come close to the rice scam numbers, slashed is quite accurate. Of course, the junta don't need to bribe people to stay in office.

Of course they don't need to bribe people.

They just have to hold the country hostage by the barrel of a gun.

[JAG]

What did Thaksin do to inspire such frothing venom in the farang community while the actual voters of Thailand would likely elect the next "Thaksin proxy" in a free election?

Closed the bars early?

Joking apart, one of the effects of his term in office was to introduce new opportunities to the rural poor, in particular the young which had the effect of making them less reliant upon some of their more traditional employments to support their families.

[robblok]

What did Thaksin do to inspire such frothing venom in the farang community while the actual voters of Thailand would likely elect the next "Thaksin proxy" in a free election?

Closed the bars early?

Joking apart, one of the effects of his term in office was to introduce new opportunities to the rural poor, in particular the young which had the effect of making them less reliant upon some of their more traditional employments to support their families.

Also during his reign did the 90 day reporting got reinstated. But I guess people just did not like how corrupt the guy was. It was so clear that anyone with some moral fibers would have objected.

[NovaBlue05]

Mr. T's people read thaivisa,they get a woody every time they see his name on the internet,because it keeps Mr. T's name in the news

get a life

Mr T doesn't need TVF to keep him in the news as he has an obsessed follower leading the current military junta who keeps him in the mainstream Thai news daily

[Toany]

if the Junta needed encouragement to stay in power and keep corruption out of government, Mr T just gave it to them.

[NovaBlue05]

What did Thaksin do to inspire such frothing venom in the farang community while the actual voters of Thailand would likely elect the next "Thaksin proxy" in a free election?

Closed the bars early?

Joking apart, one of the effects of his term in office was to introduce new opportunities to the rural poor, in particular the young which had the effect of making them less reliant upon some of their more traditional employments to support their families.

Also during his reign did the 90 day reporting got reinstated. But I guess people just did not like how corrupt the guy was. It was so clear that anyone with some moral fibers would have objected.

Must be something other than visa issues or mere political corruption. Irrational Xenophobia and nationalism are ingrained into the population and tried and true political talking points so it's doubtful Farangs will ever get a reasonable break on Visa regs., land ownership,etc. Accusing a Thai politician of corruption is like trying to issue speeding tickets to the drivers at the Indy 500

[animatic]

"Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail sentence for graft, was ousted in a coup in 2006,"

No he wasn't.

Not direct but in fact yes. His placeholders were ousted 2006 and 2014. It was always him in power.

But in 2006 he was a placeholder Acting Prime Minister,

who had failed to succesfully run the Snap election he had called

to white wash his selling national assets to Singapore, and avoiding taxes,

by passing a law 2 days before the sale.

After his Acting PM term expired, AND the entire Election Commission was sacked

and eventually jailed. He resigned publicly; after not getting a vote of confidence from the highest chair,

then a week later unilaterally named himself PM, "because the country needs me".

But never when back to the palace to be confirmed for a second 'Acting PM term'.

Without confirmation from above, he was not PM.

He then went to The United Nations to ' make a speech as "Prime Minister of Thailand".

He was going under false pretenses.

That and after the ludicrously fake assassination attempt 'bombing' of his entourage,

and failed moves to keep his job through Marshal Law because of it,

the army said enough is enough.

They took over to prevent him from pretending to be PM any longer.

Go read up on it, and don't ask me to do your homework if you don't believe it,

it was publicly WELL known and OBVIOUS at the time, and I was here at the time.

End of story.

Edited September 20, 2015 by animatic

[a99az]

And I thought he vowed to steer clear of politics.

You can't keep a wannabee despot down.

How odd as I though Thaksin was "like it or not" a legitimately elected PM as opposed to the current wannabee who took the post of PM. Sadly the Thai people are not getting the chance to shape their own future by making choices good and bad.

[seajae]

they'll be back for sure... was chatting to a Thai friend only today (graduate of CMU - well travelled etc. etc.) and she knows of no one she's in contact with who supports the Junta and they are all playing "quiet" for now

one thing, she said, is winding up the Thais is these stupid propaganda broadcasts daily. it's not about Thaksin so much but about not being ruled by the Army

If you were to lay out all these "Thai friends" of yours, head to toe, they would stretch from one side of your imagination to the other !

sorry chap, but it's YOU who are out of touch...there are whole swathes of the country that are virtually 100 % anti-junta.......

you are absolutely right, there are whole swathes of anti-junta, all the red areas but they will only remain so as long as he keeps paying them, once the money stops so will their support. The farmers saw what his sister and thaksin did to them, promised them the world then sh*t on them, they have realized he is full of it and will not be conned by him again. Once the junta finishes with all the crap ongoing in the country things might be very different.

[starfarm]

What absurd comments!!

[Jimmpy]

He is a real nasty man who fooled and used the poor farmers for his own ends-I actually met him in Chiangmai-he shook my hand and smiled but his eyes were as hard as steel!

Did you know that he was a class mate of George W. Bush who offered him asylum in 2006 but TS said, thank's georgie but I have to get to London to start an insurgency. The US is too far away.

Guess those Ivy League schools teach a lot of Megalomania?

[robblok]

What did Thaksin do to inspire such frothing venom in the farang community while the actual voters of Thailand would likely elect the next "Thaksin proxy" in a free election?

Closed the bars early?

Joking apart, one of the effects of his term in office was to introduce new opportunities to the rural poor, in particular the young which had the effect of making them less reliant upon some of their more traditional employments to support their families.

Also during his reign did the 90 day reporting got reinstated. But I guess people just did not like how corrupt the guy was. It was so clear that anyone with some moral fibers would have objected.

Must be something other than visa issues or mere political corruption. Irrational Xenophobia and nationalism are ingrained into the population and tried and true political talking points so it's doubtful Farangs will ever get a reasonable break on Visa regs., land ownership,etc. Accusing a Thai politician of corruption is like trying to issue speeding tickets to the drivers at the Indy 500

It was not mere corruption it was the scale at witch it was done and how he expected everyone to be so stupid not to see it. The 90 days also was not fun was on the books before but he started enforcing it again.

You should have been there around his time and read the news stories then.

[Jimmpy]

Thaksin gives the Red Shirts good advice , " Play Dead " , keep your heads down , don't make any trouble .

I think it best for the military junta to continue in government for the foreseeable future, at least all is quiet .

It is a pity about the economy , but we forget that the Baht has been greatly increased in value relative to other currencies since 2006 , which cannot be helping the market .

Thanks Toscano

A great post !

[englishoak]

Not direct but in fact yes. His placeholders were ousted 2006 and 2014. It was always him in power.

There was no govt in place when the 2006 coup occurred.

There was no govt because the previous election was riddled with corrupt election practices.

thaksin was not pm.

No one was.

Wow sounds like you really hate the guy ! What did he do to you for so much hatred !

I lived here during his war on drugs and the slaughter it resulted in with all the extra judicial executions that took place.

Unfortunately we cant lay ALL those deaths at Thaksins feet either, although it would be simple to do so.

I was also here then and remember well on exactly whos behalf with full approval that crackdown happened when a certain someone on December 2002 called on the government to bring the “methamphetamine problem” under control.

Thaksin seized the opportunity, announcing on January 28, 2003, that a “war on drugs” would be waged and yes a lot of people died but it should also be noted this all came about only originally because of a "special request" from a certain person to act.

So it is debatable if any let alone all the subsequent deaths or extra judicial killings would have taken place without the original impossible to ignore request/order in the first place.

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/thailand0704/4.htm

As for playing dead, its the only thing to do for now.

Edited September 20, 2015 by englishoak

[Jimmpy]

What did Thaksin do to inspire such frothing venom in the farang community while the actual voters of Thailand would likely elect the next "Thaksin proxy" in a free election?

You have got to be kidding.

Don't ask us, just google it.

[pattayahenry]

its not a question, IF thaksin will come back, only WHEN. the following article is 2 years old, but nothing has changed.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/asia/ex-pm-thaksin-saintly-figure-rural-thailand.html

[tumama]

I'm 50+ years and make up my opinion of Thaksin from my wanna be hi-so gf, because I am incapable of forming my own opinions.

[bangrak]

For the many here and elsewhere claiming that Thaksin is not still very much leading the family's PTP and UDD, ...and that he is not responsible for most of the plagues this country recently had to endure, coup(s) included! Well, ladies and gentlemen, with or without your red shades on, here you have it, as true as it comes, from the horse's mouth! ...Or might that UDD leader Kwanchai be a liar, even a 'yellow' 'coupist' in disguise?

[elviajero]

And I thought he vowed to steer clear of politics.

You can't keep a wannabee despot down.

How odd as I though Thaksin was "like it or not" a legitimately elected PM as opposed to the current wannabee who took the post of PM. Sadly the Thai people are not getting the chance to shape their own future by making choices good and bad.

TS was legitimately elected by whom? No PM is elected.

In fact YS never stood for election at anytime during her short political career. She got a pass in to parliament via the party list and was handed the job of PM by her big brother.

So it would seem both the current and previous PM's share something in common.

Edited September 20, 2015 by elviajero

[bangrak]

how hard is it to catch him, bring him back on a private "diplomatic" plane, put him in jail after trial ?

can the governement not give a 100 million reward for that ? might motivate some people

Why bring him back? 'Turn' two teams of his mercenary 'men-in-black' to get him wherever he is, it'd cost well below 100million, and save the country a lot of misery. 'Human rights'? Did he care about those for the several thousands(!) he OKed the murdering of? For mad dogs the only medicine is: lead, IMO...

(Maybe even the new generation in the family might rather have him fall out of the plane...)

[NovaBlue05]

What did Thaksin do to inspire such frothing venom in the farang community while the actual voters of Thailand would likely elect the next "Thaksin proxy" in a free election?

You have got to be kidding.

Don't ask us, just google it.

I'm at the source....go ahead.

[Alwyn]

So every media outlet in the World that reported it is wrong and some geezer on thaivisa is right? Right...

Congratulations, you have at last made an accurate statement. Thaksin resigned as caretaker PM, his replacement Chitchai Wannasathit was confirmed by the head of state, then Thaksin decided he would like his old job back, but WAS NOT confirmed by the HoS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitchai_Wannasathit

Many thanks. I was actually asking a question, not making a statement. If indeed I have it wrong, I'm in good company as every media outlet in the World got it wrong too! I've searched and searched, but BBC, Guardian, Reuters, NYJ etc all say Thaksin was PM of the caretaker government. In fact even Wikipedia, where you have supplied the link to back your version, says that Thaksin was PM!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Thai_coup_d%27%C3%A9ta

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatra

Having said all that, I did notice on the page to the link you kindly provided there is a huge notice which wasn't on the pages I supplied links to. On your link it says, so maybe you guys have been misled? Maybe that's not fair but maybe you just WANT to believe the version with the clean up warning?

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please helpimprove this article if you can. (April 2011)

[MiKT]

So based on this headline is it safe to assume....Lets burn BKK part deux is currently in the planning stages

That has always been in the planning stages a leopard does not loose its spots that easy. The redshirts are a violent organisation I would not expect them to change. The only thing keeping them in place is the army.

what a load of pathetic balony. The redshirts are not an organisation any more than "Conservatives" are an organisation in the UK or "Democrats" are in the US. The army, which is a violent organisation controlled by corrupt big money interests (like Suthep) murdered red shirt demonstrators who were trying to protest peacefully against an unelected army imposed government. In no other democratic country would they be allowed to get away with this. Witness the trials of soldiers who killed armed protesters in Norther Ireland for instance. Nb I would be equally against army violence and political take over if the yellow shirts had won a democratic election and the red shirts had engineered a coupe.