A Decade Ago: Parliamentary elections and cable thieves

A Decade Ago: Parliamentary elections and cable thieves
Phuket Gazette



PHUKET: -- In A rare move, the Phuket Gazette dove into politics in the April 8-14, 2006 edition as the Democrat Party announced a boycott of the parliamentary election polls, despite Thaksin Shinawatra announcing that he would step down from the Premiership.

“What the PM did last night was for his own benefit; ordinary people who do not understand politics in depth will have seen his announcement and will admire him. But last night, as I was listening to him, many people called me to ask, ‘What does it mean?’” said former Democrat MP and current mayor of Patong Chalermlak Kebsap. “He said he would continue to push Thai Rak Thai policies [after stepping down], so that means nothing has changed."

Mr Thaksin was eventually slapped with a number of charges including abuse of power and tax evasion – I wonder if his name is buried somewhere in the Panama Papers, which are the recent unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm. These documents show the multitude of ways in which the rich can exploit offshore tax regimes, though do not directly connect them to criminal activity. Already, 12 national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates implicated in the documents.

Despite vowing to step down, it wasn’t until later that year that Mr Thaksin and his party were removed from power via a military coup. His younger sister, Yingluck, was elected Prime Minister in 2011, but also removed from power by the military after a political deadlock – see National Council for Peace and Order. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Full story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/A-Decade-Ago-Parliamentary-elections-cable-thieves/63647?desktopversion


-- Phuket Gazette 2016-04-13