Oh good grief. Time for all the Shinawatra fans to smell the burnt coffee. The Shinawatras have had their day. They are done.

Now is the time for a Thai with real vision and leardership skills to stand up and lead this country forward (Prayut ain't it).

Without democracy how on earth can new leadership emerge?

The biggest hurdle in Thailand developing into a first world country with first rate leaders is the continued and consistent coups.

The dying elite need to accept their day is past and the future belongs to the masses.

I hope that brother Thaksin was there on Skype to apologize for getting her in such trouble. If she has to pay 287 billion Baht, I expect that Thaksin will demand payments from all the people who have benefited from his parties' crooked schemes over the years. I can't see him coughing up the money.

She was in trouble the minute she won the election in a crushing landslide against the incompetent and inept party of the establishment and military, the Democrats.

There will be no compensation paid for a sure as night follows day, democracy will return to Thailand, The PTP will again form government and all of these ridiculous and fraudulent court cases will be overturned and consigned to historys' dustbin.

The courts will hopefully be full of ex-Generals answering for their past real misdeeds. Perhaps the first case will be in relation to the GT200's.

Dwindling junta supporters on here never comment on hardly anything these days except when they see the the name Yingluck !

Why?

Because deep down they backed the wrong horse.

The horses name is democracy.

I suspect your the one backing the wrong horse if you think the name yingluck (or any shin namer) has any connection to democracy.

I suspect the name Yingluck, or any Shinawatras' name is connected to democracy via the winning of every single national election held in Thailand this millennium.

Google is your friend.

What a bland report. She went to court and was feted by some well wishers and Pheua Thai grandees but nothing about how the case is going in court.

Pretty well how the Shinawatra's work isn't it. Yingluck as the presentable front playing smoke and mirrors democracy glamour shoots with the adorning well wishers while the minions, crooks and thieves in the background milk the country dry for the desert living rat.

Oh good grief. Time for all the Shinawatra fans to smell the burnt coffee. The Shinawatras have had their day. They are done.

Now is the time for a Thai with real vision and leardership skills to stand up and lead this country forward (Prayut ain't it).

You put it into the most simplest terms possible. There are no other candidates that can win a fair election in Thailand. The Shinawatras will hold on so long as there is something worth holding on to. They are still loved by a huge voting block. Just wishing they will go away has changed nothing up to now.

Ohhh please spare me. If they could the PTP would have a replacement candidate already to replace her with another Thaksin lucky. And they wold win the full support of all who were bought which is a majority in the north. The same way thak and his sister won before

Wouldn't mind her growing my mushrooms

As usual the names Yingluck or Shinawatra bring out the usual suspects.

Only these days only a few die hard junta fans are left.

Pity they didn't follow their old comrades into oblivion.

But do carry on as your bloke is doing such a sterling democratic job.

Dwindling junta supporters on here never comment on hardly anything these days except when they see the the name Yingluck !

Why?

Because deep down they backed the wrong horse.

The horses name is democracy.

Still 'stuttering', aren't we? What 'democracy'? When was there anything, even vaguely, related to essential, true, democratical principles in this country? Please, tell us, wise man! There's a democracy monument in Krung Thep, as there is a monument to the revolution(*), but, has there, ever, been any revolution here, ...or democracy? Be honest, with yourself, man!

(*) The, so-called, 'revolution' was a palace-putsh organised with a small fringe of the armed forces by 'elites' the most social(ist) King in Thai History had p...ed off deciding not to pay them for living a wealthy life abroad anymore the rich allowances they were becoming from the Crown previously, as the 1930's World financial crisis had taken its toll on the State's finances, and the coffers were empty, not even allowing it anymore to provide the basic population with the little protection it hed been granted! What a 'revolution' that was, wow!

He wants you just to accept the present mafia system that runs this country.

She wanted to see clean referendum which is just 40 days ahead and call on the Election Commission to stay neutral in holding it.

Too bad that she didn't lead a "clean" government, as popular as she is there could have been reforms and stability, alas she followed the family policy of corruption. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a contender with the charisma that she possesses and punishing her will only make her more popular. On the other hand, failure to deal with the rice debacle will only encourage further corruption. How I wish she would have chosen the high road.

Thailand's problem is worshiping people. That's why people love and hate Yingluck. That's why Thais go nuts over movie stars. That's why people trust so easily and follow corrupt monks and others. Foreigners even experience it in Thailand. In the past, the foreigner was special but these days that interest is fading. It shows Thailand is changing and breaking from some of its ignorance.

Still Thais love celebrity of any kind. The powerful and shysters know the plebeians worship them and so use them in what ways they want. Even when the plebeians wake up from their ignorance, they find they often still have no choice but to worship the people in their world to survive and get things done. Everyone knows whose corrupt in their local community. They know the teacher is bad but the still smile for him or her when they meet her because the system won't defend them should they complain.

I don't think Yingluck is as bad as people make her out to be. She's no less an abuser than any powerful person in Thailand, any. Many of the people who support her have strong feelings for her. She helped millions of people in her time. You can try to deny it but those years were great for many and they were corrupt people. Some have their reasons and others have just chose their celebrity to follow. All the worshipers and followers in Thailand are the same no matter what team (color) they follow. The only people who aren't tied into the system of worship here drop out and don't support any one political party or have left the country.

There's nothing surprising about the video. It's Yingluck but could be any famous person really. I'm sure the pop bands crowds and fanaticism is much bigger. In Thailand when it comes to people with power they most powerful always crush them. The territory was claimed long ago. Yingluck and the powerful monk are both being crushed by those who claim everything. There's an old political power ceiling in Thailand that no one can rise over. It's that simple. I hope she survives the abuse and enjoys the rest of her life but who knows what will happen.

Dwindling junta supporters on here never comment on hardly anything these days except when they see the the name Yingluck !

Why?

Because deep down they backed the wrong horse.

The horses name is democracy.

The wrong horse is in court, democracy It is you that got your bet wrong. Had her party been non corrupt and good governance she still would have been there----had you not thought of this.

Okay, so then,.... when's the next one????

Oh good grief. Time for all the Shinawatra fans to smell the burnt coffee. The Shinawatras have had their day. They are done.

Now is the time for a Thai with real vision and leardership skills to stand up and lead this country forward (Prayut ain't it).

Without democracy how on earth can new leadership emerge?

The biggest hurdle in Thailand developing into a first world country with first rate leaders is the continued and consistent coups.

The dying elite need to accept their day is past and the future belongs to the masses.

Indeed.

"Oh good grief. Time for all the Shinawatra fans to smell the burnt coffee. The Shinawatras have had their day. They are done."

Maybe., we'll see. Though I fear life has some disappointments in store for you...

W

wouldnt credit you could get that many losers all together for a photo shoot, really have to wonder if any of them have an education above grade school or even pre school, apart from all the certificates etc that were paid for so they dont appear to be stupid of course. Probably took her all week to memorize that sentence too, although it was short and sweet so she could remember it without any prompting. Good old yl, her ptp dogs and reds, always good for a laugh

"really have to wonder if any of them have an education above grade school or even pre school,"

And I thought you to educated to lower your self to this kind of drivel, considering many of your posts I agree with and many I don't, sorry my mistake.

I can't for the life of me figure out why people keep dragging this myth regarding low education of Yingluck supporters, except maybe they think only highly educated people have a right to show support for political persons?

My wife supports Yingluk and is an educated woman, has traveled more than I have, speaks three languages fluently and two more at a basic level, she finished Uni and has run three successful businesses, This also applies for several members of her family and mine from OZ, So this "uneducated clap trap is a myth and I would have thought an educated person would not come out with such rubbish, or maybe it's your education that should be called into question?

I hope that brother Thaksin was there on Skype to apologize for getting her in such trouble. If she has to pay 287 billion Baht, I expect that Thaksin will demand payments from all the people who have benefited from his parties' crooked schemes over the years. I can't see him coughing up the money.

She was in trouble the minute she won the election in a crushing landslide against the incompetent and inept party of the establishment and military, the Democrats.

There will be no compensation paid for a sure as night follows day, democracy will return to Thailand, The PTP will again form government and all of these ridiculous and fraudulent court cases will be overturned and consigned to historys' dustbin.

The courts will hopefully be full of ex-Generals answering for their past real misdeeds. Perhaps the first case will be in relation to the GT200's.

What are the fraudulent court cases you talk about? I love a good debate. The only reason why Thailand can't move forward is due to the corrupt politicians from the past decade. Who was in power for the better part of the last decade? Care to explain how the society has improved socially and economically for the low to mid income? (Raising the minimum wage was the one long overdue positive, the rest seems to have push the country further backwards) For all I can see, education is sliding backwards, that is the biggest indicator of how a society will move forward.

Thailand's problem is worshiping people. That's why people love and hate Yingluck. That's why Thais go nuts over movie stars. That's why people trust so easily and follow corrupt monks and others. Foreigners even experience it in Thailand. In the past, the foreigner was special but these days that interest is fading. It shows Thailand is changing and breaking from some of its ignorance.

Still Thais love celebrity of any kind. The powerful and shysters know the plebeians worship them and so use them in what ways they want. Even when the plebeians wake up from their ignorance, they find they often still have no choice but to worship the people in their world to survive and get things done. Everyone knows whose corrupt in their local community. They know the teacher is bad but the still smile for him or her when they meet her because the system won't defend them should they complain.

I don't think Yingluck is as bad as people make her out to be. She's no less an abuser than any powerful person in Thailand, any. Many of the people who support her have strong feelings for her. She helped millions of people in her time. You can try to deny it but those years were great for many and they were corrupt people. Some have their reasons and others have just chose their celebrity to follow. All the worshipers and followers in Thailand are the same no matter what team (color) they follow. The only people who aren't tied into the system of worship here drop out and don't support any one political party or have left the country.

There's nothing surprising about the video. It's Yingluck but could be any famous person really. I'm sure the pop bands crowds and fanaticism is much bigger. In Thailand when it comes to people with power they most powerful always crush them. The territory was claimed long ago. Yingluck and the powerful monk are both being crushed by those who claim everything. There's an old political power ceiling in Thailand that no one can rise over. It's that simple. I hope she survives the abuse and enjoys the rest of her life but who knows what will happen.

Well said, I do agree with you that YIngluck is not a bad person at all. She was just incompetent and was not fit to be PM of Thailand. People love her because she was a Shinawatra. I have no doubt she has a good heart from the way she acted and her actions. She was just put into the wrong place at the wrong time, just like Abhisit.

wouldnt credit you could get that many losers all together for a photo shoot, really have to wonder if any of them have an education above grade school or even pre school, apart from all the certificates etc that were paid for so they dont appear to be stupid of course. Probably took her all week to memorize that sentence too, although it was short and sweet so she could remember it without any prompting. Good old yl, her ptp dogs and reds, always good for a laugh

"really have to wonder if any of them have an education above grade school or even pre school,"

And I thought you to educated to lower your self to this kind of drivel, considering many of your posts I agree with and many I don't, sorry my mistake.

I can't for the life of me figure out why people keep dragging this myth regarding low education of Yingluck supporters, except maybe they think only highly educated people have a right to show support for political persons?

My wife supports Yingluk and is an educated woman, has traveled more than I have, speaks three languages fluently and two more at a basic level, she finished Uni and has run three successful businesses, This also applies for several members of her family and mine from OZ, So this "uneducated clap trap is a myth and I would have thought an educated person would not come out with such rubbish, or maybe it's your education that should be called into question?

Well its not entirely untrue. Majority of supporters are low income. Farmers and blue collar make up majority of the supporters, they only have basic education until middle or high school. Of course, that was the previous generation, majority of the low income's children are all attending college. But lets be frank here, college education from Thailand means nothing unless you went to a reputable school. The majority of the colleges in Thailand are at the same levels of middle / high schools in other developed nations. So in a way if you say low education, its kind of a false statement. A better statement would be they are not well aware of policies / how things work.

Most people don't realize that during Thaksins peak, he had almost 50% of support from Bangkok residents. So yes, there was a huge educated population that supports him, but if you compare it to the other demographics, the educated supporter is very small. At the same time, when people point fingers at Bangkok folks and blame them for everything and being anti-thaksin, they fail to see how much of Bangkok folks actually supports Thaksin.

Oh good grief. Time for all the Shinawatra fans to smell the burnt coffee. The Shinawatras have had their day. They are done.

Now is the time for a Thai with real vision and leardership skills to stand up and lead this country forward (Prayut ain't it).

That would be great.

The problem is finding one, plus another 599 for parliament and another 200 for the senate.

Oh yes, brain is required to comprehend what Korn, Alongkorn and many others have been saying that vote buying is not determinative of election success.

Correct, on the micro scale, actually handing people cash to vote for you, it doesn't achieve much. OTOH offering hugely attractive policies certainly does work, not just here but everywhere.

But when those policies turn out to false election promises (one tablet per child), or clearly unsustainable (rice scam), or junk economics (big increases in minimum wage), they are simply vote buying on a macro scale, with the cost borne by those supposed to benefit.

"Majority of supporters are low income."

The issue at the core of this seems to be that some folk assume that if the average supporter of YL is what many people would call a 'kwai', then YL herself fmust also be a 'kwai. They're an obnoxious and uneducate [sic] caste, unable to distinguish between the sun and the sunbather.

Sympathy, not condemnation is the thing...

Same as the purveyors of the vote-buying myth that even Korn says is not true.

Since when did Yingluk's intelligence become the core issue? Except to you?

Most posters on this forum were actually amazed at the level of intelligence Yingluk showed while in office. Her performance in parliament was stunning, her crisp and decisive answers to questions outstanding, even her ability to read from a prepared script was illuminating.

"Majority of supporters are low income."

The issue at the core of this seems to be that some folk assume that if the average supporter of YL is what many people would call a 'kwai', then YL herself fmust also be a 'kwai. They're an obnoxious and uneducate [sic] caste, unable to distinguish between the sun and the sunbather.

Sympathy, not condemnation is the thing...

Same as the purveyors of the vote-buying myth that even Korn says is not true.

Nope the issue is educated people like you tend to misinterpret what people say and spread false information. Did I said YL was a kwai? nope, but you think I think that way, and you are a perfect example of how one likes to spread the negativity around by thinking all anti-PTP think a like. You just made a perfect example of what you are trying to point out! How ironic.

How else can one better word "majority of supporters are low income" or that "low education" ? Is the truth too hard to swallow?

People have sympathy, but the politicians they support don't. So perhaps you should ask those politicians to have more sympathy instead of putting their supporters in more hardship.

"Same as the purveyors of the vote-buying myth that even Korn says is not true."

Yes that is a good statement - there are less vote buying and voters can see how a policy will benefit them. But do voters realize how sustainable a policy will be? Do the politicians who push these policies realize how sustainable it is? how it will actually help in the long/short run? Times indeed have changed, voters don't vote blindly, they actually can see and determine if they will benefit for it. Thailand just has not progress to the point were majority voters think on the sustainability side, people still think with the "ME" mindset.

Oh yes, brain is required to comprehend what Korn, Alongkorn and many others have been saying that vote buying is not determinative of election success.

Correct, on the micro scale, actually handing people cash to vote for you, it doesn't achieve much. OTOH offering hugely attractive policies certainly does work, not just here but everywhere.

But when those policies turn out to false election promises (one tablet per child), or clearly unsustainable (rice scam), or junk economics (big increases in minimum wage), they are simply vote buying on a macro scale, with the cost borne by those supposed to benefit.

You forgot to add the First Car Scheme under junk economics. Take out increase in minimum wage.

The big increase in minimum wage was long overdue. There is no arguing about it even though the efficiency of workers have slid backwards. Things cost too much for the low income to afford a decent life, frankly minimum wage did not increase fast enough in the past decade - wonder who is to blame for being in office for so long!

Correct, on the micro scale, actually handing people cash to vote for you, it doesn't achieve much. OTOH offering hugely attractive policies certainly does work, not just here but everywhere.

But when those policies turn out to false election promises (one tablet per child), or clearly unsustainable (rice scam), or junk economics (big increases in minimum wage), they are simply vote buying on a macro scale, with the cost borne by those supposed to benefit.

You forgot to add the First Car Scheme under junk economics. Take out increase in minimum wage.

The big increase in minimum wage was long overdue. There is no arguing about it even though the efficiency of workers have slid backwards. Things cost too much for the low income to afford a decent life, frankly minimum wage did not increase fast enough in the past decade - wonder who is to blame for being in office for so long!

Nope, can't agree. When it happened, every SME that I dealt with either raised prices or laid of staff, or both. The inflation that followed was both predictable and inevitable. In Laos, everyone is a millionaire (Who said "You will all be rich in 6 months"?) but how much is a banana.

There may have been some temporary benefit for some people, but any real increase in living standards is hard to see.

Oh yes, brain is required to comprehend what Korn, Alongkorn and many others have been saying that vote buying is not determinative of election success.

Correct, on the micro scale, actually handing people cash to vote for you, it doesn't achieve much. OTOH offering hugely attractive policies certainly does work, not just here but everywhere.

But when those policies turn out to false election promises (one tablet per child), or clearly unsustainable (rice scam), or junk economics (big increases in minimum wage), they are simply vote buying on a macro scale, with the cost borne by those supposed to benefit.

Pretty much laugh a minute stuff Hallowen. Standard dropping. Typical style of discredit when you have no chance of winning. You backing a party who was pretty much unelectable and have to manufacture a government in the barrack. Still can't be elected, a coup will do it.

Much the same election promises of Strong Thailand riddled with corruption but not picked up by the ever predictable NACC, free cash and a failed rice gurantee scheme. All these goodies plus the backing of the military and still can't win an election.

Correct, on the micro scale, actually handing people cash to vote for you, it doesn't achieve much. OTOH offering hugely attractive policies certainly does work, not just here but everywhere.

But when those policies turn out to false election promises (one tablet per child), or clearly unsustainable (rice scam), or junk economics (big increases in minimum wage), they are simply vote buying on a macro scale, with the cost borne by those supposed to benefit.

You forgot to add the First Car Scheme under junk economics. Take out increase in minimum wage.

The big increase in minimum wage was long overdue. There is no arguing about it even though the efficiency of workers have slid backwards. Things cost too much for the low income to afford a decent life, frankly minimum wage did not increase fast enough in the past decade - wonder who is to blame for being in office for so long!

Nope, can't agree. When it happened, every SME that I dealt with either raised prices or laid of staff, or both. The inflation that followed was both predictable and inevitable. In Laos, everyone is a millionaire (Who said "You will all be rich in 6 months"?) but how much is a banana.

There may have been some temporary benefit for some people, but any real increase in living standards is hard to see.

Yes I agree, prices were raised on pretty much everything. This was due to such a huge increase almost 40% for some provinces, for places like Bangkok it was actually a minor increase as most were already paying workers close to or above minimum wage. Did the price on goods need to increase that much? Answer is no, if you divide the service / product provided by the increased in minimum wage. The increase is actually negligible, especially for mass good / services. Many folks increase the cost of goods even more than whats necessary to cover the difference of the wages. So the knock on effect by the huge jump was a negative one, but it did not have to be if people weren't so greedy.

If you are a SME and can't pay couple hundred baht / thousand baht more per day to cover the staff salary, I have to say the business is probably going downhill to begin with. For examples, 10 staff you will pay around 500-700 more per day. 100 staff you pay 5000 to 7000 per day on average.

Edited June 25, 201610 yr by mike324

Thailand's problem is worshiping people. That's why people love and hate Yingluck. That's why Thais go nuts over movie stars. That's why people trust so easily and follow corrupt monks and others. Foreigners even experience it in Thailand. In the past, the foreigner was special but these days that interest is fading. It shows Thailand is changing and breaking from some of its ignorance.

Still Thais love celebrity of any kind. The powerful and shysters know the plebeians worship them and so use them in what ways they want. Even when the plebeians wake up from their ignorance, they find they often still have no choice but to worship the people in their world to survive and get things done. Everyone knows whose corrupt in their local community. They know the teacher is bad but the still smile for him or her when they meet her because the system won't defend them should they complain.

I don't think Yingluck is as bad as people make her out to be. She's no less an abuser than any powerful person in Thailand, any. Many of the people who support her have strong feelings for her. She helped millions of people in her time. You can try to deny it but those years were great for many and they were corrupt people. Some have their reasons and others have just chose their celebrity to follow. All the worshipers and followers in Thailand are the same no matter what team (color) they follow. The only people who aren't tied into the system of worship here drop out and don't support any one political party or have left the country.

There's nothing surprising about the video. It's Yingluck but could be any famous person really. I'm sure the pop bands crowds and fanaticism is much bigger. In Thailand when it comes to people with power they most powerful always crush them. The territory was claimed long ago. Yingluck and the powerful monk are both being crushed by those who claim everything. There's an old political power ceiling in Thailand that no one can rise over. It's that simple. I hope she survives the abuse and enjoys the rest of her life but who knows what will happen.

Well said, I do agree with you that YIngluck is not a bad person at all. She was just incompetent and was not fit to be PM of Thailand. People love her because she was a Shinawatra. I have no doubt she has a good heart from the way she acted and her actions. She was just put into the wrong place at the wrong time, just like Abhisit.

She was just put into the wrong place at the wrong time, just like Ahbisit.

Can't agree absolutely with your comment. She was nominated by her party to run for the top post. Nothing wrong about that. She then campaigned on her platform of policies in an election ran by the EC and within all the laws in the country. Why wrong time? Every party was given a chance to present their platform and to impress the voters. Same as Ahbisit. She won.

Totally different from the route that Ahbisit took. He was not elected by the people and was put in a wrong place at the wrong time. Wrong place because took office without the people mandate and wrong time because he was the defacto leader. The leaders are behind the scene.

Like to hear your comment.

Correct, on the micro scale, actually handing people cash to vote for you, it doesn't achieve much. OTOH offering hugely attractive policies certainly does work, not just here but everywhere.

But when those policies turn out to false election promises (one tablet per child), or clearly unsustainable (rice scam), or junk economics (big increases in minimum wage), they are simply vote buying on a macro scale, with the cost borne by those supposed to benefit.

You forgot to add the First Car Scheme under junk economics. Take out increase in minimum wage.

The big increase in minimum wage was long overdue. There is no arguing about it even though the efficiency of workers have slid backwards. Things cost too much for the low income to afford a decent life, frankly minimum wage did not increase fast enough in the past decade - wonder who is to blame for being in office for so long!

Nope, can't agree. When it happened, every SME that I dealt with either raised prices or laid of staff, or both. The inflation that followed was both predictable and inevitable. In Laos, everyone is a millionaire (Who said "You will all be rich in 6 months"?) but how much is a banana.

There may have been some temporary benefit for some people, but any real increase in living standards is hard to see.

Yes I agree, prices were raised on pretty much everything. This was due to such a huge increase almost 40% for some provinces, for places like Bangkok it was actually a minor increase as most were already paying workers close to or above minimum wage. Did the price on goods need to increase that much? Answer is no, if you divide the service / product provided by the increased in minimum wage. The increase is actually negligible, especially for mass good / services. Many folks increase the cost of goods even more than whats necessary to cover the difference of the wages. So the knock on effect by the huge jump was a negative one, but it did not have to be if people weren't so greedy.

If you are a SME and can't pay couple hundred baht / thousand baht more per day to cover the staff salary, I have to say the business is probably going downhill to begin with. For examples, 10 staff you will pay around 500-700 more per day. 100 staff you pay 5000 to 7000 per day on average.

"....but it did not have to be if people weren't so greedy." There is no altruism factor in economics. When you destabilise a market with a forced change, there will be reaction and over-reaction until natural equilibrium is reached again.

I hope that brother Thaksin was there on Skype to apologize for getting her in such trouble. If she has to pay 287 billion Baht, I expect that Thaksin will demand payments from all the people who have benefited from his parties' crooked schemes over the years. I can't see him coughing up the money.

She was in trouble the minute she won the election in a crushing landslide against the incompetent and inept party of the establishment and military, the Democrats.

There will be no compensation paid for a sure as night follows day, democracy will return to Thailand, The PTP will again form government and all of these ridiculous and fraudulent court cases will be overturned and consigned to historys' dustbin.

The courts will hopefully be full of ex-Generals answering for their past real misdeeds. Perhaps the first case will be in relation to the GT200's.

What are the fraudulent court cases you talk about? I love a good debate. The only reason why Thailand can't move forward is due to the corrupt politicians from the past decade. Who was in power for the better part of the last decade? Care to explain how the society has improved socially and economically for the low to mid income? (Raising the minimum wage was the one long overdue positive, the rest seems to have push the country further backwards) For all I can see, education is sliding backwards, that is the biggest indicator of how a society will move forward.

Below statement from UNDP help you to separate facts and emotion.

Thailand become an upper-middle income economy in 2011. Notwithstanding political uncertainty and volatility, Thailand has made great progress in social and economic issues. As such, Thailand has been one of the great development success stories, with sustained strong growth and impressive poverty reduction.

- UNDP

Oh yes, brain is required to comprehend what Korn, Alongkorn and many others have been saying that vote buying is not determinative of election success.

Correct, on the micro scale, actually handing people cash to vote for you, it doesn't achieve much. OTOH offering hugely attractive policies certainly does work, not just here but everywhere.

But when those policies turn out to false election promises (one tablet per child), or clearly unsustainable (rice scam), or junk economics (big increases in minimum wage), they are simply vote buying on a macro scale, with the cost borne by those supposed to benefit.

You could put that another way:

- Pure vote buying worked for a while.

- Then all the parties (regardless of color or values) got into the act, believing that there was no other option. (And I repeat, regardless of values.)

- Then one mob decided to change their strategy (vote buying now not so successful) and go for the very big picture items regardless of whether they could or couldn't be funded and regardles of whether they were sustainable policies, etc.

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. This topic is about: BANGKOK: -- Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra appeared in the Supreme Court today for the 10th hearing of state testimonies against her in the rice-pledging scheme which she was charged with dereliction of duties.

Please stay on topic.