"what Thaksin Had Done Wrong"

[sriracha john]

Another of the Thaksin Administrations scandals heading to investigations....

Scandals to be probed

Incoming Deputy Public Health Minister Vallop Thaineua will oversee investigations into two of the ministry's biggest corruption scandals.

They surround its Bt900-million computer procurement and Bt340-million ambulance procurement.

"I plan to forward investigation results to an independent committee for review," Vallop said yesterday. "We're looking for well-respected, neutral persons to sit on the committee."

If the results are comprehensive, the investigations can be concluded. If not, the independent committee will investigate further.

"This is to ensure transparency," Vallop said.

Before Vallop followed a political path, he was a respected medical professional. However, in 2004, then-public-health minister and Thai Rak Thai deputy leader Sudarat Keyuraphan transferred him to an inactive post, alleging he had failed to carry out government policies.

After Vallop's transfer, many senior health officials submitted their resignations in support of him. He later hit out at Sudarat over the computer project.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said the investigation results would come out this month.

- The Nation

[John K]

Sonthi: Thaksin to face charge

(BangkokPost.com) - The Assets Scrutiny Committee is set to file a corruption-related charge against ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra within the next couple of days, military junta chairman Sonthi Boonyaratkalin said Thursday.

Gen Sonthi, chief of the Council for National Security, revealed the charge but refused details, including what corruption case it concerned, after reporters asked him whether Mr Thaksin's taking up as the new president of the Professional Golf Association of Thailand was an attempt to overshadow his corruption charges.

Meanwhile, chief of the Mental Health department Somchai Jakraphan said Mr Thaksin's acceptance of the post was a mental act and that Mr Thaksin should get help from a psychiatrist. Mr Thaksin is in London.

As a psychaitrist, Dr Somchai viewed that Mr Thaksin was playing a game with three things at stake - politics, family and assets.

"What Mr Thaksin might be worrying about the most is his family," he said. "So he tries to find a way to come back and take care of his family."

[sriracha john]

Shin Corporation's SC Asset auditor found dead

A senior auditor of property firm SC Asset Corporation, an affiliate of Shin Corp, was found dead yesterday in the compound of the Thai Red Cross Society on Henri Dunant road, police said. The body of Wittaya Panumaporn, 48, director for internal auditing, was discovered near a dump site at the back. He was believed to have been dead for more than 24 hours. The body was found lying face down and had sustained physical injuries. Found on his body were a gold necklace, a diamond ring, a wrist watch, a 100,000-baht cheque and 50 baht. His mobile phone and wallet were found in his sedan that was parked about 200-300 metres away. Police investigators said they have yet to question witnesses and review an autopsy report to determine if there was foul play.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/05May2007_news12.php

[John K]

An interesting but predicted event. It certainly adds a level of credibility to the governments position that taxes are due.

At first glance it would seem that this is after the fact as all the numbers have been more or less crunched.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin's sister to face police questioning over the death of auditor

Yingluck Shinawatra, president of SC Asset, will be called in for questioning about the death of the firm's senior auditor, a police investigator said. Pol Lt Col Arkhom Chantanalat, of Pathumwan police station, said Mrs Yingluck, the youngest sister of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was among colleagues of Wittaya Panumaporn, whose body was found on Friday in the compound of the Thai Red Cross Society on Henri Dunant road. A police source yesterday said that Wittaya was listed as a witness in the Kularb Kaew case. The firm is accused of acting as a nominee for Singapore's Temasek Holdings in its takeover of Shin Corp from the Shinawatra family. The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) has joined the probe into his death. Police are investigating all possibilities including murder, he said.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/06May2007_news11.php

[Pakboong]

Those weapons of mass destruction are here somewhere, we must turn over all the rocks and I am sure we will find them.

[marshbags]

Thaksin's sister to face police questioning over the death of auditor

Yingluck Shinawatra, president of SC Asset, will be called in for questioning about the death of the firm's senior auditor, a police investigator said. Pol Lt Col Arkhom Chantanalat, of Pathumwan police station, said Mrs Yingluck, the youngest sister of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was among colleagues of Wittaya Panumaporn, whose body was found on Friday in the compound of the Thai Red Cross Society on Henri Dunant road. A police source yesterday said that Wittaya was listed as a witness in the Kularb Kaew case. The firm is accused of acting as a nominee for Singapore's Temasek Holdings in its takeover of Shin Corp from the Shinawatra family. The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) has joined the probe into his death. Police are investigating all possibilities including murder, he said.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/06May2007_news11.php

Natural causes my A***E HOLE.

Just coincidence that he was due to to appear as a witness in the Kularb Kaew case..... NO CHANCE.

Away on business or whatever and nothing unusual about this ??? before this discovery...NO CHANCE

His wife had already raised alarms on his suspicious disappearance along with as she feared. it being due to FOUL PLAY

Everything controversial reported in the press consistently has a certain family name attached to it and is always of a contriving nature regarding it,s contents and consequent questionable objectives ??????

I find this latest development very disturbing, yet predictable, but the certain family must be worried when they are using the various tactics of experienced individuals to delay the inevitable.

Now is the time for the reshuffled police force and it,s new commander in chief to demonstrate their intentions and reputations are not undermined in the coming days / weeks.

A very sinister situation indeed in my opinion as far as this incident is concerned, irrespective of the outcome.

While i do not say outright the intitial observations relating to his death are ?????????

Isn,t it Amazing that " Heart problems " and " Asthma " keep rolling off the tongue time and time again were Pu Yai and lawyers are concerned. ???????

marshbags

Edited May 6, 2007 by marshbags

[John K]

I agree all very predicable, I called it out over a week ago. If this is all an attempt to silence people who would testify, there are ways around it and it would tend to quiet the storm. I saw depicted on tv the same scenario and what they did was record a private testimony, seal it and give it to the court to hold in the event of death of the person testifying. This way it becomes a bit of payback from the grave and removes much of the incentive to kill.

[sriracha john]

Call to axe two megaprojects

Chiang Mai schemes begun by Thaksin government

A local pressure group yesterday stepped up its call for the cancellation of two megaprojects initiated by the ousted Thaksin Shinawatra administration, prior to Deputy PM Paiboon Wattanasiritham's visit to the northern province on Friday. The Hak Chiang Mai network was taking aim at the long-delayed construction of two underpasses, worth 511 million baht, across the Chiang Mai-Lampang superhighway and the two-billion-baht Elephant Park development scheme. Network leader Chalermpol Saempetch said construction of the underpasses has been abandoned for about a year now and this has worsened the already horrendous traffic situation in Chiang Mai city. ''The [previous] government went ahead with the projects without asking the local people. It was the work of a power-crazed administration,'' he said. Mr Chalermpol said his network was particularly concerned about the Elephant Park project in Hang Dong district. ''Water resources in the area are scarce as it is. The Night Safari [theme park]is currently hit by drought,'' said one local resident. ''If herds of elephants are to live here, then the local ecosystem and the villagers' livelihood will be at risk.''

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/08May2007_news01.php

Edited May 7, 2007 by sriracha john

[marshbags]

Does anyone know if any sort of questions have been raised in respect of the underground advertising rights and the usual suspected cronyism, granting of all related money spinners ????

I don,t recall any details of recent times in relation to this issue, but seem to recall the poor ( What a joke ) innocent younger members of the "certain family " were involved in the signing of contracts and consequent sole rights / business favours.

marshbags and

Edited May 8, 2007 by marshbags

[farangsay]

SHIN CORP DEAL

Thaksin could get 15 years if found guilty

SUPAWADEE INTHAWONG

Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra faces up to 15 years in jail if it's found he continued to manage Shin Corp shares that he transferred to other people's names before taking office in 2001. The Assets Scrutiny Committee's Kaewsan Atipho raised the possibility Mr Thaksin's distribution of shares after his landslide victory in 2001 was a sham in an address to a forum on ''Shin Corp Tax''.

The company was listed in 1992 and most Shin Corp shares were held in Mr Thaksin's name until his Thai Rak Thai party won the general election in 2001.

Under the 1997 constitution, the prime minister and his spouse were barred from holding shares in a firm that had a concession contract with the state.

Mr Thaksin therefore had to divest himself of the shares when he took office.

The shares were transferred to Ample Rich (a company registered in the British Virgin Islands), his sister Yingluck, his son Panthongtae and other people including household employees.

Mr Thaksin would be in violation of Article 100 of the anti-corruption law if there was proof he continued to manage those shares, Mr Kaewsan said. The law provided for three years' jail and/or a fine of 60,000 baht on each offence.

Mr Thaksin made five asset declarations while in office, so he was liable to five counts of making a false asset declaration, or a cumulative jail term of 15 years, if found guilty, Mr Kaewsan said.

He criticised the Shinawatra family for involving the son and daughter in the legal hassle over tax liability in the Shin Corp-Temasek deal, with the prospect of imprisonment. He was particularly upset with the siblings' claim that the share transaction between them and Ample Rich was done in Singapore to avoid tax.

They bought Shin Corp shares from Ample Rich for one baht apiece and then sold them to Singapore's Temasek Holdings at 49.25 baht per share.

''It is a false claim that says they were not being straightforward and dragged the two children into this,'' he said.

The ASC ruled they were liable to corporate income tax of 20.89 billion baht on the Ample Rich deal because the benefits were reaped in Thailand. They were also ordered to pay personal income tax of 5.6 billion baht on the profits.

Thitipan Chuaboonchai, dean of law at Chulalongkorn University, said it was clear the transaction in Shin Corp shares between Ample Rich and the siblings was not a sale.

It was clear they were given the shares.

However, the place of transaction and tax liability could still be debated, he said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/08May2007_news03.php

[John K]

I don’t know how far back Thaksin picked up his habit of saying the opposite, but certainly if there is any truth in this last bit of news, it would fit.

To be very honest I have never seen so many negatives in one person. However I have never done any in-depth research on any person in recent history. The closest I can compare is Saddam Hussein but Saddam was more violent in nature, Thaksin is more of what may be called a white collar criminal.

I was giving some thought to the chronological spacing between questionable events when Thaksin was PM. It seemed that every 2 to 3 days there was something that made me raise my eyebrow or shake my head. If you consider all of that going on for 6 years, no wonder things are seemingly taking forever.

[sriracha john]

Telecom tax decision: Thaksin to be charged

The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) resolved yesterday to charge and investigate former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra for his government's decision on the telecom excise tax, which the panel viewed as beneficial to a particular mobile-phone operator and unfair to consumers, its secretary Kaewsun Atibodhi said.

The AEC, acting on a suggestion from a subcommittee probing the matter, agreed Thaksin should be charged with malfeasance in accordance with the Penal Code, Kaewsun said.

The panel agreed the Thaksin Cabinet made the February 2003 resolution improperly and without any legal provision to support it. The controversial decision, which was recently reverted by the current government, allowed all private telecom operators to deduct part of their concession fees to be paid as excise before sharing the remaining concession fees with the state concession owners.

- The Nation

[sriracha john]

Ousted PM 'destroyed' free market

ASC: Thaksin guilty of telecom corruption

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is guilty of malfeasance for pushing legislation to impose excise tax on telecommunication businesses, the ASC ruled yesterday. ASC secretary Kaewsan Atipho said Mr Thaksin, as PM in 2003, pushed through the executive decree that gave Shin Corp an advantage over competitors. The decree stipulates that existing telecom operators have to pay an excise tax of 10% on revenues for mobile phone operations, and 2% for fixed-line operations. But it allows existing operators to deduct the amount from the concession fee, charged at 25% of total revenues, which they have to pay to state agencies. AIS, Shin Corp's mobile phone operator, enjoyed an advantage over new operators, because the 1997 constitution required new operators to pay a 7% fee. The executive decree obstructed free competition in the telecom sector in violation of the spirit of the constitution which sought a free market, he said. Mr Kaewsan said Mr Thaksin had a motive to be corrupt because 49% of Shin Corp shares were then held by his family. This is corruption at policy level, and Mr Thaksin is guilty of malfeasance according to Article 157 of the Criminal Code, Mr Kaewsan said. Issuing the executive decree was against the charter as well as the telecom business act, he said. State agencies lost about 50 billion baht in revenue as a result.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/09May2007_news01.php

================

The Thai people lost 50 billion baht worth of state agencies' benefits... education, infrastructure, etc. etc. etc. Instead of going to the Thai people, it went to Thaksin's wallet.

Edited May 9, 2007 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

And yet MORE things Thaksin Had Done Wrong:

The AEC would also decide on Monday whether to accept a complaint pertaining to iTV for its investigation, he said.

[Additionally] Banjerd Singkaneti, chairman of the AEC panel checking the rubber saplings purchase, said the AEC on Tuesday gave the nod to his panel to charge 90 people for suspected involvement in corruption in the projects.

Three companies - Charoen Pokphand Seeds Co Ltd, Resort Land Co Ltd and Ekcharoen Co Ltd - will also be charged for joint investment, management and collusion on the bid price, he added.

- The Nation

[sriracha john]

Where will the money come from?

Is Thaksin Shinawatra for real this time as it emerges that he is on a brink of taking over Manchester City Football Club?

The price tag for Manchester City is about 100 million pounds sterling, or Bt7 billion. You may want to know from where he will dig his hand in to get the money.

Yes, he has the money. But from where will he get it because his assets are believed to be hidden everywhere?

A few months ago, Thaksin and his wife Pojaman Shinawatra had a difficult time moving Bt400 million out of Thailand. They would like to buy a luxury home in London. The Bank of Thailand froze Pojaman's request to transfer Bt400 million out of the country for a month. Afterward, it flashed the green light for her to do so.

Central bank regulation requires you to seek its approval first before you may transfer more than US$10 million out of the country to buy properties. If the amount is below US$10 million, any commercial bank can simply process the transfer according to your wish.

But if you want to invest in a business worth more than US$50 million, you also need central bank's approval. If the amount is less, a commercial bank can go ahead to process the deal on your behalf.

Now Thaksin will need to withdraw 100 million pounds from his wealth to purchase Manchester City. Will he ask the central bank's permission for him to move Bt7 billion out to complete this business deal? Will the central bank allow him to do so?

Nobody knows Thaksin's and Pojaman's real net worth. More than a year ago, it was rumoured that they had about US$3 billion (about Bt140 billion). After selling 49 per cent of Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings of Singapore last year, the two collected Bt73.3 billion in cash.

This huge amount of money is still parked in the Thai banks inside the country. The central bank has been keeping a watchful eye on Thaksin's and Pojaman's money.

Thaksin has been very conscious of risk management. He sold out Shin Corp in order to get hold on the cash. If his political fortune were to turn wrong, he would hold on the cash rather than the stocks or the other immovable assets.

Another question that has not got adequate attention is whether Thaksin has also been keeping his wealth in the overseas bank accounts? In his asset declaration, he never said he had overseas assets. He only admitted about it after the Shin Corp transaction.

When the Shin Corp deal took place in January 2006, it became public knowledge that he had also had assets in Ample Rich Investments, incorporated in the British Virgins Island.

But it was an open secret in the financial markets about Thaksin's relationship with Ample Rich Investments. Ample Rich held about 10 per cent of Shin Corp stocks worth about Bt16 billion. But then Thaksin claimed that he transferred his interests in Ample Rich to his son Panthongtae well before he entered politics in 2001. So went his perfect script.

After the 1997 baht float, several rich Thais money in the offshore accounts. Korn Chatikavanij of the Democrat Party has called for an investigation into whether Thaksin had kept his assets in the offshore accounts without proper declaration.

For it emerges that there were Win Mark and other secret funds subscribing to the stocks of SC Assets, a property arm of the Shinawatra family, as if they had acted on behalf of the major shareholders.

So how much Thaksin and Pojaman are keeping their wealth in Thailand? Our guess is that it would be probably more than Bt100 billion, with Bt73 billion at least in cash. Any amount beyond this must be kept in overseas bank accounts or other forms of assets.

So Thaksin can use his money in Thailand or in theory his money in offshore accounts to pay Bt7 billion for Manchester City. Now if his request to transfer Bt7 billion out of Thailand reaches Tarisa Watanagase, the Bank of Thailand governor, we'll be curious to know how she would respond.

MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, Tarisa's predecessor, grumbled when he heard that Thaksin would like to raise domestic funds about three years ago to acquire a 30 per cent stake in the Liverpool Football Club for around 70 million pounds. Pridiyathorn would not allow this transaction to take place. Football club is a highrisk high return business.

If the investment in Liverpool melted down, who would assume the responsibility for this deal, which would also involve public money?

But the Manchester City deal, which is impending, involves only Thaksin's money. Still, it is interesting to know how Tarisa would approach this deal.

Thaksin and Pojaman can't have good night sleeps insofar as the local authorities are going after them for the irregular deals they left behind - from the Ratchada land deal, the questionable stock transfer, the CTX deal, the Ample Rich deal, to other undisclosed overseas transaction deals.

On the other hand, Thaksin might only want to use the Manchester City deal to help his publicity stunt, calling for the world's attention to his plight as he has been ousted from power through a military coup.

All of this riddle should unfold over the coming weeks.

- The Nation

related thread:

Thaksin Looking To Buy Manchester City For 6 Billion Baht

Edited May 15, 2007 by sriracha john

[John K]

This certainly suggests that they are just scratching the surface when it comes to investigating Thaksin.

[sriracha john]

Thaksin worried as cases given to court

BANGKOK - Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said here Saturday he is unworried about current publicity moves by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and that he saw the discredited leader as merely struggling hard because serious legal cases against him are about to be brought to trial.

Gen. Surayud said in a weekly television programme, broadcast by state-run TV Channel 11 and Radio Thailand, that he was unperturbed by statements by Mr. Thaksin broadcast live on three community radio stations this week because the contents of the interview could not arouse any sympathetic sentiment among listeners in the Thai public.

Some local media reported Saturday that Mr. Thaksin had already inked a deal to buy an English Premier League football club, Manchester City, following negotiations with the football club's manager.

However, the Bank of Thailand said on Wednesday that it had not been asked by the ex-PM to transfer Bt6 billion in cash in his accounts from Thailand to buy Manchester City.

"I think that Mr. Thaksin is worried the about court cases against his family which are about to start now. His struggling shouldn't be considered as a political offensive," Gen. Surayud said, affirming that the government is not on the defensive. Our responsibility is to ensure that unrest doesn't occur (in the country)," Gen. Surayud said.

Mr. Thaksin, who has moved between Asia and London after he was ousted in the coup, has plenty of cash which could enable him to conduct political activities, said Gen. Surayud, adding that the criminal court which is handling cases against him and his family members would be the one who decides his fate.

Denying rumours that he has avoided bringing serious charges against Mr. Thaksin because of a secret deal, Gen. Surayud said he accepted the premiership to create a climate of reconciliation in Thailand and did not want to cause more rifts in the country.

- MCOT

[backflip]

"Gen. Surayud said...that he was unperturbed by statements by Mr. Thaksin..."

If "unperturbed" means "scared sh!tless", then I agree. Three radio stations were shuttered because they broadcasted Thaksin's comments. Quire possibly, this is a reason that Thaksin will never be returned to Thailand for trial. His presence and his comments could incite the country to depose the military junta, and lead to more bloodshed.

For all of the farangs who are calling for Thaksin's trial in Thailand, you should be careful what you pray for.

Edited May 21, 2007 by backflip

[sriracha john]

Three radio stations were shuttered because they broadcasted Thaksin's comments.

Weren't they closed because they had opened unlawfully, were unregistered, and were operating illegally?

Edited May 21, 2007 by sriracha john

[Meerkat]

Three radio stations were shuttered because they broadcasted Thaksin's comments.

Weren't they closed because they had opened unlawfully, were unregistered, and were operating illegally?

Were that the case, why was it only those three stations out of the three thousand similarly operating nationally that were taken off the air?

Come on John; it's a specious argument and you know it.

[sriracha john]

Three radio stations were shuttered because they broadcasted Thaksin's comments.

Weren't they closed because they had opened unlawfully, were unregistered, and were operating illegally?

Were that the case, why was it only those three stations out of the three thousand similarly operating nationally that were taken off the air?

Come on John; it's a specious argument and you know it.

the specifics and merits are probably best discussed in the topic-specific thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...121236&st=0

[sriracha john]

Social welfare fund in danger

The government must ensure the Social Security Office remains beyond the reach of politicians' grubby hands

The Surayud administration will be given two choices on how to improve the administrative efficiency and corporate governance of the Social Security Office (SSO), which will have a great bearing on the long-term sustainability of the Bt403-billion Social Security Fund. Some nine million workers count on the fund to provide them with a wide range of welfare benefits, including free healthcare and pension cover. The government must make the right decision. One proposal that is favoured by the current leadership of the SSO is for a limited shake-up that would turn its investment arm only into a public agency with a high degree of autonomy. The reason cited for keeping the SSO under the administrative purview of the government is that the government should have the power to control the SSO, because a sizeable part of the total intake to the Social Security Fund comes from taxpayers' money.

Under the tripartite system, an employer and employee each contribute the equivalent of 5 per cent of a worker's salary to the fund - currently between a minimum of Bt83 and a maximum of Bt750 per month - while the government contributes another, variable portion.

Another proposal supported by academics and labour organisations seeks to transform the entire SSO into an autonomous public agency. Proponents of this drastic approach reason that SSO administrators, handpicked by politicians at the Labour Ministry, cannot be trusted to faithfully serve workers insured under the social security system.

These people have a valid point to make, as one has only to look back at the allegedly blatant manipulation of the SSO by politicians during the five and a half years of the corruption-prone Thaksin administration. Some top SSO executives were accused of pandering to the former prime minister's populist policies and allowing their political masters at the Labour Ministry to negatively influence the management of the Social Security Fund.

Allegations and counter-allegations are rife about the SSO's deviation from sound governance and good stewardship of the Social Security Fund. Some past and present administrators have been accused of introducing new, wasteful services that mimic the previous government's populist policies or of favouring certain interest groups at the expense of insured workers. Examples abound of questionable investments in the property and capital markets that were not subjected to stakeholder scrutiny, which could potentially result in huge losses.

One problem with the Surayud government is that it has shown little interest in investigating any of the allegations of wrongdoing at the SSO. The allegations include a change in payment arrangements for pre-natal/child delivery assistance, dental healthcare provision that appeared to benefit private hospitals and investment in the allegedly overpriced Wattachak Building, among other things. Disappointingly, the government has failed to thoroughly investigate to find out whether any of the alleged wrongdoing has actually been committed and by whom. This means, of course, that corrective measures cannot be taken to minimise the damage and the wrongdoers might not be brought to justice. Worse, it also entrusted the Labour Ministry to commission studies on how it should reform itself.

It is not too difficult to guess which approach the Labour Ministry and the current SSO leadership prefer. They have already made known their favourable response to the least change possible - by turning only the SSO investment arm into an autonomous public agency while keeping the SSO under the thumb of politicians. The government must make sure that the Labour Ministry and the current SSO leadership, who seek to maintain the status quo, do not succeed. The SSO was set up to provide a wide range of services for members including medical care and cash for maternity leave, unemployment benefits in the event of disability, through to pensions and death benefits. The Social Security Fund may have grown quickly, but that should not give the SSO cause for complacency. That is because the trickle of payouts in relation to the huge cash inflow will begin to reverse in the coming years as members start reaching retirement age.

The government owes it to workers covered by the SSO, and indeed taxpayers, to make the whole of the SSO an autonomous public agency. Only by putting it beyond the reach of political interference can the SSO - one of the country's few successful, mostly self-financed welfare systems - continue to be a gift that keeps on giving.

- The Nation Editorial

[ando]

All this talk about legal technicalities re Thaksin is really quite hypocritical and a bit comical when you consider that the countries government has been taken over by a bunch of thugs with guns and against the wishes of the vast majority of voters. The ruling Junta is making a real hash of things, changing laws that suit their political ends, driving the econemy down with stupid decisions and trying to introduce a regressive constitution that no one wants. The junta is so terrified of Thaksins popular democratic support base that they spend all ther time trying to demonize him instead of getting on with running the country and returning it to democratic rule.

Farangs taking the high moral ground calling for Thaksins scalp while they support a minority armed with guns and tanks taking over government. What a joke. Might be a fun time for the foreign internet keyboard jockeys to pass the time of day, but what about the Thai citizens who dont have the option to go some place else when things degenerate? The junta are trying to put a post coup form of watered down democracy in place that suits their needs. Thats the big issue at stake here for the Thai people. But we got these dopey expats here that cant see past their noses and think if they can get some dirt on Thaksin, everything else will sort itself out.

Thaksin ain't the only crook in Thailand and focusing on him alone while some other corrupt leader slips in under a greatly weakened democratic process will only set the country back decades.

[Tony Clifton]

CORRUPTION WATCHDOG

AEC empowers panels to track down illegal gains

Allows probes into any Thaksin govt policy or project deemed unusual

The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) has given its sub-panels the power to launch asset investigations into possible conflicts of interest in regard to deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra - and to seek a court order to seize assets if he was found to be unusually rich.

AEC chairman Nam Yimyaem has endorsed the order to give subcommittees the authority to investigate all policies, projects and concessions by the Thaksin government, AEC secretary Kaewsan Atibodhi said yesterday.

"Since the AEC has expanded the scope and power for the subcommittees, we are given more weapons to use," he said.

The matter was discussed at the AEC meeting on Monday, according to the committee's secretary.

In the order, the AEC subcommittees are authorised to investigate all state measures that may have benefited Shin Corp, the telecom firm owned by the ex-PM's family. This would include a loan by the government's Export Import Bank to the Burmese government, which in turn was used to pay for an agreement with Shin Satellite.

Shin Corp is alleged to have benefited from various policies during Thaksin's administrations.

The order resulted from a proposal by Klanarong Chantik, chairman of the subcommittee probing the excise tax case.

Kaewsan said that the subcommittees would be able to investigate all government projects that may favour Shin Corp or Thaksin and his family such as the move to reduce concession fees, to give Board of Investment privileges, or matters in the iTV legal controversy.

The subcommittee can look into criminal offences that may have been committed by Thaksin and any damage incurred by such acts.

If Thaksin was found to hold Shin Corp shares, he would be subject to legal action for violating Article 100 of National Counter Corruption Act for offences involving conflicts of interest, plus Article 157 of the Criminal Law for malfeasance and dereliction of duty.

The subcommittee can also seek to impound Thaksin's assets, if he and his family were found in anyway to be unusually rich.

"If Thaksin or his family wrongfully earned dividends and capital gains from Shin Corp shares through policy corruption, they will be regarded as being unusually rich and we can lodge the complaint with the court to confiscate their assets," he said.

The Nation

Doesn`t look like Thaksin will only get a slap on the wrist, some fines and an agreement as many are predicting.

Edited May 22, 2007 by Tony Clifton

[sriracha john]

The Assets Examination Committee is slated next Monday to review its subcommittee report on the graft probe relating to the ousted government's alleged intervention to extend two Export-Import Bank loans to Burma.

Should the committee endorse the report, the proceedings would move to the indictment hearing naming culprits and making charges for the combined lending of Bt7 billion, allegedly to favour the telecom business founded by Thaksin.

- The Nation

[hammered]

Social welfare fund in danger

The government must ensure the Social Security Office remains beyond the reach of politicians' grubby hands

The Surayud administration will be given two choices on how to improve the administrative efficiency and corporate governance of the Social Security Office (SSO), which will have a great bearing on the long-term sustainability of the Bt403-billion Social Security Fund. Some nine million workers count on the fund to provide them with a wide range of welfare benefits, including free healthcare and pension cover. The government must make the right decision. One proposal that is favoured by the current leadership of the SSO is for a limited shake-up that would turn its investment arm only into a public agency with a high degree of autonomy. The reason cited for keeping the SSO under the administrative purview of the government is that the government should have the power to control the SSO, because a sizeable part of the total intake to the Social Security Fund comes from taxpayers' money.

Under the tripartite system, an employer and employee each contribute the equivalent of 5 per cent of a worker's salary to the fund - currently between a minimum of Bt83 and a maximum of Bt750 per month - while the government contributes another, variable portion.

Another proposal supported by academics and labour organisations seeks to transform the entire SSO into an autonomous public agency. Proponents of this drastic approach reason that SSO administrators, handpicked by politicians at the Labour Ministry, cannot be trusted to faithfully serve workers insured under the social security system.

These people have a valid point to make, as one has only to look back at the allegedly blatant manipulation of the SSO by politicians during the five and a half years of the corruption-prone Thaksin administration. Some top SSO executives were accused of pandering to the former prime minister's populist policies and allowing their political masters at the Labour Ministry to negatively influence the management of the Social Security Fund.

Allegations and counter-allegations are rife about the SSO's deviation from sound governance and good stewardship of the Social Security Fund. Some past and present administrators have been accused of introducing new, wasteful services that mimic the previous government's populist policies or of favouring certain interest groups at the expense of insured workers. Examples abound of questionable investments in the property and capital markets that were not subjected to stakeholder scrutiny, which could potentially result in huge losses.

One problem with the Surayud government is that it has shown little interest in investigating any of the allegations of wrongdoing at the SSO. The allegations include a change in payment arrangements for pre-natal/child delivery assistance, dental healthcare provision that appeared to benefit private hospitals and investment in the allegedly overpriced Wattachak Building, among other things. Disappointingly, the government has failed to thoroughly investigate to find out whether any of the alleged wrongdoing has actually been committed and by whom. This means, of course, that corrective measures cannot be taken to minimise the damage and the wrongdoers might not be brought to justice. Worse, it also entrusted the Labour Ministry to commission studies on how it should reform itself.

It is not too difficult to guess which approach the Labour Ministry and the current SSO leadership prefer. They have already made known their favourable response to the least change possible - by turning only the SSO investment arm into an autonomous public agency while keeping the SSO under the thumb of politicians. The government must make sure that the Labour Ministry and the current SSO leadership, who seek to maintain the status quo, do not succeed. The SSO was set up to provide a wide range of services for members including medical care and cash for maternity leave, unemployment benefits in the event of disability, through to pensions and death benefits. The Social Security Fund may have grown quickly, but that should not give the SSO cause for complacency. That is because the trickle of payouts in relation to the huge cash inflow will begin to reverse in the coming years as members start reaching retirement age.

The government owes it to workers covered by the SSO, and indeed taxpayers, to make the whole of the SSO an autonomous public agency. Only by putting it beyond the reach of political interference can the SSO - one of the country's few successful, mostly self-financed welfare systems - continue to be a gift that keeps on giving.

- The Nation Editorial

This is an excellent editorial and is the kind if thing that newspapers should be reporting on. It is a shame that it was not initiated under the previous regime.

Now one only needs to take a look at who was labour minister under the previous regime and see how he has positioned himself as a potential kingmaker in the next government to see why no investigation of these allegations will occur. That is ad for the many millions of people who contribute to social security and expect something from it. It is also a missed opportunity for anyone who wanted to really expose Thaksin. Gambling with and corruptly manipulating money intended for the poor would have exposed him as not as caring to that group as some of them think.

[sriracha john]

The last chance Thai tycoon

LONDON — Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand who, when he was in office, tried to deal with an Islamic insurgency by ‘bombing’ the rebels with paper cranes, is not, by any standards, a conventional man.

When he went into politics, he formed a new party and called it ‘Thais Love Thais’. Recently, he said he was thinking of starting another one, and calling it the ‘Enjoy Life Party’. Nobody was quite sure if he was joking. The ideology of this new party? “Playing golf, travelling, relaxing, meeting friends,” he said with a laugh.

This is also the man who, while in Moscow this week to receive an honourary degree from the Prekanov Economic Institute, chose, despite being one of the richest men in South East Asia, to eat at McDonald’s, where his briefcase, containing his passport and more than $8,000, was stolen. The headline in a Thai newspaper said: “Mr Thaksin gets Big Mac - and a takeaway”.

Now an asylum-seeker in Britain, where he has a home, he is not only a billionaire (thanks to his mobile phone network) but also, simultaneously, the most popular and the most hated ex-Prime Minister that Thailand has ever had.

He is still adored by the poor in the country, on whom he lavished development money, debt moratoriums and free health care access. In 2005 they gave him the biggest parliamentary majority of any politician in Thai history and they would probably vote him into power again if they got the chance. Yet he is hated by the middle class, in Bangkok and elsewhere, which damns him as a corrupt populist who deserves a long spell in jail rather than another term in office. Dodging both the possibilities, he has spent the eight months since his overthrow by the army, while he was playing golf in Beijing, attending to business in London, and teasing both his fans and those who loathe him about his intentions, which appear to include buying a Premiership football club. He is expected to become the owner of Manchester City any day now.

He routinely dismisses with a chuckle the suggestions that he might get back into Thai politics, or even return to Thailand. But if he really has retired, as he insists, at the age of 58, why has he hired American lobbying and public relations firms to tend to his career? But he is not all jokes.

This is also the former lieutenant colonel in the Thai police who, as prime minister, did not bat an eyelid at the extra-judicial killing of 3,000 people during a campaign to stamp out the illegal methamphetamine trade.

Throughout his career, Mr Thaksin has been profoundly influenced by America and the American Dream, thanks to the five years he spent during his mid-twenties in the USA of America.

The man himself routinely denies he has any intentions of trying to regain high office, but, as Mr Tony Blair can tell him, the ‘pull of power’ is pretty strong. Manchester City’s slogan may be ‘City till I die’ - but it would be surprising if Mr Thaksin sang along very heartily.

- The Independent (UK)

[sriracha john]

The Assets Examination Committee is slated next Monday to review its subcommittee report on the graft probe relating to the ousted government's alleged intervention to extend two Export-Import Bank loans to Burma.

Should the committee endorse the report, the proceedings would move to the indictment hearing naming culprits and making charges for the combined lending of Bt7 billion, allegedly to favour the telecom business founded by Thaksin.

- The Nation

As the issue and story develops, a new topic thread has been started here:

Thaksin To Be Probed Over Exim Bank Loan to Burma

[anthos]

what Thaksin done wrong?

he shouldn't have had that lunch in Moscow McDonalds

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1933560.htm

36000 USD in cash reported to be in his stolen case