Govt plans press briefing to mark 3 years in power

[rooster59]

Govt plans press briefing to mark 3 years in power

By The Sunday Nation

 

The government is planning to hold its own press conference in addition to one held by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to declare its achievements over the past three years since the May 2014 coup, government spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday.

 

Sansern said his team would now table the plan for consideration by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Details of the plan cannot be disclosed yet, he added.

 

The event is tentatively scheduled for around late June or early July.

 

The NCPO press conference, he said, would take place one month before, around late May or early June. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30315137

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-05-14

[darksidedog]

Everyone knows what they have done over the last three years, so no one wants to hear them try and spin some rubbish that suggests otherwise.

I think the only thing that most people want to hear about is when will there be elections and when will the junta be gone.

[tracker1]

Govt plans press briefing  to declare its achievements over the past three years since the May 2014 coup   3 years in power  Brief it may be !

[gk10002000]

5 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Everyone knows what they have done over the last three years, so no one wants to hear them try and spin some rubbish that suggests otherwise.

I think the only thing that most people want to hear about is when will there be elections and when will the junta be gone.

yeah, but I don't think the junta has any plans or any desire to leave anytime soon.  Historically, juntas stay in power a very long time.  Even if they governed reasonably well, and were not too corrupt (rare), they are worried about future retributions, from the incoming governments. In Thailand's case, few have ever resisted a Junta takeover.  Thaksin's takeover was wrapped up pretty quickly.  I don't think there have been major military factions fighting or any long term civil war as military and civilians fought

[darksidedog]

I don't truly expect the Junta to give up power either really, even after elections. I believe they will keep a grip on true power, while allowing a mini democracy to run that which doesn't really matter, while giving the pretense that it is all democratic. I hope that I am wrong, but sadly, I don't think I am.

[yellowboat]

Sadly the "achievements" of the last three years will be reflected in non achievements in the next 20 years.   A truly representative government will not flourish.  Impartiality in law will never happen.    Thailand's future is uncertain. 

[simoh1490]

15 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

I don't truly expect the Junta to give up power either really, even after elections. I believe they will keep a grip on true power, while allowing a mini democracy to run that which doesn't really matter, while giving the pretense that it is all democratic. I hope that I am wrong, but sadly, I don't think I am.

Democracy is way overdone, it's simply not suitable for everyone and all countries, just look at the state of many western countries for goodness sake. And of course it's seriously unfashionable to suggest that having a junta in power might be OK, it raises the blood pressure of millennials who have been taught that such things are just plain wrong - I don't agree, some populations need to be led, given stricter rules than just suggestion and guidance. A democratic Thailand has seen corruption expand massively along with wholesale flaunting of local and national laws, land encroachment and separate application of law for the wealthy being two key ones. The junta still has a long way to go to solve all the problems but they have at least made progress whereas past democratically elected governments did nothing.

 

 

[jollyhangmon]

1 hour ago, tracker1 said:

Govt plans press briefing  to declare its achievements over the past three years since the May 2014 coup   3 years in power  Brief it may be !

Yes, even if one was to use very long sentences ...

Let's see if it contains: 'We're also very far up some Chinese rears now for ordering their crap for our glorious army. We took care the submarines don't have too much 'flotation depth' (!) what with our shallow gulf and all ...'  

[yellowboat]

44 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Democracy is way overdone, it's simply not suitable for everyone and all countries, just look at the state of many western countries for goodness sake. And of course it's seriously unfashionable to suggest that having a junta in power might be OK, it raises the blood pressure of millennials who have been taught that such things are just plain wrong - I don't agree, some populations need to be led, given stricter rules than just suggestion and guidance. A democratic Thailand has seen corruption expand massively along with wholesale flaunting of local and national laws, land encroachment and separate application of law for the wealthy being two key ones. The junta still has a long way to go to solve all the problems but they have at least made progress whereas past democratically elected governments did nothing.

 

 

Oh yes, the old democracy, representative government is over done cop out.  Usurping power at gun point is OK ?  Might makes right ?  Is that your argument ? 

 

Some populations need to be lead?  Which ones and how do you know ?

 

Beach chairs, submarines and bike lanes are not substantial achievements. 

 

Land encroachments were being dealt with, but the law in Thailand is slow.  The Junta acted without due process.  Elected governments are bound by due process. 

 

The evolution of man is to become educated and have a say in government.  What you say is that the American revolution was a waste of time.  The quick fixes you cherish come at the loss of liberty which retards education and economic pursuits.  Autocracies are perilous as they put power in the hands of the very few who answer to nobody.  As bad as things are in a democracy or representative government, there is a chance for things to improve. 

[YetAnother]

this press briefing will be a one-way BS

[mtls2005]

Start with a list of all Article 44 decrees.

 

Three years is a very long run for any Thai "government" administration. It's middling for "generals" who've seized power, but over for "elected" governments, save one.

[simoh1490]

34 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

Oh yes, the old democracy, representative government is over done cop out.  Usurping power at gun point is OK ?  Might makes right ?  Is that your argument ? 

 

Some populations need to be lead?  Which ones and how do you know ?

 

Beach chairs, submarines and bike lanes are not substantial achievements. 

 

Land encroachments were being dealt with, but the law in Thailand is slow.  The Junta acted without due process.  Elected governments are bound by due process. 

 

The evolution of man is to become educated and have a say in government.  What you say is that the American revolution was a waste of time.  The quick fixes you cherish come at the loss of liberty which retards education and economic pursuits.  Autocracies are perilous as they put power in the hands of the very few who answer to nobody.  As bad as things are in a democracy or representative government, there is a chance for things to improve. 

You ignore that Thailand is not a fully developed country by any means, if democracy works less than perfectly well in fully developed countries, what chance do emerging countries have.

 

How do I know you ask - nineteen coups in eighty years years, that's how many times the army has had to intervene in democratically elected governement, that's how I know.

 

Wasn't it Abe Lincoln who said, and I paraphrase, that when government no longer serves the people, the people have a duty to rise up!

 

 

[Cadbury]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to declare its achievements

This will be a selective report if ever there was one. You can bet there will be no mention of certain under-achievements. Like improvements to the education system, catching Dhammajayo, reducing road fatalities and accidents, maintenance of public utilities such as sewage works, cleaning up the thousands of tonnes of garbage at tourist resorts, lottery ticket controls. The list goes on.

This government seems to operate by the 50-50-90 rule invented by Murphy.

 

Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I don't truly expect the Junta to give up power either really, even after elections. I believe they will keep a grip on true power, while allowing a mini democracy to run that which doesn't really matter, while giving the pretense that it is all democratic. I hope that I am wrong, but sadly, I don't think I am.

This is exactly what happened in Egypt during the so called, Arab Spring. Although the country had a brief period of (pseudo) democracy, the military was always there, right behind the curtains.

 

Because of the depth of their involvement, they were able to influence the way the country functioned and ultimately caused so much dissent that the population positively cried out for the removal of Morsi. Another good example is Pakistan.

 

I suspect that most military dictatorships function in the same way. It seems to me that they occasionally allow the 'democratic process' out on a long leash for a while, mainly to appease the dissenters and the International Community, then snatch power back once they've had their brief moment in the sun.

Edited May 14, 2017 by Moonlover

[gk10002000]

2 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

Democracy is way overdone, it's simply not suitable for everyone and all countries, just look at the state of many western countries for goodness sake. And of course it's seriously unfashionable to suggest that having a junta in power might be OK, it raises the blood pressure of millennials who have been taught that such things are just plain wrong - I don't agree, some populations need to be led, given stricter rules than just suggestion and guidance. A democratic Thailand has seen corruption expand massively along with wholesale flaunting of local and national laws, land encroachment and separate application of law for the wealthy being two key ones. The junta still has a long way to go to solve all the problems but they have at least made progress whereas past democratically elected governments did nothing.

 

 

.  The longer a totalitarian regime stays in power the more freedoms are lost, and the more a country will stagnate.  When there is no oversight, or accountability, corruption and injustice increases, and worse the intensity of such things do.  People learn there is no sense in trying to get ahead because at any moment some autocrat can take things away.  Laws are not enforced, or even voted on.  Courts become puppet courts.  Foreign investments, quality investments drop, and the only ones left doing business all buy into kickbacks, bag money, etc. 

[simoh1490]

26 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

.  The longer a totalitarian regime stays in power the more freedoms are lost, and the more a country will stagnate.  When there is no oversight, or accountability, corruption and injustice increases, and worse the intensity of such things do.  People learn there is no sense in trying to get ahead because at any moment some autocrat can take things away.  Laws are not enforced, or even voted on.  Courts become puppet courts.  Foreign investments, quality investments drop, and the only ones left doing business all buy into kickbacks, bag money, etc. 

That's utter rubbish, you're quoting Western theory rather than practise in the East currently. China's growth has been doing just fine over the past ten years and they also are coming down hard on corruption and China's nowhere near to being a democracy - there's more billionaires in Asia than anywhere else, China is number two on the list, Thailand has twenty, most created in the past fifteen years - GDP in Thailand has been excellent and is once again on the up, western countries aren't even close to the numbers here.

[Lemonltr]

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

You ignore that Thailand is not a fully developed country by any means, if democracy works less than perfectly well in fully developed countries, what chance do emerging countries have.

 

How do I know you ask - nineteen coups in eighty years years, that's how many times the army has had to intervene in democratically elected governement, that's how I know.

 

Wasn't it Abe Lincoln who said, and I paraphrase, that when government no longer serves the people, the people have a duty to rise up!

 

 

I'm afraid that you are sounding very elitist. You say the army regularly  "had" to intervene. Millions of Thais would disagree with that.

As for Lincoln's remark that "people have the duty to rise up". He said nothing about the army rising up!

I suspect like most of coup supporters you would also rise up if a similar military government was in power in your own country. But it's OK for the Thai people in your opinion as they are ' not developed' Why not ask the Thai people why they consistently vote in PTP type governments to your presumed astonishment.

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, Lemonltr said:

I'm afraid that you are sounding very elitist. You say the army regularly  "had" to intervene. Millions of Thais would disagree with that.

As for Lincoln's remark that "people have the duty to rise up". He said nothing about the army rising up!

I suspect like most of coup supporters you would also rise up if a similar military government was in power in your own country. But it's OK for the Thai people in your opinion as they are ' not developed' Why not ask the Thai people why they consistently vote in PTP type governments to your presumed astonishment.

......and millions of Thai's would agree that the coup and the direction things are headed are both very sound, in fact, I have yet to meet a single Thai who doesn't think so. But in all fairness, most of the Thai's that I know are over age forty hence I accept the teenagers and twenty somethings may have different views.

 

As for Lincoln and the army: the army supports and protects the monarchy, the people support the monarchy, politicians are merely a distraction, many in the business they are in in order to feather their own nests.

[yellowboat]

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

How do I know you ask - nineteen coups in eighty years years, that's how many times the army has had to intervene in democratically elected governement, that's how I know.

The army "had to" ?  They decided to because they could.   It is the army's failure to protect the civilian government system.    The army listens to nobody and that is why you have coups not because the Thais are not developed. 

 

The government system is not cherished there like it is in places in Taiwan.  Taiwan became a free and representative because a dictator was awoken by a phone call in the middle of the night.  That call made him think how different his government was from that of China.  He then started radical change for the better.  Thailand has gone backwards. 

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

Wasn't it Abe Lincoln who said, and I paraphrase, that when government no longer serves the people, the people have a duty to rise up!

He might have.  He also suspended Habeas Corpus.  Only a small number of middle class Thais took to streets.  The Army saw it as a way to get rid of the Shinawatras.  The Shins challenged the status quo that the army favor and the elites favor.  The army acted out of their own interests and that of the powerful not the populous. 

[Lemonltr]

Please don't bring the monarchy into this. The monarchy is above politics and revered by Thais.

Maybe the election, when next held will be a better survey than your personal one.

[Lemonltr]

My last post was intended to be a reply to Simon 14th but I erred.

[Lemonltr]

Simoh1490. Sorry

[simoh1490]

6 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

The army "had to" ?  They decided to because they could.   It is the army's failure to protect the civilian government system.    The army listens to nobody and that is why you have coups not because the Thais are not developed. 

 

The government system is not cherished there like it is in places in Taiwan.  Taiwan became a free and representative because a dictator was awoken by a phone call in the middle of the night.  That call made him think how different his government was from that of China.  He then started radical change for the better.  Thailand has gone backwards. 

He might have.  He also suspended Habeas Corpus.  Only a small number of middle class Thais took to streets.  The Army saw it as a way to get rid of the Shinawatras.  The Shins challenged the status quo that the army favor and the elites favor.  The army acted out of their own interests and that of the powerful not the populous. 

Giving the vote to Sarawut and Ploy, rural rice farmers from nakon nowhere, whose votes can be bought for 500 baht each, is about as useful as asking Bert and Fred from Rochdale who hold a CSE in woodwork between them, whether they think the UK should remain a member of the EU!

[Lemonltr]

5 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Giving the vote to Sarawut and Ploy, rural rice farmers from nakon nowhere, whose votes can be bought for 500 baht each, is about as useful as asking Bert and Fred from Rochdale who hold a CSE in woodwork between them, whether they think the UK should remain a member of the EU!

So the lives of Sarawat and Ploy are insignificant compared to educated right wingers. Truly undemocratic and elitist. But I'll finish now and leave it to others with 'good hearts'

[yellowboat]

30 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

......and millions of Thai's would agree that the coup and the direction things are headed are both very sound, in fact, I have yet to meet a single Thai who doesn't think so. But in all fairness, most of the Thai's that I know are over age forty hence I accept the teenagers and twenty somethings may have different views.

Thais I have spoken to, in the same age group, who wanted the coup are sorry now.  The economy is stagnate.  Foreign investment is low.  Rule of law is questionable. The future for Thailand is uncertain.  Neighbors like Vietnam are pushing ahead at a furious rate.   The coup has not addressed poor education standards, has not spurred economic growth.  Thailand is in danger of falling far behind its neighbors.   

[yellowboat]

14 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Giving the vote to Sarawut and Ploy, rural rice farmers from nakon nowhere, whose votes can be bought for 500 baht each, is about as useful as asking Bert and Fred from Rochdale who hold a CSE in woodwork between them, whether they think the UK should remain a member of the EU!

According to VOA, the elections were clean, but coup apologists still harp on this as if it was some sort of undisputed fact.  It is disputed.  What is not disputed is yellows being afraid to campaign in Isan and North Thailand as they were not popular.  

 

What does the EU vote the UK have to do with Thailand ?     Running out of arguments and justifications?

 

Many in Taiwan and the US were uneducated, but the difference is these governments wanted their citizens of be educated enough to vote and they stuck by their wishes.  They wanted fairness.  Something which is a foreign concept in today's Thailand. 

[debate101]

5 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Everyone knows what they have done over the last three years, so no one wants to hear them try and spin some rubbish that suggests otherwise.

I think the only thing that most people want to hear about is when will there be elections and when will the junta be gone.

They will never go willingly. This generation got an erroneous view of the military's role in politics because of their brief attempt to, ostensibly, "fix the country's problems" in 2006-2007 before being scared off by mounting discontent and protests that were never widely reported on. In retrospect, we can see that they laid the groundwork for this "complete" takeover by increasing the ability of unelected, unaccountable bodies to manipulate politics and continue to destabilize the country until resistance was exhausted and many people would finally acquiece to long-term military rule, just so they could get on with their lives and have some semblence of stability back.

 

However, most seem to have short historical memories regarding living under this kind of system as well as how much how much blood, sweat, and time it took to get out from under it in the past. Those things just aren't widely taught in schools, unfortunately, because they are usually stacked with authoritarian royalists who like to paint fictitious portraits of their own country's history because they know where their bread is buttered. Three civil service pay rises in the past three years, for example, without any sort of results to justify them.

Edited May 14, 2017 by debate101

[wirat69]

7 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I think the only thing that most people want to hear about is when will there be elections and when will the junta be gone.

The good old express one plus a handful of likes = we speak for the majority 

 

in my my humble opinion the majority of the Kingdom do not agree with your minority view... at least until you produce some comprehensive survey results to the contrary!!!

[simoh1490]

22 minutes ago, wirat69 said:

The good old express one plus a handful of likes = we speak for the majority 

 

in my my humble opinion the majority of the Kingdom do not agree with your minority view... at least until you produce some comprehensive survey results to the contrary!!!

Exactly. What many foreigners here don't understand is that there's a huge segment of the population that cares nothing about which party is in power and/or whether they have the right to vote or not, just like in many countries in the West where voter turnout is so low as to be laughable. What those (Thai) people care about is peace and stability, their income, their livelihood and that corruption is being dealt with.

Edited May 14, 2017 by simoh1490

[halloween]

4 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

.  The longer a totalitarian regime stays in power the more freedoms are lost, and the more a country will stagnate.  When there is no oversight, or accountability, corruption and injustice increases, and worse the intensity of such things do.  People learn there is no sense in trying to get ahead because at any moment some autocrat can take things away.  Laws are not enforced, or even voted on.  Courts become puppet courts.  Foreign investments, quality investments drop, and the only ones left doing business all buy into kickbacks, bag money, etc. 

"When there is no oversight, or accountability, corruption and injustice increases, and worse the intensity of such things do. " 

Agreed, we saw that quite clearly with the Yingluk government. Laws were not enforced, etc, etc. Before predicting these things might happen with a military government, face up to the fact they WERE happening in the last democratic government.  Remember the attempt to borrow THB2.2 trillion, to be used off-budget to prop up their excesses?