Former Thai PM Yingluck seeks "fan support" amid asset freeze

[webfact]

Former Thai PM Yingluck seeks "fan support" amid asset freeze

 

Ousted former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra gestures in a traditional greeting as she leaves the Supreme Court in Bangkok,Thailand, July 21, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, ousted in a 2014 coup, called on her supporters for help as the military government "temporarily froze" 37 of her properties and 16 bank accounts.

 

Yingluck was banned from politics in 2015 after a military-appointed assembly found her guilty of mismanaging a scheme that bought rice from farmers at up to 50 percent above the market price. She denies wrongdoing.

 

Though she is banned from political life, Yingluck remains a figurehead of the populist movement that has won every Thai election since 2001. She remains hugely popular among rural voters.

 

Last year, a state-appointed committee recommended she pay a fine of 35 billion baht ($1 billion), or about a fifth of the 178 billion baht it said the schemes cost the state in 2012 and 2013.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam told reporters on Thursday that the finance ministry had located assets belonging to Yingluck including the 37 properties and money deposited in 16 bank accounts.

 

"They have been temporarily frozen ... but they haven't been seized by the state," Wissanu told reporters.

 

Yingluck took to Twitter on Wednesday and wrote: "My bank accounts have already been confiscated. I would like encouragement from my fans and my Thai brothers and sisters."

 

Yingluck was charged with criminal negligence over the rice scheme, which was one of the policies engineered by her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was also toppled in a 2006 coup.

 

Thaksin is central to a conflict that has divided Thais for more than a decade. He lives in exile abroad to avoid a jail term for abuse of power, a conviction he says was politically motivated.

 

A verdict in the criminal case against Yingluck is expected on Aug. 25.

 

The junta has warned Yingluck supporters not to gather at the court. That warning is being ignored by some supporters in the north and northeast, a cradle of Shinawatra support, with some saying they will descend on Bangkok in coming weeks.

 

Pichit Tamoon, a leader of the red-shirt movement that supports the Shinawatras based in the northern city of Chiang Mai, said up to 3,000 people would head for Bangkok.

 

"Many people will come to give her support because they feel sorry for her," red shirt spokesman Thanawut Wichaidit told Reuters. "She looked after farmers and look at what happened to her."

 

(Reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Nick Macfie)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-27

[NCC1701A]

"I would like encouragement from my fans and my Thai brothers and sisters."

 

this should be interesting.

[robblok]

So its just a freeze. not money taken out of the accounts... that is different from taking the money. This is purely a precaution. If she had bolted with the money everyone would have called the army fools. Its quite normal that accounts are frozen until a judgement is made. This happens in other parts of the world too. 

[Cuchulainn]

The "champion of the poor" with at least 37 properties and no less than 16 bank accounts?

 

.........She looked after farmers.......

What? Helped tie the noose to hang themselves?

[starky]

6 minutes ago, robblok said:

So its just a freeze. not money taken out of the accounts... that is different from taking the money. This is purely a precaution. If she had bolted with the money everyone would have called the army fools. Its quite normal that accounts are frozen until a judgement is made. This happens in other parts of the world too. 

Well its pretty subjective isnt it. Unless your privy to details none of us know its hard to tell who is telling the truth. Having said that we always know where your loyalties lie, junta never lies. Right?

Especially since Prayut just stated it was ok to seize her assets prior to conviction. 

Edited July 27, 2017 by starky

[seajae]

now she wants the poor to support her, poor thing she needs 2 million a month just to survive, bugger allowing the poor to eat and have a life, she is far more important. 

[robblok]

22 minutes ago, starky said:

Well its pretty subjective isnt it. Unless your privy to details none of us know its hard to tell who is telling the truth. Having said that we always know where your loyalties lie, junta never lies. Right?

Especially since Prayut just stated it was ok to seize her assets prior to conviction. 

Its reported by reuters...  I guess they are bias ? 

[Golgota]

19 minutes ago, seajae said:

now she wants the poor to support her, poor thing she needs 2 million a month just to survive, bugger allowing the poor to eat and have a life, she is far more important. 

You know, when NOBODY take care of you for a long time, and suddenly having someone looking after you, even if crooked to the bones, will do wonder...
The Shinawatra family did what nobody did before : populism...Problem with populism is if you get evicted before the people see the damages, you get re-elected, and re-elected....

Prayuth and his friend Suthep thought, as traditional elite, that they knew better than the common folks...

[chainarong]

Well to be fair , the way the country was being run over the last two decades, two coups isn't surprising , the surprise is Prayut hasn't learnt anything either , Thailand hasn't moved forward , except for TAT, the outlook will make bleak reading in the Yearly report........................................ 

Edited July 27, 2017 by chainarong

[FritsSikkink]

37 minutes ago, robblok said:

Its reported by reuters...  I guess they are bias ? 

Red shirts are the same as Trump supporters, can't see the truth.

[than]

She insult the families and the memories of people who committed suicide because she did not keep their promises.

 

 

[LazarusRizing]

1 hour ago, seajae said:

now she wants the poor to support her, poor thing she needs 2 million a month just to survive, bugger allowing the poor to eat and have a life, she is far more important. 

Forgive me for asking, but I am curious as to why your emotions are so strong against Yingluck. I can understand why one would have views one way or the other regarding the yellows and reds of Thailand but I don't really understand the strength of your hatred. I myself probably lean towards position that the reds have been a bit hard done by and I would like to see democracy in Thailand (in the whole world really). What makes me very curious about the whole situation is that there does seem to be a level of acceptance by Thai people of events that have occurred. I think reds would win an election but I also get the feeling that if there aren't elections any time soon then perhaps not that many Thais would car too much. I don't know. Anyway I am curious why you have such strong views particularly when I would assume not much Yingluck did affected you personally.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Quote

37 of her properties and 16 bank accounts.

 

Let no one ever say Thai politics doesn't pay...

 

Heck, she has more bank accounts than the recently deceased dark web Canadian guy, and more properties as well.

 

And if those are the ones the Thai bureaucrats found, then they're probably a small share of her actual holdings, which presumably have been disappeared in various ways over the passing months.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, LazarusRizing said:

Forgive me for asking, but I am curious as to why your emotions are so strong against Yingluck. I can understand why one would have views one way or the other regarding the yellows and reds of Thailand but I don't really understand the strength of your hatred. I myself probably lean towards position that the reds have been a bit hard done by and I would like to see democracy in Thailand (in the whole world really). What makes me very curious about the whole situation is that there does seem to be a level of acceptance by Thai people of events that have occurred. I think reds would win an election but I also get the feeling that if there aren't elections any time soon then perhaps not that many Thais would car too much. I don't know. Anyway I am curious why you have such strong views particularly when I would assume not much Yingluck did affected you personally.

 Perhaps it's the blatant hypocrisy of certain billionaires trying to pretend that they're defenders and advocates for the poor when in fact they're just mainly interesting in lining their own pockets and those of their close circle.

 

[gummy]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

Red shirts are the same as Trump supporters, can't see the truth.

And you can ?

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, gummy said:

And you can ?

The truth is different for each side.. we can see the same event in 2 different ways.  It makes for good discussion but also shows why reconciliation will be almost impossible. 

[debate101]

Regardless of your personal opinion of her leadership qualities or regarding the poorly-planned rice subsidies and subsequent financial losses, it's difficult to deny that she's being targeted because she's popular and because her supporters oppose dictatorship and military interference in government.

[debate101]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

 

Oh dear.. now your trying to deny it.. you really are a red lover. The family of those others told the press they killed themselves over the rice program. So its a fact. Now, can you explain to me why YL had time to have late night votes to get her brother free and back in Thailand but no time to make provisions for payment of the rice farmers ? Maybe she just did not think they were important. 

 

 

The Shins are selfish, corrupt liars. None of that justifies cancelling elections at all levels of government, censoring the media, changing the country's constitution and (essentially) system of government, banning freedom of political expression, and ruling by diktat. Are you getting it yet?

[YetAnother]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

She denies wrongdoing.

guess doing nothing, not attending a SINGLE meeting , when you are the head of the program, isnt wrong; that kind of attitude explains a Lot here

[robblok]

4 minutes ago, debate101 said:

The Shins are selfish, corrupt liars. None of that justifies cancelling elections at all levels of government, censoring the media, changing the country's constitution and (essentially) system of government, banning freedom of political expression, and ruling by diktat. Are you getting it yet?

Not getting it.. sorry I am commenting on the Shins here not on the junta. I have commented in a negative way on the junta many times too especially about the extra military spending, the nephew of the PM and his brother and corruption allegations and the internet firewall. So If you think I am all junta forget about it. I just like it that they are taking care of the Shins. 

[robblok]

1 minute ago, YetAnother said:

guess doing nothing, not attending a SINGLE meeting , when you are the head of the program, isnt wrong; that kind of attitude explains a Lot here

Yes, doing nothing..not a single meeting.. i guess for some stupidity and ignorance is an excuse but it should not be for heads of state. 

[YetAnother]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes, doing nothing..not a single meeting.. i guess for some stupidity and ignorance is an excuse but it should not be for heads of state. 

totally agree; pity that winning elections does not, by itself, mean good governance is immediately ahead

[debate101]

1 minute ago, robblok said:

Not getting it.. sorry I am commenting on the Shins here not on the junta. I have commented in a negative way on the junta many times too especially about the extra military spending, the nephew of the PM and his brother and corruption allegations and the internet firewall. So If you think I am all junta forget about it. I just like it that they are taking care of the Shins. 

But it's the self-installed junta freezing her assets by administrative order to poison the well on her verdict that's the topic of the thread. It's hard to discuss one without the other.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

54 minutes ago, LazarusRizing said:

But what does that achieve? Is it your wish to see the best outcome for Thailand and Thais or is it your wish to see certain people punished. It does appear to me that the choice is between the two. If Thailand is to have an open society then hypocrite billionaires may have to be tolerated for a period. The alternative to me appears to be a continuation of a system in which the opposite hypocrite billionaires continue to maintain things in ways that benefit themselves (cue red bull reference). From what I read of Thailand there is plenty of corruption to go around so both sides lose a point there. So I would like to hear from you why is it that you really want to see Thaksin Shinawatra punished for lining his pockets but don't seem interested in seeing other billionaires punished. Is it because those other billionaires are not in politics. If it is I would say that they have their own puppets just like Thaksin and are just as involved in politics. Wikipedia has a lot of articles on how the other billionaires were lining their own pockets well before Thaksin Shinawatra was around. The way to move forward seems to me is to introduce democracy which is a great leveller and over time all hypocrite billionaires will be out on their arse, to accept the current situation as the answer seem to me to remove just one billionaire but leave many others still lining their pockets. Thoughts?

 

Personally, I'm an equal opportunity hypocrisy and corruption opponent. I have no color allegiance here, and would, in your words, only like to see the best outcome for Thailand and its people.

 

That said, there's certainly a long history of corruption and pocket lining here, and it didn't start by any means with one particular family. But they're the ones who have variously been in power during my years here (apart from the coup periods). And, IMHO, they simply make things worse: it's bad enough that they get rich via corruption and twisting government to their personal benefit. But IMHO they make it WORSE by then, on top of that, pretending to be advocates for the poor. At least the other crooks aren't so double-faced about their dealings.

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, debate101 said:

But it's the self-installed junta freezing her assets by administrative order to poison the well on her verdict that's the topic of the thread. It's hard to discuss one without the other.

Freezing assets is standard procedure and does not poison any verdict it happens all over the world. Just inform yourself a little bit better. There are countless people who have their assets frozen pending trial. It prevents them to do a runner with the money. 

 

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

Edited July 27, 2017 by robblok

[debate101]

You don't think they'd prefer her to run?

[YetAnother]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

That warning is being ignored by some supporters in the north and northeast, a cradle of Shinawatra support, with some saying they will descend on Bangkok in coming weeks.

bad for junta; they will come out of all outcomes looking bad; really hard to say/believe this was some master plan by the reds but this could have positive results for them; both the martyr part and how (badly) the junta manages it and then spouts ridiculous spin; any violence/deaths would be a disaster for the current rulers

[debate101]

5 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

bad for junta; they will come out of all outcomes looking bad; really hard to say/believe this was some master plan by the reds but this could have positive results for them; both the martyr part and how (badly) the junta manages it and then spouts ridiculous spin; any violence/deaths would be a disaster for the current rulers

What can demonstrations hope to achieve? Pro-democracy advocates have lost so much ground already. After 1992, it took 5 years to draft a progressive constitution, and that bloodbath may have just ended up being Thailand's Tienanmen that was eternally swept under the rug without causing any significant changes in governance had divine intervention not occurred. If it does kick off again, it will be interesting to see what their demands are this time. Just asking for fresh elections isn't going to do it anymore.

[metisdead]

Off topic deflection posts and replies have been removed. 

[opalred]

so sorry for her i think will send a bowl of rice to her