PM plans to question Yingluck supporters

[webfact]

PM plans to question Yingluck supporters

By The Nation

 

 

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday said he would order security officials to speak with former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s supporters who plan to show up when she faces a verdict later this month.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division on Political Office Holders is scheduled on August 25 to read a verdict for Yingluck, who has been accused of negligence for allegedly failing to prevent corruption in the rice-pledging scheme commissioned by her government.

 

Huge crowds of supporters are expected to show up to give moral support to the former PM.

 

Prayut said all gatherings to support Yingluck would be allowed but her supporters should not violate laws, express contempt of court, create chaos, violate others’ rights or cause traffic congestion.

 

“I don’t bar their movements. I know there are people who love [Yingluck]. If they want to go [to the court], then go, but don’t go because you have been hired,” he said.

 

He added that he would order security officials to ask Yingluck’s supporters whether they knew why they were attending the event and whether they travelled on their own or were mobilised by a larger group.

 

Yingluck also has the right to go where she chooses and express herself on social media, he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30323419

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-10

[AGareth2]

AA for thousands

going to look good in western papers

[tracker1]

Isnt a gathering of 5 or more illegal ?

[Reigntax]

Shouldnt violate others rights, break the law and create chaos. Yes. Not like Prayuth and his cohorts have been doing for more than 3 years

[Nbarch]

Will these supporters still get free 'educational' holidays?

 

[BasalBanality]

41 minutes ago, webfact said:

Yingluck also has the right to go where she chooses and express herself on social media, he said.

 

Did Prayut just greenlighted social media as an appropriate platform for expression?

[NCC1701A]

I could care less about Thai politics but when I am told I can't do something I feel like I should go and stand there with the other Thais. I guess it is my rebel inter voice speaking.

 

 

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, tracker1 said:

Isnt a gathering of 5 or more illegal ?

 

Only for red-shirts.

 

 

[maxpower]

[webfact]

PM warns of scrutiny

By KASAMAKORN CHANWANPEN, 
SAKDA SAMERPHOB 
THE NATION

 

 

Yingluck supporters to face questions; Weng predicts action may backfire

BANGKOK: -- WHILE MAINTAINING that the movements of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s supporters will not be restricted, the government seems to be trying to undermine her support base ahead of the Supreme Court verdict in the case stemming from her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

 

Authorities have already taken action against those viewed as Yingluck’s allies; Peace TV, a satellite-based station run by red-shirt leaders, was suspended for 30 days by an order of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

 

In a related development, the Auditor-General’s Office earlier this month informed the ministers of interior and defence in writing the agency had learned that local administrative organisations had misused their budgets by funding trips to Bangkok for “hidden” political motives. In the letter, the agency asked the two ministers to order state agencies under their supervision to help prevent the misuse of state funds.

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday security officials would be instructed to ask people gathering in support of Yingluck whether they knew why they were attending the event and whether they had travelled on their own or were mobilised in large groups.

 

Hundreds of Yingluck’s supporters gathered at the Supreme Court building during the hearings by its Criminal Division for Political Office Holders in her trial for negligence in managing the rice-pledging scheme. Yingluck is accused of failing to end the scheme despite warnings about irregularities. 

 

Thousands of supporters are expected to show up when the court delivers its verdict on August 25.

 

There have been allegations that free transport is being provided for people to travel from the provinces to Bangkok.

 

Prayut said Yingluck’s supporters would be allowed but they must not violate the law, express contempt for the court, create chaos, violate other peoples’ rights or cause traffic congestion.

 

“I am not barring their movements. I know there are people who love [Yingluck]. If they want to go [to the court], then go, but don’t go because you are hired to do so,” he said. 

 

Yingluck also has the right to go wherever she wants and she can express her opinions on social media, he added.

 

The prime minister yesterday denied ordering the NBTC to have Peace TV pulled off the air, as observers viewed the suspension of the red-shirt channel as an attempt to choke support for Yingluck.

 

Prayut said if the suspension order against Peace TV had anything to do with the August 25 verdict reading, then “all the media” should have been ordered closed. 

 

He added that the channel had violated the NBTC’s regulations and that the suspension had nothing to do with politics. 

 

“Do I have to instruct them [the NBTC] on everything? They did their job. If they don’t, they would be deemed negligent of their duty,” he said.

 

In ordering the suspension of Peace TV’s broadcasts, the NBTC said two programmes it aired last month featured content “deemed intended to overthrow the constitutional monarchy system and affect national security, public order and good public morals”.

 

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday that Peace TV’s suspension came after the station attacked the government.

 

He also said he had heard people would be brought from the provinces in large numbers to support Yingluck.

‘Bullying could increase turnout’

 

Meanwhile, Weng Tojirakarn, a red-shirt leader and key presenter on Peace TV, yesterday accused the ruling junta of being behind the suspension order. He said the station was always singled out when “politics reached a climax”.

 

Weng, who is also a Pheu Thai Party politician, said he believed the move was prompted by the upcoming court verdict, which will dictate Yingluck’s fate and could potentially have a massive effect on politics.

 

“Last time we got banned for 30 days during the lead-up to the referendum on the constitutional draft. And we were reopened after the vote was completed,” the activist told The Nation.

 

He said such a move harmed not only freedom of expression but also the right of people to information. “If there’s anything wrong with the programmes, then they should take legal action instead of suspending broadcasts of the whole station,” he added.

 

The latest action against the red-shirt mouthpiece reflected the ruling regime’s deep fear and anxiety, Weng said, but he added that the his group had no intention of causing turbulence and they always respected the court as well as the rule of law. 

 

He said moves to suppress Yingluck’s supporters could backfire against people in power as more people might be tempted to show up given what they see as injustice perpetrated on their friends and favoured politicians.

 

“The powers-that-be should just let the people do as they like. During the court hearings, people showed up on their own and there were no problems at all,” Weng said. “If people see that their comrades are bullied, they may feel the urge to turn out in even greater numbers.”

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30323467

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-11

[candide]

"PM plans to question YL supporters." I hope it will not be according to the medieval meaning of questionning.......

[DM07]

This gunna be gud!


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[inThailand]

Is it illegal to pay someone for a service? Like going to a rally? Apparently,  according to the general. 

[rkidlad]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

If they want to go [to the court], then go, but don’t go because you have been hired,” he said.

I don't think he understands how paying money for a service works. Does he really think people who've been paid to go will stop because he said so? Or is he just finding a passive way to insinuate there will be fake supporters? 

 

Being paid to like someone or having a gun to your head and being forced to like someone? Time for both sides to be banned and make way for brand new people. 

Edited August 10, 2017 by rkidlad

[JCauto]

1 hour ago, rkidlad said:

I don't think he understands how paying money for a service works. Does he really think people who've been paid to go will stop because he said so? Or is he just finding a passive way to insinuate there will be fake supporters? 

 

Being paid to like someone or having a gun to your head and being forced to like someone? Time for both sides to be banned and make way for brand new people. 

So you're buying the General's <deleted>? This is nothing more than the usual trotting out of lies about why people support the Shins, "because they're paid". It's BS when it comes to elections, and it's BS when it comes to this situation. Recognize that there is strong support for them and for very good reasons. You may not like those reasons, or that politician, but to pretend that there's only paid supporters is to decide deliberately to avoid reality. Then again, that's a very Thai trait, the primacy of appearance over reality.

[yellowboat]

The stifling of a country to prop a fearful military lead country. 

[rkidlad]

9 minutes ago, JCauto said:

So you're buying the General's <deleted>? This is nothing more than the usual trotting out of lies about why people support the Shins, "because they're paid". It's BS when it comes to elections, and it's BS when it comes to this situation. Recognize that there is strong support for them and for very good reasons. You may not like those reasons, or that politician, but to pretend that there's only paid supporters is to decide deliberately to avoid reality. Then again, that's a very Thai trait, the primacy of appearance over reality.

I didn't say anything. I asked questions. 

 

Both sides are deplorable. Bring in a new group and I'm sure they'll be equally deplorable. There's a real sickness in society here about how to govern people. 

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, inThailand said:

Is it illegal to pay someone for a service? Like going to a rally? Apparently,  according to the general. 

 

But the question is:  did they individually / privately pay the van driver or was it organized and paid for by  someone else, and if that's true, who is behind the 'someone else'? 

[inThailand]

Politicans here pay people to vote for them, why would paying someone to go to a rally be any worse?

[AGareth2]

2 hours ago, rkidlad said:

 

Being paid to like someone

do you actually have a shred of evidence for this statement

or is this BS?

[rkidlad]

5 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

do you actually have a shred of evidence for this statement

or is this BS?

'Being paid to like someone or having a gun to your head and being forced to like someone?'

 

This is the actual quote. It's a question and not a statement. Don't misrepresent my quotes. It's uncouth and against forum rules. 

[WhizBang]

On 8/10/2017 at 2:05 AM, BasalBanality said:

Did Prayut just greenlighted social media as an appropriate platform for expression?

No, you misunderstand what he said.

[Beats56]

Sounds like the pm is a wee bit worried.

[Srikcir]

22 hours ago, webfact said:

her supporters should not ...... cause traffic congestion.

How would anyone know?

The INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard rated Bangkok the 12th most congested of all cities in the world for 2016.

If causing traffic congestion is a crime, the RTP needs to be prepared to cite millions of Bangkokians.

[timendres]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

or cause traffic congestion

Done and sorted. Where is there not traffic congestion?

 

(guess I should read to the end to avoid repetition, eh?)

Edited August 11, 2017 by timendres
dumbness :-)

[William C F Pierce]

On 10/08/2017 at 9:22 AM, webfact said:

violate others’ rights or cause traffic congestion.

What a contradiction. When did the police or army step in when Suthep was doing just that violating others rights. Including insurrection organised against peoples rights to vote in a General Election.

[wakeupplease]

Probably that is why he needs the hell fire missiles.