Prawit confirms Yingluck fled far from neighbouring countries

[tomta]

Perhaps smedly you could provide a more exact accounting of the Shinawatra fortune. Without ifs.

 

[Becker]

47 minutes ago, smedly said:

It is rather sad that Thailand has not developed because of the severe corruption, no elected government has ever tried to tackle the problem for unfortunate and very obvious reasons - it would be like a bank robber walking into a bank and asking them to call the police.

Yes, it is rather sad that no elected nor unelected leader has ever tried to tackle this problem. And even worse still is the fact that one cannot even vote out the unelected ones.

[Thechook]

Well one senior government official is going to be in a whole pile of poo.  I'm sure he will be named, shamed and paraded soon.

[Thechook]

6 hours ago, mark01 said:

So the most famous person in Thailand leaves the country while being monitored by the ruling military party.

What does that say about security of the country and security risks?

Shows that Prayuth and his junta are totally incompetent and a total laughing stock in the eyes of the world.  Prayuth has brought total shame to the country.  Couldn't even watch one little old lady.

[Ron19]

An off topic post has been removes.

[Thailand]

8 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Did she take her son with her,I wonder,no mention of him.

regards worgeordie

Being groomed for pm.

[rooster59]

WANTED

By THE NATION

 

Yingluck

 

Prawit confirms Yingluck fled far from neighbouring countries.

FORMER prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has left Thailand and is unlikely to be in any of the neighbouring countries, Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan confirmed hours after the Supreme Court issued a warrant for her arrest yesterday.

 

He said authorities of Singapore, where Yingluck was rumoured to have flown to, had told their Thai counterparts that she had not entered that country.

 

“We don’t know exactly in which country Yingluck is now,” General Prawit said.

 

Prawit, who is in charge of the police force, said he would not dismiss a high-ranking police officer rumoured to have helped Yingluck flee the country.

 

There was speculation that the former prime minister could have fled to Cambodia, Singapore, Hong Kong or Dubai. 

 

A security source said Yingluck went to Koh Chang in the eastern seaboard province of Trat and flew in a helicopter to Phnom Penh, from where she reportedly took a chartered plane to Singapore. She was accompanied by a senior state official who helped facilitate her departure without having to pass proper immigration process, according to the source.

 

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions yesterday issued an arrest warrant for Yingluck after she failed to turn up for the verdict reading in the negligence case against her over her government’s rice-pledging scheme. The court postponed the verdict reading to September 27 and ordered the seizure of Yingluck’s Bt30-million bail.

 

 

Red-shirt leaders and Yingluck’s lawyers yesterday said they were unaware of her whereabouts. However, a senior figure from her Pheu Thai Party said she had fled the country on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday.

 

Requesting anonymity, the senior source in the Shinawatras’ political party said, “It’s impossible she left without the military’s green light.”

 

Democrat Party deputy leader Nipit Intarasombat yesterday said the ruling junta National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) should also be held responsible for Yingluck’s escape.

 

“Did the NCPO let her escape? She was still in the country a day or two before. In the next 24 hours, she must be arrested. If she can’t be arrested, the NCPO will get into trouble,” the politician said.

 

Deputy national police chief Pol General Srivara Rangsibhramanakul yesterday said he has ordered police searches of Yingluck’s houses in Bangkok and in the provinces after an arrest warrant for her was issued. Court permission was needed for police to conduct searches.

 

Srivara said police have not had confirmation from any neighbouring country that Yingluck had fled there.

 

Yingluck’s mobile phone signals were detected as coming from her house in Bangkok’s Bueng Kum area, according to a police source.

 

After news of Yingluck’s no-show, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he assigned authorities to check her whereabouts. “I have assigned officials to check the borders and transit points to find out where she is,” he said.

 

Immigration Bureau commissioner Pol Lt-General Nathathorn Prousoontorn said there was no indication that Yingluck sought to leave the country through the normal immigration procedure.

 

 

“I affirm that, up to now, there is no record of Yingluck leaving the country via any immigration checkpoint, including those at the airports and on the borders,” Nathathorn said.

 

He said the former prime minister has been prohibited from leaving the country since May 19, 2015, when the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions accepted the state lawsuit against her.

 

He said if Yingluck had left on a private jet, a record of the flight would have appeared in the Immigration Bureau’s online database. However, had she left discreetly via a land border, the bureau would have no record of it, he acknowledged. He said the last time Yingluck was known to have left Thailand was in late 2014, when she travelled to Japan.

 

In 2008, Yingluck’s elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra also opted to leave the country before the same court sentenced him in absentia to two years in jail for abuse of power while serving as prime minister. He has lived in self-exile overseas while retaining his influence in Pheu Thai and Thai politics.

 

Analysts say if both siblings are now in exile, their time in Thailand’s political arena is over, AFP reported.

 

“It is the end of the Shinawatras and the Pheu Thai Party in politics,” said Puangthong Pawakpan, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University. 

 

“With two family members as fugitives, the family loses political legitimacy,” she said, adding that Yingluck’s departure would be welcomed by a junta weary of the prospect of her political martyrdom in jail.

 

Assoc Prof Adisorn Naowanont, a lecturer at Rajabhat Nakhon Ratchasima University, said that with Yingluck’s escape he expected Pheu Thai to become weaker and the ruling junta to remain in power for at least seven to eight years, as it would get backing from more and more political parties. 

 

Meanwhile, former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij expressed surprise that Yingluck failed to show up for the verdict. “I’m surprised she has fled, as she has a chance of being acquitted,” he said.

 

Korn, a senior Democrat Party politician, also said he disagreed with the Finance Ministry’s move to seize Yingluck’s assets in order to pay for the cost of the controversial subsidy programme.

 

Asset seizure should be undertaken via the trial process, in the same way the Supreme Court had done in the case of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, he said. The ministry’s order for asset seizure could be seen as a political ploy by the junta government, the ex-minister added.

 

Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, expressed relief after Yingluck did not turn her up for the Supreme Court verdict reading yesterday. “Political confrontation would lessen after Yingluck did not show up at the court, and this would improve the political climate,” he said.

 

Looking forward, the private sector expects political stability, he added. 

 

He also said that foreign investors were not much concerned about yesterday’s verdict but they were more worried about whether it was safe to live in Thailand and whether they could make a profit.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30324929

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-26

[smedly]

3 hours ago, tomta said:

The explanation that you want could have been made in an election campaign. Every point you make may very well have substance.  The Thai people could have passed judgement on all of the things that you are talking about. Sadly, they were not allowed to make their judgement.

I do agree with what you are saying but it only applies to a country that has a sustainable functioning democracy which Thailand has yet to achieve, the reasons why are pretty simple and if you look at the development of democracies in countries such as the US - they were the product of severe conflict followed by military winners producing a fundamental foundation (a constitution) that worked.

 

Unfortunately Thailand has been so corrupt over the years that every elected government ends up a shambles with power abusers and greed on a level that is seldom seen in the world and there is nothing to stop them, the cycle will continue until someone actually writes a constitution that works and stops the abuse so that those voted into government are no longer able to abuse, this latest attempt looks promising and could be sustainable

 

The number one goal in Thailand should be stopping corruption at all levels - a solid constitution and Justice system will do that by default along with stiff penalties for those caught, but it must be a justice system that is equal for all - something they are not very good at

 

 

[smedly]

5 hours ago, baboon said:

Thailand was not on the brink of civil war. That is absolute nonsense. 

that is your opinion - many would not agree

 

sometimes I wish the shit had really hit the fan (which in my opinion was very close) then see how you like that with armed people roaming the streets - bombs going off - people fighting in the streets - armed training camps in the north - people calling for partition of the country, oh wait, didn't we have that already lol

 

Just take a quick look around the world right now - take a short look at recent history, you don't realise how quickly a country can go down the shitter when it all gets out of control

[smedly]

3 hours ago, tomta said:

Perhaps smedly you could provide a more exact accounting of the Shinawatra fortune. Without ifs.

 

perhaps you get the general idea.....

 

Thaksin enriched himself while throwing the people a bone to keep them quiet, if you don't get it then up to you

[baboon]

23 minutes ago, smedly said:

that is your opinion - many would not agree

 

sometimes I wish the shit had really hit the fan (which in my opinion was very close) then see how you like that with armed people roaming the streets - bombs going off - people fighting in the streets - armed training camps in the north - people calling for partition of the country, oh wait, didn't we have that already lol

 

Just take a quick look around the world right now - take a short look at recent history, you don't realise how quickly a country can go down the shitter when it all gets out of control

Then many either were not here or so close to the trouble spots they couldn't see the woods for the trees and extrapolated their experiences to the situation in the entire country. 

 

Close to a civil war? Airport blockades aside, no international flights were cancelled due to violence. No country warned its nationals to get the hell out asap. Food supplies were uninterrupted. The shops were open. Electricity, water and sewage were operating as always, as was public transport and the hospitals. The Red Cross was not here helping internal refugees. Wages were paid.

 

Sure, nobody denies there was trouble... in a few districts of a few cities. But does the above sound like a country on the brink to you?

Edited August 26, 2017 by baboon

[StayinThailand2much]

10 hours ago, Dave67 said:

Which way did she go Prawit

Time to declare Thailand "The Hub of Hi-So Celebrity Felons Who Mysteriously Disappeared After Their Indictment"?

[wakeupplease]

3 hours ago, tomta said:

Perhaps smedly you could provide a more exact accounting of the Shinawatra fortune. Without ifs.

 

Ask him to get his mate to do it the accountant, should then show you dreamland in full flow, those funny Cigs I guess

[StayinThailand2much]

4 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

It's all been planned a long time ago, and the government knows where she is,    they just don't want the hassle from her supporters if she had got jail.

Spot on!

Edited August 26, 2017 by StayinThailand2much

[stickyrice2000]

The junta government leaves her with two choices only.  One is go to jail.  It's a no-win judicial battle.   Second is making her a criminal in everyone's eyes and confiscates her assets.  Of course, it would not tarnish their image and made them like thugs who picked on a lady.  

Edited August 26, 2017 by stickyrice2000

[Thaiwrath]

Is there no incentive for the public ?

Like the reward money for reporting a motorcycle on the pavement ?  

[klauskunkel]

In related news:

While searching high and low and scouring countries left and right for their absconded Ex-PM (who is only upholding a family tradition, btw.), authorities in charge have unintentionally discovered the whereabouts of one Red Calf (hiding under his mother's skirt) and one Orange Monk (hiding under a rock). However, said authorities did not follow up on their lucky finds, because "they were not our target and we had only the warrant for the Ex-PM in our pocket".

[StayinThailand2much]

5 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

Is there no incentive for the public ?

Like the reward money for reporting a motorcycle on the pavement ?  

Not good. Someone might actually take this as an incentive to look for her in a neighboring country, find her, go and report his sighting - the generals would be forced to take action!

[hansnl]

55 minutes ago, stickyrice2000 said:

The junta government leaves her with two choices only.  One is go to jail.  It's a no-win judicial battle.   Second is making her a criminal in everyone's eyes and confiscates her assets.  Of course, it would not tarnish their image and made them like thugs who picked on a lady.  

Lady?

Who?

[helloagain]

I find it amazing that the powers did not follow her for the last 2 weeks JUST IN CASE.

[tkramer]

Stating the obvious...grand government collusion. They not only knew her intentions, they aided her in her efforts.

Edited August 26, 2017 by tkramer

[DavisH]

4 hours ago, Thechook said:

Well one senior government official is going to be in a whole pile of poo.  I'm sure he will be named, shamed and paraded soon.

I don't think so.  Her exit was facilitated, just as Taksin's was. They want them out of the country as fugitives. They don't want the red shirts to be emboldened by her getting a jail term, then bailed, and becoming a martyr for her families cause. Unlike Prayut I'm totally not surprised she fled.

[metisdead]

An offensive post has been removed. 

[The Deerhunter]

2 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Time to declare Thailand "The Hub of Hi-So Celebrity Felons Who Mysteriously Disappeared After Their Indictment"?

Hub of verdict runners?

[The Deerhunter]

5 hours ago, tomta said:

So they are rich? Are they the only people in Thailand who are rich? Is their wealth in  itself a crime? There are others who are much richer. I would advise you not to call anyone in Thailand a criminal because of their wealth. I would not necessarily disagree with you, though

Ten bob each way then????  Right??

[jesimps]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

perhaps you get the general idea.....

 

Thaksin enriched himself while throwing the people a bone to keep them quiet, if you don't get it then up to you

Calm down calm down, as us Scousers would say. She's gone, you junta maniacs ought to be pleased.

I wish she'd stayed to carry on annoying you lot. Maybe she can do that from abroad.

 

[The Deerhunter]

1 hour ago, stickyrice2000 said:

The junta government leaves her with two choices only.  One is go to jail.  It's a no-win judicial battle.   Second is making her a criminal in everyone's eyes and confiscates her assets.  Of course, it would not tarnish their image and made them like thugs who picked on a lady.  

Nice clothes, expensive tastes and a larcenous attitude to state property do not make her a lady!!!!!  She knew what was going on and failed to honor the maxim "Don't do the crime if you don't want to to the time." Just like her brother.  So, who will the family put up next?

[StayinThailand2much]

11 hours ago, tomta said:

Prawit doesn't know where she is but he knows where she isn't? How? Has he scoured Cambodia and Laos already?

 

Really strange! He must be a liar lawyer.

[KhaoNiaw]

11 hours ago, mark01 said:

So the most famous person in Thailand leaves the country while being monitored by the ruling military party.

What does that say about security of the country and security risks?

It says that they let her go.

[baboon]

5 minutes ago, The Deerhunter said:

Nice clothes, expensive tastes and a larcenous attitude to state property do not make her a lady!!!!!  She knew what was going on and failed to honor the maxim "Don't do the crime if you don't want to to the time." Just like her brother.  So, who will the family put up next?

It is a bit tricky to avoid doing the crime when the crime did not exist at the time until a 'law' is invented and applied retroactively.