The Land Of Smiles

Storm In Bangkok. Following are a few excerpts from the article linked below it... a cynic might be led to believe that the press are being shot first so they can't report what is to follow! The AP reporter must be very brave! 'An Associated Press reporter who followed the troops into the protest camp saw the bodies of two men sprawled on the ground, one with a head wound and other apparently shot in the upper body. They were the first known casualties in the assault that began before dawn Wednesday on a 1-square kilometer (3-square kilometer) stretch of downtown Bangkok that protesters have occupied. Troops fired M-16 rifles at fleeing protesters and shouted, "Come out and surrender or we'll kill you." An AP photographer saw three foreign journalists shot. One was an Italian photographer shot in the chest. His eyes were rolled back and he showed no signs of life. A Dutch journalist walked into the hospital with a bullet wound in his shoulder. The third journalist was a 53-year-old American documentary filmmaker who was treated for a shot in the leg.' http://asiancorrespondent.com/breakingnews/thailand-claims-success-in-ba... So what now for Thailand? I’d say that the highest probability is that it will continue to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into full fascism. Only then will the fools, who have been conned into thinking that the military and its PAD pressure group was fighting to support the monarchy, start to realise that it was actually all a ploy to do the exact opposite. When has fascism ever had use for a king except as a figure head? So Thailand will effectively be ruled by a military junta... again. Let's hope and pray I'm wrong!!!!

According to The Nation... General Anupong Paochinda, signed an order to halt the financial transactions and freeze the assets of another 43 companies and individuals, including - World Supply, BBD Development, BDD Property, SC Asset, Ruaychai International Group and Ruaychai Merchandise. Meanwhile 13 other companies - Thunnawatakarm Co (Financial Innovation), New Oak. BP Property, Pramaisuree Property, PT Property, SCK Estate, SC Office Park, SC Office Plaza, OAI Marketing, OAI Consultant and Management, OAI Management, OAI Leasing and OAI Education - have been barred from doing business or involvement in any financial transactions. Makes you wonder if the government thinks it might have a better chance in a forth coming election if, in the meantime, all the people who usually fund the opposition have been forced into bankruptcy! Also, why was it signed by the army chief, is he the real power behind the scenes? http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/05/19/business/Fresh-list-of-4...

I hope the Guardian will not mind that I have copied the letter below from their reader’s comments. I have no idea who Rapid Eddie is and no way of linking to his letter beyond linking to the article it is a response to. I think it goes right to the heart of the problem in Thailand and should be read by as many people as possible! I’m not sure what role the Palace plays in this and so I have slighly editted one paragraph which I thought might detract from the central issue. Certainly the military (and its PAD pressure group) and the junta appointed judges have foisted the Abhisit government upon the Thai people by force, by stealth and by damned lies! RapidEddie http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/20/thailand-protests-vi... Let's get down to the most basic of points. This is all happening, not because Thaksin is paying people, not because there are 'rogue elements', anti-royalists or anything else in the red shirt ranks but because the Thai establishment can't stomach the election results. Bangkok is not Thailand. Neither is Chang Rai or Udon Thani or Trang. But the expressed preference by the collective Thai people time and time again is for a TRT/PPP and most likely this year or next, a TPT-led government. You can mutter darkly about billionaires in the background (not just Thaksin, but Sondhi paying the yellow shirts for their time occupying the airports), but the root cause of everything is the palace/army/judiciary getting rid of election results they don't like. Everything else is just dancing around the point. Whereas the Constitutional Court saw fit to dissolve the TRT and PPP in short order, the Democrat Party continues its corrupt way unmolested, their unearned path to power cleared by friends in high, well-paid places. The problem is that Western governments quite like the Democrats. Sure, the Democrats get the army to shoot protestors, get the judiciary to dismiss election results and pocket billions of baht in bribes and favours, but they're neoliberal internationalists and sure didn't that nice Abhisit chap go to Eton and Oxford with Boris? Western governments won't state the bleeding obvious - that a politically loaded judiciary and an army that removes inconvenient governments - is not the way for a nation with pretensions as a modern liberal democracy to behave. And a pretence is all it is. Expats love the Democrats. They let the bars stay open late and keep the rural areas poor enough to ensure a steady supply of young women from Isaan as bar girls. International companies love the Democrats. They can locate where they want and get workers for a pittance. Bangkokians love the Democrats. The money pours into the urban areas, giving them nice things like the Skytrain. The only people who don't love the Democrats are the majority of Thai people. But even a supposedly left-leaning paper such as The Guardian won't address the most fundamental issue of all - the palace, army and judiciary won't accept democratic election results. The simplest and most profound demand Western governments and commentators could make of the Thai establishment is an adherence to the most basic tenet of democracy - free and fair elections and a respect for the results. Everything else is just dodging the issue.

I’ve thought long and hard since I posted the above comment on the Guardian piece and I have decided that I should express my thoughts on the inclusion of the ‘Palace’ in the list of those who are responsible for the attempt to over-rule democracy or, as some of them call it, ‘the tyranny of the majority’. I don’t argue that there is some factor beyond the army and its PAD that could be described as the ‘Palace’ but I do NOT believe that this is the King himself. I would argue, as have Red, that it is in fact the Privy Council. There is no doubt that the King is a wise man and a good man who cares for his people! His principle of ‘sufficiency’ is one that the whole world should consider before it is too late. Whoever has been the ‘invisible hand’ that could be seen as the ‘Palace’ has not been wise but ham-fisted. A military mind used to giving orders and expecting them to be carried out regardless of the consequences. Someone who has great standing with the army. I agree with Red that it was, and maybe still is, Prem. The King said to Abhisit “Make my people happy.” I don’t think that Abhisit ever had much chance of doing that because of the PAD influence of Korn, Kasit and probably Anupong - all of which had a, not very secret, agenda. To my knowledge the King has only made two recent speeches where he has given advice... Both to the young men and women who will become Thailand’s judiciary! What has the king said both times? He has told them that they must be honest and mindful in their duties and through this will come justice and peace. If you watched the King on TV as he made these speeches you could see the immense effort that it took him to make them!!! So why did he make such a huge effort twice??? Wake up Thailand and listen again to what your beloved King really said and not to what others say he meant. He meant exactly what he said! The present judges should allow International scrutiny of their decisions and should not be ‘protected’ by Anupong’s soldiers but by a neutral UN force. Failing that any cases involving the Democrats should not have any members appointed by the military junta or sponsored by one of their governments.

One of the few actual improvements of the coup government’s new constitution was to set higher standards to help protect Thailand’s environment against industrial pollution. Map Ta Put in Rayong has been severely criticised for its pollution record and there were high hopes that the new standards would greatly reduce pollution into the sea. However, recently I have noticed that there are more and more dead fish stretching right down the coast to Jom Tien! It makes me wonder whether the new standards are being met by reducing pollution or by bribing those who are in charge of making sure such standards are met!

A very good article in the Bangkok Post which has surprised many with its, fairly honest, appraisal of the current situation in Thailand and how to improve it. We can only hope people will read it and think! http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/178768/troubling-questions-af...

Look back and remember how little support Somchai received from the army and the judiciary when he was PM because he led a Red leaning government. He was told he couldn’t move the PAD from the Government Enclosure, he was told that the army would not help with PAD in any way, even when PAD invaded the National Security Council Offices, later he was told that he was a murderer because someone died when the police used tear gas to try and remove the PAD protestors who were preventing MP’s from attending a critical meeting. Mykle writes at the time:- "I found this old report from the BBC(Dec 3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7762806.stm When you think about it makes you wonder if the army wouldn't step in because they would be confronting their own. Clever to fool everyone into thinking they were remaining neutral when in fact they were the backbone of PAD. So is it really just another army coup in disguise? Recent news from the National Security Council offices (based in Government House) reveal that most of the server disks containing "Secret Files" had been stolen and vital files had been deleted from the remainder. Now why would simple protesters want to do that?" http://www.abctales.com/forum/2008/11/29/bangkok He's right, more like terrorists than protestors! Now look at the recent events. The army did help, although they were slow to slaughter their fellow Thais - they did it in the end. The judiciary seemed happy to help - in the main - and ever more rightwing laws were passed. So it is not surprising that many Reds were nervous when Abhisit stated his 5 point plan... Would the army really allow fair elections? If so, would the army simply arrange for the removal of any government it didn’t like, as usual? Let’s face it - with all the new powers that the present government has passed into law, surely the army would never allow a government it could not control to have such power!

Reading what Mykle wrote on Dec 8th 2008 :- “I find it disgraceful that despite (and maybe because of) all that PAD have done to ruin they still have such a strong influence of Thai politics. It's a bit like 'Do what we say or we'll return and set fire to Bangkok'.” It made me wonder for a moment - do we know for sure that it WAS Red that set the recent fires? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's something else from Mykle. Something that the Thai media seem to have attempted to bury since (can you find working links?) “Being a bit off colour has made me a bit slow recently and it wasn't until I was on my walk that it occurred to me that National Security had been compromised by PAD terrorists and the "establishment" knew it because the security guards had been released after a PAD interrogation! (I tried the following link but wasn’t too surprised it didn’t work http://www.bangkokpost.com/091208_News/09Dec2008_news05.php Luckily Mykle had the gist) "Therdthai Sri-uppra, director of the NSC's IT centre, said the server hard disks in the national crisis management centre contained no data." I read a slightly different article that stated that the disks had been wiped - a minor difference but crucial. There are other differences like "Mr Therdthai said confidential information regarding national security was kept separately." Oh, okay then, where? Has that disappeared too? Now, what is the job of the judiciary and the armed forces if it is not to ensure the security of the Nation? So, knowing that the National Security Centre in Government House had been invaded by terrorists what did they do?"... Well, the courts ruled that the Government should not attempt to clear Government House and the army said "Nothing to do with us mate - we're staying neutral!" Follow this link for more background... http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14036 Follow this link for a good laugh! http://philipgolingai.blogspot.com/2008/12/planning-coup-heres-how.html

I noticed Mykle’s prophetic words in his final post on the Bangkok forum http://www.abctales.com/forum/2008/11/29/bangkok Mind you, I’m not sure that there were any Thaksin supporters in the new government - unless you count Newin :O) “It is obvious that any PAD style protests by the ‘Reds’ would not be handled with the same ‘delicacy’ that the PAD protests were and the very same hypocrites who were screaming “Police Brutality” would be cheering at the top of their voices as the ‘Reds’ were clubbed to the ground.” mykle | December 26, 2008 - 13:32 I’ve been quite ill over the last few weeks and it has made me even more stupid and paranoid than I normally am! Thinking about the problems in Thailand I realise that there is one thing that is blatantly obvious: There is no point in arguing over who pays the phone bill while the house burns down around you! All Thais have got to pull together to make this government work – the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about! It will be hard for many but they will have to bottle their anger and ferment it into determination. Both PAD and pro-Thaksin supporters are in the new government and will be forced to compromise to find new ways forward – the country desperately needs that if it is to be rescued from the fire. It is obvious that any PAD style protests by the ‘Reds’ would not be handled with the same ‘delicacy’ that the PAD protests were and the very same hypocrites who were screaming “Police Brutality” would be cheering at the top of their voices as the ”Reds” were clubbed to the ground. So don’t give them an excuse, Reds, grit your teeth, avoid large groups and don’t be provoked into starting something that they will finish. You’ve done extremely well until now – don’t fail at the last! Now, it’s not fair but then nobody really believes that life is fair do they? Trust the King because he loves you and has your welfare at heart! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This made me laugh :- Wouldn’t it be nice if someone asked the new PM this question... “Is it true that a group of terrorists, disguised as PAD supporters, broke into the place where all the nation’s secret defence details are held on computer disks and stole the important disks while wiping the others and mixing them up so that no-one could be sure what was taken before selling the lot to Cambodian Intelligence?” When the PM replies “Of course it’s not true – that’s absolute nonsense!” Then you get to ask the important question... “How do you know?”

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/179620/thailand-appears-back-to-nor... Back to normal indeed! It is very sad that the ‘normal’ for government media is to post propaganda such as this :- “The UDD's street rallies, broken up on May 19 in an army crackdown on their encampment in Bangkok's Ratchaprasong commercial district, sparked outbreaks of violence that left 88 people dead, mostly civilians, and nearly 1,900 injured.” So, it was the Red’s who were responsible for the army using live ammunition to shoot so many unarmed and innocent people? Of course, if the people had not been there then the bullets couldn’t have hit them! Do we get any explanation as to why rubber bullets would not have served just as well - other than they wouldn’t have caused so many dead and wounded? Perhaps the writer might have made it clear that it was the army that shot most of the dead and wounded which is why they were almost all civilians - including many press. What makes it even more 'disappointing' is that the article was sourced - Writer: AFP News agency Position: Agence France-Presse Shame on you AFP! Straight from the government press release? So, what else is the Bangkok Post offering its readership :- “The Democrat Party are concerned that the opposition Puea Thai Party would use fake video clips on the May 19 riot during the upcoming no-confidence debate, ‘The ministers would be able to explain the incidents during the crackdown on the anti-government rally on May 19, but I'm just worried that the opposition might use false evidence and witnesses.’ Meanwhile, Democrat MP for Rayong province Satit Pitutacha said he would like relevant agencies to investigate the Mirror Foundation, as it could have a hidden political agenda.” And, of course, surprise, surprise :- “Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told foreign reporters that an election looks unlikely this year after all…”

Don’t most modern cameras have DRM nowadays? I know my camera adds the time and date amongst other info to each picture. I’m guessing since it is a form of Digital Rights Management that it will be quite difficult to alter! The reason I ask is that I’ve just read this on the Bangkok Post :- “Puea Thai MP Anudit Nakornthap said the six people might have been shot by soldiers deployed on the BTS elevated rail track on Rama 1 Road, alongside the temple grounds. He showed a photo he said showed a soldier in position on the BTS rail track to back his allegation. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep, as director of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), replied that there were no soldiers on the BTS track overlooking Wat Pathumwanaram on May 19. He believed the picture was taken the day after, on May 20, not on May 19. On May 19 soldiers were not able to occupy the BTS station because they were fired upon and had to stop at Chalermpao intersection. ‘I believe the picture shown by Mr Anudit was taken on May 20 when soldiers were on the track to provide protection for the people while they were being moved out of Wat Pathumwanaram,’ he said.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm pleased to say that I was very surprised and delighted to find a very ENLIGHTENED piece on BP... http://www.bangkokpost.com/blogs/index.php/2010/05/31/back-to-normal-are... I couldn't agree more! This makes interesting reading too... “Now the censorship has taken a startling turn. The House Speaker and others at Parliament have demanded that video and photographic evidence for the censure debate must be vetted and approved before it is presented. While the claim that the materials could be doctored and their display cause public confusion could be true, valid evidence should never be suppressed. Even less compelling is the argument that the video and photos might be partisan, presenting only one view. This is a strange argument in a Parliament, where every speech and media display is one-sided. Government and opposition MPs must be free to present their arguments in any manner within the law.” http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/38047/a-censored-normality Here's something that might well have got a cherry if it had been posted here... http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/1850

It’s great to read something heart warming about the Reds after all the recent Thai government anti Red propaganda. I remember reading the story of this Canadian journalist but I thought he was dead. It seems that he was for a short while but magically he somehow survived and lives to tell the tale. It’s a tale of heroism and of real compassion that not only cares for fellow Reds but risks death for all men - friend or foe. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/38265/the-red-shirt-guard-who-save...

The Thai government continues its lurch toward Fascism as MPs who didn’t tow the government line in a recent ‘no confidence’ debate are replaced by either Democrats or coalition opportunists in a cabinet reshuffle. Meanwhile… ‘Leading rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has written to Abhisit demanding a full list of names, numbers, locations and conditions of the detainees, who can be held for 30 days without charge under emergency rule. "The public has been kept in the dark about the arrests and detention," said Sunai Phasuk, a Thai analyst at HRW. "The arrests may potentially force the Red Shirts underground and radicalise them." There are even greater concerns about censorship powers wielded under the emergency decree, which have blocked pro-UDD TV channels and community radio stations as well as more than 1,000 websites deemed provocative. "We think it's really over-the-top. They're shutting down anything that has a tint of red," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW.’ http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/180338/thai-emergency-powers-raise... It's worth bearing in mind that the Yellow shirted PAD are still awaiting a decision as to whether they should be required to pay a huge amount of compensation to Thai airways for the losses resulting from the closure of the Bangkok airports. PAD are also still awaiting trial on terrorism charges related to almost identical actions to those of Red. Although of course since PAD are the army’s pressure group no-one actually shot at them. Ironically, it was the police who were taken to court for using tear gas to attempt to disperse them so that MP’s could attend an emergence session of parliament. I can’t remember exactly where the session was to be held because PAD kept forcing the government to change venue! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It seems that over 90% of the Thai’s polled believed the red-shirt protesters were killed by bullets fired from soldiers but I tend to believe Anupong, the army chief, who denies his men were responsible for the shootings… so who then? Well, PAD were saying that if the army would not sort the Red problem out they would… Anyone can dress in Red, or in Black!

“Let’s face it - with all the new powers that the present government has passed into law, surely the army would never allow a government it could not control to have such power!” posted by me on this thread on May 27th. So reading the news of a suggested charter amendment on BP’s blog came as no surprise - probably just one of the alternatives being considered to make sure that a PAD leaning government stays in power. EC Commissioner: Amend the constitution to give Abhisit 6 more years http://uk.asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-pundit-blog The news that a special Thai envoy is on a charm offensive in the USA made me smile. Meanwhile Abhisit is trying to paint Yellow as good and Red as evil and it is obvious that not only is he colour blind but he also believes that with enough propaganda he can convince the majority of Thais that black is white. Of course many Americans who were stuck in Bankok for about a week when Yellow closed the airports might take a little more convincing.

Without getting bogged down by all the dates and details of the recent Red rally in Bangkok let’s just consider the killings. It’s not clear whether the ‘unknown hand’ in the form of the ‘men in black’ started the gun fight that resulted in the first round of deaths (including the Japanese cameraman) or whether it was the security forces - but who would gain from it? Well, not Red because they were being shot and they were taking great pains to get across their message that it was a non violent demonstration. Are we to believe that the security forces turned tail and ran because they were terrified by a small group of people fighting back? Later, when the security forces decide they are brave enough to tackle the ‘unknown hand’ and storm the Red camp it seems that the ‘unknown hand’ has changed sides and is now shooting Reds and journalists - if you believe the government. So, again, who gains from it? Again, not Red because, once more, they are being shot and also, because the government can claim that the ‘unknown hand’ is Red and therefore they have lied all along about being non-violent. So Red are transformed from non-violent protestors into murderous terrorists - who gains? As I’ve said before the Yellow PAD had said all along that if the government could not sort Red out then they would! Silly that a small group of real terrorists swapping Yellow shirts for Black and black shirts for Red can be enough to condemn a whole movement! So Abhisit vows that the terrorists will pay and yet PAD are still awaiting judgement of their terrorist acts - obviously terrorists are simply people who wear the wrong colour T-shirts!

While it is a good article, Chuck, and seems to struggles to find a balance it misses one obvious point. Where would Abhisit, CRES and the government be without their ability to claim that Reds were terrorists? It should be fairly obvious by now that the army and its PAD pressure group were always going to make sure that Red were labelled as terrorists. Under pressure from PAD Abhisit was already arguing that Thaksin, the Red leadership, Puea Thai and anybody who appeared on the Red stage were terrorists long before the fiery finale in Bangkok. Let’s face it they weren’t going to leave it to chance so who would the ‘armed militants’ or ’men in black’ or ’invisible hand’ that left Red open to criticism as ‘terrorists’ most likely be? PAD! How could the CRES freeze the opposition’s bank accounts, the bank accounts of those who has helped finance Red and those who were accused of financing Red without branding the Reds as terrorists? In effect anyone connected with Red, even Chavalit, was branded as a ‘communist’ or a ‘suspected terrorist’. Don’t forget who signed the freezing orders… “General Anupong Paochinda, signed an order to halt the financial transactions and freeze the assets of another 43 companies and individuals…” Mangone | May 18, 2010 - 22:03 - further back on this very thread.

The Thai government violated international human rights principles by endorsing the military's indiscriminate and excessive use of force against red shirt protesters, concludes a forum of rights advocates and academics. They also slammed the state for using propaganda to whitewash its unjust actions and the emergency decree to eliminate dissidents. "The state has used the term 'terrorism' to clean the dirt it is hiding." said Krittiya Archavanikul of Mahidol University's Human Rights Centre. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/181863/forum-blasts-government-abu... Personally, I wonder who is really running the country since the government do not seem to be in charge and all the important orders are signed by army chief General Anupong Paochinda. For instance why is the army chief in charge of financial transactions and the freezing of assets? Doesn’t the government have a ‘chancellor of the exchequer’? Oh, yes, of course it is Korn but being PAD then Anupong is his superior.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Thailand without the spin. There is some controversy about the 'planned arson attacks' and 'vote buying' but I think it is essentially unbiased... http://poppyfieldjournal.blogspot.com/p/thoughts-on-thailands-turmoil-by... Personally, I can't manage to be so unbiased, I think the above is a bit hard on Abhisit as I do not believe he is actually in charge and hence does what he must rather than what he would like. It seems to me to be fairly obvious that the army and its PAD pressure group are the real power in Thailand. Who, other than PAD, would have Kasit in their government if they had a choice? I also think that the army played a clever game with public opinion, setting up the first confrontation with the ‘men in black’ to suggest an armed force within the peaceful Reds and then biding their time until as many people as possible had become heartily sick of the Red protest and the government’s propaganda had reached as many as were likely to be swayed by it, before going in for the kill. It is worth reading this article to see that there were also armed PAD protestors involved in the conflict when the police security forces used tear gas in an attempted clearance of the PAD’s blockade of Parliament. PAD somehow managed to claim the moral high-ground and, as I recall, the police chief got the blame, the Thai PM (who had little to do with it) was almost impeached and the deputy PM, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, resigned after admitting partial responsibility for the injuries. No resorting to police using live ammunition then or claims that PAD supporters were funding terrorism. What a difference less than 2 years makes when the shoe is on the other foot. http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2008/10/11/what-happened-on-710... I don't think that anyone dare challenge PAD again after that... hence the airport closures. The CRES tactic of blaming everything on to Thaksin, and arguing that he and his followers are against the King, is straight out of the PAD playbook - let’s face it they have always been a one-trick-pony - and despite a lot of ‘suspicions’ and ‘accusations’ has achieved the same result - no evidence! The things that CRES have done in the name of ‘suspicion of terrorism’ is quite simply appalling and is obviously designed to terrify anyone with a few hundred thousand baht in the bank who might have been thinking of supporting the Red movement from actually doing it. One more thing you should consider if you’re thinking of investing in Thailand... If you are not sufficiently deterred by the fact that your bank account might be frozen and your banking details displayed all over the media on ‘suspicion’ that you might be doing something suspicious then consider that the Yellow PAD represent a group of arrogant Thai people who see themselves as Elite. They do not take kindly to the VIP treatment that most foreigners are afforded in Thailand. If you are elite you don’t want to be competing with foreign riff raff whose only saving grace is the thickness of their wallets! Understanding this you will realise that the invasion of both Bangkok airports was very carefully planned, as the PAD have already admitted, and the fall in tourism was considered well worth the price of the cost to the country’s economy… and then comes the Global Recession. The best laid plans of fools and fascists :O) ...and now this - http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/06/20106284112812978... A bid to quash disparity between rich and poor? Not surprisingly there is no mention of it in this article - but from what I can gather those who can’t pay the tax will have their land confiscated. Well that’s bound to help the poor farmers struggling to survive the drought… Mind you, maybe they’ll get a few baht from the rich men who buy their land. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/182451/govt-aims-for-b25bn-land-ta... Instead of buying back Thai Com surely the money would be better spent on schemes to ensure better water supplies, particularly for irrigation, designed to cope with the changing weather patterns and the growing extremes in which different parts of Thailand can have floods and droughts at the same time.

In the last week not only has around a 100 out of 120 or so top judges voted that the appeals by Thaksin and his family were not legitimate because they did not contain any new evidence - no surprise as the government had long since sequestered the billions involved and recently transferred it to state funds so it wasn’t likely that they were going to chance losing any of it in any appeals - but also a PAD supporter who drove his vehicle at 5 police men and then reversed it back over them has been found guilt of attempted murder and sentenced to 48 hours community service and 1 years probation (with a 3 year suspended sentence). It seems the man was angry at the time and so his crime was excusable! Strangely I seem to remember another angry man, this time in a red shirt not a yellow one, was jailed earlier this year for throwing excrement into the PM’s garden - obviously a far worse crime than attempting to kill 5 police men and breaking the leg of a police lieutenant. http://robertamsterdam.com/thailand/?p=299 http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/191335/pad-supporter-gets-suspende...

This might tax your brain a bit but it is worth at least trying to follow the convolutions of corruption. It seems that today, according to the Bangkok Post, the ex-wife of coup deposed ex-PM (Thaksin Shinawatra) is about to be returned around 16 million pounds by the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) for four plots of land she bought on Ratchadapisek road in Huay Khwang district of Bangkok. Today’s Civil Court decision was made on the FIDF lawsuit filed with the court on Sept 18 2009, asking it to annul the Dec 30, 2003 Ratchadapisek land sale, and order Khunying Potjaman to return the land to the fund and declare the contract null and void. The annulment was granted because the sale was made in violation of Article 100 of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act based on a decision made on Oct 21, 2008 by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions which sentenced Potjaman’s then husband Kun Thaksin to two years in prison for abuse of authority by helping his wife purchase the land at a discounted price. As I recall Thaksin’s abuse of authority was to sign his wife’s bid for the land, as her husband was required to do. The FIDF was in dire financial straits at the time of the sale and very happy to get the money but it was later argued that the land had cost the FIDF more than it got for it and it was eventually pressured into complaining. I could never discover who the FIDF had bought the land from and how much for… however, it was rumoured that it was bought from a previous Thai PM and Thaksin’s wife thought it would be appropriate to buy the land for her husband and continue the tradition. I wondered if the FIDF had simply paid too much for it in the first place. Anyway, we should soon see, if £16 million was a discount price in 2003 it will be fascinating to see what price the FIDF will get for it some 7 or maybe 8 years later! Interesting interest - it seems that the FIDF will pay 7.5 per cent interest retroactively from Nov 25, 2009 when Khunying Potjaman filed suit against the FIDF to return the money. Makes me wonder that now it has been decided that the land deal is null and void shouldn’t Thaksin’s 2 year prison sentence for signing it be revoked too? http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/198016/potjaman-ordered-to-return-... If you read this earlier and you thought it read 16 billion rather than million - it did. I thought it sounded far too much and checked to find that it is now 16 million. I don't know if the Post has hurriedly changed it or I need glasses... ;O) Which ever it now reads "772 million baht purchase p[rice" sic. Ah, I just read the reader's comments beneath the article - it seems my eyes are okay :O) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, this might aid clarity… Today (Saturday) the BPost says “A prime minister's spouse is barred from doing business with state agencies under the anti-graft law.” Well, I’m sure that is so - but was it so at the time of the deal or is it another of these weasely laws passed in the meantime by the coup installed judiciary? The reason we might be tempted to think this is because of another titbit posted in the same BPost article : “Tongurai Limpiti, the central bank's assistant governor, said the FIDF had complied with its criteria in screening the bidders, although the court ruled later that Thaksin had breached the law.” NB. When they say 'later' it was 5 years later! http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/198089/potjaman-ordered-to-return-...

I started out being concerned about the seeming lack of any reaction from the Human Rights organisations in Thailand but it led me to wonder if Amnesty International itself has lost sight of what its purpose is. Are Human Rights now prioritised so that, effectively, some abuses are ignored so as not to ’rock the boat’ on issues that are considered emotive to those in power in the hope that by some form of ’quid pro quo’ this will benefit higher profile cases in which those in power might be more flexible and the media might be more interested? I am still not sure why Thailand‘s Human Rights organisations are not being strongly criticised by their international affiliates but it seems that Amnesty International has enough problems of its own (see final couple of paragraphs). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is now 6 months since the Red Shirted UDD rally was finally ended by the Thai military and yet most of the leaders are still in jail. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11794616 I wondered why nothing seemed to be being done about the injustice of these people being kept in jail for so long without access to bail and I was pleased to find that finally something is happening and two people have been bailed with the promise of more to follow. Still, it’s all very much like Guantanamo sans torture and I could not understand why the Human Rights people had not being screaming their heads off about the gross violations of Human rights by the Democrat led government. There is also the matter of the ninety odd people who were killed at the rally and the promised inquiry into who shot them… There is an inquiry but it still has not finished inquiring. The inquiry will not reveal the results of the post mortems and seems to be suggesting that many of the Red dead were shot by their own people despite leaks that many of the bullet wounds show that the bullets were fired from an elevated position which only the Thai military had access to. Checking through the Asian media I came across the following article which was actually penned before the Red rally but seems to explain very well why the Human Rights people are silent. “Although the article focuses on the lese majeste issue, the betrayal of the human rights mandarins is a significant part of the political crisis in Thailand too.” “The purpose of this article is to raise questions to the leaders of HR organizations in Thailand and of major international ones. I argue that the silence of the international HR groups closely ties to the betrayal of Thai HR leaders. My comments are based on numerous communications with them myself and information gathered from many other people who have made similar inquiries to them in recent years.” http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2010/04/26/the-betrayal-of-huma... In February 2010, Amnesty suspended Gita Sahgal, its gender unit head, after she criticized Amnesty for its links with Moazzam Begg, Director of a campaign group called Cageprisoners. She had called the links "a gross error of judgment" that risked Amnesty's reputation on human rights, and said it was wrong to ally with "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban". Amnesty responded that Sahgal wasn't suspended "for raising these issues internally... [Begg] speaks about his own views ..., not Amnesty International’s." Among those who spoke up for Saghal were Salman Rushdie "Amnesty ... has done its reputation incalculable damage… It looks very much as if Amnesty's leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy, and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International

I was pleased to see that pressure from Human Rights campaigners is having its effects although the results might be subtler than many might wish. The decision of the UK PM to cancel his Thai holiday is being spun today in the UK media as a reaction to worries that it might have seemed to fly in the face of the spirit of austerity that the government is trying to promote. However in Thailand it has been seen as a reaction to pressure from Human Rights campaigners as can be seen from this snippet from the Bangkok Post… “British Prime Minister David Cameron has cancelled plans to spend a Christmas holiday in Phuket, following complaints from campaigners about the Thai government's human-rights record, the UK press reported on Sunday. Mr Cameron had faced claims that the trip would be viewed as "showing support" for a "brutal" regime after the May 19 violence, and red shirt attempts to take the government to the International Criminal Court.” http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/207487/british-pm-cancels-thai-trip Interestingly, the Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva seems to be genuinely trying to resist some of the more obvious shifts toward fascism but the government is not actually in charge of the country when it comes to freedom of speech and human rights which are deemed ‘security’ issues and controlled by the army run CRES… Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha insisted the ban on anti-government souvenirs would remain in effect even though Prime Minister Abhisit believed it violated people's right to free speech. “The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation has defied Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's wishes by refusing to reverse its ban on anti-government souvenirs.” http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/207653/cres-defies-abhisit-over-di...

“A preliminary state probe into political violence in April and May concluded Thai special forces positioned on an elevated railway track fired into the grounds of a Buddhist temple where several thousand protesters had taken refuge.” http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B90OR20101210 “The findings by Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) are likely to embolden the "red shirt" anti-government protest movement challenging the legitimacy of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who in June blamed armed elements among the protesters for the temple deaths.” Asked by Reuters to comment on the leaked documents, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva did not deny their authenticity, but said investigations were still not complete and efforts were being made to expedite the process. Well, since the shootings were over 6 months ago on May 19th a bit of expediting might be a good thing before some of the guilty die of old age. "The next step will involve the judicial process so we can't react to any incomplete information", said Abhisit. Will the ’judicial process’ be similar to the recent one that has only just thrown out two cases of corruption against the PM and his party on a technicality, claiming that the prosecution failed to follow the correct procedure despite the fact that the prosecution was the Electoral Commission which is itself a branch of the judiciary? An article in the Wall Street Journal says : "The Constitutional Court's dismissals of the cases against the Democrats were particularly shocking because they were made on procedural grounds and in the face of strong precedents for holding the ruling party accountable." "In the protracted face-off between the establishment, fronted by Mr. Abhisit and reinforced by the judiciary, bureaucracy and army, a compromise involving reform of the way power is wielded is the only way forward. But the government and its powerful backers seem determined to prevail at all cost. They are risking an even bigger upheaval that threatens Thailand's survival as a unified state." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870469400457601885299728221...

There has been criticism of parliamentary plans to raise the salaries of the presidents of the executive, judicial and legislative branches and those of MPs and senators by 14.7% but the Thai PM Abhisit said that each salary increment for public agencies, including those in the legislative, executive and judicial branches, must proceed according to certain procedures. Who could argue with that :O) Still, an almost 15% pay rise for these extremely important and influential people - should the Democrats win the next election - could not possibly influence such incorruptible paragons of virtue… A Bangkok poll shows almost 75% disagree with the proposed 15% pay rise for MPs and lawmakers. "Asked to comment on the increase of the labour minimum wage as proposed by the National Wage Committee, all of the respondents agreed to it..." "Most of the respondents also agreed to the 8-17 baht increase in the daily minimum wage for labourers and the 5 per cent pay rise for government officials." "On a pay rise for MPs and senators, most of the people polled disagreed to it: 74.01 per cent said the lawmakers do not deserve it..." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/211441/most-disagree-to-pay-rise-f... Meanwhile, according to the Nation : ‘Kanchananat U-sap, a member of the Land Reform Network, said even though the network had negotiated with the government over land ownership issues, the people had been deceived. Many have now been forced to move from their land, after government solution ideas failed. " Some were threatened by authorities and were forced from their land to somewhere else. They were crying and said there was nowhere for them to live.” ‘Arun Sripen from the Forestry Network said the government had issued many Cabinet resolutions - but they were just pieces of paper that had never been implemented. This was why the problems still affected so many people. "We had talked with the governor several times about not destroying trees on our land, but the forestry officials went to our land and destroyed our trees. We have lived in this land for a long time," he said.’ http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/12/13/national/Assembly-condemns-go...