Is this the start of another Coup?

Post by **STEVE G** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:24 pm

Now I’m getting confused:http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnew ... d=30082870

Post by **buksida** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:32 am

Here's an interview with Sondhi from yesterday's ATol:

What Sondhi really wants for Thailand
Thailand's anti-government protest leader, Sondhi Limthongkul, has already changed the course of his country's history. Now he is trying to redefine the way Thailand's fragile and flawed democracy works. Taking time off from the swelling crowds of protesters around Bangkok's Government House, he tells ATol about his envisaged "new politics" and points out that 56 years of Western-style democracy in Thailand have been 56 years of turmoil.

Full Story: Asia Times Online

sargeant · Post by **sargeant** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:38 pm

Holy moses i read it twice and was so impressed with this new politics i was reaching for my yellow shirt and was about to ring to book the Bangkok minibus when i came to the bit where he was asked about speeches and quotes from his cronies when i read quote
"Sondhi: Don't take too seriously what's said on the stage.

So they are old polititions and tell lies to their followers

so much for new politics har dee har har

Post by **PeteC** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 4:42 pm

1530 hours: Samak was just found guilty of abusing his positon re: his cooking show. He must step down as PM. Pete

Super Joe · Post by **Super Joe** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:05 pm

15:42 hours: The rice is done

News is reporting that he can be voted back in by parliament majority on Thursday!?!?

SJ

Post by **buksida** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:13 pm

The Goose has been cooked!

PM loses his post and his cabinet will function as a caretaker cabinet after the Constitution Court disqualified PM after finding him violating the charter.

http://nationmultimedia.com/2008/09/09/ ... 082964.php

There is already talk of Banharn Silapa-archa being Samak's replacement so we effectively trade one megalomaniac crusty political dinosaur that should have retired years ago with another one.

sargeant · Post by **sargeant** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:27 pm

Well look on the bad side if it was a Thai version of american idol it would have been a firing squad
Ludicrous an absolute bluddy nonsense

Post by **richard** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:42 pm

Think of the impact on the outside world

'Pm fired for cooking a meal'

Laughing stock of Asia and the world

sargeant · Post by **sargeant** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:44 pm

Could somebody clarify according to BBC world the court has ordered the whole cabinet to resign which baffles me unless the finance minister was peeling the veg and the foreign minister was washing dishes

sorry for the edit but couldnt resist it
unless the finance minister was peeling the sundera vej

Post by **Jim** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 5:59 pm

from the Bangkok Post:

"His premiership is over, and the term of the cabinet has also expired, although according to the constitution they must remain as an acting government until there is a new prime minister and cabinet," said Constitution Court Judge Chat Chawakorn.

Under the charter, members of the cabinet except Mr Samak will continue to perform their duties as caretaker ministers until a new cabinet is appointed.

The first deputy prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, will be caretaker prime minister.

Post by **STEVE G** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 6:06 pm

It occurs to me that this now means that Samak can step aside without losing face as he hasn’t been forced out by the PAD, and the PPP can vote in a new PM which would effectively take the steam out of the demonstrations as they’ve always stated that their aim was to remove Samak.

Post by **buksida** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 6:23 pm

The piss that gets taken by these people is beyond humour:

Thai party leader Banharn Silpa-archa is widely tipped to take the interim post. News reports also speculated that first Deputy Prime Minister and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, will be caretaker prime minister.

Full Story: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_ ... 0Ae02.html

Post by **STEVE G** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 6:30 pm

Somchai Wongsawat was the first deputy PM so he gets the caretaker job automatically.
Banharn Silpa-archa said earlier that he wouldn't accept the PM's position.

Post by **STEVE G** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 7:06 pm

richard wrote:Think of the impact on the outside world

'Pm fired for cooking a meal'

Laughing stock of Asia and the world

Some people have expressed concern that Thai politics is beginning to look silly.
"One theory is that this is a ploy to promote Thai food," joked Dr Giles Ungphakorn of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"It's ridiculous," he said. "Basically it's a ploy by anti-government groups to use any crack in the law to weaken the government."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -show.html

Post by **Guess** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 7:55 pm

buksida wrote:Here's an interview with Sondhi from yesterday's ATol:

................. Now he is trying to redefine the way Thailand's fragile and flawed democracy works. ...........................and points out that 56 years of Western-style democracy in Thailand have been 56 years of turmoil.

I hope he takes into consideration all the alternatives to democracy that the west experimented with in the 50 years before the Thai democracy was born. In that period Europe had tyrannical monarchies, extremes of nationalism and communism, mass genocide and suppression of basic rights. The whole rotten scenario led to two of the most devastating conflicts the world has ever seen and civil wars.

I don't know how he perceives western style democracy but in reality, today's western democracy, is nothing like what they have had in Thailand for 56 years.

I'll stay on the fence until he specifies exactly what he means by a redefinition of democracy.

I believe that the root cause of all problems in Thailand is corruption. It doesn't need a dictatorship or military government to rectify that, so hopefully he has ideas about addressing that serious issue within a democracy. The problem is, that it so well rooted in the culture that it may take generations to remove.

Good luck to any politician who tries.