Show and tell time for Samak

[buksida]

Will new Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej serve as ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra's loyal proxy, or will his strong royalist credentials and well-known ambitions to one day serve on King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Privy Council steer his premiership in an unexpected direction? The answer to that pivotal question could be the difference between stability and instability in the months ahead.

The People's Power Party (PPP), the reincarnation of Thaksin's banned Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party, recently opened Parliament in the lead of a new democratically elected six-party ruling coalition in control of 315 of the Lower House's 480 seats. Veteran politician Samak, PPP's nominal party leader and well-known Thaksin ally, was as expected selected prime minister on Monday.

The mainstream media have portrayed the PPP's election win and its formation of a coalition government as democratic vindication against military rule and for the exiled Thaksin, who was ousted in a September 2006 military coup and is expected in the coming months to return to Thailand to face criminal corruption charges.

Full Story: Asia Times Online

Thought: A good insight into Thai politics in that article, many comments ring in tone with the predictions I made last year.

[Sabai Jai]

I really really do wish I could feel even slightly comfortable with Samak's appointment..... but I can't!

I would also be pleased to apologise and eat my words should he turn out to be an good leader

SJ

[Norseman]

A difficult question buksi.
Personally I think the new P.M. will not last long because of his close connections with former TRT i.e Thaksin.
Metropolis Bangkok wants a change but it's a fight between rural Thailand and the townspeople of the bigger cities.
As usual we can only watch and see. but Thailand need a strong leader with a goal to strengthen Thailand and educate the people.
The new PM is not qualified.

[The understudy]

[quote="Norseman"]A difficult question buksi.
Personally I think the new P.M. will not last long because of his close connections with former TRT i.e Thaksin.
Metropolis Bangkok wants a change but it's a fight between rural Thailand and the townspeople of the bigger cities.
As usual we can only watch and see. but Thailand need a strong leader with a goal to strengthen Thailand and educate the people.
The new PM is [u]not[/u] qualified.[/quote]

I can agree with all of your points you've made above. As a Thai I can feel that on the surface we are really happy that finally an peoples elected Government takes Power and the poliitcal and econoomical uncertainties can clear of/ BUt does ot REALLY clear off... No it does not . I feel really uneasy of Samsks Prime Minister would Drag this Highest post in Thai Government in the MUd. And with the Return of PTaks to Thailand looming there will be interesting and distressfull Times for Thailand ahaed.

Your's The understudy!!!

[lomuamart]

A difficult question buksi.
Personally I think the new P.M. will not last long because of his close connections with former TRT i.e Thaksin.
Metropolis Bangkok wants a change but it's a fight between rural Thailand and the townspeople of the bigger cities.
As usual we can only watch and see. but Thailand need a strong leader with a goal to strengthen Thailand and educate the people.
The new PM is not qualified.

Exactly. A 70 year old reactionary.
Even the British press are laughing at him after two days.
Enough said. Wait and see what happens to all "us farangs" over the next few months. Because we're simply not welcome by Samak. Time will tell.

[lomuamart]

A difficult question buksi.
Personally I think the new P.M. will not last long because of his close connections with former TRT i.e Thaksin.
Metropolis Bangkok wants a change but it's a fight between rural Thailand and the townspeople of the bigger cities.
As usual we can only watch and see. but Thailand need a strong leader with a goal to strengthen Thailand and educate the people.
The new PM is not qualified.

I can agree with all of your points you've made above. As a Thai I can feel that on the surface we are really happy that finally an peoples elected Government takes Power and the poliitcal and econoomical uncertainties can clear of/ BUt does ot REALLY clear off... No it does not . I feel really uneasy of Samsks Prime Minister would Drag this Highest post in Thai Government in the MUd. And with the Return of PTaks to Thailand looming there will be interesting and distressfull Times for Thailand ahaed.

Your's The understudy!!!

This country really does need people like you.
BTW, I don't know enough about Thai politics, so it's good to see you post.

[klikster]

The mainstream media have portrayed the PPP's election win and its formation of a coalition government as democratic vindication against military rule and for the exiled Thaksin, who was ousted in a September 2006 military coup and is expected in the coming months to return to Thailand to face criminal corruption charges.

Which is how it should be portrayed, IMO.

The military junta did everything short of stuffing the ballot boxes to get the Democrats in power, but it didn't work.

That sounds pretty much like "democratic vindication" to me.

[buksida]

The military junta did everything short of stuffing the ballot boxes

And so did Thaksin and TRT if you recall.

[klikster]

The military junta did everything short of stuffing the ballot boxes

And so did Thaksin and TRT if you recall.

Your selective context quoting is duly noted, as is your bias against Taksin and TRT.

But what does your comment have to do with the "democratic vindication" of the last election? Why not address my comment about the topic of the post rather than going off on a tangent?

[buksida]

As opposed to picking apart almost everything I write on this forum how about reading and ingesting some of it first?

I did not write that article and yes, I do not hide my political opinions. Anyone is free to post contrary articles in support of whichever political party they favour - its an open forum.

I do not condone what the junta have done and do not support them but Thaksin and his cronies are no better, hence my post above which is in line with the topic of Thai politics and is the article I posted.

[klikster]

As opposed to picking apart almost everything I write on this forum how about reading and ingesting some of it first?

First, a comment. I did read the article. I think it's biased, which is why I commented as I did. My comment first comment (the one you selectively quoted) was about the article. I didn't address a comment to you until you picked out only part of my comment.

Second, a request. Please show the posts where I engage in ".. picking apart almost everything I write on this forum ..". That would be quite a lot of picking and I have done considerably less.

I remember one engagement we had, and it was you who refused to comment on my post, but re-played the already played [paraphrased] "I don't know why you're picking on my post".

Is there some reason I should not comment on your posts?

[buksida]

Now who is going off topic and being pedantic?

Coincidence? Maybe but since you've also picked apart stuff I have posted on a very quiet Bangsaphan forum I have to question why you seem to have a problem with me.
http://bangsaphanguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56

Anyway back to topic and no, I'm not changing my opinion (which is all that this is) about anything I have stated.

How about you telling us why PPP and TRT are so great and how much better Thailand is going to be now that 72 year old Samak has been "democratically" elected?

[klikster]

Now who is going off topic and being pedantic?

Coincidence? Maybe but since you've also picked apart stuff I have posted on a very quiet Bangsaphan forum I have to question why you seem to have a problem with me.
http://bangsaphanguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56

LOL! Speaking of off topic.

Okay, I lived in Ban Krut and Don Samran for 3 years .. not every now and then .. full time. I "owned" a house in Don Samran. I know the area quite well .. except the bars.

I spent 2 weeks at the Haadsomboon Hotel more than 5 years ago. I have had dinner numerous times at the Haadsomboon Restaurant. Those 2 places are "at the beach" in Bangsaphan aka Ban Chai Talay. The water there is filthy, ergo the information you gave about "clean water" was in error. Okay?

How about you telling us why PPP and TRT are so great and how much better Thailand is going to be now that 72 year old Samak has been "democratically" elected?

Fact: PPP has been democratically elected despite the best efforts of Prem and the Junta. PPP has hardly had time to show whether they are good or bad.

Fact: TRT no longer exists, so how can Thailand be "better" with them?

Fact: I never said that Thailand was going to be great under the PPP.

Please stop attributing things to me that I didn't say.

[Wanderlust]

klikster,
The implication of your post was that you think that the PPP (and TRT before them) had been democratically elected, and that the military had used underhand and undemocratic tactics to try and ensure the Democrats won this time; this makes it appear as if you support the PPP/TRT/Thaksin and did not think that the coup was good for Thailand. If this is not how you think please state that, or if it is, i would also be interested in why you think that.

Personally i agree with buksida regarding the voting shenanigans - that they are all as bad as each other - but once in power Thaksin took the corruption to a new level, and i feel that it will be the same under Samak, which is not good for anyone except the PPP/TRT cronies. The people that were conned into voting for them certainly won't be any better off, and more likely considerably worse off as government funds disappear again. Samak has lined his pockets before and is certain to do so again.

[klikster]

klikster,
The implication of your post was that you think that the PPP (and TRT before them) had been democratically elected, and that the military had used underhand and undemocratic tactics to try and ensure the Democrats won this time; this makes it appear as if you support the PPP/TRT/Thaksin and did not think that the coup was good for Thailand. If this is not how you think please state that, or if it is, i would also be interested in why you think that.

That first sentence is so compounded , convoluted and illogical that it is unanswerable.

I find it curious that you can infer anything about TRT from my post. My comments were very specific .. that I thought the last election was "democratic vindication" .. and that the Junta, backed by Prem, resorted to all sorts of "undemocratic" efforts to make sure the Democrats won.

As an aside: You can't say what I "implied", you can only say what you "infer".

So please go back and read what I said, not what you think I might have possibly meant.

Because someone supports democracy over a military dictatorship implies nothing more than that simple concept.

Besides not being accurate, your following statement is very unfair ..

this makes it appear as if you support the PPP/TRT/Thaksin and did not think that the coup was good for Thailand.

.. in that it ties 3 separate issues together wich are separate and distinct .. and I did not mention them.

You made an assumption.

For the record:

1 - I think the coup was a disastorous setback for Thailand.
2 - I have mixed feelings about TRT and Taksin, but they were better, IMO, than a military dictatorship .. if fo no other reason, that they were elected.
3 - I can't have an honest opinion about PPP because they have no history.

And if you think the generals did not line their pockets, I have some oceanfront land in Kalasin you're gonna love.