The Thai Pirate - Thai Blog and Travel Stories

Thaksin upset at revoked VISA, slags off the UK, then talks sense (no, not really)

It's been a bad couple of months for Thaksin, and it finally looks as though he has lost it.

Mid November, he and Potjaman Shinawatra got a divorce. Don't feel too bad for him, as it isn't the strain of recent events that have led to this, rather, it is more likely to be a move to protect his assets, thus not genuine marital breakdown. The separation will afford him considerably more legal manoeuvrability.

Nothing is sacred these days, eh Thaksin!

There is also speculation the divorce could allow Potjaman the right to reapply for settlement in the UK.

Commenting on the revoked VISA, David Milliband, UK foreign minister, only referred to Thaksin's convictions when describing why his VISA had been revoked, leading many Thai journalists to speculate that the UK were leaving the door open for Potjaman (even though she was found guilty of tax evasion by the Thai courts and sentenced to 3 years).

So, after being dumped by the UK (and by the misses), Thaksin proceeded to slope off to Dubai, where he promptly began slagging off England!

Quote: "England must understand better, but unfortunately they are now busy with their own problems so they forgot about democratic values" said Thaksin in an interview with an Arabian Business magazine.

Interesting. "They are now busy with their own problems". Who? British politicians?

Maybe Thaksin is actually surprised that British government ministers are unable to collude with (and do favours for) a political criminal?

Or, at least, British politicians at this time daren't be seen to associate with him, especially with all the trouble that's going on with the world markets.

Thaksin also went on to say (with regard returning to Thailand) "With me at the helm, I can bring confidence quickly back to Thailand".

And that's the most sensible thing he's ever said, if he means at the helm of the Bang Kwang prison kitchen, cooking slop for the other inmates.

Because, in my humble opinion, the only solution to all this mess is for Thaksin to come back and serve time for the various crimes he committed whilst in power!

Then, and only then, can he attempt to rebuild a political career.

Send him back

Two years jail is a fair sentence I reckon, if anything, it's too lenient.

Entertain this scenario.

Gordon Brown and his wife are accused of corruption, and of using their political status for personal gain. It is suspected that she has committed tax fraud (to the tune of a modest 8.2m), whilst he is accused of 1. arranging soft loans to Burma to benefit his family's telecoms business and 2. buying up large areas of London at a third of the normal price.

Browns wife's tax case is heard first. She is found guilty in a British court, with the judge stating "The defendant (Browns wife) was not only supposed to behave herself as a good citizen, she was also meant to be a good role model as the wife of the prime minister." Fair enough.

She is freed on bail pending an appeal. Both Brown and his wife go public and say they will 'definitely' be attending Brown's trial (a week later), as they are innocent and have nothing to fear blah blah etc etc.

Brown and his wife then fly to China, so they can see the start of the 'Olympics', how nice. However, Brown and his wife don't return to the UK. Shock horror! No. Instead, they decide it would be a very good idea indeed to ignore their legal obligations, skip bail, and catch a connecting flight to Thailand! Where they cannot be extradited! Ha ha, good idea!

Brown then proceeds to cry about the UK court findings (which would have been OK, if only they found the mrs innocent), and pours scorn on the UK's legal system, and seeks 'asylum' in Thailand.

However, he nonetheless still see's himself fit to continue to dictate policy (!), party appointments (!) AND make political manoeuvres and decisions (!) for the governing party back in Blighty!

None of the labour politicians have the cohones to speak out against him, and CONTINUE to run the UK under Brown's RULE, and in his absence!!! You couldn't make it up!

Brown is later found guilty of purchasing land in London for 'mates rates' (a crime that isn't hard to prove) and is given a two year sentence (in his absence).

But he doesnt have much to worry about, because, Thailand houses people pretty much 'willy nilly' once they claim 'asylum'. So, Brown is free to continue to operate as he pleases, running the UK from abroad, whilst not answering himself to the legal obligations everybody else has to abide by (lets face it folks, 'beacon of the poor', or not, he was on the take.)

I want to be a politician when I grow up, they can do anything!

Can you see why so many Thai's are annoyed? I wonder how us Brits would react if our PM was guilty of corruption on many levels, but still calling the shots from a foreign country? There would probably be mass protests and scenes of violence on the streets I think.

All said and done, if I were Thaksin, I would consider coming back. He would probably do six months (not including other cases, yet to be heard), and arise a more experienced and formidable political player.....Something to think about eh, Mr Thaksin.

Tourists safe in Thailand

Despite what the media would have you believe, Thailand is still one of the safest places on the planet.

The nasty images on your TV screens are real, the violence is real, and the depth of anger is real. But the violence is confined to what are essentially two opposing forces, the PAD (always reported in the media as the 'anti government' movement, but are in truth the anti Thaksin movement), and the pro government, pro Thaksin PPP, who, as they are the ruling party, include the police.

Tourists have nothing to fear. Unless you actually rolled up your sleeves, put on a woolly balaclava, grabbed some plastic water bottles and set off to Government house 'looking for it', you wouldn't find, see or hear any trouble elsewhere in Bangkok.

(Pic left - Nothing to fear - Like 'That Mitchell and Webb look' - 50p and you can sit next to the tiger. Yeah it's fine, it's all fine!)

Admittedly there is a chance some tourists may wander into these areas, and some even choose to go. The chances are they're likely to meet some very nice people, albeit at this time in an extremely volatile and hazardous environment. It's not advisable, of course, but these two sides are after one thing, to get each other. Tourists are not a part of this unless they choose to be.

The problem is the PAD are serious about Thaksin. These guys are not moving. The depth of anger and fear they hold for Thaksin runs too deep.

Can you blame them? Thaksin was allowed to slip out and escape justice from right under the nose of all Thai people, and now supposedly calls the shots 'remotely' from the UK.

Thaksin says he had to run, he couldn’t get a fair trial, but everyone knows he ran because he had been found out. He is guilty of self-serving political deals, greed and corruption on many levels.

The big problem for me with the PPP is that not one of it's members can, or has, publicly denounced Thaksin's behaviour. It's his party, he funds it.

How can you have a fair political system when one person holds all the cards in the ruling party like this?

And as it's Thaksin's association with the PPP that's causing all the problems, it means that while the current situation remains unchanged, everyone else is getting battered and bashed up in the aftermath.

If Thaksin were a real, true, honourable Thai, he would return, rather than see all these people getting hurt by his actions.

Tourists need not worry. This will continue to be a political problem for some time, but tourists are still very much loved and appreciated in Thailand. Unless you were silly enough to venture into these very small, niche areas, you wouldn't even know anything was going on.

Bangkok election

Travelling through Bangkok over the last few weeks, you couldn't help notice the thousands upon thousands of posters dotted all over the place with various soppy looking Thai blokes staring wistfully down at the queues of traffic.

One stood out from all the rest. At first I thought the picture was an advert for some Thai horror film. I saw his face on so many posters I finally asked the misses if we could go see the film cos with this much ad coverage it might be a half decent flick, but she informed me that the crazy looking bloke staring back at me is actually a candidate for mayor of Bangkok.

I had to find out more. This guy, Chuwit Kamolvisit, was basically a pimp, making a ton of money by running massage parlours, helping to feed the seedier side of Thailand's reputation. He's also admitted to bribing the police in the past, and that he cannot compete on policies with the current govenor, Apirak Kosayodhin, because Mr Apirak has much more experience....

His chosen campaign persona, 'Mr Angry', is supposedly meant to depict how INFURIATED he is by all the corruption in Bangkok.

Hmmm, maybe a slight whiff of hypocrisy there, from a man who admits to bribing officials and who has made all his loot by pimping girls?

Unofficial polls this morning show him trailing in third place, with Mr Apirak winning comfortably.

It's thought that Chewit's campaign 'may' have been hurt when last Thursday, he lived up to his campaign image by decking a television journalist who had 'asked him the wrong questions'.

Not a wise move in a country where losing your temper and disturbing surface harmony is widely frowned upon (and which seems to be the entire foundation of his campaign).

What a muppet!

Somchai's premiership over before it has begun?

Somchai Wongsawat, current PM of Thailand, could well be given his marching orders only 2 weeks after getting the job as PM.

Senator Ruangkrai Leekijwatana, who is filing a complaint to the Electoral Commission, was also the guy responsible for toppling previous PM Samak with a similar legal challenge.

His complaint centres on Somchai's ownership of 100,000 shares (worth 368,000 baht) in a listed telecomms company, CS Loxinfo, which does business with state enterprises throughout Thailand.

Thailand's Constitution prohibits members of Parliament from holding shares in companies that do business with state enterprises. If the Electoral Commission agrees with Mr. Ruangkrai and the complaint is upheld, this will then pass to the Constitutional Court who will quickly bring about a trial.

The legal case filed by Mr. Ruangkrai, if successful, could be drawn out over several months, and if found guilty by the Constitutional Court, Somchai would be disqualified as a member of Parliament, and therefore 'booted'.

While interesting, it is astonishing to see how easily ministers can get into hot water over seemingly trivial issues. 368,000 baht's worth of shares (less than 6k) in a telecommunications company? Hardly enough to class somebody as corrupt, is it?

Much of this stems from the re-writing of Thailand's Constitution by the military junta in 2007 brought about in the wake of the Thaksin premiership. Many proclaim the charter was designed solely to protect the interests of Thailand's elite, and perhaps there are strong foundations to agree with this.

Having said that, many Thai's support the Constitution, stating that it is clear, and needs to be tough in order to combat Thailand's never ending fight with corruption. The Constitution does seem very effective in keeping those in power on their toes, with even the slightest wrong doing potentially leading to swift penalties and possible removal of the accused member of parliament.

I wonder how this type of strict Constitution would translate to British politics? The job of judge, jury and executioner in our system seems to be in the hands of the media rather than formal institutions as in Thailand.

Thailand's political problems are intrinsic, those in power and those vying for power are first and foremost concerned for themselves, rather than those they are supposed to be serving.

Sound familiar?