Juthamas Siriwan gets my vote
This is just incredible. Firstly, the major story is that Gerald Green and his wife Patricia were arrested in LA after allegations that they bribed a senior official within Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) “to win a film festival contract and other deals worth more than 10 million dollars”. (AFP)
The festival in question is the Bangkok International Film Festival. I had no idea that such a lot of money was generated by the Bangkok Film Festival.
“Between 2003 and 2007, the Greens allegedly funneled cash to the Thai tourism official who used the money to influence the awarding of the contracts for the film festival, which is run by the TAT.”
Former TAT Governor Juthamas Siriwan currently has a big arrow over her head. Juthamas is well aware of what people have been saying and has come out herself and stated that she will sue the US Justice Department if she is linked to the case.
It’s always fun to see the movers and shakers in Thailand threaten America. Remember when the Thai government went after Abbot Laboratories? How about when Sitthichai took on Youtube?
What’s especially funny in this is that the statement released by the US Department of Justice clearly says, “…the Greens conspired with others to bribe a senior Thai government official who was, at the time, the President of the BKKIFF and the Governor of the TAT.”
Perhaps it was the other governor.
Juthamas Siriwan was appointed head of TAT by Thaksin Shinawatra. She is running in the current election for the Puea Pandin Party. From The Nation:
Juthamas said the case would not have impact on her and her party’s election campaign.
At a press conference, she said, “All the procedures involving the case had been done according to the regulations and with fairness and transparence to all agencies concerned. TAT had set up a panel to handle the process.” (The Nation)
That sounds like an admission of guilt. Regulations mean nothing in this context.
Thai Visa has a collection of previous Juthamas clangers. In the past, she:
- Called off searching for bodies of tsunami victims because it looked bad to tourists.
- Was involved in the Thailand Elite Card fiasco that saw millions of baht in unpaid advertising bills after the whole initiative bombed.
- Was quoted as saying that the murder of a British couple in Kanchanburi was bad for tourism.
Clearly, this woman is dedicated to tourism.
Juthamas Siriwan – we salute you. You have done your country proud and we look forward to year’s more dedicated service.
December 19th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Wow.. yes… she gets my vote, too! :)
December 19th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
When considering the utterances of Thais, one is required to undertake significant suspension of disbelief. If one can poke ones head through the mirror into the looking-glass world of Thai mentality, this is also helpful.
Of course nothing will happen because she is one corrupt Thai among so many and the many will close ranks around their sister for the benefit of all.
Still, it is amusing when some piece of shit Thai threatens to take the US Justice Dept to court. I bet they are giving that some real pause for thought.
Beddie the Wyr
December 20th, 2007 at 12:39 am
who is this beddie the wyr character? not necessarily disagreeing with his sentiments here (however awkwardly coveyed), but from other posts all over the place he certainly seems to think he knows a lot more than he does…
December 20th, 2007 at 4:06 am
Then I suppose you could always say where he is wrong instead of crying in your beer that his opinion differs from your own. No? OK then.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:13 am
An afterthought Asdaprice (is that an assessment of self-worth? - nah, surely not).
Is my delivery awkward? Sorry if it is, I am not a journalist; I will try to do better. Still, on the bright side, I can at least spell ‘conveyed’ so it isn’t all loss.
Can I ask what you mean by ‘all over the place’? Do you mean the one other blog I comment on? I don’t think I comment on any blogs except Matt’s and Thai Crisis. If that is ‘all over the place’ then so be it I suppose, but it is a bit awkwardly coveyed…
I am curious though. By what yardstick do you measure what I think I know? Or what you think I know? How do you measure what I do actually know? What is knowledge anyway? It does seem like you think you know me (and I very much doubt that you do), or that you have some kind of magickal way of seeing inside my mind (which I likewise seriously doubt). Or is it that you can’t really find anything to argue about but you don’t like my opinion of Thais so you choose the ad-hominem strategy instead? Try to focus on the message lad, the messenger might be ugly but it doesn’t really matter. Not to intelligent folk anyway.
But then perhaps you just felt grumpy, in which case I wish you a better day today. Remember that life is a beddie of roses, but you gotta watch out for the pricks.
Beddie the Wyr
December 29th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Juthamas is quite the scam artist. When she took over TAT, she promoted her pet projects like Thailand Elite and the Film Festival (neither of which increased tourism) and handpicked her vendors - who then charged inflated prices to ensure her “commission”. She found a willing conspirator in Gerald Green who in his life’s final chapter was hoping to build another Cannes or Sundance. Gerald Green will plead guilty to a reduced sentence in the US, while all the Thai investigations will be prove inconclusive (surprise!) and Juthamas will remain free to do other horrible things. The irony is - someday this will make a great movie!
January 17th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
i feel the urgent urge to vomit
February 4th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Of course nothing will happen because she is one corrupt Thai among so many and the many will close ranks around their sister for the benefit of all.