Sonthi puts his foot in it again
I'm a bit behind on Thailand affairs what with being away for the past week. Forgive me. Anyway, after the nine-hour ordeal of Judgment Day a week ago, was the whole thing for nothing? This great move for justice that saw Thai Rak Thai dissolved and 111 senior members banned from politics looks great at face value, but what is actually going to happen? On Saturday Sonthi embarrassed himself once more by suggesting that amnesty should be offered to the 111 senior members of Thai Rak Thai who were affected by the rulings last Wednesday. I don’t understand this, even if it is in line with the “reconciliatory policy”. Why is there a need to reconcile?
An editorial in The Nation today had this to say of the matter:
[Sonthi] dismissed concerns that he was succumbing to pressure from his colleagues in the CNS who allegedly have made a political pact with some Thai Rak Thai turncoats.
It's an open secret that certain elements within the CNS are pursuing their own political agendas. They were reportedly instrumental in convincing breakaway Thai Rak Thai groups to band together under the umbrella of the so-called "Matchima Party" led by Somsak Thepsuthin.
Who are these elements!? I want to know! To the common man (me) this editorial doesn’t hold as much value as it offers stories that are “reportedly” true. I want hard facts. Did it happen or not? General Sonthi seems to be trying to appease everyone as tension mounts after a mass anti-coup protest at Sanam Luang on Saturday. Before Judgment Day such protests were drawing a few hundred people at most, but now things are really hotting up. Sonthi’s response to this has been to send out more SMS messages calling to the good nature of the Thai people.
This all comes as the government has set the wheels in motion to lift its ban on political activity. So once this gets cabinet approval and Thai Rak Thai forms a new party, with or without the 111 banned members, will anything have actually been achieved?
Techno' tags: Thailand, Bangkok, Thai politics
Things are definitely going to get better for Thailand now that tax-cheating, extrajudicially killing, election fraud committing, and mother of corruption Thaksin Shinawatra had been banished from Thailand. It gets better when Thaksin's election fraud abetting Thai Rak Thai party had been outlawed and one-hundred-eleven of its members, mainly party executives, had been banned from Thai politics for 5 years.
That's quite an accomplishment for a start. Next would be to press on with locking up the TRT top executives directly implicated in the election fraud. The many tax and corruption cases against Thaksin and his family tree will move on of course, this time with more urgency!
NO AMNESTY!
Hi Matt,
Still struggling with Thai politics?
What you have to understand is that many of the TRT members were not really hard core Thaksin supporters but politicians who had jumped on the bandwagon because being a TRT member would ensure two things a politician wants: 1. be elected, 2. get the money!
This also explain why overall there has not been such an overreaction after the verdict, the politicians who used to hold office under the banner of the TRT will simply jump into the next band wagon, be it that of their arch-enemy the Democrats. The electorate don't really care as long as the same promise (read money) is made to them. This was clear and had already happen soon after the coup!
You will know soon enough who are thes "elements".
~R
Oh yes, I'm still some way off really achieving any real level of understanding. But I'm getting there.
I agree with Amporn. Even though Thaksin did a lot of good things for the poor, he was still badly flawed. But the problem is, he was no worse than any of the other politicians in this country. I used to think the Democrats might offer something good for Thailand. But now? I don't see them doing anything, just as they have done nothing ever since they party came into being. Disbarring 111 TRT executives is a step in the right direction. The best idea would be to scrap all political parties, then set up a vetting council to check registrations for new parties. No one who is a politician now should be allowed to join a new party. We need new faces…people who really care about Thailand. And the new Constitution should state explicitly that the military are subordinate to the government and that they must never stage a coup again. Until that happens, Thailand will continue to endure the same old depredations by these unscrupulous pirates. IMHO, of course.