Samak Found Guilty By Court, Must Resign

[jojothai]

that'll teach him to cook the books

People do get dismissed for cooking the books, but cooking ....

Certainly the best description is bizarre.

Lets hope it is the Thai backdoor route to solve the current problem.

[dseawarrior]

I think this should be titled:

TV cooking show host forced by court to quit moonlighting as Prime Minister

[blaze]

Lied in his evidence. He should be done with perjury now.

Yes- to lie to the court- isn't that a VERY serious offense? Why wasn't he immediately charged with perjury? Or is the translation a bit loose?

[hammered]

that'll teach him to cook the books

People do get dismissed for cooking the books, but cooking ....

Certainly the best description is bizarre.

Lets hope it is the Thai backdoor route to solve the current problem.

It certainly gives a parliamentary route to try to resolve divisions. It is now up to PPP to decide if they want to take it or not.

[fiddlehead]

Looks like parliament can just vote him back in (legally)

It will be interesting to see if he wants to be voted back in or if he is going to look at this as a way out without losing TOO much face.

[ThNiner]

If Samak is voted back by PPP to be the PM again, I think all hel_l will break loose. I think...

[h90]

There is the letter of the law and the spirit behind the law.

So, according to the letter of the law, he was guilty.

However, can one truly justify terminating a PM over cooking on a TV show, according to the spirit of the law?

that the PM should not have a second job makes sense.

But here the bigger issue is that he did not obey the constitution and worse he lied at the court that he did not get any money.

Anyway as they all don't accept the spirit of the law they will reelect him.

[h90]

Looks like parliament can just vote him back in (legally)

It will be interesting to see if he wants to be voted back in or if he is going to look at this as a way out without losing TOO much face.

They all don't care about face...just about money.

[kurtgruen]

I don't support the PAD with their lack of long term solutions to Thailand's political problems, but still wonder why so many supposedly 'in the know' foreigners believe that Samak and his circus show are deserving of power because of what can be loosely described as democracy. A complete sham in all respects.

Samak faces still further legal problems.

The Electoral Commission has recommended his party be disbanded, after a finding of serious irregularities in its campaign to win the December election which returned full civilian government to Thailand.

And Mr Samak awaits a verdict on his appeal against a 24-month sentence for defamation. If the sentence were upheld he would be stripped of all political offices and banned from politics. He also has a corruption matter outstanding from his time as Bangkok governor in the 1990s.

He's obviously innocent (chuckle, chuckle) on all accounts.

I'm fine with the short-term solutions for now...Get rid of the PPP and anyone else who finds their party officials guilty of vote buying or other illegal activities, contrary to the elections act. Why, because it will show that Election laws are there to be followed, not to be broken and that if parties choose to break them, there will be severe consequences.

Hopefully, Samak will stay down for the count and stick to cooking. Then, it's a matter of electing a Prime Minister, who is a little more diplomatic and has some negotiation skills (or at least people who can negotiate for him), so maybe, slowly, this situation in Thailand can be difused, before more people get hurt.

I think the PAD needs to keep up pressure, until the PPP either resigns or gets booted out by the courts. After that, if they think they have a better political system to offer, they should put it to the test, by running in the next elections. Elections, which should be closely monitored by scrutineers of all parties, plus allowing international monitors in as well, to keep the whole process as honest as possible.

Regardless of the outcome of the next election, if the party who takes power gets caught with major election fraud again, it needs to be disolved again. That's how you eventually can have a decent democracy or whatever system the people choose to vote for. i.e. Democracy or an absolute Monarchy, with a benevolent King, or a combination of the two, or a military government (not my choice), or whatever they decide to vote for, in fair, honest elections.

Of course there is the issue of media coverage and there needs to be close to equal and fair airtime, for all parties running.

In the meantime, Thank God, Buddha or whoever else is listening, that Samak is gone, because this situation was becoming more and more dangerous every day and this should help to difuse things a little.

If he opens his own restaurant one day, I would love to have a chat with him and eat his food, because he sounds like an interesting man. I just don't want to see him as Prime Minister anymore.

[JetsetBkk]

...Samak violated the law by working for a private company and getting paid while he's in office...not because he cooked stuff on a TV show. He was paid in millions in total, just to let you know.

I hope this is clear enough for some people.

Samak was kicked out for being paid to host the cooking show. Is that clear enough?

[bangkokrick]

Lets see if I have got this right?....his PPP party will re-elect him as PM in 30 days because they and the coalition have more votes than the Democrats ????

So he can just take a months holiday and then come back and the ball starts rolling again

Please tell me I'm wrong in my assumption

PLEASE...as this just does not make any sense at all to me

You are correct on all counts ThaiPauly. Providing that the coalition government support him there is no reason by Thai law that he can not become the PM by the weekend.

Strange but true.

Cheers, Rick

[kurtgruen]

If Samak is voted back by PPP to be the PM again, I think all hel_l will break loose. I think...

I agree!

[highdiver]

Talk about embarrassing for Thailand! On the 4 pm BBC World bulletin everyone including the

Southeast Asia correspondent as well as Jonathan Head in Bangkok were shaking their heads

in disbelief that the prime minister of a country has been brought down by a cooking show !!

They even used the word " bizzare " to describe such a situation.

They admitted that they've even given up speculating how this will work out eventually

but he was concerning that Jonathan Head commented there is a risk this will not

resolved peacefully this time.....................................

It really does look dreadful that a country that has attracted so much foreign investment in the past

appears to be in such a muddle !

This is a fun place to live but it just reinforces my belief that it's too risky to invest

one satang in this Disneyland !

"Thailand has had its fair share of crises recently, but this is one that even the Thais are baffled by, our correspondent says."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7605838.stm

Thailand has exposed itself it has outgrown the path to democracy into a real

BIZARRE BANANA REPUBLIC

The whole world is laughing and even Hollywood and Bollywood couldn't have written such a script.

Can anyone imagine what the world leaders are talking about today to each other ?

Poor Thailand, they lost face to the whole governance world; what's next ?

LaoPo

loose face NO NO No !!!

I believe this will be set as an example that in Thailand even the PM is not above the law. and when a PM does something wrong he pays for it with his JOB...

or do you prefer other "world leaders" who have not lost positions when they did something wrong. and never even faced a court..

Well done Thailand... the first country in the world to show that even on simple matters the PM is not above the law..

its now becoming a world trend to have politicians understand that they are not above the law and that good honest citizens will not take anymore sh*t , corruption and leaders who utilize the position for personal gain.

the last examples are

Israseli PM on charges of bribe

Irish Pm payment scandals

candian Pm leaking scandal

finland PM sex scandal

and the least goes on.....

Thailand is sending a very clear message to the world a PM is not above the law. No One is above the law and no matter how trevial it is even hosting a coocking class.. you break the law you loose your job.

[GaiYaang]

There is the letter of the law and the spirit behind the law.

So, according to the letter of the law, he was guilty.

However, can one truly justify terminating a PM over cooking on a TV show, according to the spirit of the law?

Couldn't tell you, but if it did happened, you will see a lot of pans flying. I can just smell it.

[ThNiner]

Samak still has another court ruling pending. It will be on 25th of this month. A defamation charge. This time if he's found guilty, he will be put in jail...I think.

[highdiver]

...Samak violated the law by working for a private company and getting paid while he's in office...not because he cooked stuff on a TV show. He was paid in millions in total, just to let you know.

I hope this is clear enough for some people.

Samak was kicked out for being paid to host the cooking show. Is that clear enough?

the law is the law!!!

for yours and other benefit its my pleasure to qute niner again

Samak violated the law by working for a private company and getting paid while he's in office...not because he cooked stuff on a TV show. He was paid in millions in total, just to let you know.

its not about cooking as some of our posters would like us to think its about getting paid for a private job while in office as PM.

[kurtgruen]

Lets see if I have got this right?....his PPP party will re-elect him as PM in 30 days because they and the coalition have more votes than the Democrats ????

So he can just take a months holiday and then come back and the ball starts rolling again

Please tell me I'm wrong in my assumption

PLEASE...as this just does not make any sense at all to me

I think in future years, this loophole will be closed, but in the meantime... TIT (This is Thailand). Then again, there are other countries, with some pretty strange ways of doing things, too.

[ThNiner]

...Samak violated the law by working for a private company and getting paid while he's in office...not because he cooked stuff on a TV show. He was paid in millions in total, just to let you know.

I hope this is clear enough for some people.

Samak was kicked out for being paid to host the cooking show. Is that clear enough?

After Samak took office while knowing full well that the constitution does forbid a PM from working for any company, he still kept working as the host of the show and got paid. He violated the law.

If you still can't connect these, I am not gonna bother explaining it anymore.

Got better things to do.

[ThNiner]

Samak was kicked out for being paid to host the cooking show. Is that clear enough?

the law is the law!!!

for yours and other benefit its my pleasure to qute niner again

Samak violated the law by working for a private company and getting paid while he's in office...not because he cooked stuff on a TV show. He was paid in millions in total, just to let you know.

its not about cooking as some of our posters would like us to think its about getting paid for a private job while in office as PM.

[highdiver]

...Samak violated the law by working for a private company and getting paid while he's in office...not because he cooked stuff on a TV show. He was paid in millions in total, just to let you know.

I hope this is clear enough for some people.

Samak was kicked out for being paid to host the cooking show. Is that clear enough?

After Samak took office while knowing full well that the constitution does forbid a PM from working for any company, he still kept working as the host of the show and got paid. He violated the law.

If you still can't connect these, I am not gonna bother explaining it anymore.

Got better things to do.

thank you for your voice of logic.

[fiddlehead]

I think if he wrote a cookbook right now, it would become an international best seller!

[lifeinlalaland]

Dont know excatly where this leads, but in the meantime these thais are teaching farang courts how to deal with the law !

When is the last time a PM has been convicted of anything in farangland ?!?

++ ^^

you have got to be joking, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaha, you really need to travel more, i think being ousted for a cooking show as opposed to corruption charges and everything else he's up for is hysterical, i am not alone in this humourous view of things, watch the bbc and cnn, they're all laughing their heads off, reffering to the situation as bizzare? i pray to God " farangland???????????" where is that by the way? never goes down the same bizzare journey.

[ubonjoe]

Lets see if I have got this right?....his PPP party will re-elect him as PM in 30 days because they and the coalition have more votes than the Democrats ????

So he can just take a months holiday and then come back and the ball starts rolling again

Please tell me I'm wrong in my assumption

PLEASE...as this just does not make any sense at all to me

You are correct on all counts ThaiPauly. Providing that the coalition government support him there is no reason by Thai law that he can not become the PM by the weekend.

Strange but true.

Cheers, Rick

I don't think it has to be 30 days they can do it tonight even. It has to be done within 30 days is my understanding.

[Splatter]

I think if he wrote a cookbook right now, it would become an international best seller!

As long as he didn't get an upfront payment from his publishers before today !

[WAERTH]

I think if he wrote a cookbook right now, it would become an international best seller!

Someone please tell him that! That would maybe persuade him to move on ..... where is he by the way, no comments from him.

Waerth

[kurtgruen]

I think if he wrote a cookbook right now, it would become an international best seller!

I agree..and he could call it Cooking with Thai Humour ;-) or he can borrow my line for his title..."Too much Rice - Not enough Protein"

Edited September 9, 2008 by kurtgruen

[mich]

Politics in this country amoungst other things are laughable and a joke to most other countries.

Will Thailand ever get a grip on reality?

[JetsetBkk]

... i think being ousted for a cooking show as opposed to corruption charges and everything else he's up for is hysterical, i am not alone in this humourous view of things, watch the bbc and cnn, they're all laughing their heads off, reffering to the situation as bizzare? ...

Agreed. Although I may call it "sad" rather than "hysterical". Some posters on here just don't get it though.

[LaoPo]

Talk about embarrassing for Thailand! On the 4 pm BBC World bulletin everyone including the

Southeast Asia correspondent as well as Jonathan Head in Bangkok were shaking their heads

in disbelief that the prime minister of a country has been brought down by a cooking show !!

They even used the word " bizzare " to describe such a situation.

They admitted that they've even given up speculating how this will work out eventually

but he was concerning that Jonathan Head commented there is a risk this will not

resolved peacefully this time.....................................

It really does look dreadful that a country that has attracted so much foreign investment in the past

appears to be in such a muddle !

This is a fun place to live but it just reinforces my belief that it's too risky to invest

one satang in this Disneyland !

"Thailand has had its fair share of crises recently, but this is one that even the Thais are baffled by, our correspondent says."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7605838.stm

Thailand has exposed itself it has outgrown the path to democracy into a real

BIZARRE BANANA REPUBLIC

The whole world is laughing and even Hollywood and Bollywood couldn't have written such a script.

Can anyone imagine what the world leaders are talking about today to each other ?

Poor Thailand, they lost face to the whole governance world; what's next ?

LaoPo

loose face NO NO No !!!

I believe this will be set as an example that in Thailand even the PM is not above the law. and when a PM does something wrong he pays for it with his JOB...

or do you prefer other "world leaders" who have not lost positions when they did something wrong. and never even faced a court..

Well done Thailand... the first country in the world to show that even on simple matters the PM is not above the law..

its now becoming a world trend to have politicians understand that they are not above the law and that good honest citizens will not take anymore sh*t , corruption and leaders who utilize the position for personal gain.

the last examples are

Israseli PM on charges of bribe

Irish Pm payment scandals

candian Pm leaking scandal

finland PM sex scandal

and the least goes on.....

Thailand is sending a very clear message to the world a PM is not above the law. No One is above the law and no matter how trevial it is even hosting a coocking class.. you break the law you loose your job.

Please, Highdiver, be realistic.

Thailand has some 65 Million people.

The world, as of September 2008, 6,700,000,000 Billion people; That's 6,7 Billion

95% of these people (6,3 Billion) do not even know where Thailand is and have NEVER EVER heard about TRT, PPP, Thaksin, Samak or Sondhi and are not in the least interested in Thai politics.

Just the Thai people and some 10-20,000 farang living here.

Go to the airport and ask 10,000 tourists, arriving in Thailand WHO Samak is, WHO Thaksin is, WHO Sondhi is and they will look at you if you need help as if you were just hit by a falling coconut

I'll bet 99% wouldn't have a clue.

The WORLD is LAUGHING because they just heard about a country that sent it's PM home BECAUSE he showed in a cooking show. They will not learn or want to learn about the real truth behind the case and whether the court decision was right or not; they're simply not interested. Just the sensation counts as it is sensation about sex, bribes or leaking scandals.

The majority in the world just reads about the sensation/scandal.

If the people have heard, the next split second they have forgotten about the cooking PM; what remains is something in the back of the brain about this cooking PM, sent home by "Thailand"

Point is, the court could and should have find a more subtle way out, in order to save face for Thailand.

Samak himself is no longer of importance for the country as his days are counted; it's the court decision to send him home for 'cooking'; couldn't they have wait for the more important courtcases against him ?

That's dumb.

LaoPo

[waza]

Lets see if I have got this right?....his PPP party will re-elect him as PM in 30 days because they and the coalition have more votes than the Democrats ????

So he can just take a months holiday and then come back and the ball starts rolling again

Please tell me I'm wrong in my assumption

PLEASE...as this just does not make any sense at all to me

Hmmm I think he could be re elected moments after he resigns