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Thaksin Interviewed In Time Magazine


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It's amazing to see how much hate Thaksin gets. Some people tend to forget that he did a lot for the poor. Of course, it's easy to "forget" about the poor when you're sitting in your air conditioned home, in front of your new computer, typing a forum message about how terrible Thaksin is.

No politician is a saint. But at least he was able to do some good for the people that need it.

Are we back at this one again? Pray tell us just what Thaksin did for the poor, other than reduce their numbers by killing a few thousand of them?

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It's amazing to see how much hate Thaksin gets. Some people tend to forget that he did a lot for the poor. Of course, it's easy to "forget" about the poor when you're sitting in your air conditioned home, in front of your new computer, typing a forum message about how terrible Thaksin is.

No politician is a saint. But at least he was able to do some good for the people that need it.

Are we back at this one again? Pray tell us just what Thaksin did for the poor, other than reduce their numbers by killing a few thousand of them?

I am assuming you must live in Bangkok.

Try going to the rural areas of Thailand and ask what Thaksin did for them.

Killing a few thousand????

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Try going to the rural areas of Thailand and ask what Thaksin did for them.

Seeing as you obviously have, why don't you save us the journey and enlighten us as to what they think Thaksin did do for them.

I know several people who have benefited from 30 Baht health care put in place by Thaksin including family members.

In fact without it they would probably would just of had to die. Before you start ranting about Paracetamol or the likes

they have received major surgery which they otherwise would not have had a chance of.

I guess I was right about Bangkok thing then? Lol

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It's amazing to see how much hate Thaksin gets. Some people tend to forget that he did a lot for the poor. Of course, it's easy to "forget" about the poor when you're sitting in your air conditioned home, in front of your new computer, typing a forum message about how terrible Thaksin is.

No politician is a saint. But at least he was able to do some good for the people that need it.

Are we back at this one again? Pray tell us just what Thaksin did for the poor, other than reduce their numbers by killing a few thousand of them?

My girlfriends family has benefited directly from some of the healthcare initiatives. There are smaller things that make a difference as well, for instance, Thaksin's govt had a plan to fix the roads in my gf's hometown (as well as a number of other rural areas). Once he was ousted those plans were shelved. Perhaps it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a bit of a deal if you have to walk/drive down pothole boulevard everyday, year after year...

Edited by tranquillize
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Taxin may not be a saint but the fact that he still has very strong support in the villages is down to his social policies that gave the poor hope, something that is now in very short supply since the yellow shirt coup. The country has to accept one person one vote and stop appointing unelected oligarchs!

His kind of social politics put the people in the villages deeper in debt

http://web.nso.go.th/indicator/eco/ind_eco08.htm

One wonders where on earth they get the figures from, how they're collated and who does the math? If it's anything like the methodology I've seen being practised here then it was probably done after a long weekend at a fancy resort hotel and they made the figures up to fit what they wanted to see. Taxin still commands lots of support in the provinces and that's undeniable although finding people who will openly admit it is becoming more diffificult in the current intimidating atmosphere.

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Try going to the rural areas of Thailand and ask what Thaksin did for them.

Seeing as you obviously have, why don't you save us the journey and enlighten us as to what they think Thaksin did do for them.

I know several people who have benefited from 30 Baht health care put in place by Thaksin including family members.

In fact without it they would probably would just of had to die. Before you start ranting about Paracetamol or the likes

they have received major surgery which they otherwise would not have had a chance of.

I guess I was right about Bangkok thing then? Lol

You are congratulating yourself on guessing that some posters live in Bangkok? Really? Was it such a feat? I don't think so.

Should i then be congratulating myself on having already guessed that you are a farang who married into a Thaksin-lovin rural family, and rather than form your own opinions based on actual truths about what Thaksin did for the country, you have accepted all that they have told you.

Were you even here during Thaksin's time in office?

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Try going to the rural areas of Thailand and ask what Thaksin did for them.

Seeing as you obviously have, why don't you save us the journey and enlighten us as to what they think Thaksin did do for them.

I know several people who have benefited from 30 Baht health care put in place by Thaksin including family members.

In fact without it they would probably would just of had to die. Before you start ranting about Paracetamol or the likes

they have received major surgery which they otherwise would not have had a chance of.

I guess I was right about Bangkok thing then? Lol

You are congratulating yourself on guessing that some posters live in Bangkok? Really? Was it such a feat? I don't think so.

Should i then be congratulating myself on having already guessed that you are a farang who married into a Thaksin-lovin rural family, and rather than form your own opinions based on actual truths about what Thaksin did for the country, you have accepted all that they have told you.

Were you even here during Thaksin's time in office?

I am a farang that married into a non-Thaksin loving Southern Thai family and I was here during the entire Thaksin administration and well before. I do not necessarily support Thaksin but I do support the vigorous opposition to the Yellow shirts/Army/Abhisit junta-inspired control that has engulfed Thai politics. That said, whether you are for him or against him, not to see the positive influence that the Thaksin administration had in Thailand suggests one is near blind or unwilling to look. The same could be said about those who see no wrong in the Thaksin years.

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Thaksin's opponents fight him not for good things he's done, but for bad.

30 baht scheme is no excuse for all other stuff he's done to the country, like dividing it into two camps hating each other's guts.

Good and bad doesn't cancel each other, you get appropriate consequensies for each action separately.

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Thaksin's opponents fight him not for good things he's done, but for bad.

30 baht scheme is no excuse for all other stuff he's done to the country, like dividing it into two camps hating each other's guts.

Good and bad doesn't cancel each other, you get appropriate consequensies for each action separately.

The yellow shirts/elites/military are not new. Thaksin didn't create them and then divide the country into two camps. The noble struggle to fight against the junta-based tyrrany will continue with or without Thaksin. Indeed, as Thaksin himself states, the struggle needs new and powerful leadership to flourish. It is good to fight Thaksin for the bad things he has done. But, beware of the others fighting Thaksin for their own continued gain and domination of rural and middle class Thais. Free speech activist Supinya warned that the junta was far worse than Thaksin ever was and continues her struggle against the policies of the present Abhisit-adorned junta government.

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In five years time, when Thai politics and people settles down , the problems return as they will because the REAL political meddlers are still around, the anti Thaksin mob will be scratching their heads thinking, "what on earth did we accomplish? things are still the same. we were chasing the bogeyman, Thaksin like a bunch of madmen"

Actually they dont have to wait 5 years, the birth of the Abhisit goverment says it all.

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At the present moment, there are two threads fighting for the top spot in the "news clipping" section. One talking about democratically elected leader removed by a military coup, the other about the excess of the government appointed by the coup leaders.

It's very interesting to see who posts what, and especially how the most vocal posters in one thread are conspicuously absent in the other one. I believe this forum is somehow a mirror of the divisions of the Thai society, and helps explain these divisions to the western reader

Also reading both threads helps to understand the position of the free press :o .

PS : Posting in both threads is intentional; I believe my post is relevant to both threads and an invitation to the supporters of the government to post their opinion in the other thread as well

Edited by Pierrot
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The last 2 Thaksin controlled or at least directed governments did squat.

Ineffective would be a kind word for it. The junta itself not much better.

But, I don't see the army EVER being out of Thai politics in the WHOLE history of the country.

So to say that there was this golden era with no army control ending with Thaksin's ouster

is disingenuous at best. They were just backing Thaksin for awhile and keeping a lower profile.

The army has ALWAYS had a hand in the pie, and typically stepped in when

the civilians started running amok. Sometimes they stepped in from pure power-madness

or pure greed too. No denieing that at all.

But to say The Thaksin era was army free just never stated the case.

Part of the reason Thaksin was ousted was his attempts to gain control of the army for his purposes.

Seeing that even farhangs could see him going over the top in the ego driven, paranoid, control freak

way he did in 2005-2006, It's not a wonder that the army did NOT consider allowing his ongoing

chess piece movements in their ranks to continue.

Is this good or bad, hard to say, some say bad, no question, others say maybe / maybe not.

But TIT and we westerners just don't think in the Thai way, so we really can't tell for sure,

only see it through the lens of our westernized expectations.

Thaksin's mid set in the end was his undoing, he couldn't handle the pressure,

and that is very bad in a national leader. Just because somethings got done and

somethings improved doesn't mean that is going to go on well indefinitely.

Just because all the dirt isn't uncovered yet, doesn't mean it's not there,

waiting for the miners.

Koo82 keeps saying I hate Thaksin. Nope, never did, still don't now.

Started out liking him, but his words and actions changed that materially.

Now I feel sorry for him and don't think he can do the job anymore.

The web closings, a tightening up vs. divisive counter speech, is clearly a

reaction to Thaksin's crew twisting in the wind and grasping at ANY leverage

that might return them to power. The Lese Majesty laws are just an easy tool to do it.

The Cyber Crime law just enables Internet and computer issues to be dealt with.

I don't agree with how either is being implemented in this case.

But it's less the laws and more the kow towing sycophants using them

for perceived gain that is the problem.

Edited by animatic
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At the present moment, there are two threads fighting for the top spot in the "news clipping" section. One talking about democratically elected leader removed by a military coup, the other about the excess of the government appointed by the coup leaders.

It's very interesting to see who posts what, and especially how the most vocal posters in one thread are conspicuously absent in the other one. I believe this forum is somehow a mirror of the divisions of the Thai society, and helps explain these divisions to the western reader

Also reading both threads helps to understand the position of the free press :o .

PS : Posting in both threads is intentional; I believe my post is relevant to both threads and an invitation to the supporters of the government to post their opinion in the other thread as well

A very good post. Is Thaksin the one suffering from "lies told well".

Let me quote Mark Twain :

The History of our race, and each individuals experience, are sown thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and a lie told well is immortal.

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It's amazing to see how much hate Thaksin gets. Some people tend to forget that he did a lot for the poor. Of course, it's easy to "forget" about the poor when you're sitting in your air conditioned home, in front of your new computer, typing a forum message about how terrible Thaksin is.

No politician is a saint. But at least he was able to do some good for the people that need it.

Are we back at this one again? Pray tell us just what Thaksin did for the poor, other than reduce their numbers by killing a few thousand of them?

I am assuming you must live in Bangkok.

Try going to the rural areas of Thailand and ask what Thaksin did for them.

Killing a few thousand????

Wrong to make assumptions, but then again that's what most of the pro Thaksin arguments always are. I live in a village in Buri Ram, and have done for close to 20 years. The question's still open, what did he do for the poor?

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Will this mean we won't be able to buy the latest edition of Time in Bangkok?

Jeesh. I wish controversial folk would stop doing interviews

in the Economst and Time and instead do them in that awful rag "The Daily Mail."

More seriously, I think some people may be

underestimating the intelligence of Time's readership.

My thoughts are that many, if not most, of them

can work out what is really going on.

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He's a whimsical piece of ****. All I hear is how bad they bullied him. So fricking what??? It's not like he didn't deserve it, and in his heyday he was the biggest bully of all of them!!!

I really hope that he runs out of money as soon as possible, because without it his so "loyal" supporters will abandon him in no time.

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It's amazing to see how much hate Thaksin gets. Some people tend to forget that he did a lot for the poor. Of course, it's easy to "forget" about the poor when you're sitting in your air conditioned home, in front of your new computer, typing a forum message about how terrible Thaksin is.

No politician is a saint. But at least he was able to do some good for the people that need it.

Are we back at this one again? Pray tell us just what Thaksin did for the poor, other than reduce their numbers by killing a few thousand of them?

My girlfriends family has benefited directly from some of the healthcare initiatives. There are smaller things that make a difference as well, for instance, Thaksin's govt had a plan to fix the roads in my gf's hometown (as well as a number of other rural areas). Once he was ousted those plans were shelved. Perhaps it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a bit of a deal if you have to walk/drive down pothole boulevard everyday, year after year...

So, are you going to credit Thaksin for advances in medical care in the west too? What you are descibing is natural progress. 17 years ago, when I first came to the village I now live in, there was no electricity, people ploughed using buffalo, water was obtained by pushing a hand cart to the village hand pump, hardly anyone had a motor scooter, let alone a car, and the last 15km to the village was down a dirt track that became impassible after rain. A number of years later, long before anyone had ever heard of Thaksin, we had electricity, a paved road, and a village water supply to every house. People now own iron buffaloes or full size tractors, and many people have cars and motor scooters. During Thaksin's reign, more people bought mobile phones, DVD players and pickup trucks, and most are still paying the larger items off, but nothing achieved during Thaksin's reign would not have otherwise been done. In fact, a number of things he promised, such as phone lines, never eventuated at all. The lot of the rural poor is getting better in the neighbouring countries too, are you going to credit Thaksin for that? This whole argument that Thaksin did so much for the poor is a myth. The Isaan farmers voted for him for a number of reasons: because he handed out money to them, which many are now finding had a number of strings attached; because they'd always voted for the same people, and those people had just jumped to the TRT; because the world was in a period of economic growth and so they mistakenly credited Thaksin with the increase in jobs and rice prices. As someone who is fluent in Thai, and the local Khmer dialect, I can assure you, the people around me couldn't give a dam_n about Thaksin, other than the occasional one taking the money to join a red shirt protest.

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In continuing to fight, and to try to damage the country's reputation overseas, he is also damaging his own reputation, which is sad. He should keep quiet, negotiate the return of most of his frozen-assets, and accept that the world has moved on.

:D"damage the country's reputation overseas"?

The ones who damage the country's reputation is the Army who made a coup in 2006 and those who are protecting PAD now. What are the reasons they don't arrest PAD?

In a true democracy system, Army will protect the country from emergency, not to make coups.

If someone drives me away from my home, I won't keep quiet and won't negotiate.

The world has moved on but someone still jumps on his back and gives him 2 years in jail. Why? His wife bought a land with no fault and no corruption and he signed ok for her to buy according to the law. But another law does not allow him to do this. Criminal of the century! :o

The world all watch Thailand where a PM was down because of his cooking shows :D and a whole bunch who slept 3 months in Government House, had violent protest in front of Parliament House and finally slept a week in 2 main airports are still free and has set up concerts (meetings?) here and there in Thailand.

Are you f*cking kidding me??? It's against the law for any member of parliament inclusive their spouses to buy land from the government. And they bought it for about half of its real value. That's why he got 2 years!!! Well deserved in my opinion. And that he's a criminal in so many ways is definitely out of question.

And by the way, they didn't want to drive him away from his country, they wanted to drive him into jail, but the f***** fled.

Thaksin is a megalomaniac. If he had just gone away after the coup they would have let him go, but he had to play the victim and open his big mouth and just wouldn't let it go. I want to see him going to jail for one reason only: if it had been you or me, we would have disappeared behind bars no questions asked\, but he's got money and that makes all the difference.

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Will this mean we won't be able to buy the latest edition of Time in Bangkok?

Jeesh. I wish controversial folk would stop doing interviews

in the Economst and Time and instead do them in that awful rag "The Daily Mail."

More seriously, I think some people may be

underestimating the intelligence of Time's readership.

My thoughts are that many, if not most, of them

can work out what is really going on.

Yes, and what really is going on is why Thaksin is in Time, Economist and others........and why the unitelligent are getting their daily dose of PAD media spin from the Bangkok Post and The Nation and thats all.

The intelligent do know whats going on really and its all to do with that major event that sadly is not that far away now.

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Will this mean we won't be able to buy the latest edition of Time in Bangkok?

Jeesh. I wish controversial folk would stop doing interviews

in the Economst and Time and instead do them in that awful rag "The Daily Mail."

More seriously, I think some people may be

underestimating the intelligence of Time's readership.

My thoughts are that many, if not most, of them

can work out what is really going on.

Yes, and what really is going on is why Thaksin is in Time, Economist and others........and why the unitelligent are getting their daily dose of PAD media spin from the Bangkok Post and The Nation and thats all.

The intelligent do know whats going on really and its all to do with that major event that sadly is not that far away now.

...And I bet "Jilly blinking silly bint Cooper" will cover that one in the Daily Mail.

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Hong Kong and Thailand drafting treaty that could send Thaksin home

The Nation/Deutsche-Presse Agentur Hong Kong Mar 8, 2009

Hong Kong is close to agreeing on an extradition treaty with Thailand that could be used to send ousted prime minster Thaksin Shinawatra back home, a news report said Sunday.

Talks are at an advanced stage over the wide-ranging treaty which could affect regular visitor Thaksin, facing a two-year jail sentence for corruption in Thailand, according to the Sunday Morning Post.

News of the discussions comes as Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva threatened to seek China's help to extradite Thaksin when he announced plans to deliver a speech last month at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Hong Kong.

Thaksin cancelled the appearance, saying he did not want to damage Sino-Thai relations, but plans to deliver his address Thursday from outside Hong Kong via a satellite video link.

China has an extradition treaty with Thailand but Hong Kong, a British colony until 1997, has no such arrangement, effectively making the wealthy city of 7 million a safe haven for Thaksin.

Talks have been continuing for some time over a possible treaty, however, and have been speeded up in the past year, according to legal sources quoted by the Post.

A draft treaty has already been finalized by Thailand, the sources said, and would have clear implications for Thaksin although the treaty does not relate to any specific case.

The Thaksin family owns a 308-square-metre home in Hong Kong bought three months ago in his youngest daughter's name for almost 6 million US dollars but so far unoccupied, according to the newspaper.

Article Link

Edited by baht&sold
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Will this mean we won't be able to buy the latest edition of Time in Bangkok?

Jeesh. I wish controversial folk would stop doing interviews

in the Economst and Time and instead do them in that awful rag "The Daily Mail."

More seriously, I think some people may be

underestimating the intelligence of Time's readership.

My thoughts are that many, if not most, of them

can work out what is really going on.

Yes, and what really is going on is why Thaksin is in Time, Economist and others........and why the unitelligent are getting their daily dose of PAD media spin from the Bangkok Post and The Nation and thats all.

The intelligent do know whats going on really and its all to do with that major event that sadly is not that far away now.

Regardless of that,

Thaksin is a very poor choice for inclusion in the outcome of that endgame.

~His own doing too. He pee'd in his own pool and invited others to swim,

they were not as appreciative as expected.

Edited by animatic
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It's amazing to see how much hate Thaksin gets. Some people tend to forget that he did a lot for the poor. Of course, it's easy to "forget" about the poor when you're sitting in your air conditioned home, in front of your new computer, typing a forum message about how terrible Thaksin is.

No politician is a saint. But at least he was able to do some good for the people that need it.

Are we back at this one again? Pray tell us just what Thaksin did for the poor, other than reduce their numbers by killing a few thousand of them?

My girlfriends family has benefited directly from some of the healthcare initiatives. There are smaller things that make a difference as well, for instance, Thaksin's govt had a plan to fix the roads in my gf's hometown (as well as a number of other rural areas). Once he was ousted those plans were shelved. Perhaps it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a bit of a deal if you have to walk/drive down pothole boulevard everyday, year after year...

So, are you going to credit Thaksin for advances in medical care in the west too? What you are descibing is natural progress. 17 years ago, when I first came to the village I now live in, there was no electricity, people ploughed using buffalo, water was obtained by pushing a hand cart to the village hand pump, hardly anyone had a motor scooter, let alone a car, and the last 15km to the village was down a dirt track that became impassible after rain. A number of years later, long before anyone had ever heard of Thaksin, we had electricity, a paved road, and a village water supply to every house. People now own iron buffaloes or full size tractors, and many people have cars and motor scooters. During Thaksin's reign, more people bought mobile phones, DVD players and pickup trucks, and most are still paying the larger items off, but nothing achieved during Thaksin's reign would not have otherwise been done. In fact, a number of things he promised, such as phone lines, never eventuated at all. The lot of the rural poor is getting better in the neighbouring countries too, are you going to credit Thaksin for that? This whole argument that Thaksin did so much for the poor is a myth. The Isaan farmers voted for him for a number of reasons: because he handed out money to them, which many are now finding had a number of strings attached; because they'd always voted for the same people, and those people had just jumped to the TRT; because the world was in a period of economic growth and so they mistakenly credited Thaksin with the increase in jobs and rice prices. As someone who is fluent in Thai, and the local Khmer dialect, I can assure you, the people around me couldn't give a dam_n about Thaksin, other than the occasional one taking the money to join a red shirt protest.

Excellent post once again from Ballpoint.

Under the regime of any leader no matter how bad, you are bound to find examples of people who have been positively affected - i'm sure even Mugabe has those! But isn't part of being an educated and informed individual about seeing the whole broad picture of what that leader has done or not done, and not just looking at isolated cases where we have personally benefitted, such as the fixing of a local road?

You'd have to be blinded by hatred to say that everything achieved under Thaksin was bad, but when we take an overview of all that occured, the bad far outweighs the good, and that's something only the blind can't see.

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If Thaksin hadn't done the extra-judicial drug killings, and cut down on the greedy corrupt margins, he might be worth saving, but corruption breeds corruption and I don't think anyone, including the red shirts are denying that he was corrupt.

Neither side is worthy of power. Both are narrow and lack empathy. Both yellow and red behave as if they lack education, and are pushing for what by text books would describe as right wing. The reds came out just a couple of weeks ago with their sling shots, sticks, stones and metal poles saying that all gays should leave Chiang Mai and gay foreigners, Thailand! What kind of policy is that? Who next will be targeted? They already killed an old man for something or other in the same province, and walked right into the university there and hit a female professor in front of her students for supporting the PAD. Of course, the PAD are just as bad, with elements shooting from the back of a pick-up truck at taxis and by-standers, as well as their guards killing a few people including two elderly men near to government house and a security guard at the airport who's body was found after the airport seizure (which was under-reported on).

I don't really like the way the country is going right now and I don't just mean politics. There's also a general feeling of lack of law and order. Take for example the arrest of the Swiss journalist who was hand cuffed at the airport here in Bangkok but taken away to a prison in Pattaya for making commentary on a Swiss/Thai charity aired only in Switzerland seven years ago!!!

Edited by Junglejumbo
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If Thaksin hadn't done the extra-judicial drug killings, and cut down on the greedy corrupt margins, he might be worth saving, but corruption breeds corruption and I don't think anyone, including the red shirts are denying that he was corrupt.

Neither side is worthy of power. Both are narrow and lack empathy. Both yellow and red behave as if they lack education, and are pushing for what by text books would describe as right wing.

I don't really like the way the country is going right now and I don't just mean politics. There's also a general feeling of lack of law and order. Take for example the arrest of the Swiss journalist who was hand cuffed at the airport here in Bangkok but taken away to a prison in Pattaya for making commentary on a Swiss/Thai charity aired only in Switzerland seven years ago!!!

One better whisper behind closed doors. Democracy, the PAD is a far cry from it.

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And again lots of anti Thaksin propaganda here.

What about Suthep? He's more of a corrupt c...t then Thaksin ever was yet he is still in politics.

Time to stop the witch hunt on Mr Thaksin.

Few questions for all you PAD lovers.

1. IS the country much better off now?

2. Have they been democratically elected?

3. Who's really in charge here, puppet Abhisit or his "elders"?

4. When will they bring Suthep to justice?

5. When will the PAD leaders get their day in court?

6. What is the current government doing for the rural poor?

7. .....................................? and much more but will be happy with some reasonable answers to these questions first

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