ASC seek to arrest Thaksin's daughter

The Bankok Post reports:

(BangkokPost.com) - The Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) handed documents to file criminal charges against Pinthongta Shinawatra, daughter of ousted premier Thaksin, with police at Bang Sue station for her refusal to testify about the Shin Corp share case after being allowed to postpone the process three times.

ASC official, Monthien Charoenpol, handed documents to related authorities which the committee hopes will allow police to issue an arrest warrant for her.

Ms Pinthonta recently attended a meeting with ASC's sub-panel investigating the Shin Corp share deal with Singapore's Temasek but refused to testify, claiming that she could inadvertently jeopardize her parents' defense case.

She had asked the ASC three times to postpone her testimony before she submitted a written letter refusing to give a statement to the ASC.

Police will deliberate the ASC's documents and are expected to decide next steps to be taken by the end of November.

Ms Pinthonta faces a 6-month jail sentence and/or a 10,000 baht fine if found guilty.

Now, the usual defences for Pinthongta will be trotted out: ASC are persecuting Thaksin's family, etc. The fact is, Pinthongta - like the rest of her family - has come up with an endless list of tenuous excuses for delaying her testimony before the ASC. If she had nothing to hide, the testimony would be a breeze.

Now she has run out of excuses and is simply refusing to be held accountable. One wonders, will she stay in Thailand now? Will she be allowed to leave? If Pinthongta is arrested, will it tempt dad back to Thailand?

The sort of people involved in Thai politics

A short while I go I mentioned the news that Chalerm Yoobamrung was threatening to leave the PPP if they did not allow his sons to run for election.

The significance of the names involved escaped me at the time, but Bangkokpundit has refreshed my memory. Chalerm's sons are well known and one of them is almost legendary (I want to use another word but it may get me in trouble) for being acquitted of shooting a policeman outside a night club.

For anyone who wants a straight forward, real look at the sort of people and mentality involved in Thai politics, read Pundit's article right now. There is no opinion involved, there is none needed. The facts speak for themselves.

Meet Real Life Thailand

Mars Hill (aka Paul Burgin) is a member of the Christian Socialist movement and a fellow political blogger. He runs a simple but fun "Twenty questions for a fellow blogger" section in his blog. I persuaded Paul to hit me with the questions. The original is on Paul's blog here.




What made you decide to start blogging?



I became very interested in the blog of a friend in Korea,and he inspired me to do my own. At first it was mostly about ex-pat life in Thailand, but politics just kept creeping in until eventually I stopped resisting!




What is your best blogging experience?

Having a blog published and plugged on the front page by a broadsheet newspaper out here.It was about Thaksin Shiniwat's purchase of Manchester City.



And your worst?

Being threatened with legal action over a certain piece. I had written something everybody knew was true but it was a faux pas to say it publicly.




What do you regard as your best blog entry?
I wrote an excoriating piece on the Thai junta's decision to ban youtube which got quite a bit of praise.



Favourite blogs?

On the Thai side, 'Bangkok Pundit' is very prolific, highly informative and very well researched. I don't always agree with his politics but he is a great blogger. On the home front, I like 'Pub Philosopher' and 'Letters from a Tory' as we have common political views. I'm also a fan of Neil Harding's blog and 'Mars Hill' because both of you welcome criticism and debate. To me that shows strength of character.



Which do you find more exciting. Thai or British politics?

Thai politics by far. The political system is far less mature out here, so politics is a nonstop soap opera of back stabbing, corruption, scandals and surprises. It's great entertainment but sadly it does not benefit society.





How do you see things developing in Burma, seeing as you have blogged several times on this issue?

Being so close to the action has reminded me how we should be grateful for the freedom we take for granted. The international media has dropped off but arrests and human rights abuses are still ongoing. Revolution will come, but the people are facing overwhelming odds. It will take time.



How did you end up living in Thailand?

I travelled SE Asia about five years ago and Thailand won me over for many reasons.




Is there anywhere abroad which you haven't been to, that you would like to visit?

Yes, I'd like to visit Mexico and maybe somewhere in southern Africa.




Is there anywhere abroad you have visited, that you would love to revisit?
Hong Kong. The place is so vibrant and built up yet so safe. I'd also like to go back to Vietnam again to see how it has changed in five years.



Do you have a favourite political figure in history?

I've got several I admire. Perhaps my favourite would be a man called Pridi Phanomyong . He led a left wing group that overthrew the absolute monarchy in Thailand and introduced several progressive state systems.



Which political figure has been your greatest inspiration?
It may sound cheesy but it might just be Aung San Suu Kyi. She was bought up to place her moral values over everything else.


Favourite Bond movie?
I only ever saw "The Man with The Golden Gun"!



Favorite Doctor Who?
Sylvester McCoy is the only Doctor I watched more than once. The others were before my time and the later ones just rubbish.



Chocolate, vanilla, or mint?

I'm a vanilla guy.







Which Band, past or present, would you most like to see in concert?

I've seen the modern incarnation of Guns N Roses but I'd like to see the original line up. I just missed out on Nirvana, too.


In terms of visiting for the weekend, Oxford , Cambridge , or Barsby, Leics..?

Oxford. Charming place.


Favourite national newspaper?

Telegraph. I'm all about the broadsheets these days.



What would you say your hobbies were?

I'm a big reader and I get through books quickly. Until recently I was into drumming and martial arts, now I spend more time writing and playing with my two year old son. I'm a Southampton FC fan too.




And what would you say were your three favourite songs and three favourite books (Bar the Bible and The Complete Works of Shakespeare)?

These change by the week but right now I'd say:Songs:"Bulls on Parade" by Rage Against The Machine"Laura Palmer's Theme" by Angelo Badalamenti"Pure Morning" by PlaceboBooks: "The Prince" by Machiavelli"Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About" by Kevin Trudeau and maybe "The Art of Fighting Without Fighting" by Geoff Thompson

What did those documents say????

Courtesy of BangkokPundit, here is a translation of the allegedly leaked documents from the Thai junta concerning the “plot to undermine the PPP (People Power Party) linked with Thai Rak Thai and Thaksin Shiniwat".

The original version is here. This translation comes from The Nation via some editing of the translation by Bangkok Pundit (because he can read Thai far better than me):

To create greater harmony in the nation, by the following:1. to create and
promote harmony amongst the public so they have the same objective2. make the
Thai people aware of punishment for those who are divisive



The plan for information dissemination has two major goals - foster national unity and discredit the opposition forces against the junta and the interim government.On the discredit of the opposition forces, the junta plans to achieve five targets:

1. Prevent the middle class from leaning toward the opposition.

2. Expose the flaws of populist policies to grassroots people.

3. Deter and discourage grassroots people from rallying in Bangkok.

4. Circumvent opposition activities.

5. Deter civil servants from supporting the opposition.

For information dissemination between September and the general election, the junta will strive for the following five objectives:

1. Inform the middle class about the facts relating to various political parties
and their activities.

2. Point out the similarities between policies of disbanded Thai Rak Thai Party and those of People Power Party.

3. Encourage grassroots people to see the harms if ousted politicians were to return to power.

4. Warn about the repeat of corruption and illegitimacy should the People Power
Party were to grab power.

5. Build up the public sentiment to oppose the return of the ousted leaders via the People Power Party.In discrediting the People Power Party, the junta has assigned all military units under its jurisdiction and military controlled media outlets, including Channel 5.

In reality of course, I am not so prescient. This scandal as predictable as England’s European Championship qualifying screw up in Russia.

The great question is: are the documents genuine? Unsurprisingly, in addition to Sonthi’s initial scourge, the junta played the “These documents could be faked by soldiers who wanted to fool [PPP leader] Samak for money” card. Unsurprisingly, the junta did not offer to investigate which soldiers committed fraud. Bangkok Pundit also points out one document was actually addressed to Sonthi, which amkes his denial claim even more bizzare.

However, with Surayud’s pledge to investigate, the old general must be reasonably sure they are genuine. So what action will be taken?

Five minutes later.....

Prescient old me. Almost the minute after I finished discussing my prediction, we learned that Samak Sundaravej claimed (link may expire and citebite is down!) to have documents leaked from the junta with "massive plans to undermine the party".

How would the junta do that? What would they do? What did the documents say? We don't know. This kind of mind game is common. The player with the documents does not want to reveal them because of course, everybody in politics has mud on everyone else and they don't want it to be revealed. But the document holder will tease the alleged offender, who then has to call his bluff. What usually results is a rather pathetic game of claim and counterclaim, innuendos about the alleged offenders such as nicknames or ultra vague descriptions.

Still, it was notable that the army's response was muted and defensive. Sonthi made an outright denial though.

That was yesterday, today PM Surayud admitted he had the documents and they were leaked from the junta, but did his best to water down the ferocity of the alleged plot as described by Samak. And Sonthi backtracked claiming "I didn't have the chance to see the documents".

Strange how Sonthi has time to organise the election and do the ECC's job for them but he does not have an hour free to visit his boss and the PM he hand picked to examine some serious allegations of plotting to control the election.

A prediction for the Thai election

I am making a prediction here and now. It may fail. It may fall flat on its face and bloggers aplenty can come back to mock me. But I believe there is a strong chance it can happen.

Let me give some brief preamble. The next general election in Thailand is set for December 23rd. It is of course, the date when we will supposedly see General Sonthi and his junta return power back to the people. Some pundits believe the army will be reluctant to truly do this for two main reasons. Firstly, they want to keep control to ensure they receive "benefits", secondly they fear clansmen of Thaksin Shiniwat could return to power (despite the best efforts to ban them) and render the coup futile.

And I notice that in the run up to the election, Sonthi has been making frequent references to vote buying. Vote buying is a crime all parties are linked with, but especially TRT and Thaksin since they are associated with the poorer demographic of Thailand. ( And also because, well, it's true! TRT engaged in large scale vote buying in various forms).

It seems strange Sonthi should so suddenly and vocally care about a clean election. It seems strange that the one form of fraud he should speak out against is the one most associated with Thaksin and his ilk. It seems strange that his quotes are timed this way, just like his quotes on Singapore spying just before the army requested a few extra billion for a satellite. It seems strange that he so suuddenly wants to set up a vote fraud panel with .....guess who? ....as the head. (Yet again Sonthi is telling the ECC that he will do their job for them, does this mean the ECC panel's salaries will not be charged to the taxpayer?)

My prediction is this: If the PPP (People Power Party, the group closely associated with Thaksin and TRT) win "too many" seats at the election and give themselves a large stake in the inevitable coalition government, Sonthi will move to stop them.

He will do this by either a) Claming some regional seats as invalid due to vote buying b) Declaring the election invalid and ordering a re-election. (Drastic? Yes. More drastic than a coup? No) c) Ordering a Gore Vs Bush style re-count in certain provinces, under allegations of vote buying.

I believe the junta are desperate to ensure that Abhisit and the Democrats take control, as the junta see them as soft and easy to control. I believe the sudden unctuous cries to beware vote fraud are really a pretext for taking control of the electorate. This way, Sonthi can claim he is not shafting any party (as has already been predicted and denied) but is simply playing fair.

Don't get me wrong, everyone knows I hate vote fraud, but I doubt the sincerity our rulers are expressing here.

So there is my prediction, come back to mock me after December 23rd.

National security: be grateful and don't ask questions.

"Keep people scared and they will consume"
Marilyn Manson

Thailand is big on national security. It has been the foundation of pretty much every coup in its history, military raids within its own borders, and of course, humongous spending on the nation's military expansion.

After the coup, the junta cut public health spending by 23% and increased military spending by 30%. This was, of course, to increase "national security" . During a verbal handbag bashing contest with Singapore, General Sonthi suddenly announced that telephone calls in Thailand were being traced to Singapore, without adducing. Just days later, a multi million bhat satellite project was announced to "increase national security".

It seemed that national security and big spending by the military were synonymous. Yet strangely enough, Thailand has had no real military conflicts to speak of since its involvement in the Vietnam War, were they choose the losing side. The only other conflicts have been scuffles with the now defunct Communist Party of Thailand. The term "Communist" is still occasionally thrown around to create fear.

Of course, it's comforting to know we have the military around to take care of our health. You only have to look at how hard these guys work to see how great they are, after all, many of the top brass are self appointed directors of state companies!!!! They actually give themselves extra work? How noble is that?! I'm so impressed, I say they deserve those extra millions they get paid for moonlighting. I'm sure their rifle shooting skills are essential and well utilised in the taxpayer funded TV and telecommunications industries.

And they help fight crime too. Last week, the army - not the police - raided a drugs production factory. The army proudly disabled their capture of the ill gotten gains - 30 million bhat in total - to the public. The next day, an informant explained that actually the bounty should have been seventy million bhat, all stuffed in pipes. He should know, he was a paid informant after all. So what happened to the missing 40 mil?

"The informant made a mistake, he thought all the pipes were the same length but some were smaller, so there was only 30 million not 70 million" said an army spokesmen (perhaps as he drove away in a nice new sports car?). Well I'm convinced, and I bet the police who were told not to do their job because the army suddenly decided they wanted to do this one, were convinced, too.


Anyway, to show just how ungrateful some people are towards those who defend our nation and all the various security threats it faces, I give you Fonzi. Fonzi has pointed out that with the purchase of twelve Swish made Gripen jets. Fonzi works out the cost of one jet at 90 million US dollars for Thailand, whereas wikipedia makes the true cost about 45 million. Thailand's military are so generous they are paying double the cost of each plane!!! And people knock these guys!!!


It doesn't stop there either. The army planned to buy 96 APC from that well known pioneering nation of ultra modern warfare vehicles, the Ukraine when some annoying OAG official had to step in and point out the vehicles were sub standard and that the Ukraine company was not even in the original list of ten bidders for the contract. Some people are just so intrusive. Just think how bad they'll feel if all those Communists come out of the jungle tomorrow.