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THE election result thread


kamui

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That and confiscating his Shin Corp money. He was just trying to dodge taxes.

 

Yes but if you earn 100baht a day ploughing the fields and a politician gives you nigh-on free healthcare, cheap loans etc do you care if he dodges taxes....or do you think that all politicians are corrupt and its part of the system...but at least this one has given me something to make my life better...

 

 

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That's right. Your average rice farmer doesn't give a toss if Thaksin fiddled his taxes. Probably most wealthy people in Bangkok don't blame him either. What really pissed them off was some upstart from Chiang Mai getting his head in the trough.

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Bovine defecation. What pissed off the wealthy and powerful Chinese-Thai elite in Bangkok was that Thaksin was cutting into their fiefdoms. He was taking away sinecures that had been theirs for decades (e.g. the Petroleum Authority) and giving them to his friends and relatives. He was hitting them in the pocket and thus had to go. Takky is selfish. That's what turned Sondhi against him. Sondhi had helped Takky become PM, expecting he'd get a share of the spoils. But Takky kept it to himself and wouldn't let Sondhi even have the crumbs. Thus the former Takkyite became the yellow shirt critic.

 

Aha! You changed Issan to Chiang Mai! You have to et up early to put one over on Inspector Clouseau. ;)

 

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I was just reminded of something Fly said to me years ago. He was dead set against the military interfering to get rid of Thaksin. He argued that the wanker should be allowed to proceed until the people could see what a charlatan he really was and get rid of him themselves.

 

Fly was right. Or at least I think he was right. We'll never know now, will we?

 

Thais and Farangs in Thailand seem to be always looking for a cheap and quick short cut to get what they want. Look at the sidewalks and roads here. Look at the construction here. Look at my workplace (well you can't, but trust me on this). These short cuts ultimately cost more and deliver less.

 

Same with the coup. Thaksin is now a symobol of liberal democracy (well not if you take the time to read, carefully, the articles about him in the NYT, etc., but that wouldn't be the local way). The word "irony" was invented for this situation. So was: 'som-na-nah" You reep what you sow and a thousand other cliches, all of them spot on.

 

 

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Bovine defecation. What pissed off the wealthy and powerful Chinese-Thai elite in Bangkok was that Thaksin was cutting into their fiefdoms. He was taking away sinecures that had been theirs for decades (e.g. the Petroleum Authority) and giving them to his friends and relatives. He was hitting them in the pocket and thus had to go. Takky is selfish. That's what turned Sondhi against him. Sondhi had helped Takky become PM, expecting he'd get a share of the spoils. But Takky kept it to himself and wouldn't let Sondhi even have the crumbs. Thus the former Takkyite became the yellow shirt critic.

 

Aha! You changed Issan to Chiang Mai! You have to et up early to put one over on Inspector Clouseau. ;)

 

Exactly. In other words he was getting his head in the trough. I knew some pedant would pick up on Isaan (Issan?) so I changed it.

 

Just out of interest why is my statement 'bovine defecation'?

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The coup makers completely misjudged Takky. Other leaders had been deposed by coup - Pridi, Pibun Songkram - and had gone away quietly and enjoyed the rest of their lives abroad. Some had simply accepted their fate and lived comfortably in Thailand - Seni and Kukrit Pramote, for example. But Takky refused to play by the rules. He began a guerrilla war to return to power, and he seems to be succeeding. It's not over yet, but I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Piss off enough people here and your health might be at risk. He showed himself that he is not above using violence. He surely realises others won't be either.

 

 

 

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Oh, well, how about just judging Khun Yingluck on her future actions as a head of Government instead of criticizing her by principle because she's T's sister?

It's clear enough that as of yet she's T's political creature and as the media like to call her, 'a political rookie'; however she managed to turn the Pheua Thai campaign from a quite unsafe bet into a massive victory. She's a courageous lady, and courage is quite in short supply in LOS.

Who knows? Perhaps she's the best thing that has happened in Thai Politics since... many decades.

And - sorry for the tired cliché - anyway, it's about the Thai people and their choice. None of our business.

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The criticism is because she is Thaksin's sister and would have got absolutely nowhere if she had not been. So far she is a cardboard cutout. As to turning the PT campaign into a safe bet, she did it by following her brother's instructions - not on her own.

 

By all means judge her by what she does. But it is equally fair to criticise her for being a shadow puppet until she proves otherwise.

 

So how is she courageous? Because she agreed to do what her brother wanted her to do? She campaigned by and large in areas that were already safe for PT, and she always presented herself as Thaksin's sister. That's who she asked them to vote for - Thaksin's sister. She can hardly now complain if others call her that too.

 

Have you forgotten how she campaigned?

 

Yingluck: Do you love Thaksin?

 

Red shirts: YES!

 

Red shirts: Will you give [color:red]his sister[/color] a chance?

 

Red shirts: YES!

 

 

 

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