Flashermac Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday denied as baseless the reports in some media that she would step down in a show of responsibility for failing to resolve the flood crisis. Ms Yingluck insisted that she has no thought of resigning but would continue to put her utmost effort into doing her job as the prime minister in settling the problems facing the nation. "People supported and voted for me so I want to continue my work to the best of my ability," the prime minister told reporters when asked about speculation she was considering resigning. Visiting a shelter for flood evacuees in Bangkok's Chatuchak district, the prime minister pleaded for understanding from the public. "Everybody has worked to their utmost ability. It's a natural disaster which other countries have also failed to prevent," she said. "I want to ask for sympathy for all the officials who are working to fight the floodwaters, and as for me I will do my best and will listen to all suggestions." Ms Yingluck, the youngest sister of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has been under intense pressure since she came to power in August and was immediately faced with the biggest flood crisis Thailand has experience in many decades. Her opponents have accused her of failing to show adequate leadership and failing to control her cabinet ministers and other senior officials. "So far she has run the country without direction or decisiveness," said opposition Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut. Her administration has also come under fire for its confusing information about the rising waters. After three months in office, Ms Yingluck's government scored an approval rating of about 48 per cent, according to a nationwide survey of 1,168 people published by Bangkok University on Tuesday. As for Thaksin, Southeast Asian Institute of Global Studies at Payap University director research Paul Chambers said the fugitive ex-prime minister is lying low as prospects of a triumphant homecoming look ever more distant. Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption, has mostly shied away from publicly commenting on a disaster. The former tycoon, 62, has posted several messages on Twitter and Facebook offering sympathy to the victims. Some donated relief supplies also had "with love and great concern from Thaksin Shinawatra" written on them --but it was without his knowledge, his aide Noppadon Pattama said. Mr Chambers said Thaksin has largely remained silent during the disaster and has done little to rally support for his under-pressure sibling. "Thaksin has generally remained more silent than expected," he said. Thaksin -- who was ousted in a 2006 coup -- might already be distancing himself from Yingluck who could be at risk of losing her job, he said. "Better for Thaksin and other Pheu Thai politicians to let Yingluck ride out the storm and take any unpopularity relating to her handling of this crisis with her," said Mr Chambers. Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thailand expert at the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said Thaksin -- who once described Ms Yingluck as his "clone" -- was taking a back seat to give her a chance to step out of his shadow. "It's good for him to allow Yingluck to deal with it herself, even though she is failing," Mr Pavin said . He said that any meddling by Thaksin would only "further complicate" the situation, and "open the door for the opposition to attack the government". Besides, he said, her brother may not be in any position to help. "Thaksin doesn't have a PhD in water management," he quipped. BP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 Hi, Guess now he is really showing how much he truly cares for the country. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 He (his family) donated $5M USD (cash) to the relief fund, so he cares that much! He was one of the largest donors that day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 A lot of folks figure he is one of the causes of the floods ... built dams, chopped down forests (think of the flood in Chiangmai a few years back), pushed for building industrial parks in flood basins ... I'd hope he'd be one of the largest donors, since he is one of the richest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 April Fools’ Day in November PPT opened the newspapers and read the various blogs today and wondered if it was April Fools’ Day. Truly, some of the media has stories today that could easily be an April Fools’ Day prankster’s hoax. The Bangkok Post had a gem to begin the list. It reports that “Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, an MP and leader of the Matuphum Party†has filed an urgent motion “seeking the establishment of a House committee for national reconciliation…â€. As the story notes, General Sonthi is “the former army chief who led a military coup that toppled the Thaksin Shinawatra government on Sept 19, 2009.†Given that the post is 3 years out on the date of the last military coup, perhaps it is a prank to think that the general who sent the tanks out is seeking “reconciliation.†A second set of stories has Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra both resigning. The Nation has the Democrat denying plans to force Sukhumbhand to resign over the flood woes. The party adds that “there was no justification to pin blame the Bangkok inundation on Sukhumbhand. Over at the Bangkok Post, the rumor that Prime Minister Yingluck is about to step down or be forced out is again run. It is said that this is to “show of responsibility for failing to resolve the flood crisis.†The story is again denied. The Post adds in a Bangkok University survey that shows an approval rating for the government of 48%. Thankfully, Bangkok Pundit has some adult commentary on this survey. BP points out that Yingluck, struggling with the largest natural disaster in 50 years, has an approval rating just slightly below that of Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva when he was premier in late 2010. Interestingly, she ranks higher than Abhisit on “decisiveness†and the Bangkok Post conveniently forgets to mention that the 48% ranking is higher than that received by Abhisit in December 2010. And we say it again, Yingluck is struggling with the largest natural disaster in 50 years. The same Bangkok Post story gets further into ripping yarns when it quotes Payap University’s Paul Chambers who guesses that Thaksin Shinawatra has been “quiet†on the floods because he is “lying low.†Chambers says “Thaksin has generally remained more silent than expected…â€. We assume more quiet that Chambers expected. But think about this claim. If Thaksin had been vocal, he would have been criticized and Yingluck deemed a puppet. Claiming he is too quiet is remarkably silly and intellectually dubious. The Nation has criticism of Yingluck for not attending “the world class Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in Hawaii this weekend…â€. That’s right, for not attending. Why? This is the suggestion: “It was not a good idea for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to cancel her plans to attend … as she is effectively losing a chance to put Thailand in its rightful place at the international forum.†Well, no. Her deputy and commerce minister Kittirat Na Ranong is scheduled to attend, so Thailand does not lose its “rightful place.†But think of the outcry if she went! She’d be accused of abandoning the country and the flood victims. Going to the meeting could be political suicide. In another story at the Bangkok Post – there seem to be a rash of them – it states that the Democrat Party, led by Abhisit, has been highly critical of the Puea Thai government’s budget which includes 120 billion baht for compensating flood victims and post-flood reconstruction and rehabilitation. Abhisit criticised the allocation because it “lacked details and possibly failed to guarantee transparency.†He also reportedly “disagreed with the government’s plan to raise 120 billion baht for flood compensation by cutting funding from other projects.†Abhisit was especially critical of “populist policies.†Of course, these are the policies that helped get the government elected and most are likely to be stimulatory for the economy next year. But then Abhisit seemed to get lost. He criticized “corporate tax cuts†as populist and then worried that the government would increase taxes from “business operators, particularly small and medium ones, who are already suffering in the floods…â€. So what is it that he wants? It seems he wants anything but the government’s election pledges and plans to rebuild after the largest natural disaster in 50 years. The Bangkok Post has another classic nonsense story that criticizes the government for having “appointed a committee to formulate strategies to rehabilitate and rebuild the country for the future headed by former deputy prime minister and respected economist Virabongsa Ramangura†and another committee that “will draw up water resources management strategies to deal with flood problems…â€. Why is this criticized when just a day or so ago the Post complained that “This [flood] disaster has shown that inexperience in working and dealing with the bureaucracy and the politicians, as well as the differing and conflicting views of experts, academics and advisers, has resulted in missteps by the prime minister.†Now it criticizes her for “having to rely heavily on technocrats to restore its [the government’s] bruised credibility as it faces waning popularity after clearly failing to cope with the flood crisis.†On the same story, the seemingly amnesiac editorial scribes at the Bangkok Post have this: “Cabinet’s appointment on Tuesday of three respected outsiders to help plan a systematic, long-term strategy to manage water resources and prevent a repetition of the current crisis, is indeed welcome news.†Whereas the previous article claimed it was all a political set-up, the editorial names appointees it considers “the country’s top experts in their … fields.†The Bangkok Post is beginning to look rather scrappy and unprofessional in its work at present. But never mind that for it never forgets to genuflect and look to the heavens. In a remarkable statement, the Post seems to dismiss the need for these committees or experts with a royalist rant: “Dr Sumet [Tantivejkul] is expected to highlight His Majesty’s ideas on water resources management. Thus far, the King’s ideas and advice have been ignored all along by successive governments. Sixteen years ago His Majesty warned that we had wrongly allowed factories and industrial estates to be built in natural water catchment areas and in areas regarded as a natural flood path. He suggested that floodways be constructed to facilitate the flow of water runoffs. Today, we have all seen the consequences of ignoring His Majesty’s sound advice. Will the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pay heed?†It seems that the only thing worth doing is to watch the endless re-runs on television of the king lording it over bureaucrats and others with his homespun advice. The Post even resurrects the sufficiency economy nonsense with a claim by the allegedly “highly respected Professor Rapee Sagrik†that “the countless footpath stalls in Bangkok run mostly by rural folk, and the fact that the majority of taxi drivers are from the Northeast†should “not have had to leave their homes and farms…â€. This is yet another call for a Bangkok cleansed of those buggers who do all the work and then vote for Thaksin. And the Post concludes with a prayer for the repatriation of rural types to their proper place, outside Bangkok: “We only pray this crisis washes away egregious GDP-driven strategies and clichéd concepts such as ‘New Thailand’. Getting the country back on its feet would be sufficient unto the day.†Finally, in a story that appears to only be in the “In Brief†section of the printed Bangkok Post on 10 November, if it was needed, a reminder that opportunism remains standard for academics. Chulalongkorn University labor economist Narong Phetprasert is planning to sue the government for “mismanagement of the floods.†He is cited: “I’m not a water expert. But as an upcountry native, I know that when water runs off, it will overflow river banks and nothing will stop it.†If he knows that, how can he sue the government? Nothing can stop an academic for hire from running off at the mouth. Narong is seldom short of a verbal and occupational position; this is the same labor economist who opposed the Puea Thai Party’s plan to raise wages by 40%…. He previously worked for both the Thai Rak Thai Party before opposing it and was said to be working with the military junta. He was later appointed to Abhisit’s “national reform†committees. It has been one hell of an April 1st in November. http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/april-fools%E2%80%99-day-in-november/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 << and the Bangkok Post conveniently forgets to mention that the 48% ranking is higher than that received by Abhisit in December 2010. And we say it again, Yingluck is struggling with the largest natural disaster in 50 years. >> And TPP conveniently overlooks the fact that Yingluck was elected by a landslide. 48% is a helluva big come down for her. Why should they bring up Abhisit's rating, when everyone knows he lost the election because of it? Most of TPP folks seem to forget that Takky would throw them into jail just as fast as the Dems or the military for their views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted November 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 Ayutthaya http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/nationvdo/showvdo.php?id=5601&cateid=13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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