Thread: Jeez, people have short memories: Suthep Thaugsuban's corruption

Thai people should be very careful about following Suthep Thaugsuban if they are genuinely concerned about corruption. He is one of the most corrupt politicians in Thailand and has been for decades.

Let's put aside the silliness of his demand for 'democracy' by means of overthrowing a democratically-elected government for a moment and consider the following facts about Mr. Suthep:

-When he was Agriculture Minister in 1995, he sold and gave away to his wealthy friends Land Reform plots in Phuket meant for needy local people. This scandal brought down the entire government he represented. He escaped prosecution because of his political connections, bribery, and...wait for it...paying protesters to march in the streets of Bangkok. The only democratically-elected Democrat in dozens of years, Chuan Leekpai, lost power because of Suthep's corruption.

-In 2009 when he was on the National Police Commission, he openly accepted large bribes for police postings and shot down the posting of more deserving officers who refused to pay him, including nominees from his own party's Prime Minister. The same year, he was investigated by the Election Commission for illegally owning equity in media companies with government contracts, in violation of the Constitution. He avoided prosecution by resigning from Parliament, but kept his post of Deputy Prime Minister.

-Later in 2011 when he was National Palm Oil Policy Committee Chairman, he helped orchestrate a phony shortage of the commodity to force up prices more than 50%. He and his family made a fortune from the increase in price, as they are major players in the palm oil industry and huge landowners. He also pocketed kickbacks from other major producers in the South.

-In two weeks, he goes on trial for 92 counts of murder for ordering police and military to use deadly force on Red Shirt protestors in 2010 (not to mention the thousands hurt). He was indicted by the Office of the Attorney General, which is a non-political independent brance of the Ministry of Justice.

-Additionally, Wikileaks diplomatic cables from the US embassy revealed that many members of his own party have long complained of his corrupt and unethical behavior such as auctioning off cabinet postings both within the Democratic Party and former coalition partners.

I've got problems with PT and Yingluck's government. Plenty of them. But wake up, people...SUTHEP IS NOT THE GUY YOU WANT REPRESENTING YOUR INTERESTS. He embodies corruption in Thailand to an extent few people can match. Pick a different leader to rally behind!

Jeez, which people have short memories? Mr Suthep is a well known and colorful figure in Thai politics.

He and his sons are also in hot water on Samui for grabbing land there.

Sabang, I am of course referring to Thais who suddenly have their panties in a wad regarding corruption. This guy's not their champion. He has gone all-in for personal gain. Tida said it best when she pointed out his political career is over, but he's still out to grab whatever influence he can manage.

gaysexyproxy,

Not doubting your article, but where is it from?

Mainly from this article which I read recently:

http://www.polis.leeds.ac.uk/assets/...wp3mccargo.pdf

as well as news searches from the Bangkok Post and the Nation

and the Wikileaks files

Reading an article from Prachathai got me thinking about it.

Thanks for posting this. I'm glad that Thai topics are making their way into this thread. After all, this website is connected to Thailand. There should be more open discussion on these political topics without excessive moderation. Let the truth be heard! Wake up the zombies of apathy and denial. At least by putting the articles and topics here it says they are real. TD not only is a place for discussion, it's influential on those connected to Thailand. The truth gets out.

There's already many sites that do provide information regarding such things, TD i suppose has to be careful what is posted.

I don't think anyone has forgotten anything - they just don't give a fuck (though I was pretty amazed to see that his Facebook page had managed to get 500,000+ likes). If he can eradicate the 'Thaksin system', then he's their man and that's because this is no more about corruption than it is about democracy.

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Actually, you can add lese majeste to his list of crimes (see wikileaks), though he'll be out tomorrow, bowing and scraping with the best of them.