Thread: Thai elections 2011-Thai PM sets stage for tough election

Thai-ASEAN News Network

Democrat Candidates Testify with Surin Poll Panel

UPDATE : 3 June 2011

The Surin Election Commission has heard testimonies from Democrat candidates on alleged involvement of banned politicians, including ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in election campaigns.

The candidates also urge police to track down and arrest the vandals of campaign posters.

Democrat Party MP candidates from Surin's Constituency 1 and 2 Krasri Loythong and Kamsingh Chobmee, traveled to the Surin Election Commission, or EC, Office's Investigation Department to testify after filing a complaint that some banned politicians have taken an active role in the ongoing election campaigns.


Krasri told EC officials that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been playing an active role in the Pheu Thai Party's election policy and campaigning by issuing policies via his phone-in at rally sites, particularly in Surin Province on May 5.

Krasri added that despite being convicted, core red-shirt leaders who are out on bail and those still detained in prison are Pheu Thai party-list candidates.

He concluded his testimony by urging the EC to quickly hunt down vandals who destroyed campaign signs as well as investigate banned politicians' involvement in the election and forward the cases to the Constitution Court.

Originally Posted by SteveCM

Political parties should focus more on their policies, particularly ones that aim to solve the issues of costs-of-living and poverty

From what I've seen so far none of the popular parties actually have any policies. All they're offering are populist handouts on so large a scale and so deranged in concept that the country will be bankrupt inside a very few years.

^
In that connection, you might like to check out a Harrison George piece at Payback Time | Prachatai English

Originally Posted by The_Ghost_Of_The_Moog

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

The army chief called on people to judge on which one was telling a lie or saying the truth, saying that he did not want a quarrel with shepherd boy.

What are those last two words? A translation of ' country bumpkin' or something like that?

This Nation piece explains it rather better...

No quarrel with shepherd crying wolf : Army chief

No quarrel with shepherd crying wolf : Army chief

By The Nation

Soldiers are entitled to cast vote in a free manner, Army chief General Prayuth Chanocha said Friday, dismissing the allegation the military personnel are under a standing order to vote for the Democrats.

"I don't want to quarrel with a shepherd crying wolf and please don't try to underestimate the soldiers intellect," he said in reference to Pheu Thai candidate Natthawut Saikua's verbal attack on the military.

Prayuth said politicians should not try to involve the military in their campaigning and that the military would not dictate how the soldiers should vote.

The military would allow conscripted soldiers to take part in the advance balloting as absentee voters because they could not return and vote in their hometown, he said.

The advance balloting was sanctioned by the Constitution and soldiers were obliged to vote just like the civilians, he said. The military had no partisan interest to rig the vote outcome one way or the other, he added.
He said politicians had no justification in politicising the military, arguing the armed forces could not do their job in the face of political meddling.

Parties concerned should look back at what happened in 2009 and 2010 before drawing a hasty conclusion about the military role, he said, insisting he had an answer about 91 people killed.

In a veiled reminder to the red shirts, he said the blooshed would not have happened if all sides upheld the rule of law and that instigators of the last year's riots should heed the lesson that the table might be turned against them because their opponents would descend on the streets if they could grab power.

"I repeat: don't try to involve the military in your quarrel," he said.

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the Defence Council, a supreme governing body of the armed forces, had a firm policy of nonpartisanship.

Prawit said politicians should not try to lure the military into their campaigning to sway votes.

"Political parties should focus on campaign platforms instead of smearing the military," he said.

The armed forces were a national institution which should not be drawn into the partisan struggle to grab power, he said.

Originally Posted by Buksida

Originally Posted by SteveCM

Natthawut said the process of accusing Thaksin as the problem, was the real problem.

What does that mean?

I know this was a sincere lack of understanding from a Thaksin Hater, so let me help you understand Buksida.

The problem is an Orchestrated Thaksin Demonization campaign launched by the Amart and State Media

Does that help Buksida?

Although I do hope this response will not be used to barf all over the place by the Thaksin haters and for them to use the opening to regurgitate all that stuff the State Media fed them. I know they save it all for recycling at every opportunity.

Originally Posted by SteveCM

From Twitter today:

TAN_Network TAN News Network
DSI to interrogate Yingluck about red-shirt related lese majeste and terrorism cases on June 21
15 minutes ago

What has it got to do with her? Maybe it is a good time for her to ask them questions on why they are trying to obstruct fair elections.

please don't try to underestimate the soldiers intellect

This has to be Quote of the Day......

Originally Posted by SteveCM

Originally Posted by The_Ghost_Of_The_Moog

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

The army chief called on people to judge on which one was telling a lie or saying the truth, saying that he did not want a quarrel with shepherd boy.

What are those last two words? A translation of ' country bumpkin' or something like that?

"The army chief called on people to make their own judgement on who was lying and was telling the truth. "I do not want to quarrel with the shepherd boy," he said - a reference to the fable of a shepherd boy who always told lies."


From: Bangkok Post : Army chief: No order to 'vote-Democrat' (3 June 2011)

Thanks.

Its the Thai aphorism 'dek liang kae' then.

http://www.tannetwork.tv/tan/ViewDat...DataID=1044535

Democrat Leader Pledges to Raise Public Income

UPDATE : 3 June 2011

The Democrat leader pledges to increase people's income if his party returns to power after the July 3 election.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, deputy leader Korn Chatikavanij and director of the party's Election Coordinating Center, Apirak Kosayodhin, introduced the party's economic policies during a seminar titled Moving Thailand Forward at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

Abhisit said the country's economy got stuck in the doldrums and all economic indicators were in the negative when he took office, so his government decided to pump more cash into the system through the handout of the 2,000-baht check to workers whose monthly salary was less than 15,000 baht.


He said the policy was successful as it helped support economic recovery while inflation was low and public debt to GDP ratio was at only 39 percent, mirroring the country's strong fiscal position.

Abhisit went on to say capital market investments remain robust while the prices of farm products have increased by 87 percent.

He stated unemployment through his years in office has fallen to one percent, in contrast to the initial forecast that more than a million people will be laid off.

On future policies, Abhisit said he will emphasize on improving the people's quality of living, particularly a rise in the daily minimum wage and the increase of people's income.

He maintained the minimum wage must be raised by 25 percent in two years.

The Democrat leader affirmed if his party is allowed to return to office, he will apply stringent measures against corruption, but the attempt needs cooperation from

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

destroyed by vandals supporting an opposing party.

and how do they know that ?

that's right they don't .

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Thai-ASEAN News Network

Democrat Leader Pledges to Raise Public Income

UPDATE : 3 June 2011

The Democrat leader pledges to increase people's income if his party returns to power after the July 3 election.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, deputy leader Korn Chatikavanij and director of the party's Election Coordinating Center, Apirak Kosayodhin, introduced the party's economic policies during a seminar titled Moving Thailand Forward at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

Abhisit said the country's economy got stuck in the doldrums and all economic indicators were in the negative when he took office, so his government decided to pump more cash into the system through the handout of the 2,000-baht check to workers whose monthly salary was less than 15,000 baht.


He said the policy was successful as it helped support economic recovery while inflation was low and public debt to GDP ratio was at only 39 percent, mirroring the country's strong fiscal position.

Abhisit went on to say capital market investments remain robust while the prices of farm products have increased by 87 percent.

He stated unemployment through his years in office has fallen to one percent, in contrast to the initial forecast that more than a million people will be laid off.

On future policies, Abhisit said he will emphasize on improving the people's quality of living, particularly a rise in the daily minimum wage and the increase of people's income.

He maintained the minimum wage must be raised by 25 percent in two years.

The Democrat leader affirmed if his party is allowed to return to office, he will apply stringent measures against corruption, but the attempt needs cooperation from

".....the private sector while the government will do its best to reduce business costs stemming from briberies."

(For those who may have been wondering how this chucked-in post finishes in the original..... )

The battle lines are drawn

ANALYSIS

The battle lines are drawn

By The Nation
Published on June 4, 2011


Abhisit ready to let Pheu Thai form govt even if it wins the election by only a small margin

This is the time to bluff, not fold. That's why the Thai public are seeing the Pheu Thai and Bhum Jai Thai parties burn their bridges with each other. That's why the Pheu Thai camp is daring the Democrats to be "man enough" to let the election winner form the government. And that's also why the Democrats are telling Pheu Thai to re-read the Constitution.

Developments of the past few days made the political landscape a bit clearer. The Democrat and Bhum Jai Thai parties are on one side and Pheu Thai on the other, while the smaller camps sitting on the fence ready to go either way after July 3. Remaining to be seen is whether Pheu Thai, in ruling out an alliance with Bhum Jai Thai, was being paranoid or arrogant.

In a strongly worded statement released on Thursday and signed by party leader Yongyuth Wichaidit, Pheu Thai cited irreconcilable differences in ideology and work as grounds for shunning Bhum Jai Thai, which had no choice but to call the bluff. Newin Chidchob's party announced yesterday that they would never work with Pheu Thai either.

It's not difficult to speculate on Pheu Thai's motives. The opposition party must have wanted to cool down the high rating of certain Bhum Jai Thai candidates in the Northeast, where many of Newin's men are trying to penetrate a Thaksin-Yingluck fever and grab some constituency seats. How could the Bhum Jai Thai runners do that? Some are utilising their own influence and popularity, while others are trying to make voters believe that their party and Pheu Thai are in alliance.

Elect me as your constituency representative, and I don't mind if your party-list vote goes to Pheu Thai, some of the Bhum Jai Thai candidates have allegedly told voters.

Whether voters have been confused or not, Pheu Thai's leadership must have been worried. And the anxiety must have grown after Yingluck Shinawatra, in her characteristic friendly manner, did not rule out a Pheu Thai-Bhum Jai Thai alliance in an earlier remark this week. Apparently, the opposition party decided that enough was enough, and Yongyuth was asked to go public and shut the door on Bhum Jai Thai.

For Pheu Thai to come out this early to renounce the BJT, the party must have been both confident and unsure at the same time. On one hand, it must have been wary of Bhum Jai Thai's strategy in the Northeast, but on the other hand, Pheu Thai must have felt certain that it would win enough seats and not need Bhum Jai Thai in the future.

The Bhum Jai Thai camp was not to be scorned. Deputy leader Boonjong Wongtrairat, reading a party statement, said yesterday that the two parties' ideologies were different any way. He also hit where he thought would hurt, saying Bhum Jai Thai "adheres to constitutional monarchy and promotes peace and unity among different groups in the country".

Bhum Jai Thai spokesman Supachai Jaisamut followed suit, saying the party's decision not to form a coalition with Pheu Thai two years ago clearly indicated where Bhum Jai Thai stands. "And the fact that we set up a new political party clearly indicated that we don't want to be with them," he said.

In late 2008, after Pheu Thai's former incarnation, the People Power Party, was dissolved in a court order for electoral fraud, a group of politicians from the disbanded party formed Bhum Jai Thai while the larger portion remained with Pheu Thai, which is considered a proxy for fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

"The two parties are at the extreme opposite ends of the political spectrum," the spokesman said. His and Boonjong's declarations mean Bhum Jai Thai would have one option left if it was to remain on the government side after the election. It will have to keep the alliance with the ruling Democrats.

Abhisit Vejjajiva will need Bhum Jai Thai's help to keep his hold on power. In a TV interview yesterday, he indicated that if Pheu Thai wins the election, he would let it try to form a government first regardless of the margin of victory. The unspoken yet crucial part of that message, however, was that if Pheu Thai failed to garner enough votes to make Yingluck new prime minister, it would be his turn.

Democrat Chamni Sakdiseth, in an earlier TV debate with Pheu Thai's Natthawut Saikua, was more clear-cut when discussing who should be allowed to form the new government. The charter, Chamni pointed out, says the prime minister is elected in Parliament, not necessarily through election results.

Now the Thai public are getting a clearer picture of who's allying with whom and who are keeping their options open. This, however, doesn't mean things will remain this way after July 3, when principles will certainly give way to expediency.

'Multicolours' launch graft campaign on Yingluck

'Multicolours' launch graft campaign on Yingluck

By The Nation
Published on June 4, 2011

The so-called "multicolour" shirts yesterday launched a signature campaign to initiate graft proceedings against Pheu Thai candidate Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra.

The campaign, spearheaded by Tul Sitthisomwong, will set up a table to solicit signatures at Thammasat University on June 18.

Tul said he wanted the Department of Special Investigation to probe Yingluck as a nominee in the asset concealment case involving ex-PM Thaksin and his family.

In a separate probe, the DSI should investigate Thaksin's involvement in graft related to the approval of a Bt1-billion loan to Burma in a telecommunications deal and his meddling in Krung Thai Bank loans for property development, he said.

DSI director-general Tharit Pengdit said the case, known as "share concealment part two", had been dropped due to weak evidence.

The case was lodged by the Securities and Exchange Commission on suspicion that Thaksin and his ex-wife Khunying Pojaman na Pombejra had manipulated Shin Corp share prices with insider information. The shares were allegedly distributed among nominees to cover up ill-gotten gains.

Democrat, Pheu Thai to win 400 seats: Abhisit

Democrat, Pheu Thai to win 400 seats: Abhisit

By Kittipong Thavevong
The Nation
Published on June 4, 2011

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said he expected the two largest political parties - Democrat and Pheu Thai - to win a combined 400 out of the 500 House seats for grabs.

He foresaw a close contest between Democrat and Pheu Thai and did not expect either of them to win the election with a wide margin.

"I am confident the Democrat Party will win more MPs and this upcoming election will be very close," Abhisit said in an interview during the evening news programme on Channel 3.

In the previous general election on December 23, 2007, the Democrat Party won 164 out of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives, compared to 233 for Pheu Thai's former life People Power Party. Democrat and PPP together took more than 80 per cent of the House seats, leaving the remainder to five smaller parties.

Abhisit said he believed a post-election government would be a coalition adminidtration as no single party would win the majority to form a government alone.

The prime minister said that if Pheu Thai wins the highest number of House seats, the Democrats would allow it to try to gather support to form the next coalition. However, if Pheu Thai fails to collect the majority, it would be the Democrats' right to do so. He said this has been a practice in any democratic country, including Thailand.

He denied there was outside influence to help the Democrats form a new coalition government. The PM said he had a good intention in dissolving the Lower House to make way for an early election and "return the power to the people" to decide for the country's future.

He said it was undemocratic for any political party to threaten violence if it fails to form a government despite winning more House seats than the other parties.

Abhisit said that in the general election of 1975, the Democrat Party won the highest number of seats but failed to gather enough support to form a coalition government. The party ended up in the opposition. "We did not encourage our supporters to take to the streets or create violence," he said.

The Democrat leader yesterday urged the voters to decide whether they wanted to live in a country where people are afraid of the law or afraid of bullies.

Abhisit seeks support from private sector

Abhisit seeks support from private sector

By Wichit Chaitrong
The Nation
Published on June 4, 2011

Democrat leader calls on businesses to invest in 'Moving Thailand Forward

Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party woo business leaders to invest in high-speed train, build harbour city, create special economic zones and give tax incentives.

"The government will not do business to compete with private sectors, but will invest in infrastructures and provide incentives for private sectors," Abhisit yesterday told both local and foreign businesses leaders at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

The new government led by the Democrat will investment Bt170 billion for upgrading existing rail system, he said at the Democrat's election campaign "Moving Thailand Forward" .

The first phase investment with China would be about Bt150 billion for high speed train linking Nongkhai in the northeast region to Bangkok and the second phase worth Bt230 billion linking the capital to Padang Besar in the southern part, he said.

High speed train linking Bangkok to the Trat in the easthern and Ubon Ratchatani in northeastern would also built, according to Abhisit.

Abhisit promised to turn Laemchabang port into well-developed harbour city and transform polluted Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate into eco-town.

He said the new government would allocate Bt10 billion a year to develop tourism industry.

The government would also consider to use Don Muang Airport as good transport or passenger transport.

Import tariffs on raw material, semi-goods, machinery would be cut as part of plan to position the country to reap benefit of Asean Economic Community, a single market of 700 million consumers, he said.

Special zone for agriculture would be created with investment worth about Bt100 billion, he said.

Special economic zone would also be created and the labour regulations would be more flexible in order to accommodate foreign labours. Foreign labours should also treated as part of Thai economy so they deserve basic welfares, he promised.

Abhisit still insist to raise minimum wage by 25 per cent in two years. To help the business sectors, the government will restructure tax, in particularly corporate income tax and provide tax incentives for companies that increase wages.

Abhisit foresaw the country would benefit from the rising food prices in the global market. The current government has already planned to invest Bt171.5 billion in irrigation to cover 4 million rai of farm land.

He pledged to continue income-guarantee for farmers, arguing that it does not distort the market. While Pheu Thai Party's policy to re-introduce rice-pledging will distort market price and Thailand lose export market to Vietnam, Abhisit claimed.

He still insisted to continue price subsidy for cooking gas and diesel retail prices as part of effort to address rising cost of living.

Abhisit vowed to achieve fiscal balanced in the next four years. He charged his rival Pheu Thai Party's policies would lead to fiscal burden.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

"The two parties are at the extreme opposite ends of the political spectrum,"

The fact is that Bhum Jai Thai do not align with any political spectrum other then money, bribes and deceit.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party woo business leaders to invest in high-speed train, build harbour city, create special economic zones and give tax incentives.

Chiang Mai for a special world music zone would help capture the tourist market. As long as they like listening to Thai's poorly sing the words of a songs they don't understand.....

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Abhisit said that in the general election of 1975, the Democrat Party won the highest number of seats but failed to gather enough support to form a coalition government.

He has to go back that far as to when the party may have been liked by the populous.

Electioneering by Nathawut in Singburi yesterday definitely stated that PT will not be sucked into a debate - Yingluck-Abhisit.

As mentioned before, I can just imagine the State Media salivating at the opportunity to recast the debate the following day, into whatever form that fits their agenda. This would be done to such a degree that the actual debate and how they portray it would be skewed beyond belief.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Yes and no. It's not a Thai aphorism. It's Aesop's fables, taught to every child in every Thai school for the last 200 years.

actually no, they were being taught LaFontaine fables, which are derived from Aesop. The French brought those teaching to the Thai, and like in France, they are taught extensively in early classes, which could explain the confusion for them to be associated with the local culture, like in France.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Taught so much, in fact, that almost every Thai believes that these fables are part of ancient Thai culture.

Likewise in France, LaFontaine fables are part of France historical culture. They are not referred to Aesop fables but LaFontaine fables.