Foreign media sitll clueless, or...

I am VERY sick and tired of foreign media whose headline spaces have been bought by the crook Thaksin ("The Devil").

Look at today's BBC article for example.

Gosh, YOU foreigners are so clueless about how corrupt and despicable the Devil has been and will be, aren't you?

How dare you write very misleading articles such as this? How much of the corrupt tyrant's money is in your mouth???

Educated and well-informed people have NEVER been on the tyrant's side. YOU, on the other hand, sold your journalistic integrity to the dirty money the tyrant stole from us to stuff in the mouth of journalistic WHORES like you!

I wish those journalists go to the same pit of Hell where the Devil will be...

Again, another BBC News article portrays the Devil as the fall guy who was unjustly judged and punished.

In addition, all the comments from foreigners who DO NOT know the real extent of the Devil's doing condemned the Court's decision.

We know that the Devil has spent TONS of money in buying foreign media correspondents to write everything on his side. Yes, everyone has his/her price. The Devil is using the same strategy with these foreign reporters as the one he used on the rural Thais (or those who are ready to sell out).

These BBC and CNN reporters all cater to his agenda and are helping in destroying the credibility of the current protectors of Thailand. These foreign reporters are sabotaging the stability of Thailand in international arena by presenting the slanted and corrupt views catering to the provider of dirty money, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Gosh, it is true you cannot trust the media. They are biased and will do anything just for money, much like everyone else.

"Bush on Mark Foley"

October 3 2006 President George W. Bush had this to say about former Rep. Mark Foley's indecent conducts:

President Bush said Tuesday (October 3, 2006) he was "disgusted" by the accusations surrounding Foley.

"I was dismayed and shocked to learn about Congressman Foley's unacceptable behavior," he said while visiting George W. Bush Elementary School in Stockton, California. "I was disgusted by the revelations and disappointed that he would violate the trust of the citizens who placed him in office."

+++++

He should have said the same thing about Thaksin Shinawatra's rape of Thailand rather than criticizing the coup that toppled the most corrupt regime!!

Thanks for your lack of good judgment and your rush to condemn!! We will remember it.

Surakiart's failure has nothing to do with the Coup

This is another article from another foreign journalist who has NO idea about Thailand and her politics...

+++++

Coup may cost Thai a shot at top UN job
By Donald Greenlees
International Herald Tribune

Published: September 28, 2006

HONG KONG As the selection of the next United Nations secretary general enters a crucial phase this week, with South Korea's candidate the strong favorite to win, diplomats and analysts say the coup in Thailand has put one of the front-runners out of the race.

Surakiart Sathirathai, the former deputy prime minister of Thailand who was backed by Southeast Asian nations, was already trailing in the contest to succeed Kofi Annan when a military coup deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Sept. 19.

But the coup is seen as the final blow to his two-year-old campaign to become UN secretary general, meaning there is little chance of a Southeast Asian candidate assuming the leadership of the global body for the first time in 35 years. Southeast Asian nations have effectively ruled out putting forward an alternative at this late stage of the race.

"I would say his chances were small and getting smaller," said Edward Luck, a UN expert who is professor of international affairs at Columbia University in New York.

An informal poll of the 15 permanent and rotating members of the UN Security Council, due to meet in New York late Thursday afternoon, was widely expected to confirm Ban Ki Moon, the South Korean foreign minister, as the favorite to win the coveted post. Ban has led in the last two polls, with Surakiart coming a distant third.

If Ban has a strong showing in the latest poll, in which Security Council members vote in a secret ballot to "encourage," "discourage" or make "no comment" on a candidacy, he would be difficult to beat in the contest to replace Annan, who will steps down in the coming weeks after 10 years as head of the UN. In the last poll, Ban received 14 votes encouraging his candidacy and one discouraging it.

"If Ban gets another strong vote on that occasion, then it's all over," said one senior Western diplomat at the UN, who requested anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the selection process.

Ban, a career diplomat who has been foreign minister since early 2004, has promised to work hard as a peacemaker, but analysts doubt he will take a high- profile role in trying to resolve the nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula. In an interview with the Russian news agency Itar-Tass this week, Ban emphasized his interest in pushing to reform and modernize the United Nations.

"We have seen the redundancies among the many different agencies and organizations doing similar activities," he said. "That has given some strains on our limited resources. We need to make this organization to deliver more efficiently to the needy countries with limited resources."

One of Ban's strongest challengers is India's Shashi Tharoor, a UN under-secretary general for public information, who ran second in the last informal poll. There are four other candidates: Jayantha Dhanapala, an advisor to the Sri Lankan president; Ashraf Ghani, former finance minister and chancellor of Kabul University in Afghanistan; Prince Zeid al-Hussein, Jordan's ambassador to the UN; and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the Latvian president.

But it is widely seen as an Asian candidate's turn to lead the United Nations. The last Asian to hold the post of secretary general was U Thant, a Burmese, who served from 1961 to 1971.

With Ban having emerged as the clear favorite before the latest poll, the selection of a secretary general could be decided within a month. Some Security Council ambassadors have indicated that time is running out for late entries into the race.

Unlike in earlier informal polls, the five permanent members of the Council are this time expected to vote using ballots that are a different color to the ones used by non-permanent members, which analysts said would give a clearer indication of the final outcome.

A vote from any of the five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - discouraging a candidacy would effectively end a candidate's chances.

According to the selection process, the Council recommends a candidate to the 192-member General Assembly, which has traditionally accepted the choice.

There was some speculation that Surakiart, who had been a vocal supporter of Thailand's deposed prime minister, would withdraw his candidacy after the coup. Surprisingly, he received the backing of the coup leaders to continue his campaign.

Surakiart also has the backing of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In a statement Friday, George Yeo, Singapore's foreign minister, said Asean would continue to support Surakiart "despite the coup in Thailand."

But analysts said the coup had almost certainly destroyed what slim chances Surakiart had. He had received three "discourage" votes in the last informal poll before the coup. A negative vote from any of the permanent members would finish his bid for the job.

"As UN secretary general, you certainly don't want a representative from a military regime," said K.S. Nathan, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. "This would weaken his chances."

+++++++++++++++++++

Mr. Greenlees' article on the September 28 2006 issue of the International Herald Tribune blaming the coup for the failure of Dr. Surakiat Sathirathai to secure the UN top job shows the author's lack of understanding on the real situation.

Dr. Sathirathai's chance of becoming the UN chief has been nil even before the coup. In the two previous informal polls, he came in distant third and never higher than that.

Dr. Sathirathai's 2-year campaign had never yielded a satisfactory result despite the huge amount of financial and personnel effort the Thaksin regime had put into. That has nothing to do with the coup but with Dr. Sathirathai's inexperience as a real diplomat and without clear objectives and global visions.

There is no dispute that he has ideal credentials in the making of a great man: an aristocratic family background, a Harvard law degree, a good career, and political connections. Those however play no part in contributing to his success at securing the top UN post. It's what he lacks that hurts him.

Personally, I think the whole campaign was Tyrant Thaksin's ego boost if he could send his man to head the UN. Worse, this man would do anything Thaksin and George W. Bush ordered. Thaksin's blind and foolish ambition will hurt Sathirathai more deeply than the Tyrant himself. Dr. Sathirathai was a well-pampered minister in the Thaksin administration simply because of his family connection with the royal family. His wife is the Queen's niece, and his mother was the princess' professor. By bringing Dr. Sathirathai into politics, Thaksin added to his own advantage.

In addition, the Thaksin administration's human rights records have been condemned by several international human rights groups. The condemnations came long before the coup. Read this letter from an Asian Human Rights organization asking Dr. Sathirathai to evaluate his candidacy.

In fact, we have a better candidate than Dr. Sathirathai. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, another Harvard alumnus and a former State Department Minister, is a moderate Muslim with more experience and better recognition in ASEAN than Dr. Sathirathai. Dr. Pitsuwan would also strengthen the ties between Thailand and our Muslim neighbors while improving ASEAN status in the world stage. Being Muslim, Dr. Pitsuwan could also handle the political conflicts where religious differences were the root of the cause.

And why wasn't the better Thai person be presented to the world, you'd ask. Because Dr. Pitsuwan was a member of the opposition party, the Democrat.

Can't you see now that this is another of Thaksin's self-serving schemes? This is another example of how Thaksin put his own interest ahead of Thailand's.

In Mr. Greenlees article's last paragraph, Mr. K.S. Nathan is also making mistakes. He is rushing to judgment. Thailand is trying to get back to civilian government. The Reform Council will be fading into providing a supportive role. Our country will be working toward a new election within a year or so. We have to clean up the widespread corruption mess that the regime of which Dr. Sathirathai belonged had created during their 6 years in power. We had bad experiences with military regimes before, and we will not let that happen again.

If you ask me, I will choose to take care of my own country before I go out to clean the world.

And if cleaning our own country of 60 million people will cost Dr. Sathirathai's and ASEAN's dream of power and prestige, so be it.

+++++

There was an article in the New York Times, "Why I Should Run the UN," featuring interviews with 5 UN Secretary General candidates: Jayantha Dhanapala, Ashraf Ghani, Shashi Tharoor, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, and Zeid Raad Zeid Al-Hussein. I wonder why the paper did not offer similar chances to all the candidates including Dr. Sathirathai. Maybe their visions and missions have been published elsewhere.

In defense of the CDR

US cautions Thai generals against taking politically-motivated actions

WASHINGTON - The United States Monday urged military generals who seized power in Thailand to avoid politically-motivated actions, as the junta launched a probe into corruption in the ousted government.

The message came as the military leaders set up a high-powered committee at the weekend to look into the books and tax records of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his cabinet members and their relatives, with a possibility of seizing any ill-gotten assets.

"Certainly, what we want to see happen as this process moves forward is a quick handover to civilian authorities and that any investigations or other activities that are done again be done in accordance with the law rather than being done for political purposes," deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

The United States is following the situation in Thailand "very closely" and "would not look favorably upon any kind of movement that was politically motivated," he said
Washington has condemned last Tuesday's military coup and called for a quick return to civilian rule and elections. It is also studying the possibility of reviewing military and other assistance to Thailand, a key Southeast Asian ally.

Since taking power, the new regime has issued a raft of decrees and instructions, banning gatherings of more than five people and placing limits on the media, enforced by armed guards in some televisions stations.

Some 300 community radio stations in the country's rural north, the heartland of Thaksin's support, have been closed down, and all grassroots political activity banned at the village, district and provincial levels.

US officials are talking to the military rulers on the restrictions, Casey said,a dding that elections was a critical benchmark for the return of democracy.

"Ultimately, it's through holding the elections that we believe you can return Thailand to a situation where you clearly have a government that represents the will of the people," he said.

"Anything that happens in between that time needs to be done in accordance with Thai law," he added.

Agence France-Presse

UN says Thai coup violating human rights

New York (dpa) - Actions taken by Thailand's Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) after the coup d'etat have contravened human rights conventions, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Monday.

But the report made at least one serious error and is likely to come under strong criticism today in Thailand.

The military council disbanded the National Human Rights Council even though the country is party to a number of international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN said.

In fact, the CDRM specifically said the National Human Rights Commission was one of several "independent organisations (which) have not been terminated and still functioned as usual."

The military-led coup d'etat that overthrew a democratically elected government in Thailand last Tuesday "raised important human rights concerns," Louise Arbour said in a statement issued from her Geneva office.

"The various decrees issued by the CDRM restrict a number of basic human rights, such as the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention," Ms. Arbour said, urging the new authorities to restore the maximum exercise of such rights.

Arbour urged CDRM, the military council that now governs the country until new elections, "to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and reinstate the country's human rights commission."

She said CDRM has unconstitutionally replaced an elected government, imposed martial law, abolished the 1997 constitution, dissolved parliament and cabinet as well as the constitutional court.

Other decrees issued by CDRM restrict a number of basic human rights, including right to freedom of assembly, opinion and expression, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention.

Arbour called on CDRM "to restore the maximum exercise of these rights," the statement said.


************************************

Now that you OUTSIDERS have finished your critiques, I will now let you know the truth and give answers to your own crooked views.

It is easy for you to say, the US and Mr. Casey, and the UN and Ms. Arbour. Where were you when Thaksin and his men BOUGHT and CHEATED their way into power and ISSUED LAWS that benefited their power empire and fortified their business conglomerates? And if you are so KEEN ON PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS, where were you when the Thaksin regime killed 3,000 on drug-related accusations/suspicions, the 3,000 deaths in southern insurgence, and the suppressed freedom of expression in both the media and the people??

I love you, the US, I always have. But your double standards when it comes to taking the Tyrant and traitors' side begin to corrode my admiration for and my trust in you.

I can only wish you saw our point.

Can't you realize and see Thaksin for what he really is--a thoroughly corrupt, brutally bloodthirsty, indiscrimatorily gluttonous, foolishly arrogant, and compulsively lying bastard?

Don't assume that your kind of democracy is the same as their kind of democracy. Your people are educated and know their rights; ours aren't. Money cannot buy votes from American voters, but it can from uneducated Thais. Your media are not oppressed and are free to present opposing views; ours are just the opposite. Most military coups serve the leaders' own agendas; this one in Thailand does not.

Where else in the world are people happier about the coup? Which coup team is more polite and considerate and has the interests of the people and the country at heart?

Inquiries into ill-gotten assets and wealth are what we Thais have been looking forward to for the longest time. Do you have any idea how extensive the corruption network of Thaksin was? Do you know how much they have robbed Thailand? Marcos and Suharto are amateurs when compared with Thaksin. And we think this time we will see something. Ask yourself if you were robbed, wouldn't you want your money and treasures back?

If you all have problems with the military regime of Myanmar, why didn't you say anything about Thaksin's intimate personal business dealings with Myanmar leaders' family members?? Thaksin had never asked about Aung San Suu Kyi. Thaksin had defended the Myanmar Junta regime throughout his terms. What's your say about this, the US and the UN??

Why don't you WAIT and SEE what the CDR is trying to do, whether they stick to their promises, and whether they keep those promises.

They have promised a civilian government within 2 weeks. The suppression on several human rights is only temporary. They just want to get our home in order without Thaksin's evil cronies confusing uninformed people upcountry. We support this decision because we don't want to see people killing people in a bloody civil war.

I get sick and tired of those outside Thailand who do not know the true nature of the situation but still proceed to voice their ignorant views/comments/opinions without consideration for the real feeling of the Thais.

Why don't you shut up for a while and see the development? We Thais have been through many nightmares where politicians and military leaders turned back on their words and began abusing the privileges. We dealt with them in our own way and without the help from anyone outside.

Those outside have been helping and sheltering the enemies of the people.

That speaks volumes for your involvement. So really, whose side are you on?

I have been defending the US government all my life, but this case has revealed your true color that you do not really care about us the people. You only care about and protect your interests. Your insincerity and self-serving attitudes make me revisit my view of the US' international roles.

The US has NEVER come out and admitted how bad Thaksin is. Yet, the self-proclaimed Leader of the Free World rushes into judgment and comes out blasting the pro-democracy coup.

This reminds me of how helpful the US had been to Ferdinand Marcos and many South American dictators. I often wondered why. Now I am willing to suspect the US to get something in return from these crooks. Maybe it is all the strategic information that these traitors are willing to barf out in exchange for the shelter and safe keeping of their money on the US soils.

You claim yourself to be the protector of freedom; I am finding this hilarious. Your facade is cracking, and I am very disappointed in what I see. You are turning me from an admirer into a skeptic, and eventually a non-believer. It saddens me to admit now that I am beginning to lose my faith in you. I will take a close look at the accusations your political enemies, such as Mr. Chavez and Mr. Ahmadinejad, are presenting. There might be some truth in those.

To the UN, you have no say in any of this. You can NEVER help anyone or do anything when you are needed. You are either too late or too weak. You are nothing but a paper tiger and a referee who gets no respect.

Corruption Inquiries Are Underway...

The Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) has now issued an order and appointed a committee to look into graft and corrupt business dealings or government contracts.

This committee is spearheaded by an honest former Supreme Court Justice. Other members include well-respected and highly regarded honest, fearless, and straightforward anti-graft officers, formerly suppressed by the last government.

In the next few days, a new Prime Minister will be appointed. Currently, the four candidates are reputed to be honest, trustworthy, fair, and capable.

We believe that the CDR has acted for the best interest of the Thai people.

Thank you, Generals!!

If you don't know the truth, don't criticize the coup

It is very irritating to read about “foreign government’s comments” about the coup in Thailand that has now ousted the undeniably most corrupt political leader in the world.

Those of you who live in democratic societies--where NO money can be used to buy votes, NO bodily harm can be used to secure votes, NO pre-marked ballots can be arranged and put in place, NO ballot boxes can be switched, NO “ghosts” can walk right in to vote for absentees, NO banning of opposition parties from voicing and debating in Congress, NO air-time for opposition, representatives and senators easily switch their allegiance and “sell” their hearts and votes to the prime minister notorious for buying out “political disagreements”--will naturally criticize the coup that took place on September 19 2006.

All the coups in the past, and in the future, have always been about power struggle or a lust to control and selfishly acquire the power for the coup leaders themselves. But that is NOT the case for this one in Thailand. This military action is not self-serving and has ALMOST ALL the support of the people. And it is such a peaceful coup. This action also narrowly stopped a potential bloodshed as a mass anti-government protest scheduled for the following day, too. Why? Because Thaksin’s men were pitching people against people, and that would have led to an unavoidable civil war.

It’s easy for you out there--who have no ideas or no knowledge about the prequel to the situation--to criticize the military action that occurs here. Will you believe that this military action helps SECURE democracy in Thailand? We have a full trust in them. They ARE the King’s soldiers, and they have acted in order to protect the interest of the people while protecting His Majesty’s safety. They have now got rid of the corrupt businessmen who BOUGHT and BRIBED their way into power nearly 6 years ago.

Once these businessmen-turn-politicians were in, they had re-written, improvised, or amended laws to suit their needs. They sold out national treasures to a foreign government, as well as their families and cronies. Companies belonging to cabinet members and party members would win government project bids after they managed to jack up the budgets of those projects. Massive corruption schemes behind the infamous Suvanaphumi Airport construction and accessory infrastructures associated with it will soon come to light. Those Americans who refused to have UAE control their New York ports would have been “mysteriously silenced” had they been Thais doing a similar thing in Thailand.

The wicked Thaksin government literally bought grass-root people with taxes milked from the middle-class in a Robin Hood fashion. No wonder the poor and uneducated liked the Thaksin government a lot. They thought of Thaksin as their savior. The crooks used fiscal budget to campaign for themselves. They controlled the media and dealt harshly with critics. There was only good news on free TVs and radios watched and heard by the upcountry uneducated, thus, rendering them uninformed. The government intimidated and ridiculed academics and respectable officials/activists who dared say anything against it or expose its dirty deeds.

Ask yourself whether you would adore a government that treats you like these.

Different people have different ideas of "democracy." This is ours. If democracy means corrupt thugs can buy their way into running the country then transferring national assets to their assets list, as well as shutting out all those who dared speaking up against them, we don't want it.

I am willing to bet that the new interim government to be appointed shortly will be one of the best, most capable, and most honest we have ever had in our history. We are trying to correct the legislative mistakes or flaws that had allowed bad people to rule and rob the country. People have now awoken from their long political negligence. We will become more involved and active from now on. We will not let politicians blind and deafen us anymore. So the coup has rightfully restored and preserved democracy in Thailand, not destroyed it. We are grateful to them that they stopped the worse-than-Ferdinand-Marcos leader just in time. The only regret is they should have done it A LOT sooner.

The extensive network of corruption by Thaksin and his men will be exposed. The coup council has ordered probes into all the suspicious government projects involving numerous ex-cabinet members, Congressmen, and some civil servants who catered to them. The search for the crooks' assets' locales will be a monumental task, but the anti-graft team will be relentless, too. We hope asset seizure on the grandest scale will be the result of this.

May I warn that FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS that had played a part in aiding the tyrant, his family, and his cronies, whether in transporting the assets out of Thailand, concealing the illegally obtained assets, or sheltering those traitors, will have to answer to the Thai people. We will brand such governments as co-conspirators to commit crimes against the Thais. They will suffer condemnation from us, and their actions will be recorded in our history for all eternity. We hope they eventually make the right move in accepting what the Thais think.

The ban of political action is necessary at the moment to ensure that Thaksin’s men would not have a chance to do something more damaging. Don’t underestimate the power of people. They do not dare suppress people for long. The coup leaders would not want to change their current hero position into tyrants.

If you don’t know what it was like to live under the Thaksin regime, please stop showing your ignorance and ask those who had lived through it. You need to see how relieved and happy we THAIS have been in the past few days.