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Mr Alan
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Quote: from koolbreez on 9:49 pm on April 11, 2010
Thaksin's TRT party was convicted of fraud, and vote buying. The going rate was bt500 for your vote. The 2 elected after him, one being his brother-in-law were also convicted of voter fraud.
Thaksin himself still faces 4 charges of corruption, and abuse of power, but he has to physically be in court to answer the charges, mainly why he will not return to the country. A few to do with corruption in airport contracts, and one involving his gov't loan to Myanmar, that he increased himself, to upgrade their telecom infrastructure, with the stipulation that they only buy from his Shin corporation, while he was in office. Not legal at all even under his rules.
I am always amused when I hear of people "buying votes". Almost everyone votes in their own financial interest, and doing so does not constitute voting fraud (in the US or Thailand).
With regard to the other accusations, if Thaksin is convicted of a crime that forces him from office according to their Constitution, that is one thing. But to forcefully remove a subsequent duly elected government (after Thaksin) because they are of the same political party as Thaksin, is another thing.
Personally, I don't believe the charges against the TRT, and I believe they are drummed out to justify keeping the TRT out of office.
Every member of this forum who has been stopped by the police should know that just because you are charged with a crime in Thailand, it does not mean a crime has been committed.
In any case, my point is that once one political faction uses a coup d'état to achieve power, don't be surprised when someone else does the same to them.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:16 am on April 12, 2010
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Meatywsg
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Quote: from koolbreez on 9:49 am on April 12, 2010
Thaksin pays the redshirts bt500 - bt100,000 a day to demonstrate now, with the leaders promised bt1 million if they win.
Your insider knowledge is astounding, and prey tell what evidence or facts do you have to support the 100,000 and 1 million figures ?
Or is your reporting based on similar requirements to join the Nation as a journalist, simply have a friend tell a friend who tells another and print it up, and refer to 'a source'.
Yes we saw 2K being handed out on TV at the Bangna intersection 2 or 3 weeks ago, so what, aren't people allowed some reimbursement for travel expenses or eating or etc etc.
Don't get me wrong, i'm no huge fan of Thaksin, but to believe 'everybody is paid' is extremely naive. I know many who are not, and I doubt that even for 2,000 baht per day, you'd hang around until the early hours after running street gun battles all day, UNLESS of course you believed in the cause.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 1:26 am on April 12, 2010
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Mr Alan
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Quote: from China Sailor on 11:30 pm on April 11, 2010
Y'all gotta understand that democracy is a messy thing when it works and it can be a disaster when it does not work.
As for corruption, remember that Lyndon Johnson won his first political office by ensuring that all of the dead people on the voter roles voted for him. Later on he and Mayor Daly ensured that JFK won Illinois by ensuring that the dead people in Chicago voted Kennedy.
Yes, voting fraud, particularly by Democrats, has occurred in the US. There is rampant corruption that continues to this day in the US, especially in large cities and Indian reservations.
This is one reason why the Electoral College system is so valuable, in that it tends to diminish the effect of such fraud in states where one party completely controls the political apparatus to the degree that they can facilitate such fraud. Once a heavily Democratic state is decided, then each incremental vote in that state does not count elsewhere in the total vote count (since there is no "total" vote count for President with the "winner take all" method for each state's votes in the Electoral College). Although a few US states do not use the winner take all method for choosing electors in the Electoral College, it would take massive voter fraud to change the outcome in those states.
Quote: from China Sailor on 11:30 pm on April 11, 2010
So why is it that democracy works in the US but rarely works elsewhere. Well using Thailand as an example the Thai have an entrenched elite with special privileges and rights that have been passed down to them for generations. Therefore true democracy is a threat to the elite and they use their influence to undermine elections at every opportunity usually to the detriment of the majority. Because of this, candidates and party's that support the majority are forced to underhand tactics to 'level the playing field'.
In the US however there was no 'historical elite' when the Constitution was written so there were always opposing forces on each side of every issue. This created a system where the losers accepted the fact that they lost the Battle, but also realized that there was always another election so the War was still to be fought at the ballot box.
I think you are mostly correct about Thailand, but the reason votes are accepted in the US is that the opposition party knows what would happen if voting results are ignored (they can be thrown out of office themselves by a coup). I don't think it has to do with a lack of an "elite." The stuff about them knowing that there will always be another election only holds true if there is another election, and it seems to me that this is a circular argument.
Quote: from China Sailor on 11:30 pm on April 11, 2010
If any of you non-American members have trouble grasping this concept just wait for the mid-term elections in November. There you will see that the 'dead and buried' Conservative Movement will have a resurgence and many of the left-leaning Congressmen will be out looking for new jobs...
Not sure what this has to do with coups and Thailand.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:36 am on April 12, 2010
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Kaymanx
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Quote: from Mr Alan on 1:36 pm on April 12, 2010
Not sure what this has to do with coups and Thailand.
Sarcasm, I thought. Did u miss that smiley?
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 2:36 am on April 12, 2010
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Mr Alan
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Quote: from Kaymanx on 2:36 am on April 12, 2010
Sarcasm, I thought. Did u miss that smiley?
Hmmm. I think he was saying that one party can be overthrown in the next election. Not exactly news to me, but maybe to some people. But I certainly agree that changing government via elections is preferable than by coup d'état or by a kangaroo court.
BTW, if you want your links to be hot, you must put a blank line after them. You can also edit your old posts (no sarcasm intended).
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 2:53 am on April 12, 2010
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Kaymanx
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Apparently the only sector in business today in Thailand is politics. With tourist arrivals sharply down, hotels going nearly (three-fourths?) empty (saw an ad today mentioning upto 75% discount on hotels on Agoda), malls remaining shut more than they are open, it must be heartening for the 'neglected sectors' to realise that the reds are the only guys in the black now.
It is also difficult for me to grasp how a man who has seen around half his assets seized would find the courage (or is it gumption?) to invest huge amounts from the remainder in keeping a bloody struggle (with no guarantee of favorable results) afloat. This fight is too massive and too prolonged. It appears increasingly unlikely that a single man is financing it all.
Saw a pic today in the papers of a red shirt wearing what appeared to be a sophisticated bulletproof vest which covered his chest, shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm… Left me wondering if even the Thai army possessed such vests. Then there was this Al Jazeera video grab of a red with a machine gun. Reports widely published in the media said that when the army flew a helicopter sortie the reds let balloons afloat to beat them back. I was left admiring the super intelligence and advanced instincts of these poor rustics who have taken it single handedly on themselves to save Thailand’s democracy. Explains why the army backed off. It was confronted by a mass that was much more intelligent, far better trained, strategically advised and equipped than the army or anyone else thought. I couldn’t help really seeing red.
Let some more balloons afloat. A friend of mine with a devious mind puts Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar in one basket. Then he sees Indonesia, Philippines and now Thailand in another.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:09 am on April 12, 2010
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China Sailor
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What I was saying in the last paragraph of my post is that by and large American Democracy works because most of the electorate is not wedded to a particular group or class and therefore in any election a party is vulnerable to the fickle attitudes of the electorate.
This is not always recognized by foreign observers of American Elections. When Obama was elected many EU leaders praised the maturation and the new enlightenment shown by the American Voter. However this November I believe that that perception will be proven false.
How this applies to the current situation in Thailand is to point out that an effective democracy is messy and that although the best choice does not always win the majority of the electorate is represented and in the end the system will correct itself.
That being the case I am hoping that the observers of the current situation in Thailand will realize that the current protests involve far more than Thaksin and his money but also represent a chance for Thailand to repudiate the concept of a pseudo-democracy run by elites and begin the messy process of developing a truly representative democracy...
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:52 am on April 12, 2010
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Kaymanx
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Been going thro recent posts in all threads the past couple of days and couldn't make out from a single one if there was any P4P action happening now. Was hoping some bro there would post an update. Or isn't there anyone left in LOS ? 
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:57 am on April 12, 2010
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bkkz
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P4P is still available. Most establishments will be closed for the next 2-3 days. You will definitely find FLs around.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 6:15 am on April 12, 2010
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Kaymanx
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Thanks again, BK. I was basically looking at the current situation as a test case for BTF in the light of recent suggestions that there were not many active field reports happening. Ok, I did miss 11bravo's report of 12 April on Bier Garten. A field report like that is reassuring. Thanks !!
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:29 am on April 12, 2010
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