Quote:Don't come after the military, general says

Politicians ousted in last year's military coup have been warned by the Council for National Security (CNS) that they risk serious consequences if they seek revenge on the coup makers if they return to power after the general election. Saprang Kalayanamitr, CNS deputy secretary-general, yesterday warned the politicians of possible reprisals if they tried to go after the military leaders who threw them out.

The outspoken army officer said he believed that some politicians in the deposed Thaksin Shinawatra regime may regroup and re-enter politics if they are spared by Wednesday's Constitution Tribunal verdict on the electoral fraud dissolution trials.

Gen Saprang said those politicians should review their roles over the past six years and avoid repeating their mistakes, which had caused the country serious damage.

''Politics and the military must get along together,'' he said.

''Don't ever think of making a comeback to go after us. If they go after us, we will go after them.

''I am not afraid of his return .... I am not afraid of reprisals.

''I believe in doing good deeds and getting good things in return,'' said Gen Saprang, apparently referring to Mr Thaksin, who is now living in exile in London.

Speaking at a forum on The Military and Politics'' organised by the National Institute of Development Administration, Post Today and Business Radio, the bullish general emphasised that the coup makers have been fair with politicians accused of involvement in corruption.

The CNS had never ordered the Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) and other state agencies to hastily punish the accused, just to get rid of its enemies.

The CNS had stressed all along that all investigations must be carried out according to the law.

Gen Saprang said he was satisfied with the ASC's performance as it had been able to bring two corruption cases against Mr Thaksin and had forwarded them to the prosecution.

The investigations into other cases would eventually be completed, even if they were not finalised during the term of the CNS.

Gen Saprang called on the public to believe in the justice system and its ability to bring the offenders to justice.

With seven months left before the general election, he said the army and the CNS had sent a lot of soldiers to meet villagers in all parts of the country to explain the political situation.

The CNS and the army did so because they did not want to see more confrontations in society.

Gen Saprang said he wanted the next elected government to attach more importance to the military.

The stability of the government relied on a strong army

BKKPost

If this is truly the view of the military, and not just some loose cannon General, there can be little or no hope for a Democratic system in Thailand. The <Mlitary should just come out and tell the Thai people that they are living in a dictatorship.

I found this on the nation site. I have no idea who wrote it, just the initials WDS. It raises some very interesting points and is both informative and factual. One of the first things the CNS did was double the military budget after the coup claiming Thaksin cut it. It is widely agreed that the TRT in some form, despite any outcome of the rulings, will win another majority in the next election. You can draw your own conclusions.

Quote:The Democrat party has been with Thailand for 60 years. It may not have been the most innovative party, but it has proven to be an important democratic engine (good and bad) that has helped promote the democratic development in Thailand. There are some old and dirty figures within the Democrat party - one of them is you-know-who. This is the guy who was behind all the bad acts in the name of the Democrat party - he should be the only one who is banned from politics as well as imprisoned (if I were my choice to make).

The Thai Rak Thai is a new party and was once (may still be) surely filled with greedy businessman-turned-politicians. However, in just 5 years, it has proven to be one-of-the-kind innovative engine (good and bad) in the Thai politics. It has implemented many (some of which were accused of being corrupt) policies that has helped put Thailand the in the global economic map for the first time. Prior to the reign of the TRT, Thailand had always been under the shadow of Malaysia. Thaksin, for good or for bad, helped bring Thailand out of the financial crisis and put Thailand on its way to claim its place in the world.

Dissolving either or both parties will not serve the pubic any good. It will only serve the military regime. There are some righteous military generals. However, there are quite a few who are power hungers – you-know-who is one of those. This you-know-who individual is the very person who will benefit most from the dissolution of any party or both.

He and his gang, aka, you-know-who, and their alliances will manipulate the Thai population for their own gains while nothing good will be returned to the public.

On the other hand, Thaksin, who is yet to be proved right or wrong concerning all the corruption probes against him, has created tremendous successes to the Thai society.

This coup is like the 1992 coup in a way. It happened as a result of the power struggle between the government and the military. I remember what happened in 1992. The military had to take over the government because the prime minister was cutting the military budget and tried to weaken the power of the generals. Then, the generals accused the prime minister of countless number of corruptions that were never proved guilty in the courts, as a ground for the coup.

The 2006 coup is the repeat of a similar dilemma. Thakin, who was a policeman-turned-businessman-turned politician, by nature, would be disliked by the military generals. Throughout the Thai history, the military and the police force never really got along. The military always portrait themselves as heroes and imposes self-importance to the society; they always see the police force as less significant and less honorable than they are. When Thaksin, repeating the same mistake done by the 1992 prime minister, not only cutting the military budget, but also promoting the importance of the police force while trying to weaken the power of the military generals. The police force was coming out of the shadow of the military for the first time in the Thai history. Before the police could gain their solid ground, however, the military generals had to take things in their own hands to protect their very best interests – self-preservation, that is.

The judges must do a very careful analysis – studying not only the laws but the history as well, especially when it involves the two very true and major rivals in the Thai politics – the military and the politicians.

If the judges decide to dissolve even one political party, at this juncture, it will send a strong message to the public that the judges favor the military over the representatives of the public in which they should and have sworn to serve.

The Democrat and the Thai Rak Thai, if they really care about the people who they represent, as they always say they do, this is the time for them to unite to fight the power-hungry-military generals. The generals may have tanks, but you, politicians, have 60 million people. If the tanks killed all people, what good would the tanks be for? So, they would not dare to kill even one innocent citizen (at least, not in public any way).

If they put their heads together, they can win this fight, not just for their survival but also for the sake of the country and the public that they ought to serve.

Politicians can be rivals during elections and during the normal course of democracy. However, Thailand is not in a normal course of democracy at this very moment. The country has been under the power of a few dictators and elitists. It is time for politicians to put their differences aside and get together to fight the very enemy of democracy that they ought to fight.

Both the Democrat and Thai Rak Thai must work together with the assistance from the public to redeem the Thai democracy.

Abhisit, you might want to consider this. If you can put your pride aside for now, and go to Chaturon, who is your senior both in age and in political and life experiences, talk to him. If you and Chaturon can work together to save this country from the crisis and from the dark power of the dictators (and the elitists who are behind them), both you and Chaturon will be seen by the public as the heroes of the Thai democracy. It will be a win-win for both you, Abhisit and Chaturon.

Abhisit and Chaturon, two of you are the new breed of politicians that the Thai society has been asking for nearly a century. Both of you, while having some differences, are politicians with ideology who have good ethics. If you say you want what is best for this country, then you must work together to preserve Thai democracy and to rid of the power outside the constitution – the dictators and the greedy and power hungry elitists.

Once I started reading all the " You know who's" , I chalked it up to someone like a spoiled little kid, saying ,,,, "I know something you don't and I'm not going to tell you"

Not worth my time to read....