Old Soldiers Never Die in Peua Thai Party

It is not a surprise to see Gen Chavalit so devoted himself to protect Thaksin. His recent appearance in Cambodia with Hun Sen, his latest comment on the relations between Thaksin and Hun Sen including his offer to meet up with PAD leaders aimed to destabilise the current coalition government. This is the card old soldiers need to play if he or they are to sit to command as the head of the party.

But for me, it is so funny! It can be the talk of the town among my parents generation, but not my generation and not the younger generation. They are so out of politics. They have never looked around, they only listen to small of group of trusted friends. Chavalit is a yesterday leader. His idea on current situation is so outdated. If he would like to bring on outside enemy, he should have picked a better leader than Hun Sen. Who respect Hun Sen in Thailand? Even if his intention is to level it up to the international level, since ASEAN Summit is taking place here and the world attention is on us, this is a wrong step to take.

Having a negotiation with PAD is just for his own benefit. Does not he know that people are fading away from Yellow as they had set bad rules for the RED to follow. Freedom to demonstrate comes with responsibility. Both Yellow and RED show no respect to the rule and the law. They show no responsibilities of the political turmoil they caused since 2007.

Whatever step Gen Chavisit takes, it will bring the party and himself to its downfall.

Rail strike: It is not a joke. It is a pain.

When I first heard about the rail strike a few days ago, I did not think it would come this far. I did not think that rail drivers would dump passengers at the station. I did not think that it is a test of PM Abhisit’s leadership and management skill. But since it has been on the news headline for almost a week, I have come to realise that this is not just a simple rail strike. They did it with a purpose. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) unionists is politically motivated to do what they have been doing.

“The train can not be continued as it is not safe enough” seems to the argument from the unionists. Whatever arguments they have to tell, damages have been done. They left elderly and young children at the rail station. They should have been more considered to passengers.

PM Abhisit’s firm stand on the issue is appreciated. Recent polls showed that over 70% of the people do not support the unionists. It causes too much problem for all train passengers.

I still can not see the end of the rail strike but we know that every problem has a solution. I am hopeful that the government can hendle the situation. Thailand’s rail needs a reform. It needs to be privatise for a better service. We may need to pay more for that but it is better than having our lives in the hands of just a few big people. With privatisation, customer is the king. We can complain if the service does not worth the money we pay.

Joint Communique on Preah Vihear: violation of constitution???

The National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) is going to make a decision on the Preah Vihear case today whether to indict 36 people including ministers of the Samak Sundaravej cabinet and state officials charged in connection with the cabinet approval on June 17 l2008 for Thailand to sign a joint communique with Cambodia without seeking advice from parliament. However, before making any prediction on the outcome, it is important to note that the Constitution Court had earlier ruled that the Preah Vihear joint communique was endorsed by the Samak cabinet in violation of the Constitution.

The joint communique was to support Cambodia’s application to list the ancient Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site. The NACC on Nov 13 2008 decided to press charges against the Samak cabinet members, except four who were absent, for negligence of duty and violation of Article 190 of the 2007 Constitution, and certain state officials for malfeasance. Of the 36, four are members of the current government. They are Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart, Deputy Finance Minister Pradit Pattaraprasit, Information and Communication Technology Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee, and Interior Minister Chavarat Charnvirakul.

The decision of today is likely to have an impact on the credibility of the Prime Minister and the Military. Democrat Party and its current Foreign Minister claimed that by signing the Joint Communique Samak government had given up certain Thai territories to Cambodia.  This is similar to the constitutional court decision. I would like to think that NCCC’s decision will go in the same direction IF some of the defendants are not holding positions in the current coalition government.

If they decide that it does not violate the constitution then the decision made by NCCC will overrule the constitutional court decision. It will also tarnish the government credibility since the Prime Minister has insisted until today that Thailand has not lost any territory to Cambodia. It is another interesting day in Thai politics.

Political decision: The rubber saplings corruption case

Another historic court verdict in Thailand history: the Supreme Court Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions found all 44 defendants (who served under Thaksin leadership) in the Bt1.44 billion rubber sapling project graft case not guilty. This shall stand to remind all the Thais of injustice and incredibility of our judiciary system: the lack of independence of members of the judiciary. It is a political rather than legal decision.

Newin who served as the former deputy agriculture minister and the 43 co-defendants were charged with corruption the procurement of 90 million rubber saplings for about 1.4 billion baht for farmers in the North and the Northeast. Let’s imagine if Newin did not switch side and he was loyal to Thaksin and Puea Thai Party, would the verdict still be read the way it did? Does his supporting role or mediating role in the current coalition government facilitate his corruption case?

Newin has played an important role in the current coalition. The injustice court verdict on rubber saplings case has brightened up a political prospect of a rising political star, Newin Chidchob, a de facto leader and a newly appointed headmaster of Bhumjaithai Party. Crying while giveing interview to the press won him the best actor award!

However, Newin and the other former executives of the disbanded parties still face another legal hurdle that is the five-year political ban imposed by the Constitution court. To be able to make a political come back, the constitution would need to be amended or amnesty bill be enacted. It is interesting and something to watch is whther the chater will be amended to facilitate his political ban? If the rubber sapling is the first example to show how the verdict will be read, it is not very difficult to predict the outcome of the online lottery case and the rest that involve Newin and his crews. It is a political case that ends with political decision.

CALD in Web 2.0

Participants at the 6th CALD Communication Workshop in Hong Kong discuss communication and marketing strategies for CALD.

How could CALD make better use of web 2.0?

1. Link (direct on CALD website to CALD’s Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Youtube)

2. Make them more visible on the CALD Website

3. Having a shoutbox

4. Create its own CALDBOOK

What specific Web 2.0 features and tools would be best or most effective for CALD?

1. Document sharing among members

2. Survey tools

3. Political games (i.e. Restaurant City or Mafia Wars on FB)

4. More videos that are visible to all members

What can CALD do for your parties in this context?

1. Country visit and tecnical trainings of the party members in most needed countries

2. Upload videos of member party’s activities on CALD’s Youtube channel

3. CALD “Hotline”