CrazyExpat Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 HUA HIN, Thailand (Reuters) - Thailand's embattled government on Thursday played down Cambodia's offer of asylum for fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, as an anti-government campaign again cast a shadow over a Thai-hosted regional summit. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday described Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup, as an "eternal friend" and said he had a residence waiting for him, state television reported. Thailand is seeking to extradite Thaksin to serve a jail term for corruption. The billionaire has business interests in several countries, including neighbouring Cambodia, where he has invested in the telecoms sector. "If former prime minister Thaksin moves to Cambodia, surely that will have some effect on our relations," Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told a news conference at a regional ASEAN summit in the Thai resort of Hua Hin. "Hun Sen would know how to take all these considerations into account. It is not possible that the relations between two individuals would be more important that the bilateral relations between two countries." However, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said it was unnecessary for Thailand to issue a protest. Hun Sen, he said, would not have said Thaksin had been unfairly treated if he had been properly informed. Thailand and Cambodia have long had fraught relations. Hun Sen caused a stir this month when he ordered troops to shoot any Thai crossing illegally into Cambodia, as tensions mounted over an 11th century temple the neighbours have contested for decades. Pitch Pongsawat, a political science lecturer at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said relations with Cambodia had worsened under the Thai government of Abhisit Vejjajiva and that Thaksin stood to gain popularity by mending their ties. For the rest of the story: http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43350320091022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rucus7 Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 What Pol Pot did to Cambodia, Thaksin could do to Thailand. I hope Thai people realize Thaksin wants a new dynasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 The problem is there are so many uneducated people in Thailand, especially in the northeast. They have no idea what Toxin has done and would continue to do to Thailand if he were ever to return to power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 What Pol Pot did to Cambodia, Thaksin could do to Thailand. I hope Thai people realize Thaksin wants a new dynasty. Thaksin may want power and a sort of dynasty but he is in no way Pol Pot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 The problem is there are so many uneducated people in Thailand, especially in the northeast. They have no idea what Toxin has done and would continue to do to Thailand if he were ever to return to power. The pre-Toxin power elite did jackshit for Issan. Can you really blame the poor for embracing policies such as the 30 baht medical scheme? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WannaGo Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 The problem is there are so many uneducated people in Thailand, especially in the northeast. They have no idea what Toxin has done and would continue to do to Thailand if he were ever to return to power.What is it that you see him doing if that scenario ever played out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 What Pol Pot did to Cambodia, Thaksin could do to Thailand. I hope Thai people realize Thaksin wants a new dynasty. I also think that description is way off the mark. The comparison is simply wrong (or you have no clue what Pol Pot did and what Shinawatra did). As to your "dynasty" claim, how about one single shred of evidence (something that Shinawatra did or said, perhaps) to back up that off-the-wall claim? I doubt you'll produce it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WannaGo Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 I also think that description is way off the mark. The comparison is simply wrong (or you have no clue what Pol Pot did and what Shinawatra did). As to your "dynasty" claim, how about one single shred of evidence (something that Shinawatra did or said, perhaps) to back up that off-the-wall claim? I doubt you'll produce it. Not that there's any comparison with Pol Pot, but do you think Thaksin had a part in the all the deaths and mysterious disappearances that were supposedly connected to his war on drugs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Not that there's any comparison with Pol Pot, but do you think Thaksin had a part in the all the deaths and mysterious disappearances that were supposedly connected to his war on drugs? I actually googled the hell out of that very issue a couple of years back. From everything I read, this is what I found out: (1) The so-called war on drugs began in February of the applicable year (2005?) and ended by the end of May of that same year. (2) Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party - along with others - became alarmed at the rapidly increasing use of yabba and the damage caused by it. In other words, it seemed a legitimate concern. I recall the rapidly escalating newspaper articles on the subject during the prior year. (3) In typical Thaksin/Thai style, they announced the program to rid Thailand of all drugs. Yea, just about as dumb a pronouncement as the one where they were going to get rid of all poverty within 4 months. (4) The task of going after the smugglers and dealers was given to both the military and the police. Supposedly there were about 1400-1600 drug smugglers/dealers killed during the 4-month time period. I frankly could find nothing to actually support that figure and, as usual, I don't trust much of what the Thai press reports or the Thai government announces. (5) How many were actual extra-judicial murders? Heck if I know but my gut guess would be quite a few. (6) Did Shinawatra or the government actually condone or suggest that the smugglers/dealers be dealt with illegally (i.e., just shoot them?)? Nothing I could find anywhere. But the campaign ended in May of that year after Shinawatra and some other politicians actually acknowledged that some events occurred (some innocent people getting killed - one big one was some young boy being killed while he was sleeping in the back of his daddy's get-away car) which were improper. There appears to be no evidence of direct complicity by Shinawatra or a top government official - but I also remember none of them coming out to clearly enunciate any condemnation of the tactics. Of course, other than maybe one cop or military guy, none of the cops or military were charged with anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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