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Southeast Asia | |||||
Toxin cancels U.N. speech | |||||
2006-09-20 | |||||
UNITED NATIONS — Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra first moved up his General Assembly speech to Tuesday, then canceled it altogether as he found himself suddenly faced with a military coup at home.
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Posted by:Fred |
#16 Frand G & .com - Get a room. ;-p |
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-09-20 19:23 |
#15 From the Times: General Sondhi Boonyaratglin, is a broadminded Muslim who has favoured a policy of engagement with insurgents and become a hero of liberal Thais. Otherwise, I agree with Zhang in the other thread. This is a anti-democratic, anti-modernizing coup that politicizes the monarchy. |
Posted by: phil_b 2006-09-20 19:12 |
#14 Incorrigible tease! |
Posted by: .com 2006-09-20 19:09 |
#13 LOL - I figured as much - just wanted to yank the tiger's tail |
Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-20 19:05 |
#12 I heard a rumor that the $1.9 BILLION (tax-free) that he pocketed from the sale of Shin telecom is still banked in Thailand. I suspect he'll have a real hard time accessing cash from a Manhattan hotel room! And I doubt he'll be very welcome back in Bangkok.... His best option right now is probably to start sucking up to Chavez, big time. In that case he might be better off going back to Thailand and throwing himself on the mercy of the court. |
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2006-09-20 18:50 |
#11 LOL, Frank... Naw, not really, that just says: "Yes, I speak a little. I like the Thai people very much." Kowjai, farang? (Do you understand, you honkey-assed foreigner?) LOL. |
Posted by: .com 2006-09-20 18:46 |
#10 damn...he's regressing :-) |
Posted by: Frank G 2006-09-20 18:40 |
#9 Kahp, pohm poot nit noi. Chawp kohn Thai mahk mahk. |
Posted by: .com 2006-09-20 17:56 |
#8 Ah well, when I was there two months ago I got an earful from a taxi driver and several street vendors (and I didn't bring up the subject). Khun put Thai mai? |
Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2006-09-20 17:50 |
#7 Coincidentally, I was in Thailand last week. Didn't come across any seething resentment of Thaksin. I know the urban elites don't like him, but they never did. |
Posted by: phil_b 2006-09-20 17:19 |
#6 Phil, that was 2005. Have you talked to any Thais on the street lately? I have. And by the way, Gen. Sondhi may be a Muslim, but he's no Islamist. He's got a record of being pretty heavy-handed in cracking down on the southern insurgents. He might actaully be a genuine moderate Muslim -- Thai first, Muslim second. |
Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2006-09-20 12:18 |
#5 Why are some being happily snarky about the government of a SE Asian country being handed over to an appeasement-minded Muslim? |
Posted by: JSU 2006-09-20 06:56 |
#4 Thai on the street hates Thaksin Guess that's why Thaksin won a landslide election victory in 2005 with more than 60% of votes cast. |
Posted by: phil_b 2006-09-20 04:50 |
#3 Naw, the military coup is a staple of Thai politics. They've been overdue for one... and your average Thai on the street hates Thaksin (as you say, for selling to foreigners). The army chiefs apparently have the backing of the King, and that's all the legitimacy anyone needs in Thailand. It's fait accompli. |
Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2006-09-20 01:36 |
#2 The 1.9 billion tax free was perfectly legal, the Thai SEC investigated and said so. The controversy is really about selling to foreigners (Singapore in this case). FWIW I think this coup against a duly elected head of government is going to end badly. |
Posted by: phil_b 2006-09-20 01:21 |
#1 I heard a rumor that the $1.9 BILLION (tax-free) that he pocketed from the sale of Shin telecom is still banked in Thailand. I suspect he'll have a real hard time accessing cash from a Manhattan hotel room! And I doubt he'll be very welcome back in Bangkok.... His best option right now is probably to start sucking up to Chavez, big time. |
Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2006-09-20 00:17 |