Our ministry of bungled affairs

EDITORIAL

Published: 23/08/2011 at 02:37 AM
Newspaper section: News

The attempt to impeach Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul even before he began his official duties, is a good reminder of how quickly fortunes can turn. New Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been sworn in, and finally will get down to work this week. She has a long list of election promises to keep, and an even longer agenda of urgent problems to attend to. Month-long killer floods, troublesome inflation and disagreement with the Bank of Thailand over basic policy are just a few of the woes she will be wading into. She could hardly have thought that a visa request for her brother would become her biggest political problem.

The exact chain of events leading to a visa to Japan for Thaksin Shinawatra is opaque and disputed. Unfortunately for the public, no written record of conversations or communications have appeared. In essence, Mr Surapong says the ambassador of Japan asked if it would be all right to give a visa to Thaksin, and he said "yes". Democrat Party and opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has turned up a comment to the contrary by Yukio Edano, chief secretary to the Japanese cabinet. According to Mr Abhisit, Mr Edano has confirmed that the government approached Japanese authorities to request the visa.

The difference is crucial, but may be legally unprovable. Indeed, by filing charges against Mr Surapong, Mr Abhisit and his party may have gone beyond their duties. Of course, the Democrats are motivated not only by the legal claim that the government is shirking its duty to pursue and extradite a convicted fugitive back to Thailand. Long-standing political scores remain to be settled. Not the least of them is Mr Abhisit's own ill-considered decision to take on Kasit Piromya as his foreign minister in 2008, and then spend huge political and economic capital in futile pursuit of Thaksin.

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ricefield
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Discussion 7 : 23/08/2011 at 10:12 AM7
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The Democrats since their loss to the PTP reminds me of the Peter Sellers Skit - Party Political Speech.
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bkposter
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Discussion 6 : 23/08/2011 at 10:10 AM6
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Re: D3.....no truer or more concise words have ever been spoken!

If the Democrats had spent even a fraction of the time working on the countries problems rather than having spent virtually all their time and energy trying to persecute their life time political rival they might of actually accomplished something during their term in power. Instead they abused their power on this issue and paid the price... in the election the people said no thank you!
As the article states and as I have also read in many places most foreign governments did not take the charges very seriously and indeed looked at them as an obsessive political vendetta by the PAD.
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thaiteen
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Discussion 5 : 23/08/2011 at 09:38 AM5
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"For god's sake man, she has not yet even begun and the democrats and a few others as well as the MSM have joined hands in denigrating her and preventing her as much as possible for doing anything. Do not mislead people into thinking this is not exactly what the intention is; keep Yingluck so much on the defensive she cannot govern."

Well now you know what AV feels like with the reds (and anti_AV bashers) breathing on his back all the time. And don't tell me he was undemocratically appointed as caretaker PM.
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johninbkk
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Discussion 4 : 23/08/2011 at 09:18 AM4
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"Thaksin himself could help by stopping his incessant publicity-hounding."
It was AV who brought this to the media, and it is the TS-obsessed media that reported it. Who's really hounding the publicity?

"Ms Yingluck will have to help herself by distancing herself from Big Brother and showing honest leadership."
Again, the author repeats what AV just said yesterday. I rest my case.
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Victor
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Discussion 3 : 23/08/2011 at 08:40 AM3
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Making mountain out of a mole hill is the Democrats' specialty.
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abbub
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Discussion 2 : 23/08/2011 at 08:16 AM2
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- "The solution to the problem of "the minister from the PAD" would have been for Mr Kasit to resign....he was unable to function properly as the foreign minister...personal, rude tirades against PM Hun Sen of Cambodia...archived on YouTube...haunted Thai-Cambodian relations through the deaths of soldiers and civilians...his personal ties to the PAD...countries took his pursuit of Thaksin with caution or even disdain".

Where was the BP WHILE HE WAS FM! A bit ate to be open and straight-forward. The time to write this was when the previous government was running the show. More unbiased reporting could have helped change the course of Thai politics, and history for the better.

- "In the end, Ms Yingluck will have to help herself by distancing herself from Big Brother and showing honest leadership."

For god's sake man, she has not yet even begun and the democrats and a few others as well as the MSM have joined hands in denigrating her and preventing her as much as possible for doing anything. Do not mislead people into thinking this is not exactly what the intention is; keep Yingluck so much on the defensive she cannot govern.
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airborne
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Discussion 1 : 23/08/2011 at 07:38 AM1
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" She could hardly have thought that a visa request for her brother would become her biggest political problem."

A suggestion for the lovely PM: When making a decision always think of the worst thing that can happen and assume that it will.
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