PM's intentions dubious

Postbag

Published: 27 Dec 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

I have no problem with changing our constitution, as the Constitutional Court has ruled that the 2007 version allows amendment by article. But the entire process must be transparent, including motives.

Thus, when PM Yingluck states ''We want to have a people's charter _ one that is in line with democracy'', a field of red flags should fly. For the current constitution, which she's fighting tooth and nail to revise, was endorsed by a majority of voters in a public referendum.

Although I wish there had been much more pre-election debate on the issues, if a relatively free and fair election is not democratic, I don't know what is.

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georgegod
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Discussion 12 : 28 Dec 2012 at 10.5912
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D3, whether or not the writer can or cannot afford the car is none of your business. Just because you are better off financially doesn't give you the right to criticize other people for doing something that is perfectly legitimate.
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loong
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Discussion 11 : 28 Dec 2012 at 00.2911
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Khun Burin, Very well said. I might add that this Puethai government is the fruit of this current Constitution which born by the last coup. It is not perfect but Puethai so determine to re-write it. Why spend 2,000 millions for public referendum? Is the cost justify the benefit of public at large? I don't think so. The parliament should be able to discuss pros and con on each article and amend it instead of re-writing the whole Constitution. For those that seek re-writing said that they can not accept the current Constitution because it was born by the coup, then the current government should be voided also.
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dao
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Discussion 10 : 27 Dec 2012 at 18.2810
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The car scheme is short sighted but so is the governemnt .
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lungstib
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Discussion 9 : 27 Dec 2012 at 14.489
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A word of warning for the first time car buyer in Songkla. If buying a car was previously impossible get ready for 1500b fuel refills, the lack of parking places and the inevitable traffic jams that leave you captured in the car instead of free to travel. I have given up cars, they came with too many problems. My life is now less stressful.
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bubbs
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Discussion 8 : 27 Dec 2012 at 10.528
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Disc 6. If in the US or the UK they have earned money from fraudulent or corrupt activities there is a damn sight more chance they would be brought to rights to pay for their crimes
In Thailand there cannot be a flat carpet anywhere in the country as everything has been swept under it
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commonman
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Discussion 7 : 27 Dec 2012 at 10.047
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Phil Hall - slight correction - we haven't reached that point, in over six hundred years we've never left that point.
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Fluxit
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Discussion 6 : 27 Dec 2012 at 09.016
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Re "Point of Many Returns"

The same could apply to most so called democratic governments, in particular the UK and the USA. In the UK both the cabinet and shadow cabinet are mainly made up of millionaires (50M.Baht).
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maunder
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Discussion 5 : 27 Dec 2012 at 08.285
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"US attorney-general John N Mitchell said: ''Watch what we do, not what we say.''" But that was before he was arrested for perjury!
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brilliant
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Discussion 4 : 27 Dec 2012 at 08.004
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steveyinasia - my understanding is that there are also stipulations tied to whether you even receive the rebated after 12 months. It might have been smarter of the government to do the rebate about 6 months before an election.
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steveyinasia
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Discussion 3 : 27 Dec 2012 at 07.233
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Grateful first time car owner, if you could not afford a car before, and as I understand it, the rebate comes after 12 months, how can you afford the car now? Will you struggle for the next 12 months only to see your rebate quickly absorbed to pay debts and then you are back to square one with the struggle.?
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PM's intentions dubious | Bangkok Post: opinion