Busted Brit MP blazes a trail for Thai politicians

COMMENTARY

Busted Brit MP blazes a trail for Thai politicians

Published: 8 Feb 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

A politician, actually a cabinet minister, had to prematurely give up his prestigious career after it was discovered that his wife, whom he later divorced, had faced a speeding charge for him.

No, this is not a Thai politician. How could you even think that?

No, this took place in England. The disgraced politician is Chris Huhne, an MP of the coalition government's Liberal Democrat party. He and his ex-wife were charged last year over an incident in March 2003 when his car was caught driving over the limit by a speed camera on the motorway between Stansted airport in Essex and London.

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tharua
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Discussion 16 : 11 Feb 2013 at 14.4716
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In response to Opiner; surely Thais get exactly the quality of representative they deserve, for their total lack of interest in politics and their unbelievable low ethical standards, MPs know they can basically flagrantly disregard any law they choose and the Thai public will meekly accept it, without word as many of them also enjoy the fruits of the very same corruption themselves, obviously on a smaller scale. MPs in Britain know they have to make a certain degree of effort to maintain their position, Thai MPs see it purely as a chance to enrich themselves.
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bennu
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Discussion 15 : 08 Feb 2013 at 19.4515
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The boring side of political life is often the more important one. Drive slowly, reach safely. Think of David Petraeus, former NATO general in Afghanistan, who last year had to step down as CIA chief after an extramarital affair with his biographer.
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mogy71
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Discussion 14 : 08 Feb 2013 at 19.2514
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Tcr disc8: I cannot think of one foreign nation that would be in the slightest bit bothered about what happens in Thai politics. They are all well aware it's a joke and as such don't give a fiddle.
I've always wondered if Chalerm or his people read the comments section in this paper....and if so what are his/their reactions to the obvious contempt which most of the pundits have for him.
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lungstib
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Discussion 13 : 08 Feb 2013 at 14.0913
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Sounds like politicians are being bad in both countries. But in Thailand they never admit it.
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buster
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Discussion 12 : 08 Feb 2013 at 12.2412
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There is more to it then the naked eye meets.
Thai 2 class system is debet to an increasing number of bearly qualified teammembers of a government whom all have one thing in common. there own agenda.avoid loosing public face and if you do denie.

Upperclass is growing , lowerclass gets worst of by the day and middleclass is crushed in between.
Ordinairy Thai people WE know, are loosing faith in system and law enforcement retreat to their premises and lock themselves up.

Do not disturb labels at the front door.
Politics is fading away fom it's electorate and they know it.
Time for a U-turn is my advise.
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opiner
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Discussion 11 : 08 Feb 2013 at 12.0011
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When the scandal over MPs fiddling expenses was rocking British politics a year or two ago, with some MPs going to jail for falsely claiming sums of just a million baht or so, and the British public being outraged by these offences committed by their democratic reprsentatives, I kept thinking to myself, you Brits don't know how lucky you are. Just look at Thailand where most MPs are known to fiddle and pocket vastly greater sums, day in, day out, with no problem whatsoever, and be thankful that you have pretty good representatives compared to most countries in the world, and especially Thailand.
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cowboykid
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Discussion 10 : 08 Feb 2013 at 10.1410
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I could not agree more with Discussion 1. Journalists and the news media do not have the luxury of sitting back and complaining about issues not being covered in the way that the general public might. The first duty of the journalist is to find truth and expose it. This is the job whether it is easy or hard, fast or slow, complicated or simple. Those in power are only held accountable by the spotlight and you control the focus. Point it where it should go and burn them like ants under the magnifying glass of the press.
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Pelegrino
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Discussion 9 : 08 Feb 2013 at 09.479
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There is no public discussion about cases like this. Maybe Bangkok Post publishes an editorial but on TV, which seems to be the first choice of media for most people you will hear not much. By the way: Germany has had over the last year "masses" of politicians who had to leave their position cause of copying their academic thesis, even the head of our country was forced to quit his job because he called the director of a magazin to stop them publishing an article. Following Thailands image in the world it seems, here a person who is rich and powerful enough, can do everything. Corruption is nothing specially Thai - but the way to handle is.
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tcr
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Discussion 8 : 08 Feb 2013 at 09.368
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Thailand's government is fast becoming the laughing stock of the world. Corrupt, untrustworthy, and greedy. They are elected by the people to work for the people. Not just to enrich themselves and get away with whatever they want. Very sad.

Thai's are so concerned about face, but allow this to happen. Crazy.
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tau
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Discussion 7 : 08 Feb 2013 at 08.037
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Any person who wants to be a minister must be clean of any convictions,a person that one could look up to,a person with morals standards,a person that is there for the people and not for him self.I wonder how many of them can be found in Thailand? Zero. What do yo think?
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Busted Brit MP blazes a trail for Thai politicians | Bangkok Post: opinion