Tag: Thaksin Shinawatra

Gen. Pornpipat Benyasri, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, told reporters the ex-premier lost his Chakdao medal in accordance with the military’s regulations, which call for awards to be rescinded if recipients “fail to deserve the honor.” “The media and Thai people may already know that answer from many websites and social media,” Pornpipat said when asked why Thaksin lost the award. “But it disturbs the ethics and values of the armed forces is any action that amounts to insulting and disrespecting higher entities.” Gen. Pornpipat did not elaborate, though the term “disrespecting higher entities” is sometimes used as a euphemism to describe hostility toward the monarchy. Thaksin, enrolled at the academy before his stint as a police officer, won the award in 1991. The former leader retains immense popularity among supporters in Thailand despite being ousted in a 2006 coup. He was later found guilty of corruption in 2008, but fled the country shortly before the verdict was handed out, citing the ruling was politically motivated. Thaksin lashed out at Sunday’s election by calling it “rigged” in favor of the junta. Writing in an op-ed to the New York Times from Hong Kong, the ex-premier said there were numerous allegations of fraud during the votes. Gen. Pornpipat said Thaksin was not stripped of the medal because of his criticism. He also said the timing has nothing to do with the current political situation. “Things can be fast and slow.

Prayuth Chan-ocha became prime minister in a very Thai way: He led a military coup. Now after five years of running Thailand with absolute power, he's seeking to hold on to the top job through the ballot box. He wants to return as a prime minister under normal politics." He promised elections and then delayed them every year he was in power. He's worn increasingly well-tailored suits — for which his wife takes credit — and, as pressure for an election mounted, largely transformed himself into the Thai equivalent of your typical baby-kissing politician. They could not accept the rise of billionaire politician Thaksin Shinawatra, whose populist policies after being elected prime minister in 2001 threatened to unravel the country's long-established power structure: Bangkok-oriented, devoted to the monarchy and safeguarded by the military. In October that year, he became the army commander-in-chief. After abandoning a sham effort to mediate between the Thaksin-backed government and its opponents who had been staging violent protests against it, Prayuth and the leaders of the other armed forces announced they were seizing power on May 22, 2014. Prayuth and his junta spelled out their major tasks, including brokering national reconciliation and enacting reforms across Thai society to save the nation from what it said was the inherent corruption of politicians. Early last year he made it clear, telling reporters: "I am no longer a soldier.

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday is expected to dissolve Thai Raksa Chart following the party's shock nomination of Princess Ubolratana which later failed. Some members of Thai Raska Chart came from the Pheu Thai party," he said. 'Total control' Parties connected to Thaksin, a telecoms tycoon, have dominated Thai politics for nearly two decades. Pheu Thai won the last elections in 2011 but was usurped by a coup three years later when the current military government - the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) - seized power from Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of Thaksin. Thai Rak Thai Party, Pheu Thai's predecessor, was dissolved in 2007 following the removal of Thaksin in a coup a year earlier. After taking control of the country and tightening the military's hold over politics, General Prayuth Chan-ocha is now trying to also become an elected prime minister through the Phalang Pracharat Party. The military will appoint a panel to select all 250 members of the upper house so only 126 elected members would need to support Prayuth as prime minister and extend the military's hold on power. Like Future Forward, Pheu Thai's "Next Gen" and the Democrats "New Dem" social media campaigns are targeting young Thai voters with videos and messages. The 22-year-old made headlines in 2016 after a public spat with Prayuth over his refusal to kowtow along with other university students before a statue of King Rama V. "I will go campaigning to get more people to vote," he told Al Jazeera. "I support the democratic camp.

The country’s economy grew at a faster pace in the fourth quarter than the previous three months, as local demand helped to offset a slide in exports, but Thailand's ongoing political divide is again threatening the economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 3.7% from a year ago, up from a revised 3.2% in the third quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) said on Monday. GDP rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three months, higher than the 0.7% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. As exports wane, consumer spending and private investment are relative bright spots. Foreign direct investment as a share of the economy has declined during a more than decade-long power struggle between exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra and the military and royalist elite. Thaksin or his allies have won every election since 2001, only to be unseated by the courts or the military. The push to disband the Thaksin-linked Thai Raksa Chart Party over a failed bid to make Princess Ubolrat its prime ministerial candidate lays bare deep splits ahead of the election, the first since a coup in 2014. The unfolding drama is a reminder of Thailand’s cycle of polls, unrest and military intervention since 2006. Forecasters such as the World Bank expect rising private consumption and investment in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy to fill much of the gap from easing exports this year. The Bank of Thailand, which kept its benchmark rate unchanged this month after the first hike in seven years in December, has said its “accommodative” monetary policy would remain appropriate in the period ahead.

Aftershock follows earthquake as Thai king stops his sister entering politics 10 Feb, 2019 11:37am 4 minutes to read A Thai political party swore loyalty to the king, a day after its stunning decision to nominate the monarch's sister as its candidate for prime minister backfired when the king called the move inappropriate and unconstitutional. The statement of fealty comes as the country ponders a whirlwind in which Princess Ubolratana Mahidol broke with tradition proscribing the monarchy's involvement with politics to become a candidate for the Thai Raksa Chart Party. Then her brother, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, invalidated her action with a late night order. Thailand's March 24 election will be the country's first since a 2014 military coup put in place a junta determined to reshape the political system to eradicate the influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose allies have won every national election since 2001. Thaksin was ousted by the military in a 2006 coup, and the country's establishment has spent more than a decade trying to neuter his political machine through court rulings, constitutional rewrites and other changes to the electoral system. But Thaksin's popularity made the country's Bangkok-based establishment uneasy and some saw his popularity as a threat to the monarchy itself. Vajiralongkorn's order stressed that Thailand's constitution insists that the king and those around him stay above politics, and the principles of democratic government also put politics off-limits. It directly addressed the point that his sister was a member of the royal family even though her formal royal titles had been lifted decades ago when she married a foreigner. Her association with the monarchy was seen as making it difficult for royalists in Parliament, which picks the prime minister, to vote against her. Prayuth had been considered the front-runner, because changes in constitutional law and election rules were implemented by his government to make it difficult for political parties without military backing to capture the post.

"If the election is a trick on the people, Thais will march and not accept it." A military-drafted 2017 constitution aims to prevent the opposition Pheu Thai party from returning to office -- and ensure the army will continue to have a say in the country's future, no matter who wins the election. The rule of Prayut Chan-o-cha, the military coup leader turned prime minister, has been marked with increased repression, activists say. "Ongoing repression means that voters, political parties and the media in Thailand will have their arms twisted and their mouths gagged in the lead-up to the election." "He desperately wants to be the premiership, this is about his personal ambition," Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor at Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies, told CNN. The phrase 'history repeats itself' has taken on a new meaning in Thailand, a nation that has seen a dozen successful coups since 1932. His sister, former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, was kicked out just before Prayut's coup in 2014, following six months of civil unrest and violent street protests. It appears a new Shinawatra generation could be about to make its mark. After the military lifted a ban on political campaigning in December, a host of smaller parties appeared, including Pheu Dharmma and Thai Raksa Chart, with many Pheu Thai members joining their ranks. "Now the atmosphere has changed and young people are more aware," 21-year-old LGBTQ activist and Future Forward party member Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree told CNN.