November 14, 2024: Political rhetoric is usually boring, but when it comes from a man who has not officially said it for almost two decades, is delivered to his most diehard supporters, and all of it is against a backdrop of lingering legal restrictions, it’s well worth taking note.
In Udon Thani on Wednesday, Thaksin Shinawatra appeared on a legitimate political campaign stage for the first time since he was ousted and went into exile in the middle of 2000s. He was helping Pheu Thai promote a PAO (Provincial Administrative Organisation) candidate.
Here are some of possibly-remarkable sentences:
“There used to be times when they read what I wrote and (our candidates) won in landslides.”
“I have no right to influence my kid (Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra). I’m the kind of fathers who love their children so much that they let them influence them.”
“Prime Minister Ink (Paetongtarn) told me her outmost concern is about overwhelming debts of villagers. People are risking losing their homes and cars, the two things that are the most important in their lives. She said that in December the Thai people will know how the problem will solved.”
“Stay away from Laotian and Hanoi lotto. I have heard things. Keep your money for more fruitful investment.”
“While overseas, the only thought on my mind was the question how I could return home. To be able to do that _ paying utmost respect to the king, openly worshipping our religion and directly meeting you who support me _ fulfils my biggest wishes.”
“The world is changing. University degrees alone are nothing. Thai people have to be told to realise that. Thais need to realise that expertise and experiences are a lot more important than degrees. A true education reform is a must.”
Good news is that much of what he said is not bad. It’s quite good actually. Bad news is that every politician can say so with equal “sincerity.”
TrueVisions rocked by true blow
November 13, 2024: Don’t be surprised if contacted lately by TrueVisions’ telesales force, as membership of the cable and satellite television content provider is under threat due to failures to extend broadcast rights of the English Premier League.
It’s a seismic shift in the industry dominated by TrueVisions, which has been able to maintain its market control thanks largely to live football broadcast, mostly from Europe.
The superiority is coming to an end. The Thai telecom carrier Jasmine International Plc (JAS) has managed to outbid the existing broadcast-right holder to broadcast live English Premier League (EPL) football, thus seeking to attract more customers to its relatively-little-known streaming business.
It’s three seasons starting next year for certain. But JAS appears very able to extend its EPL broadcast rights for three more seasons. Three years is a heavy blow already when TrueVisions is concerned, but six years can be tantamount to a knock-out punch.
JAS will be spending some $560 million. Yet company insiders say fees will be fair and attractive, as the big boss is a football, specifically Liverpool, fanatic. He is wearing two hats in taking over the broadcast right _ one as a businessman and the other as a football fan. The football fan hat has played a bigger role, they claim.
TrueVisions members have been receiving calls from sales persons of the losing company, offering all kinds of attractive “packages”. When all the dots are connected, a major campaign to hold onto current members, many of them drawn to TrueVisions primarily because of football, is anything but a surprise. Its mother company is already staring at massively-reduced paid phone usage as more and more smartphone users are switching to free calls, businesses like providing internet service and selling TV content are becoming more and more important.
Some best legal brains face formidable nemeses
November 12, 2024: The “Lawyer Tam” scandal allegedly involves some of the best-laid deceitful plans, which are now up against the fast-evolving investigative skills of the mainstream TV media and social media. Who will come out on top remains to be seen.
Just like the iCon Group controversy, the “Lawyer Tam” case is unfolding at an unprecedentedly-fast pace. Just days after a billionaire woman accused famous lawyer Sittra Biabangkerd of defrauding her of a large sum of money, he, his wife and two people allegedly close to him have been arrested, the couple’s assets frozen and their houses searched.
The iCon Group and Sittra crackdowns, if inevitable, had been unthinkable when their lightning-quick developments are taken into account. Usually, it took months for the police to formulate cases strong enough to “summon” high-society people, let alone capture them without advanced notifications.
Much credit must go to the TV news outlets and the social media. They dug up supposed “evidence”, asked justified questions, found potentially-related incidents that the police investigators might not have looked at, talked to people that might not have featured in official probes, and added value to whatever is discovered without caring who discovered it.
The whole world is witnessing a dramatic shift in “investigative” coverages, which used to be an exclusive hallmark of the print media. In this era, when TV news outlets need to compete minute by minute, there is no chance for the print media’s “embedding” investigative strategy that used to give them one piece of major evidence after a month or two.
Today, if one TV network goes to a previously-ignored house in the morning, another network must locate a formerly-unheard-of “witness” by noon.
And with overwhelming “evidence” coming in rapid cascade, the police have no choice but to act accordingly.
Trump arrival could revive “Deep State” myth
November 11, 2024: One of the most mysterious political terms ever coined may stop being a taboo and be openly talked about by the mainstream media in America and across the world.
Today CNN used “Deep State” as a blurb of a main story. The words had often been whispered about in the past, and to see them as a teaser of a homepage lead story of a major news organisation hits right between the eyes.
CNN was talking about the possibility of a Trump purge of the American bureaucracy, which he had reportedly suggested was crawling with people implementing Deep State ideas. According to the network, a lot of permanent employees could lose their jobs and America could return to the “spoils” system in which the bureaucracy was formed largely not by merits but by political leanings.
CNN reported that “feeling of dread” was spreading across the entire bureaucratic workforce. That means it’s not a one-off reporting on the Deep State subject. The myth would possibly be revisited and widely addressed by the mainstream media.
Deep State is, allegedly, a secret network of powers (ultra-lucrative and far-reaching businesses, military and intelligence groups and top levels in key industries like finance. Mind you, some media moguls are in on it as well.) It exists, allegedly, in other countries, too, coordinating and laying down grand plans from within covert societies like ones in Dan Brown novels.
In America, Deep State rumours have it that the presidency is just a show, because utmost-important directions associated with American hegemony, wars and economic as well as cultural supremacy are influenced or initiated by such a secret and powerful network and promoted subtly but effectively and patiently through various means including movies. Allegedly, “Deep State” dictates what the government should and should not do and can resort to extreme measures when all else fails.
The term “Deep State” has been a taboo, of course, and most mainstream intellectuals are still laughing at it. But, said CNN, “Trump, who has derided civil servants as agents of the ‘Deep State’, promised on the campaign trail to reinstate a 2020 executive order known as Schedule F, giving him the power to commence mass firings of nonpartisan federal employees who might spoil Trump’s partisan plan.”
As we can see, there is no way to avoid discussing “Deep State” in future coverages of the massive job threat. Trump’s alleged obsession with “Deep State” has been well documented. He features in a Wikipedia article on the controversial subject.
Strange days
November 10, 2024: This is a world where billions of chickens live in torturous environment 24 hours a day until they are big enough to be fried by global food companies using the animals’ happy cartoony characters as their logos, and where the internet goes up in flame when a black cat is treated allegedly badly by a TV drama production crew.
How much horror does it take for human beings to be able to live peaceful and noble lives? In other words, how many animals have to live and die violently every day to maintain a status quo that many people are not even aware of?
Make no mistake, the black cat uproar is what should happen. But as everyone sympathises with the poor animal, spare a thought for the countless numbers of cows, chicken, pigs, fish and etc that suffer unimaginably day in and day out to give us strength to complain about animal cruelty. According to one estimate, from the time you start reading this to the time you get to this line, some 150,000 chickens have been slaughtered.
Why does it take so long to call US House?
November 9, 2024: First thing first, they say everybody is advised to put aside the traditional belief that the longer vote-counting takes, the higher the chance of something fishy going on.
It is also recommended that everyone should forget about technological advancement of America when it comes to counting the lower House votes. Forget that Thailand took just four or five hours after the ballot booths closed nationwide to know which party won how many seats in the 500-member House of Representatives.
Like Thailand’s, the US House, which has 435 members, wields crucial legislative power. It can stall various Donald Trump’s agendas. The House importance has increased exponentially after Kamala Harris lost. The Republicans will be over the moon if they manage the unified control of the presidency, US Senate and US House.
As this is being written (Saturday, 10.45 am Bangkok time), the Republicans are six seats away from such a total dominance. Trump has won and they have had the Senate majority. But it will be long, tortuous wait to see if they can get to 218 House seats, and their worst nightmare is still possible.
The future of federal power will be determined by the remaining uncalled House races across the country. The Republicans have won several seats in battleground states and currently are leading in enough districts to hold onto their pre-election House majority.
Do the Democrats still have a chance of gaining the House majority? Possible but very difficult. Their current leads in uncalled races will not get them enough seats. They need more wins.
US mainstream media (some of them, of course) say patience is a virtue. They explain that dozens of seats are in competitive districts, meaning many races can be too close to call for days. Absentee and provisional ballots need to be counted, recounted, checked and rechecked. One recent House campaign in Iowa, it is said, came down to just a six-vote difference.
In other words, the longer, the fairer. Thailand’s Election Commission, take note.
Tough job of political speech writers in America
November 8, 2024: Kamala Harris’ speech writers have had one extremely difficult mission. They must make her look like a gracious loser but subtly maintain that democracy remains under threat and the presidential election earlier this week is a proper democratic exercise that everyone must accept although it did not quite solve the problem.
This is what came out, which on the surface was not a bad concession statement delivered to her supporters: “Let me say my heart is full today. My heart is full today, full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country, and full of resolve.
“The outcome of this election was not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say the light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting."
“I am so proud of the race we ran and the way we ran it. Over the 107 days of this campaign, we have been intentional about building community and building coalitions, bringing people together from every walk of life and background, united by love of country with enthusiasm and joy in our fight for America's future. And we did it with the knowledge that we all have so much more in common than what separates us.
“A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle as much as any other distinguishes democracy from monarchy and tyranny, and anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.”
She said Americans owe loyalty not to the president but to the Constitution, their conscience and God.
“My allegiance to all three is why I am here today — to say while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” she said, pledging to continue fighting for democracy, the rule of law and equal justice.
She (or her speech writers) was right in suggesting that American democracy is not perfect. How far from perfect she didn’t say. And neither did she say who has made it imperfect against the will of the Constitution, against good conscience and against the will of God.
What Lawyer Tam and Boss Paul have in common
November 7, 2024: One has been denied bail and the other must be praying he will not face the similar fate. That is the major difference between iCon Group head Waratphon Waratvorakul and famous lawyer Sittra Biabangkerd which may cease to exist depending on breaking developments.
Similarities between the two have already been striking. Both are youthful and good looking. Both are rich, more or less questionably. They have relied a lot on feel-good images in doing what they allegedly did. They told everyone they only wanted to help people who would not have been helped. They have had credible voices to back them up.
Those are a good formula for success whatever their plans really were. Sittra’s arrest today is shocking, but so was Waratphon’s a few days ago. The sudden turns of their fates after just a few tumultuous days in the news are seriously affecting beautiful reputations they built over the years.
The swift police action admittedly turned public opinions against them even more. Now, all the luxurious possessions have stopped being admired and are going through a lot of legal and social scrutiny. More importantly, their high-profile lives have led many to ask “Would the police have arrested them without strong evidence, considering their fames and social statuses?”
If only the Thai police were consistent in carrying out their duties in complete disregard for political and social clouts.
Who’s won _ Democracy or its biggest enemy?
November 6, 2024: A correct, unequivocal and reasonable answer to that question will get you a political science doctoral degree anywhere on earth.
Some will say democracy won. When about 140 million Americans (give or take) have excercised their rights to choose a president under a political model lauded by much of the world, what else can you say is the victor?
Yet again, many of the voters and the current White House will say democracy has been defeated by its greatest threat. A criminal convict-cum-demagogue has simply lied his way to the presidency, they virtually are saying.
But if the “Democracy has been hijacked” camp is right, the model must be seriously wrong requiring a big revamp then. By the same token, if the “People have spoken” half is right, what filthy idea has been injected into American public and the rest of the world during the past four years? Was what democracy told us over the years a truth or a lie (assuming what was speaking to us was democracy, not something else)?
What’s your thoughts?
What if there was no MoU 44?
November 5, 2024: Overlapping claims lead to wars. This fact started on the Day One of humanity. Some of the latest examples are Gaza and parts of Ukraine, and the South China Sea will remain one of the world’s hottest spots forever.
Religiously or politically, innocent people will suffer when conflicting claimants clash. Cue energy resources and/or tourism and the problem is multiplied by a hundred.
This is why they came up with the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), a virtual “agree to disagree in the meantime” formula designed to guard against bloodshed and prevent a disputed area from becoming a totally-useless no man’s land.
The Paetongtarn government should have been asked to do constructive things, not annoy the neighbor just for the sake of national pride. Scrapping MoU 44 is not much more than a nationalistic move, and a risky one as well whether a roller-coaster bilateral relationship is taken into account or not.
The Thai conservatives have forgotten one thing. They have their Cambodian counterparts, too, and both sides are saying the exact same thing: The Kut island is ours.
If they were still alive, the dinosaurs which lived there before anyone would be laughing their heads off.
Bank of Thailand controversy can boggle the mind
November 4, 2024: Both advocates and opponents of total “independence” of the central bank from politics can always find a scenario supporting their causes.
But, strange as it seems, they share the biggest argument: What if the central bank is totally inefficient or absolutely corrupt or both?
In other words, a “totally-independent” central bank can be totally inefficient or absolutely corrupt if run by bad people, and the same can happen to a central bank interfered by politicians who take turn gaining state power.
The current controversy revolving around the imminent appointment of a new Bank of Thailand chair has to do with the chicken-and-egg puzzle. Politicians are saying “Look, what’s the point of democracy if the government can’t implement budgetary or monetary policies election winners had promised the people?”. The other side is saying “What will happen to national wealth if today’s election winners implement their monetary plans at will only to lose in the next election to be won by someone who is totally opposed to the plans?”
What’s your thoughts?
Paetongtarn threatens to pull away in popularity race
November 3, 2024: There is no way to get rid of political biases in opinion polls, but when different pollsters start spotting the same significant change, it’s worth taking note.
Dusit Poll has somehow detected an unlikely development found earlier by NIDA pollsters. Both surveys _ one arguable and the other quite obvious _ have Paetongtarn Shinawatra ahead of any prime ministerial candidate in terms of popularity. Pheu Thai suffered a heavy image setback when it decided to join hands with the conservatives after last year’s general election, so Paetongtarn exceeding expectations in the latest popularity checks is a considerable surprise.
Dusit pollsters surveyed more than 2,130 Thais during the last week of last month. It was not a direct popularity contest between Paetongtarn and opposition leader Natthaphong Ruangpanyawut of the People’s Party, but nearly 53% think she is the most outstanding politician on the government side, while he receives 37.8% support as the most outstanding opposition figure.
Natthaphong’s closest popularity rival in the opposition bloc is someone at the same party, Sirikanya Tansakun, who breaths down his neck with more than 34%. Paetongtarn’s closest government rival is Anutin Charnvirakul who receives only 26.4%.
Weeks ago, NIDA found a similar trend. Paetongtarn, brand-new prime minister at the time, shot to the first place in its popularity survey covering 2,000 people, coinciding with the “first-phase” Digital Wallet launch. She received more than 31% support, comfortably leaving Natthaphong, a new face, behind.
In that survey, Natthaphong came third with almost 23% backing. Very interesting in the NIDA survey was what was between the man and the woman. Up to 23.50 % of the people surveyed said there was no suitable leader for Thailand at the moment.
A lot of academic language accompanies Dusit pollsters’ presentation of their latest findings, but to sum it up in layman’s terms: Paetongtarn must have done something right during the big flooding and the opposition had better start delivering a good performance beyond the parliamentary floor.
One more straw could land on badly-strained camel’s back
November 2, 2024: Don’t let news from America occupy all the attention this week, because what happens at the Thai Central Bank can be very impactful politically, too.
Both events _ the US presidential election and the Bank of Thailand’s appointment of a new chair _ can easily become a slow-motion car crash. Or the opposite, quick-paced turmoil to be specific, can happen.
A Pheu Thai loyalist and proven critic of the central bank governor is joining a couple other candidates to compete for chair of the Bank of Thailand, and the conclusion could come around the same time as the election of the new American president. Kittiratt Na-Ranong and Pheu Thai can deny a conspiracy but a big army of critics are warning against political interference in the Bank of Thailand, some with thinly-veiled threats of a political uprising.
Pheu Thai has been pushing the BOT. Digital Wallet, interest rate cuts and frequent prime ministerial criticism. You name it. But in pushing the BOT, Pheu Thai is also pushing the conservatives, who are their reluctant allies and thus have had to grit their teeth and bear the appointments of Srettha Thavisin and Paetongtarn Shinawatra, start of the Digital Wallet Programme, reversal of the cannabis policy and vocal support for constitutional amendment.
Kittiratt’s possible appointment in a normal political circumstance would be already tumultuous, let alone in this highly-unusual atmosphere. Don’t rule out vociferous street protests, which may form quicker than those organised by supporters of the loser in the United States.
.When an apostrophe might come to the rescue
November 1, 2024: You can call your political opponent garbage, but never his or her supporters. That’s why the White House is working at full throttle trying to repair damage caused by a very recent Joe Biden remark.
And it was just a few days before the presidential election, too. Which makes his administration’s hectic move highly understandable.
Biden was reacting to a comedian who referred to Puerto Rico at a Donald Trump rally as an “island of garbage”. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” he was originally quoted as saying, prompting a major Republican backlash and sending Trump to ride on a garbage truck in a follow-up campaign.
Kamala Harris is distancing herself from Biden’s controversial remark, of course.
Immigration is a big electoral issue and the Democrats are relying a lot of non-white votes, but the “garbage” remark is too damaging for comfort, especially when America’s political divide is volcanic.
The White House later released a transcript of what Biden said that included an apostrophe. “Supporters” became “supporter’s”.
You be the judge on whether the apostrophe made sense. Here’s Biden full sentence in the official transcript: “The only garbage I see floating out there is [Trump's] supporter’s… his demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American.”
This is what all media networks reported initially: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Considering Biden, who used to call a senior journalist “stupid son of a bitch” in a hot mic incident, if the garbage remark was meant to be blanket, it’s not a total jaw-dropper. But the apostrophe came straight from the White House so it’s absolutely up to you what to believe.
Whatever your assumption is, Trump is now giving rally speeches in a garbage collector outfit.
Daily updates of local and international events by Tulsathit Taptim
