Thaksin - " the country faces "a nightmare" unless it respects democracy and the rule of law."

Thaksin uses blog to demand rule of Law

Thailand's former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has intervened via a blog to warn that the country faces "a nightmare" unless it respects democracy and the rule of law.

In a wide-ranging and carefully timed intervention he said that public officials were failing in their duty of carry out the orders of the democratically elected government.

The decision to take to the internet to intervene in Thai politics reveals how Thaksin no longer believes the Thai media would accurately represent his point of view.

It also underlines the importance of messaging to core supporters during a period of extreme uncertainty in the high stakes Thai political crisis.

Speaking to the Thomas Crampton blog he said the army must also obey the government orders as ministers seek to re-open Bangkok's besieged airports.


“They are officials whose salary is paid by taxpayer money, so they have to do what is wanted by the whole of the Thai people, not just for minority groups," he said.

"They must respect Democracy. They must play by the rules. Being neutral means you have to observe the law.”

Thaksin is currently exiled from the country he once governed as a result of a series of criminal convictions against both he and his wife.

He also demanded that the People's Alliance for Democracy leave the airports and allow international air traffic back into the Thai capital.

“The airports must be reopened and the protesters must respect not only the law, but the citizens of Thailand,” Thaksin said. “If no one respects the law, then law enforcement must be done.”

“This is dangerous for the country and there will be a long term effect if the Thai people are not united. The protesters need to leave the airports. Those who violate the law must be prosecuted."

The former premier also warned that the country could descend into civil war in the military attempted to stage another coup.

“If a coup were to happen, there would be bloodshed, this would not be an easy coup like in the past.

"The people in Thailand now face hardship since dictatorship came.”

Thaksin's online intervention led to a rapid exchange of views at the online blog.

Over 300 respondents posted comments, forcing Crampton to close the initial thread on the discussion forum.

The intervention also sparked angry exchages, with some respondents accusing Crampton of being paid by Thaksin for the platform to air his views.

Crampton denied that he had been paid, and also rejected claims he had paid Thaksin for the interview.

In a Twitter Update Crampton admitted that the interview was controversial.

"My Thaksin interview now has 314 comments in my blog and 191 on my YouTube channel. People are passionate about the man," he said.

- PublicAffairsAsia.com

PHUKET PLANE CRASH TOLL MOUNTS

Latest update :

Services at Phuket International Airport were suspended while airport workers and emergency personnel cleared the runway of wreckage in the aftermath of the horrendous crash of a budget passenger airliner Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the unofficial death toll rose to 88, with 42 persons injured, and mainly hospitalised.

Before leaving Bangkok for Phuket together with many senior officials of the ministry, Thailand's Deputy Minister of Transport Sansern Wongcha-um on Sunday evening said that the airport in the southern province is expected to resume operations on Monday morning, at 6 am.

About 1,000 passengers could not travel after four flights were cancelled: three Bangkok-bound and the fourth for Hong Kong


PHUKET PLANE CRASH TOLL MOUNTS
Bangkok Post

A One-To-Go Airlines passenger jet with 128 people aboard crashed and burned while landing at Phuket Airport in foul weather Sunday afternoon. Phuket deputy governor Vorapot Rajsima said 88 people were confirmed dead.

At least 29 people were confirmed to have survived, including two Australians.

"Nearly half the passengers were foreign tourists," said one survivor, Nong Khaonuan. In a TV interview, he said. "I've flown on many airplanes before and I can say there was something strange about our landing. We seemed to drop down too fast."

There was hope that many survived after TiTV showed two foreigners being carried away to local hospital. But the fire that ripped through the crashed aircraft apparently claimed dozens of lives.

The MD82 plane of the budget airline skidded off the runway after landing on a flight from Don Muang airport in Bangkok, and crashed into trees, bursting into fire.

"The fire was throughout the airplane," said Phuket Deputy Governor Worraphot Ratsrimaa. "We expect that at least 90 per cent of the passengers died."

"The plane was landing and slid off the runway. We are rescuing people and carrying injured people to hospitals," said Pol Lt Sokchai Limcharoen, a police officer in the area in an early report.

Chaisak Angsuwan, director general of the Air Transport Authority of Thailand said the aircraft broke in two as it attempted to land at Phuket airport in bad weather.

Chaisak said that there was heavy rain when flight OG269 of parent Orient Thai Airways traveling from Bangkok's Don Muang airport to Phuket attempted to make a landing. Planes in both Orient Thai and One-Two-Go livery use the OG flight identifier.

"The visibility was poor as the pilot attempted to land. He decided to make a go-around but the plane lost balance and crashed,". he said. "The plane then fell onto the runway and broke into two. It is expected that there will be deaths.

"The airplane asked to land but due to the weather in Phuket -strong wind and heavy rain -maybe the pilot did not see the runway clearly," said Chaisak.

Witnesses said the airline was using its usual MD-82 twin-engine passenger jet aircraft, a model of the McDonnell-Douglas DC9. One-Two-Go owned seven such planes, which it used for frequent flights around Thailand, including six each day from Bangkok to Phuket and return.

Airport officials and rescue workers are still working to help the victims from the plane which caught fire after it crashlanded and skidded off the runway.

Authorities said there were 123 passengers and five crew members on board when the plane crashed at about 3:35pm Sunday afternoon.

Weather in Phuket has been bad for several days, with thunderstorms and high wind gusts at times.

Thailand : Buddhism the state religion, a “useless and dangerous” proposal

Monks hold protests, urging the Constitutional Assembly to recognise Buddhism as the national religion, “to preserve and improve the profession the faith”. The population, politicians and religious, maintain that the proposal is both useless and dangerous and warn: “it could aggravate tensions in the South”.

The proposal to insert Buddhism as the state religion within the new Constitution, currently being finalized, has little support among Thai people. The proposal was put forward by monks from the Buddhism Promotion Foundation and the Buddhism Protection Centre of Thailand, who have been peacefully rallying before Parliament in Bangkok for the past ten days in efforts to pressure the Constitutional Assembly, (CDA) to “protect Buddhism”, by elevating it to the ranks of a National Religion, within the Constitution.

The monks appeal has re-awakened a ten year old debate. The front pages of the main newspapers speak of little else. Even if the CDA has promised to evaluate the request, the chances that it will come to pass are few. Noranit Sethabutr, Chief of CDA appealed to the protesters “ may I suggest all Buddhists to reconsider their request and listen to other people faiths as they were also Thai”. Yesterday an advisor to interim premier Surayud Chulanont, also warned of the grave risks this proposal ran: it could aggravate tensions in the Southern provinces, where relations between the Muslim and Buddhist communities are already strained”.

Neither are the monks and people of the countryside in favour of this move; many feel that the recognition of Buddhism as a state religion “will do little to guarantee the correct practice of Buddha’s teachings”. Out of a total population of 62.8, 95% are Buddhist with 4% Muslim and 1% other including Christian. There are only 300,000 Catholics in Thailand including hill tribe inhabitants.

Saknarin Keun-onn, the youngest CDA member, has invited the protesters to see the positive aspects of the future constitution, which aims to “guarantee a greater participation for the people of the nation in the country’s political life”.

In order to be approved, a draft text of the Constitution will have to pass a referendum vote due to take place in September.
(AsiaNews IT)


Related Topics

Thais Debate Making Buddhism the State Religion - Asia Sentinel
Junta backs call for state religion - Bangkok Post
Buddhism Was Never A Thai State Religion! So, What Are Those Fanaticism About?- Nation Weblog