BangkokPundit

In a previous post which partly critique the view of   The Nation ‘s Avudh who stated that the  small parties, notably Chart Thai Pattana, Chart Pattana Puea Pandin and Bhum Jai Thai would win 45 of the 125 party vote. In response, BP wrote: BP’s ‘complaint’ is the undervaluing of the two...
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In the lead-up to the July 3 election, BP has blogged on a number of polls as follows (from oldest to newest): The E-san poll, as blogged about here and here , which surveyed all 20 provinces in the Northeast which looked at who those surveyed would cast their party vote for (Puea...
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The Nation : Kaewsun Atibodhi, a law expert and former member of the post-coup Assets Examination Committee (AEC), said yesterday he moved against Pheu Thai Party’s top candidate Yingluck Shinawatra because she was seeking to help her brother Thaksin “whitewash” his wrongdoings. Instead of feeling remorse after the Supreme Court seized billions of...
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The below photoshopped image has been doing the rounds of Facebook: BP : Clearly, this is a photoshopped image – as the real Yingluck would only ever hold up one finger – imposing Abhisit and Yingluck’s faces of what appears to be Ken Teeradej and Chris Horwang, the actor and actress who starred...
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Abhisit in an interview with Reuters : In an interview with Reuters, he dismissed Yingluck as simply a “new face” and political novice with impractical policies who would be a proxy for her brother. “Yingluck is new on the scene. You always get a bit of a bounce … and the media always...
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A few days ago, the New York Times has a brief profile on Yingluck and some comments on the Thai election. Key excerpts: Her campaign represents an extraordinary resurrection for Mr. Thaksin, the most divisive personality in the country. He was pronounced politically dead by many analysts after the coup, and he remains...
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Last night, Thai Army C-in-C was “interviewed” on Thai TV. From what BP understand this interview first aired on Channel 7 and then the exact same interview was later aired on Channel 5. Both Channels are owned by the military/army. BP has only seen the interview on Channel 5 so can only speak...
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So AP has the Wikileaks cables on Thailand as is clear from their latest story “US envoy in 2009 forecast rise of Thaksin’s sister”. Some key excerpts: U.S. diplomats concluded as early as 2009 that the surprise front-runner to become Thailand’s next prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, had a “bright future” despite a low...
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In the lead-up to the July 3 election, BP has blogged on a number of polls as follows: The E-san poll, as blogged about  here and  here , which surveyed all 20 provinces in the Northeast which looked at who those surveyed would cast their  party vote for (Puea Thai 63.9%, Democrats, 20.7%,...
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In the lead-up to the July 3 election, BP has blogged on a number of polls as follows: The E-san poll, as blogged about  here and  here , which surveyed all 20 provinces in the Northeast which looked at who those surveyed would cast their  party vote for (Puea Thai 63.9%, Democrats, 20.7%,...
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According to Der Spiegel there are 2,941 cables from the US Embassy in Bangkok and another 278 from the Consulate in Chiang Mai – slightly higher figures are also quoted elsewhere. BP has previously blogged about some issues to look out for in the Wikileaks cables. Due to the sensitivity and for legal...
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The Nation : Sitting pretty on the fence will be Banharn’s Chart Thai Pattana Party and Suwat’s Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party. Both camps will not have problem joining Pheu Thai or considering good offers from the Democrats. Newin’s Bhum Jai Thai stands a relatively lesser chance of returning to Thaksin Shinawatra’s fold...
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The  Bangkok Post : In a show of discomfort with Abhisit Vejjajiva, Chartthaipattana leader Chumpol Silapa-archa on Wednesday strongly criticised the caretaker prime minister for making comments showing disrespect to parties in the coalition government. Speaking while campaigning in Nakhon Pathom province, Mr Chumpol said he felt unhappy hearing Mr Abhisit say in...
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Out of the 375 constituency seats and 125 party-list seats, The Nation has the following from a Democrat source: …compared to 203 seats the Democrat Party expected to win. … A Democrat source said yesterday that according to the party’s recent survey, the two parties are still in a neck-and-neck competition with a...
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The Bangkok Post with the headline “Prayuth sees foreign hands plotting separatist violence”: Gen Prayuth said the problems in the far South were more complicated now after a number of groups had entered the fray in the restive region. He would not identify the groups, saying the information was top secret . But...
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The Bangkok Post : Behind her speeches and virtually every public appearance, however, are a few men, including veteran politicians Chalerm Yubamrung and Chaturon Chaisaeng, doing the planning. The first task for Ms Yingluck to accomplish was effective public speaking. The No.1 party-list candidate of the opposition party had to prove she could...
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The Nation has an editorial with the headline “How long can she hide from the big tough issues?” Right below the headline is “ Yingluck has to confront the topic of an amnesty and reconciliation soon “. Then, the relevant part from the editorial is on a TV showdown debate between the Democrat...
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First, the background to the case, some relevant parts from the ICJ press release on May 2 ( PDF ) are excerpted below: On 28 April, the Kingdom of Cambodia filed an Application requesting interpretation of the Judgment rendered on 15 June 1962 by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case...
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The latest Nation Weekend, which came out today, has Abhisit and Yingluck on the cover as per below: So clearly these are pictures of Yingluck and Abhisit when they are campaigning upcountry. It is the headline though which is fairly shocking. In Thai it reads as “???????????”, which is difficult to translate. The...
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Channel News Asia reports : Thailand’s Election Commission is printing millions of extra ballots ahead of the July 3 polls, raising concerns of potential electoral fraud. The Elections Commission is overseeing the printing of 53.5 million ballots for the party-list vote, at the Government Lottery Printing Office in Bangkok. It is also a...
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In the lead-up to the election, BP has blogged on a number of polls as follows: The E-san poll, as blogged about here and here , which surveyed all 20 provinces in the Northeast which looked at who those surveyed would cast their party vote for (Puea Thai 63.9%, Democrats, 20.7%, and Bhum...
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On Tuesday, ABC (Australia) aired an interview with former PM Thaksin. A video and a transcript is available from here . It is a good, tough, but fair interview.
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Recently in a guest post at New Mandala , Chris Baker provided a very good analysis of the symbolism of the recent Yingluck campaign poster that has appeared in Bangkok (as blogged about here ). Chris further noted, in the comment section of that post: A lot of (wo)man-hours went into this poster....
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In the lead-up to the election, BP has blogged on a number of polls as follows: The E-san poll, as blogged about here and here , which surveyed all 20 provinces in the Northeast which looked at who those surveyed would cast their party vote for (Puea Thai 63.9%, Democrats, 20.7%, and Bhum...
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Ambika of Reuters has an interesting analytical piece about educational policy and the Thai election. Some key excerpts: Critics say that without an overhaul to bring the system into the 21st century, Thailand will lose out in the race with Asian rivals for foreign investment. While Taiwan, Singapore, China and India have poured billions...
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Thaksin was recently interviewed by Nirmal Ghosh of the Straits Times – article is behind a paywall – and talked about a number of topics. Some excerpts below: He said the Puea Thai would grant the troubled southern provinces more autonomy if it wins July’s election. ‘I admit, being a policeman you are...
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Seth Kane, a visiting research fellow at the Bangkok-based Institute of Security and International Studies, has an interesting article in Asia Times about  monks in Thailand. The opening and then the conclusion: Thailand’s community of Buddhist monks, the Sangha, has traditionally occupied a ubiquitous and hallowed place in Thai society. However, globalization and...
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British academic and noted scholar on Thai politics, Duncan McCargo, recently spoke to the Asia Society about the upcoming Thai election which will be held on July 3, 2011. A six-minute video of what Duncan said is available from here . Duncan talks about previous elections, Yingluck (the Thaksin surrogate) and what will...
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Fellow AC blogger Jon Russell has some of the background on the Thai-born American citizen who was arrested. AP : Thai authorities said Friday they arrested an American citizen on charges he insulted the country’s monarchy by posting a link on his blog four years ago to a banned book about the Southeast...
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TAN Network have translated an editorial that appeared in Krungthep Turakit which when translated into English the title is “Opinion Polls Must be Properly Conducted”. Some key excerpts from the translation: Some politicians have even been trying to push their own agendas by citing the poll results. However by looking at some of...
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