Thaksin to be included in Royal Amnesty?

[Guest fountainhall]

The Thai English media is abuzz this morning with reports that an announcement will be made later today about Thaksin being included in the annual list of Royal Pardons to be granted by the King. PM Yingluck was surprisingly absent from a special Cabinet meeting called yesterday. All officials were also asked to leave the room when the Amnesty issue was discussed.

 

For the PM to miss any Cabinet meeting at a time of national crisis is, at best, extraordinary. She was in Singburi on Monday evening and cited travel difficulties for her absence, informing reporters that she had asked Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung to chair the meeting. It can be no coincidence that Chalerm is the official whom Yingluck had earlier tasked with looking into political amnesty for her brother.

 

A minister who asked not to be named confirmed the cabinet discussed requests for an amnesty for 26,000 convicts on the occasion of His Majesty the King's birthday on Dec 5.

 

Other ministers declined to elaborate on the issue when they were contacted by phone or approached.

 

Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said the meeting was a secret and he could not discuss it.

 

Ms Yingluck also said she did not know if the cabinet had discussed the amnesty decree, saying Mr Chalerm should be the one to speak to reporters.

 

Mr Chalerm refused to clarify the issue either. "I won't discuss this with you. Don't ask and don't come to see me, either," he said.

If the Prime Minister of a country is unable to get from A to B with all the power at her disposal, clearly something of significance was being discussed that she wished not to be seen to be part of. Officials claimed that her Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter did not have radar for night flights

 

Yet -

 

A military source said yesterday the Mi-17 helicopter was actually equipped with radar and could fly at night. Ms Yingluck's delegation also could have had another helicopter for her return on Monday night, which the military was ready to provide.

 

The source said the prime minister's delegation seemed to intentionally extend her trip in Sing Buri because they boarded the helicopter nearly an hour later than scheduled.

 

Another source suggested Ms Yingluck may have been seeking to avoid accusations of favouring her brother by deliberately being absent from the cabinet meeting.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/266446/amnesty-decree-passes-cabinet

[TotallyOz]

I have been predicting his return before the end of the year. This may not happen. But, I don't think my prediction will be far from accurate.

[Guest fountainhall]

His daughter is getting married here next month. He has always planned to be here for that!

[TotallyOz]

I have a secret source inside the Thai government that tells me that he will return. I can't tell you who he is as it would not be a secret anymore. But, let me just say he is the single most powerful man in Thailand (well, not actually in Thailand at the moment but hoping to return soon).

[Rogie]

(well, not actually in Thailand at the moment but hoping to return soon).

Let me see if I can guess.

 

He's not the most powerful person in the country . . .yet, but he is often out of the country . . . perhaps he's in Germany?

[Guest fountainhall]

perhaps he's in Germany?

Sorry, Rogie. The plane was allowed out of Germany some weeks ago and has since been seen on active duty here! Whether our man in Dubai bore some responsibility for that would be a nice little factoid that we are, alas, unlikely to find out.

 

No, I think he is already in the country - in scuba gear having been borne down from his base in Chiang Mai and now nearing Don Muang. It would be nice to think he'll be uncontrollably propelled through that hole in the big bag wall and flushed out to sea. But I rather think one of those Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters is waiting somewhere to pick him up so that, James Bond-like, he can whip off the gear to reveal his tuxedo and be dropped in at the wedding. Cue for amazement and applause inside the temple, and groans outside.

[Guest luvthai]

I do not think the king will sign a pardon under any conditions. There is to much history between them. I also think the king would know of how much it would increase the instability of the government.

[Guest fountainhall]

In what seems like a major climbdown for the government, Thaksin will not now - it seems - be eligible for a pardon in the annual pardon list. He himself has written a letter distributed through the Pheu Thai party in which he claims he did not want any benefit from the upcoming royal decree for royal pardons next month. He added the nation was suffering from a flooding crisis and needed unity, so he did not want to see any moves that would hinder national unity.

 

"I am willing to support all measures that lead to national reconciliation.

 

"I am ready to sacrifice my own happiness even though I have not received justice for over five years. For the people, I will be patient," he said.

 

In response to recent criticisms of the draft royal decree, Thaksin said he did not believe the government would take any action that would benefit him alone.

 

He also wrote that as His Majesty the King was ill, and nobody should do anything that would worry the King and he believed that the prime minister shared his stance.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/267137/government-abandons-draft-pardon

 

As a result, the yellow shirt rallies scheduled for this week have been called off.

[TotallyOz]

Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

 

This stuff is impossible to make up isn't it? It is soap opera material.

[Guest fountainhall]

After the debacle of the will-he-won't-he be included in the list for a Royal Pardon, a new row is brewing over another plan of Thaksin's pal, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul - to get him a new passport. But some people don't like this - surprise! surprise! Tul Sitthisomwong, coordinator of the anti-Thaksin Network of Citizen Volunteers to Protect the Land (couldn't they have come up with a shorter title?), claimed he'd seek the foreign minister's impeachment if he proceeds.

 

Mr Surapong shrugged off the threat and shot back that it was the foreign minister's privilege to issue or revoke passports. He also noted that he planned the return of the passport as a "New Year gift" for Thaksin, but the passport could be returned even sooner.

 

"We are examining the law and we should conclude next week. We may be able to return the passport sooner than expected," he said.

 

Mr Surapong insisted that Thaksin's passport had not been not revoked by a court of law or the police. It was cancelled by former foreign minister Kasit Piromya.

 

"So I will use my power to do whatever is not illegal under the regulations of the ministry to give the passport back to the ex-premier," he said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/269017/new-talk-of-thaksin-passport-return-sparks-critics-fury

 

And what are the views of the leader of the government, PM Yingluck? As last time, she has cowered in the background and does not wish to be seen to be involved. So much for qualities of leadership, although no doubt understandable!

 

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra - Thaksin's sister - said yesterday she would leave the matter in the hands of the Foreign Ministry.

 

"I will not intervene," she said. "It's an affair the ministry has to handle as it sees fit. Any decision must be based on the principles of rule of law and equity."

As one respondent wrote, it is surely ironic that Surapong castigates the Opposition for not concentrating on the floods, when all he seems to be doing is concentrating on how to get his mate back into the country legally

[KhorTose]

As one respondent wrote, it is surely ironic that Surapong castigates the Opposition for not concentrating on the floods, when all he seems to be doing is concentrating on how to get his mate back into the country legally

 

Yes, I saw the headline in the "Nation". Tell me would it be better if they removed all the Juanta judges and gave Thaksin a new trail with impartial judges that just might find him innocent of the charges. I will admit Thaksin is not Mr clean, but what he was charged with and convicted of was garbage. They did not dare charge him with a real crime as they would have had to indict themselves for the same things.

[TotallyOz]

My prediction by the end of this year is getting close. Less than a month left and I may not be in the right time frame. But, I doubt I'll be that far from when he returns.