skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The civil unrest in Thailand is getting tiresome. First you the yellow shirts (democracy guys) trying to oust a so called puppet government apparently controlled by the exiled Thaksin Shinawatra. Well they protested and blocked off the airport, and finally succeeded. Now the yellow shirts are happy with the suave new PM, now comes the red shirts, so called Thaksin loyalists, but protesting under the banner of justice as well. Surely there cannot be two camps calling for fuller democracy. Red shirts are more violent and unruly and have started to fight with the army, and this would really piss the army off. The army is a very important factor in Thailand politics as the military has held countless coups, which basically takes over the running of the government pending fresh elections or decisions, before handing back power to the "right person/party".Surprisingly, the King has not yet said anything. The yellow shirts campaign was based on the loyal followers of the King (yellow being the colour of the King). Once and for all, have a fair elections and the King must come out and say something definitive. I shudder if anything happens to the King now as he is quite old and has not been well of late. Then its really total chaos and probably an immediate military rule, and this time the military could very well govern for a very very long time.-----------------In other news, before I get to more Thai-riffic developments. Apparently now local police are setting up roadblocks to check cars for pirated DVDs, CDs and VCDs. Need I say more?-----------------Now for the luckiest guy in Thailand award. This guy married two very beautiful nurses, who happens to be twins as well. Life is good.
Subject: Lucky Man Marries Thai Twins!
(Translated from the Thai Rath Newspaper)
After Mr Wichai (Tao), aged 24, from Samut Songkram province, who earns his living by dealing in old goods, got married to gorgeous twins Ms Sirintara and Ms Thipawan 22, he vouched his sincerest 'equal love' for both of them!
Mr Wichai, just yesterday, got married in a grand ceremony to both twins simultaneously.
On being interviewed by Thai Rath reporters, Mr Wichai declared wholeheartedly that he didn't see much problem in having to perform tiresome marital duties with two wives.
In the engagement ceremony before the wedding, Mr Wichai successfully offered a dowry of eight baht of gold and 80,000 baht EACH for his lovely darlings.
Both families celebrated the marriage with joy and were said to be delighted for the threesome.
Mr Wichai told the press that he had been best of friends with his neighbouring twins since they were children.
'When I grew older, I would walk past their house each morning and try to decide for myself which one I fancied more, but it was darn impossible - I adored BOTH of them - I just couldn't decide which one of them to chat up....!'
He went on to say, 'For three continuous years all three of us would go on dates together, until there was one day when I couldn't stand the frustration any longer and told them, 'I love you and want to marry you BOTH''
The fortunate Mr Wichai, instead of getting a slap in the face, was overjoyed when both girls admitted to having sworn all along that they wished to marry the same man!
'It wasn't easy at first, what with the neighbours gossiping, but our family sympathized, understood, and fully supported our mutual love for the one man' the twins said.
Mr Wichai arranged for his brides to live with him in his family house after the wedding, and his mother has already proudly prepared TWO rooms for the newly-weds.
Our reporters were just gagging to hear the response to this mouth-watering question:-
"And.... what are the sleeping arrangements Mr Wichai?", to which he replied modestly with a beaming smile.
'Absolutely no problems! For the first three nights of the week, I will sleep with Ms Thipawan and the next three will be spent with Ms Sirintara. As for every Saturday, the three of us will sleep together'
Ms Sirintara finally told the press, 'When my twin and I worked as assistant nurses, we promised each other that we would never leave each other's side, and that our future husband would have to either take us both, or leave us.'p/s photos: Kate Tsui Chi San
Year of The Dog Does Not Bode Well For Thaksin - Mai Me Wella Sam Lap Khoon!!
The wonderful anthem of the 70s/80s from The Clash (Give Em' Enough Rope) ... what a wonderful video clip it would be, to capture Thaksin and his family getting embroiled in the latest business calamity, and with the song blaring in the background. ("Give Em' Enough Rope... so that they could hang themselves... I told you it was a protest song!!). When the family of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sold off their stake in giant telecommunications company Shin Corp for 73.3 billion baht (US$1.85 billion), one of the reasons cited was to take the political heat out of accusations leveled at the premier of conflict of interest. Well, the intention was good, but the result was giving ammunition to Thaksin's detractors and opposers to vent their frustration at Thaksin.
Funny thing is, the "apolitical investment juggernaut" of Singapore, Temasek, found itself embroiled as the buyer in what the Singapore investing arm thought was an opportunity to spread its tentacles to control even more Asian infrastructure assets. The last thing Temasek wanted was to be involved in a political firestorm. Following the mantra espoused by Mentor Lee, Temasek would not want to get tangled up in any political sensitivities around the region. Boy, there will be a lot of "damage control meetings" in many Singapore government offices this week.
The deal wasn't that bad in the first place. However, when you have so many enemies, even an innocent move like that could be turned against you. One can influence the press to put a lid on the issue and hope that it dies down or crawl away. However, the movement against Thaksin is gathering momentum as more voices have been calling for Thaksin to resign. In the first major public indication of dissatisfaction within Thaksin's ruling Thai Rak Thai party, Minister of Culture Uraiwan Thienthong resigned last Friday. "The political situation is not good at the moment, and as the minister of culture I have to uphold the ethics of good governance," Uraiwan said.
Thaksin may find the going tough as among his detractors, they have a very found a powerful leader of sorts - Sondhi Limthongkul, a media baron who is one of Thaksin's most outspoken critics. Sondhi often accused Thaksin's government of corruption and abusing its powers. Last Thursday the Central Administrative Court ordered state-run CAT Telecom to stop blocking the signal used to broadcast Sondhi's satellite talk show, which has become the focal point of his campaign against Thaksin. Sondhi's star is rising.
More than 200 academics from nine universities have signed an open letter condemning Thaksin's leadership and criticizing his exploitation of legal loopholes that allowed his family to sell Shin Corp's shares tax-free. If Thaksin does not resign soon, we could see the endgame being played out with Sondhi filing a royal petition with His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej through General Prem Tinsulanonda, chief of the privy councilors and statesman. The petition will ask His Majesty to replace Thaksin with a "respected and qualified figure".
On January 21, Temasek Holdings paid US$1.85 billion to buy a 49.6% stake in Shin Corp from Thaksin's children and other family members. Some complained of foreigners getting their hands on the country's assets and posing a security risk. Initially the bone of contention was that the deal was tax-free. Then allegations of insider trading and even breaking the law were leveled. On January 20, Ample Rich, a holding vehicle established by Thaksin and registered in the British Virgin Islands, sold 164.6 million shares in Shin Corp to two Shinawatra siblings for at-par value of 1 baht per share. The next day, Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra both sold these Shin shares to Temasek Holdings for 49.25 baht each as part of the buyout of the 49.6% stake in Shin from the Shinawatra and Damapong families. The sale to Temasek was tax-free under a waiver on capital gains for transactions on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), but it is not clear whether the Ample Rich transactions should have been exempt from taxes. The Shinawatra children have also been accused of insider trading and disclosure violations related to their Shin shareholdings.
Thaksin has done some good stuff to the Thai economy, but more and more people have become disenchanted with the premier's style, which to many borders on arrogance. What disturbs people the most is the way Thaksin has gone about doing the deal. It was the way he was almost gloating and the double standards. Why did Temasek get waivers to avoid making a mandatory tender for two of Shin Corp's subsidiaries? The glaring trampling of minority rights just gave Thaksin's detractors a lot more ammunition, ... and Thaksin's bullet proof vest is getting mighty thin!!! Too much of an ego is not a good thing, sometimes our heads will get wedge in by the door when we are trying to get out. The year of the dog does not bode well for Thaksin - who let the dogs out? Thaksin - Mai Me Wella Sam Lap Khoon!!
