2/21/2007
treason in thailand
Treason in Thailand
Sonthi said he wanted to take back 'his' assets, or specifically, 'I want my assets back.' But now he had backtracked to say he wanted to buy it back if the Thai public voted to want it back. Now the decision is a nationalistic desire, a commercial reacquistion of the satellites owned by Shin Corp.
What happened to his allegation that Singapore was eavedropping on Thai military secrets? If that accusation is true, Sonthi must be charged with treason as an Army general to allow Singapore to continue to do so. He must take immediate steps to take over the satellite operations. Not a day of delay is tolerable when national secrets are at stake. But looks like he cannot substantiate his claims, which means that he is misleading the Thai people of a false claim.
There is no such thing as Temasek using the satellites to eavedrop on Thai military communication. Either way, he is talking without much thinking. And even the Thais are getting worried that a soldier that seized power through a coup is talking wildly.
And while he is spouting his nationalistic jingoism, he forgets that he has a bigger threat exploding in the south which he has failed to curb. His more important task now is talking about seizure of Thai assets sold commercially to foreign organisations.
How long would he go on doing what he is doing, talking and not doing anything to the real problem in the south?
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11 comments:
Temasek is not just any foreign organisation. It is a foreign organisation controlled by the government of a foreign country.
but it is uncalled for when a national leader shoots off his mouth with anything that comes to his head. in a forum like this, maybe we can do it without much thinking. but what he said is accusing another country of spying against thailand. that is not only wild but can be an excuse to declare war on singapore.
it is a very serious charge.
What about a certain national leader at our end who has been shooting his mouth off since time immemorial, and has succeeded in upsetting every country in ASEAN with his shoot from the hip comments ?
And what makes you think he hasn't done anything to stop the eavedropping ? Just because you didn't hear anything about it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.
given the current sentiments and sabre rattling and looking for someone to hang, if they is just a trace of evidence, Shin Corp would have been confiscated, nationalised on security grounds.
Obviously they tried to do a WMD witchhunt but failed to uncover anything.
It takes time to gather evidence. The military guys don't have to do a withc hunt, because the witch is well known already. They just want to give Temasek the chance to extricate themselves out of this mess in a clean and orderly fashion. It will only get messy if they refuse to budge.
we just hope that the power play does not get into the way of being correct in the eyes of the law and does not harm the international image of thailand.
any abuses will have long negative implications for thailand. just read the interview with saprang and he said the police doctored and watered down the evidence against thaksin and now they cannot charge him.
could they undoctored to make the charges more serious?
Whose law ? Peesaipore's ? Puhleeease. Ensuring a country's sovereignity is not comprised is more important than worrying about foreigner's views. If the problem of Peesaipore's eavesdropping is not nipped in the bud, Thailand's national secrets will be severely compromised. I say the generals are doing the right thing. Singapore would have done the same thing had the situation been reversed. Every country has a right to do what's in her best interests, remember ?
the allegation that singapore eavesdropped on thai military is as sound as the allegation that the flood in JB is caused by the land reclamation in tekong. the same kind of reasoning and mentality.
dealing with domestic issues, many dictators or coup leaders will use their kangaroo courts and cronies to do whatever they want. but when dealing with another nation and trying to put up a front that one has to abide by internation laws and practices, it is a different issue.
army generals can anyhow shout inside the barracks. but as a govt, cannot anyhow bark lah. you time in national service will tell you that. just follow orders, no need to worry about right or wrong.
They know what is happening because it is happening to them. What proof do you have that the eavesdropping did not happen ? It's like getting mugged in Singapore. Singapore is supposedly so safe that some people believe it is impossible to be a victim of crime in Singapore. So, if it happens to you, only you will know what it is like. Tell that to someone who believes in the crime-free status of Singapore, and that person will say you are cooking up stories. Same case here.
this is what thai minister of information said on tv, 'clients of shinsat would have terminated their contracts if the allegations had been true...it is possible,...however the ceo would have to ask a thai engineer to do it...the thai engineer would not be willing to do so.'
When business is mixed with politics, bad things occur. The long-term results can last for generations, or even hundreds of years.
Temasek is NOT your run-of-the-mill corporation playing in the free market. It is essentially A GOVERNMENT i.e. A STATE — with the power to make territorial laws and raise taxes (revenue) for its "adventures".
Singapore itself was formed by the biggest GLC in human history thus far: The British East India Company. Whilst one can argue that they did "good", the also did many bad things by shitting all over the freedom and sanctity of people all over the world.
Temasek bought a monopolistic company when it bought Shin Corp. The British East India Company had many monopolies which led to outright war. For e.g. The Opium Wars, The Boston Tea Party — which fomented the seeds of an American Revolution. When government and business get together, people die.
Psychologically, all human beings need to feel secure, and after security in their own self-ownership, they need economic security for themselves and their families. If they sense that this is in anyway threatened, when the proverbial line is crossed, they will defend their rights, their proeprty and their freedom.
In other words, when it comes to peoples' rice bowls, dun pray, pray...
Temasek is an economic imperialist. Nothing else can describe it — any which way you cut it, you have private property backed up by the awesome and absolute power of The State. If its powers are unchecked, Temasek will be the bane of Singapore (i.e. Matilah Singapura). Can you blame the average Thai or Indonesian for feeling in some way "threatened"? Of course not. This is not some small trader down the road, or a McDonald's competeting directly with a street vendor, this is a foreign government "buying" assets — i.e. private property backed up by the Absolute Power of The State.
Are the people of Singapore themselves prospering because of Temasek's antics?
NO. In fact they are being TAXED MORE on their expenditure, so that companies like Temasek can pay less tax. Fair? Balls.
If the people themselves aren't prospering, who is? Well look at who is involved and you'll get closer to an answer.
When a govt can earn that much money and hold that many assets, plus having the LEGAL protection of The State which has the powers to make LAW, then what you have is Fascism.
But it seems thatthe majority of people in Singapore have no problem with this. And since Singapore has representative government, it is The People who install their leaders, and therefore Get The Government They Deserve. aka "democracy in action".
So fuck them. When Matilah Singapura happens in 20 or so year's time (MM Lee has a different view — good for him), and when people are screaming in terror and suffering, I'll be toasting and laughing with a big, smug "I told you so" attitude!
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