Actually I don't care at all about the satellite sale. It is not my business and if it was me, I would do everything i could to avoid taxes also.
Various Thai institutions, including the Army, resisted his call to fight the terrorists and did everything they could to blame him for excesses in the South.
We disagree on this one completely. I am friends with various individuals from privates up to generals who are down in the south. Their view of things, which I respect tremendously, does not agree with yours. They have had their hands tied by Bangkok and have not been able to do their job. I have tried before and nothing I can say will convince you otherwise so I will just leave this one alone.
Still, KJ's position is that Thaksin was doing things "un-Thai" -- not seeking consensus-- and deserved ouster.
Not at all. Toxin's major mistake was in alienating everyone who had even the least bit of disagreement with him. A perfect example is the recent bomb plot. After the plot, Toxin issued statement after statement about the military implicating high ranking individuals but refusing to name names. If these individuals were involved in a plot to kill a prime minister, why were they not arrested? This action completely alienated the military who saw it as a trick for him to gain more power. At that point it didn't matter if the plot was real or not, the prime minister simply treated it as a game. (As one former General stated, "If we wanted to kill him, he would be dead.") Since Toxin's brother-in-law, the former head of Crime Supression Division, has destroyed all the investigation paperwork, I guess we will never know.
I have no problem with him being 'Un-Thai'. I am 100% American. What matters is when a leader feels that he is more important than the nation he is leading. When that happenes, he is setting himself up to get smacked down and that is what happened.
The following piece is the most accurate review of events I have read so far:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HI21Ae02.html
Please read it and let me know what your thoughts are.
I'm sorry for mis-stating your views on the satellite sale. Thanks for the Asia Times article...My view may not be the most popular, but for me it is a lot more important to fight terrorism and be a leader who gets something done than to lead by consensus and get nothing done. Chuan Leek-Pai was that kind of leader. Chavalit was the traditional "graft" kind of leader. Thaksin was a strong man but at least on the surface it appeared he was With Us. At today's US State Department briefing the spokesman, Tom Casey, was hard pressed to explain how the US "disapproved" of the coup but still wouldn't favour the re-instatement of our friend Thaksin. He made it clear we weren't going to do anything, but we disapproved. I'm a worrier...and we have so many "Muslim" problems that one more doesn't make me easy. I guess we'll have to wait and see what these new folks will DO. I also KNOW that if Thaksin is ever allowed back in the country, he'll be pM again. Isan folks really want him, even though the Bangkok elites don't. It's bedtime on the East Coast of the US...talk to you in about 7 hours...