TRT factional battles continue

The fighting between factions within the TRT continues with a recent spat between the Wang Nam Yom faction, headed by Somsak Thepsuthin, and the faction to which current Agriculture minister Sudarat Keyuraphan belongs.

Together the Wang Nam Yen, headed by Snoh Thienthong, and the Wang Nam Yom factions control about 140 MPs and are united in opposition against The Wang Bua Ban faction, headed by Thaksin's sister Yaowapa Songsawat of which Sudarat's clique is seen as an ally.

Sudarat has alleged that a project initiated while Somsak was agriculture minister is marred by graft, while Somsak has countered that this is nothing compared to the foul play involved in a computer procurement project at the Publc Health department while Sudarat was the minister responsible.

I've got news for them all - the whole TRT party is corrupt!

Thaksin is trying to calm the disputes by claiming they are simply minor disagreements and misundertandings. Thaksin's main strength, his overwhelming majority of 380 MPs out of 500, may also turn out to be his achille's heel as he tries to keep 380 ambitious, greedy, and corrupt politicians all satisfied. After all, there are only so many ministries and other profitable political appointments to go 'round leading to problems like the appointment of Snoh as "honorary" chief whip.

Personally, I'm rooting for Snoh as he was instrumental in getting rid of the self-righteous moral crusader Purachai "the Puritan" Piumsomboom.

PM Admits he was wrong

In an unprecedented move, Thaksin has admitted to making a mistake. He now says that his hardline approach to the deep south has been wrong all along.

I guess it was so obvious even Thaksin can't ignore the truth anymore.

The Strongman of Thailand

Here is a picture of Thaksin declaring victory after the Feb 6 election. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words -


Thaksin Declares Victory

Green, Yellow, Red ... How about a Pink Zone?

The Phuket Gay Festival at Patong, Phuket drew an estimated 5000 homosexuals to the island, according to the Thai News Agency. The TNA article also says,

Pol. Col. Theeraphol Thipcharoen, superintendent of Kathu district police station, also noted that the event was important to help Phuket shrug off its unearned image as a destination for sex tourists, including those engaging in underage sex with young rent boys.

Huh?

New Speaker is Thaksin's Man

The new speaker of the Thai parliament, Pokin Polakul, has demonstrated that, rather than be the impartial arbiter of parliamentary proceedings, he is prepared to be an entirely partisan enforcer of absolute rule by the TRT and the Great Leader.

In an incident last week, a Democrat MP accused a TRT MP of violating the rules of parliament by voting twice on a particular (rather minor) measure. Rather than investigate the accusation, the new speaker told the accuser to withdraw the allegation or be forcibly ejected from parliament. In response, the Democrat MP walked out of the parliament followed by all her Democrat colleagues.

Wang Nam Yen is pissed off

As mentioned in my January 26 post, the only real hope that the path to a Thaksin dictatorship will be stopped is the defection of a group like the Wang Nam Yen from the Thai Rak Thai party.

It looks like faction leader Snoh Thienthong is possibly thinking of doing just that because he feels that he has been treated poorly by Thaksin who assigned the post of Chief Party Whip to another TRT MP, and has given Wang Nam Yen fewer cabinet posts than its contribution to the party would merit.

If Snoh actually leads his faction into the opposition it would make him a national hero in my book.