Sondhi L's mouth can get himself into trouble and his recent interview with Thai Post is another example of this. ASTV Manager has the transcript and the key quote is:

"วันนี้สู้มาคือสู้เพื่อให้เมืองไทยมีสถาบันพระมหากษัตริย์ ส่วนกษัตริย์จะเป็นพระองค์ใดผมยินดี ตราบเท่าที่องค์นั้นมีทศพิธราชธรรม เน้นตรงนี้นะ ตราบเท่าที่องค์นั้นมีทศพิธราชธรรม ผมยังเห็นว่าเมืองไทยต้องมีสถาบันพระมหากษัตริย์"

[BP's own translation: "Today, we fight so Thailand can have the monarchical institution. No matter who is the monarch, I'm happy [to fight for them] as long as that person has the [10] virtues of a king. [I] want to reiterate this. As long as that person has the [10] virtues of a king then Thailand must have the institution of the monarchy]

BP: As long as? So if there is a monarch who in the eyes of Sondhi L does not have the 10 virtues then what? Well the implication seems fairly clear from what Sondhi L states...

The more pertinent question is, who decides whether the monarch has all the 10 virtues? A referendum? Parliament? Or Sondhi L as the sole arbitrator?

BP can think of one scenario in particular in which Sondhi L may test the theory and then thinking back to an incident a few months ago well....

btw, the 10 virtues can be found here.*

h/t to tumbler on Twitter

*correct link added

AFP quotes Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group:

'Every time we can get a list of Southeast Asians in schools in Pakistan it's the Thais that outnumber the Malaysians or Indonesians,' she told the Foreign Correspondents Association in Singapore.

...Pakistan schools where the Thai students study belong to the Salafi group associated with ultra-conservative Wahabi scholars in Saudi Arabia.

The more radical leaders of the rebellion in southern Thailand are known to be anti-Wahabi, she said. 'If we have more and more people coming back from the Salafi schools in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, I don't know how that will change (the Thai insurgency) but that's something we need to watch,' Ms Jones said.

BP: Dr Srisompob Jitpiromsri talked about the increased radicalisation of Muslims in the Deep South and the increasing number of students going to study abroad in a a paper.

Bloomberg recently had an article about the radicalization of Muslims (and increased introduction of Shariah laws) throughout Southeast Asia. The most relevant part is about Kelantan, one of the states in the north of Malaysia and which is culturally very similar to the Deep South:

In Malaysia’s northern state of Kelantan, where the Pan- Malaysian Islamic Party has held power for the past 19 years, the capital city of Kota Bharu has no movie theater.

Shariah for All

Chief Minister Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who has governed the state since 1990, said everyone should follow Shariah laws, no matter what their religion. In Malaysia, 40 percent of the nation’s 27 million people are non-Muslim.

“People say it is violent to allow for stoning as a form of punishment, but who says adultery is not violent?” said Nik Aziz, also the party’s national spiritual adviser.

BP: Is this one of the reasons for the lack of autonomy given in the Deep South? Obviously, there are many different forms of autonomy, but with the spread of limited forms of Shariah throughout Southeast Asia, would the insurgents be willing to give up if there was no Shariah on the table in any deal?

The Bangkok Post has an interesting report on the ghost town newish capital of Burma:

Thousands of civil servants had to move from Rangoon to Naypyidaw when General Than Shwe announced the transfer of the capital in 2005. Almost four years later, this soulless city still lacks the amenities that one would expect to find in a capital. And this is unlikely to change soon

BP: An interesting read

h/t to a reader.

Reuters:

"Physical therapy is needed to help him stand up and walk which would need a little time. That is why he needs to continue staying in hospital, but doctors say there is no danger," the princess told Thai nationals in Germany in comments broadcast on Thai television.

"He now can eat normally and quite a lot, compared with initially, when he had to be fed intravenously."

BP: It is difficult to comment on how the entire situation has been handled, but this is much more effective than the Bureau of Royal Household statements.

The Princess' words in Thai can be seen at Matichon. The key excerpt of course "ตอนนี้พระอาการแพทย์บอกว่าไม่มีอะไรที่เป็นอันตรายแล้ว".  The Princess also stated that Sirindhorn, another Princess, and the HM the Queen are watching closely over HM the King at the hospital - from BP's following of the royal news there is not much coverage of any hospital visits - and that they have not visited anywhere (อย่างสมเด็จพระนางเจ้าพระบรมราชินีนาถ ทรงเฝ้าไข้อยู่ตลอด ไม่ได้เสด็จฯที่ไหนเลย และก็มีสมเด็จพระเทพรัตนราชสุดา สยามบรมราชกุมารี ทรงประทับค้างแรมที่โรงพยาบาลตลอด).

Will that stop the rumours? The SET rebounded 3.5% today.

The Bangkok Post quotes Election Commissioner Sodsri:

“If we have a female prime minister, she might be able to settle the ongoing political conflict.”

BP: So would be the PAD be happy if it was only Potjaman and not Thaksin? What about Yingluck Shinwatra? Or Sudarat? Or perhaps the Commerce Minister from BJT (certainly not the most unattractive politician around)

The Bangkok Post:

Praphan Khoonmee, former spokesman of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), has resigned as a member of the Democrat Party and adviser to Science and Technology Minister Kalaya Sophonpanich.
...
Mr Praphan has joined the New Politics Party of the PAD as a member of the executive committee, she said.

BP: Expect the PAD ideologues to switch, but actually what more is surprising than this switch is that not more have switched particularly Somkiart Pongpaiboon, who is a Democrat MP and PAD leader. Nevertheless, when you lose advisers or high-profile members it does make news. However, not so sure how important it really is until die-hard and those who were not clear PAD ideologues switch. That is the real test and so far don't see anyone prepared to switch. The tensions within the Democrats over the amendments to the Constitution will be a key thing to watch with PAD taking such a hard line.

UPDATE and bumped: The Economist has added a transcript of the interview.

No doubt The Economist's interview of Thaksin will cause angst in the Foreign Ministry and at a certain media group over in Bangna-Trat way. The conclusion is on whether there will be a deal:

As the legal noose tightens around his assets, there have been persistent rumours in Bangkok of quiet talks with his opponents. Mr Thaksin skirts the topic but insists he is ready to make peace and return home. This “mess” can be fixed “overnight”, he says, snapping his fingers. Such a backdoor deal would presumably pull the plug on the rallies. But it would not stop the movement, says Jakrapob Penkair, a red-shirt leader who fled into exile in April and is digging in for a long war: “A lot of our allies out there are not dancing to his tune.”

It is not clear with whom Mr Thaksin could do a deal. Mr Abhisit says the law must prevail. Palace sources sniff at the idea of a settlement.

BP: More of a summary of recent events with some quotes from Thaksin as opposed to anything radically new. An interesting overview.

UPDATE: And bumped to 10am

The Bangkok Post has a slightly different take:

"A day before he applied to be a Puea Thai member I sent a man to tell him to think carefully," Gen Prem said.

"I used these words 'think carefully' before joining otherwise it could end up as an act of betrayal against the country."
...
Gen Prem was surrounded by former and current military top brass, including former prime minister Surayud Chulanont as he gave the interview yesterday.

As he was leaving the premises, Gen Prem turned to Gen Surayud and asked: "Was it okay?"

BP: Find Prem's argument over the construction of the sentence he used a little odd, he says thinks carefully otherwise it could end up as a betrayal of the country (ไม่อย่างนั้นจะกลายเป็นการกระทำที่เป็นการทรยศต่อชาติ). The ball is not in Chavalit's court on how to respond - no response from him yesterday as he was in Cambodia to speak to Hun Sen about Cambodian-Thai relations.

Just quickly, Chavalit has been brought in to actually reduce the Thaksin-centric focus. Chavalit has enough clout that the media will go to him and they will cover prominently what he says. He is less likely to be as verbose as Chalerm or Samak ans also has a following in the Northeast. Administrating though is a different matter and he carries a lot of baggage. Prem has largely been out of the public eye for around 3 weeks, but he has had to respond to what Chavalit said - ploy to draw Prem out like that?.


Earlier blogged that Chavalit introduced the question of where was Prem and then also blogged about Chavalit saying Prem wouldn't see him, but now Prem denies this as The Nation reports:

"Jiew and I have been close friends for several years and we have worked for one another. Therefore our friendship always remains intact," Prem said, referring to Chavalit by his nickname.
...
"I read in the news that someone, maybe Jiew, was saying I refused to meet him to grant forgiveness ahead of his ordination - this is not how friends should treat one another. But the fact is, I was never informed when or where Jiew entered the monkhood," he said.

BP: The plot thickens. Not quite sure that is a dig at Chavalit or Prem's staff saying he wasn't informed of Prem's request to see him. Then again, Prem spoke to the media as a media to Chavalit so the ball is in Chavalit's court now. Surely, we must have a meeting soon to discuss non-political matters of course as Prem doesn't get involved in politics...

As we know by know the market went down by 2% yesterday and are also down today - was down 8% around lunchtime but now down only 5%.

The Nation reports on what is driving the market:

"There was a panic in early trading due to rumours, but the market rebounded," said Therdsak Taweethiratham of AsiaPlus Securities. "In recent weeks the stock market has been rising. Now investors are profit-taking."

BP:  Rumours of what? Well, we are not told. It was just mere profit-taking. Nothing else.

Then you have Reuters:

Thai stocks fell more than 8 percent on Thursday in a second day of heavy foreign selling on concerns over the health of Thailand's king, traders said, despite comments from the palace that his health was improving.

Bloomberg:

Thailand’s benchmark stock index fell the most in two months and the baht had its biggest drop since June on speculation the health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 81, is deteriorating.

“There are rumors that the Thai king is very sick,” said David Leong, a Singapore-based senior dealer at First State Investments Ltd.

BP: What irritates BP the most is about this "irresponsible" journalism by Reuters and Bloomberg is, why would you report on the fact that the market fell on the rumours of the King's health? Compare that to the "responsible" position by The Nation who just completely ignore what the rumours were about.

The Nation obviously has the "correct" position. These silly foreigners just don't understand is that what investors need is not more information, but less information. "Why" is one of this silly words that they teach you at journalism school which should just be placed on the shelf. Think about it! If there are concerns about the economy and this is resulting in people selling shares, does anyone need to know about this? Well certainly not you investor!

More on this subject later.

The other day mentioned in a blog post on the GT-200 device which is used by security forces in the Deep South:

Fourth, the use of the GT-200 device which detects bomb residue and/or other material used in explosive devices has come under suspicion recently on the accuracy of such a device particularly as it may produce a number of false positives (ie indicate the presence of a bomb or bomb residue) and vice versa - see the Bangkok Post here and here. There are a number of other sites which have criticized the reliability of such devices although BP is not enough of a technical expert to know the reliability of criticism so venture on your own and keep an open mind.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee in The Nation has an interesting article today on the GT-200 device asking that the equipment be retested to make sure it works.

BP: Worth reading in its entirety.

Am a little busy so will be quick.

The Nation has an editorial on the Map Ta Phut decision:

The Central Administrative Court's injunction last month that halted the construction of 76 projects in Map Ta Phut has helped guide the country toward striking a balance between the environment and economic growth.

A few days after the court issued the injunction, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was evasive when asked if he would apply the philosophy of sufficiency economy that the court had relied upon when making a ruling on this case. The question was posed to the PM a few days after he delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, saying that he would advocate His Majesty the King's philosophy of sufficiency economy, which focuses on sustainable development. Yet, the government's decision to tackle the Map Ta Phut problem, starting with its move to appeal the court's injunction that favours the residents' rights, does not appear to be in line with the philosophy.

BP: The court looked at the the philosophy of sufficiency economy in its decision? Someone knows what is means?

btw, does this mean critics of the court decision may risk a lese majeste complaint as well as contempt of court?

NOTE to self: Resist the temptation to make snarky comment that the Nation Multimedia Group may also want to consider whether it is operating in line with the philosophy of sufficiency economy....