Thaksin Returns!

[opebo]

Yes this horrible monster has returned to power though hopefully the protests and conflict which ousted him in the first place will begin again.

So far I have seen no evidence of further Thaksin/Thai Rak Thai style crackdowns on Thais freedom, but the previously imposed ones are still apparently in effect - rules banning beer sales between midnight and sometime in the morning, and the ridiculous bar closing rules - something like 2:00AM!

[they don't love you like i love you]

Isn't he not going to run in the new rerun of the election though?

2:00 AM is the bar closing time in Minnesota and that's actually later than most other states from what I've seen, and alcohol can't be sold here past 10 AM (except 3.2 beer). I never realized that some places have it much better.

[opebo]

Isn't he not going to run in the new rerun of the election though?

2:00 AM is the bar closing time in Minnesota and that's actually later than most other states from what I've seen, and alcohol can't be sold here past 10 AM (except 3.2 beer). I never realized that some places have it much better.

Yes prior to a year or two ago alcohol sales were 24/7 in Thailand, and they still are in most Asian countries.  They were in Korea.  Prior to a few years ago bars closed when they wanted to here, or not at all.. that is still the case in Korea.  The idea of regulating such personal habits is one which emanantes from the center of Social Control - that prudish and unfree land the USA - and is fairly alien to Asian cultures.  Thaksin is a thoroughly americanized and christianized fellow. 

I hope you are right about Thaksin being more or less out in the long term.  I think however he will not be unless the protesters get back to work in the streets. 

[minionofmidas]

You know the former pub closing times in the UK?

[opebo]

You know the former pub closing times in the UK?

Pretty early I'm guessing?  Yeah, the UK and the US had, historically, the same awful culture of oppression.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Considering it was the King who got him to step down last time, this would seem pretty damn disrespectful for him to pull this this close to the celebrations of the King's 60 years of rule, which from what I understand would go down very very poorly in Thailand and hopefully hurt him enough in the long run to get rid of him for good.

[opebo]

Considering it was the King who got him to step down last time, this would seem pretty damn disrespectful for him to pull this this close to the celebrations of the King's 60 years of rule, which from what I understand would go down very very poorly in Thailand and hopefully hurt him enough in the long run to get rid of him for good.

I'm certainly hoping so.. I should think the King would want Thaksin wholely put down and soon, given his age and presumable desire to leave a legacy of moderate, liberal democracy - something he has consistently encouraged in Thailand for decades.  Thaksin is clearly the biggest threat to this, and it is hard to see how his presence would be seen as beneficial to the country by the King.  If I were a monarch nearing the end and saw a demagogue-ic figure rising, I would want to elminate him thoroughly so he couldn't fill the power vacuum after my demise.