Matichon today - หรือวันนี้ มติชน เป็น มติชิน (2)

วันที่่ 18 ก.พ. 2552
วันที่ 16 ก.พ. 2552
วันที่ 14 ก.พ. 2552

อาจเป็นได้ที่มติชน ยังไม่มีคลิปใหม่เข้ามา คลิปเก่าก็เลยยังแช่อยู่อย่างที่เห็น
เราก็ต้องคอยตามดูกันต่อไป ว่าจะแช่ไปถึงแค่ไหน....

Football on a political pitch

Reactions were mixed regarding the arrival of football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and the signing of three young Thai players to the Manchester City Football Club.

November 17, 2007

My take: More details reported on Sven visit with views from Thai reporter.

On the one hand, many people were happy for the three athletes. It's a dream come true to play in one of the world's most watched leagues. For the fans here there has never been such an achievement by local players.

On the other hand, it's hard not to sense a "political atmosphere" when Thaksin Shinawatra's children accompany one of the world's top coaches on a conspicuous signing mission.

Eriksson's presence was by all means meant to send a message that "This is real!" The English football club has signed up Thai players Kiatprawut Saiwaeo, Teerasil Daengda and Suree Sukha. The timing couldn't be better: Manchester City now ranks third in the Premier League table.

Eriksson may or may not be aware that his visit was well scheduled - over a month before the general election and on the same day as the People Power Party's first major rally in Bangkok, where Thaksin's recorded speech was supposed to be broadcast to supporters. The plan was abruptly cancelled by the party.

Whether the Blues' move has political implications or not, yesterday was the day that Thaksin originally planned to deliver two speeches - to Thai football fans and to PPP's supporters.

It's hard for the public to tell sports from politics. Thaksin's image was seen during the PPP's campaign. Likewise, there was a cardboard model of him in a Blues jersey walking around the Conrad Hotel, where the press conference took place.

Sceptics question whether his trip and the signing are really necessary at this time. Under normal circumstances, such a historical move should have been celebrated with the presence of Thai ministers - at least from the Sports and Tourism Ministry - but attending the press conference were only Thailand's Football Association and the Chon Buri Football Club.

The press was also dubious about whether the club knew the Thai players well enough, as the video presentation at the press conference got the name of Kiatprawut as Kiatprapong. Some wondered whether Eriksson knew the three well enough to sign them.

During the conference, a member of the press asked Eriksson whether the signing was a direct order from the club's owner or Eriksson's decision. Surely it could mean the decision was due to more than football. However, he confirmed that the signing was his idea.

"We're a football team, and players are football-players. We never discuss politics," Eriksson said later in an interview aired on TITV.

Eriksson could have sensed from that kind of question that the local and international journalist crowd was signalling that it was not all about football.

Nevertheless, he appeared friendly and did the job of an ambassador of his club well. He was polite enough to slow down when someone wanted to take his photograph while he was walking.

At the nearly two-hour exclusive press luncheon, Eriksson spoke little. About 20 people were at the table, including members of the press, especially those covering English football, and Manchester City's management, including Panthongtae Shinawatra.

Pairoj Piampongsarn, a club board member sitting next to Eriksson, talked about the club's ambitions following Thaksin's goal to boost the profile of the club in Asian markets. The idea is that the Premiere League should adopt a give-and-take approach. The region is one of the biggest markets for the league, so it should provide a chance for Asian players to show their stuff in the league.

"The FA's [English Football Association's] regulation is rather strict and not so open to foreign players. I've met them and expressed my thoughts," Pairoj said.

Pairoj also told the press that they were all welcome to watch the matches in England. "We have about 40 seats for each game."

Thaksin's daughters Pinthongta and Paethongtarn walked around the table after the Thai lunch and handed a Manchester City jersey to each guest as a souvenir. Markers were prepared as the Man City manager got ready to autograph the team's shirts for guests.

Eriksson became busy again as he signed shirts and posed with guests. There was no sign of unwillingness, and the luncheon ended almost one hour earlier than scheduled at 3pm, as the manager had to go to another TV interview.

The manager excused himself and bid farewell to all the guests. The Swedish coach's job was nearly finished, and he was scheduled to fly home yesterday evening.

Without a doubt his visit boosted the profile of Manchester City and fanned the hopes of this football-crazy nation. By the time he arrives back in England, Eriksson will surely realise that there is a very blurred line between politics and soccer in the case of Manchester City. Strange as it seems, his club's chairman Thaksin probably doesn't mind keeping it that way.

Veena Thoopkrajae

The Nation

City Sign Thai Trio

My take: Why now? The election in Thailand is near. Thaksin needs his nominee party PPP to win so it's time to make some good news and win the votes from football-lovers all over the country. He will be on the news on TV, newspapers, and sport newspaper for this. Yes, it's free. This is what he's so good about, be the news and get publicity (for free).

--Manchester City have officially signed three Thailand internationals – Suree Sukha, Kiatprawut Saiwaew and Teerasil Dangda.

City boss Sven Goran Eriksson unveiled the trio at a press conference in Bangkok on Friday.

The high-flying Premier League club have been active in Asia during the international break and have already offered three players from Chinese Super League outfit Shanghai Shenhua a trial in England.

"Before Dr. Thaksin (Shinawatra) became the club's chairman, we wanted to acquire so many players from different countries but we didn't have the money," Eriksson told a throng of reporters.

"Now with Dr Thaksin's support, we can together work to achieve his dream of developing football in Asia and especially in Thailand, and also to make Manchester City a global brand."

Right-back Suree was one of the most impressive players at the recent Asian Cup and, like centre-back Kiatprawut, plied his trade for Thailand league leaders Chonburi. Teerasil joins from second division outfit Muang Thong Jok United.

Due to work permit issues, the trio are likely to be farmed out to clubs in Belgium or elsewhere for the foreseeable future.

http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=483293

Thailand: Martial law lifted in 221 districts ahead of election

Martial law lifted in 221 districts

The Cabinet Tuesday ordered the lifting of martial law in 221 districts and decided to maintain the martial law in 179 districts.

The Nation

Illegally Move?

Thaksin 'moved billions abroad'

AEC spokesman says funds were shifted shortly before, after coup

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra transferred "a large amount of money" to his overseas bank accounts shortly before and after the military coup on September 19 last year, Assets Examination Committee secretary Kaewsan Atibodhi said yesterday after the panel's meeting on "a very big issue".

The total amount could be "at least Bt50 billion", according to an AEC source.

Kaewsan did not comment whether the money could be part of Thaksin's undeclared assets or whether it might be subject to AEC seizure.

The anti-graft panel has ordered a freeze on more than Bt60 billion in Thaksin family money earned from the sale of their shares in the telecom giant Shin Corp to Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

Thaksin has never said publicly whether he has monetary assets in overseas bank accounts.

Speaking after attending a five-hour meeting of AEC members yesterday, Kaewsan said Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont had been informed of the newly discovered transfers of money and had authorised the making public of the matter after another AEC meeting to further discuss the issue on Monday.

The transfers became known after Thaksin threatened to sue banks for allegedly freezing some of his money deposited with them, according to a Swiss newspaper.

A legal adviser for Thaksin Shinawatra, Noppadon Pattama, on Thursday backtracked on Thaksin's reported statement, saying that the article was inaccurate. He denied that Thaksin had told Swiss newspaper Mittelland Zeitung he would sue a Swiss bank for freezing his accounts and revealing a customer's confidential records.

Prime Minister Surayud, who was in Sydney, yesterday told Thai expatriates there that Thai people should not worry about a possible return of "the old power clique", referring to political groups loyal to his deposed predecessor.

"We have to be firm that good will eventually defeat evil. Not too long from now our justice procedures will show a clear picture that there was a massive policy of corruption," the PM was quoted as saying by the Thai News Agency.

He noted that concern was rising after the national referendum on the draft constitution, in which as many as 10 million people voted against it, many of them Thaksin's supporters in the North and Northeast.

The premier was talking to about 300 members of the Thai expatriate community during his visit to Wat Buddharangsee Buddhist temple in Sydney.

The premier told the Thai expats that his government was leading the country out of the political crisis and back to democracy. He said that despite obstacles he and his Cabinet were not disheartened in their attempts to solve the country's problems.

Earlier in the day, Surayud had a luncheon meeting with Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders attending their 15th summit in Australia.

During brief, casual discussion US President George W Bush expressed hope to Surayud that the Thai government would hold a clean and fair election as the country returned to democratic rule.

The prime minister gave assurances to the US president that the general election, tentatively scheduled for December 23, would be held in a fair and clean fashion, according to the TNA.

Surayud quoted Bush as saying that the US president had been kept informed about Thailand's political affairs and that he was aware the prime minister was committed to holding a general election this year.

The Nation - Sat, September 8, 2007

Thaksin Definitely Concealed Assets Aboard

Thaksin may have to face new charges

AEC said to have evidence ex-PM, wife illegally held shares in Shin Corp through nominee Winmark

The Assets Examination Committee will today decide whether to press charges against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of attaining unusual wealth and concealing assets.

The AEC subcommittee investigating allegations of irregularities and vested interest against the ex-PM, led by Klanarong Chantik, planned to suggest to the full meeting today that charges be filed against Thaksin for hiding his wealth, according to a source.

The accusation against Thaksin is that he violated the anti-graft law by failing to report to the National Counter Corruption Commission his shareholding in Shin Corp after becoming prime minister, the source said.

"The subcommittee has found that Thaksin and his wife Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra were still holding shares in Shin Corp after he assumed office," the source said.

The AEC would produce evidence to prove the claim and to show that it was not biased against Thaksin.

The source said its evidence would point out that Thaksin and Pojaman held the shares in question through nominees. "This has something to do with Winmark, a company registered in the British Virgins Islands," said the source, referring to Thaksin's offshore firm.

AEC secretary Kaewsan Atibodhi gave a hint last Friday that there would be big news about Thaksin this week.

According to another source, it was likely that the AEC would decide whether to order more of Thaksin's assets to be frozen, possibly as much as Bt50 billion, as its subcommittee found grounds to believe that the deposed premier was "unusually rich".

Meanwhile, Thaksin's legal adviser Noppadon Pattama yesterday urged the government not to waste taxpayers' money by trying to extradite him or freeze his assets abroad.

Noppadon insisted Thaksin did not have any assets hidden abroad, and in fact his only overseas asset was the Manchester City Football Club.

He had earlier denied that Thaksin had told Swiss newspaper Mittelland Zeitung he would sue a Swiss bank for freezing his accounts and revealing a customer's confidential records.

Noppadon was speaking at a press conference yesterday at which he also defended the Thaksin cabinet over its implementation of the two-and three-digit lottery scheme. He said the lottery was legitimate and revenues from the lottery were used with transparency.

The former premier's legal counsel also expressed confidence that the United Kingdom would not allow Thaksin to be extradited because the legal proceedings against him were against the rule of law.

"Thaksin is being politically harassed. What the public prosecutors are doing is just trying to discredit him on the international scene,'' he said.

In a related development, AEC spokesman Sak Korsaengruang said yesterday the panel would try to find a solution to the translation problem of the CTX scanner contract as the Foreign Ministry had yet to translate more than 1,400 pages of documents, citing a shortage of time and translators.

The AEC needed the contract as part of the evidence to incriminate Thaksin and his Cabinet over the alleged corruption in the scanner purchase.

Sak said AEC chairman Nam Yimyaem had already endorsed a request to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to order the Foreign Ministry to translate the documents. The AEC could not hire a private company to translate the highly confidential contract as it might be leaked to the public.

He said the AEC had the right to check the overseas assets of Thaksin.

The Nation - Mon, September 10, 2007

First day of the blog

This is the first post. Let's try on Thai language.

ไอสไตน์พูดว่า...

ในห้องเรียนวันหนึ่ง ไอสไตน์ถามนักเรียนว่า

' มีคนซ่อมปล่องไฟสองคน กําลังซ่อมปล่องไฟเก่า
พอพวกเขาออกมาจากปล่องไฟ ปรากฏว่า คนหนึ่ง
ตัวสะอาด อีกคนตัวเลอะเทอะ เต็มไปด้วยเขม่า
ขอถามหน่อยว่า คนไหนจะไปอาบน้ำก่อน '

นักเรียนคนหนึ่งตอบว่า
' ก็ต้องคนที่ตัวสกปรกเลอะเขม่าควันสิครับ '

ไอสไตน์ พูดว่า

' งั้นเหรอ คุณลองคิดดูให้ดีนะคนที่ตัวสะอาด เห็นอีกคนที่ตัวสกปรกเต็มไปด้วยเขม่าควันเขาก็ต้องคิดว่าตัวเองออกมาจากปล่องไฟเก่าเหมือนกัน ตัวเขาเองก็ต้องสกปรกเหมือนกันแน่ๆเลย ส่วนอีกคน เห็นฝ่ายตรงข้ามตัวสะอาด ก็ต้องคิดว่า ตัวเองก็สะอาดเหมือนกัน ตอนนี้ ผมขอถามพวกคุณอีกครั้งว่า ใครที่จะไปอาบน้ำก่อนกันแน่ '

นักเรียนคนหนึ่งพูดขึ้นมาด้วยความตื่นเต้นว่า

' อ้อ ! ผมรู้แล้ว พอคนตัวสะอาดเห็นอีกคนสกปรก ก็นึกว่าตัวเองต้องสกปรกแน่ แต่คนที่ตัวสกปรก เห็นอีกคนสะอาด ก็นึกว่าตัวเองไม่สกปรกเลย ดังนั้นคนที่ตัวสะอาดต้องวิ่งไปอาบน้ำก่อนแน่เลย ..... ถูกไหมครับ....'

ไอสไตน์มองไปที่นักเรียนทุกคน นักเรียนทุกคน ต่างเห็นด้วยกับคําตอบนี้

ไอสไตน์ ค่อยๆ พูดขึ้นอย่างมีหลักการและเหตุผล

' คําตอบนี้ก็ผิด ทั้งสองคนออกมาจากปล่องไฟเก่าเหมือนกัน จะเป็นไปได้ไงที่คนหนึ่งสะอาด อีกคนหนึ่งจะสกปรก นี่แหละที่เขาเรียกว่า 'ตรรก' เมื่อความคิดของคนเราถูกชักนําจนสะดุด ก็จะไม่สามารถแยกแยะและหาเหตุผล แห่งเรื่องราวที่แท้จริงออกมาได้ นั่นคือ 'ตรรก'

จะหาตรรกได้ก็ต้อง กระโดดออกมาจาก 'พันธนาการของความเคยชิน'

หลบเลี่ยงจาก 'กับดักทางความคิด'

หลีกหนีจาก ' สิ่งที่ทําให้หลงทางจากความรู้จริง '

ขจัด ' ทิฐิแห่งกมลสันดาน '

จะหา ตรรก ได้ก็ต่อเมื่อ คุณสลัดหมากทั้งหมด ที่คนเขาจัดฉาก วางล่อคุณไว้ …