One reason Thailand is not and was not a democratic country

Wikipedia describes democracy as "a small number of related forms of government. The fundamental features of democracies include government based on majority rule and the consent of the governed, the existence of free and fair elections, the protection of political minorities, respect for basic human rights, equality before the law, due process, and political pluralism"

If I follow this description, Thailand might not even have a real "democracy" or have been a democratic country at all!! On a ground of free and fair election alone, could you consider votes come from voters that accept money from politician(s) to vote a free and fair election? For me, HELL NO!!

If you're still confused, let me tell you, Thai politicians buy vote. This has happened for so many elections in the past despite how good the constitution is. This has happened in EVERY part of Thailand but pin point to the rural area. So when politician claims "he protects democracy", it's never happened. Because how they've become senators, ministers or even prime minister was not democratic and there was no democracy for him to protect in the first place.

Buying vote will not disappear from Thailand any time soon as long as Thai people prioritized money before their rights. Accepting money to vote has become a custom to many Thais. There's a say "no money no vote" to describe this behavior of rural voters.

Elected government didn't come from true people. Therefore, they didn't do everything for the people. When the governments didn't do the good for the people but for their own sake, elected or dictated feel much the same.

So next time you hear we are democratic country, think hard and long.

By the way, many articles on the web don't recommend Wikipedia site as a good source for research.

NBIA Suvarnabhumi International Airport

Bloodless Coup: 1 Year ago

A year ago, a successful bloodless coup had been carrying out-- among the confusion whose side did they do it for. When the dust settled, people set out to celebrate the unusual event. Flowers for the soldiers could be seen where ever they were. Flowers were most from the people who couldn't bear over-the-limit corruption of Thaksin's government.

Most Thais get used to pay bribe for a little convenience, buy driver license, tip the cop when they get traffic ticket, pay school to get their children in, bribe authorities to get construction permit faster and pay a little more to have it build more then the laws allow, cop set up a system to get bribe money (under-table money - in Thai) from business to have their trucks carry over-the-limit weight of goods on the hi-way and so on with almost everything in their life that deal with authorities.

So when Thai people couldn't take full-of-corruption government any more, that really means something.

Until today, the junta and the government have fought tirelessly (I guess) with the old power that try everything they could to get back to power. To get back to power means they could erase everything the junta appointed government has been doing and has done, including all the investigations and probes and blame it on "undemocratic way".

Interestingly, the junta is also afraid of the old power will get back at them (check bill - in Thai) once they regain the power. What could tons of money and power will buy them unfortunated events when they make a revenge? One could imagine. It would be so bad not only to individual in junta team but also to generations in their family.

In one year, you can see how Thaksin were so good in using the media to his advantage telling his one-side story (always a good side). You can see how good is his staff in doing their jobs in any media available. You can go to wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) reading on Thaksin article and see how it's been done. Not only in Thaksin topic but also related topic such as "efficiency economy", all are so biased.

Beloved Phuket

Dead pilot "loved Phuket view from above"

Captain Arif Mulyadi once told his son that of all the places he had flown, Phuket had the worst weather. But it also had the most beautiful scenery from above.

The retired lieutenant colonel was among the 88 people who died on Sunday in a plane crash on the Thai resort island of Phuket.

"Father promised to come home to see his grandsons on Sept 28," Arif's oldest son, Agung, told news portal detik.com on Monday.

He is returning home 10 days early, but not for the joyous family reunion that had been anticipated.

Arif's body arrived from Thailand yesterday morning (TUES) at SoekarnoHatta International Airport. He was buried at Pondok Ranggon public cemetery, southeast of Jakarta, yesterday.

He is survived by wife Lief Farikha; three children, Agung Bayu Hanggono, 29, Windi Hapsari Catu Pratiwi, 27, and Dimas Bayu Prakoso, 25; and two grandsons.

Arif was piloting the McDonell Douglas MD82 that crashed Sunday. The plane, operated by Thai budget airline OneTwoGo, broke into two and burst into flames on landing, killing 88 people and injuring 42 others.

Chairman of OneTwoGo, Udom Tantiprasongchai, told reporters in Bangkok that the pilot was "an experienced foreigner".

Arif, who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1974, retired from the Air Force two years ago after serving for more than 30 years.

He piloted jet fighters for several years before flying transportation planes, according to soninlaw Lt Col (ret) Munir Umar. He finished his service as an instructor at the Air Force Academy.

"He started his pilot career outside the Air Force long before he retired. To my knowledge, he once worked for Star Air and Sempati, among others," Umar told reporters at Arif's home at the Halim Perdana Kusumah Air Force housing complex in East Jakarta.

Arif's wife was in Thailand on Monday to identify her husband's remains and accompany the body back to Indonesia.

Arif worked for OneTwoGo for several years. His wife joined him in Thailand, where the couple lived, while their children remained in Jakarta.

"Ibu (Arief's wife) just returned home two weeks ago. It was a routine visit, visiting her children and grandsons," Umar said. "Now she is returning here for a different reason."

The Nation by the Jakarta Post/Asia News Network

MD 82 Crashes History

There are total of MD 82 (McDonald Douglas) 18 crahses from 1981 up to Phuket crash today.

http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/aircraft_detail.cgi?aircraft=McDonnell+Douglas+MD-8