Foreign Minister Kasit Goes Berserk, Suspects Worldwide Pro-Thaksin Conspiracy UPDATE Audio posted

UPDATE: The John Hopkins University, where the talk was held, has posted the full audio of Kasit's speech. We haven't been talking about Thaksin for a while, have we? Well, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya thinks so as well and has used the next best opportunity in front of a microphone to lash out against Thaksin and everyone that helps him - which is in his opinion almost the whole world. AFP summarizes what must have been some astonishing quotes (to be enjoyed in all it's entirety for entertainment purposes).

Thailand's Foreign Minister lashed out at the international community Monday for failing to take action against fugitive ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whom he blamed for the country's political unrest.

"Everyone is washing their hands but he is a bloody terrorist," said Kasit Piromya, citing countries such as Russia and Germany for turning a blind eye over Thaksin's corruption conviction and allowing him in.

He also cited Dubai, which the billionaire Thaksin had reportedly used as a longtime base after being overthrown in a military coup in 2006, as well as Nicaragua and Montenegro, both of which he recently visited.

"There is this act of interference by third countries -- how can the Russians allow him there for two days or the Germans before that?"

"Everyone is playing naive, closing their eyes and so on, simply because he was once an elected leader," Kasit said.

He likened Thaksin to an Al-Qaeda terrorist and past "elected" leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini.

"Hitler was elected, Mussolini was elected, even Stalin could say that he was elected also but what did they do to their very society? This is the question," the top Thai diplomat said at a meeting with a small group of reporters and think tank heads.

Kasit, in Washington attending a landmark nuclear summit called by President Barack Obama, accused Thaksin of orchestrating demonstrations by his so-called Red Shirt supporters last week that led to 21 deaths in the bloodiest political unrest in 18 years.

The 60-year-old Thaksin exiled himself to avoid imprisonment on a 2008 corruption conviction and occasionally addresses the Red Shirts through Internet video links.

Kasit lamented that Thailand was "not getting any international cooperation at all" over Thaksin's case, saying even Interpol "just simply refused to work with us." (...)

While the world demanded for more democracy in Thailand, it "allows Thaksin to run loose as if nothing happens," he said.

Kasit called on the Obama administration to prod the Red Shirts to come to the negotiating table. The United States and Thailand are treaty allies.

"Thai FM slams international community over crisis", AFP, April 13, 2010

Good Lord, where do I even start?

It is an open secret that the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs' unofficial top priority is to hunt down Thaksin wherever in the world he pops up. And since he seems to travel anywhere without any apparent problems, one might understand Kasit's outburst if (in his opinion) the one man who is solely to be blamed for a the big political mess that has happened in over the last five years cannot be apprehended and even seems to get international assistance.

I have previously blogged about Thaksin's stay in Germany and also mentioned his trip to Montenegro. Since then, Thaksin has claimed to have been in Russia as well. Additionally the Foreign Ministry has stated that he was in Sweden before that. But it should be noted that they got it wrong before when they suspected Thaksin to be expelled from UAE and to have flown to Siem Reap when the most recent red shirts protest begun.

It is astonishing how a branch of the government, or even a single person, can be so morbidly obsessed with one person desperately trying to hunt him down. So desperate that Kasit thinks he can afford to alienate nearly everybody.

As for the Hitler-Mussolini-Stalin-comparison and Kasit's claim that the most notorious figures in history were 'elected' into power, a simple look into Wikipedia might have saved him from this spectacular claim. Mussolini rose to power through intimidation of public authorities and political opponents with a large mob until he was appointed to lead the country by the king, Stalin was able to push out Lenin and later his own closest allies away from power, and even though Hitler's nazi party has won at the ballots, he was appointed Chancellor in hope by his coalition partners to be contained with a framework of conservative cabinet ministers - we all know how well that worked.

And how got Abhisit to power, again?

P.S.: Kasit also had some interesting quotes on another subject I will not discuss here.

What Else? No. 1 - Zero Rupees Note Edition

"What Else?" is a regular look at all the other things that happened in Thailand, Germany, on the web and in between.

After a very long court verdict, let's look what's left of this week.

An Indian NGO called the "5th Pillar" have the high aim of fighting corruption (sounds familiar, eh?). They hope achieve this with these zero rupee bank notes (pictured above) in case some higher authority wants to make some extra money on your expense. Is this a good way to fight corruption? Is this an example applicable to Thailand? And would you get away fast enough when the cops realize the round zero(s) on the note?

Absolutely Bangkok, a Thai blog with a very distinct voice on current affairs, recently found his own site being blocked by a Thai ISP. Thankfully, it is already unblocked and he has the full story how it happened. The gist is, that nearly everyone can report to a service called Thaihotline.org, set up by the Thai ISPs, anything that could be illegal. Unfortunately, what is illegal though is in many cases not clearly defined.

American journalist Patrick Winn has written a very interesting geopolitical story about Thailand's joint military exercises with both the US and China.

Remember when the PAD (also known as the yellow shirts) have seized the two airports in Bangkok and have sieged the Government's House back in 2008? And have you also wondered if anybody has been prosecuted by now? Well, so far nothing has happened! In fact, the prosecution has postponed the indictment of the nine PAD leader for the 8th (!) time since November 2008. Why? Well, read here...

And now to our "WTF?! of the Week" where I 'honor' stories, persons or anything that makes us initially shout those three letters of confusion. This week it's about Khunying Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand, Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice and probably the most famous forensic pathologist even before CSI. She is an advocate for forensic evidence, especially when the police haven't done their work again or are trying to cover their own wrongdoings. So, a recent survey by Reader's Digest Thailand has decided today that - drum roll, please - Dr. Pornthip is the most trustworthy person in Thailand! So far, so unsurprising given her good public image (and her flamboyant hair). But it is astonishing that a scientific, who believes in scientific evidence, is defending the use of the GT200, the 'bomb detector' which is now scientifically proven to be nothing but a bogus dowsing rod! To be fair though, the survey was done in October last year - way before the GT200 was on anybody's mind. But I doubt she'd be that popular if the survey would be held now. Nevertheless, the headline was worthy enough for the first ever "WTF?! of the Week"!

Finally, a brilliant piece yet again by Not The Nation, the Thai counterpart to The Onion. This article on Thai journalism bears more truth than some could handle - especially for a certain editor at The Nation: "Thai Media Warns Of Thaksin-Less Doomsday For Journalism"

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On this occasion, I'd like to thank all readers of this blog for your feedback, your comments and your retweets. It's been a great start for this blog and I hope this will only get better - there won't be a short supply of stories after all! Cheers, everybody!

"Thailand: Warring Colours" - A Beginner's Guide to the Thai Political Crisis

In December 2009 Al Jazeera English have aired a 45-minute long documentary "Thailand: Warring Colours" about the ongoing political crisis. I think it does a good job summarizing the key moments and issues that are plaguing the country for years. Some newsmakers like Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva and well, you-know-who are being interviewed as well as activists from both colors and many other voices. This is a beginner's guide for understanding the current political situation. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Gmt7dvOWs&w=600&h=360]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZLLSE-VFe4&w=600&h=360]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JmCjwZQHJk&w=600&h=360]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b24xix2bxaI&w=600&h=360]

For a comparison, here's my take summarizing the issue back in September 2009 on the third anniversary of the military coup of 2006 in a webcast when I was working with Asia News Network.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgOBRHum800&w=600&h=360]