The fact that PPP didn't win an outright mandate to govern has created a significant problem for Thaksin. He can't return until he knows the make up of the coalition government. Even when he knows the parties involved in the coalition he has to be sure that all parties in the coalition agree to his amnesty. In the wheeling and dealing going on this week it's quite possible that the smaller parties being courted by PPP might make Thaksin's prosecution a condition of consummating a political relationship. On top of that the Bangkok elite and generals are going to keep the pressure on with regard to prosecuting Thaksin. Otherwise, the coup will have all been for nought.
Samak used Thaksin's popularity to win the rural vote but now that he has it, I'm not sure what long term value Thaksin has for Samak. I mean, Samak now controls his own destiny with or without Thaksin's support. It could well be that Samak will have to be Brutus to Thaksin's Caesar if he wants to run the country. One thing's for sure if I was Thaksin, I would chose my friends very carefully in the coming weeks. For the rest of us, it could make fascinating viewing.
Sierra Tangos
- Baby Dolls Go Go Party, for new Mamasan - 8.00pm, Thursday, Dec 27th
- LK Metro Block Party, 7.00pm, Thursday, Dec 27th - Sponsored by San Mig with sounds from the San Mig Band and food by Big Joe
- A number of bars have increased their bar fines for the holiday period. You can find a detailed list at Thai Anxiety. Strangely, non of what I consider to be top tier bars are in the 2,000 Baht category.
- Just when you thought it was safe.... Eastern Thailand may face water shortages within five years unless additional resources can be made available to meet growing demand, says Chakramon Phasukvanich, the permanent secretary for the Industry Ministry. He said raw water reservoirs in the region could run dry as demand grows from 300 billion Baht worth of new petrochemical complexes planned in the area. Water resources would be put under additional pressure as new independent power plants, automotive plants and other industrial projects come online. Eastern Thailand's tourism industry is also consuming vast quantities of water in places including Pattaya, Rayong and Trat. [via Bangkok Post]
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Ladyboy freelancers are congregating at the corner of Beach Road and Soi 13 between the hours of 2am - 4am. Just thought you might want to know.
- Are you a retro sort of guy named Geoff? Are you one of those types of people who really, really need their CDs, DVDs and CD-Rs organized into some sort of jukebox formation?
If you are, then the CD Carousel Plus might be for you. Basically the Carousel is capable of holding 150 discs, and thanks to the included software + USB cable, you can connect it to your computer, create a database, and afterwards search all the collection of CDs, DVDs and CD-Rs by title, or keyword.
How to select a disc? If you know the number of the disc, just use the keypad. Otherwise, double click the title you want from the search results (on your PC) and the disc is delivered to you in seconds. The Carousel can also be used standalone (minus PC).
It's not clear to me how you return a CD to the Carousel and maintain the integrity of your database and numbering system. That apart, the Carousel will cost you around $200.
- I used the holiday to install Windows XP SP 3 and the install was trouble free apart from the fact it took 4 hours to complete. Thank goodness I had the Queen's speech to entertain me..... It takes forever backing up each Windows SP2 file individually before replacing it with the SP 3 equivalent. I have been so overwhelmed with the differences between SP2 and SP3 that I had to go to System Properties to double check SP3 had been installed successfully. It had and 24 hours later I still haven't spotted any differences between SP2 and SP3. Looks like the changes are all under the hood.
- Quote Of The Day by Trey Ellis when commenting on the joys of Christmas Day with kids - I immediately recognized in the eyes of my kids the purity of the joy that I knew on that day when I was their age, still untainted by the disappointments that, with time, will meet us all.
- Liz Fuller, UK TV presenter, nip slip
- The President's Christmas Eve Letter [via Toby Barlow, Huffington Post]
Dear Santa,
It's been a so-so year. Could have been better. Jenna wrote a book (Gosh, didn't see that coming! Who'd a thunk it. I sure couldn't do that.) and, well, I guess that's all that happened that was any good.
Okay, real quick 'cause it's bedtime, here's my list of the things I want:
(1) Rebuild New Orleans: No one around here seems to want to do it, so I guess it's just up to you and the elves.
(2) No Child Left Behind: Sure it sounds great but turns out to be kind of tricky, and I tried but I seem to have just messed it up even more. (Momz probably right, I'm just no good at nuthun.)
(3) Peace in the Middle East: I don't know if you have any supporters over there in Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, Pakistan, or Afghanistan. I'm sure I don't. But maybe you can do something. Boy, I've tried. Me and Condi, we've done near done everything we could think of!
(4) No More Climate Change: At first I tried to wish it wasn't so, but I guess there's just no ignoring it. And now Al Gore's gone and got himself both an Oscar and a Nobel Prize while all I've got is a couple hundred boxes of Jenna's stupid unsold book. Hey baby Jesus, thanks for nothing! Anyway Santa, save the polar bears and stuff, okay? Thanks.
(5) No More Foreclosures: I thought the phrase "Ownership Society" would make everything okay for everybody, but guess what Santa, it didn't. Just last night I was getting upset watching the news about how people were getting thrown out of their homes and so now Dick says they won't let me watch the TV no more.
(6) Lastly, and this is an important one, whatever you do, Don't, Don't Don't let Hillary win. That would be soooo embarrassing. My mom would just never let me forget that one. Not ever.
That's it. Thanks for doing all this stuff. You know, being President is real hard. My head aches. I'm going to bed now.
Enjoy the milk and sorry I ate all the cookies,
George
- One day, a little boy wrote to Santa Clause, "Please send me a sister." Santa Clause wrote him back, "Ok, send me your mother."
- What two things in the air can make a women pregnant? Her feet!
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