Let It Be, Let It Be, Let It Be......

Whatever the results, let the majority's choice stand

Today is election day, and this country will be better off if we all follow the democratic principles of majority rule.

In this context, this means that whichever party wins the largest number of the 480 House seats ought to be given the right to form the next administration.

By now the majority of Thai people are ready to accept the poll results, whatever they are, as long as the election is free and fair. In fact the country has wasted precious time and resources over the past two years as sections of society have waged an anti-Thaksin war, which has unfortunately proved to be costly and moved the country nowhere.

In hindsight, mistakes were abundant. Now it's time to return to the democratic path after a one-year break in the wake of the September 19, 2006 coup. And if we all follow the principle of majority rule, the choice of a new prime minister will be quite straightforward.

Hopefully we'll have a coalition government with a combined mandate of around 300 MPs out of the 480-member House.

That figure will give the next administration a comfortable enough margin to be stable for one or two years or maybe even longer.

When Thailand has a stable government, its political system will also become more stable, a prerequisite for a higher economic growth rate when Thailand is lagging among East and Southeast Asian countries.

Even neighbouring Cambodia's economy has been growing faster than Thailand's over the past couple of years at 10 per cent versus 4 per cent of GDP.

However, the politics of Thai coalition governments will remain unchanged from the older days as there will be intense negotiations and lobbying for a decent quota of Cabinet seats by coalition partners who will undoubtedly hope to recoup their investment by joining the incoming government.

Many faces in the new Cabinet will be familiar, having been in the political arena for years or even for a couple of decades. Their styles will not be unprecedented, but they and their party bosses will know how to share benefits among themselves peacefully at least for a while.

Still, the political outlook should be better than that of the past year under an interim administration installed by the Council for National Security, which staged the 2006 coup.

In the end, the majority of people, not just a few, should have the final say as to what kind of government they elect to office. Only in that way can the rural poor, who form the majority of voters, learn the nuts and bolts of democracy, however ill-informed they may have been. [via The Nation]

Sierra Tangos

• The Golf Club, Hell Club and 1 Stop are co-hosting a Christmas Block Party in LK Metro on Dec 27th at 7.00pm. The event is sponsored by San Mig and the San Mig Band will be there to provide the sounds. Catered by Big Joe's,

  Farang, Thai and Issan food will be on offer.

The organisers are requesting donations of clothing and non perishable goods for the Mercy Center.

• At the Central Festival Center in North Pattaya, the grand opening took place for a promotional event which is taking place from now until 13th January 2008. Gift Wonderland 2008, sponsored by Walt Disney Peter Pan is offering prize giveaways throughout the festive season. One lucky person will win an all-expenses paid trip for two to Disneyworld in Florida, worth 180,000 Baht. Until Sunday, regular shows will feature the cast members from Walt Disney’s Peter Pan. If you spend 500 baht or more at the center, you will be entered into the prize draw. [via Pattaya City News]

• Thailand's military-installed parliament approved a controversial internal security law that critics warned Friday will allow the military to maintain a grip on power even after this weekend's general election. The new law will allow the Internal Security Operations Command to order curfews, restrict freedom of movement and curb the powers of government officials in situations deemed harmful to national security. It also allows the agency to detain suspects without trial for up to six months and restrict access to electronic equipment - a vague clause that critics say could include censorship of the Internet and possibly permit the authorities to tap telephones. In a concession to critics, the law names the prime minister as head of ISOC and the army chief as second-in-command, a change from draft versions that had the army chief as the agency's director. [via Examiner.com]

  

• Sophie Howard's Topless 2008 Calendar

• Music charts and search right in your browser - Want to listen to the latest charts of the UK, Europe and Germany ? Want to create your own playlist, add artists to it and search for songs as well ? Mucelli offers all of this in a easy to use very user friendly interface. They pull the music from Youtube and display it either with or without the video.

The default setting plays the music without showing the video but a click displays the video as well. You might be asking why you should use the Mucelli website if you could also just visit Youtube and play the videos and songs there. That’s a good question. The real benefit is that you do not have to know what’s in the charts to be able to listen to them.

You have easier access as well. Just click on a song and it plays. Click on the next and it plays immediately as well. If you would use Youtube you would have to perform a search for every new song that you want to find and play. Last but not least you always get the right result at Mucelli and don’t have to search through them like you sometimes have to do at Youtube.

On the downside the service does have some hiccups from time to time when the playing song waits for data from Youtube. It also seems to be problematic to change tabs which often stops playback for a second before it continues. [via gHacks]

• A rack to be proud of

• Perfect gift for you 3 holers out there - a back door pencil sharpener

• Time Magazines Man Of The Year 2007
  

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