The following conspiracy theory is based on four major things: the very subdued celebration on the part of Thaksin Shinawatra, the apparent calmness among the men who brought him down, last shreds of faith in guys like Snoh Thienthong, and the fact that Pojaman Shinawatra has had to surrender her passport upon her return to Thailand.
It surely will sound very far-fetched to you, and I have had great difficulty taking in this scenario myself. However, like I said in my political FAQs last week, we will share with you anything worth sharing, be it information or even speculation. In a state of flux like this, pundits either read too much or too little into every development.
The theory's tag line can't be simpler: everything in the wake of the December 23 election is a set-up. In other words, Thaksin and his wife are being lured into a trap. They are about to walk toward great danger that even a bigger election victory can't protect them from: the uncompromising stand of Thai judges.
One wonders why the coup-makers have been very accommodating. The People Power Party leader, Samak Sundaravej, has enjoyed substantial freedom in seeking allies after his party won the poll. All of Thaksin's "detractors" or "defectors" have been allowed to make another U-turn without fuss. And while there was no red carpet laid down for Pojaman, she was allowed to sneak in like a long-lost celeb, rather than a political criminal warranting maximum security.
An often-ignored important detail about her homecoming is the fact that she has had her passport confiscated and can no longer leave the country. Her fate now does not depend on how much influence she can assert on the formation of the new Cabinet, but how the judges will rule on the corruption cases she and her husband are facing. Thaksin may have sent her as a negotiator or even infiltrator, but he must have realised she now risks becoming a hostage. [via The Nation]
Sierra Tangos
- Conned. A pal got into a pool challenge in a Soi 8 beer bar in the early hours of this morning and a neutral was nominated to hold the wager of Baht7,000/-. When my pal won, the wager holder had legged it. Not subtle but effective.
- Baht to continue to strengthen - the Kasikorn Research Centre is confident the Baht will continue to strengthen in the first half of this year as the US dollar continues to weaken, resulting in exporters dumping the greenback, while regional currencies strengthen. Negative factors which could affect the baht’s movement include the possibility of the US economy picking up and the new government’s economic policies. [via Bangkok Post]
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Following final confirmation by the national Election Commission (EC) that voting for the Senatorial election will take place nationwide on March 2, the Phuket Election Committee (PEC) has confirmed that it is 100% ready to conduct the polls – and that the same restrictions on alcohol sales will be in force during both the advance and general polling.
- Passport forgers nabbed in India with fake Thai visas - Indian police said on Monday that they had arrested four people believed to be running a fake passport and visa racket from Mumbai.
"Our team led by deputy superintendent of police S Anand recovered six forged passports from the possession of the culprits," STF chief Brij Lal told reporters, according to the media.
"Apparently, the visas stamped on the passports appeared original. They were for countries like the USA, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Dubai," he added. [via Bangkok Post]
- It’s here! Less than two weeks ago we gave you a preview of what was to come in the open source Spicebird application, and I’m happy to say that a public Beta is now available.
Spicebird, simply put, is Thunderbird with Lightning installed, plus a few other things. The most unique features would be the customizable homepage and the integrated instant messaging. The homepage lets users select from a limited number of applets, and arrange them in any fashion. Once there are more of these applets available it will be more worthwhile.
Here’s an overview of the features currently available in Spicebird 0.4 Beta:
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Access email from their service provider using POP/IMAP protocols
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Manage schedule using calendar and tasks applications
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Subscribe to others’ public calendars
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Read news/blogs using RSS subscriptions
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Manage contacts
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Chat with friends by using their gtalk or other Jabber accounts
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It will take just a few seconds for Gmail and Google Talk users to setup the respective accounts. The only thing that I would recommend for future versions of Spicebird is to give Gmail users an option between POP and IMAP access. Right now it defaults to POP, but you can manually setup a Gmail account to use IMAP if you would like.
Now it’s full steam ahead for the Spicebird development team. They are focusing on version 0.7 which will include better instant messaging capabilities, and a bit more polish. I would have to say that this looks very promising. (Windows & Linux only) [via CyberNet]
- Engadget have produced a terrific review of the best and worst of the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. I've reproduced below the section on HDTV / home theatre to give you an idea. Click on the hyperlink to see the full review.
HDTV / home theatre
- Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive!
- Mitsubishi laser TV unveiled
- HD DVD group cancels CES press conference in wake of Warner announcement
- Sling announces SlingCatcher (again), SlingPlayer 2.0 with Clip+Sling, and Sling Cable modem (with hands-on)
- Sony XEL-1 OLED slips into US stores
- Pioneer's Project Kuro: The 9mm thick, infinite contrast 50-inch plasma HDTV (hands-on)
- Hands-on with Pioneer's extreme contrast concept plasma
- BT Group first to roll out Xbox 360 as IPTV set-top box
- Panasonic gets official with WirelessHD transmission system (plus hands-on)
- Live from Panasonic's CES keynote (with Gary Shapiro)
- Panasonic's gigantic 150-inch plasma is official! (with spy shot action)
- Texas Instruments shows off DLP DualView technology
- Lucy Caka looking lovely
- President Bush is visiting our good friends in Saudi Arabia. Today President Bush said the Saudis are fully enlisted in the war on terror. Yeah — so fully, they’re on both sides. [via Jay Leno]
- And the country says they’re getting more progressive. For example, today the king said they are considering allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia. Well, except for Lindsay Lohan. [via Jay Leno]
- Because of the writers’ strike, the Golden Globes had to be cut down from three hours to one hour. And the winner is? The American public. [via David Letterman]
- Lots of visitors this time of year in New York City. It’s easy to spot a visitor . . . he’s the guy hailing an off-duty hooker. [via David Letterman]
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