UDD aka DAAD-Friend of PTV

[admin]

Does PTV (People's Television) have a website?

[Nekochan]

http://ptv.bravehost.com/

I check this site and it works!

[admin]

great detective work! thanks!

[GWR]

This looks like a fairly cynical way for Sanoh Thienthong to remind people of his annual birthday extravagansa and his new party. Almost the opening shot of the election, I suspect:

Veteran politician Snoh Thienthong dropped a bombshell yesterday by claiming that an unnamed person was funding public anti-coup rallies.

The Pracharaj Party leader said he had information about the matter and would "tell all" during the celebration of his 73rd birthday tomorrow at the Alpine golf course.

Allegations have abounded that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra provided financial support to the organisers of the banned PTV station, who organised anti-government rallies at Sanam Luang last Friday and at the City Hall grounds yesterday.

Snoh, who is credited with being the main driving force behind the rise of Banharn Silapa-archa, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Thaksin Shinawatra to the premiership, yesterday attended a religious ceremony to mark the inauguration of the Matchima Group of politicians led by Somsak Thepsuthin. Representatives of major political parties attended the event.

[Scuba22]

"...at the Alpine golf course"

Nice symbolic touch - anyone know what eventually happened with the Alpine scandal?

Scuba22

[Wisarut]

PTV Men trying to sack Papa Prem
http://www.manager.co.th/Politics/Vi...=9500000037258

[GWR]

23 May 2007
BMA and Metropolitan Police to obstruct elephants to travel to city to demonstrate
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and Metropolitan Police set up checkpoints to prevent elephants coming in numbers to rally in Bangkok.

99 elephants are reportedly planning to travel into the city to join the May 30th rally, a date scheduled to issue the court’s verdict of party dissolution case. Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin (อภิรักษ์ โกษะโยธิน) has urged all state authorities to monitor situation closely.

Metropolitan Police Bureau Commissioner, Pol Lt Gen Adisorn Nonsri (อดิศร นนทรีย์), has asked for cooperation from Interior Ministry to help prohibit removing of elephants from its areas.

Meanwhile, mahouts have been requested not to bring their elephants to Bangkok.

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglis...d=255005230032

Other Emergency Rule reports:

http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bang...4740#post14740

[admin]

This is a restoration of a missing message originally posted by Baton Rouge on June 15, 2007.

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Jakrapop Penkair says the coup was wrong, and can't get over why those he admires at The Nation are incapable of opposing the coup. What he tries to forget is his obsequious interviews of Thaksin Shinawatra in the past on issues that really required hard-questioning by anyone who says they want to get the elite off the backs of ordinary Thais.

I want to know just what he thinks Thaksin Shinawatra was capable of delivering to ordinary people when that man has always been so obviously an unrepentent member of the establishment.

Just what was it about Thaksin that made it so necessary for Jakrapop to become a TRT party spokesman?

Is a man of such obvious intellect (and self-reported care for the population) totally incapable of becoming a founding member of a truly-representative socialist party or similar?

What was the need to join and participate in a party that is so obviously bankrolled for the sake of one clan and its business associates?

Having heard so many eloquent politicians here in Thailand (Thaksin included) who went on to dupe the population big time, it is obvious to me that it is possible here to talk of one's care for society while at the same time entirely serving one's own interests. I can only conclude that Jakrapop is another sweet-talking hypocrite with a massive ambition and ego:


---Quote---
*Interview with Jakrapob*

Just a few years ago Jakrapop Penkair was a model celebrity - thriving on a good blend of knowledge and sweet personality. Not anymore.

Listen to how the smooth-talking man, now the most charismatic leader of the pro-Thaksin and anti-coup campaign, has transformed himself over just the last few months. In an interview with our reporter, Kornchanok Raksaseri.

He attacked virtually everyone, from the president of the Privy Council to rival politicians to members of the media.

Click each part of the interview to listen:

1st part: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/spec...file/chak1.mp3

2nd part: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/spec...file/chak2.mp3

3rd part: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/spec...file/chak3.mp3
---End Quote---

***************

[admin]

We remain frozen out of updating the main 2Bangkok.com site (more info here: http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bang...ead.php?t=2488) so we are posting some info on the Friday night rallies below.

Once we can regain control of the main site, the permanent link to the article below will be http://www.2bangkok.com/07/rallies/june15-07.shtml

********

(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)

Anti-government rally at Sanam Luang - 10:00pm, June 15, 2007

It was a large crowd--perhaps 15,000. By 10:00pm the crowd was thinning out. A speaker read out a long and loud harangue against General Saprang. Then there was another loud and sarcastic speech about how Thaksin was the only Prime Minister for the nation. The speaker brought up other options such as Sonthi, Chuan, Abhisit, Somkit, Banharn and skewered each one for being an aloof politician not connected to the people. All the speakers kept repeating the charge that Sonthi was a liar.

The crowd was enthusiastic, vocal, and extremely attentive, cheering and calling out in laughter.

Also: June 8, 2007 rally - PTV rallies - High tension in Thailand

2Bangkok.com editor Ron Morris notes: Few taxi drivers wanted to go to Sanam Luang after government warnings for them to stay away. A taxi driver who was willing to go was listening to "92.2 Democracy Radio." The volume was adjusted from the taxi's radio, but the radio did not seem to be on. The station was crystal clear and without advertising. I got the feeling the taxi had some kind of alternate receiver installed to receive the broadcast. The speaker on the radio was warning that it was dangerous for the country if Thaksin did not return as Prime Minister. When the taxi driver saw me taking notes, he got nervous, turned off the station and refused to turn it on or speak about it.

(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)

The north part of Sanam Luang after 10:00pm


(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)


(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)

Looking towards the stage


(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)


(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)

At 10:45 the crowd began to empty out of Sanam Luang - Groups of 5 or 6 left in tuk-tuks, taxis, and pickup trucks

[GWR]

18 June 2007
MFA Spokesperson says MFA not responsible for following Mr. Jakapob Penkair's movements
The Spokesperson to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that it is not responsible for following the movements of Mr. Jakapob Penkair (จักรภพ เพ็ญแข).

Director General of Information and Spokesperson to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Tharit Charungwat (ธฤต จรุงวัฒน์ ) reported on the incident in which Mr. Jakapob Penkair (จักรภพ เพ็ญแข), one of the leaders of PTV demonstrators in Sanam Luang, will be traveling to Malaysia in order to conduct an interview on Thailand's political situation with the Al Jazeera and Malaysian news agencies. Mr. Tharit said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not responsible for following the movements of Mr. Jakapob and that his interview is part of his personal affairs.

...........

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglis...d=255006180043

[nganadeeleg]

Here is the link to the full Bangkok Post article:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/260607_Ne...007_news21.php

A MAN OBSESSED

Jakrapob Penkair's unflagging loyalty to Thaksin Shinawatra has upset even some of his closest friends

Story by KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI


Jakrapob Penkair addresses demonstrators who braved the rain at the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship rally at Sanam Luang, which started on May 26.
After 31 days under rain and sun at the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship rally, 40-year-old news analyst-turned-politician Jakrapob Penkair was still fully fresh and fit.

His voice was clear and his face beaming.

"Tired? Not at all. I've never felt as sturdy as this before. This is the most joyful moment of my life," Mr Jakrapob said, sitting relaxed in his air-conditioned Toyota Sport Rider waiting for the next round of speeches on Sunday night.

"The only thing that bothers me now is that I have no chance to swim. I like swimming very much," he said, "but the fact that I've had to change my safe-house everyday for the past month makes it impossible for me to go swimming regularly as I do when I stay at my condominium."

It is his conviction that a person who does what he likes and fights for his beliefs will always be happy and energetic.

When asked what he was fighting for, the close aide of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra replied: "I am fighting for democracy."

"And Mr Thaksin is the most vivid symbol of democracy," he added, "because he came to power through a general election under a democratic system.

"So, I believe that protecting Mr Thaksin is also protecting Thai democracy."

The PTV executive said leading the DAAD rally had added colour to his life.

"I have lived a very simple life, always acted politely and stayed in a safe environment. This is a very good chance for me to taste the real excitement."

He is addicted to politics _ outspoken politician Samak Sundaravej, a former Bangkok governor, is a role model _ and says he is now ready to take a risk by choosing sides.

"And by doing this I earn a lot of criticism and new foes, but I'm ready to face up to this," he said, referring to his devotion to the fight for the reinstatement of Mr Thaksin and his leading role in the anti-coup rally.

His strength came partly from the support he received from family members, all of them strong supporters of Mr Thaksin and the Thai Rak Thai party.

The young-blood politician said he made his own decisions, each political step of the way.

"I don't have a personal mentor. When I need help, I turn to textbooks, news articles and academic papers," said Mr Jakrapob, better known among his friends and close aides as "Ake".

"I study books and articles by a range of writers and thinkers _ among them Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, Pridi Banomyong, Jit Phumisak and even anti-Thaksin academics such as Nidhi Eowseewong and Kasien Techapira," he said.

Since he began playing a leading role within DAAD over the last month, the two books he has been reading are The Private Life of Chairman Maoand George Orwell's political novel1984.

Born in 1967 into a middle-class family of five, Mr Jakrapob studied at Satit Kaset school for 12 years before entering Chulalongkorn University's faculty of political science.

Mr Jakrapob furthered studies with a master's and doctorate degrees in economics at Johns Hopkins University.

After returning to Thailand, the politically-obsessed man worked briefly for the Charoen Pokphand Group before moving to the Foreign Affairs Ministry's information department.

While at the department, he also worked as a news analyst for some TV and radio stations, but real advancement came when he served as the government's anchorman reporting the Apec meeting in 2003.

Mr Jakrapob was appointed the government spokesman later the same year. Since then he has never strayed far from Mr Thaksin.

A Satit Kaset school teacher who taught Mr Jakrapob from Mathayom 4 to 6 said he was "different" from his peers.

"He looked much older than the other students. The boy always acted like he was a great professor," said the teacher who asked not to be named.

He wore thick eye-glasses, his school uniform was too big for him and his hair was always neatly set with thick wax.

"Jakrapob was always being teased by his friends because of his weird appearance," said the 62-year-old teacher.

"He was very good at acting when assigned to speak in front of the class, but his ideas and points of view were not so sharp," the teacher recalled. He won a number of awards in school-level debates. "Jakrapob is a good public speaker, but not a good thinker."

A Foreign Affairs official who is one of Mr Jakrapob's best friends but declined to be named described him as "easy-going and sincere, although he has very few close friends".

"We love him because he is honest to his thoughts. If he likes someone or something, he will readily make a sacrifice," he said.

The close friend conceded that Mr Jakrapob's mission as a staunch supporter of Mr Thaksin had upset some of his friends.

"When we meet, we try not to talk about politics," he said.

"However, his political standpoint will not affect our friendship. His friends will still love him as he is."

Although the DAAD demonstration has fizzled out over the past two weeks, Mr Jakrapob said he did not think he and the other PTV executives who spearhead the rally will lose the struggle.

But the form of the battle might change, from street rally to an information war.

"We will continue our fight, whatever form the war takes," he said.

And if the situation turns violent and "this country has no place for me to stand, I might apply for a job as a political lecturer in a foreign university," he added.

[quietone]

The fact that he identifies the extreme right wing nationalistic idealogue Samak who is at least accused of encouraging former attrocities as his role model shows some politcial confucion at least.

[admin]

QUESTION: Where is Veera's house?

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Sonkhla people threaten to rally at Veera's house

A group of Songkhla people Monday threatened to hold rally at the house of PTV executive Veera Musigapong in retaliation to Veera's plan to hold rallies in front of the house of Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda.

Chalee Noppawong, a leader of the group of Prem's supporters, said the Songkhla people would not tolerate any attempt to humiliate Prem, born in Songkhla

Chalee said the Sonkhla people would travel to Bangkok to rally in front of Veera's house in retaliation.

The Nation

[BangkokPundit]

From Kom Chad Luek:

จะเดินทางไปยื่นที่บ้านเลขที่ 39/194 ซ.วิภาวดีรังสิต 84 แขวงสีกัน เขตดอนเมือง กทม. ซึ่งเป็นบ้านของนายวีระ มุสิกพงศ์

...will travel to 39/194 Soi Vipawadee Rangist 84, Sub-district See Gun, Don Muang District, Bangkok, which is the residence of Veera Musigapong

[admin]

That's fantastic! Thanks!