MPs should contribute part of their salaries to help flood victims

Whose car is this?

Ayuthya: The worst hit.

Pheu Thai Party's spokesman Prompong Thepparit says he will propose to the party's meeting to ask MPs to voluntarily have their salaries cut to contribute to the fund to assist flood victims. If that's passed, he will submit the same proposal to the whole House so that all MPs will follow the same practice.

I asked people in Twitter about how much they think the contribution should be: It's anyway from 30-70% of their monthly salaries.

Surakiart in a new role as 'honest broker'

Surakiart Sathirathai, recently appointed an adviser to the Truth for Reconciliation Commission (TRC), doesn't believe that even if Thaksin Shinawatra and Gen Prem Tinsulanonda sit down and work out a compromise, Thailand's long-standing conflict could be brought to an end.

"The problem has gone much beyond that. Besides, that kind of a forum can't be organized either because a privy councillor can't get involved in politics in the first place," the former deputy premier told Matichon in an interview published today.

Surakiart believes though that a series of "unpublicized negotiations" could be held whereby five to six parties are represented: the yellow shirts, the red shirts, Pheu Thai Party, the Democrats, and the security side.

What about the "invisible hands?" Surakiart says if one talks about "invisible hands," there could be from many sides. "In fact, each party to the conflict all has its own invisible hands as well."

Yes, they will have to be included in the process, he says, stressing that some of the discussions may have to be done off the record.

What about the royal institition? Surakiarts believes privy councillors have nothing to do with politics.

There is even question about who he himself represents in this new peace-making role.
Surakiart reacted promptly to the question.

"This kind of questions shouldn't be raised anymore. People should stop following that line of thinking. I am not a new face in politics and I have a long record of academic work," he said.

Although his wife is related to Her Majesty the Queen, Surakiart says, "we never discuss politics. I have no connections."

Surakiart has obviously assumed a new role. He was once close to Thaksin. He also was seen to be close to the Abhisit government when he was made chairman of the advisory board of the Pheau Paendin Party. Today, he wears a new hat -- as an adviser to the national reconciliation body. Of course, he will well connected. And that probably is why he is proposing a new formula to make peace.

He knows the challenge is enormous though. "The problem in the past five to six years is that we haven't had a referee trusted by all the parties concerned. Everyone who has proposed a way out has been given a label. He or she has been inevitably branded as siding with one side or the other. Now, the Truth for Reconciliation Commission appears to be the most trusted body. That's why I feel more optimistic," Surakiart says.

He will have to prove that he can play the part of the "honest broker" effectively. That remains to be seen.

When Premier Yingluck turns farmer...in this ad

Wow, Premier Yingluck as farmer looks very happy indeed. It's a half-page advertisement in the local newspapers this morning, Oct 7 to mark the beginning of the government's much-heralded Rice Mortgage Policy.

"Don't selll your rice if you don't get a good price. Come, mortgage your paddy stock with the government," declared the ad which urges people to report any corrupt practices in the process -- probably the weakest link in the programme which has come under criticism from several segments in society.

PM Yingluck herself hasn't said much about the project except to insist that it will go ahead. Bearing the brunt is Deputy PM Kittirat na Ranong who has sparred with all critics over the issue. He says he is confident all the past loopholes will be plugged and that all the possible problems raised by detractors will be addressed.

"Some people have tried to put pressure on the government, demanding a pledge that if the project doesn't work out, how would the government show responsibility. All I can say is that if it doesn't work, the government can't stay on," Kittirat declared on a few radio programmes in the past week.

Surely, the scheme will come under scrutiny every step of the way.

PM's Twitter account hacker may even get govt job offer

A 20-year-old student of a well-known university appeared with ICT Minister Anudit Nakhothap in a press conference just now to confess that he was the hacker who had broken into Premier Yingluck Shinawatra's Twitter account on Sunday.

Ekawit Thongdiworakul,according to the minister,had committed the act out of "lack of foresight" and decided to give himself up. He wasn't arrested by authorities who had claimed earlier that they had "clues" to who the hacker was.

Interestingly enough,the suspect wasn't allowed to make any statement of his own during the press conference.

Panthongtae Shinawatra, Thaksin's son, meanwhile,was quoted in a Twitter message that the student had made a bad blunder without any ulterior motives. With such computer talent, he could probably help the government crack down on some questionable websites doing illegal things.

Who knows, this young hacker may have inadvertently stumbled onto a job even before he graduates.

'Shadow PM' hard at work

In case you were wondering where Thaksin Shinawatra was as Premier Yingluck Shinawatra was frantically visiting flooded areas,stop speculating. He couldn't obviously "disappear" for too long.

Newspaper headlines this morning had him at least doing two things from somewhere out there yesterday. He made a phone call to try to settle a public dispute between one of his Pheu Thai MPs, Payab Panket, and his coalition partner Banharn Silpa-archa of Chat Thai Pattana Party, over the flooding situation.

Payab had led a group of local villagers to complain to the Irrigation Department accusing Banharn of having helped keep his Supanburi province from flooding, at the expense of other provinces nearby.

Banharn responded angrily by denying the accusation and wondering aloud why Pheu Thai's leaders had allowed at least one of their MPs to hurl such unfounded accusations against him.

Thaksin of course heard about the wrangle and promptly called the parties concerned to attempt at "damage control," according to Post Today.

Another headline said Thaksin also called in to make changes to a list of reshuffle of officials at the Education Minister although Education Minister Voravaj Apinyakul had made his first move-arounds for officials, Thai Post reported.

So, the "shadow prime minister" isn't too far away from where he considers to be trouble spots while the "official premier" is busy with her own problems.

PM Yingluck's Twitter account hacked!

A lot of tweeple surfing Twitter messages this morning were surprised by some strongly-worded posts supposedly deliverd on @PouYingluck - Premier Yingluck's account on Twitter.

Wow! some real self-criticisms by the PM? Early soul-searching statements? A few of the remarks in the account were about how this government is mishandling the problems of the country.

Soon,the Twitter world was abuzz with questions: "Is the PM's Twitter account hacked?" or "Strange things are happening at the PM's Twitter account" and things along that line.

Within half an hour, the "PM's team" posted an urgent message, declaring that the prime minister's Twitter account has been hacked and that some of the messages posted this morning were fake.

Soon, Pantongtae Shinawatra, the PM's counsin (Thaksin's son) tweeted: "Some people with ill intentions against the country have hacked the prime minister's account on Twitter posting messages that are divisive..."

The PM was in Lopburi to inspect measures to help flood victims. She met angry villagers who have been badly affected by the damage done to Bangchomsri Water Gate.

Yingluck's first radio show: No drama, no blunder

It's her first time on radio. And there wasn't any major blunder. Premier Yingluck passed the test although she delivered no real new substance or any memorable remarks. Yes, she closely followed the script. And that at least ensured that she didn't make any statement she wasn't supposed to.

Her voice was broadcast on radio and also on Channel 11 which used a series of nice looking pictures of the premier to help audience glue to the TV set. That's more or less what her brother Thaksin did when he was premier. Unlike Samak Sundaravej, another ex-premier, who went live on television with great relish. He didn't need a script at all and obviously his good ratings were also guaranteed because the public was expecting him to hit out at somebody somewhere every week.

As for Somchai Wongsawasdi, another former premier, I can't really recall his television show. If there was any, it must have been rather unremarkable, so much so that I can't remember him giving a weekly talk. But then, he wasn't there very long, was he?

Abhisit Vejjajiva, the immediate past premier, took to television like a fish jumping into the canal. Not only didn't he need a script, Abhisit could articulate complicated issues in simple terms with apparent ease.

But then, eloquence on TV didn't guarantee his popularity in an election. Yingluck didn't have to engage in any debate with Abhisit and she won hands down.