Thai Constitutional Court overrules military junta's groupies
Thursday is gone or almost gone depending where you are, and this is the January famous final Fishwrap Friday.
With Royal Thai Army veteran coup instigators Generals Prawit and Prayut gone and out -- via free, fair elections -- the nine justices of the Constitutional Court grew spines.
First and foremost the cockeyed claims by military-coup toadies that Pita Limjaroenrat and his entire progressive Move Forward Party should be banned from all Thai society and politics was absurd. They tried to pin a fake charge of illegal stock-holding of media shares -- when the media involved hasn't even been a media company for 17 years.
There may be more to come. But that particular blarney about iTV stocks -- no way, End Of.
Pita is right back in politics and parliament as Move Forward Party MP and by next week he will be MFP, and official opposition leader again.
https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/politics/40034976
As for Pita, and Thaksin and Yingluck
The PROCESS (accusation, legal charges, expensive lawyers, front-page and massive TV coverage globally)
The PROCESS is the PUNISHMENT. And not just for those individuals but for everyone who voted for Pita and the progressives.
Those darned Russian dolls -- they're so full of themselves.
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Many foreign investors are looking forward to bringing capital to the (land bridge) project.
 -- Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, when he met opponents of the project. (Much more below)
THAILAND THAKSIN PRISONS CORRUPTION
by Veera Prateepchaikul, former editor (fired), Bangkok Post
Accusing fingers are pointing at the Department of Corrections over its alleged VIP treatment showered on Thaksin since August.
Last week, the DOC cautioned the public and press to stop calling him Prisoner Thaksin because he has not yet served a jail term.
Moreover, the department said addressing a prisoner by his/her name with the prefix "inmate or prisoner" is dehumanising.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2728072/
Within weeks, the hospitalised Thaksin will apply for (another parole).
That will leave behind a legacy of double standards in the justice system. It will give additional credence to the widely held notion that prison in Thailand is for the poor, not for the rich. Particularly super-rich.
THAILAND POLITICS ECONOMY
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin took his entire cabinet to Ranong province in the far southwest,
Where he ran into some of the people who are against his Land Bridge project.
Srettha has pushed the project hard, at home and abroad, but it was his first time to see and try to talk to people on the ground who are against him -- hard core!
Srettha's goal is this trillion-baht land bridge between Ranong and Chumphol provinces in the South.
But he put his head down and went to the education centre of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University’s education centre.
He learned there for the first time there are organised groups against him, in Lang Suan and Phato districts, Chumphon province, and at the province capital in Ranong.
(More)
Srettha insists that a Land Bridge 'will benefit all the South.'
Which appears to mean he's spent all his rallying points. And it's going to be tough politics until that project is cancelled.
A new report to the prime minister focuses on how much Ranong province land the government will have to seize to build or enlarge a new port for ocean-going freighters and tankers.
At meetings with bridge opponents, Srettha emphasised a new motorway between the two provinces and new railway connections -- neither of which exist.
A full-scale land bridge megaproject, Srettha claimed, "will also bring development to the country, as it can influence more foreign investors."
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2728484/
Thailand begins new visa
Khao Sod (Fresh News) https://t.ly/Lc0BX
Grab a 90-day tourist stay passport stamp with The Muay Thai Visa.
The only catch is that you've got to be serious about training and fighting. And turn up every morning at specific gyms certified by the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT).
We have been assured that there is no corruption in this new class of non-immigrant visas. But applicants must stay at those gyms, exactly like students of the fight game.
The Chinese tourists are coming back. No, really they are.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has done a study. And
According to TAT bigwig Thapanee Kiatphaibool this is the year that Chinese travellers will return -- in numbers, around 75 percent of pre-Covid.
As of March 1, Chinese and Thai tourists will not need a visa to visit each others' country.
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2024/01/06/thailand-expects-75-recovery-in-chinese-tourists-this-year/
USA POLITICS
About Trump and his recent 'U.S. presidents have immunity under the law' thingee:
For the record, Fishswrap opposes both qualified immunity and absolute immunity for political leaders anywhere, including the USA and Thailand.
https://instapundit.com/628479/
Trump has won the first U.S. 'primary elections'. And so has Joe Biden, although Biden's victory was a bizarre all-write-in votes.
Oh for... No you weren't. https://shorturl.at/bly14
Nikki Haley claims that in the American South, she was 'teased every day for being brown.'
Nikki on Monday, before her latest election losses, wrote-and-issued what she called a "State of the Race" statement showing how she might still beat Trump and become the Republican Party candidate for president.
Vainglorious Antony Blinken is in Moscow 'to find a compromise solution to the Israel-Hamas "crisis"'.
 Well, political experts claim Putin Wants Alaska Back. Also, People In Hell Want Icewater.
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=57006
New book (photo): Could be true, who knows?
 New book says Joe Biden decided to run in 2024 because he knows Kamala Harris is incompetent and unpopular.
 Kamala's 'refusal to be a team player' put her at odds with Joe Biden and First Lady DOCTOR Jill during her 'disastrous and comical first years as vice-president'.
 Washington journalist Charlie Spiering lifts the lid on the ill-matched president and second-in-command, in Amateur Hour: Kamala Harris in the White House.
 'Harris barely suppressed her impatience and disdain for the president despite reading platitudes from the teleprompter.'
 The book also describes how Harris is known for tormenting staffers with 'soul-destroying criticism' and openly dropping her favourite cuss word, 'motherf***er'.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Amateur-Hour-Kamala-Harris-White/dp/1668046075/
Much more, with links: http://ace.mu.nu/archives/407997.php
GLOBAL WARMING
The Fabulous Fifth Circuit Court puts the kaibosh on Biden's lawless drive to ruin your appliances.
It's just a conspiracy theory that Biden is illegally f***ing up your appliances such as dish- and clothes-washers.
It's such a conspiracy theory the Fifth Circuit had to tell Biden to stop. https://t.ly/ZIPm0
China and Chinese emigres have tapped directly into this.
The number of illegal Chinese migrants pouring into the U.S. shot up astronomically last year, and the dangerous trend continues, with the overwhelming majority being young adults -- especially military-age men.
 More than 24,000 illegal aliens from China last year, more than 9,000 so far in Fiscal Year 2024, which began on October 1.
THE NEW SPACE RACE: https://t.ly/1jS5B
 Blue Origin and SpaceX start work on cargo versions of crewed lunar landers -- .
NASA bounces laser off 'Oreo-sized' mirror on the moon, paving the way for high-precision lunar landings.
 "The long-awaited success is an important proof-of-concept for NASA, which is planning to use more retroreflectors in future missions to the moon, including the upcoming Artemis missions."
https://shorturl.at/zCKQ7
TRAVEL AVIATION FALLOUT
United Airlines forecasts first-quarter loss due to Boeing 737 Max 9 grounding.
 United has 79 of the aircraft in its fleet, more than any other carrier, followed by Alaska.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/22/spirit-shares-tumble-again.html
Everything is going Swimmingly
 Well, not really. Here's what's in the immediate future: new synthetic opioids capable of making fentanyl crisis look like 'the good old days.'
... She thought it was Xanax. She died of fentanyl poisoning. Just one fake pill...
 Up to 1,000 times more potent than morphine
USA Today: https://shorturl.at/mzA39
Front Page Mag: https://shorturl.at/fkmJV
Follow the Science! And THIS CHECKS OUT
 Dogs' favourite TV: shows with other dogs, nature docs.
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2024/01/23/dogs-favorite-TV-shows-study/8291706015482/
Item 1, Longread from the Thai underground press, Prachatai.
This is an in-depth report on young first-time voters who spent time looking into the progressive Move Forward Party (and Pita)
but then took time to discover and then cast their precious ballots for the very Thaksinesque Pheu Thai (For Thais) Party.
https://prachataienglish.com/node/10662
