Bangkok Post
Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be arrested if and when he returns to Thailand, a senior public prosecutor said yesterday.
Samphan Sarathana, the state prosecution's foreign affairs director, said Mr Thaksin will be prosecuted in a court of law, even if the People Power party (PPP), whose members are loyal to the deposed prime minister, heads the next government.
Mr Thaksin will be arrested the moment he lands at Suvarnabhumi airport because of a standing arrest warrant against him, Mr Samphan said.
It will definitely make good television and newspaper headlines.
However, I believe that the court system, next to the police, is probably the most corrupt institution in Thailand. Yes, even worse than the military.
I reckon Thaksin's confiscated assets will be spread around to the right people, he will get a slap on the wrist, and it will be all done in the name of national reconciliation.
Therefore, no perp walk. Samak and Chalerm will give him a hero's welcome.
What does the readership think?
Perp walk or hero's welcome?
4 comments:
No prep walk.
Depend on a lot of factor, what position will Chalerm be, how much welcome crowd, who is the head of police, existance of ASC, etc.
The case is not criminally severe, so handcuff may be little over doing. Big crowd may cause riot. Also not to mention police career down the drain.
Would say he got a polices escort (flank) and walk back all smiling and waving.
Although if he do get the cuff, jumping arrest warrant are bound to be handcuffed. No love loss for me, be it Thaksin or Akeyuth.
Like the former EC commissioners, the real punishment would be the sheer loss of face rather than criminal penalties. We all know that rich people never serve more than a couple of days in jail.
Which court would he be in? The Constitutional Court seems most independent but he'll be in Civil Court, right?
........am I correct in recalling the soon to be Interior Minister's Chalerm's son, wanted on an arrest warrant for murdering a policeman in a crowded Bangkok nightclub, arrived back in Bangkok (after some months as a fugitive at a casino in Poipet, Cambodia and aboard a Cambodian Navy ship and on the Malaysian resort island of Langawi), as a first class passenger on the arriving flight at Bangkok Airport and was then escorted through customs and passport control and out of the airport to his Bangkok home by his Dad, etc, etc..............
Chrisips, you are indeed correct. For more on this check out BangkokPundit or my blog under "The sort of people involved in Thai politics".
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