Andrew MacGregor Marshall's Wikileaks articles

Yes, I am still in retirement, but I have been trying to follow the Wikileaks revelations coming from Thailand.

There is some good stuff in Mr. Marshall's articles.

I have read what has so far been published.

Quite honestly, from what I read, there isn't really anything new if one has followed Thai politics and history for some time.

Marshall actually says this is his pieces.

Basically, the Wikileaks just verify what was once speculation.

There are a few things that I have discovered that I wasn't really aware of.

For example, I would have never guessed that Prem was completely out of the loop after HMTK was hospitalized.

Another thing I have been thinking about is the importance Luang Ta Maha Bua role played in all this. In retrospect, I think his attacks on Thaksin played a more important role in getting rid of Thaksin than most people realize.

The State department kind of blows him off as a crazy old monk in the Wikileaks.

Luang Ta Maha Bua wasn't a crazy old monk. He was the most powerful monk in Thailand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajahn_Maha_Bua

http://www.luangta.com/English/Index.html

You can't really write off somebody who is considered an arahant, which basically is an enlightened Buddha.

When Luang Ta Maha Bua attacked Thaksin, it was the equivalent of Lord Buddha descending from the sky and declaring Thaksin the most evil man in Thailand.

Anyway, here are the links, copied from Zenjournalist.com:

Part one of his four-part story on Thailand can be viewed here, here and here.

Part two is here, here and here.

http://www.zenjournalist.com/2011/06/thailands-moment-of-truth/#more-10202

The one aspect I find entertaining in this whole sordid affair is watching Thanong's head explode on Twitter and his back and forth with Mr. Marshall.

http://twitter.com/#!/zenjournalist

http://twitter.com/#!/ThanongK

International Red Cross Report on Torture (and Thailand): Thai Generals Caught Lying Again

Download the text of the ICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen "High Value Detainees" in CIA Custody by The International Committee of the Red Cross, along with the cover letter that accompanied it when it was transmitted to the US government in February 2007.

This version, reset by The New York Review, exactly reproduces the original including typographical errors and some omitted words.

Source: New York Review of Books

Of course, the Thai media's response will be to will bow down before the military and never question anything they say. Another non-denial denial by the generals and Suthichai Yoon will be kissing their arses like he always does.

By the way, General Surayud was Army Chief/Supreme Commander during the time frame of when 3 terrorists were captured in Thailand and tortured.

Wonder if General Surayud will have another press conference non-denying his involvement in the torture cases.