For those who live in Thaksin's new home town ...

... a seminar - http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/09 ... 015033.php (http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/09/30/politics/politics_30015033.php)

I understand however that the reference to "a member of the Thai Royal Family" should have read "a queen from Thailand" and refers of course to our fellow Board member boygeenyus who lost his position as Brown-Noser-in-Chief to the Prime Minister during the coup

who were beginning to believe they were Royalty.

London seminar on post-Thaksin era

More than 100 Thai and British students and academics as well as media members are expected to turn up at "Thailand under CEO Thaksin", London's first major seminar on Thaksin Thailand, to be held next Saturday at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Initiated by a Thai coordinator and former journalist, who requested not to be named, the seminar has been allowed by the SOAS Centre of Southeast Asian Studies to take place on its premises. Panellists include the editor of Phujadkarn daily Sondhi Limthongkul and ex-chairman of the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee Kraisak Chonhavan.

The coordinator said Thaksin, who now lives in west London with his wife and one daughter, had not been invited, due to security concerns. The event has received an overwhelming response, with more than 100 bookings from Thai students, local academics, media members and foreign observers from Germany and other countries.

A Thai Royal Family member will also attend. The moderator has not yet been named. "We want to provide a forum for Thais and observers in the United Kingdom to express their views on Thailand and assess Thaksin's tenure as prime minister. So far, Thais in the UK have been very quiet, unlike Thais in the United States. I thought about inviting Thaksin, so we'd have two sides of the story, but we decided not to," said the coordinator.

He added that the event had originally been planned before the military coup and scheduled for late next month but rescheduled in direct response to the coup.

Issues to be discussed include Thaksin's administration, the coup, the insurgency in southern Thailand and post-Thaksin Thailand. The event will feature video footage illustrating key events during Thaksin's administration.

The organisers had planned another discussion the day after the seminar at Hyde Park Corner but decided to scrap it, due to Sondhi's immediate departure for Washington, DC, for another event following his London speech.

The coordinator said the UK's liberal atmosphere made it possible for free political expression in the seminar and that he did not expect any threats from Thaksin's group.

As requested by the Junta in statement no-5 of the very beginning of the coup, and no this is not an immediate regrouping of Thaksin supporters that the Junta was trying to avoid happening in Thailand immediately after the coup, no matter how America wishes to interpret the clamping down on political activities immediately post Thaksin in Thailand itself.
And so begins the beginning of true democracy for Thailand.

refers of course to our fellow Board member boygeenyus who lost his position as Brown-Noser-in-Chief to the Prime Minister during the coup

Now I know for sure that you're out of your big, fat, bald head.