Forget it, my friend, Thaksin's a crook
Somsak Pola's letter in The Sunday Nation needs to be addressed. He appears to try and whitewash Thaksin's reputation by claiming all the crimes associated with him are "alleged".
It’s good that Thailand has adopted the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”. Yet it’s difficult to fairly prosecute someone who is running from the law. The land case was relatively easy to prosecute, so that’s why it was dealt with first. Some of Thaksin’s other alleged crimes are larger scale, and may require prosecution at the International Court at The Hague, because of the gravity of the [alleged] crimes and the large number of deaths caused under his direction as PM. I also refer to the “war on drugs” where then PM Thaksin set quotas for extra-judicial killings. Then there are the no less grave charges of inciting and funding riots in Pattaya and Bangkok in the spring of 2009, and the bigger riots in Bangkok in 2010. The man is a walking, talking criminal waiting to be busted. No wonder he’s running scared. I would be too, if I were in his shoes.
Kip Keino
Ban Nam Lat
