Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing, well we are discussing the sort of odd way that they are framing the current political shenanigans here in Thailand and how it is sort of all being framed. Let me just jump into this. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Phue Thai rallies to back besieged PM Paetongtarn. Well she's not besieged for one thing; she's basically under an adjudication by the Constitutional Court regarding her behaviour in contacting Hun Sen. Let me jump in here. Quoting directly: "The Phue Thai Party on Monday gave its full backing to suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra ahead of the Constitutional Court's ruling on the leaked audio clip and dismissed as highly unlikely the possibility of the Bhumjaithai Party rejoining the Coalition even if a leadership change occurred." Well Bhumjaithai itself has said, Anutin said yeah, that is probably not going to happen. They left the Coalition in the aftermath of the leak of this phone call where she was talking with a foreign, for lack of a better term, "potentate" who is let's call it, and I don't want to use inflammatory language as best I can, but let's say who is the counterparty or representative or highly representative of a counterparty in an ongoing dispute, which by the way has led to loss of life; so worth pointing out. "Phue Thai list-MP and Chief Government Whip Visuth Chainaroon said Party MPs are unconcerned about the August 29 ruling and have full confidence that Ms. Paetongtarn's comments, made during a private phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen, were intended to protect national interests and preserve peace amid heightening tensions." Well I have trouble believing that on a certain level but that said, this notion of a "private phone call". I talked in another video about this Wag the Dog kind of stuff that we have been seeing here lately, especially going into the home stretch of the Constitutional Court saying they are going to make a ruling on this on August 29, specifically 3.00pm as I cited in a prior video, but I also made reference to, there's a scene in the movie Wag the Dog where they are talking about the B-3 Bomber and how the technique they used to bring up the B-3 Bomber to sort of spin up a narrative, frankly out of nothing, out of whole cloth But the point I am trying to make in this video is this further wagging of the dog continues. And one of the things I have noticed with regard to the spin around this whole issue is this notion of this country "oh it is a private phone call." Look, I am sorry. I have real problems with this notion that there is a private phone call between the Prime Minister of this country who holds a Public Office and the President of the Senate of that country who happens to be the father of the Prime Minister of that country, who also happens to be the Strong Man who ruled Cambodia without anything nominally in the way of that, any nominal buffer, for nearly 40 years. So this whole "private phone call" stuff that is just; what does that even mean? So what if it's a private phone call? If it's a private phone call when she is engaging in inappropriate communication with a foreign power, doesn't that make things even worse? It's being spun up as some kind of breach of etiquette or something. I don't even understand what the point of that spin is. That said, quoting further: "He said that morale within the Party remains strong and there is no need for a backup plan because Ms. Paetongtarn acted in good faith and she would receive justice." Well one, there's no need for a backup plan because there is a protocol in place. It's Parliamentary procedure and the current Constitution, most notably, there is a slate of alternatives. Five people to be exact as we have discussed in other videos, one of which is from Phue Thai. Quoting further: "The Phue Thai veteran downplayed legal concerns saying the conversation in question was outside formal negotiations" - what does that even mean? Again along the same lines as a private phone call. So? Again if they are communications that are highly inappropriate to the point of undermining Thailand's sovereignty, it almost looks worse if she's trying to do it covertly. Quoting further: "and that security along the Thai-Cambodian border situation is supervised by the military." Again, what does that mean? Yeah, the military defends the country; that's their function. Quoting further: "According to Mr. Visuth even in the worst-case scenario Phue Thai would retain the premiership leaving only a very slim chance for the Bhumjaithai Party to be brought back into the Government." Yeah, in the event that she is removed, we are talking about a serious reshuffle here. This is being spoken of as if these are foregone conclusions and these are hard and fast positions. I have serious questions as to whether or not this Coalition is going to remain intact. 

I've talked in other videos about specifically UTN as well as the Democrat Party, their Executive Boards say that they are part of this Coalition, but the rank-and-file membership, especially their Members of Parliament, I have serious questions as to whether or not they are completely in lockstep. Meanwhile as we have discussed in other videos, specifically one involving a prior article - I believe in the Bangkok Post - regarding Thaksin losing his "magic", members of Phue Thai didn't even show up to the meeting, which that is a whole other thing where he was having a meeting talking to the Party to begin with but members of Phue Thai didn't even show up to that, citing they needed to go home to visit their constituencies which was unheard of years ago, years past, but they are talking about this like it is a foregone conclusion that in the event that a massive reshuffle happens, that Phue Thai is going to be able to call the shots as it were. People also kind of forget, it was effectively Bhumjaithai that whipped together the Coalition in 2023 in the aftermath of the initial vote for PM in the first place. So again a lot of spin, and a lot of spin that is pretty disingenuous stuff and it's kind of to the point of absurdity at this point. 

That said, quoting further, and again I love how it is, "oh well, there is a slim chance they will be allowed back in Government” when they have said they don't want to. And by "they" I mean Bhumjaithai. Phue Thai is saying "oh well we don't know if we are going to let them back in." Well Bhumjaithai has said, "hey, we are not overly interested in that," as evidenced by the fact that they left in the first place. That said, I can understand Bhumjaithai maybe thinking "yeah we could Coalition with a Phue Thai that doesn't have this Shinawatra issue at the helm, especially somebody who made inappropriate or what seems to be inappropriate phone calls to again a foreign potentate who happens to be a counterparty in a conflict with this country. Quoting further: "If Ms. Paetongtarn is removed from the post by the Court ruling, the selection process for a new Prime Minister will begin. Phue Thai still has one more Prime Ministerial candidate," - but not a full majority on their own. So yeah, they have one more on their slate but it's not a foregone conclusion it will be him, because again they need to form a coalition, which the one they have got is barely holding together. As I discussed in other videos, they just barely managed to get the budget through with 257 and that had broad based support; even I wanted to see the budget go through. But I mean in the aftermath of some kind of decision which would render her out of office, it's not a foregone conclusion that Phue Thai is going to be calling the shots and forming a new coalition. Quoting further: Chaikasem Nitisiri, on the list to be nominated for a House vote." Well yeah, we know that. Quoting further: "Digital Economy and Society Minister and Phue Thai veteran Prasert Jantararuangtong on Monday denied speculation that Ms. Paetongtarn is preparing to step down as Premier." Yeah, there has been a lot of denial of that speculation going around recently by the way. Quoting further: "It is believed that a resignation ahead of the ruling would give the Court no grounds to proceed with the case. If the case is dropped, Ms. Paetongtarn could escape being found guilty of ethical misconduct."

Yeah, and as I have noted in other videos, it could also, I'm often wondering why she has not stepped down, because I have got to be honest with you, I think under any normal non-absurd circumstances, somebody that was in this position which I don't know any seasoned Statesperson, Statesman, Stateswoman who would make this kind of; if it is a gaff and it was unintentional, I mean again it calls into question the competency of the person making the mistake. But under normal circumstances, we would see a resignation already. I've asked the question, could it possibly be she is hanging on because a resignation could then be scrutinized by the National Anti-Corruption Commission which has their own investigation going? I think that is an interesting question. In any event, quoting further: "Ms. Paetongtarn is accused of violating ethical standards after being heard trying to appease Hun Sen with her willingness to yield to his demands." Yes, and I have used that term in the past too. It's not an inaccurate term based on what I have seen in terms of the transcripts and heard in terms of the recording on the call. Again, it's ultimately up to the Constitutional Court to make these determinations but what the point of this video really is from my perspective is, there seems to be a lot of spin going on especially in the English language press, and not only is it disconcerting, but at this point it is getting to the point where it is really kind of almost absurd.