Former Red Shirt leader Arisman Pongruangrong one of Thailand’s ‘new generation’ politicians and as such an alleged man of the people has today been linked by the Bangkok Post to the ownership of a new airline called ‘New Gen’ which will supposedly be flying in tourists from China.
He actually says the airline is owned by ‘old pals’ and that he will only help manage it, but it is unclear what knowledge this former singer has about airline management unless he is going to provide the in-flight entertainment.
Clearly a lot has been going on behind the scenes. Sabaidee Airlines’ website is up – but nobody is yet saying who owns it. Yet hang on, it has a map listing all the Chinese cities to which it will be flying.
On the face of it Thailand’s ‘new generation’ of politicians are beginning to look like Thailand’s old generation of politicians and one can bet that the demonstrators wishing to close down Bangkok on January 13th will seize hold of this tasty little morsel. It seems to be something of a time bomb.
According to the Bangkok Post. Arisman’s wife Pheu Thai MP Rapipun posted a picture of herself in front of one of the airlines’ Boeing 737’s on the net and asked people to support the airline.
People from the redshirt strong holds in North East Thailand may not be rushing out to buy tickets to Wuxi straight away as the government of Yingluck Shinawatra is having trouble paying them the promised amounts from their rice – something Arisman might want to dedicate more time to.
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| There may be a vacancy for English speaking blurb writers – but maybe not! New generation young entrepreneurs? I’m more worried about the pilots, and their work schedules. |
How did the airline get all these route approvals on the q.t? Who is the businessman? Apparently we will be told on January 16th when we will not be listening as Bangkok will apparently be shut. Its possible Arisman believes he will no longer be an MP on February 16th.
Well done the Bangkok Post. But as you have been talking to an executive of the airline please can you cross the‘t’s and dot the ‘i’s.
I much preferred Arisman when he was climbing out of windows.
Its not the first time these two have been in the spotlight for their business dealings.
This from ‘The Nation’ of July 4 2012
Rapipan tells anti-graft agency she had no knowledge of husband’s Bt2-million holding in D Station satellite-TV
Rapipan Pongruangrong, who is a party-list MP of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, told The Nation she was unaware that Arisman was holding 200,000 shares worth Bt2 million in D Station Co Ltd. She said he did not tell her about his shareholding after while on the run abroad following the 2010 unrest.
“I informed the NACC that I had no intention of concealing the shareholding. I really did not know that he owned the shares,” Rapipan said, referring to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
“At that time [when she put in her financial report after last year’s election], my family was in a severe crisis. Khun Kee [Arisman] was in a foreign country and he did not tell me about the shares,” she said. “Normally he does not tell me about his problems. He is afraid I may be bothered.”
These people are the biblical 'wolves in sheep's clothing.' They claim to be champions of the poor and upholders of democracy whilst living and acting like emperors in feudal China. Nobody asks where the money comes from or how it was made.
There are no Gandhi's in Thailand, nobody leads by example. There are no role models, just the cult of celebrity, fame and wealth. Nobody seems to notice these people are often the most unhappy and dysfunctional people in society.
Money unfortunately gives significance to otherwise insignificant people.
AD another piece of excellent journalism. Talking of Journalism, has Jonathon Head taken a well deserved break as hes gone all quiet? One rumor was that he is on a TEFL course somewhere in rural Thailand.
Poor Jonathan. The whole TEFL thing is a huge scam. Perhaps he is investigating the course. I can think of two or three local TEFL training organizations that seriously NEED investigating. But I note AD is not interested in doing so. Can't really say I blame him, it is such a tawdry thing. Teaching here is pretty much always either a recipe for masochism, or for ripping off the students by giving them an inadequate education. But then again, you would have to improve the students before you could expect them to do much better. For a start, their nutrition (or early morning complete lack of it) is not really conducive to either concentration or imagination.
Whether JH is on a TEFL course is neither here or there. Why should he be? While I may not agree with JH this is not a platform for personal attacks. How do you know I am not interested in investigating these courses. I get bombarded by them on a regular basis! But I have had no solid complaints.
AD. Jonathon head is providing a platform for himself to be criticized for his impartial and misleading information which unfortunately people take BBC coverage as gospel.It is no more a personal attack than other people who have not been convicted. Journalists must take a little bit of what they give if in friendly banter. There is no one abusing or threatening him. As for the TEFL, comment, that was meant to be a joke on the way TEFL teach Foreigners how to deal with Thais.