Like the present debate in the US, it is highly unlikely that the motions will be passed as the opposition just does not have the numbers. But unlike the US, no-confidence debates like this in the Thai parliament are a common, almost annual affair, which is commonly accepted as a way for His Majesty's opposition to raise their awareness and as old Aussie politician Don Chipp put it "..to keep the bastards honest.."

The Rat took the opportunity to view some of the live proceedings on local television. The first image was of an animated NAP leader and ex Prime Minister Chavalit holding forth on the podium while even at this early stage behind him a MP seemed to be lost blissfully in the land of the pixies. Now, the Rat's dear old Dad, a revered preacher of the Kirk, once asked a member of his parishioners why he almost always had his eyes closed during his inspired Sunday morning sermons.

The defence..? "...when you have your eyes closed it is easier to concentrate..."

That defence just wont work with this particular Thai pollie, who obviously having consumed too much Tom Yum Koong with sticky rice at lunch, woke with a start as his head took a jerk downwards, and realising he was on the idiot box, made enormous efforts to open his eyes wide and flit his eyes animatedly at several points in the chamber.

The televised debate had an even more dramatic effect on local celebrity monk Luang Phor Khoon Paritsuttho of Dan Khun Thod's Wat Ban Rai who suffered chest pains while watching the proceedings. The cause, according to the director of the local hospital "..insufficient blood flow to the heart.."..

Seemingly it was a good move for the Rat to have changed channels to the cable channel HBO after a couple of hours to watch one of their infamous film offerings with all the good bits cut out... Still preferable to the obvious dangers of prolonged exposure to no-confidence debates...

Perhaps Thai politicians could take a leaf out of ex Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating's book, whose colourful scumbag language during parliamentary debates made the weekly Australian Broadcasting Commission's "Question Time" replay, the most entertaining half hour on the tellie a decade ago. Pretty smart.. as Keating saved the government television industry heaps by not having to sink millions into producing another comedy sit-com to fill up that slot. Keating and his opponent's antics and language reportedly had thousands of Australian's roaring with laughter with tears streaming down their eyes at 11am every Tuesday night.

However, the Thai way is different, as our own columnist Kriengsak Niratappansai of Thailand Tales documents on a monthly basis. Thai's are far more polite and gentlemanly in all settings. Even when politicians are attacked, it is done in a respectful and polite way. And even though Kriengsak is too polite to say it himself of course, some would suggest Thai political pressure groups prefer to let off bombs thrown outta windows of speeding Mercedes before the debate as a curtain raiser.

And back to the main point...

The charges by the accusers reflects a lip smacking buffet of delights that define Thai politics today. Of course, the government hit back with accusations of their own, and all accused of course expressed shock that such actions could possibly be contemplated by their good selves. In reality, as any casual observer of Thai politics would attest, of course these sort of things go on... In other countries, pollies are afraid of accusing others in case they will be targeted themselves. ..In Thailand, the public gets so confused with the sparkling accusatory gems of corruption and abuse thrown from side to side, that they just thrown their arms in the air with a resignatory "Mai Pen Rai" or "WHAT can I do!" and forget about it until the next debate.

Just some of the accusations:

Against Sanan Kachaornprasat (Interior Minister):

• Forest encroachment, using Accelerated Rural Development (ARD) funds to build a 12-km road to three houses in land overlooking the Sri Nakarin dam in Kanchanburi
• Using ARD funds to build a road through his land in Thong Pha Phum district, Kanchanburi
• Unlawfully ordering the election of presidents of the provincial administrative organization of assemblies
• Unauthorised expressway toll fee increases
• Unconstitutional upgrading of the Police Department to the National Police Bureau
• Condoning promotion buying in the Accelerated Rural Development Department
• Failure to enforce the law, keep peace and order and protect public safety and suppress drugs. Intimidating subordinates and permanent government officers
• Taking a tour to France, sponsored by a winning bidder for a garbage disposal project in Nontha uri
• False claims of educational qualifications ...(So.. what's new? ..Eds.)

Against Tarrin Nimmanhaeminda (Finance Minister)

• Failure to solve national economic problems
• Malfeasance (That one had us running to our dictionary guessing that it's a new useful word to describe anything that is bad.. (Eds.)

Against Suthep Thueksuban (Transport and Communications Minister)

• Irregularities in the synchronous digital hierarchy fiber optic communication project
• Irregularities in the Iridium satellite mobile phone project

Give me a break.. we are only doing our duty as "His Majesty's opposition"

Some other quotables:

• "We chose not to grill the Prime Minister because he has nothing to debate. He is so bland and obscure"
  (Chavalit)

• "The minister lives in a bad environment amid the biggest vices in Bangkok"
  (Samak (Prachakorn Thai))

• "The opposition accusations were mainly baseless. Personal hatred and prejudices were evident in the speeches made by opposition MP's"... ..."In retrospect the opposition has hurt its own image by resorting to a smear campaign. It has lost credibility in the eyes of the public." ...In the modern era, members of parliament must improve their standards. They must work for the benefit of the country. They cannot employ old tactics to stay in power or keep Thai politics moving in a vicious cycle forward.."
  (Thai language newspaper Naew Na)

But enuff of the Rat. Find out what Thai people are saying themselves at http://www.abac-ksc.poll.th.org and http://www.poll.th.org.

In the meantime, it is just another caution for those business people who need to work with government in Thailand. The complexities and vagaries of power shifts of Thai politics become more apparent the more you know about them. If you can do business in the Kingdom without involving politicians do it at all costs... But it is highly unlikely you can. The only answer as always, is to keep your ear to the ground and try to make sense of all the contradictory advice, by using those long term contacts you trust. The paradox is that politics inculcates decision making from the top financial circles to the control of motorcycle queues as evidenced by the recent street brawl between the Army and the Navy on Sukhumvit 100 and something over who should receive the pay-off from riders.