<p>The latest attempt to remove Acting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over the transfer of former, and now re-instated, National Security Council Secretary-General Thawil Pliensri has run into some legal wrangling. &nbsp;</p> <p>The Supreme Administrative Court found that the transfer of Sec-Gen Thawil, shortly after the Yingluck administration took power, was illegal.&nbsp; Thawil argued that it was motivated by the patron-client system and “if the patronage system stays strong, how can civil officials be counted on to do their jobs correctly?” he argued.</p>

<p>Well it’s a full house here at the Impact Arena for the live televised debate between Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Suthep Thaugsuban, head of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee.&nbsp; There’s a few minutes to go before that starts so I’ll turn to Khun Somchai here.&nbsp; Khun Somchai, explain to the viewers, what is the background to this debate?</p>

<p><em>The conservative establishment’s nigh decade-long putsch to turn back the progress of Thai democracy and the empowering advances it has made since late in the last century has backfired on them with epic irony. Their illiberal acts have been designed to demolish popular electoral democracy and return the nation to a state of corrupt and ineffective government open to easy exploitation by the traditional elite.</em></p>

<p itemprop="description">Since the Bangkok shutdown operation was launched by the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) in a desperate bid to oust the government, many people have taken to assessing the political situation on a daily basis - if not more often - and have kept a close watch on the latest words from PDRC secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban, caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and military top brass. In such a period of crisis, however, we also need to try harder to look at the bigger picture.</p> <p></p>

<div>Thais always seem to take things seriously when it comes to social media. &nbsp;At Toptens.com's the Worst World Leaders poll, Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, recently deposed Adolf Hitler to number three on the list, with Thaksin ranked at number one and Yingluck at two.&nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<div> <div><span style="font-size: 12px;">After news of negotiations and signals from the premier on Monday had led to anticipation of a solution to Thailand’s crisis, it turned out that the anti-government rallies continued, with the police as the new target.&nbsp;</span></div> </div>

<p>Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will pay a two-day visit to Singapore from 26-27 November, the first overseas trip following the Constitutional Court’s ruling which could have led to the dissolution of her party, the Pheu Thai. The Court accused her government of acting against the constitution when it tried to make the upper house of the Parliament directly elected rather than partly appointed. But Yingluck’s government somehow survives.</p> <p></p>

<div><span style="font-size: 12px;">Women seem to have become a casualty of the ongoing political strife that has been plaguing the Kingdom since the 2006 military coup, if not earlier. This became very clear when a number of female Pheu Thai MPs decided to hand sarongs over to opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva in protest against his alleged reference to Thailand's first female prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra as a "stupid bitch".</span></div> <p></p>

<div>Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra paid an official visit to Japan from 22-25 May. As Thailand’s first female premier, Yingluck did not just exploit her charm to win over Japan, but was daring to talk openly about the most sensitive issue facing her country—the protracted political crisis that erupted in the wake of the 2006 military coup. That coup overthrew her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, the most successful prime minister in Thailand’s history.</div> <p></p>

<p>Dear me, I can hardly keep up.&nbsp; A Prime Minister talks about democracy in something more than platitudes, and in front of foreigners.&nbsp; And comes home to a chorus of boos from those whose recent contributions to democracy have included coups, live fire zones, and mass censorship of the internet.&nbsp; How dare she mention the word ‘democracy’ 27 times in a speech at a forum on democracy!</p>

<p>China and Thailand have forged even closer ties with the recent exchanges of visits of key policy makers. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his Bangkok trip early this month, extolled Thailand for playing a “significant” role in promoting relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).</p> <p></p>

<p>Whenever Mrs Hilary Clinton visits any country, a meeting with those leaders is always a must in her programme. Normal practice for others too, courtesy call by foreign minister to a leader in the visited nation is a good protocol reflecting close and good relations between the two sides.</p>