A Thai court is set to rule today at 1.30pm to 2.00 pm (Wednesday) on whether the country's top two political parties violated election laws last year. The repercussions are going to be great and will determine if the Kingdom will come out of the current crisis sooner than later. The property market will be also affected in a big way as politics is now dictating where the economy of Thailand is heading. If all goes well, the property market will indeed come out of its doldrums but today's verdict will be crucial to all property players in the Thailand real estate landscape. Sleuth's advice is ... watch the outcome carefully and tread even more cautiously for the short term.
Interesting article from the International Tribune and the Associated Press....
The following is a timeline of events leading up to the court's verdict, which could dissolve the parties and bar their executives from public office:
February 2001 — Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications tycoon, becomes prime minister after his Thai Rak Thai Party gallops to a January election victory with promises to revive the economy and deliver benefits to the country's rural majority.
January 2004 — Muslim radicals launch an insurgency in the southern provinces that by May 2007 has claimed more than 2,200 lives.
February 2005 — Thaksin is re-elected by a landslide, becoming the first Thai prime minister to serve a full four-year term. Critics accuse him of using his majority to crush democratic checks and balances.
January 2006 — Thaksin's family sells its controlling stake in Shin Corp., the telecoms empire he founded, to Singapore's state investment firm, Temasek Holdings, for US$1.9 billion. The deal is criticized because it was structured to avoid taxes and because strategic national assets — including communications satellites — were sold to a foreign government.
February 2006 — Tens of thousands of protesters gather in Bangkok for the first major demonstration demanding Thaksin's resignation. Thaksin dissolves Parliament and calls snap elections three years early in an effort to defuse protests and secure his mandate. The three main opposition parties boycott the vote.
March-April 2006 — Protests grow and become more spirited.
April 2006 — Thaksin's party wins a hollow election victory, and under election rules is unable to convene parliament for lack of a quorum. Thaksin announces after meeting with revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej that he will step aside to help stabilize the situation.
Thaksin's party is accused of election law violations by paying off other parties to sidestep the quorum rule, and the Democrats are accused of covertly encouraging the violations.
May 2006 — Courts annul the election after the king says judges should help end the crisis.
Thaksin returns as caretaker premier after a seven-week break, and struggles to schedule a new election amid increasing legal challenges.
August 2006 — Thaksin accuses several military officers of plotting to kill him after police find a car containing bomb-making materials near his home.
Sept. 19, 2006 — The military stages a coup against Thaksin while he is in New York and declares martial law. It promises a new election in a year after a new constitution is drafted and submitted to a referendum.
A campaign begins to purge Thaksin's influence from Thai society and politics, and several probes are launched into alleged corruption by his family and cronies.
October 2006 — Retired army commander Gen. Surayud Chulanont is appointed interim prime minister. Thaksin, exiled in London, steps down as Thai Rak Thai leader.
Dec. 31, 2006 — A string of bombs in Bangkok kill three people and wound more than 30 as crowds gather to celebrate New Year's Eve. The military and some members of the interim government suggest that supporters of Thaksin are to blame but present no evidence.
January-May 2007 — Public confidence in Surayud's government slips due to mishandled economic policies and a failure to successfully prosecute Thaksin. Thaksin's supporters launch anti-government protests, which meet with threats and denunciations from the military.
March 2007 — Surayud announces that elections can be expected on Dec. 16 or Dec. 22.
May 30, 2007 — Constitutional Court judges to rule on alleged election law violations by Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party and its main rival, the Democrats, as well as several minor parties.
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