The Rohingya refugee problem continues to grow. Indonesian officials picked up 198 refugees in a boat who had been adrift at sea for three weeks. The refugees claim that the Thai military had dragged their boats back out to sea, leaving them on their own.
The Thai military has denied any wrong doing, although CNN reported that a source in the military confirmed that the towing had occurred. The Abhist government is calling for a regional solution to the problem.
Perhaps this is a new policy by foreign minister Kasit. He seemed delighted by the airport protests that effectively kept people from entering Thailand. Maybe this is just the next step. If the refugees' allegations turn out to be true, perhaps the foreign minister will declare that it was "fun" and that there was "good sun and good waves".
Other "good" news for the Abhist government includes a controversy over some spoiled canned fish given as part of the relief effort for southern flood victims. Apparently someone with a connection to a high level cabinet member donated some canned goods with spoiled fish. The opposition is trying to blame this on the government. It doesn't really appear that it was the government's fault, or that this will have much of an effect on anything, but it is a distraction.
Thaksin is back in the news. Actually, that last statement implies that he has been out of the news for any amount of time. I'm actually not sure if a day goes by where his name is not in the paper. Thaksin is saying that he wants to get back into politics now, and wants to be PM again.
In order for him to fulfill his desire, something has to change. He is currently banned from politics for four more years, and is facing possible jail time for his conviction on corruption charges.
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