Transcript of the above video: 

One thing, so the first part of this video; this is going to act as a correction. In a prior video I did which was called: Selling Thailand out to buy what Future?" when we were talking about this whole situation involving the leaked telephone call between the Prime Minister, nominally still the Prime Minister at least, here in Thailand and Mr. Hun Sen, again the President of the Senate, apparent “strongman" over in Cambodia. I had in that talked about someone, or I had quoted from the Bangkok Post where a gentleman by the name of Chalermchai Kiatbanchong was expressing their displeasure with the state of the Phue Thai Party and the current Prime Minister etc. In that, I referred to that person as Police Captain Chalerm, which actually is an old reference to another person, so I was conflating two people that are not the same person. So I wanted to issue a correction here, starting off first thing I could this morning when I became aware of that, that those are not the same people. So apologies there, and I hope this will act as a correction, set the record straight. We again strive on this channel to get everything as accurate as we possibly can. It's one of the reasons why I constantly cite our sources, so that everybody is aware of what is being said and exactly the context etc. 

That said, I thought of making this video also, and I want to get into the reason for the thumbnail, which in the photo credit section in the description below, you'll see a link to another YouTube video. It's a clip from The Crown, the series The Crown and I think that's a Netflix series, but there's a great scene where Charles Dance plays Lord Mountbatten and he's talking to his sister - I believe her name is Princess Alice - and she's basically saying, "oh why do you care about what happens to the UK. It's not really our country" and it launches Charles Dance's Mountbatten into a bit of a sort of monologue regarding the way he feels about the UK and she talks about they are sort the Battenberg family are sort of these kind of like itinerant almost like Gypsy nobility or something like this in the context of this scene, but I love the scene because it, and I'm not trying to conflate myself with Lord Mountbatten or anything, that's not the point, but as an immigrant here to Thailand, the part where he says, "what are you talking about? This is my country; it's given me a home; it's giving me a name and in exchange I have given it my life, and to see what has happened to it breaks my heart." That's how I feel about Thailand and again, I'm not trying to conflate myself with him in any way, but I'm an immigrant here and I became Thai, and this place did give me a home. It didn't so much give me a name per se, I could have picked a Thai name if I wanted to, but I kept my name but in a way it kind of gave me my own name here because my name is in Thai now. The point I am trying to make is to an extent I have given it the bulk of my adult life and what upsets me so much and I have noticed that the ratings and things - I don't know if YouTube isn't pushing these videos - again this is kind of more politicized than the usual fare we have on this channel, and by the way after this video, I'm going to go back to more of our usual stuff for a few days unless something really massive happens I need to report on, but I just want people to be aware of how I feel. This isn't for a aggrandizement, these videos are not monetized. I'm not a Thai politician, I'm not going to get anything out of this but that line, that notion that it breaks his heart to see what's happening to his country, frankly in the last couple of years I couldn't agree more with that sentiment. Since we have seen this new government come in, what have we seen? We have seen a push for a "digital wallet" that in my opinion would financially enslave the people of Thailand; we have seen all kinds of World Economic Forum shenanigans including inviting this guy over here which these people, by their own statements, want us to "own nothing and be happy". They want to subvert the sovereignty of the nation state. I mean I find this tremendously troubling and then it all comes to a head with this phone call between our Prime Minister which I'll get to in a minute, I am going to cite this article, this opinion piece from the Bangkok Post which frankly sometimes Bangkok Post and I are at odds in our sort of editorial views, but on this one we seem to be pretty well in alignment. But I just find it troubling, and it truly breaks my heart and I want to see Thailand succeed; I want to see it do well. And with all that is going on, I just don't see where that is happening. 

That said, I thought of making this video after, again reading a recent article in the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Clip scandal grows by day. Quoting directly: "Public trust in the Prime Minister has been corroded. The longer PM Paetongtarn stays, the more the political damage will increase. The electorate is watching closely, and parties that help sustain this embattled Administration are also losing credibility. In the next election, voters will not only pass judgment on Ms. Paetongtarn's leadership, but on every Party that chose to protect power and safeguard its own interests at the expense of public trust." Quoting further: "The leaked audio tapes betray the character of the Prime Minister, who spoke differentially to Hun Sen, referring to him as "uncle", showed a willingness to cater to Cambodia's desires and presented herself as a political ally in need." Quoting further: "Most shocking was her portrayal of the Commander of Thailand's 2nd Army Region as being on the "opposing side" and her assurance to "Hun Sen" that if he wanted anything, she would "take care of it". Yeah, again I have stated this before, there is a part of me that wants to maybe believe this is due to political naïveté or frankly incompetent, because I want to believe that the PM would not intentionally want to subvert Thailand's interest to the betterment of some outsider but it's hard to view it that way when you look at this from any kind of objective perspective. That said, quoting further: "When he demanded the Thai Army reopen border, our Prime Minister seemed to go along: she did not utter a word against the Cambodian strongman's demands. Still less did she seem aware that the Army may have had good security reasons for its move." Quoting further: "But Hun Sen's Machiavellian tactics do not absolve PM Paetongtarn's gross incompetence. Her claim that her obsequious tone and remarks were mere negotiating tactic aimed at preserving peace is weak." Yeah again, I would like to believe there was no ill intent, and there is a part of me that wants to kind of keep that in mind, but it's really hard to believe that the more you sort of dig into this. Quoting further: "To many Thais, her words do not reflect diplomatic finesse and masterful negotiation, but mere groveling at any cost. Deputy PM Phumtham Wechayachai's argument that the Prime Minister's subsequent public apology should be sufficient to undo the damage sounds hopelessly naïve." And frankly, I am sorry, No! An apology, yeah fine do the apology, but there was a time when statesmen would resign because of - if you want to call this a gaff call it a gaff, fine - but this is clearly a situation that requires way more than an apology. That said quoting further: "The Prime Minister must accept full responsibility for what has occurred, as must the parties and politicians who are working to keep her in power."

Yeah, I am sorry, I don't mean to be, I don't really want to be talking about all of this right now. I would prefer to go back to talking about Retirement Visa extensions, or US Immigration matters or whatever, but this is going to have tremendous ramifications both in terms of public policy and legality moving forward I imagine. And I expect there are probably going to be various things that occur in the Courts here in Thailand as well. So I think it's on point for sort of the bailiwick of the channel. But again, the notion that an apology somehow absolves all of this I just find that intellectually spurious at best. So the point I'm trying to make with this video is yeah I'm making these videos because of my concern for the well-being of the country I've come to call home for nearly 20 years. And I truly worry about the direction it's going especially as noted by the Bangkok Post, other politicians have sort of fallen in line to sort of prop this whole thing up. At the end of the day, it really only requires the resignation of one person. I don't think anybody thinks that necessarily the "Core Coalition" Party needs to go anywhere, or that it's impossible to have another Coalition under the current Parliament. I think it's very possible. As noted in other videos, there are five people that are currently on the list to succeed any Prime Minister in the event of a resignation, so it doesn't necessarily require going into elections. A new Government could be formed but I just fail to see where it can continue as it has been operating heretofore.