The death toll from Thailand’s record flooding has risen above 600, the government says.
But both the Bangkok Post and The Nation newspapers are leading with non-flooding news this Monday morning.
The government had reportedly been attempting to arrange a royal pardon for controversial former prime minister Thaksin.
But the headlines today tell us that won’t be happening.
Here’s a cell phone pic of today’s Bangkok Post front page:
And here, via @tukky_nt, is a screen capture of The Nation‘s leading story.
In its story, the Post says:
The government has withdrawn its plan to seek a royal pardon for its de facto leader and fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra following strong opposition.
Justice Minister Pracha Promnok said Sunday the draft royal decree for royal pardons for convicts on the occasion of His Majesty the King’s 84th birthday anniversary on Dec 5 this year would have conventional conditions.
They include bans on convicts found guilty of drugs offences and corruption and convicts who absconded.
And The Nation reports:
Justice Minister Pracha Promnok insisted yesterday that former prime minister Thaksin Shina-watra would not benefit from the draft Royal Decree seeking pardons for inmates on the occasion of His Majesty the King’s birthday.
“Thaksin will not receive any benefit from the decree, and his name will not be included on the list of convicts eligible for a royal pardon,” Pracha said.
“Convicts on the run will not be eligible.”
Pracha told a press conference that the draft Royal Decree for 2012 used the same wording as the 2011 decree enacted under the Democrat Party’s then justice minister Piraphan Saliratwipak.
(All emphasis mine.)
More to come on the ongoing flooding. But I wanted to note that news coverage among Bangkok’s English language papers had temporarily shifted away from the floods.
Perhaps it shows that interest in the floods may be waning — and that underlying political issues (namely, Thaksin’s future) remain pressing.