Thai PM gives cabinet post to U.S. blacklisted businesswoman

[ellisonz]

Reuters – 6 hours ago

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A newly appointed minister in the Thai premier's office is blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury for alleged business links to the family of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, embarrassing the government in the wake of a major cabinet reshuffle.

Nalinee Taveesin is barred from financial dealings with U.S. citizens and had her assets frozen in the country in 2008 for "secretly supporting the kleptocratic practices of one of Africa's most corrupt regimes," according to the website of the Department of Treasury (www.treasury.gov).

Nalinee, most recently the country's trade representative, allegedly helped Mugabe's wife, Grace, trade in gemstones, real estate and financial transactions, the U.S. Treasury said.

---------

Nalinee's ministerial appointment on Wednesday by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was one of 10 changes, which critics said reflected cronyism and nepotism, with many allies of self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra -- Yingluck's elder brother -- taking cabinet posts

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/thai-pm-gives-cabinet-post-u-blacklisted-businesswoman-124209456.html

International web of corruption and callousness...

[happyslug]

1. Are we still at War with Thailand???

In December of 1941, Japan used bases in its ally Thailand to attack British forces in Burma and Malaysia. The Government of Thailand declared War on US after Pearl Harbor, as an ally of Japan. The Ambassador from Thailand to the US, told the US Secretary of State of the Declaration of War but then said he was NOT serving it unless the Secretary actually wanted it. The Secretary indicted he did NOT want to received the Declaration of War, and thus was ignored.

Come 1945, the same Ambassador to the US, was an agent on the US in Thailand against the Japanese (While most of the Government of Thailand was still pro-Japanese). As the War came to an end, the Government of Thailand decided to make the former ambassador its Prime Minister and then forgot about the Declaration of War. The US took over the former Japanese Military bases (Which we used extensively during the Vietnam Conflict).

Thus my question, since there was NEVER a peace treaty between the US and Thailand, are we still at war? Does the fact that the US NEVER declared war, BUT Siam (now Thailand) did have any bearing on the issue of US-Thailand war?

More on the person who refused to serve the Declaration of War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seni_Pramoj

Please note the above Wikipedia site states that Japan "Invaded" Thailand on the Morning of December 8, 1941, at Noon local time the Prime Minister ordered a "Cease fire" and then permitted the Japanese to use Thailand bases for attacks elsewhere. On December 21th (another Wikipedia site states December 12, 1941) a formal alliance was entered into and on January 25th 1941 war was declared on Britain and the US.

The Former Ambassador to the US did not last long as Prime Minster, he was replaced by supporters of the Army (Which had supported the Japanese).

The US, from 1942 onward, decided to consider the Ambassador the head of the Government of Thailand

[ellisonz]

2. What does this have to do the OP?

A puppet state (also known as puppet government or marionette government) is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power.[1] The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette.[2] A puppet state has also been described as an entity which in fact lacks independence, preserves all the external paraphernalia of independence, but in reality is only an organ of another state who has set it up and whose satellite it is.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppet_state