Unbelievable.

The greatest danger to the Thai nation's security is the mad putsch in power, now flailing about, trying to grab total control of the information media.

It is clear that in their dementia they will use any excuse to crush those they view as their enemies. A number that seems to be expanding exponentially. at least in their minds.

This is just unbelievably stupid.

Is Thailand a one big grade school? Where we are constantly watched and monitored by traditional-headed Thai teachers who keep shouting at us for not wearing the correct uniform, or for having an opinion.

When is our country is gonna stop being run by grandmas and grandpas?

Hey Anyone want to take over Thailand.
Don't bother to bring the army ,just open the web side.

ไม่รักถูกจับนะ

Hobby, Ekkayuth Anchanbutr alleged that one fund managed by some "Jor" had made 5 billion on that day - a very profitable business transaction, and also highly illegal if he was involved in fabricating that rumor.

Also think of people who lost the money on it, and the damage to SET reputation - "It's run on rumors, if you don't know anyone, don't invest, brokerage advice means nothing here."

Of course there will be people who'd jump on the opportunity to rant about Prem, LM, censorship, "elites" etc.

You have a case massive stock manipulation first and foremost.

As for yellows, they been pointing at Dragon Lady, Yaowapa Wongsawat, as the rumor mastermind all along.

I guess the next step is people accusing Prem of masterminding the rumor himself, so that his henchmen can close down Prachatai and Samesky.

StanG: Sorry, you lost me as soon as you mentioned Ekkayuth alleges...... he's not someone I consider worth bothering listening to, even if on rare occasions there may be a grain of truth to what he says.

If anything you should be questioning how it has got to the stage where mere rumours about the health of one aged person is enough to trigger a stock market crash - thats not a good recipe for stability IMO, and it suggests that the country is a joke.

Even though there has obviously been decades of mismanagement in the country, that Computer Crimes Act is proving quite handy:)

The main lesson the authorities should learn here is how to prevent SET from being easily manipulated by rumors, hopefully they find the way.

I think stock markets by their nature are based as much on rumour & sentiment as they are on fundamentals - its the natuure of the beast - it may be respectable, but its still gambling IMO.

As to lesson to be learned, I think the much bigger lesson is the foolishness of having one person being so integral to the fortunes of a whole country.

Governments, Institutions, Military etc need to be servants of the people of a nation, not just a select few - until that is the case, I expect the Computer Crimes Act to be overworked (abused), and there will be no stability (in stock markets, or in politics:(

Hobby, do you not see the problem with people intentionally releasing false information? If a brokerage firm does that, they'd be sued to death and have their license revoked. It's not some mild case of shoplifting, there are billions at stake.

It's one thing if the market moves on rumors of, say, tsunami hitting Eastern Seaboard, it's quite another to create such rumor and then quickly cash in on the panic.

"foolishness of having one person being so integral to the fortunes of a whole country" - like it or not, but the situation exists, and the main reason for this is that no other leader or institution comes even close to having such moral authority.

Not counting Thaksin, the country is pretty much united and there will be no major shift after succession. The "ammart" system works as the guarantor of stability, much more so than parliament or senate.

People can make a lot of money on rumors about Steve Job's health, too, and America is not going to collapse, and if turns out the information about Steve was intentionally fabricated to make a killing on the stocks - blood will flow.

The only reason we are still talking about this is because the rumor mentioned the King and not some hot shot CEO.

There's nothing unusual in NYSE reacting to changes in hot shot CEOs status, including health.

Steve Jobs is a perfect example. Apple stock reacted to his illness and reacted to his recovery. He never fully disclosed his condition and there was plenty of speculation on its exact nature.

Speculation is fine, starting rumors is not. If there was a rumor of his death and in the few hours that would take to officially deny it there was a 6% drop in Apple stock and some companies made billions of dollars on it, you can be sure the authorities would investigate it.

In Thailand they were playing on the lack of trust in the official information and possibility of a cover up of such an important announcement. "If the King died, the govt would keep it under the cover for a while, sell you stocks while you can" logic.

In some way it worked, but the folks on SET realized where the weakness lies and, as they haven't been caught hiding important info, they look a bit more reliable now and pulling a trick like this again would probably not work. Thailand would look even more professional if they found who was behind all this.

I understand how those obsessed with monarchy would turn it into another bashing opportunity, but the case has nothing to do with it, it was stock manipulation, pure and simple.

StanG: Apple is not the whole NYSE - my point is that its a ridiculous for the health (rumour or truth) of one person (any person) to be able to have that effect.

Its even more ludicrous when the person is not involved in the day to day running of the country (or company), and is above politics:)

re. Hobby's use of terms such as "foolishness": I think you're missing the 2 points that everything will come to a standstill for a period, which will have a detrimental effect on business & therefore the economy, and there are fears of instability in the 'interim' period. This is the way things are; I don't know how your idea of lessons to be learnt applies.

Aaaah, now I see the light! Hobby, O Great Teacher of Buddhism to the Thais, who follow Thai Buddhism, ;-) , how do you propose your lesson may be learnt?

I think you're ignoring the reality that, regardless of where the country's hopes are placed, everything will come to a standstill for a period, and anger does come to the surface in situations of extreme grief. The effect of this is unavoidable. I think the lessons to be learnt are more likely to be in areas connected to minimization of the effects, and ensuring that such rumours don't occur again.

BTW, the latest ABAC poll shows that Thaksin's popularity has dropped enormously, due to his acceptance of the Cambodian position (He's shown just how much of an opportunist he really is.). This may be useful in terms of stability, if people really get the message, although it will depend on the government not overdoing its reaction.