Thailand: Abhisit, Suthep charged with murder over 2010 crackdown

Originally published at Siam Voices on December 7, 2012 Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has said it will charge former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and then deputy prime minister Suthep Thuagsuban with premeditated murder for their involvement in the death of a taxi driver during the crackdown on the anti-government red shirt protests in May 2010, where about 90 people were killed. Both will be summoned to acknowledge the charges on December 12, 2012.

The charges come after a court determined that taxi driver Phan Khamkong was killed by security forces during the crackdown - more similar cases and inquiries lead to the same conclusions.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI), police and Thai prosecutors jointly decided to charge the former leader and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban under article 288, the section of the Thai criminal code that deals with murder, said DSI chief Tarit Pengdith. "Their actions -- repeatedly sending the armed forces against civilians -- show an intention to endanger life," he said.

"Ex-Thai PM to face murder charge", by Thanaporn Promyamyai, AFP, December 6, 2012

The timing of the charges is no coincidence as the parliament is currently in recess until December 21 and Abhisit is not protected by its immunity. DSI chief Tharit Pengdith has been lining up the charges against the two Democrat Party politicians earlier this year.

Last month Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government comfortably survived a vote of no-confidence. Emboldened, it is now considering pushing for amendments to the constitution and another attempt to bring forward the so-called "reconciliation bills" is expected. Depending on which version will be eventually passed, it states that all charges and verdicts related to political protests between 2005 and May 10, 2011 (so a few days before the May 19 crackdown) will be dropped, including the verdict against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Some analysts said the charges were a way for the ruling Puea Thai Party to pressure the opposition into accepting a broad amnesty deal that could whitewash guilt on both sides of the conflict and bring Thaksin home from his self-imposed exile in Dubai.

"It's a political game and a way for Puea Thai to gain the upper hand by forcing their opposition to accept some sort of amnesty deal," Kan Yuenyong, director of Siam Intelligence Unit, a think tank in Bangkok, told Reuters.

"Former Thai PM Abhisit charged over crackdown deaths", by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Reuters, December 6, 2012

This decision also highlights the very flexible nature of DSI chief Tharit towards whoever is currently in power. Just a few years ago, Tharit was focussed to prosecute the red shirt leaders and not put the blame for the deaths during the protests on the army after the crackdown, leading to inconclusive reports. Now, as seen above, he is working against those the used to serve. The DSI has also now accepted more other cases to investigate allegations of irregularities of big projects and constructions, especially against the Democrat-led Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, whose Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra is up for re-election in February.

Even if Abhisit and Suthep will face trial, it can take years of legal process until this eventually goes to court - and this is just over the death of one person during the protests. Nevertheless, it is a sign that those cases are being very slowly progressed. However, this decision is rooted in political consequences and will cause further political consequences, as the current political climate could rise again.

However, one crucial section that is responsible during the clashes and the crackdown is still being left untouched: the armed forces have so far been not charged and even the slightest hint by DSI chief Tharit has been met with so much uproar that he caved in and apologized.

The month in Thailand: Reshuffles, coup rumblings and the 3G farce

Originally published at Siam Voices on November 1, 2012 October is normally a politically heated month in Thailand, as seen in the numerous street protests, military shenanigans and other political developments in the recent history and in the more distant past. However, the events in this month were less controversial, or the changes were in the detail, or both. Here are some of the stories that show that.

Military promotions and cabinet reshuffle: look who's talking now?

Normally, the annual reshuffle and promotions of countless military officers and civilian ministers is enough source for discord between the government and the armed forces and for both groups within themselves. This year's military merry-go-round has been largely unsurprising - apart from the removal of Defense Permanent Secretary Gen. Sathien Permthong-in - and reassures the ongoing truce with the government. Also, the promotion of Yingluck's nephew is seen by some as a good sign.

The new cabinet of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on the other hand has some interesting changes. Yongyuth Wichaidit has resigned as deputy prime minister and Pheu Thai Party leader, some saying to evade a potential corruption case, while the rest of the Yingluck cabinet has the pundits reaching for very different conclusion. Some are saying Thaksin is slowly reclaiming the party, while others say Yingluck is holding her ground.

Sleeping hawks are awake, confused

One more thing that normally comes up during this time of the year (mostly as a negative outcome of the two issues above): rumors and calls for a military coup - since that is apparently the only time-proofed method to bring in stability and democracy in Thailand, according to some.

Last Sunday saw yet another rally that calls for the current government to be ousted by nothing else but a military intervention. The  group calls itself Pitak Siam (Protect Siam) and their main organizer is Ret. Gen. Boonlert Kaewprasit, chairman of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS) Foundation and Class 1 graduate. He's also been consistent in demanding coups on a regular basis (and having participated in the failed coup attempt of March 1977), citing the cause of protecting the monarchy from lèse majesté. No change this time:

"I'd love to see a coup because I know this puppet government is here to rob the country. Several sectors of society can't take it anymore. If I had the power a coup would have been staged by now," he said. (...)

Over the past year the government has not only stood by as offensive criticism has been hurled against the monarchy, but it has appeared to encourage it, he said. The government has showed itself to be Thaksin's puppet, he said, adding that by installing his sister Yingluck as prime minister, Thaksin had insulted the entire nation.

"Pitak Siam rally hopes to oust govt", Bangkok Post, October 24, 2012

The rally itself was joined by groups (many are PAD-aligned) that can be generally described as ultra-royalist, anti-democratic and nationalist, but also some that are just fed up with the current government. Attendance figures varied wildly between 3,000 (police estimate) and 30,000 (organizer's estimate) - but it's safe to say that they were able to fill the main grandstand at the Royal Turf Club, which holds about 20,000.

What all the coup demands in recent years have in common (apart that it is potentially illegal) is a relentless contempt against Thaksin and the willingness to accept the damage of a military coup with the disregard for the democratic system. The upper echelons of the army at the moment are siding with the government - for now. Gen. Boonlert has announced that there'll be another rally soon and is even more hell-bent to topple this government no matter the costs. However, he and like-minded people should also take into account that another military coup will be even less well-received by the general population than at the last one.

Thailand's eternal 3G farce - the last chapter?

After an almost eternal and tedious waiting period Thailand will finally upgrade to 3G mobile technology making it the second-to-last country in Southeast Asia to do so. It's been a long and painful process but now Thailand's citizens, especially smartphone users, can look forward to finally get wide 3G coverage even before the end of year - or may be not...?!

See, the issue with the 3G implementation in Thailand is a neverending story and - admittedly - much more complicated to explain than the government's rice pledging scheme! The last auction attempt in 2010 was stopped by a last-minute court order after a complaint by a state-owned telecommunications company that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) was not authorized to hold the auction - a mess created by the 2007 constitution.

Now, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) which had the authority to hold this auction. There were in total 9 slots of 5 MHz bandwidth each, three bidders who cannot get more than three each and the results were underwhelming for some.

Thailand has raised 41.6 billion baht (US$1.4 billion) from its long-awaited auction of 3G mobile licenses, with the three bidding operators said to have paid "only a small premium".

[...] the three bidders - AIS, Dtac and True Move - managed to secure 3G licenses. The NBTC noted that AIS submitted the highest bid at 14.6 billion baht (US$ 475 million) for three slots of 5 MHz bandwidth. The other two operators each submitted the minimum bid of 13.5 billion baht (US$439 million) for the three slots of bandwidth, it added.

"Thailand nets $1.4B from 3G auction", ZDNet, October 17, 2012

Dtac was the only one to bid slightly above the starting price and overall the auction only gained a plus of only 1.125 bn Baht ($36m) or 2.78 per cent above the reserve price. Amidst that meager profit from the bidding a torrential flood of criticism poured down on the whole event, especially on the NBTC. Most fault them for missing out on a lot of money during the bidding and thus the 'damaging the country' (even leading The Nation to draw up the most ludicrous conspiracy theory or a poor attempt at satire). On the other hand considering that this was a bureaucratic mess almost a decade in the making and the resistance of state companies, one has to wonder what is still left of the real price of infrastructure progress in Thailand.

And meanwhile across the border, Laos is preparing to launch 4G...!

Lèse majesté update: Judiciary upholds constitutionality while suspect is acquitted

Thailand's Constitutional Court has ruled the Kingdom's draconian lèse majesté law unanimously and unsurprisingly as 'constitutional', after Somyos Prueksakasemsuk and Akechai Hongkangwarn (both accused and detained on lèse majesté charges) have contested Article 112 of the Criminal Code in a landmark legal challenge.

Meanwhile, some good news: A 41-year-old programmer has been acquitted of lèse majesté charges. The court ruled in doubt for the  defendant after it was not clear whether or not he was the author of defamatory Facebook messages and that computer evidence could have been even forged.

The best article by The Nation - EVER!

And finally, I present you the best, most coherent article The Nation has written - EVER!

Thailand's Democrat Party rallies behind "men in black" conspiracy

Originally published at Siam Voices on October 15, 2012 On Saturday, members of Thailand's opposition Democrat Party rallied in the streets of Bangkok that were the scenes of the bloody clashes of the anti-government protests in 2010. At least 92 people were killed and thousands were injured when the red shirts rallied and blocked off streets in central Bangkok in order to force out the government of that very same party, that of then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. They took to the streets recently to present their own version of under what circumstances people, both civilians and security officers alike, lost their lives and also who is to be blamed.

The mobile rally, accompanied by supporters wearing black T-shirts, black balaclavas and cardboard rifles, made stops at various places of the 2010 protests. One of them was Wat Pathum Wan, a Buddhist temple which was supposedly a designated safe zone after the bloody crackdown of May 19, 2010. However, six were killed inside the temple compound by shots fired from the elevated BTS tracks, where soldiers where supposedly engaged in a firefight with nearby armed men.

The Democrat Party held an emotional rally in Lumpini Park yesterday to condemn the government and provide its version of the military crackdown against red shirt protesters in 2010 when it was in power.

Party members attempted to shed light on the mysterious men in black who had been linked to the red shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) and who were believed by some to have attacked security forces and killed people during the 2010 political violence.

"Abhisit urges truth about men in black", Bangkok Post, October 14, 2012

The 'men in black' are the often mentioned group of armed men that have been spotted at various incidents like during the first clashes of April 10, 2010 and have reportedly fought against military forces. Countless rumors have been made about their affiliations, among them allegedly being under command of the late Maj. Gen. Khattiya ’Seh Daeng’ Sawatdiphol, who had his own group of 'security personnel' during the rally and was considered to be a hawkish hardliner among the red shirt protest leaders. 'Seh Daeng' was shot by a sniper (most likely from a building under military control) on May 13, 2010 while he was giving an interview for The New York Times and later died in a hospital.

The activities culminated in a rally in Lumphini Park, not far from where Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi was killed on May 19, 2010 - recent reports suggest he was killed by shots from the army side (same goes for the death of Japanese Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto). Reportedly 2,000 supporters listened to the speeches by the Democrat Party heavyweights, as they presented "The Truth Without Colours" - same as the book by party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva that is being currently released. The takeaway from this event was probably this accusation:

The Democrats yesterday accused ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of being behind the so-called "men in black" who were allegedly hired to kill innocents including red-shirt protesters in order to smear the previous Abhisit government.

"Democrats: Thaksin was behind 'men in black'", The Nation, October 14, 2012

Despite or rather especially because of this, last Saturday's rally is very reminiscent in style and content to their pre-election rally at Rajaprasong in 2011, where in a last-ditch attempt the Democrat Party was presenting their version of what happened at that intersection during the military crackdown and taking every opportunity to blame Thaksin for rallying up a 'red mob' and painting him as the main reason of the political crisis.

Another parallel is that both rallies were primarily held to fire up their own supporter base, as those loyal to one political party are unlikely to switch allegiances and those neutral are likely by now fed up with the bi-partisan bickering. This shows that the Democrat Party, Thailand's oldest political party, has moved forward very little since their defeat in the 2011 elections and sometimes come across as desperate, as their antics in parliament earlier this year have shown.

However, what is particularly striking is the apparent willingness of the Democrat Party to still overlook the role of the military during the protests, as this tweet by Abhisit shows: he wrote that "if there weren't any 'men in black', no policeman, civilian or red shirt would have lost their lives!"

เพื่อที่จะบอกท่านว่า ถ้าวันนั้นไม่มีชายชุดดำ ไม่ว่าตำรวจ ไม่ว่าทหาร ไม่ว่าปชช. คนธรรมดา หรือคนเสื้อแดง จะไม่มีใครเสียชีวิตเลยครับ (3/3)

— Abhisit Vejjajiva (@Abhisit_DP) October 13, 2012

It bears some cruel irony that this political rally, meant to reveal the 'truth' of what happened to the victims of the bloody clashes during these 9 and a half weeks in 2010, took place on the same weekend as the anniversary of October 14, 1973, when pro-democracy protesters were brutally gunned down by the military regime of Field Marshal Thanom. Seventy-seven people were killed and over 800 were injured, but ultimately no one was held responsible. It is this culture of impunity that still prevails today and that is being preserved by the mindset the Democrat Party (but also the Pheu Thai government, should they give a blanket amnesty including for Thaksin) is still promoting with this rally - by focussing on one issue only and completely missing the bigger picture.

Op-Ed: A 'truth' for the sake of Thailand's reconciliation does little

Originally published at Siam Voices on September 30, 2012 Last week, the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) presented its final report of their investigations of the violent clashes between the authorities and the red shirts during the 2010 anti-government protests. At least 92 people were killed and thousands injured. The overall outcome was that they find faults at both sides. However, it does very little to move the country forward to the much-yearned for national reconciliation.

Right from the outset the commission was met with skepticism and rejection, especially from the red shirts, since it was established shortly after the protests during the Abhisit administration and the fear of bias was strong. Even if an investigation would have been set up by the succeeding Yingluck government, any inquiry that would be set up by any government would be regarded as partisan in this current political climate.

The real problem of this panel is not what is being pointed out by the report or whether or what the motives of the nine commissioners were, but rather the toothless nature of the panel. It was given virtually no powers and access to forensic and official information in order to conduct proper investigations regarding the violent clash of April 10, 2010, and the bloody crackdown that ended on May 19, 2010.

And so the actual report was criticized and rejected by both sides, neither fully acknowledging the claims by the TRCT that there were mistakes done by them in order to prevent violence. However, the emphasis of the alleged link of a black-clad militia group to the red shirt leaders, especially to the late rogue Major General Khattiya"Seh Daeng" Sawatdiphol - who denied any involvement with them, but confirmed their role during the April 10 clashes shortly before he was assassinated from a sniper who the TRCT concluded must have shot from a building under control of the army - all without proper evidence, which begs the question where the priorities of the commission lie.

The personal opinion of TRCT chairman Khanit na Nakhon (which has been wrongly reported as an official statement of the commission by a few outlets) that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra should "sacrifice himself" and keep out of politics underlines one major misunderstanding and the ultimate blind spot of many political actors: the notion that Thaksin is the root of all evil problems ignores the long-term effects of his (in no way altruistic or goodie-goodie) policies that lead to the political awakening of the population outside of Bangkok.

On the other hand, there were many solid and legitimate findings and recommendations made by the TRCT report, such as the call for amendment of the draconian lèse majesté law and the call to the armed forces to restrain themselves from taking political sides. But those are just non-binding recommendations and it has to be seen if anyone would take these to heart and implement actual change. Furthermore, this report does not give more clarity for the victim's families, which is unfortunately more the rule than the exception in Thailand, as political events that have turned violent in the past have never been properly investigated.

This country has a very long history of impunity where the state perpetrators have never been held accountable for their decisions and their consequences - many of them resulting in deaths. Whether it was the attacks on democracy activists on October 14, 1973, the Thammasat University massacre of October 6, 1976, the Black May of 1992 or the recent military coup of 2006, the events of modern Thai history have left gaping wounds in the nation's fabric and those responsible have never been brought to justice. Instead, for the sake of national 'reconciliation,' the anger has been attempted to be quelled with the ever-repeating mantra of forgiving and forgetting - only for the next tragedy to strike and many to ask how it could happen again.

Reconciliation cannot happen without understanding or even be ready to acknowledge what brought us here to the first place, that competing narratives and opinions about our past, present and future exist, that 'unity' should not require surrender of differences and that the 'truth' can no longer be claimed by just a few. That is the main point of this column: it's not so much what the 'truth' is here presented by the TRCT, what is crucial for this country is how the 'truth' is being handled and implemented by the stakeholders and by the common citizen in order to move Thailand beyond the current power gridlock.

The full TRCT report in Thai can be downloaded in PDF form here and the English-language press release here.

Thai army chief blames the media for everything - again!

Originally published at Siam Voices on August 22, 2012 Thailand's army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha is not known to be the smoothest talker and the most gentlest person to handle the media. In fact, there were several incidents when he lost his temper while talking to the press too often - whether it was self-inflicted or sparked by a dumb question. And normally we'd would make fun of this in Tongue-Thai'ed section of this blog and be done with it. However, the most recent flare-up by Prayuth is the new epitome of the army chief's problematic relationship with the media and also his own perception of his job.

Some background: In the ongoing insurgency in the deep southern border regions, four soldiers were killed in an ambush while on patrol in late July, all very visibly in front of surveillance cameras. The blunt nature of this incident has put the violent conflict back on the public agenda and, as it is usually the case, the government will introduce some quick, short-term initiatives to sooth the increased public awareness. It is the same case with the current Yingluck administration, which has, for example, set up a special command center for the South (and giving it an utterly stupid name).

It was in light of these events where army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha had to face press yet again over the separatist insurgency in the deep Southern provinces - and yet again, he just can't stand being asked questions, no matter how critical. Just look at this video as he increasingly angry...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bV9s2DsfuI

It hardly needs translation to see how his mood has shifted downwards, but there are some lines that are both very memorable and very questionable as well. Here are some with the time codes for the video above for you to follow along...

0:29 : There're some things you just don't get, no matter if I explain you to death with it, you'd still don't get it!

0:37 : You think you can do better? Then you can take over as army chief...! That's it! Period!

1:29 : Man...! Then you're going to write again that I've blown a fuse - I'm angry as I'm normally am, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this job - so I gotta be able to get angry. I'm not a monk after all!

1:48 : All the brilliant journalists should gather around here and ask me - and if I answer them and they can't follow-up with something, they should shut it!

3:18 : I'm already as calm as I can be and I'm exhausted - I was a little angry, but now I'm  good again!

3:28 : Anything else?! Ah?! Ok, I'm not mad at you! If I'd be angry I would have killed you all already!

Erm, yes...! I guess there were definitely no more questions.

Prayuth has also weighed in again on the controversial issue of the fraudulent bomb-sniffing device GT200, which have come up again in July after it was discovered that the bogus dowsing-rod is still in usage. The army chief came out to defend the ongoing usage of the GT200 while being totally oblivious to scientific evidence that it just doesn't work. The armed forces are currently in search for new bomb detectors to replace, but haven't finalized a deal yet. And Prayuth knows already who to blame for it.

"The media should help us find other alternative equipment to protect soldiers and police officers from bomb attacks. If you can't find it, then don't ask because it's annoying," the national army chief said.

"South 'may be lost if UN intervenes', army general warns", Bangkok Post, August 10, 2012

The third incident was from last week when the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) - another highly politicized institution that has a long record of serving to whoever is in power - has indicated that they were going to summon military snipers for questioning for their role in the violent 2010 crackdown on the anti-government red shirt protesters, in which almost 90 people on both side have lost their lives.

Prayuth of course didn't like the DSI's insinuation that the army has actually killed people when the protests deteriorated quickly and he and the army's spokesperson Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd (who ever since 2010 has been regarded as seemingly 'impeccable') have been touting the same line that no soldier has killed any protesters at all. They did that shortly after the crackdown and they did that again this time - so much so that apparently Prayuth made the bendy DSI chief apologize to him.

And just to make sure he also rammed his message that there were no snipers involved to the press as well - only for Prachtai to later that week exclusively reveal documents that there has been authorizations to use snipers during the crackdown, including the baffling revelation that of the 3,000 snipers rounds only 880 were returned.

But here is his now obsolete message anyways:

"What is a sniper? What person would use snipers? And do you know who the snipers are? Those who appeared to be soldiers [in the photographs or video clips] were just equipped with an enhanced scope. And the enhanced scope and the gun are not a sniper type. If you say what you don’t know, you’d better shut up. These things, which are used for marksmanship and are available for sale at informal markets for the purpose of shooting birds, are not sniper stuff. Don’t just ramble on."

"CRES authorized use of snipers during crackdown in 2010", Prachatai, August 21, 2012

And rambling on seems to be almost the only thing he does ever since he took the post of army chief in late 2010, already showing his outspokenness then. He reacts irritated nearly all time when dealing with the press and mostly sees no other way to lash out, throw a tantrum and divert attention from the matter itself, by either accusing the press of not supporting the troops - as most don't have a problem with the soldiers, but rather with the one(s) who lead them - or simply taunting somebody else to take over his post.

The point that he could use media training or just let Col. Sansern speak for him instead has been raised many times already, but it would change little about the lacking professionalism of the Thai armed forces and in its outwards portrayal, since General Prayuth is one of these military figures that think that anger and bruteness are the only ways to show power, authority and self-assureness, while these erratical flare-ups though create the opposite.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and on Facebook here.

Tongue-Thai’ed! Part XVI: Chalerm and the new Pentagon

Originally published at Siam Voices on August 1, 2012 “Tongue-Thai’ed!” encapsulates the most baffling, amusing, confusing, outrageous and appalling quotes from Thai politicians and other public figures – in short: everything we hear that makes us go “Huh?!”. Check out all past entries here.

Chalerm Yubamrung is a veteran politician known for his erratic behavior and boastful nature which naturally leads lots of verbosities that are bordering on ridiculous or simply head-scratching. He's also currently Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister mainly in charge of security - so, in both regards to his position and his outspokenness he is the actual and spiritual successor to our favorite Tongue-Thai'ed! contributor Suthep Thuangsuban.

On a more serious note, the ongoing insurgency in Thailand's deep southern border region has claimed more victims again when five soldiers were killed in a drive-by ambush last Sunday, which was caught on CCTV and leaked by the local police. It was that very gruesome depiction of this violent incident that has reminded the Thai public yet again about the violent conflict that has claimed by now almost 5,500 lives since 2004, with an end nowhere near in sight.

That incident has prompted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to appoint Chalerm to take care of the South. And since the Thai government has also granted some 391m Baht (US$12.3m) for this operation, he wants a new command center at the Royal Thai Police HQ in addition to the few government agencies already assigned with the troubling border region.

And since every Thai institution needs a nice sounding name - preferably long, convoluted and pretentious - Chalerm has already an idea for this command center. It is however not very original...

The new centre would operate to the same standards as that of the US Pentagon, and the centre should be called Pentagon II, he said.

Mr Chalerm said he believed Pentagon II would improve efficiency in the government's fight against the southern insurgency just as the Pentagon worked successfully to hunt down Osama bin Laden.

"Sukumpol wants aircraft for South", Bangkok Post, August 1, 2012

I don't know where to even start! Pentagon II?! We don't know (yet) if he was joking with this proposal and couldn't come up with a better name on the fly. But this is Chalerm we're talking about: when he's got an idea, he'll pull it through (that is of course there's one or two instances that prevents him from doing so!). And does he also know how long it took to get bin Laden?

Instead of that knock-off brand name, we (that is Siam Voices contributor Kaewmala) came up with original Thai names for that command center that embodies the Thai language and that is long-winded, and most of all, pretentious:

- "ศูนย์ดับไฟใต้ด้วยปากเหลิม" - "Center for Putting Out the Fire with Chalerm's Mouth" ("ปากเหลิม" ["bpaak lerm"] = drooling, mostly from being blabbering know-it-all, also refers to Chalerm)

- "ศูนย์ปราบทักษิณัคคีภัย" - "Center for Suppressing the Southern Threat" ("ทักษิณ" ["Thaksin"] = from Pali/Sanskrit, South, also the name of a certain fugitive former Prime Minister)

Or just call it Center for Recon and the Advancement of Peace and be done with it! You can thank us later, Chalerm!

via @MartinPetty and h/t to @thai_talk for the alternative names

If you come across any verbosities that you think might fit in here send us a email at siamvoices [at] gmail.com or tweet us @siamvoices.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and on Facebook here.

Thai army still uses fraudulent bomb-sniffing GT200 device

Originally published at Siam Voices on July 22, 2012 Last week we reported on the reaffirmed faith for the GT200 bomb-sniffing device by Thai army chief Gerneral Prayuth Chan-ocha, despite having been proven bogus numerous times for years. But scientific evidence has not deterred Thailand's armed forces and several other government agencies from continuing to use an overpriced piece of plastic with a dowsing rod at the end that is less reliable in detecting explosives or other substances than a simple coin flip (we're talking about less than a random chance!)  - and probably as effective as this 'upgrade' with 'locally sourced materials' crafted by 'Thai ingenuity' as depicted in this Thai viral video from 2010 mocking the original dowsing-rod at the height of its controversy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZBDA4uqoOE&w=640&h=385

After the devastating results of the scientific tests ordered by administration of the then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in early 2010 - a substantial loss of face for many officials involved - and despite foreign media coverage criticizing the device (spearheaded by the BBC "Newsnight" program, literally taking apart the gadget and highlighting the dirty business behind it), the controversy unsurprisingly died down in the following months and years with hardly any inquiries or consequences.

The hot issue was brought up again this month when the UK-based distributor of the ADE-651, a device that has been mostly sold in the Middle East and that is essentially the same to the GT200 or the equally bogus Alpha 6, has been charged for fraud. This also has turned the spotlight on the Thai army and whether or not anything has changed in the past two years. The result is sobering, yet unsurprising, as the Bangkok Post has found out:

Military personnel in the southernmost provinces will keep using the controversial GT200 bomb detectors until they are replaced with other instruments.

Supreme Commander Thanasak Patimaprakorn said yesterday he had seen the effectiveness of GT200 detectors in finding explosives. He said during testing before buying, the equipment was found to be effective.

"I did not mention if the equipment is worthy or not but I'm saying that the procurement of the equipment was done carefully," he said.

Army sources said most of the 757 GT200 detectors which were bought by the army remain operational, "except those that are out of order".

"The GT200 detectors are now used as supporting equipment for operations, not the main ones. But the army has never ordered anyone to stop using them," the source said. "It's better to use the GT200 than to have nothing."

"Soldiers continue to use GT200 in South", Bangkok Post, July 21, 2012

We have already covered the stunning reaffirmed faith by army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha into the bogus GT200 and confirmed its usage in the deeply troubled Southern border regions - here's his endorsement again:

“I affirm that the device is still effective. Other armed forces are also using it,” the army chief said. (…) The army chief said the GT200 has proven to be effective in the army’s operations in the past. But he would respect any scientific test if it proves otherwise.

"Use of GT200 'will continue'", Bangkok Post, July 14, 2012

As mentioned earlier, there are at least 13 government agencies utilizing the bomb-detecting bogus dowsing-rod as well, including the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFC) - headed by the nationally well-known forensic scientist Pornthip Rojanasunand, who has lost nearly all credibility as the national proponent for scientific evidence by backing the GT200 even after the proven ineffectiveness. Now it seems, according the aforementioned Bangkok Post report above, that her agency and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) have dropped the its usage.

Also, the Department of Special Investigations* (DSI) has started to investigate the procurement process of the about 1,000 devices on behalf of complaints received by the ONCB and other agencies - the CIFC has not filed a complaint according to Pornthip, as their procurement process has been found ok by the Office of the Auditor-General. So far, it has found out that the products were "overpriced and ineffective and bidding contests for their procurement might have been rigged." It will also consider to take legal action against the UK-based manufacturer and seller of the GT200.

In a related development, Defense Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat was yet another one to state his unbroken faith into the bogus device (with Prayuth and Supreme Commander Thanasak Patimaprakorn the other two) while totally disregarding solid evidence saying otherwise and at the same time also (perhaps unwittingly) revealing where this stern insistence comes from:

"Many bombs were found using the GT200 detectors but if the findings say otherwise we'll have to see who's lying," ACM Sukumpol said. "Today if we don't use the GT200 what other detectors will we use? The Defence Ministry and I continue to look for alternative devices when travelling abroad," he said. (...)

The minister said the air force was the first to procure the GT200 detectors when he was the air force chief-of-staff. The detectors were tested in front of army commanders.

"Defence minister insists GT200 works", Bangkok Post, July 19, 2012

To repeat again what I said last week: we're talking about an empty plastic shell with a dowsing-rod that is supposed to detect explosive substances and drugs, for which the Thai army and government agencies have spent millions of Baht, only for its uselessness - unfortunately many times literally - to blow up in their faces.

The evidence is more than two years old now and overwhelmingly rock-solid. Its reputation is being questioned worldwide and the UK has banned the export of this deceptively dangerous tool, that has probably cost numerous lives instead of saving them. Meanwhile, the situation in the deep South remains dangerous as yet another bomb explosion occurred on Saturday in Narathiwat province, injuring eight civilians.

*What needs to be mentioned as well is that the DSI acts according to whichever direction the political wind is blowing, as the inquiries into the deaths of the 2010 protests pre- and post-election have shown.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and also on his public Facebook page here.

Thai army reaffirms usage of GT200-dowsing rod for bomb detection

Originally published at Siam Voices on July 14, 2012 Thailand's army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has reaffirmed that the Royal Thai Army will keep on using the controversial GT200, a bogus device that is supposed to detect explosive materials among other substances. The device, effectively nothing more than an empty plastic shell with a dowsing rod, has been proven ineffective numerous times and the UK-based manufacturer has now been charged for fraud. Despite this, the GT200 has been spotted being still used by Thai soldiers at various times. Bangkok Pundit has some more background and some history on its usage in the Thai army.

The Bangkok Post has provided some soundbites by the army chief himself on the GT200 that are worth highlighting here:

Gen Prayuth yesterday said the GT200 will continue to be used by the army in the far South. (...) The GT200 has been widely used by security officers in Thailand's troubled deep South.

However*, in Krungthep Turakij he is being quoted that the 4th Army Region, which covers the troubled South of Thailand, is not using it anymore. In the border region, insurgent violence has claimed thousands of lives in the past, many of them caused by IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

เมื่อถามย้ำว่ากองทัพภาคที่ 4 ยังใช้จีที 200 หรือไม่ พล.อ.ประยุทธ์ กล่าวว่า ไม่ได้ใช้แล้ว (...) หลังจากที่เครื่องมือตรวจวัตถุระเบิดมีปัญหาทาง พล.อ.ประยุทธ์ ก็สั่งการไม่กำลังพลในกองทัพภาคที่ 4 ใช้งานเพราะเกรงว่ากำลังพลจะไม่ปลอดภัย และขณะนี้ จีที 200 ถูกเก็บไว้ในกองทัพภาคที่ 4

When asked about whether or not the 4th Army Region is still using the GT200, General Prayuth says it is not being used anymore. (...) After the bomb-detecting devices have been found problematic, General Prayuth has ordered personnel in the 4th Army Region not to use it because it was deemed unsafe and the GT200 devices have been stored in the 4th Army Region.

"'ประยุทธ์'แจงทบ.ไม่ได้ใช้'จีที200'แล้ว", Krungthep Turakij, July 13, 2012

Nevertheless, Prayuth still somehow has faith in these dowsing rods:

"I affirm that the device is still effective. Other armed forces are also using it," the army chief said. (...) The army chief said the GT200 has proven to be effective in the army's operations in the past. But he would respect any scientific test if it proves otherwise.

Where was Prayuth in 2009 when the Abhisit administration has ordered a scientific test? The results were devastating: out of 20 tests, the device only 'worked' 4 times - probably as accurate and reliable as a flip of a coin! But then again, he may have been believing the words of Pornthip Rojanasunand.

Pronthip has been for a very long time the nationwide esteemed forensic expert, educating the country about the importance of scientific evidence and a nearly ubiquitous appearance in any media coverage of murder and other crime cases. However, she has been defending the GT200 with her continuous faith in the bogus device and insisting to still use it, even after the failed tests - killing off every credibility she had as a forensic scientist. (And to answer BP's question in his post whether or not Pornthip has less media appearances these days: yes, definitely!)

It was just a matter of time when this issue of the bogus GT200 would pop up again as nothing really happened after the official government tests and despite the continuous investigation against the manufacturer by the BBC. Apart from the usual questions surrounding nebulous army procurements - this lot of about 1,000 plastic dowsing rods has cost somewhere between 700m - 800m Baht ($221m - $252m), while the real cost for it has been hardly 1000 Baht ($30) a piece - this also raises the questions about whether or not the Thai armed forces (at that time under the command of General Anupong Paochinda) will file charges against the fraudulent manufacturer.

Prayuth has thrown that responsibility to the government, while he should be reminded that he is responsible for the well-being of the soldiers that are apparently still using the bogus GT200 to detect bombs. Whether or not the army chief  is also ready to fully convince the public of the effectiveness of this dowsing rod by personally using one in real-life circumstances has not been reported.

*What wonders me is that the Bangkok Post's military correspondent Wassana Nanuam failed to mention the South's 4th Region Army's non-usage of the GT200 and actually wrote the complete opposite...?

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and also on his public Facebook page here.

Analysis: Is Thailand's military compromising for the sake of reconciliation?

Originally published at Siam Voices on May 18, 2012 The East Asia Forum recently published a column on the current political role of Thailand's military written by John Blaxland, Senior Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University with 30 years of service experience with the Australian Military and also a graduate of the Royal Thai Army Command and Staff College. In short: Dr. Blaxland has lots of military experience.

In the column, also republished in The Australian, he criticizes "the classic Western liberal tendency of painting complex situations in black-and-white terms" where the Thai military is being portrayed power-hungry, coup-happy force. Blaxland takes the 2006 military coup and its consequences as precedence for the Thai armed forces to be hesitant to stage another one, despite repeated cycles of rampant rumors.

Blaxland assumes that the military acted on their own in September 2006, although many heavily disagree with this notion. He also notes that the 2008 change of government was merely an act among political parties, not mentioning the fact that the Democrat-Bhum Jai Thai coalition was reportedly brokered in the residence of then-army chief General Anupong Paochinda and in presence of his successor and then-chief-of-staff General Prayuth Chan-ocha.

However, the key part of this column is this:

Some say that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has had little success in pushing for greater civilian control over the military since this time. But there has been some change, most notably through the appointment of a pro-Thaksin general as defence minister. In addition, the new army chief, General Prayuth Chan-o-Cha, has avoided overstepping constitutional boundaries and has been largely compliant — despite some bluster and a perception that he would be harsher than his predecessor, General Anupong.

There are now several possible scenarios for the future. It appears the military has arrived at a point of recognition — that they have to maintain stability, particularly until the royal succession is completed. That means they may have to compromise a little — and the military has publicly shown respect for the elected government. This respect has been reciprocated through placatory actions and statements by the Yingluck administration.

"Reconsidering the role of the military in Thailand", by John Blaxland, East Asia Forum, April 26, 2012

One problem with Blaxland's assessment on Thailand's military is that he views the armed forces as a monolithic organization, while in reality it has always been factionalized between different regiments and army prep school classes - key factors when it comes to the annual reshuffles and promotions. Rivalries between these are often a source for potential inner-circle conflict, as the issue with the so-called 'watermelon soldiers' during the 2010 red shirt protests have shown. Although there are now measures being undertaken to address this issue like wide-reaching surveys and supporting promotions of officers from other classes.

But there is one major omission (deliberately or not) by Blaxland on the role of the Thai military in the political landscape: the top priority of Thailand's armed forces is to serve and protect the monarchy (see above), which has been repeatedly emphasized under current army chief Prayuth more than ever, who sees Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters as its biggest threat.

Even before the election victory of Yingluck Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party there have been talks between Thaksin's camp, the military and representatives of the palace to broker a deal, which is now being widely regarded as a détente between the current government and the military:

Since then Yingluck Shinawatra, Mr. Thaksin’s younger sister, has governed. Under her premiership, an uneasy truce has taken hold, but crucial steps are needed before Thailand can arrive at a genuine reconciliation among competing political factions and the military after years of protracted tumult.

Under the current unspoken truce terms, the Yingluck government has gone out of its way not to challenge the army’s high command and to ensure the monarchy remains sacrosanct in Thailand’s hierarchical society. Challenges against the monarchy must be put down through draconian lese-majeste laws. In return, she gets to rule without the crippling street protests by colorful royalists as happened in the recent past and Mr. Thaksin has to remain in exile.

"Thitinan: From Truce to Reconciliation in Thailand", by Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2012

In short, the military will not intervene in the Yingluck administration and potentially also tolerate a return of Thaksin to Thailand, while the government will not try to upset the military officers by actions such as prosecuting those involved in the killings of red shirt protesters in 2010. Another key issue that will not be touched is the lèse majesté law, as Yingluck herself has repeatedly stated that her government will not amend the draconian Article 112. Even the recent death of 'Uncle SMS' in prison could not sway her, much to the dismay of her supporter base.

Blaxland also overestimates the appointment of Air Chief Marshal Sukumpol Suwannathat as the defense minister, despite his closeness to Thaksin, since there are laws that gives the military the upper hand, such as the Defence Ministry Administration Act (sic!):

Gen Prayuth is under the protection of the Defence Ministry Administration Act which has been in effect from the time Privy Councillor Gen Surayud Chulanont became prime minister after the 2006 coup. This law is specifically designed to block politicians from tampering with reshuffle decisions made by the armed forces.

The act does not give power to the defence minister in calling the shots in military appointments and promotions. Its Article 25 places leaves that task with the Defence Committee to make decisions on military reshuffles.

The panel comprises the defence minister, a deputy minister, the permanent secretary for defence, the supreme commander and the three armed forces chiefs army, air force and navy. At present there is no deputy defence minister, so the committee has only six members. At the committee's meetings, all officers to be reshuffled must have the signed approval of all panel members _ except the defence minister's; he must act as chairman of the meeting so that later, in his capacity as defence minister, he cannot make any changes to the list when it goes to the cabinet. According to the act, once the list is approved by the committee, it has to be left untouched.

"Tigers of the East secure a roaring hurrah", Bangkok Post, October 6, 2011

There are attempts at the moment to amend the Defence Ministry Administration Act by defense minister Sukampol - whether or not this will pass is an entirely different matter, let alone how the military will react on it. And in general, the current relative tranquility between the military and the civilian side is only because the lines have been clearly drawn and any overstepping of these boundaries of authority will be met with scorn.

This is a status quo that is being upheld as a necessary inconvenience (and in that regard Blaxland is right) between the two in order for a smooth royal succession - which does not mean however that all factions are not preparing quietly to be in the best position for the time after that. These are the shades of grey in the Thai political landscape that are not to be left in the pitch-black darkness.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and on Facebook here.

“Uncle SMS” death inspires hypocrisy, indifference among politicians

Originally published at Siam Voices on May 12, 2012 The death of Ampon Tangnoppakul on Monday, known as "Ah Kong" (grandpa) or "Uncle SMS" and imprisoned under the lèse majesté law for allegedly sending inflammatory text messages against the monarchy, has sparked widespread outcry, condemnation and anger — domestic and international alike. However, one group of people that have been very silent on this matter were Thailand's politicians - and if there were any statements from both sides, then they showed the hypocrisy, double standard and sheer cowardice in order to maintain an unstable status quo concerning Article 112 of the Criminal Code.

Among the first to respond when questioned about Ampon's fate and the re-ignited discussion over the lèse majesté law, was Abhisit Vejjajiva of the opposition Democrat party, who said that the death of the 62-year old grandfather "must not be exploited for political gain." He continued:

He said the government was duty-bound to explain what happened to Ampon as he was in the custodial care of the Corrections Department under the supervision of the government.

"Reds told not to exploit Ampon's death", Bangkok Post, May 10, 2012

What Abhisit completely neglects to mention is that it was during his time as prime minister that Ampon was arrested and brought to trial. What he also fails to mention is that it was his own personal secretary Somkiat Klongwattanasak who received those messages and reported them to the police — a fact that Abhisit still denies to have noticed until today, as heard recently at a FCCT event. That almost overshadows that there were no mentions of condolences or anything similar expressed by him reported in the press.

Another public figure who did actually expressed his condolences was (slightly surprisingly) army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, but in the same breath also reminds the people of his idea(ls) of 'being a Thai':

"ประเด็นสำคัญคือ กองทัพเสียใจ ไม่ว่า ใครก็ตามก็ถือว่า เป็นคนไทย ขอให้ทุกคนสำนึกความเป็นคนไทยกันมากๆ ว่า ความเป็นคนไทยต้อง คือ ต้องเคารพกฎหมาย รักชาติ ศาสนา พระมหากษัตริย์"พล.อ.ประยุทธ์กล่าว

"The important thing is that we, the armed forces, are sorry. Whoever [he was], [he was] a Thai. I want everybody to be very aware of being a Thai. Being a Thai means to respect the law, to love the country, religion and the monarchy," said General Prayuth.

""ประยุทธ์"เตือน อย่าดึงปม"อากง"โยงสถาบัน เผยกองทัพเสียใจ ชี้ให้มองความเป็นจริง", Matichon, May 10, 2012

As the kingdom's top soldier, he sees his duty to serve and protect the monarchy from all threats against it, no matter how constructed and perceived they are. Ever since his inception, the army chief has been consistently showing loyalty to the royal institution and vowing to crack down on lèse majesté offenders - because everything else to him is apparently not Thai.

However, it was most anticipated what (if at all) prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra would say about the death of 'Uncle SMS' - it took her five days to say this:

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday she has no plans to amend Section 112 - the lese majeste law - despite an outcry over the death of a 62-year-old man jailed for the offence. (...)

"I want to reaffirm that my government's policy is to stay put," Ms Yingluck said in response to questions about possible reform of the law. I have already told groups who push for amendment that the government's urgent mission is to solve economic problems."

"PM adamant she will not reform lese majeste law", Bangkok Post, May 12, 2012

This is almost a carbon copy of her statement she did in July last year shortly after her party won the elections:

Question: “Do you have any plan to change the 112 law?”

Answer:  ”No, for me, I don’t have any idea to change the 112. I would not reform it, because it is not my policy and also this is an issue which is quite sensitive so we have to leave it to the people who have expertise to comment on that. I don’t want to see the misuse of this law regarding his majesty.”

"Will Yingluck amend Thailand’s lese majeste law?", Siam Voices, July 8, 2011

During the months following their election victory, it became clear that the new Yingluck government will NOT push for a reform of Article 112. Even worse, both the MICT minister and deputy prime minister Chalerm have vowed to crackdown even harder on alleged offenders, hinting to be part of a deal with the military not to touch this issue in exchange for a non-intervention against the government and potentially also not intervening against a potential return by Thaksin.

Nevertheless Yingluck's repeated refusal to touch the issue of lèse majesté is betraying a substantial part of her and the Pheu Thai Party's supporter base - many of which were hoping for a reform since they were the most targeted group under this law. Their loyalty has been put on the test before and a recent visit by Yingluck with Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, regarded by many among her supporters as a nemesis, has divided opinions among the red shirts.

It appears that all sides have decided to maintain the status quo for the sake of stability. However, this stability of upholding Article 112 is not sustainable, as with each victim the opposition to this law will grow and could result in a backlash against the current government. The prisoners bear the brunt of a political battle, in which all sides could ultimately lose all their supporters.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and on Facebook here.

Tongue-Thai'ed! Part XIII: A coup (de main) for national unity

Originally published at Siam Voices on April 24, 2012 “Tongue-Thai’ed!” encapsulates the most baffling, amusing, confusing, outrageous and appalling quotes from Thai politicians and other public figures – in short: everything we hear that makes us go “Huh?!”. Check out all past entries here.

The General Sonthi Boonyaratglin of 2006 is very different from the Sonthi Boonyaratglin of today. The former was army chief and led the 2006 military coup that toppled the government of Thaksin Shinawatra and created one of the first pivotal moments of  the current political crisis. Sonthi has since retired from military service, hung up his uniform in exchange for a business suit, became a MP and leader of the Matubhum Party. And for some utterly inexplicable reason, he also heads the House committee on national reconciliation. When pressed to reveal who's really behind the coup,  Sonthi swore to take his secrets to the grave.

For the chairman of a committee to evaluate the roots of the political crisis and find solutions for the much heralded reconciliation (which nobody has properly defined it yet), a former army chief that led a military coup wouldn't be the first choice to my mind.

Recently though, he at least revealed the real reasons for the coup...

พล.อ.สนธิ กล่าวว่า ระบบชนชั้นถือเป็นอุปสรรคในการพัฒนาประชาธิปไตย เพราะยึดติดบุคคลมากกว่าองค์กร ขณะเดียวกันไม่ว่าใครมาเข้ามาบริหารประเทศก็จะยึดติดอยู่กับเรื่องการเมืองและเศรษฐกิจ แต่มองข้ามเรื่องความรักความสามัคคีของประชาชนในประเทศ ซึ่งความขัดแย้งของไทยมีมาตั้งแต่ปี 2475 และขัดแย้งรุนแรงสุดในปี 2549 จากการปฏิวัติรัฐประหาร แต่แท้จริงแล้วเหตุผลของการปฏิวัติ คือต้องการให้เกิดความสามัคคีเพราะเหตุหลักๆไม่มีรัฐบาลใดที่จะสร้างความเข้มแข็งในกรณีดังกล่าวนี้ จนถึงปัจจุบันนี้ก็ผ่านรัฐบาลมาแล้ว 5 ชุด ซึ่งส่วนใหญ่ก็ยังเน้นแก้ปัญหาในเรื่องเศรษฐกิจ การเมือง และการปกครอง แต่ในการพัฒนาสังคมทำน้อยมาก

General Sonthi said: "The clash of the classes is a barrier for the development of democracy because it is dependent of individuals rather than organizations. No matter who comes to serve [in the government] is only focused on politics and economy but overlook the [issue of] unity of the Thai people. Thus, divisions have existed since 1932, and the 2006 coup has caused the most - but the real reason of the coup is the need for unity because no [civil] government whatsoever has created a strong enough one. To this day, we had five governments that mostly have focussed on solving the problems in economy and politics, but very little in the development of society."

"“บิ๊กบัง” ชี้ ระบบชนชั้นเป็นอุปสรรคในการพัฒนาประชาธิปไตย", Daily News, April 20, 2012 - translation by me

Gen. Sonthi seems to get lost in his own words: On one hand, he acknowledges the severe consequences of the military coup that did more harm than good. But then on the other he still insists that it was the only legitimate way to restore national unity among all Thais! To put it in simpler terms: to restore 'democracy' they had to stage a non-democratic coup!

Nevertheless he faces strong criticism from those who are still supporting the coup, accusing him of being in cahoots with the Yingluck government to give Thaksin a clean slate for a return. It seems that the Sonthi of today is really a different one from the General Sonthi - so much so that, according to a satirical cartoon in Manager/ASTV, his 2006-self shoots himself in the head in shame of his current self.

Note: coup de main [ˈˌku də ˈmeɪn]: noun, "a sudden surprise attack, esp. one made by an army during war."

If you come across any verbosities that you think might fit in here send us a email at siamvoices [at] gmail.com or tweet us @siamvoices.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and on Facebook here.

Tongue-Thai’ed! Part XII: Dumb questions, dumb answers

Originally published at Siam Voices on March 19, 2012 “Tongue-Thai’ed!” encapsulates the most baffling, amusing, confusing, outrageous and appalling quotes from Thai politicians and other public figures – in short: everything we hear that makes us go “Huh?!”. Check out all past entries here.

We all know the special role the Thai military plays in the country's politics and also the apparent entitlement with which they are participating in the system:

Thailand continues to allow professional officers to take on explicitly political roles, both before and after retirement. Part of the attraction is certainly financial, but the trend is also born of a culture that sees no problem with army involvement in national politics.

Third, civil society and the media are not currently forcing the army into ever-greater professionalisation, since the latter is adept at hiding its political activities; it has seemingly mastered the dark arts of public-relations spin.

"Thailand’s soldiers of political fortune", by Desmond Ball and Nicholas Farrelly, East Asia Forum, January 7, 2012

However, we also all know the army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha's blunt outspokenness and more than often unfortunate handling of the media. So, with the still on-going debate about a potential pardon for Thaksin, the press went to somebody who's apparently most suited to say something on this matter.

The outcome is not surprising, as an audio clip titled "Army chief fumes!! Press bombards him with questions on [Thaksin] pardon" reveals:

Prayuth: "Who's petitioning for a pardon [for Thaksin]? The military?"

Reporter: "Pheu Thai does it!"

Prayuth: "Then leave it to them!"

Reporter: "But the Democrat Party is against this...!"

Prayuth: "That's the Democrat Party - who the hell do you think I am?! A political party, the Thailand Party?! If you want everyone to accept it, then [you must have] reconciliation! If not, you have to keep doing it. If that fails, then the whole country will kill each other! Do you want this to happen?!"

Reporter: "There are efforts to reinvestigate [Thaksin's] cases...!"

Prayuth: "So what? Then they should do that - that has nothing to do with me! Why are you asking me?! The military has nothing to do with it! It's YOU who's asking too much! You're asking me about everything. You're asking me too many questions, so you might think that I have much power! Why are you asking me that? It's got nothing to do with me! But I still answer it! I'm still being considerate to you, I still answer to you - otherwise you won't have any news to write and then you blame me for it! Then I give an answer, people will say I have [too] much power! We don't! The army is under the constitution, the army is under the rule of the ministry of defense, under the control of the government. The army chief does not have any powers - not at all!"

Audio: "14/03/55 ผบ.ทบ.ฉุน!! ถูกสื่อซักนิรโทษฯ", Manager Radio, March 14, 2012 - translation by me

As usual, the army chief shows once again that he is in desperate need of media training and even the most hotheaded football manager is more confident at giving interviews than Prayuth. First he reacts very snootily to the reporter's questions and then digs himself a deeper hole with every sentence - whilst giving a glimpse into his black-and-white perception. And his insistence that he and the armed forces do not have any powers - well, there's no need to explain much (see above).

On the other hand (and I can't believe I'm saying this): Prayuth has a point! Bear with me here - Prayuth's complaint that the press is apparently asking him about nearly anything, regardless if he has anything to do with the issue, showcases some problems with the Thai press (see above) and the need to collect soundbites even just for the sake of it.

Prayuth (and his ego) traps himself with the belief that somebody of his rank needs to say something in order to show authority - even if he has no clue whatsoever. That leaves us with a chicken-or-egg situation in which the Thai press corps should ask the right questions to the right people and in which the army chief should consider - well, nearly everything!

If you come across any verbosities that you think might fit in here send us a email at siamvoices [at] gmail.com or tweet us @siamvoices.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and also on his public Facebook page here.

Thai Navy's $250m submarine plan scuppered

Originally published at Siam Voices on March 14, 2012 The Thai Navy's desire to have a submarine fleet has existed for as long as the doubts surrounding the submarines' real-life strategic utilization. Over the course of 2011, it appeared that they came one step closer to realization when the Thai government was reportedly ready to earmark $681 million dollars for a submarine fleet and was ready to buy decommissioned submarines from the Germans. The number of the soon-to-be purchased subs varied somewhere between two and the maximum of six.

With the change of government in August last year the plan was in jeopardy - even a small glimmer of hope was shattered thanks to a mix-up by prime minister Yingluck. Nevertheless, the Navy was still gunning for a purchase and still in late February, defense minister Air Chief Marshall Sukampon Suwannatat threw his support behind the project.

However, today...

Navy chief Admiral Surasak Runroengrom conceded yesterday the Navy would no longer push for the purchase of four used submarines with a Bt7.6 billion [$250m] price tag from Germany.

"The deadline for purchase passed on February 29, and the Navy will not seek to keep the buying option," he said.

Surasak said the Navy had done its best but failed to push through plans for the deployment of the submarines.

Following a series of reviews, Defence Minister Sukampol Suwannathat reportedly finalised his decision to scuttle the project. He has yet to instruct the Navy on whether to come up with a spending plan for new submarines.

"Navy torpedoes Bt7.6-billion submarine project", The Nation, March 14, 2012

Industry sources say that two have been already purchased by the Columbians and that there was tough competition over the remaining four. It appears that in this particular case Thailand has been out-bid by other countries interested in the 35-year old diesel submarines, as the anticipated price tag has risen from THB 5.5bn [$180m] to THB 7.6bn [$250m] within a few weeks.

This setback for the Thai Navy comes during a time of an apparent arms race in the region, as several other neighbors such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam will buy or already have bought submarines. It seems for the navy the only way to "gain respect from the others", as uttered by the then-navy chief back in 2010, is to buy some impressive hardware. Whether or not any of them will be seen in practical use is a whole different story, but given its dodgy equipment procurement history (here and here), that has never stopped the armed forces from going on shopping sprees in the past.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and also on his public Facebook page here.

Tongue-Thai’ed! Part X: The one where Prayuth calls Nitirat 'abnormal'

Originally published at Siam Voices on February 7, 2012

“Tongue-Thai’ed!” encapsulates the most baffling, amusing, confusing, outrageous and appalling quotes from Thai politicians and other public figures – in short: everything we hear that makes us go “Huh?!”. Check out all past entries here.

Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha is by a stretch the most outspoken highest-ranked military officer in recent history. No one has made his stance more clearly and more frequently than he. Whether it was his 'endorsement' before the elections, his message to the victims of lèse majesté and his contentious relationship with the media - Prayuth doesn't even try to appear neutral but instead dives right into the issues and, many times unwittingly, blurbs out his partisan views.

And ever since the heated debate over the proposals by the Nitirat group to amend the constitution and reform the lèse majesté law, the general has not stayed at the sidelines and has more than often chimed in and absolutely without exception blasted them at every single goddamn opportunity - more often than not trying to emotionalize the issue by invoking the loyalty to the royal institution and at the same time questioning those actually daring to challenge the issues if they have any.

This excerpt is typicsl of his relentless tirades against Nitirat:

พล.อ.ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา ผู้บัญชาการทหารบก ให้สัมภาษณ์ถึงกรณีที่กลุ่มนิติราษฎร์ (...) ว่า (...) มีคนอยู่หลายกลุ่มด้วยกัน กลุ่มหนึ่งอาจจะไม่ปกติ อยากจะทำโน่นทำนี่ โดยไม่คิดว่า อะไรควรไม่ควร แต่เป็นเพียงบางส่วนเท่านั้น กลุ่มที่ 2 คือ นักวิชาการบางกลุ่ม ซึ่งเป็นนักวิชาการส่วนใหญ่กว่า 90 % ยังรักและเทิดทูนสถาบัน อยากจะเรียนไปยังบางส่วนว่า ต้องกลับไปทบทวนว่า ตลอดระยะเวลาที่พระองค์ท่านครองราชย์มาจนมีพระชนมายุ 84 พรรษา มาแล้ว แต่คนที่เป็นนักวิชาการอายุเพียงแค่ 30-40 ปี เรียนหนังสือจบมาแล้วไปเรียนต่อ เคยได้ทำคุณประโยชน์อะไรให้กับแผ่นดินบ้างหรือไม่ เพียงแค่เรียนหนังสือจบมา แล้วเอาความรู้ต่างๆเหล่านั้นมาเพื่อจะแก้โน่น แก้นี่ ซึ่งยังไม่เคยลองปฏิบัติอะไรสักอย่าง

Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha commented on the Nitirat group (...) that (...) there are groups of people that are abnormal. They want to do this and that without thinking what is appropriate or not, but that is just one section. The second group are some academics - of which more than 90 per cent are certainly loyal and respectful to the royal institution - you have to recall that His Majesty has ruled for so long that he is 84 years old now, but the academics are just 30 to 40 years old, who have graduated and continued their studies - what have they achieved for the fatherland? They have just studied and used their various knowledge to solve this and that, without really taking action whatsoever.

“(...) ผมไม่สามารถไปบังคับใครได้ ถ้าพูดแรงไปก็จะหาว่า ไปบังคับ (...) ไม่ใช่ แต่ต้องการให้ทุกคนระลึกอยู่เสมอว่า บ้านเมืองมีชื่อเสียงเกียรติยศในโลกนี้ ส่วนใหญ่ที่รู้จักประเทศไทย รู้จักมาจากสถาบันก่อนทั้งสิ้น (...) ถึงวันนี้ไม่รู้ว่าใครมาจากไหนเหมือนกัน ชาติตระกูลเกิดประเทศไทยหรือไม่ ไม่รู้ถ้าท่านพูดจาแรง พูดไม่ดีต่อสถาบัน ผมจำเป็นต้องใช้คำพูดที่ไม่ดีกับท่าน (...)” พล.อ.ประยุทธ์ กล่าว

"(...) I cannot force anybody, [but] if I speak with authority then people say I'm forceful (...) That's not right! But everybody has to remind themselves that the reputation of this country comes from the monarchy (...) Today, I don't know where they [the academics, in this case Nitirat group] come from or if their ancestors were born in Thailand at all. If they speak bad about the institution, I shall bad about them (...)" says Prayuth.

"'ประยุทธ์'ซัด'นิติราษฎร์'พวกไม่ปกติ", Kom Chad Luek, January 25, 2012 - translation by me

The dictionary defines 'abnormal' as something "deviating from what is normal or usual, typically in a way that is undesirable or worrying". Let's leave it here.

2011 - Some Personal Thoughts

Originally published at Siam Voices on December 31, 2011 2011 is history and looking back on Thailand this past year, it has been yet another eventful year that brought some answers, but many more questions to the wide-spread problems that continues to plague the country in many aspects. However, 2011 brought many chances and changes, shed light on issues and topics left in the dark before, voices echoed by many and opinions uttered by a few, whether you agree with them or not.

This is a (definitely incomplete) list of these stories that happened in 2011...

Lèse majesté sees December surge

Let's start off with the most recent topic that has unfortunately brought Thailand into the world headlines for all the wrong reasons again and that is none other than the problematic issue of lèse majesté that is gripping freedom of speech. The whole month of December was filled with stories about high-profile cases and countless victims of this draconian law, the discussion to amend it and the (irrational) defenders of this law and the institution that is meant to be protected by it.

The recent surge of lèse majesté began in late November with the dubious sentence against Ampon "Uncle SMS" Tangnoppakul, despite doubtful evidence. The 62-year old grandfather is now being jailed for 20 years, five years for each alleged SMS sent. On December 8 the Thai-born US citizen was  sentenced to two and a half years prison for posting translated parts of a banned biography on the King. On December 15 'Da Torpedo', despite winning an appeal resulting in a restart of her trial, was punished to 15 years prison for alleged remarks made in 2008. These are just a few cases that happened in November and December compared to the countless other (partly ongoing or pending) cases over the past 12 months.

But the surge was also accompanied with growing and publicly displayed concern by the European Union, the United Nations and the United States Embassy in Bangkok over the increasing blatant usage of the lèse majesté law, only with the latter to be flooded with irrational, angry hate speeches and also the venue for a protest by royalists in mid-December (and also in a nearly instant iconic display of royal foolishness, the protesters are wearing Guy Fawkes masks, most likely inspired by the #Occupy-movement, but totally oblivious to its historical roots). It was not the first time this year that this issue got attention from the international community, as seen in October.

The government of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was elected into office last July (see below), and while she would have liked to see some change on the application of the law, not to the law itself though, the new ICT minister has vowed to exploit this to the fullest. He was only to be topped by deputy prime minister Chalerm Yubamrung a few months later, who went into full combat mode and declared war on lèse majesté web content with a THB400m ($12,6m) strong war chest, right after a meeting with the military's top brasses. The hopes of many supporters of the Pheu Thai Party, especially the red shirts, are at latest by now fully gone, as this government already has a tainted record on this issue.

But there was also an important protest by opponents of lèse majesté - the "Fearlessness Walk" shows that this issue can no longer be ignored and the consequences of its enforcement are doing exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to do. It is drawing attention to the ambiguous nature of Article 112 of the criminal code (as well as the Computer Crimes Act), it is drawing attention to the signs of changing times and those who refuse to see them, and ultimately it will draw more opposition - we will (unfortunately) hear more about this issue in 2012!

(Non-)Culture: Baring the unbearable and monopolizing "Thai"-ness

While we're on the subject on being subjected to the anachronistic ideas of a few, there were several stories in 2011 in the realms of culture that were disconcerting, to say the least. It wasn't so much the incidents themselves rather the reactions by those self-proclaimed cultural heralds of everything "Thai"-ness - a phrase I've been using too often in each of those stories: three girls dancing topless on Songkran, the then-culture minister calls for a crackdown on them as if they have attacked everything "Thai"-ness stands for. A few months later the same culture minister suddenly notices that infidels foreigners are getting Buddhist tattoos and calls for a ban (and back paddles after some considerable uproar). Shortly after his ministry senselessly attempts to crack down on a senseless internet meme because it's "inappropriate" and "not constructive". Later this year a rather curious guide for parents was published on their website. And finally a singer's rather raunchy video gets a ton of hits online and a sanctimonious scolding on national TV.

See a pattern here? The selective outcry borders on ridiculousness and fuels Thailand’s National Knee-Jerk Outrage Machine (“กลไกสร้างปฏิกิริยาอย่างไร้ความยั้งคิดแห่งประเทศไทย”, trademark pending), claims to uphold the only valid definition of "Thai"-ness, that isn't even fully spelled out yet, while they have not noticed that the world beyond their minds has moved on and come up with new and different definitions of what else Thailand could be. The problem is that these cultural heralds, by political office or class, claim monopoly on this. Everyone below their wage level is not entitled to even think about it. And if something doesn't fit their point of view, as guest contributor Kaewmala put it brilliantly, "Only taboo when it's inconvenient!"

The 2011 General Elections

Will he or will he not? In the end, Abhisit Vejjajiva did dissolve parliament and paved the way for early elections in May and also set off quite a short campaign season, which not only saw a few strange election posters and illustrious characters running for office, but it also saw the emergence of Yingluck Shinawatra as the lucky draw for PM candidate of the opposition Pheu Thai Party. After much skyping to Dubai discussion within the party, the sister of Thaksin was chosen to run and it turned out to be the best pick.

The Democrat Party were banking heavily on negative campaigning (a precursor to the upcoming, inevitable Thaksin-phobia in 2012), which reached its climax in the last days with their rally at Rajaprasong, the same venue where the red shirts protested a year ago. In this event, then-deputy prime minister Suthep Thuangsuban claimed to give the "full truth" on what really happened during the violent crackdown of May 19, 2010. What followed were hours of fear-mongering in case of a Pheu Thai win and an incident that almost caused a major misunderstanding:

The big screens flanking the stage on the left and the right are bearing a gruesome view. Footage of at times badly injured people from last year’s rally are being shown when suddenly at the sight of blood people started cheering – as it turns out, not for the brutally killed victims of the anti-governments protests of 2010, but for a woman with an Abhisit cut-out mask waving to the crowd behind her.

"Thailand’s Democrat Party rally: Reclaiming (the truth about) Rajaprasong", Siam Voices, June 24, 2011

The last days of the campaign were spent outside of Bangkok, for example Pheu Thai in Nakhon Ratchasima before the big day. On Sunday, July 3, election day of course meant a full-day-marathon for a journalist. Not only did it mean covering as many polling stations around town as humanly possible, not only to crunch the numbers of exit polls (which turned out to be total BS!), but also of course running the live-blog at Siam Voices. In the end, it went very quickly: Abhisit conceded, Yingluck smiled and at a lunch meeting later there was already a new five-party coalition.

The worst floods in decades: a deluge of irrationality

790.

This is the current death toll of the what has been described as the "worst floods in decades". Floods are an annual occurrence in Thailand during the rainy season. When the water was sweeping through Chiang Mai already back in late September, this natural disaster was somehow going to be different. But it took some considerable time, despite the unprecedented damage it has created in Ayutthaya to the ancient temples and the vital industrial parks, until the capital was drowned in fear of what was to come.

It was curious to observe that those who were least likely to be affected (read: central Bangkok) were losing their nerves the most. Back in November I attempted to explore one possible reason:

One of the real reasons why the people of the city react the way they did though is this: After a military coup, countless violent political protests and sieges of airports, government buildings and public roads, this city has a sense of anxiety not unlike New York after the 9/11 terrorist attacks: a sense of being constantly under siege by something or somebody that separates Bangkok from the rest of the country even more. An incident at Klong Sam Wa Sluice Gate (we reported) is a perfect example of the conflict between inside and outside Bangkok in miniature form.

"The Thai floods and the geographics of perception – Part 2: Certain fear of uncertainty", Siam Voices, November 23, 2011

On an anecdotal note I remember people around me hoarding bottled water, moving their belongings upstairs and barricading their houses waist-high - while I can understand these precautions, I was astonished to say the least when I started to read social media updates that accuse the government so much so to the point of deliberately drowning the people of Bangkok and other outlandish conspiracy theories, including the now ubiquitous "blame it on foreign media"-card.

There's no doubt that this natural disaster has not only shown the worst in people, but also it's helpful and charitable side (not only towards humans exclusively). During my work reporting from the floods for foreign news crews (hence there weren't many posts on Siam Voices), I admired the apparent resilience and defiance I saw from many victims of the floods - some of which are now struggling with rebuilding their lost existence. And a lot of clean-up will be needed to be done, both literally as well as politically, in order to prevent such a disaster from happening again!

What else happened in 2011? (in no particular order)

- Then-prime minister Abhisit urging then-president of Egypt Honsi Mubarak to respect the will of the people - while being totally oblivious that he exactly did not do that a year ago because, well, "They ran into the bullets" themselves!

- Half a dozen Thais walking through the border region with Cambodia and surprised that they're being arrested, in an arbitrary way to dispute the border demarcations between the two countries. This ongoing conflict, largely fueled by the ever-shrinking PAD, sparked into a brief armed battle. Two of the strollers are still sitting in a Cambodian prison.

- The one-year-anniversary of the crackdown of May 19 and my personal thoughts on this.

- The somehow strangely toned-down five-year-anniversary of the 2006 coup.

- Army chef General Prayuth Chan-ocha going completely berserk at the press.

- The fact that Thailand got its first female prime minister and the (un)surprisingly muted reactions by Thailand's feminists.

- The saga of the impounded Thai plane on German ground, the curious case study on how Thai media reported it, the juristic mud-slinging, and how this mess was eventually solved. Which brings us to...

- The German government allowing Thaksin back into Germany, after heavy campaigning by a bunch of conservative German MPs. Still boggles my mind...!

- And while we're on topic, we are saying good-bye to a regular contributor of outrageous quotes - no one has been so focused to do a different job than written his business card than Thaksin-hunter and former foreign minister in disguise Kasit Piromya!

I'd like to thank my colleagues at Siam Voices for building a diverse and opinionated collective, our editor who keeps everything in check and YOU, the readers! THANK YOU for the support, feedback, criticism, links and retweets!

Here's to an eventful, exciting 2012 that brings us news, changes, developments to discuss for all the right reasons! Happy New Year!

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist based in Hamburg, Germany again (*sigh*). He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and now also on his public Facebook page here.

Subs or choppers? Thailand's military build-up hits a snag

Originally published at Siam Voices on October 4, 2011 The Nation wrote last week:

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the naval proposal to buy six U-206 submarines, worth Bt6.9 billion, from Germany, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said. (...)

The approval came as the last minute before the deal would expire on September 30.

The six submarines would be decommissioned by the German Navy. Four would be refurbished before the deployment in the Gulf of Thailand and two are slated for spare parts.

"Purchase of six used submarines approved: Yingluck", The Nation, September 27, 2011

Back in January, the Thai Navy voiced interest in buying two used submarines from the German Navy at an estimated cost of 6-7 billion Baht (US$195m - $228m). Over the course of the year the offer has increased to buy six submarines for about $257m from Germany, while there was a competing offer from Korea (source in German here). With this planned purchase, the Thai Navy is meant to launch its long-held ambitious plans to set up a submarine fleet, despite the doubtful strategic utilization. For one,  the Gulf of Thailand is said to be too shallow for submarines.

However...

Leaving the [cabinet] meeting, Yingluck appeared slightly confused when asked if the Cabinet gave the green light to separate military plans to buy the German submarines and US-made Blackhawk helicopters.

"I don't recall that. The Cabinet discussed 37 points today [yesterday] and had no reservation. Regarding the submarine plan, it has been approved. But for the Blackhawks, there's some issues about the price that requires a discussion with the Budget Bureau," she said early yesterday afternoon.

However, about two hours later, after the prime minister's words had been reported by the online media, deputy government spokesman Chalitrat Chantharubeksa walked through the afternoon rain to the Government House press room to correct the prime minister's statement.

He said that the Cabinet did not consider the submarine-purchase plan yesterday.

"The prime minister may be mixed up between submarines and helicopters. In fact, she referred to helicopters," the deputy spokesman said, adding that the Army request to buy eight French-made helicopters was approved by the Cabinet. "She thought the question was about the eight helicopters."

He also joked that the inaccurate media reports stemming from the prime minister's "mix-up" might have "caused the Navy to be happy".

"PM's submarine 'mix-up'", The Nation, September 28, 2011

That is, of course, a completely different subject. As the Thai military has suffered the loss of three Bell 121 Huey helicopters within just over a week in July, killing a total of 17 people, the military officials have grounded all helicopters of that type and demanded new ones. That now seems to be the case - unless the government got something mixed up again...!

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and now also on his public Facebook page here.

Thai commander-in-chief's anger at media

Originally published at Siam Voices on August 2, 2011 We have featured the outspoken commander-in-chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha before, which has been a constant source for material including his, erm, shall we say unusual handling with the media. Recently, the armed forces have suffered a series of three consecutive helicopter crashes within a week which has claimed at least 17 lives in total (including a Channel 5 cameraman). The first two reportedly went down due to bad weather, while the last one suffered a technical failure. While accidents are unfortunately unavoidable, the string of tragic events that hit the rescue operations after the first crash on July 17 posed questions about the state of the army's equipment and funding despite a $5.2bn strong war chest.

The more Gen Prayuth felt the need to defend his armed forces from any criticism - in his usual manner...

ประยุทธ์ฉุนจวกนักวิชาการด่าทหารโกงโยงฮ.ตก ซัดพูดแล้วต้องรับผิดชอบ ทำทหารเสียขวัญ อัด “เอเอสทีวี-ทีวีแดง-เฟซบุ๊ควาสนา”ทำบ้านเมืองเสียหาย (...) พ้อไทยไม่ได้เป็นชาติมหาอำนาจจะได้มีฮ.ทันสมัยสูงสุด แต่ยัน ฮ.ไทยทันสมัย อาเซียนก็ใช้ โวจะอยู่เป็นผบ.หรือไม่ ไม่สนใจ แต่ทบ.ต้องอยู่ด้วยเกียรติยศ วอนนำเหตุฮ.ตกเป็นบทเรียนปรับปรุง

Prayuth has slammed military experts, who have accused [the army] of corruption in relation to the crashed helicopters, saying that those have to take responsibility [for their words] for destroying the armed forces' morale. He attacks "ASTV, red [shirts'] TV and 'Facebook Wasana'" for destroying the country. (...) He says: "Thailand is not a developed country, which can have the newest helicopters," but also insists that "Thai helicopters are up to date. Other ASEAN states are also using them." Prayuth is not interested if he stays commander-in-chief or not, but the armed forces should have honor and that the helicopter crashes should be taken as a lesson for improvements.

"ในหลวงพระราชทานน้ำหลวงอาบศพเหยื่อฮ.ตก ผบ.ทบ.จวก“เอเอสฯ-ทีวีแดง-เฟซบุ๊ควาสนา”ทำบ้านเมืองเสียหาย", Siam Rath, July 25, 2011 - translation by me

This is an unprecedented case in which a high ranking, influential army officer has explicitly singled out media outlets for criticizing, as if he were trying to point out those who have been especially naughty. But what and who is he referencing to? At the center of Prayuth's attack is Wassana Nanuam, military correspondent for the Bangkok Post, whom he bizarrely referred to only as 'Facebook Wassana' (which also doesn't make much sense in Thai as well).

Here is what Wassana wrote on her Facebook a day before:

เก้าอี้สะเทือน ฮ.ตก3 ลำซ้อนพล.อ.ประยุทธ์ โฟนอินทีวี3-ทีวีไทย ยันเครื่องขัดข้องเสียใจ อย่าตำหนิทหารขอกำลังใจเห็นใจทห​ารเสี่ยง สายข่าวเผยเจนเนอเรเตอร,มีปัญหา​ แต่ก็เอาขึ้นบิน นักบินเสียขวัญ คำถามตามมา ให้ ผบทบ.ตอบมากมาย..แต่ควรมาแก่งกร​ะจานเยี่ยมลูกน้องบ้าง ไม่กล้านั่งฮ นั่งรถก็ได้

The chairs are shaking, three helicopters down - Gen. Prayuth phones into Channel 3, TVThai, claims technical failure and mourns [the deceased] - urges not to criticize the army, but to show sympathy and acknowledge their risks. Reports have indicated problems with the generator, but still went up anyways, the pilot has lost confidence [in the machine]. Many more questions for the commander-in-chief to answer [now], but he should visit the troops in Kaeng Krachan - if he's too afraid to take a helicopter, he can go there by car!

Facebook status update by Wassana Nanuam, July 24 at 12:49pm - translation by me

Of course, Wassana took a small swipe at Prayuth and this status update has set off a long discussion thread in the comments with now few heavily taking aim at the commander-in-chief and the armed forces. This was then later mentioned on ASTV and Manager Radio, both media outlets of the yellow shirted, ultra-nationalistic PAD, who have been fiercely criticizing the armed forces ever since the Preah Vihear temple conflict with Cambodia.

Clearly, this appears to be a case of somebody mixing up the medium with the person and its interaction possibilities. Wassana seems to share the sentiment as she wrote in her rebuttal on Facebook:

ผบ.ทบ.เปิดศึกโซเชี่ยลมีเดียตำห​นิทวิตเตอร์เฟสบุ๊ควาสนา แย่มากโจมตีกองทัพเรื่องฮ...ไม่​รู้ท่านอ่านเองรึเปล่า...คนอื่น​แสดงความเห็นทั้งนั้น วาสนาช่วยแจงจนคนหาว่าวาสนาเข้า​ข้างทหารด้วยซ้ำ ทหารฝ่ายเสธ.เอาแต่เรื่องไม่ดีร​ายงานนาย ทีช่วยกองทัพกลับไม่รายงาน..สงส​ัยเห็นวาสนา เป็นผู้ชายเหมือนกันมั้ง

Commander-in-chief declared a war on social media, blames Twitter and 'Facebook Wassana'. What disgrace, criticizing the army over the helicopters... I don't know if the general has read them himself... it was all the other people expressing their opinions! I tried to explain this until they [the comments] accuse me to side with the army. The Chiefs of Staff only report about the bad news to [Prayuth], but when I try to help [explaining] them they don't. May be they think that I'm a man among those men.

Facebook status update by Wassana Nanuam, July 25 at 2:03pm - translation by me

One really wonders what Prayuth thinks about the media, old and new alike (other than closing them down). Nevertheless, a day later, he tried to justify his public erratic behavior:

พล.อ.ประยุทธ์ ยังกล่าวอีกว่า ทุกครั้งที่ตน​แสดงสีหน้าอา​การดุออก​โทรทัศน์ ​เพราะต้อง​การ​แสดง​ให้​เห็น​ถึงภาวะ​ผู้นำของตน​เอง​เท่านั้น

General Prayuth said: "Every time when I appear angry on television, it is because I only need to show my leadership [authority]"

"ผบ.ทบ.​เตรียมจัดซื้อ​เฮลิคอป​เตอร์ล็อต​ใหม่30ลำ", Naew Na via RYT9, July 26  - translation by me

Which probably then excuses the next nervy outburst:

"วันก่อนผมเดินทางไปร่วมพิธีรดน้ำศพของผู้เสียชีวิตที่กาญจนบุรี ซึ่งเรามีแผนการเดินทาง (...) ทั้งเดินทางด้วยรถยนต์ หรือฮ. ถ้าโดยปกติถ้าอากาศไม่ดีก็จะไม่บินขึ้น (...) แต่ไม่ใช่ว่าไปเขียนกันว่ารมว.กลาโหม ผบ.ทบ.ไม่กล้าขึ้นฮ. แต่ให้ลูกน้องขึ้นแทน ซึ่งผมไม่ได้โกรธ แต่เป็นธรรมหรือไม่"

"Yesterday, I traveled to the funeral in Kanchanaburi, for which we had plans for the travel (...) including by car or by helicopter, which normally in bad weather would not be used. (...) But it's not like in the newspapers that the Defense Minister and the Commander-in-Chief are too afraid to go on the helicopter, but let their soldiers go on it instead - I'm not angry about it, but it is not fair!"

"ถ้าไม่ตอบคำถามตนว่าใครพาดหัวข่าว ก็ไม่ต้องมาถามกันอีก ต่อไปนี้จะไม่ให้สัมภาษณ์แล้ว"

"If you don't tell me who wrote those headlines, then you should not come to me for questions, from now on I would not give any more interviews!"

"ปรากฎการณ์" ฟิวส์ขาด"ผบ.ทบ.วาทะร้อนไม่กล้าขึ้น ฮ. สื่อvsบิ๊กตู่"บทบาท"ที่แตกต่าง แต่"เจตนา"ไม่ต่าง", Matichon, July 28  - translation by me

As usual, General Prayuth talks about journalists required to take responsibility over their words and not 'destroy the country' (or at least his vision of it), while at the same time being completely oblivious about his own words and how they come across to the public eye. The commander-in-chief's relation with the press will remain a contentious one.

BONUS UPDATE: Thanks to @SteveInCM on Twitter, we have now video footage of that most recent incident, including him walking off the interview and making gestures at the press. Also, I forgot to mention that Matichon headline has been aptly named "Blowing up his fuse, Commander-in-Chief spews fury, (...) media vs Big Tu [Prayuth's nickname] (...)"

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and now also on his public Facebook page here.

Survey reveals Thailand's next defense minister should come from the military - again!

Originally published at Siam Voices on July 16, 2011 On Thursday, the commander-in-chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has broken his silence since the elections on July 3 (but also broke his promise not to comment on anything until a new government has formed, as earlier reported here) and announced his wish for one certain, important cabinet post:

Prayuth said the search for the new defence minister was not a topic for public discussion, hinting about closed-door talks between the military and the incoming government.

The new minister should be known for high ethical standards and held in high esteem by the armed forces, he said, arguing that the office holder should be in a position to bring about an amicable atmosphere between the military and the government.

"I think it is too soon to comment on who would be fit for the job but I prefer a military officer because he could understand the feelings of fellow soldiers," he said.

"Prayuth prefers military officer for defence minister", The Nation, July 14, 2011

And almost as if this was planned deliberately, a recent Suan Dusit survey has revealed this:

Suan Dusit Poll reported that 70.96 per cent of the respondents said the next defence minister should be a senior military officer because he understands well about discipline of military, has years of experiences and are respected by soldiers. A total of 27.83 per cent of them said the new defense chief should be a capable person acceptable to soldiers.

Some 23.82 per cent of the respondents expected the next defence minister to be a good person who protects military’s dignity and wants to create good image of the armed forces and to protect the country’s sovereignty, according to Suan Dusit Poll.

"Poll: Defence Minister should be soldier", Bangkok Post, July 16

These results are both astonishing, but yet unsurprising. It shows how deep the military is entrenched in Thai society and how present they still are in everyday life. Nevertheless, ever since the re-politicization thanks to the 2006 coup, the armed forces are reclaiming it's space, not only evident in the rising military budget. Having another military officer (with the outgoing General Prawit Wongsuwan) further solidifies the state within a state. In normal democracies, the armed forces are under civilian control - but this is Thailand...!

There have been suggestions that designated prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra might take over the position of defense minister as well, something that past prime minister have done so in the past, most notably Chuan Leekpai and the late Samak Sundaravej. But she quickly came out to deny these rumors. With the new government still taking shape, the position of defense minister is one to watch for and to see if the next few years will be stable or not.

Round-up of day one after Thailand's elections

Originally published at Siam Voices on July 4, 2011 Just in case you haven't been following our live-blog yesterday, the opposition Pheu Thai Party (PT) have won the majority of the votes paving the way for Yingluck Shinawatra to become Thailand's first female prime minister. Bangkok Pundit has his take about the morning after, which I initially wanted to write about as well. But over the course of Monday after elections, things moved very quickly:

First off, outgoing prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has resigned from his position as leader of the Democrat Party and seeks no re-election even if the party members want him to. He's taking responsibility from the big election defeat and makes room for a new party leader, that could be either outgoing finance minister Korn Chatikavanij or former Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin.

Then over noon, Yingluck has met with several representatives of other parties over lunch for coalition talks, just already to announce a five-party governing coalition after it, with Chat Thai Pattana (as of now, unofficially 19 seats), Chat Pattana Phua Pandin (7), Palang Chon (7) and Mahachon (1), together with Pheu Thai's 265 forming a comfortable majority of 299 seats of the total 500 in the parliament. Why 299 you might ask? "299 is a beautiful number," is what Yingluck said...

Of course, all eyes are also looking at the military whether they will accept the outcome of the elections or if they will intervene, fearing a return of Thaksin. So far, they seem to stay put - outgoing defense minister General Prawit Wongsuwon told AFP he accepts the results and, after having talked with military leaders, will not get involved. Speaking of, the normally very outspoken commander-in-chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has essentially given himself a gag order until a new government has been formed. Also,

In the meantime, there're still a lot of questions left from Sunday's election, like...

Why did the exit polls get it so horribly wrong? Right after the polls closed at 3pm, the exit polls predicted a huge landslide win for Pheu Thai with about 270 to well above 300 seats. But in the late afternoon and evening these number have proven to be greatly exaggerated - the margins of error where somewhere from 13.8 per cent to a whopping 22.8 per cent. Nevertheless, many people (including this author) got very excited in the heat of the moment and already were calling it based on these numbers. We should have known better that all these Thai polls have a notorious track record of being very wrong - so we all got eggs on out faces, but the pollsters have now some explaining to do:

Turakij Bandit Poll director blamed uncontrollable factors for the high error margins. He said that although the sampling process followed standard procedures, pollsters could not get enough Democrat Party supporters to take part in the exit polls, whereas Pheu Thai supporters such as red shirts who are politically active were more willing to speak their minds. Dusit Poll director Sukhum Chaloeisub agreed, saying most Democrat supporters were not accessible, while Pheu Thai backers were more politically expressive.

"Exit polls blasted for huge margins of error", The Nation, July 4, 2011

What's the voter turnout? Again, prediction and reality have proven to be two different things, even though not to such a large extend concerning the voter turnout. Many pundits have projected that at least 75 per cent of the electorate will go to the polls, while the Election Commission has now announced that it could be 66 per cent, which is of course much lower than expected. Throughout Sunday, voters were urged to cast their ballots sooner or later since in many parts of the country bad weather was fore-casted, but we'll have to wait for the official results, which brings us to...

When will we know the full unofficial results? It was announced to be published on Monday noon, but it has been postponed to Tuesday, because the results from a few districts in Mae Hong Son and Ranong province are not yet in, since these are reportedly cut off due to bad weather. Let the conspiracy theories begin...!

There are still many questions yet to be answered and many new questions will arise over the next few days, e.g. who will get which cabinet post? What will the new opposition do? Who got a seat in the House and who didn't? And were there less frauds in this elections? The next days will still be interesting!

'Justice Delayed, Justice Denied' - A public seminar on last year's violence and what has (not) happened since

Originally published at Siam Voices on June 27, 2011

A public seminar has criticized the government that little to nothing has happened in the official investigations of the deaths during the red shirt protests of April and May 2010. The event, organized by the People's Information Center: April - May 2010 (PIC) was held at Thammasat University on Saturday and consisted of  lectures, panel discussions and accounts by victims and their relatives. During the nine and a half weeks between March until April of red shirt protests, 92 were killed and over 2,000 people were injured. Several federal commissions and groups have launched investigations, but so far have come up with inconclusive or contradictory results, if any at all.

In his opening speech, PIC's Chathawat Tulathon complains that the government's intention tends more to "reconciliation than on actual justice". He also criticizes the government's repeated obsession to blame everything on the so-called 'black shirts', an alleged armed vigilante groups who have targeted soldiers, protesters and civilians, as recently shown at the Democrat Party's rally at Rajaprasong a few days prior to the event. Chathawat points out that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has set up three fact-finding committees, but have failed to publish any findings. On the issue of people injured during the protests, Chatawat claims that there could be more affected than the over 2,000 recorded injured, and that long-term damage, both physical and psychological, is a problem. So is the problem of people gone missing: "We have at least five missing people, confirmed by their relatives," he said. "We conclude that no progress has been made at all."

One substantial part of the problem, according to Thammasat's Sawatree Suksri, is the "cycle of delays" between the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the National Police Department in the inquiries of the deaths. Sawatree accuses the DSI of "going around in circles for months, just to hand back the cases to the National Police on November 15, 2010." "It's been 402 days [since May 19, 2010 and June 25, 2011] ever since and nothing has happened," she laments, "justice delayed, justice denied!"

Bangkok was not the only place to see violence on May 19, 2010, there have been reports of riots in several other cities in the country as well, most notably Ubon Ratchathani, where the city hall was supposedly burned down by arsonists. Sanoh Charoenporn of Ubon Ratchathani University shows, with the help of video clips, that a mob was protesting at the fence of the city hall compound when a row of police officers were replaced by soldiers and, given what happened that day in the capital, were angered by their presence. The situation deteriorated when several people of the mob climbed over the fence and got into the compound, only to be chased away by gunshots, which were supposedly coming from "10 men with long rifles", who were seen walking down from the upper floors of the city hall Building. Five people were injured in the process and only about 20 rioters were inside the compound, when the fire broke out notably beginning on the upper floors. Sanoh argues that after the incident local police have indiscriminately targeted and arrested members of a local red shirt group and have threatened them to a false confession.

The morning session concluded in an official statement by the PIC, pointing out that with an election coming closer, the "shrill shouts for reconciliation are getting louder, (...) but until today 'reconciliation' means forgetting or keeping still about injustice, about the pain suffered, about the damage those in power have done to the people, (...) reconciliation in Thailand has never been based on justice and the truth not even once!"

The whole seminar, including the parts not covered in this post, can be watched on YouTube here: Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11. A report about the witness accounts of victims and their relatives can be found at Prachatai.