Tens of thousands of Thai demonstrators have descended on the street of Bangkok demanding the resignation of PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Demonstrators have accused Thaksin of corruption and power abuse. Like Hun Sen in Cambodia, Thaksin tried to silence his opponents through a series of lawsuits. The anti-Thaksin campaign swelled last month after the prime minister's family sold its controlling stake in telecom giant Shin Corp. to a Singapore state-owned investment company for $1.9 billion. Shin Corp. also controls portion of the telecom industry in Cambodia. There is a direct parallel between the wheeling and dealing of Thaksin in Thailand, and that of Hun Sen in Cambodia. The two PMs are considered closed friends also. (Photo: The Nation, Bangkok)POLITICAL CHAOS [in Thailand]
Final Countdown
The Nation, Bangkok
This followed a meeting with key members of the Thai Rak Thai Party yesterday at Ban Phitsanulok before the premier headed out on the campaign trail to Ubon Rachathani ahead of the April 2 election.
Among those present at the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, Industry Minister Suriya Jung-rungreangkit, Agriculture Min-ister Khunying Sudarat Keyu-raphan and Thaksin's wife, Khunying Pojaman.
A key TRT member said Thaksin would be prepared to let Deputy Prime Minister Pol General Chidchai Wannasathit succeed him as caretaker prime minister.
Such an arrangement, though, has been rejected by the People's Alliance of Democracy, which claims Thaksin would hold on to power behind the scenes.
Should the protest in front of Government House turn violent, Thaksin would consider option two - appointing his No 2 on the party list to succeed him as prime minister. Once the constitutional reform process was completed, though, Thaksin would be ready to return to politics.
The Thai Rak Thai member said this would mark a major concession from Thaksin, because even if the TRT were to win on April 2, he would still make the political sacrifice.
The last option would be to announce over the next day or two that he would take a break from politics after the April 2 election, though he would keep his caretaker role until the election. Thaksin would then try to strike a compromise with the People's Alliance for Democracy and the opposition parties by postponing the date of the election to allow the opposition parties to stand. The Democrat, Chat Thai and Mahachon parties have boycotted the April 2 election.
Meanwhile, Government Spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee yesterday denied reports that Thaksin had decided to step down.
A core member of the People's Alliance for Democracy said that if Thaksin left office, its members would be ready to take it into consideration and the protesters could call off the demonstration.
Meanwhile, Thaksin said the Royal Household Bureau - not the government - had requested the Television Pool of Thailand to replay His Majesty the King's mediation over the Black May 1992 uprising on Sunday night.
The footage shows His Majesty advising the then prime minister Suchinda Kraprayoon and protest leader Chamlong Srimuang to end their confrontation and work together to rebuild the nation, which was being torn apart by political violence.
Thaksin said the King had given good advice. "Everyone must understand that conflicts are not good [for the country]. Nobody wins. In the end the country and the people suffer the heaviest defeat,'' he said.
He added that some government ministers are trying to hold talks with the other side. "We have yet to know how the dialogue will go. I support peaceful means." He said the government was pushing for a negotiation to be organised by a neutral body such as the University Rectors of Thailand.
He did not reject a proposal from former prime minister Suchinda to have an arbitration committee find a way out of the political impasse.
Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said he would instruct the media under the Army to re-run the TV footage at an appropriate time.
Surapong said the government did not want talks to be broadcast live because it wanted to avoid confrontation, neither did it want the talks to become a debate. "We have to talk in an atmosphere that helps lead to a solution,'' he said.
He added the government did not mind that other parties would be invited to join the talks and denied the government was behind the re-run of the TV footage, saying it cannot do so without Royal approval. He said the University Rectors of Thailand would meet with the opposition and the People's Alliance for Democracy to discuss the talks.
"We believe it is inappropriate that anyone would interpret the King's speech in other ways, because the speech was clear that the King would like all Thais to turn to each other,'' he said.
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