Suthep brushes aside coup claim [in Thailand]

27/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban on Thursday brushed aside Puea Thai list MP Jatuporn Prompan's claim that the military was planning a coup, saying he did not believe it would happen.

Mr Jatuporn claimed on Wednesday that he had information from a reliable source that top-level military officers met at a safehouse on Tuesday and discussed staging a coup.

Mr Suthep said that, based on his work with the military ovedr the last two years, he believed there would definitely not be a coup.

Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha is a democratically minded soldier, he said.

He thanked 2nd Army commander Lt-Gen Tawatchai Samutsakhon for having successfully talked Cambodian military leaders into smashing the contentious stone tablet claiming rights over a disputed area on the border.

Further talks were needed to resolve the border dispute, he said.

Asked about the continuing rally by the People's Alliance for Democracy to pressure the government to respond to its demands, Mr Suthep said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had shown his readiness to negotiate with the protesters and give them a clear explanation.

He said it was not possible for the government to yield to the PAD's demands - for the government to revoke the 2000 memorandum of understanding made with Cambodia, to withdraw from membership of the World Heritage Committee, and to push out Cambodians from disputed areas.

On constitutional changes, Mr Suthep believed the two charter amendment bills would be passed by parliament in the third reading next month.

On the possibility of a House dissolution in April, he said this was up to the prime minister to decide.

Mr Suthep also said the government was not bothered by the opposition's plan for a no-confidence debate. He personally liked the idea because it would give him a chance to explain any issue which might be raised.