Suthep set to paralyse Thai govt

Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the Civil Movement
for Democracy.

The Cambodia Herald, November 30, 2013

Bangkok  (The Nation/ ANN) --  Plans to seize government house, ministries, key agencies like royal Thai police headquarters, CAT and TOT offices; yingluck readies 'war room', to counter protest with publicity updates.

Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the Civil Movement for Democracy, declared last night that tomorrow would be the "day of people's victory" when protesters plan to occupy key ministries, including Government House.

Speaking at a makeshift stage at the Government Complex, Suthep told thousands of protesters that all state agencies at the complex in Nonthaburi would be occupied from last night. He also called on all officials there to stop working until further notice.
Only officials from the Administrative Court, Constitutional Court and the Thai Armed Forces would be allowed to enter the complex, he said.

"The force of the people will take control of this complex, as well as [the nearby] CAT Telecom and TOT Plc," he announced, adding that workers from both telecom firms would help them take control of these premises.

Agencies his group would occupy were Government House, Royal Thai Police headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Education Ministry, Dusit Zoo, Interior Ministry, Commerce Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Public Relations Department and the Labour Ministry, where the government's Centre for Administration of Peace and Order is located.

He said many policemen were already stationed at the Education Ministry and Dusit Zoo.

Suthep called on employees of state enterprises to stop working from Monday, other than those at firms that involve public services, such as Thai Airways and the Bangkok Metropolitan Mass Transit.

He also asked protesters in the provinces to occupy city halls as part of the effort to "uproot the Thaksin regime".

The former Democrat MP also announced the formation of a new group called People's Committee for Changing Thailand into Complete Democracy under a Constitutional Monarchy. Suthep will serve as secretary-general of the new group and said the Government Complex would be used as its command centre.

He then introduced all 37 committee members one by one on stage. The panel is comprised of leading figures from allied groups, including academics, businesspeople, former yellow-shirt leaders, leaders of labour unions from state enterprises and political activists.

These include Prof Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, Somsak Kosaisuk, Suriyasai Katasila, Chaiwat Sinsuwong, Nitithorn Lamlua, Uthai Yodmanee, Samdin Lertbutr, Chai Suwannaphap, Pichet Pattananachot, Somkiat Pongpaiboon, Sawit Kaewwan and Sonthaya Chuenruthainaitham.

Meanwhile, the Royal Thai Army announced yesterday that it belonged to the King and the people. Commander-in-chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha issued the statement as anti-government demonstrators tried to break into the Army headquarters yesterday.

In the statement, read by Army deputy spokesman Winthai Suvaree, Prayuth said: "To the Army, all people are Thai. Please don't cause any divisions and don't try to make the Army take sides."

The statement went on to say the Army was proceeding in line with His Majesty's statement that was delivered in 1992, when the country was at the height of another political crisis.

Earlier, the embattled ruling coalition countered anti-government protesters by setting up a "war room" to spread information from its side yesterday, as media outlets become increasingly dominated by news of the street rallies.

Ready for PR battle

The "war room" will monitor and assess the latest developments in the protests, said government spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi.

A media centre has also been set up at Government House to give updates in Thai and English three to four times a day.

Both the 'war room' and the media centre became operational yesterday, he said, adding that they were separate from the police Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order, which is in charge of administering the Internal Security Act during the current turbulence.

Teerat said the frequency and number of channels for the

dissemination of information would be increased.

The media centre will explain the latest situation to the public, he said. In addition to the government spokesman's team, there will be personnel from agencies such as the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and security agencies.

"Certain Cabinet members or even the prime minister may also be present if there is an urgent issue," he added.

Defence Ministry permanent secretary General Nipat Thonglek joined the war room's first press conference at Government House yesterday. He said the military disagreed with the protesters' occupation and sieges at many government offices.

The government and the armed forces want to see talks between both sides, following almost a month of street protests, he stressed.

A number of other senior government officials were also present at the press conference.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra would not dissolve the House, according to a source from the ruling Pheu Thai Party.

The source said party leaders had agreed there would be an immediate political deadlock if she were to dissolve Parliament soon.

They fear three factors that would affect Pheu Thai in the event of an early dissolution: members of the new Election Commission have not yet been endorsed by His Majesty the King; the Democrat Party may boycott a general election, as it did in early 2006; and Pheu Thai's popularity has fallen due to its backing of the controversial amnesty bill.

"We have rejected several parties' demands for a House dissolution. The party's urgent strategy is to create fear among the public that the anti-government protests are violating the law," the source said.

"We are focused on communicating with the people to attack [former Democrat MP] Suthep Thaugsuban's group heavily via social media. We will post photos and audio of him encouraging protesters to commit illegal acts. We hope it can block some people from joining the rallies," the source added.

Pheu Thai Party issued a statement in support of the prime minister yesterday and the idea of talks to resolve the political crisis peacefully. It thanked the United Nations and countries that had supported the proposal for talks.

However, the party insisted it could not accept the ruling of the Constitutional Court that the charter amendment pushed by the majority of parliamentarians to amend the Senate's election rules was unconstitutional.

The party called on protesters to leave government agencies, and said their demand to set up a "People's Council" to lead the country would not be possible under the current Constitution.

Pheu Thai also said the Democrats, which has key members currently leading the anti-government protests, had acted illegally.