Pad Thais to rally at the border: Another Thai provocation against Cambodia?

PAD told to be careful on border rally

30/07/2010
Bangkok Post

The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has a constitutional right to rally at the Thai-Cambodia border, as long as the gathering is in line with the law, PM’s Office Minister Ongard Klampaibul said on Friday.

The minister was responding to the declaration by PAD core leaders that they would to lead its supporters to rally against Cambodia’s management plan for Preah Vihear temple in the border area.

“But the PAD must be careful as the planned rally site is a sensitive area. The mass gathering there could lead to a misunderstanding between the Thailand and Cambodia”, Mr Ongard warned.

He insisted that the government is not at ease on the listing of the ancient temple as a world heritage site case. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has closely followed the case’s development, he added.

After Natural Resources and Environment Minister and head of Thai team Suwit Khunkitti returns from Brazil, the prime minister would call a meeting of relevant agencies discuss further action against the temple’s management plan, the minister said.

Chartthai Pattana Party spokesman Watchara Kannika warned that the government should not feel the postponement of the consideration on the Cambodia’s management plan by the World Heritage Committee as a victory.

Instead, the government should keep on working to protect the country’s sovereignty and territory, he said.

“More importantly, the government should take the Thai-Cambodia relations development issue as a national agenda”, said Mr Watchara.

Thaksin: Government is harassing me

17/11/2009
Bangkok Post

Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in his Twitter website on Tuesday that he is being harassed by the Democrat-led government.

Thaksin complained that his personal jet could not enter Thai airspace, his passport was revoked, his royal decorations were going to be recalled and he was being stripped of his police rank.

In addition, there were attempts to link him with situations to discredit him, such as an accusation that he was behind the bombing at the mass rally by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) at Sanam Luang on Sunday night.

More than 15,000 supporters of PAD joined the demonstration against Thaksin and Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen. A grenade fried from an M-79 launcher exploded in the crowd behind the rally stage injuring twelve people.

“If the harassment like this continues, I don’t know how long I can ask the red-shirt people to be patient and stay put,” Thaksin said.

Leaders of the pro-Thaksin United front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), and their red-shirt supporters, have publicly announced their intention to topple the government before the end of this year.

Anti-Thaksin rally in Bangkok

The protesters expressed anger over Thaksin's new job and his comments on the monarchy [Reuters]

Monday, November 16, 2009
Al Jazeera

"To identify yourself with Hun Sen is a terrible political mistake" - Chris Baker, political analyst and author of Thaksin's biography

Thousands of people have marched in the Thai capital to protest against Thaksin Shinawatra, the country's former prime minister, and the Cambodian government for appointing him as economic adviser.

Monday's rally in Bangkok, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the so-called Yellow Shirts, was to express outrage at Cambodia's refusal to extradite Thaksin during his four-day visit to the country.

The PAD also criticised Thaksin for comments that he made in a newspaper interview calling for reform of institutions around Thailand's revered monarchy.

Protesters sang along to folk songs and jazz music composed by the king, waved the national flag, and shouted, "Long Live The King".

On stage, in front of a sign reading "Fight for Thailand, Fight For Our King", speakers led the crowd in condemning Thaksin and his followers as "People who sell the country".

Prestige at stake

"Our duty is to protect and preserve the country's honour and dignity and the monarchy. Cambodia violated the extradition treaty and allowed a convicted person to be its adviser," Somsak Kosaisuk, a senior PAD leader, said.

"This action harms our country's prestige. We will denounce both convicted Thaksin and Hun Sen [Cambodia's prime minister] at the protest."

The PAD had led mass anti-Thaksin protests before he was toppled in a 2006 military coup, and blockaded Bangkok's airports in late 2008 to force his allies out of government.

Meanwhile, the Thai police said they were investigating a blast which injured a dozen people including two children at the Sanam Luang parade ground near the area where about 20,000 people had gathered on Sunday.

According to the protest organisers, the small explosion was caused by a firecracker thrown by two men on a motorcycle, but police said on Monday that the cause was still not clear.

Thaksin's visit to Cambodia has sparked a diplomatic crisis between Bangkok and Phnom Penh, with relations already tense after a series of deadly clashes in the past year over disputed land around an ancient temple on the border.

Thaksin's comments on the Thai monarchy have also proved sensitive because King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 81 has been in hospital for the past two months. He is seen as a major force for stability in the politically divided nation.

Tit-for-tat expulsions

The two governments recalled their respective ambassadors and expelled the first secretaries of each other's embassies on Friday.

Cambodian police have also charged a Thai man with spying for the Thai embassy.

Early last week, the Thai government announced the cancellation of an oil and gas exploration deal agreed with Cambodia when Thaksin was prime minister.

Two road construction projects with Cambodia involving loans of more than $42 million to Phnom Penh were ordered to be reviewed.

Thaksin, who has been in self-imposed exile since the 2006 coup, returned home briefly last year but fled before being found guilty and was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for corruption.

Thai authorities have also frozen $2.2bn worth of the assets owned by Thaksin, who remains popular in the Thai political scene especially among the rural poor.

His red-shirted supporters have themselves staged several massive protests over the past year, including the disruption of a summit of Southeast Asian leaders and subsequent riots in April.

But analysts warned that by siding with Cambodia Thaksin could lose public support.

"To identify yourself with Hun Sen is a terrible political mistake," said Chris Baker, a Bangkok-based political analyst who authored a biography of Thaksin.

Thai police probe blast at anti-Thaksin rally

Demonstrators (C) from Thailand's royalist "Yellow Shirt" movement have their feet massaged during a rally in Bangkok on November 15, 2009 (AFP photo)

BANGKOK, Nov 16, 2009 (AFP) - Thai police were investigating Monday a blast at a rally by opponents of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, as the number of injured rose to 12, including two children.

Organisers said the small explosion at the protest in central Bangkok late Sunday was caused by a firecracker thrown by two men on a motorcycle, but police said the cause was still not clear.

The rally by around 20,000 "Yellow Shirts" was held to condemn Thaksin's visit to neighbouring Cambodia last week and his appointment by Phnom Penh as a an economic adviser to the government.

Deputy national police spokesman colonel Piya Utayo said police were continuing to investigate the blast. He said 12 people including two boys were wounded, updating an overnight toll of four hurt.

Photographs of the scene showed a small crater in a paving stone and a number of supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) suffering from slight cuts.

The royalist PAD said they were also protesting against comments about the monarchy made by billionaire Thaksin, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2006.

The Yellow Shirts held mass rallies in the months before the coup and took to the streets again in 2008, blockading Bangkok's airports to drive out the then pro-Thaksin government.

The group has however also held protests in recent weeks asking the current government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, a bitter foe of Thaksin, to take stronger action against Cambodian territorial claims.

Yellow Shirt founder Sondhi Limthongkul was in October voted leader of the movement's new political party, the New Politics Party.

Sondhi survived a gun attack on his car in April, while previous rallies by the Yellow Shirts have been hit by grenade blasts.

Thaksin's visit to Cambodia sparked a diplomatic crisis between Bangkok and Phnom Penh, with relations already tense after a series of deadly clashes in the past year over disputed land around a temple on the border.

Both countries have recalled their ambassdors and expelled the first secretaries of each other's embassies. Cambodian police have also charged a Thai man with spying.

Five injured in blast at rally

Mon, Nov 16, 2009
The Nation/Asia News Network

The rally went on after the explosion. A man captured by PAD guards for allegedly throwing the bomb near the back of the stage, was taken under police custody. One of the injured was a woman and another was a boy who was badly wounded in the leg, witnesses said.

Thousands of people joined the rally, the first since the PAD set up its New Politics party. The explosion occurred when PAD and New Politics leader Sondhi Limthongkul was addressing his supporters and lambasting arch-rival Thaksin Shinawatra over the Thai-Cambodia row.

A plan was also mooted yesterday to give a Bt10-million award for Thaksin's arrest, with funds to be mobilised primarily from PAD supporters.


Thaksin's "betrayal" - his activities leading to the worsening Thai-Cambodian row - was the focus of the rally, which was peaceful until the explosion. The PAD reiterated its ultimate objective of protecting the monarchy and in a statement called on Cambodia to end the Thaksin-driven hostility and join efforts to restore friendly relations between the two countries. The bomb attack took place despite hundreds of policemen being deployed and bomb experts searching for explosives around the rally site.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday said the Thai-Cambodian situation was not a cause for concern regarding safety of Thai expatriates there. He also vowed that the Thai citizen charged with spying and held in a Phnom Penh prison would receive due justice as guaranteed by international law.

"If necessary, the government stands ready to provide confirmation that the flight plan is not classified information and that the flight in question was known before the arrest of the Thai air-traffic controller," he said.

The Foreign Ministry and the Thai company operating air-traffic control services at Phnom Penh International Airport will provide legal assistance to Siwarak Chothipong, accused of leaking the flight plan of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

"Even though the government is in no position to meddle with the Cambodian judicial process, the charge will likely be dropped in light of the evidence," he said.

Talks with Cambodia to mend fences at this juncture were unlikely to resolve any differences, he said.

The Cambodian government should take the welfare and benefits of the peoples of the two countries into consideration instead of acting on a whim to vent its displeasure at the Thai administration, he said.

The rumour of the arrest of another Thai spy, reportedly working in Siem Reap under Thailand's Armed Forces Security Centre, was unfounded, he said.

Thai citizens should remain calm and not act hastily, he said, adding that the future of Thai-Cambodian ties hinges on whether Cambodia would adjust its stance toward Thaksin, he said.The Foreign Ministry plans to lodge its strongest protest if Cambodian authorities file false and trumped-up charges against Siwarak, said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign minister.

Cambodian authorities dismissed the consular request from Thai charge d'affaires Chalothorn Phaovibul to visit Siwarak in his prison cell on grounds that it was the weekend, he said.

In a telephone interview from Phnom Penh, Chalothorn said Siwarak was detained at a Phnom Penh prison.

Kasit: Rude remarks against Hun Sen were "justified" in order to protect Thai sovereignty -sic!-

Asean agreements get go-ahead

28/01/2009
By: Manop Thip-Osod and Mongkol Bangprapa
Bangkok Post

A joint sitting of the two houses yesterday endorsed all 20 draft agreements and contracts to be signed at the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next month.

With the passage of the documents, the Democrat-led government then turned its attention to the 115-billionbaht supplementary budget bill, which will be tabled before MPs for debate today and tomorrow.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he hoped the extra budget bill would go through the House smoothly.

Parliament also agreed to set up a 36-member committee to study a draft agreement on human rights issues proposed by opposition chief whip Wittaya Buranasiri. The panel is expected to conclude its study within 15 days.

The administration needed parliamentary approval for the draft framework agreements to be signed during the Asean summit.

The ratification of the Asean-related documents did not go smoothly as the Puea Thai-led opposition and the government traded accusations, forcing co-chairs Parliament President Chai Chidchob and Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Boondej to twice call for a short recess to cool tensions.

The war of words started when Puea Thai MP Jatuporn Prompan, a core member of the anti-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, tried to turn the forum into a censure debate against Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

Mr Jatuporn questioned the minister's credibility in representing Thailand at the coming summit, citing his role in the People's Alliance for Democracy street campaigns.

He said Mr Kasit had made rude remarks about Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last year when border tension erupted over Preah Vihear temple.

Mr Jatuporn's attack drew angry protests from Democrat MPs who questioned his affiliations with individuals accused of lese majeste.

After 30 minutes of commotion, Mr Chai called for a five-minute recess.

When parliament resumed, Mr Jatuporn continued his attack.

The main target of the opposition for two consecutive days, Mr Kasit defended the remarks about the Cambodian prime minister, saying they were made to protect Thai sovereignty.

His remarks were ‘‘justified'' given the border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, Mr Kasit said.

He insisted his appointment as foreign minister was welcomed by the international community.

The afternoon session was less tense until Puea Thai MP for Chiang Mai Surapong Tovichakchaikul called a quorum check as several cabinet ministers and government MPs were not present.

Democrat MP Suvaroch Palang protested, saying MPs were scattered around the parliament and listening to the debate. But the opposition insisted on a quorum check.

This upset Democrat MP Boonyod Sooktinthai who attacked Puea Thai MPs.

Puea Thai's Sunai Chulpongsatorn criticised Senate Speaker Prasopsuk, who was in the chair, for not allowing opposition MPs to defend themselves. He was jeered when making sarcastic remarks about appointed senators.

Mr Sunai and Mr Boonyod exchanged heated comments until Mr Prasopsuk decided to call a 10-minute break.

Tej Bunnag support Kasit, even if the latter publicly attacks Hun Sen verbally on PAD rally stage - Bravo!?!?

Hun Sen is all smile greeting his verbal attacker, Kasit Piromya from the invading kingdom of Thailand. Never able to accept his Cambodian critics as he does with his Thai attackers, Hun Sen fully deserves the Siam treatment!

Ex-minister voices support for Kasit

27/01/2009
BangkokPost.com

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya's role in the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) will not affect the confidence of international community in Thailand, according to former foreign minister Tej Bunnag.

The ex-minister believed Mr Kasit can explain the agreements to be signed at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit at the parliamentary session.

Mr Tej expressed confidence that the foreign minister has proper qualifications to perform his job and he will not hinder the government's performance.

On Mr Kasit's verbal attack on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen when he appeared on the PAD stage, the former minister said Mr Kasit should already build a better understanding between both sides during his visit to Cambodia.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also has confidence in Mr Kasit and he is widely known as a professional diplomat, according to Mr Tej.

The prime minister said he has confidence in Mr Kasit and believes he can explain the agreements at the parliamentary meeting.

The premier said he would like the parliament to approve the agreements on Tuesday and he has no objections if the opposition wants a committee to be set up to examine them.