Thai Premier Rebuffs Army Chief's Ballot Call to End Protests

By Daniel Ten Kate and Suttinee Yuvejwattana

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat rebuffed a call from Thai Army Chief Anupong Paojinda to step down and hold early elections to end five months of protests that killed at least six people and culminated in yesterday's seizure of Bangkok's international airport.

``We need to protect and restore democracy,'' Somchai said in an address broadcast late yesterday on national television. ``The protesters are breaking laws as they are armed and have seized the airport, which is damaging the country.''

Somchai, who rejected a previous resignation call from Anupong, returned yesterday to the northern city of Chiang Mai from an overseas trip. He said the government will have a cabinet meeting today to decide on measures to restore order.

The airport's seizure, damaging the nation's key tourism industry in its busiest season, forced a confrontation that Somchai and the army had tried to avoid. Anupong refused to enforce a state of emergency declared by Somchai's predecessor in September after deadly street clashes in Bangkok.

``The government should return the power to the people,'' Anupong told reporters after meeting with business leaders and academics yesterday. ``We will not seize power. We are just making a suggestion and will let the government decide.''

Suriyasai Katasila, a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy which is leading the protests, said Somchai should resign and accept his party's proposal to form a new government of representatives of various interest groups. Somchai shouldn't call an early election, he said.

``Dissolving the Parliament will still leave the country with social divisions,'' he told reporters at the airport late yesterday. ``Mr. Somchai should step down and pave ways for a new government with people from various interest groups.''

Continue the Seizure

``We will continue the seizure, as long as Mr. Somchai remains in power,'' Suriyasai said in remarks broadcast by television Channel 3. In addition to the airport, the PAD also occupies Somchai's ceremonial and temporary offices.

Thai stocks erased losses to end higher as investors bet on military leaders finding a positive resolution to the standoff. The benchmark SET Index added 3.37 points to 395.22. The gauge has fallen 55 percent since the protests began May 25. Thailand's baht slid to 35.27 per dollar, the lowest in 21 months, and government bonds fell, driving yields up from near a two year low.

``If not handled carefully, properly and soon, the country would tip toward anarchy,'' said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. ``When security evaporates, you are faced with a chain of events that can't be controlled.''

Army Chief

The army chief, who helped oust former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a 2006 coup, said protesters must leave the airport, adding that violence wouldn't solve the conflict. Somchai should make a decision soon, Anupong said, insisting that the military ``isn't pressuring the government.'' Somchai, Thaksin's brother-in-law, helms the People Power Party, which faces dissolution after one of its executive members was found guilty of buying votes. Parties linked to Thaksin have won four elections since 2001 on strong rural support for its platform of cheap health care and village loans.

The protests are headed by the People's Alliance for Democracy, a group comprised mostly of the Bangkok middle class, royalists and bureaucrats. Alliance members have blocked roads, seized buildings and wielded guns and metal bars with impunity in protests that started May 25. They want a new political system that dilutes the votes of the country's rural majority.

Protesters' Meeting

The protesters held a meeting during the night to consider the army's request that they leave the airport, a spokesman said.

Surapol Nitikraipot, rector of Thammasat University, who sat alongside Anupong at the briefing, said the government must heed the army's call to step down.

``If the government rejects our proposal, we will not listen to them,'' he said. ``We will use civil disobedience.''

Separately, protesters prompted the closure of Don Mueang Airport, according to the manager, Aniruj Tanomkulbutr.

Demonstrators were emboldened last month when Queen Sirikit attended the funeral of a protester who was killed in a clash with police. Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej is revered as a symbol of stability in a nation that has endured 10 mostly bloodless coups since ending absolute monarchy in 1932.

``Thailand has a history of resolving these things peacefully,'' said William Heinecke, chairman of Minor International Pcl, a U.S.-born Thai citizen who has lived in Thailand for decades. ``The only potential mediator, really, is the military.''

Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, faces its slowest growth in eight years as the political conflict saps domestic spending and the global recession hurts exports. Tourism, which comprises about 7 percent of gross domestic product, fell to its lowest level in three years after the protests turned violent in September.

Man Killed

A man was killed in clashes between political rivals in Chiang Mai after the premier arrived in the city. A series of deadly grenade attacks against demonstrators in the past two months triggered what protesters said would be this week's ``final battle.'' Police offered token resistance as armed demonstrators forced their way into government buildings and finally the airport.

About 3,000 tourists were evacuated yesterday to nearby hotels, said Serirat Prasutanond, general manager at Suvarnabhumi Airport, who said it won't reopen ``until the situation returns to normal.'' Four anti-government protesters were injured in an explosion outside the facility earlier yesterday.

``What the PAD and its backers are unleashing is an even deeper crisis in Thai society, and who knows where it will land,'' said Giles Ungpakorn, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University. ``The conservatives might force through a government they want at the moment that is going to cause deep resentment.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net; Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at Suttinee1@bloomberg.net

Anupong caught between a rock and a hard place

A conundrum for the general

Tuesday October 21, 2008
Saritdet Marukatat
Bangkok Post

COMMENTARY

For Army chief General Anupong Paojinda, his main worry is not the border situation between Thailand and Cambodia. It is in fact the political warfare with Prime Minister and Defence Minister Somchai Wongsawat.

Now everybody wants to know what the most influential military officer has in mind, after the government leader turned a deaf ear to the general's remarks made on TV last Thursday. Although Gen Anupong alone spoke, the presence of all military and police leaders sitting side by side with him sent a signal to Mr Somchai that they were not on his side and that the premier should seriously consider what the Army chief was saying.

Gen Anupong's position is not really surprising. He had already made a gesture opposing the bloody crackdown on Oct 7. On that day, when PM Somchai came out for a press conference at the Supreme Command, Gen Anupong was with him. But the general decided not to stand too close to the prime minister. He kept a distance between himself and PM Somchai.

Days later, Gen Anupong called for the government to take responsibility for the police crackdown which had led to the deaths of two demonstrators with over 400 injured.

Now he decided to step up pressure on PM Somchai by making it quite clear to him that a resignation from the premiership was the best and only way to resolve the political crisis between the administration and the People's Alliance for Democracy.

Even before Mr Somchai succeeded Samak Sundaravej as prime minister, relations between the government and the armed forces were already "unusual". Gen Anupong decided to not make any move against the PAD after Mr Samak declared a state of emergency in Bangkok in the hope that soldiers would crack down on the protesters once and for all.

Mr Samak must have been quite upset when the army leader failed to act. With the result that demonstrators are still ensconced at Government House. Instead, it was Mr Samak who had to go, after he was no longer favoured by the People Power party to run the government.

Mr Samak might have been even more furious, given that he'd already given the armed forces a free hand to do what they wanted with the annual armed forces reshuffle list.

Now Mr Somchai might be feeling something similar, too; but he has decided to directly counter-attack Gen Anupong in refusing to step down or dissolve parliament. Do not forget that PM Somchai is the Defence Minister as well, and has the authority to punish the army leader. But he has not done so and instead has simply made clear his position that he wants to stay on.

The prime minister cited three key events he and his cabinet members are obliged to take full responsibility for: the Royal cremation ceremony of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana next month; the events celebrating His Majesty the King's birthday on Dec 5, and the Bangkok summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which Thailand currently chairs.

The bottom line is, PM Somchai will not go as the army leader wishes; neither will he take any action against the general.

Mr Somchai is taking a big gamble on his position. His decision to hold on to power means he is passing the ball back to Gen Anupong's court. But it will be very difficult for the army chief to make further moves.

The army leader is caught between the pro- and anti-government camps. He still has a hangover from the coup two years ago. Gen Anupong and other top brass at the time were criticised for being "too nice" to their opponent, Thaksin Shinawatra, the brother-in-law of this prime minister. If he wishes to stage a coup again, Gen Anupong can expect street challenges from pro-government sympathisers as well as international pressure.

The PAD does not see him as its ally, either. The longer the PAD stays on the streets and at Government House, the uglier will be its attacks on Gen Anupong for ignoring its calls to have his soldiers and tanks bring down a government they claim is Mr Thaksin's proxy.

For Gen Anupong, finding a way to end the political battle with PM Somchai is not easy, indeed.

Saritdet Marukatat is News Editor, Bangkok Post.

Thai PM dodges media after army says he should go

BANGKOK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A tight-lipped Thai Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, left Bangkok for the ancient capital of Ayutthaya on Friday, the day after the army chief said he should step down.

The comments from General Anupong Paochinda in a live television interview on Thursday alongside the heads of the Navy, Air Force and police, prompted frenzied speculation of a coup, although Anupong insisted he was not about to take over.

Dozens of reporters camped outside Somchai's house in a northern Bangkok suburb on Friday morning, waiting for him to emerge. He eventually did so, but his motorcade headed straight to Ayutthaya, 70 km (40 miles) north of Bangkok.

Somchai, a brother-in-law of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, is due to fly later on Friday to eastern Thailand to visit soldiers involved in this week's border clash with Cambodia.

Anupong's remarks were the strongest indication that the armed forces think the time is up for the elected administration.

However, government spokesman Nattawut Saikuar said he did not think the military would dare intervene only two years after its removal of Thaksin, a coup that failed to purge him from the political system due to his sustained rural support.

'The army chief has consistently assured us that it will not happen, which is a blessing for the country,' Nattawut told Channel 3 television. 'Otherwise this cannot end. Another group of people will rise to fight the power behind the coup.'

Thailand has been riven by political conflict for the three years since the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) started its street campaign against Thaksin and his allies, accusing them of corruption, cronyism and threatening the monarchy.

The dispute between the Thaksin camp and the military and royalist elite who despise him has seen a coup, elections and more street protests, but appears to be no nearer a conclusion.

(Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Alex Richardson).