The Wikileaks cable quoted HRW’s Sunai Phasuk regarding a lese majeste case as “unattractive” and that attending to it might damage Sunai’s work as a human rights defender. Of course, given HRW’s mission statement to “stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination [and] to uphold political freedom,” Sunai should have defended the lese majeste victim rather than mumble lame excuses.

In another post we mentioned a cable that indicated comments attributed to Sunai pro-coup and pro-army sentiments as he expressed relief at the “Thaksin’s government forced out,” and that he “had always held the military in high regard…”. Sunai seemed to throw aside human rights concerns and historical perspective in being politically partisan.

Other Wikileaks cables add further perspective to those mentioned above. In a 15 December 2006 cable, the State Department’s Eric John (to become U.S. Ambassador some time later) met with Sunai during a Bangkok visit.

Sunai is described as “one of the many activists who had reluctantly accepted the September 19 coup as the ‘only remaining option’,” but who had become “frustrated” with the failure of the interim government headed by Privy Councilor General Surayud Chulanont because it was

still inadequate in explaining just what former Prime Minister Thaksin [Shinawatra] had done that justified their coup.

That hardly sounds like someone who had “reluctantly” accepted the coup. Sunai then admits that: “The investigations into corruption were proving to be ‘too hard’.” While an interesting admission in itself, it is then stated that

HRW had encouraged the government to turn to the extra-judicial killings, primarily from the drug war of 2003, to find prosecutable offenses by the former government.

While the War on Drugs killings were a disgrace (and still haven’t been properly investigated), this sounds remarkably like HRW coaching the coup makers.

It is striking that Sunai is taking such positions even when he was skeptical that the junta-backed government was unlikely to get a “good constitution in place followed by good elections…”.

Sunai was also said to be critical of the “the government’s approach to the party dissolution cases now pending before the Constitutional Tribunal…. He believed that the case against the Democrat Party should have been dropped…”.

Sunai also revealed that the junta’s interim government had an informal mechanism for consulting civil society groups. He claimed that “[o]ne of the ministers in the PM’s office was very highly regarded and served as a liaison between the government and NGOs.”

Readers may draw their own conclusions on the propriety of such relations and revelation.

We have more cables to post on regarding HRW and political events.

A couple of days ago Sondhi Limthongkul, one of Thailand’s leading conspiricists and leader of the ultra-royalist, ultra-nationalist People’s Alliance for Democracy managed to produce yet another alleged plot by Thaksin Shinawatra to bring down the monarchy and the country through an unlikely alliance of U.S. state power, NGOs, U.S. capitalists and numerous others.

In essence, Sondhi plagiarized nonsensical ideas that draw on anti-globalist ideas and marries them with U.S. Tea Party, libertarian, and extremist and conspiricist groups.

Sondhi joins a group that rejects global warming, taxation and fluoride, thinks governments poison water, wants to legalize all drugs, rejects NGOs and people’s movements as U.S. plots, and sees Obama as “the megalomaniac front man for a postmodern coup by the intelligence agencies, using fake polls, mobs of swarming adolescents, super-rich contributors, and orchestrated media hysteria to short-circuit normal politics and seize power.”

Has the opposition Democrat Party repudiated this kind of deranged conspiracy nonsense when applied to Thailand? Of course they haven’t. They are, and since 2005 have been twinned with PAD and Sondhi.

Another claimed plot that the Democrat Party advertises and says it sincerely believe is an alleged plot to overthrow the monarchy.

The Democrat Party’s Chuan Leekpai has recently restated this claim, building on the words of other members of the party who have constructed the notion of a plot since the anti-monarchy plot map. Chuan hasn’t provided any evidence apart from a claim that there are “unsigned petitions or CDs” but says: “I am [concerned] by an underground movement to attack the monarchy…”. He adds: “… there is a movement under way.”

The plot that the Democrat Party rejects is, according to The Nation, the plot to get rid of the Puea Thai-led government.

In returning to the worst traditions of the biased journalism at The Nation, it describes this plot as a “mysterious so-called plot to overthrow the government, as concocted by some Pheu Thai Party figures…”. Notice that the rag hasn’t said anything like this about the aforementioned plots, probably because it buys them.

This plot was a claim by Puea Thai spokesmen that “four groups from business, academia, the military and mass media were planning to topple the Pheu Thai-led government.”

The always disingenuous Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva didn’t see any “movement to bring down the government.” He then accused the government of “stirring up social conflict that could lead to street violence…”.

Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, who has trumpeted the anti-monarchy plot, said the story lacked “truth and substance” and then “threatened to take legal action against the government figures making the claim.”

Actually, PPT doesn’t really believe that there is plotting to overthrow the government. In fact, plotting means to secretly make plans to carry out an illegal or harmful action. In fact, the planning has been done and the actions aimed at bringing down the Yingluck Shinawatra are underway and are hardly secret. Disloyalty claims, lese majeste action, court cases, impeachment moves, claims of anti-monarchy plots, military opposition, and so on have been implemented since the day the royalist parties were rejected.

The Yingluck government seems remarkably somnolent on the actions being taken against it. Hoping that they will go away or trying to satiate the royalist monster is a doomed political strategy. Did they learn nothing from the events of 2008?

PAD demonstrators in 2008 (Photo: The Telegraph)

]]> http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/plots/feed/ 0 thaipoliticalprisoners PAD demonstrators 2008 http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/hunger-strike/ http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/hunger-strike/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:12:40 +0000 thaipoliticalprisoners http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/?p=22456 ]]> PPT has learned that Somyos Prueksakasemsuk’s son Tai, will symbolically engage in a hunger 112-hour hunger strike from 11 (4 p.m.) to 16 February at Bangkok’s Suvarnnabhumi Airport.

More details of activities and support groups will be released shortly. We do know that student activist groups will give flowers, love and support to Tai on Valentine’s Day.

The hunger strike is for a period of 112 hours to protest his father’s continued detention and trial as a lese majeste victim.

Insulting Pridi

PPT agress with human rights activist Pokpong Lawansiri who is quoted as saying it was a “sad and embarrassing” event for the university. He added:

The university – every square inch of it – has been the battleground for freedom for a long time, he said.

“Why don’t you just destroy the statue of university founder Pridi Banomyong, former rector Puay Ungpakorn and the heroes of the October 14/October 6 incidents altogether?” he said.

Recall that this is the same university that allowed the People’s Alliance for Democracy to begin its renewed “anti-Thaksin” campaign there on 28 March 2008. When mildly criticized by the government, then Thammasat rector Surapol Nitikraipoj

maintained that since Thammasat University is a public ground, the university must allow all kinds of events to be staged that comply with university regulations without prejudice (Bangkok Post, 5 April 2008).

Double standards and prejudice seem to be at work amongst Thammasat administrators.

At the Bangkok Post there is an interview with the remarkably brave Kan Thoob, who is due to appear before the police to answer lese majeste accusations on 11 February. The allegations are said to relate to complaints about alleged Facebook posts she made while a minor, almost two years ago.

It seems lese majeste repression applies to children as well as adults. Of course, the hate-filled ultra-royalists at the likes of ASTV/Manager are just as savage in their attacks and harassment of a minor as they are of adults they believe transgress on their sacred soil.

The Post describes that actions by ultra-royalists as a “witch hunt” as idiot royalists have hounded her.

But this brave young woman is not cowed. She plans to report to “police wearing a mask with the number 112 written on it.”

She claims that all of the complaints are fabricated, based on her Facebook page.

She is determined to continue her political activism despite threats and attacks and opposition from her family that caused her to work part-time.

As has long been known, she spoke on the red shirt stage in 2009, calling for an end to the

ammart [elite] system and embracing a full democracy according to the vision of Dr Pridi [Banomyong, former prime minister who led the civilian faction behind the 1932 coup that ended absolute monarchy].

She is still clear:

There’s inequality in the law, it’s not based on justice. As for politics, it’s too high and mighty, too lofty for ordinary people. Both are irrelevant to most people…. I believe humans can change.

When asked if she is afraid of the charges, she replies:

…I am ready to fight for bail…. Even if I’m arrested, I can live with it. I haven’t received justice since the time they filed charges against me. I’m not afraid of the police. I’m not afraid of jail.

Interestingly, she supports Nitirat but won’t sign up with them because she prefers a “petition to abolish the law.”

That is one brave kid who has already faced two years of threat and harassment.

According to the report at The Next Web, MICT permanent secretary Jeerawan Boonperm welcomed the development. The government says it will contact Twitter to begin collaboration on the new feature to censor tweets.

The report notes that:

the positive comments from Thailand’s government towards Twitter’s new move are unsurprising, given its history of censoring the Internet for lese majeste content, and there was even a campaign that proposed to block Twitter, Facebook and other services in the country.

Naturally, all of this is only about the monarchy.

What else would be expected when the climate of fear and intimidation has reached such epic proportions in royalist Thailand.

Freedom of expression hangs in the balance.

In the report there is one bit of information that is of interest for those who tweet: “For those in Thailand, or other countries where tweets may be censored, there are a number of workarounds to ensure tweets are left untouched.”

Update: PPT read this in the Bangkok Post and found it totally predictable:

Chavarong Limpattamapanee, president of the Thai Journalists Association, expressed understanding for the new policy…. “Local users must still comply with local law. Freedom of speech is a human right, but this freedom is not borderless. One must be responsible,” he said.

That any journalists’ association should support censorship is jaw dropping. That it is predictable that the TJA should support censorship is reflective of the failure of the TJA over several years. The mainstream media has been remarkably irresponsible, jettisoning any notion of neutrality and reporting in deliberately biased ways. The TJA is a disgrace.

The group is campaigning against the 2006 coup. It called for laws and rules from the coup junta to be nullified, for the lese majeste law to be modified and for Chapter 2 of the 2007 Constitution to be modified.

That the “group has called for the monarch to take an oath to protect the constitution before ascending to the throne, a position that has attracted a firestorm of controversy from all sides of the political spectrum.”

Worajate said:

For the monarch to vow to protect the charter will help prevent coups…. But the issue has been used to instigate a hate campaign against me, even though changes have been made to [Chapter 2] in the past.

Amongst other things, Worajate has “been called a traitor to the royal institute [the monarchy] for his views.” He counters that Nitirat’s proposal would “ensure the continuity of the monarchy as an institution.” Again, he called debate “based on reason, not emotion.” He stressed that the “the role of the monarchy within a democracy is an issue that needs debate.”

On this, the article states that Worajate was actually supported by the Democrat Party’s Chuan Leekpai, casting doubt on the claims made earlier.

Worajate “firmly dismissed” claims of his political allegiances:  “I am not associated with the government or any politicians…. “People have accused me of being funded by Mr Thaksin, but up until now, I have never had contact with any politicians…”.

We doubt these statements will satisfy ultra-royalists and those determined to link Nitirat to the government and with “anti-monarchy plots” and “disloyalty” or those hoping these issues can be used to overturn yet another election.

Reading The Nation it seems that some old law graduates have forgotten everything about their university. They also appear to have forgotten the most basic notions of justice that is meant to be a part of the law.

Opposing the Nitirat group of law lecturers at Thammasat and their proposals regarding lese majeste and coup-related laws, the law class of 1958 has:

issued a statement calling for an end to Nitirat’s use of the university as a venue for its activities, and alleged that the group had defamed the Royal institution. They said that since the lecturers were government officials but did not support Thai democracy with the monarchy as its head, they should be fired.

We fully understand that aged lawyers – they must all be in their mid-70s – can be forgetful of the heritage of their faculty and university and may also have forgotten the law itself. Even so, their call would be more at home from tinpot military despots than people who were once trained in law and philosophy.

But it is a class that does include some of the major political figures like the Democrat Party’s Chuan Leekpai and royalist ideologue Meechai Ruchupan. At the Bangkok Post these old men are said to be worried that Nitirat professors would have “a bad influence on the students.”  They called for

Disciplinary probes should be launched against the lecturers as they have shown they do not have faith in democracy with the King as head of state….

PPT can well imagine that these aged royalists worry that their ideological edifice is crumbling.

Of course, all of Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva’s closest allies are jumping on the anti-Nitirat train. Abhisit’s buddy Sathit Wongnongtoey is reported at The Nation as “mobilising party members to oppose the group.” When his party was in government, Sathit was responsible for closing opposition and independent media.

In a coordinated attack, Sathit claimed the country was facing “a new security threat.” He identified this as “the distorting of information about the monarchy institution to make it look bad.” We are a little mystified by this claim as most recent “information” has been pro-monarchy. Sathit demanded “[m]ore dissemination of correct information was needed…”. We wonder how much more propaganda is possible.

Another close Abhisit  aide joined in. This is Thepthai Senapong who went the additional step and linked Sathit’s claims to the Yingluck Shinawatra government. He “said the ruling Pheu Thai Party had made it clear at certain levels that they would not make a move to amend the lese majeste law. Whether people believed that or not was another matter, however, he said.” He then exploded into claims of disloyalty:

Thepthai said the lack of trust was related to the fact that many figures associated with the party, from former premier Thaksin Shinawatra down, had been embroiled in actions or words deemed as disloyal to the throne. He claimed that the ousted and convicted former premier always attacked the monarchy in interviews with foreign media.

Thepthai then did a bit of lateral concocting and said the actions and movements of people like Jakrapob Penkair and rather bizarrely, Ji Ungpakorn to claim that “people would trust Pheu Thai when it comes to the issue of the monarchy, no matter how many statements they made.” Thepthai has a history of making scurrilous claims.

PPT has made the point that ultra-royalists – be they old lawyers or the DemoPAD Party – will never accept Puea Thai no matter how royalist it makes itself. Whatever Puea Thai does, it is “disloyal” and this is the issue chosen to bring the election result undone.

For the Democrat Party and its royalist allies in the military, palace, PAD, and so on, the battle began the day the voting public rejected them.

Puea Thai has been misguided (if not politically stupid) in believing that their battle was won when it won that election. Even now surveys show that the public is not supporting the ultra-royalists and Puea Thai has far more support than the Democrat Party. But that counts for nothing with the royalists: they are not democrats and they are desperate to save their crumbling royalist regime.

Jitphat or Chitpas Bhirombhakdi, a deputy Democrat spokeswoman and hieress to the Bhriombhakdi family fortune, called for a mass rally of people loyal to the monarchy and opposed to the Nitirat proposals on reform. Essentially, royalists were to come together to swear alliegance to the monarchy as if an absolute monarchy had been re-established in Thailand.

At the Bangkok Post, Chitpas is reported to have “led a public campaign against the movements to amend Article 112 by the Nitirat group.” She presumably wants to lock more people up. So too we assume does her PAD/multi-color buddy Tul Sitthisomwong who also showed up.

Interestingly, the Post reports that the “gathering, held at the Royal Plaza, was attended by around 50 people.” We assume that the ultra-royalists will be as shocked by this tiny number as we are, and they they will organize additional rallies to show that they are more than political pawns.

Chitpas, Tul and 50 others opposing lese majeste reform (a Bangkok Post photo)

Chitpas claimed

she was speaking on behalf of a group called the Facebook Network of People Who Love the King. She said the group would also gather signatures of people who disagree with the movement to amend Article 112. She said she understood the country has to change but changes must be based on sound reasoning, not malice.

Perhaps she should also explain how it is that the Democrat Party can for years associate with PAD and Sondhi Limthongkul, a fount of malice and venom against political opponents, outspokenly opposed to electoral democracy, and who repeatedly lies to the public for political gain?

It is thus useful that the ASTV/Manager surrogate channel in English, TAN Network has produced a translation of a column that has been central to the most recent case of a cameraman working for the red shirt-supporting satellite-based Asia Update TV channel being investigated for alleged lese majeste.

The ASTV/Manager account states that it has, since the Yingluck Shinawatra government won the election in July, a focal point for “numerous complaints about controversial comments made on social networks and the cyber world … comments that could be deemed as violating lest majeste laws.”

As self-appointed cyber vigilantes, ASTV/Manager reports that a “recent incident involves an individual who calls himself ‘Tanan Maneewong’ on Facebook.”

Reporters at he Government House are said to have “received complaints” – probably from the Manager itself -  about controversial statements on Facebook. Unnamed sources are said to have seen that some of these comments “could be deemed to violate lest majeste laws and Thailand’s Computer Act.”

Somehow it came to be known that the Facebook page belonged to “a cameramen employed by the Asia Update television station and [who] is assigned to cover the prime minister’s beat.”

Conspiracy! Up goes the shout! “The station is operated by Democracy News Network Company Limited and is widely known for its support of the Yingluck administration and the red shirt movement.” The Facebook poster is then anonymously claimed not to “have a very good opinion of the institution of the monarchy and has been known to make several strong criticisms in the past.”

Of course, this is inciting hatred against the unfortunate cameraman with not a named source in sight. The conspiracy angle is meant to show the government is somehow implicated in the whole thing. As we noted above, this is vigilantism, not journalism.

The ASTV/Manager report claims the “controversial post was made on his Facebook wall on the night of January 22, but was later erased on the 23rd when his associates warned him that it could be against the law.” But this person is seen to be insincere because he commented “I can’t even have an opinion. This is so Thai.” Indeed it is, but truth is not a factor here.

And, of course, it is all reflective of the fact that the Yingluck government is “disloyal.” This alleged crime is further “evidence” for ASTV/Manager maniacal claims about “the failure of government officials to curb the anti-monarchy movement.” Note that the idea that there is a “movement” is taken as a given for the vigilante media. Even Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubumrung is not doing enough.

And it is all to clear for the PAD that this is a pattern of behavior by the hated red shirts because Asia Update television is not only red shirt but is claimed – no evidence presented – that it was “founded” by now Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Anudith Nakornthap,with red shirts also involved.

The implication is that the an anti-monarchy conspiracy is proven. We assume that investigations of the cameraman is being undertaken based on ASTV/Manager’s accusations.

Update: At the Manager, the ever more bizarre Sondhi Limthongkul has yet another “plan” revealing how Thaksin Shinawatra is allegedly to take over Thailand and overthrow the monarchy. Prachatai has a summary of this truly deranged concoction.

In essence, Sondhi plagiarized the nonsensical ideas of “Tony Cartalucci” who runs a pretty much unknown blog that draws on anti-globalist ideas and marries them with U.S. Tea Party, libertarian and  ideas that originate in extreme right-wing conspiricist groups that Sondhi has long been connected, including  Lyndon LaRouche.

“Cartalucci” is a frequent “commentator” posting at Prachatai, continually posting essentially the same “comment,” attacking Prachatai as part of a Thaksin-U.S. conspiracy. “Cartalucci” modus operandi is to “discover”  well-known facts from the web and builds them into a global conspiracy. He is connected with, amongst others, Sam Bushman’s Christian conspiracist Liberty Round Table, which invites “all Liberty-Loving Americans to join with us to restore the principles of our Founding Fathers and promote God, Family and Country in the media and our lives!”

“Tony Cartalucci’s” take on Sondhi’s bizarre rant is here.

Yellow-shirted activists have been circulating “Tony Cartalucci” material for some time and it seems that the heightened political temperature around the Nitirat, lese majeste and “loyalty” issues has given Sondhi and opportunity for these more extremist claims. Sondhi’s hope is such a concocted threat can provoke a response from ultra-nationalists. He apparently believes that the great fear will mean that royalists will grasp even extreme conspiracy nonsense more palatable. Remarkably, he’s probably right as the level of hysteria is truly amazing.