Coup chatter

With rather too much hype about political opposition movements such as the handful of white-masked yellow shirts, the real concerns gripping the Puea Thai Party government have revolved around fears that the yellow opposition is somehow closing in on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and/or that the military is again coup restless.

Dealing with the military is always a challenge for any civilian government due to the military’s disciplined hierarchical authority, its control of the state’s weaponry and its long history of political interference and penchant for coups.

So it is that coup rumors make politicians very jittery. The military brass usually deny any ill intention and swear off coup making. Wary politicians have sought several ways to placate the military leadership if not control them.

At the  Bangkok Post it is reported that recent coup chatter has seen Prime Minister Yingluck wining and dining Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha with the defense minister and other brass.

The report goes on to explain that the government’s recent increase in defense spending of about 4.2 billion baht has been seen as acceptable by the brass.

Historically, buying off the military has not always seen off a coup. Nor has being conciliatory to loud-mouthed and arrogant army bosses.

Even so, Puea Thai and Yingluck have been trying all of this. For the moment, these moves have “quietened rumours of conflict between the government and military.” And, “rumours that the government will remove Gen Prayuth from the top job” have been squashed for the moment.

But Prayuth’s reassurance “that the military would not stage a coup, nor would it interfere in politics”requires a truckload of salt.

The yellow shirts may be upset that Prayuth seems a Yingluck puppy, but they know that they will eventually call on the Army for support “to protect the monarchy” and ditch another pro-Thaksin government if they can manage to destabilize the government.

Panic, coups and courts

It is difficult to miss the increase in political panic attacks on the two main sides of the political contest in Thailand.

As PPT has already posted, the yellow-hued opponents of the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra have had multiple panic attacks that have caused them to shout their real political views out very loud. When Yingluck speaks to a meeting on democracy, the royalists and anti-Thaksin Shinawatra coalition has its leading figures shout about treason, selling out the country and greater “crimes.” The main “crime” seems to be Yingluck’s failure to again kowtow to the old men who think they run Thailand and continue to concoct a royalist version of the country’s recent political history. A few statements by a younger woman about political reality suggest to the geriatric royalists that their presumed control of her has weakened and that she does not “know her place.”

The tried and royalist trusted method for attacking elected governments, apart from the military coup, is judicial harassment and intervention. And so it is that as the political temperature rises ever more panicked and preposterous royalists charge off to their buddies at the Constitutional Court seeking judicial interference.

At the Bangkok Post it is reported that the latest move is appointed senator  – that is, unelected senator – Paiboon Nititawan who “represents” something called “other sectors,” which really just means he’s an unelected spawn of the military junta, has begged the kangaroo court to consider Thaksin Shinawatra’s alleged “order for Pheu Thai to amend the constitution,” which the senator claims “violates Section 68 of the charter, pertaining to acts that could undermine the constitutional monarchy or grab power through unconstitutional means.”

The Post states that some yellow-shirted intellectuals think the “Constitution Court is likely to take up a complaint…”. At the same time, “Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, a political science lecturer at Sripatum University, said the allegation that Thaksin’s Skype call breached Section 68 is far-fetched.” That won’t bother the court or the royalists.

Somchai reckons that a more likely constitutional court intervention is over the “MPs and senators [who] have declared they will not accept the authority of the charter court…”. He says: “Such an announcement is bound to be a violation of the law…. Many MPs and senators may realise their action carries a risk.”

Panic has also set in on the government and red shirt side. PPT has already posted on the political foot-in-mouth calisthenics by Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap. Equally panicky seems to be red shirt supporters claiming that a coup is in the offing. The clearest English-language statement of this was at New Mandala where Jim Taylor makes this claim:

The army, if a little confused about royal futures, are talking about a coup (yes, yet again) among themselves and many senior army officers (including Prayuth Chan-ocha) dropping strong hints in the media…

Several readers have emailed PPT with similar claims. We don’t doubt that the military brass around boss Prayuth Chan-ocha were shocked by Yingluck’s Mongolia speech, but we have yet to see any strong evidence of the tanks warming up. We would expect to see and hear a lot more from the top brass if they were at any serious level of plotting. That said, Yingluck’s speech and the failure of the king and queen to appear as scheduled probably mean that the military men have the coup jitters.

Meanwhile, while red shirt anger over the Constitutional Court shenanigans saw a mobile protest. Reports from the protest site are mixed, with some saying the protesters preparing to leave and others reporting an expansion of the protest (both in the same newspaper on the same day….). The very same newspaper is back to its old tricks of producing material filched from yellow-shirt sites and dressing it up as an op-ed rather than concocted propaganda.

The latter report also refers to:

hundreds of yellow-shirt Thai Compatriots and Territory Protection Front members, gathering since Tuesday at Sanam Luang, are refusing to clear the site.

They say they will stay until Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is ousted and that their presence won’t interfere with Royal Ploughing Ceremony on the grounds next Monday…. They are also demonstrating to offer moral support to the Constitutional Court judges and oppose the Preah Vihear court case.

The Bangkok Post, which says the rally is called off, has a spurious headline at its website, seems to say that the red shirt protest at the Constitutional Court was all Thaksin’s doing, when the story itself implies something else again, even suggesting that the Puea Thai bosses and Thaksin were out of sync with the protesters. Apparently the protest was called off:

after losing the backing of Pheu Thai, other red-shirt groups and, more importantly, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, sources say.

Some ruling party MPs initially sponsored the protest by the Radio Broadcasters for Democracy movement formed by some red shirts, the Pheu Thai sources said.

Apparently, the MPs got cold feet when the rallies turned to those close to the palace:

The MPs had also joined the protest in front of the Constitution Court on Chaeng Watthana Road in Bangkok.

But they later withdrew their support after demonstration leaders ignored their warnings and attacked Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, threatened Constitution Court judges and used obscene words.

The MPS and Thaksin apparently worried that the rally could destabilize the government. If Thaksin is the ring master in all of this, he seems to have been unable to control the situation or to fathom the impacts of his sister’s speech or the red shirt rally against the hopeless bunch at the Court. Always murky, the arm wrestle continues.

Updated: Another end of the GT200 scam

A couple of days ago PPT posted on the continuing saga of the fraudulent purchase and use of the GT200 bomb “detector”. As we said then, the story is a long one and involves considerable stupidity and corruption (search our site for “GT200″ and see how the Army and others are involved).

That post commented on a report on the British end of this sorry tale is in The Guardian. It stated that the businessman involved, Jim McCormick, “has been found guilty of a multimillion-pound fraud involving the sale of fake bomb detectors to Iraq and around the world.”

Now the Bangkok Post has reported that investigations in Thailand have shown that “13 agencies to buy 1,358 GT200 and Alpha 6 detectors worth 1.137 billion baht.” It adds that fraud charges are being considered by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). It is added that McCormick’s firm, Comstrac Co. “has been accused of offering bribes to secure the sales in Iraq.”

In Thailand, the “biggest purchaser of the devices, had bought more than 700 units of the GT200 since 2006, with most of them used in the restive deep South.”

Of course, this is yet one more example of the impunity of the military brass that enriches itself at the taxpayer’s expense, based on the Army’s political influence deriving from its self-appointed role as “protector of the monarchy” and of the status quo.

Updated: We loved this nonsense from Army boss General Prayuth Chan-ocha:

Thailand’s army chief general Prayuth Chan-ocha has asked the public to stop making comments or criticisms about the controversial bomb detector GT200 procurement.

… Commander-in-Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has requested the public to stop fueling criticisms and leave the case to be investigated by Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Thai court. He added that the army has already stopped using the devices for 2-3 years. However, he admitted that some military personnel still use them since there is no other alternative instrument.

When asked whether the procurement possibly involved fraud, the military leader responded that the buying of the equipment was done carefully by the responsible committee, and that any allegation of corruption should be made based on solid evidence.

 Note that the Army stopped using them 2-3 years ago but it still using them! What logic! What nonsense! An army leadership that lies and an army that murders with impunity and bastardizes and humiliates its recruits with equal impunity is a failed institution.

Updated: Soldiers and murdered protesters

There have been several reports in the media regarding the red shirt commemoration of the events that began the deaths and injuries, overwhelmingly to protesters, during April and May 2010. Curiously, many of these reports have spent more time attending to the military version of events and to the relatively few deaths of soldiers in these events.

To be sure, any death is significant, but the weight of death, injury and resulting imprisonments were almost all suffered by red shirt protesters. It almost seems that certain parties in Thailand allocated far more value to soldiers than they do to protesters. This may reflect an elitist resentment of little people getting uppity and them “needing” to be “put in their place” or it may reflect a political passion for denigrating red shirts as being somewhat less than full people; think of the ideas about restricting voting and continually referring to red shirts as “buffaloes.”

PPT was struck by the Bangkok Post‘s reporting of red shirt “activities on Wednesday to remember the protesters killed in street clashes with security forces on April 10 three years ago,” which is immediately followed by the observation that “the army commander could not hide his frustration at the long delay in the investigation into the deaths of his soldiers in the fight at Khok Wua.”

While the figures vary, some 25 people were killed in the clashes on 10 April when soldiers were ordered to clear the red shirts from their Rajadamnoen protest site. Some 20 of the dead were civilians civilians and five were identified as soldiers.More than 800 were injured, many from the effects of tear gas.

An AP photo from the Telegraph: Protesters surround the coffins which will be used for the bodies of their comrades killed in clashes with troops.

The military initially lied that it used rubber bullets and tear gas in the clash, however evidence from the international and local media was clear that soldiers fired assault rifles and there were claims that there were army snipers at work. The protesters seized a large quantity of military weapons, including assault rifles, and heavy caliber weapons and ammunition as the military fled.

After telling its readers almost nothing about the commemoration or the 20 people killed, the Bangkok Post goes on to make a big deal of Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha aending a “firm message to the UDD and investigators working on the case, reminding then soldiers were among the victims of April 10, 2010.” Perhaps his “firm message” should have been an apology for tyhe Army yet again having killed protesters on the streets of Bangkok. The Army’s assassination of protesters is so regular as to be normal in Thailand.

When Prayuth bleats that “the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) was dragging its feet in the investigation of the deaths and injuries among the soldiers,” any reasonable person might ask why the Army commanders, including Prayuth, are not held responsible for their murderous attacks on civilians. Recall that one of Prayuth’s “explanations” for the deaths of protesters is that it could not have been his boys, because if the Army was involved they would have murdered many more!

When Prayuth moans that “[t]hose responsible for the losses must be found, even though both sides claimed they had not done anything wrong. Soldiers are also citizens of Thailand,” he merely deflecting attention from the Army’s heinous record of murdering its own citizens.

When he says “[a]ll sides were entitled to justice,” he should explain why the military has repeatedly refused to provide testimony and evidence to various investigations. The explanation is simple: the Army has impunity. The military has repeatedly and falsely stated that it killed no one in April and May.

The Post story is about covering up the military’s crimes because a few soldiers were killed while engaged in violent crackdowns on its citizens. Perhaps the military brass does feel pressure from families of these unfortunate soldiers and the brass is used to not having to explain any of their criminal actions.

Abhsit Vejjajiva, whose government ordered two violent crackdowns and who faces charges related to the death of protesters, is cited as if he is an innocent bystander demanding “truth.”  Of course, the disingenuous Abhisit claims he ordered no crackdown; somehow the prime minister was just along for the ride when such decisions were made, presumably by his military tutors…. All he can complain about is men in black, his mantra for exonerating the Army of its responsibility. Even if we were to accept that there were unidentified MiB, it wasn’t them, whoever they are and whoever they worked for, who ordered the clearing of the protesters or the initial use of war weapons, snipers and live ammunition against protesters who had been pretty much peaceful.

The uninitiated reading the Bangkok Post could be forgiven for thinking that the military was the victim. As we have stated time and again in much earlier posts, the body count is clear. The Army killed protesters and they did so on the orders of their political and military leaders.

Update: The Red Shirt blog has a photo gallery of the events held on the commemoration of 10 April and a link to one analysis of the events.

Prayuth at Not the Nation

Not the Nation is a humorous spoof of the real rag, The Nation, spawned by the latter’s horrendous incapacity for journalism while producing a mass of incomprehensible rumors or ideological rants as “opinion” pieces.

So it is very, very confusing when, on April Fools’ Day, Not the Nation produces a spoof that could really be very, very close to the truth! In its fun and games, Not the Nation cleverly and believably has Army boss General Prayuth Chan-ocha, angered by talk about the monarchy and alleged lese majeste, rounding on conversation as a threat to all that is hierarchically good in Thailand.

Sulak on debate

Serial lese majeste victim, outspoken social critic and conservative monarchist Sulak Sivaraksa had an 80th year birthday celebration at the conservative Siam Society. True to form, Sulak was outspoken about the recent PBS controversy.

The Bangkok Post reports that Sulak “lauded the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) yesterday for being courageous in leading the public debate on important issues in the country, especially the lese majeste law.” He was more broadly supportive of PBS saying the talk show was “a good example of the station’s role in encouraging the public to discuss sensitive issues.”

He was critical of the “people who threatened the station with lawsuits and protested against the resumption of the programme,” saying they “were silly.” PPT isn’t sure if Sulak included Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha in that silly group, but he reportedly “also hit out at the army chief for criticising certain guest speakers…”. Quite correctly, he pointed out that “…the military has done nothing but killed their own people.”

He also spoke highly of Somsak Jeamteerasakul “as a courageous Thai who actually complemented the existence of the monarchy with his long lists of reform proposals.” Sulak added: “Thais should be aware of the significance of this debate, especially the amendment of the lese majeste laws…”.

Light in the dark?

There has been considerable social media argument that the recent PBS discussion of the monarchy and lese majeste shows that great progress is being made. The point is generally that this show could never have been made and shown “before.”

There’s certainly something in this. Since the royalist military intervention in 1957, the monarchy has been a no-go area, except in the period around 1973-76, but even then the more critical discussion was largely underground. For example, the monarchy’s role in inciting massacre in 1976 saw considerable underground criticism but this was soon extinguished.

Following that event, the palace handlers decided that the way to “revive” the monarchy was to create a cult of personality focused on the king himself, effectively linking monarchy to an individual. Yes, he’d been promoted previously, but post-1976, the promotion reached remarkable levels that made rational and critical discussion of the monarchy impossible.

It is in this context that Voranai Vanijaka at the Bangkok Post reflects the social media discussion of the light in the dark. His view is unequivocal:

Thailand has made positive progress concerning freedom of speech and the lese majeste law, and that should be recognised.

At the time,

When magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk received an 11-year sentence for crimes related to lese majeste in January, much was made of the case.

From supporters of the law, there were cheers and applause. From opponents, there was an outcry and condemnation.

As PPT noted back then, the outcry is the positive, with Voranai citing the Chula-Thammasat football match and the social media campaigns associated with “Free Somyot” campaigns. He asks: “Would the students have dared to do this 10 years ago, five years ago, or even two?” He also points to the media:

Today, commentaries on lese majeste are routine whenever the issue comes up. Writers are ever more critical of the controversial law and its usage….

That’s true. But the fact remains that Somyos and several others (the actual number remains unknown) remain locked up.

Censorship remains. Voranai notes this:

The present situation regarding freedom of speech in Thailand is still far from ideal, but things are changing, and that is something we should recognise. In this recognition we can then nurture and foster an environment that is more conducive to freedom of speech.

On the Thai PBS talk show, he says:

Put it into perspective: The station had the courage to do such a show, and it was aired without some invisible hand first smiting it.

The show wasn’t yanked while on the air because somebody made a phone call to somebody. The station too defied threats and aired the last episode of the series.

Finally, Thai PBS formed a legal team to deal with any lawsuits or criminal charges they might face.

This does constitute “a concerted effort to stand for freedom of speech.” For Voranai, that the ultra-royalists, including Army boss General Prayuth Chan-ocha, could only bleat but “could not stop the airing of the entire five-part series.”

That’s true, too. But the saga is not over, and we need to see what the legal fallout is. The threats, the law and the state’s power remain in play in ways meant to repress.

Voranai himself shows how narrow the shaft of light really is:

Times are changing because people are pushing the envelope. In this, the media should take the lead. Not because we don’t respect the monarchy _ we do _ and not because we are not loyal to the monarchy _ we are.

That he feels the need to declare loyalty and monarchism in order to defend free speech demonstrates how the monarchy and lese majeste continue to limit free speech. That he chooses to speak for all is arrogant and mistaken elitism.

Voronai’s resort to the king’s 2005 speech is so boringly bland that we won’t comment much on it. After all, if the king didn’t want all these cases, he could make a simple and clear statement rather than a convoluted ramble that was really a criticism of elected politicians. He doesn’t, so all the references to 2005 is nothing but royalist propaganda. We think the palace loves this law.

We agree that:

Thailand is changing. Freedom of speech today is still a far cry from what it should be, but compared to 10, five or two years ago, there has been a lot of progress.

At the same time, just saying so neglects the important question of how Thailand became a censorship regime, how self-censorship became required of every Thai and how a cult of personality was created and enforced.

Voranai’s answer for this is deeply conservative, even Lee Kuan Yew-esque:

Thailand and the culture of the East in general will never be like Western democracies, not in the foreseeable future. We have different cultural DNA, our social values are different, our national psyches are an ocean apart.

His “Asian values” and “Confucianist” claims were ideological nonsense when it was made by LKY in the 1980s as a way to justify patriarchal authoritarianism, is now just dated nonsense:

Where freedom of speech in the West means institutions like royal families and religion are tabloid fodder and material for comedy skits, in Thailand and the East we still afford them a strong measure of respect and decency.

Such culturalist “explanation” is an excuse for repression.

Progress? Light? Well, yes, some, but Voranai can only conceive of this in narrow culturalist terms that is another excuse for elites to repress.

We think Voranai and the media will only be truly free when they can treat republicanism as part of a rational debate. Thailand will be free when the lese majeste law is gone. Until the lese majeste prisoners are  released,  everyone remains in chains.

Updated: SEAPA and Asian Correspondent on monarchy debate

Readers may find the Southeast Asia Press Alliance statement on the royalist panic over intelligent debate about monarchy and lese majeste of some interest. There’s nothing particularly new in the statement, but a useful summary of events.

The note on the lese majeste investigation is worth repeating:

Police said that the show concerns a matter of national security, and warned that persons reposting remarks of the show’s panellist may also be breaching the law.

The police chief has also ordered authorities to monitor whether the program was posted online and also ordered all stations to accept lese majeste complaints filed in relation to the case.

Police investigators reviewing the series have found content that violated the lese majeste law, according to a police spokesman.

Update: Siam Voices also has a useful summary of events,including the royalist reaction, mentioning the usual suspects. Described as another low-light, Deputy Prime Minister and troglodyte royalist Chalerm Yubamrung stated:

“Don’t they have anything better to do than criticise the monarchy? It is their right to do so but there must be some limit,” he continued. “Thailand has a population of 64 million. Why give so much attention to the opinions of a small group of people?”

The quote from Army boss Prayuth Chan-ocha is revealing, as ever:

The hawkish general has been previously quoted saying that victims of the lèse majesté law “should not be whining” because “they know it better.” He has also said the following (as previously blogged here), which kind of foreshadows his own words from this week and may should adhere to his own advice then:

“(…) คือกฎหมายเราและประเทศไทยก็คือประเทศไทย ผมไม่เข้า(ใจ)ว่าหลายๆคนอยากจะให้ประเทศไทยเป็นเหมือนประเทศอื่น มีเสรีทุกเรื่อง แล้วถามว่ามันจะอยู่กันยังไงผมไม่รู้ ขนาดแบบนี้ยังอยู่กันไม่ได้เลย” พล.อ.ประยุทธ์ กล่าว

“(…) Our laws are our laws and Thailand is Thailand. I don’t understand why so many people want Thailand to be like other countries – to have freedom in everything – how can we live? I don’t know… I can’t live even like it is now already!” said Gen. Prayuth

“‘ประยุทธ์’แจงปิดวิทยุชุมชนหมิ่นยันทำตามกฎหมาย“, Krungthep Turakij, April 29, 2011

 

 

Love it (the monarchy) or leave it (the country)

PPT isn’t exactly sure what to call a group of dinosaurs, but herd comes to mind, especially as we see herd-like behavior amongst rabid royalists in Thailand.

As might be expected, the Army boss General Prayuth Chan-ocha “has lashed out at the Tob Jote TV programme for broadcasting a debate over the role of the monarchy.” That’s according to a story at the Bangkok Post. He considers the “broadcast was inappropriate at a time of political conflict.” So the timing was wrong? Probably not. Prayuth doesn’t want any discussion of the role of the monarchy that goes outside the narrow boundaries of the official treacly narrative.

At least the bellicose general agrees that the media has “constitutional rights … to present a programme,” and is reported to have made the remarkable claim that “there are many other pressing problems to be tackled other than the role of the monarchy.” We say remarkable because most of the main political issues revolve around the monarchy: think amending the junta’s constitution, reforming the courts, amnesty, lese majeste, inequality and double standards and more.

The army boss’s real views are then cited when he:

… insisted the programme was inappropriate. He said the monarchy is part of the country’s history and prestige and must be preserved. He said he has served the royal family himself and can testify that the institution provides happiness to the people…. The monarchy has been under the constitution since the 1932 revolution. Gen Prayuth said the only way the monarchy can be protected is by Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lese majeste law…. He said this is not the right time to make changes to the lese majeste law.

We aren’t sure that Prayuth would know many ordinary people, but in any case this is just the usual royalist blarney. And he issues one of his warnings to those who do not agree with him and the ruling class he serves:

Gen Prayuth said he was confident most people in the country revere the monarchy and want it to be protected…. “People who are in the minority must accept that,” he said. “If they are uncomfortable living here because of the lese majeste law, then they can find somewhere else to live.” … The lese majeste law should be respected, he said. “If you know you will be prosecuted if you defame the monarchy, then don’t do it.”

Love it (the monarchy) or leave it (the country). For the reactionaries, there can be no room to discuss the monarchy or lese majeste.

Fighting amnesty

As PPT has pointed out previously, the royalist right has decided that the next battle with Thaksin Shinawatra and against the Yingluck government is to be on amnesty. Yes, we know that they have always opposed it, but now they see it as the looming reason for undermining the government.

Deputy House Speaker Charoen Chankomol has been busily sending out invitations for up to 10 or 11 political and politicized groups to come together and consider a way forward.

At The Nation, it is reported that the People’s Alliance for Democracy wants to include eight groups:

the Pheu Thai Party, the red shirts, the Democrat Party, the PAD, the people affected by the political turmoil, Nicha Hiranburana Thuwatham – wife of Colonel Romklao who was killed, the Truth for Reconciliation Committee of Thailand and the anti-government Pitak Siam group.

Immediately, it is clear that Nicha is not a “group,” but the wife of royalist “martyr,” intent on pushing an agenda to exclude lese majeste victims from any amnesty. We guess that the royalist dolts from Pitak Siam are included for the same reason. Even so, this bunch of old soldiers and coup plotters wasn’t a group formed until after the events of 2010. Perhaps this lot are included by PAD because they are allies of both PAD and the old men behind the 2006 military coup.

PAD seems to be engaged in dinosaur crowd sourcing.

In the end, Charoen has:

invited representatives from 11 groups, including the Pheu Thai Party, the Democrat Party, the Bhumjaithai Party, the armed forces, PAD, UDD and Pitak Siam. Also invited are Nicha Hiranburana Thuwatham, representing families of state officials killed on duty at political rallies; business operators affected by political violence; the defunct Truth for Reconciliation Commission; and the multi-colour group, led by Tul Sitthisomwong.

Army boss General Prayuth Chan-ocha demands “representatives from all the armed forces” involved. He set the tone for the combined royalist approach to amnesty: “Before granting amnesty we have to look into what the laws say what to do about wrongdoing…”.

Despite all of this compromising and inviting, PAD spokesman Panthep Puapongpan declares: “I have a sense that there might be a [political] rally soon.” Remarkably, he accused the Puea Thai Party was “forcing other groups to join in.” We assume he understands that the “Democrat” Party has refused to enter any discussions.

The yellow shirts are likely to oppose anything they think or imagine “affects the status of the monarchy, or any law is passed granting amnesty to fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his group.” So amnesty for them is nothing more than an excuse for a fight. At the Bangkok Post, the “Democrat” Party believes that the monarchy is under threat from amnesty and that “Pheu Thai’s real motivation was to whitewash fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and co-leaders of the red-shirt group.” That sounds exactly like PAD.

Also at the Bangkok Post, the “so-called multi-colours,” who are just yellow shirts by another name, “will not take part in a planned discussion of a proposed new amnesty bill … because it is not the right time for it, their leader Tul Sitthisomwong said…”. For the dullard Tul, the right time is after “alleged offenders” have been convicted:

He said what should be done first was to speed up the judicial process against alleged offenders of the laws in connection with political protests. Amnesty should be considered individually after the court delivered a verdict on each one, he said.

According to another report at the Bangkok Post, “the Democrats [meaning the party, for it includes few democrats], PAD, Pitak Siam, Ms Nicha and Dr Tul – have announced they would boycott the meeting.”

Another yellow-shirt front group, the Green Politics Group, had its coordinator Suriyasai Katasila announce that the proposed meeting would “fail because it is driven by politicians with hidden agendas who have failed to gain the trust of the public.” He means the popular and elected government….

In the end, as the Post reports, a half-hearted, half-attended meeting was held to agree with a set of platitudes.