For an undisclosed reason, soon after the May 2014 military coup, anti-democrat protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban entered the monkhood. He’s stayed there ever since. Speculative comments have suggested that the military junta wanted him out of the way so as to demobilize his supporters. There were some suggestions that he had been threatened by the military as they demanded that all civilian politicians vacate the political filed, leaving it to the military.
As is well known, Suthep is one of the Democrat Party’s southern godfathers, with extensive business interests in the region. Indeed, he was recently listed as declaring about $6 million in landholdings. The anti-democrat movement in 2014 was anchored in Suthep’s businesses and patronage networks in the south.
Suthep has not been particularly quiet as a monk, traveling about and promoting himself, often with the support of anti-democrat/yellow shirt media, including social media. He’s also been in the news of late, fronting the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) last week regarding his role in the murderous crackdown on red shirts in 2010. Nothing new there, with Suthep blaming every death on “men in black” and giving the impression that Abhisit Vejjajiva was a sock puppet when he was meant to be premier.
It seems, however, that Suthep’s excursion into the monkhood has not calmed his political ambitions or “entrepreneurial” spirit. As can be seen in a recent video report by the Bangkok Post, he’s been promoting a book and grabbing money hand over fist (via proxies) for that.
What was revealed in the video, however, is that the “politician-turned-monk … [is] being guarded by two men carrying Tavor and Uzi assault rifles…”. Ironically, both appear to be in black….
Suthep’s brother Thani Thaugsuban, “said the two men with the firearms were not Phra Suthep’s personal bodyguards,” explaining that “Security officials in the area provided the bodyguards, Phra Suthep did not ask for them…”. It is claimed Suthep was in Pattani.
Guns, business and politics seem the norm for Suthep.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 