False promises II

Less than a week ago newly-appointed army chief Gen Narongphan Jitkaewtae stated: “The military will not get involved in politics. I will only answer questions about the army’s affairs.”

We said: This is a lie.

He’s proven us correct. He lied.

The Bangkok Post reports that Gen Narongphan has gone beyond “army affairs” to tell democracy protesters calling for monarchy reform. He spoke threateningly: “They should look at themselves first to see whether they have done everything right before telling others what to do…”.

And, he warned them that there were serious consequences for “breaking the law.” He means speaking of the monarchy. He added: “The use of freedom must not violate others’ rights and you must take responsibility for your actions if you break the law…”.

Gen Narongphan stated that the Army’s role under his command was to protect “nation, religion, the King and the people.” He declared: “I will do whatever it takes to ensure their security…”. Protecting the people has several times involved murdering some of them.

Nothing much has changed. Be very concerned when he says “whatever he does will comply with the creed of the army.” That means lies, murder, corruption, impunity and coups.