Some more fascinating insights from coup supremo and born-again-democracy-guru General Sonthi in this interview with The Nation. How about this for starters:
During the two-hour interview, [Sonthi] revealed tales of mistrust between him and the former prime minister. The general disclosed that during their recent visit to Burma, shortly before the coup, he had instructed his men to sneak a gun into the C-130 plane so, if the need arose, he could protect himself. Asked what made him do that and what he thought Thaksin was plotting, Sonthi said: “I don’t know. I was just being alert. On the plane, I sat near the entrance to the cockpit, where I could know quickly if something was about to happen. I had been told to wear my uniform but I wore a suit which better covered what I wanted to cover.”
17 responses so far ↓
1 patiwat // Oct 27, 2006 at 10:33 am
Some background info: the flight to Burma that Sonthi was referring to was the 11 September “goodwill delegation” that Sonthi led to meet Burma junta head Than Shwe and his cronies. Sonthi’s wife went as well. That was a bit more than a week before the coup.
I’m not sure what Sonthi was afraid of - being arrested when he got on the plane ala Chatichai ‘91, being arrested by the Burmese after he landed, a cockpit hijacking ala 9/11, etc. It’s been often noted that the Air Force wasn’t the most enthusiastic supporter of the 19 Sept coup (that’s why Army troops had to seize control of Don Muang airport), so maybe he was afraid that Air Force commander Chalit would take him out?
Two other interesting things were noted in the interview.
First was that Sonthi explicitly copied the “Portuguese example” - the 5 October 1910 revolution that overthrew the King of Portugal and established the first Portuguese Republic. Preceeding 5 October was a series of anti-government rallies and a mutiny of the Portuguese Navy. This coincidence of events gave the Army the momentum it needed to seize Lisboa and kick out the King. It is extremely interesting to see Sonthi using a republican revolution this as the template for his own royalist 19 September coup.
The second thing is Sonthi’s claim that he told Thaksin to his face that he was going to stage a coup. No date for this is given - just that it was made during a lunch with Thaksin and the commanders of the military at RTAF HQ. Frankly, I think Sonthi is lying (after the past month, itwould be naive to expect honesty out of the Thai military). As of March, Sonthi was still saying in public that he would not stage a coup. I find it inconceivable that Thaksin and most of his Cabinet would go abroad if Sonthi told Thaksin to his face that he was going to overthrow the government.
2 BangkokPundit // Oct 27, 2006 at 2:46 pm
Patiwat, are you sure? Isn’t Gen Sonthi referring to “their” trip to Burma in August?
From the transcript:
NMG: What was the real situation when you had to unprecedentedly accompany former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on his trip to Burma before the coup?
Sonthi: At first I did not understand why he wanted me to go with him then. He told me to wear a military uniform but I asked to put on a suit instead since I can hide something inside. I did not know what would happen then and I had to take precautions by taking a seat next to the pilot and close to an exit. I would be able to make an easy escape thanks to such a strategic seating in case something bad would happen
Patiwat, it was also after Gen Sonthi told Thaksin about the coup that Thaksin made his speech about someone overthrowing his government. Gen Sonthi could always argue later that the comment was made in jest.
3 patiwat // Oct 27, 2006 at 7:26 pm
Bangkok Pundit, thanks for pointing that out. The transcript and the front-page article reveal different details, and they complement each other. The fact that both Thaksin and Sonthi were in the same flight makes it even stranger - what was Sonthi so scared of? Thaksin telling him “you’re fired!” at gunpoint during the flight? And what the heck was Sonthi thinking of doing - shooting back and then jumping out of the emergency exit?
His comments in the transcript are somewhat confusing. He attacks the state of emergency decree, but defends martial law? And regarding the “underground opponent movement” that is “present in universities, the provinces and Bangkok,” he notes that “in one year from now the Armed Forces will deal with the movement via mass psychology like when they handled circumstances in the past.” Is he equating those who oppose the coup with 1970s/1980s-era communists?
4 vichai n // Oct 27, 2006 at 8:31 pm
The best route towards bringing Thaksin Shinawatra to justice is to prosecute him for all his human rights abuses during his rule.
Meticulous scrutiny into Thaksin’s abysmal human-rights record would arguably send an even stronger signal to both the international community and the Thai public that the military’s political intervention was just and necessary to return Thailand toward a rule-of-law-based society after five years of misrule under Thaksin.
Thaksin violated the very rule of law he was elected to uphold when he directed the extrajudicial slaughter of 2,500 defenseless villagers merely because they were on some policeman-hick’s blacklist. That was mass murder and murder is still a crime even if it was commited by a Prime Minister.
5 James Haughton // Oct 27, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Asking the military to start human rights investigations is like asking a thai traffic cop not to take bribes.
Have you seen this story? Gen Sonthi “admits lack of solid evidence against Thaksin”: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1774302.htm
6 Marutii // Oct 27, 2006 at 9:41 pm
Well, the Thai military could start by indicting the entire Thai police force for human rights violation. Once that is over then the police can indict the military on same grounds. Finally the Thai people can arrest both the military and police and start afresh. Reboot. Ping!!
7 jeru // Oct 27, 2006 at 10:02 pm
In South Korea they did jail two Presidents: Roh and Chun, and that was for corruption. The anti-drugs extrajudicial killings were clearly direct orders from the top man himself then PM Thaksin Shinawatra. They do not have to indict the whole police force (they were only following orders, remember), they will only have to indict the Police Chief, the Interior Minister and of course Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thailand could then set the example to the world that extrajudicial killings is a horrifying crime . . even more criminal if instigated, directed and ordered the the country’s top elected leader. Jail Thaksin Shinawatra for mass murder! That should do it!
8 Nirut // Oct 27, 2006 at 10:04 pm
James, asking the military to start human rights investigations is like asking the US to be honest when concocting evidence to support a declaration of War …or asking the Australian government to respect the rights of refugees…or asking the British government to respect Islam, the Israeli government to negotiate fairly with Palestine…or…like asking a foreign backpacker to stop resorting to ethnocentric stereotypes to illustrate innane point. Or is it? A military investigation into the Interior ministry would be sure to reveal more than a police investigation…which rights abuses are you thinking of?
9 JB // Oct 27, 2006 at 10:30 pm
I also wonder why Thailand should hesitate to prosecute Thaksin Shinawatra, his wife and many relatives and maybe half of the TRT executives for the corruption spree carried out during Thaksin’s 6 year rule. If South Korea can jail corrupt Presidents, Thailand too should be able to jail corrupt ministers. Thailand should start with Thaksin Shinawatra . . Thailand has to start somewhere.
But Jeru has a good point on the Extrajudicial Killings ordered by Thaksin Shinawatra. That was a mass murder crime . . and Thaksin Shinawatra was prominently the man in charge. We do remember Thaksin Shinawatra as the micro-manager requiring blacklists from the police-hicks, then follow-ups on the body counts. Thaksin Shinawatra was enjoying his murderous extrajudicial show which was impressing the villages . . TRT’s entertainment to the poor I would say.
For the extrajudicial killings alone, Thaksin should be jailed for life.
10 JB // Oct 27, 2006 at 10:32 pm
If I may add, General Sonthi surely must have been aware of Thaksin Shinawatra’s extrajudicial murderous nature. Taking that gun during the Burma trip was protection against his murderous Boss.
11 rural // Oct 28, 2006 at 2:47 am
He\’s just a baby proxy, like a puppet .
everything in this abyss \’re Not fancy
12 anon // Oct 28, 2006 at 3:44 am
The problem is that Thaksin’s anti-drug spree was applauded by nearly everybody, from farmers up to the King. The more some people complain about extrajudicial murders, the more other people will remember that 3 years ago, somebody had the balls to take the knife to drug dealers. I’m not defending Thaksin, I’m just being a political realist. The anti-drug campaign was one of his most popular policies.
Also, some of the worst human rights abuses (Tak Bai and Krue Sae) of the Thaksin government were committed by the military itself. Soliders ordered and then executed on those orders. The junta will not undertake any human rights probes because it has even more human rights abuses in its closet than Thaksin.
13 Vichai N. // Oct 28, 2006 at 5:50 pm
The truth Anon is that Thaksin Shinawatra was a coward of the worst kind . . as he directed from high up in his expensive Penthouse, the execution of 2,500 defenseless villagers. JB’s comment that Thaksin Shinawatra was a micro-manager demanding first blacklists from the those village policemen-hicks, then demanding again thousands of body counts paint a truly despicable picture of a megalomaniac man, bent on displaying his god-like powers to deliver instant justice, and showing off macho gloss to those guillible village masses who could not understand better that rules of law, if not meticulously observed, criminally violate human rights and outrages our decency.
What was the point of the slaughter? Thaksin’s whim? Expediency? Surely Thaksin Shinawatra could have passed the toughest anti-drug legislation on the world in the Thai parliament he then effectively controlled if he really wanted to make a lasting impression against drug abuse. But Thaksin Shinawatra wanted to earn adulation accorded to movie stars when he willfully slaughtered 2,500 defenseless villagers suspected of ya ba trafficking. Mass murder to be popular makes me puke!
Anon you love the extrajudicial killings, do you? I personally would like to see extrajudicial measures tried on the very people who espouses it use (or abuse).
14 Anti-Drug // Oct 29, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Wait ’til your child be addicted to drug. You’d appreciate Thaksin’s ‘drug’ policy…
15 chris white // Oct 29, 2006 at 10:25 pm
As a follow up to James’s earlier post there is a curiously titled article from the Nation “Democrat calls on CNS to explain works” it goes on to say:
“The Democrat Party Sunday called on the Council for National Security to re-explain its reasons behind the coup against the Thaksin government.
Democrat spokesman Ong-art Klampaibool said so far none of the reasons cited by the coup makers to oust prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had been fulfilled so the CNS should explain to the public why there were no progress in the issues.”
Its starting to sound like a familiar story.
The full text can be found here: http://nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30017416
Although I must admit I’m starting to enjoy all the tales of ‘black magic’ ‘voodoo’ and al the other stories flowing from the deep dark recesses of peoples minds. Keep the rumours coming. No evidence is required.
16 jeru // Oct 29, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Thaksin has committed grievious sins against the Thai people. The corruption spree by TRT directed by Thaksin is one. His subvertion of the Thai constitutional checks & balances is second. His ineptitude in further inflaming the Southern unrest is third. His much publicized conflict of interest family enriching AmpleRich-Temasek-Shin $1.8 billion transaction is fourth.
And Thaksin also committed and directed mass murder in that Y2003 anti-ya ba campaign which resulted in the extrajudicial slaughter of 2,500 DEFENSELESS villagers merely because these victims were on some poorly trained poorly paid corrupt village policemen’s blacklist. Murder is a crime, mass murder even more so, and to have been carried out in violation of the rule of law by the very Prime Minister elected to uphold the law is criminally unforgiveable. For this fifth most heinous crime of Thaksin, he should be JAILED and punished to the full extent of the law, 2500 times!
17 comment 14 // Jan 23, 2007 at 4:15 am
comment 14—if u r the family of the 2,500 victims????
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