[Tlc] T-politics

Sat Mar 28 07:28:22 PDT 2009

More transcript from Taksin's video speech forwarded from a member.
Thanks,
justin

Thaksin video-link at Government House, 27 March 2009, 20:30, Matichon online clips:
http://www.matichon.co.th/mtc-flv-window.php?newsid=1238161609

[Matichon also has a transcript which is not quite accurate but good enough. The extracts below are the parts where he talked about the past, and are not continuous. In between he spoke several times, saying privy councilors should not be involved in politics because it makes people misunderstand that the King is behind it. In the middle, he gave a rabble-rousing address, calling on the red shirts to help restore democracy. Towards the end he gave a proposal: reverse back to the point prior to the April 2006 election; bring back the 1997 constitution with amendments to correct the problems over appointment to independent bodies; hold a general election; he will not be involved.]

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That day I had a meeting with government officials at Santi Maitri house. I told all of them to work to the full, because I knew officials had begun to run in “neutral gear”, had begun to have interference by the person with extra-constitutional charismatic power. I had to push them to work. A person with extra-constitutional charismatic power, what does it mean? It means the constitution does not lay down any structure, any power in  administration, but because he has charismatic power (barami) he can covertly give orders. Officials are deferential and agree to follow, agree to go against the orders of their superior.

The phrase person with extra-constitutional charismatic power created a big fuss. Sondhi [Lim] claimed I meant the King. I was not so bold. I’m loyal. I was not so bold as to say that. In truth, the person with extra-constitutional charismatic power is General Prem Tinsulanond [Big cheer]. I didn’t dare say it then. And one of General Prem’s people phoned to ask me to say clearly that it was not General Prem. But it was, so I wouldn’t. [Big cheer]

Because General Prem was involved in politics, and the military was involved, we had the coup, the constitution of 2007, and the country has gone backwards by at least 15 years.

Panlop said it was not General Surayud that called him to the meeting but the owner of the house, Pi Malakul…. General Surayud said that three privy councilors went to have audience with the king, General Surayud, General Prem, and a third I won’t name because I’m not sure

At the coup, General Prem took Nai Bung and the others to audience. Why? If a coup group wants to go to audience, they can go, why should a privy councilor go too? It’s as if he was the head of the coup group.

That Pa descends to play politics, to order this and that, in his role as a person with extra-constitutional charismatic power, is something that destroys the procedures of the country, gives rise to a system of double-standards, gives rise to social injustice

Pa has no children but children are growing up. They must have a future, must live in a country with a proper system, a democracy that commands international acceptance, and social justice, not a system in which Pa can press this button and that button.

When I was premier, I thought there was something funny with one deputy PM. Later I learnt that he invited a business friend of mine to be a minister. It turns out, General Surayud intended to make him [i.e., the deputy pm] prime minister under Article 7. This was wrong. Inviting a businessman to be a minister. I was shocked. My own deputy pm, why should he act so funny.

The intervention, the meeting at Khun Pi’s house in Sukumwit gave rise to many events. There were attempts on my life—people dare not talk about it because of criminal proceedings. There were two attempts by sniper fire but I was lucky. The first time, I changed my route, returning from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai, not via Lampang, and they had set the gunman at Lampang. The second time in Sanam Luang, they arranged to place the gunman in the Political Science Building at Thammasat. They thought I would speak at 8 p.m. but as it happens I spoke earlier and so the gunman was not ready when I left the building. And the third time was the car bomb, two times at the airport, and the third near my house, at the Sangyi intersection of Charan[sanitwong] road. In the end they caught the culprits with firm evidence. As far as I enquired, the person who was behind all three times and who followed the matter closely, often, two to three times, is called Nai Bung, Nai Bung.

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu