[Tlc] Fwd: FYI

[Michael Montesano]

---------- Forwarded message ----------**
*EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW*
  I underestimated the red shirts : Suthep
The Nation, 25 May 2009




 Suthep Thaugsuban, the Democrat Party secretary-general who is the deputy
prime minister in charge of security affairs, talks to Somroutai Sapsomboon
and Kornchanok Raksaseri about the coalition government, the military, the
red shirts and ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The main topics:

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The government is viewed as being backed by the military.

I see that viewpoint as belonging to someone with a broken heart. They try
to discredit and reduce the credibility of the military. They feel that when
they were government, the military did not follow their orders. But when the
Democrats are in power, the military does as instructed.
That image was caused by the fact that this government was formed inside the
military barracks.

In fact, it was not a military unit; it was some place nearby, which I would
like not to identify. I had good ties with senior figures in the military,
and I particularly admired General Prawit [Wongsuwan, the current defence
minister]. He didn't speak much but he spoke clearly. He could be reliable
and was respected by younger military officers. So I got in touch with him.

My question for him was if the military would follow orders from a new
government? That was an important question I had to ask. It's because I saw
what happened during the governments of* Samak Sundaravej
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Samak+Sundaravej+>
*and Somchai Wongsawat. I wanted to know what the military thought, but I
couldn't just go to the Army chief or the armed forces supreme commander and
asked that question. I went to General Prawit because he was a retired
officer and he should know what the younger generals thought. Prawit told me
that the soldiers wanted the country to be free from conflict and that they
would be pleased if anyone would do the job. He said the military was ready
to follow government orders if they were lawful and legitimate.

I asked him frankly if the military thought of staging a coup given the
volatile situation at that time. He said the military would stage another
coup only if that was the last option to ensure the country's survival. It's
because they had learned lessons. Even though they had the power, it's
difficult for them to run the country due to the strong opposition from the
international community and inside the country. He wished me good luck. I
asked him to give the same answers to leaders of other prospective coalition
partners if they asked the same questions. That's why [the prospective
coalition leaders met in the place in question]. We already reached an
agreement but the meeting was to make sure there would be no problems.
It was reported that Army chief General Anupong Paochinda was also present.

I would not be so specific as to who was there. I neither admit nor deny it.
The meeting was held just to allow the prospective coalition partners to
listen for themselves. One major concern for them was that if they joined a
new coalition and the military staged a coup a few months afterwards, it
would be disastrous for them. I told them I had someone apart from me who
could give them assurance.
The military was viewed as taking no action about the incident in Pattaya.
Previously it was the police who were 'in the neutral gear mode'.

Thank you for this question. People don't know the facts. The problem is we
have no laws about crowd control. In the Pattaya case, it was the police who
were in charge and the military acted as their assistants. It turned out
there were not enough police [to deal with the protesters]. There are too
many roads to the hotel [the venue for the* Asean
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Asean+>*Summit
with dialogue partners in April]. It was like a basket with holes;
protesters came in from everywhere. Frankly speaking, the police did not
want to confront protesters because they were afraid of clashes. They
learned some lessons and became the culprits in the eyes of society from the
earlier bloody clashes with protesters, including the yellow shirts.

The police spoke frankly about their problem. At that time I asked them
openly if there was some way that would shift the responsibility to the
politicians in power. They said no way, and I got shivers. The* red shirts
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+red+shirts+>*said
they would come in several thousands. I thought of using soldiers as
volunteers but there was only a small number of them. And the government
asked them to use only shields. At that time the* red shirts
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+red+shirts+>*threatened
to use violent methods, which I didn't think they would actually do. I was
afraid of clashes so I instructed the police and the military not to use
force. I didn't want the matter to be politicised, which would cause damage
to the country. I consulted with MPs, the Chon Buri governor and the mayor
of Pattaya, and we agreed to bring out civilians. We believed that civilians
would not clash with civilians, as we were more concerned with a possible
clash between security forces and protesters. The government stressed that
no weapons would be used and everyone agreed.

Chon Buri's authorities told me they had blue shirts, which were part of the
Interior Ministry campaign for social unity. We agreed to use the blue
shirts. At night I inspected different locations and* Newin Chidchob
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Newin+Chidchob+>
*emerged. In fact there were others, such as Suwit Khunkitti. Everyone
wanted the summit to go ahead without problems. We agreed to group soldiers,
police and civilians and prepared vehicles with sound systems for them to
counter the protesters. We wanted to buy time; we needed a little over one
day before the summit would be completed.

However, as Pattaya is a tourist city and people wake up late, people who
promised to join arrived later than the red shirts. Eventually there were
clashes and things didn't go as planned. The soldiers were not prepared for
a clash while most of the police had to go to the hotels where foreign
leaders stayed, as many red-shirt taxi drivers protested there.
Some people said it was Newin's plan to include the blue shirts and that
caused the Pattaya* Asean
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Asean+>*Summit
to be cancelled.

That's a misunderstanding. The blue shirts have been distributed by the
Interior Ministry all over the country. That is part of a campaign for
social peace and unity. Many of the blue shirts were not distributed because
people arrived late. The* red shirts
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+red+shirts+>*managed
to take some of the shirts that were piled up to be distributed.

Our goal was to avoid creating a perception that Thai people clashed with
one another. When the red shirt protesters besieged Government House, we
went to work elsewhere to avoid confrontation. Instead of using force, the
government went to court. Even for the* Asean
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Asean+>*Summit
in Pattaya, we opted for a soft stance. But frankly speaking I made a wrong
evaluation about them. That's a mistake I have to admit. I didn't think my
countrymen would have done so many bad things. In the past, things that
would affect the country's image often were avoided. The images of them
[red-shirt protesters] storming into the hotel and smashing glasses were
terrifying for foreigners. I didn't expect them to be that serious.
As for the incident at the Interior Ministry, some people suspect it was a
plot to 'trap' the red shirts.

The reason why we had to go to the Interior Ministry was that it was a
holiday and we had no place to go. To declare such an important announcement
[state of emergency], we couldn't do it at some hotel. Also, the person who
drafted the announcement - Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam - was
working at the Interior Ministry. The ministry has a network of
communications with the provincial authorities, which makes it easy for
explanation. There was no hidden agenda as to why the Interior Ministry was
selected.
The* red shirts
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+red+shirts+>*plan
another major rally at Sanam Luang. Do you have any plan to deal with it?

Wherever the protest is, as long as it causes no troubles for others, the
government won't prevent it. But if they break into small groups to besiege
different places, I won't tolerate that.
There is a proposal that the government should negotiate with* Thaksin
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Thaksin+>*Shinawatra,
who is viewed as the root cause of the political conflict.

Don't you remember that shortly after the government was formed, I asked him
for a talk and he rejected it? Today I am not in a position to talk with
him. He has already committed a lot of offences. His demands are that he be
exempted from jail and his confiscated money be returned. I can't talk to
him now.
Did* Thaksin
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Thaksin+>*really
say those were his demands?

He did not say it clearly but it's clear enough.
Have you been in talk with him secretly?

Never. I have no political secrets.
Why did some Democrat MPs came out to express their dissatisfaction over the
performance of Cabinet members from the Democrat Party?

The past four months were hectic for the government. There was no time for
sitting down and talking. There are some issues that Cabinet members need to
explain to the party's MPs, but they haven't done so. These include the
preparation of the 2010 Budget Bill; MPs want explanations as to why certain
projects got funding while others in their provinces didn't. Certain
projects were shelved and really upset many MPs. I think that within the
next two weeks, I will ask the party's Cabinet members to explain to MPs
about the budget bill even though it has not been tabled for parliamentary
deliberation.
What about the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle?

I prefer not to call it a reshuffle; it will be simply appointing new people
to replace someone. As the 'government manager' I am waiting for
nominations. Other coalition parties have not made any suggestions regarding
this matter. When I asked them to join the coalition, we agreed that they
would keep the seats they held in the previous government. The principle
will stay and the more MP seats they get won't affect the original quotas.
How is the government over the past four months?

The government is facing crises on two sides. First, it's economic crisis,
and the prime minister announced that he would first take care of the
majority of the country- farmers. He looked into the rice issue himself and
assigned Deputy Prime Minister* Korbsak Sabhavasu
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Korbsak+Sabhavasu+>
*to oversee corn. I take care of rubber.

The other side involves security and political problems.* Thaksin
<http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+Thaksin+>*and
the 'Thaksin regime' have caused problems for the country. We try to be as
flexible as possible and avoid clashes by any means. We want people to be
aware that what happened posed a serious threat to national security. In the
recent Coronation Day, the government encouraged people to wear different
colours of shirts to celebrate. The point is that although we have different
political views, we have the same King. From now on I will do more and more
about this.

This year I will have two big projects. First, it's about Mother's Day. Her
Majesty the Queen initiated many projects and I will ask the state agencies
to carry on those projects and call for public participation. And there will
be follow-up activities about Coronation Day. Members of the public will be
encouraged to join different projects initiated by His Majesty the King,
particularly ones involving the philosophy of Sufficiency Economy. The goal
is to prevent people from becoming too obsessed with political conflict.
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