PCT Thailand's Thai News and Information

6,000 guns and explosives stolen from barracks

Acting Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn confirmed on Sunday that an urgent investigation was being conducted into “a massive loss of weapons and explosives” from an army base in the southern province of Phattalung.

According to Mr Panitan, a police report was filed last Thursday and investigators are attempting to determine whether the weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents in the south, or the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), aka the red-shirts, who plan to hold its million man march and rally commencing this Friday, March 12, in an attempt to oust the government.

Informed sources claim about 6,000 assault rifles and a large amount of explosives were taken from Engineering Regiment 401, part of the Fourth Army Region, in Phatthalung Province, and the theft was only discovered on Tuesday.

Mr. Panitan said the investigation was focusing on the possibility the theft was “an inside job” and that since the loss, security at other army weapons warehouses, especially in Bangkok, has been tightened.

The revelation of the theft follows comments yesterday by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that recent intelligence reports had pointed to the possibility of sabotage taking place on March 14.

Mr. Abhisit said that the government’s Security-Related Situation Monitoring Committee had received information that acts of sabotage aimed at creating chaos were being planned by red-shirt sympathisers.

When questioned about the matter, Army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the Army had no such intelligence.

Sean Boonpracong, international media spokesman for the UDD, said protesters coming to Bangkok on March 12 are being repeatedly told not to bring weapons to the rally and UDD security personnel will be checking people for weapons prior to and during the rally.

“We’re constantly stressing to people that the only “weapon” they should bring is a camera to photograph anything that the government might instigate and to photograph the checkpoints along their route.

“If UDD security personnel detect anyone with weapons then that person will be handed over to government security agents”, Mr. Boonpracong said.

PRO-THAKSIN RALLY
March 12: ‘most worrying day’

It may be declared an extra public holiday

The government’s Security-related Situation Monitoring Committee agreed at its meeting yesterday that March 12, when the red shirts plan to gather at six locations around Bangkok, would be the “most worrying” day of their new major activities, a source said.
At the meeting at Army headquarters, the possibility of declaring March 12 an extra public holiday was also raised, according to the source.
During the Songkran festival last April, the government declared some extra public holidays after a road blockade at the Victory Monument and violent protests at other locations in Bangkok turned into riots.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of security affairs, chaired the meeting, which lasted more than three hours. The other participants included Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, permanent secretary for defence General Apichart Phenkitti, armed forces supreme commander General Songkitti Jakkabatra, the commanders-in-chief of the three armed forces, and acting national police chief General Patheep Tanprasert.

Maj General Ditthaporn Supawong, spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command and for the panel, told a press conference after the meeting the participants expressed concern for the safety and convenience of Bangkok residents.
Suthep, as the panel’s chairman, instructed the Royal Thai Police and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to minimise the impact of expected traffic congestion during the street protests to help Bangkok residents already suffering from the problem, according to the spokesman.

Ditthaporn said that yesterday’s meeting did not discuss imposing the Internal Security Act.
The Army chief maintained yesterday that the armed forces had no political bias and told unit commanders to relay the message to their subordinates and their families, Army deputy spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Ngathong said.
She told a press conference yesterday that Army commander-in-chief General Anupong Paochinda stressed on the Army’s duty of serving society and maintaining peace, while chairing a meeting of commanders.

He also urged the commanders to prevent their subordinates from being persuaded to “do anything that would cause negative effects on the country due to misinformation”, the spokeswoman said.
“The Army is for the benefit of the country. We take no [political] colours or sides,” Anupong was quoted as saying, referring to the rival red shirts and yellow shirts.

Regarding the planned major rally by the anti-government red shirts, the Army chief told the meeting that he expected a “fragile situation” around mid-March. Anupong expressed concern and instructed the unit commanders to closely follow the situation, according to Sirichan.

She said the Army chief also told the commanders to ask their subordinates and their family members not to take sides in the conflict between groups of different political colours.
Anupong told the commanders that in addition to the First Region Army, which is now assisting police in manning checkpoints in Bangkok, the remaining units such as the Second to Fourth Region Armies should be on standby in case reinforcements are needed, according to the spokesman.

However, the spokeswoman rejected reports that soldiers were blocking protesters from the provinces from joining the red shirts’ rally in Bangkok. She said the soldiers were just maintaining peace and providing convenience to motorists.
Meanwhile, Democrat MPs estimated that it would cost the red shirts about Bt70 million a day to hold their major rally in Bangkok, a Government House source said yesterday.

A group of Democrat MPs met Deputy Premier Suthep at Government House yesterday to discuss preparations for the rally. The Democrats estimated that given the fact each Pheu Thai MP was expected to hire 200 pickup trucks to carry people joining the rally at Bt3,000-Bt3,500 for each vehicle, as well as Bt300 in daily allowance for each participant, it would cost Bt70 million a day to hold the rally, according to the source.

Thai Army on stand-by for Bangkok to prevent further bombings in the capital

BANGKOK: — The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Army is ready to send troops to Bangkok to help prevent bombings in Bangkok and vicinity, ISOC spokesman Maj Gen Dittahphon Sasasmith said, according to Bangkok Post.
They will provide reinforcements to police to help restore peace, and it has also focused on gathering intelligence aimed at preventing unrest from reoccurring, Gen. Diitahphon said.

He said the armed forces were concerned about the bombs in Bangkok after the Supreme Court ruled to seize 46 billion baht of the assets of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. ISOC was ready to help out if requested.
Bangkok Bank (BBL), who was hit by bomb attacks over the weekend at four branches, said Monday it is not involved in domestic politics. Bangkok Bank will reopen for business as usual Tuesday, said BBL chairman Staporn Kavitanon.

Grenades were thrown at its branch offices on Bangkok’s Silom Road and in Phra Pradaeng of Samut Prakan. The explosions shattered glass windows at both facilities and damaged nearby telephone booths and vehicles. Grenades were also hurled at two other branches on the outskirts of Bangkok but both failed to explode.

Phra Pradaeng police said Monday that the Bangkok Bank branch which was hit by the grenade was not equipped with a surveillance camera but eyewitnesses saw a man wearing a crash helmet at the scene of the incident.
No casualties were reported in the incidents, but police have already distributed a sketch of a suspect. Police believe that the attackers are from the same group. An arrest warrant was issued for the bomber this afternoon.

Bangkok Metropolitan police has offered a 300,000 Baht reward for information leading to the arrest of the Bangkok Bank bombing suspects
MCOT news agency reports that PM Abhisit has received an ‘underground movements’ report.

Thaksin, supporters vow to fight Thai verdict
Thailand’s fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters vowed Saturday to fight back against a court order seizing more than half of his 2.3-billion-dollar fortune.

Thaksin, who was toppled in a coup in 2006, rejected calls from the ruling party to leave the political stage and dismissed their arguments that a compromise had been struck by returning a portion of his frozen funds.

His supporters, dubbed the “Red Shirts” for their colourful garb, said they would press on with their plans for mass rallies in Bangkok in mid-March, dimming hopes that the verdict could ease Thailand’s political turmoil.

“I’m not going to let anyone keep me down. I will fight in every way that I can. I will not chicken out,” Thaksin wrote on his Twitter page Saturday.
In a separate statement issued from Dubai, where he is living to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption at home, the tycoon urged the Red Shirts to fight on and said he would “keep fighting for democracy and justice.”

The ruling Democrat party said Thaksin should accept the verdict and stop egging on his supporters, who have called for fresh elections and the resignation of current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

“Every side should accept the verdict. We want to ask Thaksin to quit the political movement, because if he quits the Red Shirts will quit too,” Theptai Seanapong, a party spokesman, told reporters.

Abhisit, the Oxford-educated premier accused by the Red Shirts of leading an elitist, military-backed government since he took power in December 2008, rejected Thaksin’s accusation that his family’s money had been “stolen”.

“I don’t think we’re stealing anyone’s money. The money now belongs to the country… I would like everybody to respect the verdict,” Abhisit told reporters.
The Supreme Court found Friday that Thaksin had abused his power as prime minister to boost his business interests and ruled to seize 46 billion baht (1.4 billion dollars) from the 2006 sale of shares in his telecoms firm.

In a seven-hour verdict broadcast on national television and radio, judges said the twice-elected former leader could hold on to the money he had accumulated before taking office in 2001.

Thaksin denied that he had used his position as head of government to benefit Shin Corp and that he had illegally hid his ownership of the shares, among other graft charges.

His lawyers Saturday said they would consider submitting fresh evidence to the Supreme Court within 30 days and would mull an appeal to the World Court.
The Red Shirts have said they will gather from March 12 in Bangkok to topple the government, leading many to fear a reprisal of scenes last April when riots at an Asian summit and in the capital left two people dead and scores injured.

“I would like to tell the Democrats: don’t be so jubilant about the misfortune of a man who has been treated unjustly,” Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan said Saturday.

“Thai society will not accept those who tread on the unfortunate.”

Authorities deployed up to 35,000 extra security forces across the country for the verdict but there was no sign of trouble from the Red Shirts, who have insisted they will continue their movement without violence.

The court case goes to the heart of rifts that have dogged Thailand since the coup.

The Red Shirts, largely from Thaksin’s stronghold in the nation’s poor north and north-east, loved his populist policies and accuse Abhisit’s government of failing to heed their problems.

The tycoon’s opponents in the Bangkok-based circles around the palace, military and bureaucracy accuse Thaksin of being corrupt, dictatorial and of threatening Thailand’s widely revered monarchy.

Abhisit now heads a fragile six-party coalition that analysts say has clung to power only with the wavering support of the powerful military. He took power after a court verdict drove Thaksin’s allies from government.

His Majesty the King Leaves Siriraj Hospital

His Majesty the King of Thailand has left Siriraj Hospital after months of hospitalization for lung infection.
He’s now returned to the Chitralada Palace.

A SPOTLIGHT has been turned on political stability in Thailand once again after the country’s Supreme Court yesterday decided that ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his former wife unlawfully concealed his assets while in office and abused power for personal gain.

The court ruled that of 43 billion confiscated baht (€960 million), 30 billion baht (€670 million) should be returned to Mr Thaksin, although the revenue commissioners want to examine this amount for tax reasons.

By only seizing part of the popular former prime minister’s assets, the verdict can be seen as a compromise as it allows both sides to claim victory and it may head off immediate violence in Thailand. Some €1.5 billion worth of assets were frozen after Mr Thaksin’s elected government was overthrown by the coup, but security forces were on high alert yesterday amid widespread predictions of violence by Mr Thaksin’s red-shirted supporters.

The way the verdict is presented is crucial because if the court finding had come down too hard against Mr Thaksin, that could have fuelled opposition feelings that he was being victimised, which would have certainly seen angry reactions on the streets of Bangkok.

Mr Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and convicted in his absence of corruption, but he remains hugely popular in Thailand, especially in his power base in the north.

Uncertainty surrounding Mr Thaksin’s intentions means that rumours about another possible coup refuse to die down in the south-east Asian monarchy, which has seen serious political unrest as an almost annual occurrence in the past four years.

Mr Thaksin, who has 30 days to appeal the findings, has denied the charges from self-imposed exile in Dubai and has on occasion made noises that he would be prepared to stage a coup in Thailand.

Mr Thaksin and his former wife, Potjaman na Pombejra, were found to have concealed ownership of shares in his family business Shin Corp while in office from 2001 to 2006 and to have abused power by tailoring policies to benefit the company.

Security was tight around Bangkok’s Supreme Court on what was widely described as “judgement day”. Some 600 troops guarded the courtroom, with mobile phone signals jammed to prevent remote-detonated bombings and judges were brought to the courthouse in bullet-proof cars. Thousands more riot police stood guard on the streets of the capital.