Page 1 of
2 Grumbles, revelations of a Thai
coup maker By Rodney Tasker
BANGKOK - Former Thai foreign minister
Prasong Soonsiri was often asked over the past
year why he didn't go into full retirement and
give up his behind-the-scenes political
activities. In response, the former head of the
National Security Council and US Central
Intelligence Agency-trained old military
intelligence hand would take a puff from his
ever-present pipe and smile wryly: "Not until I
have accomplished my mission, and that is to get
Thaksin out of power."
The spry
79-year-old seems to have completed his mission after
prime
minister Thaksin Shinawatra's overthrow in a
bloodless coup on September 19. But now, though he
was a central behind-the-scenes figure in the coup
and is currently a leading member of the new
military-appointed National Legislative Assembly
(NLA), he and many others are still jittery about
the possibility of Thaksin's return from
self-imposed exile and an attempt to overthrow the
new leaders, Prasong told Asia Times Online in an
exclusive interview.
"Thaksin has an
immense amount of money still here, and his
network of political and business cronies, who
benefited from the spoils of his term in power
[from 2001 until the coup] are still in place, and
remain a threat," Prasong said.
"Thaksin
may be too scared to come back now, but he has the
money and loyal fixers to lay a framework for his
return. So Surayud has always to be on his guard,"
he added, referring to interim Prime Minister
Surayud Chulanont, a former army commander and
member of the Privy Council, which advises His
Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
While
Surayud and coup leader General Sonthi
Boonyaratklin's Council for National Security
(CNS) remain generally accepted by most Thais as
honest brokers and committed to their stated
intention to return the country to democracy by
2007, still all is clearly not well with the
military-appointed administration.
For a
start, several anti-coup groups, including one led
by Marxist academic and social activist Giles
Ungpakorn, suspect that Surayud, his cabinet and
the majority of members of the hastily appointed
NLA want a new Constitution Drafting Assembly to
draw up a new charter to allow for a non-elected
prime minister, prohibited by the 1997
constitution. If that happened, it would open the
door for Surayud to remain premier, or allow for
another figure with a military background to take
over after general elections.
All those
now in power have steadfastly denied such an
intention, but even the People's Alliance for
Democracy, the powerful group that led tens of
thousands to demonstrate against Thaksin for most
of this year, are concerned that neither Surayud
nor the ruling generals have a clear agenda. Some
even wonder whether CNS members are quietly
planning to form their own political party -
perhaps even with acceptable remnants of the
now-splintered former-ruling Thai Rak Thai party -
to retain for the military some form of permanence
in politics.
But the worst thunderbolt to
hit the interim government was this week's "Black
Tuesday" move by the Thai central bank to impose
capital controls to rein in the unrestrained
strengthening of the Thai baht, which had the
unintended consequence of driving foreign
investors out of the stock market, which shed a
record 14% in a single day. Although the market
regained 11% of its capitalization the following
day, the appointed government's credibility had
been severely battered in the eyes of foreign and
domestic investors.
Things were not meant
to be thus. The new military-appointed government
was supposed to tackle the four main points stated
by the coup makers in their putsch to bring down
Thaksin: corruption, constitution-meddling to
erode the powers of independent institutions,
social polarization, and subversion of the beloved
monarchy. Thaksin was in effect to be cocooned by
charges of financial malfeasance, ranging from
blatant corruption to tax evasion, and wounded by
accusations of human-rights abuses, such as what
happened with the killing of some 2,500 drug
suspects during Thaksin's 2003 war on drugs, and
his government's heavy-handed dealing with Muslims
in the insurgency-plagued south.
But the
CNS generals so far appear too intent on national
reconciliation and bent on labyrinthine legal
procedures in their legal prosecution of Thaksin
and his cronies. As coup maker Prasong commented:
"Surayud is tough, but too polite."
Coup maker's resume Prasong
hasn't always been as polite during his political
career. Although a former intelligence operative,
he has long been politically active and is widely
perceived as a staunchly nationalistic, somewhat
right-wing, influential figure. It is widely
recognized that he has a privileged relationship
with the palace, mainly through his strong ties
with Chief Privy Councilor Prem Tinsulanonda. It
is said by palace insiders that he is viewed
favorably by King Bhumibol as a true nationalist
and pro-monarchist.
Prasong likes to
do things quietly, in line with his
espionage background. But his dislike for Thaksin - whom
he viewed as a corrupt leader who disrespected
the monarchy - was often made public. That
animosity dated to 1994, when Thaksin took over
Prasong's position as foreign minister after a
shift in the composition of the then-ruling
coalition.
More recently, Prasong
successfully fought and won a civil case brought
against him by Constitution Court judges whom he
had publicly accused of being in collusion with
Thaksin in overturning Thaksin's corruption
conviction in August 2001. If he had been found
guilty, Thaksin would have been barred from
holding political office for five years.
If anyone, Prasong should know what the
coup plotters first envisaged, because the former
air force squadron leader was one of five serving
or retired senior military figures who hatched
plans to oust Thaksin as early as July, he told
Asia Times Online. Interestingly, the five
original plotters, while obviously including
exclusive interview. 
