THAILAND: Thai coup leaders get down to business of appointing a new anti-corruption body and starting the process of naming a civilian prime minister.

Record ID: 335845

  • Title: THAILAND: Thai coup leaders get down to business of appointing a new anti-corruption body and starting the process of naming a civilian prime minister.
  • Date: 22nd September 2006
  • Summary: SOUNDBITE (Thai) SUPAPORN DANGKANIT, SAYING: "We need information, we need truth, I don't think it's appropriate to restrict news reports, people need to be informed."
  • Embargoed: 7th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA85OJ5O5KIMRJKPHTO6SSNZZMP
  • Story Text: Thailand's military coup leaders got down to business on Friday (September 22), forming a panel to probe alleged corruption under ousted billionaire leader Thaksin Shinawatra, sacking a powerful police board he used to lead, and starting the process of naming a civilian prime minister. They were working on forming a nine-person panel to probe Thaksin, his relatives and political colleagues, judges invited onto the panel said on Friday. And as Thailand bounces back from Tuesday's (September 19) coup, some people are beginning to question certain actions taken by coup leaders. Bangkok residents gave mixed reactions to an overnight military decree limiting political activity and public expressions over domestic television.
    The Thai army, which gave no sense of how long the ban would last, said in a statement "To ensure the constitutional monarchy is functioning after reforms have been completed, the Council for Democratic Reform Under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) has ordered political parties to halt all meetings and political activities." In the same order, read out on television, the coup leaders banned the formation of new parties. No more details were given.
    "I think banning of political gathering and activities is sensible for the moment," said Chatchawan Rungrote near the Temple of Dawn in Bangkok. "We need information we need truth, I don't think it's appropriate to restrict news reports, people need to be informed," Supaporn Dangkanit, a resident said.
    Thailand is technically under martial law since Tuesday night's putsch and an earlier order banned political gatherings of more than five people as well as the free distribution of information critical of the coup on Web sites. The military said it was forced to stage Tuesday's coup because there was no other way out of a protracted political crisis that pitted Thaksin against the old guard and street campaigners. The coup leaders said they would craft a constitution within a year to repair flaws that Thaksin was accused of exploiting to wield near-dictatorial powers, then hold an election. The military has scaled down its presence in Bangkok but tanks and soldiers are stationed in strategic locations and street junctions.
    Thailand's army has gone on a charm offensive with its tanks outside the Government House in Bangkok drawing curious onlookers including schoolchildren from a northern province. School students spent five hours on a bus from Chaiyaphum province, 342 km northeast of Bangkok to see the tanks they had seen only on television, in real life. The soldiers smiled and spoke to the students, giving them food and drinks as they posed with their tanks adorned with roses from grateful city residents. The students and teachers snapped happily with their digital cameras and cameraphones as the soldiers continued posing for photographs.
    On Friday, Sonthi officially received royal endorsement from Thai king Bhumipol Adulyadej - a move that brings legitimacy at least locally to a coup that has raised concerns from international leaders. Accompanied by the armed forces chiefs and several privy councilors, Sonthi attended a ceremony held at the Army headquarters in the morning to hear an official endorsement read out by a palace representative. Footage of the ceremony was broadcast over local television at noon several hours later. The coup leaders met with revered King Bhumibol immediately after seizing power, announced the royal endorsement two days before. This ceremony was the first formal appointment. Air Force chief Chalit Phukpasuka told reporters on Friday coup leaders were close to naming a civilian prime minister who is likely to be a lawyer able to steer political reform, and not the expected economist. A new constitution was the top priority, which meant legal expertise was the main requirement, he told reporters three days after the military took over and said it would appoint a civilian prime minister within two weeks, then step back. "At the moment the person should be a lawyer as it's the most important link. The economy can be looked after by a deputy prime minister. But he should have the best expertise in law because our goal is to amend the constitution," said Chalit, one of the military chiefs who took power on Tuesday.
    The new favourite for the job of producing a constitution without the flaws Thaksin was accused of exploiting to accumulate near-dictatorial powers was Supreme Administrative Court President Ackaratorn Chularat. Chalit confirmed Ackaratorn was a candidate, but declined to elaborate. Ackaratorn said he had not been approached and refused to say whether he would take the job if offered it. Speculation had centred on former World Trade Organisation chief Supachai Panitchpakdi and central bank boss Pridiyathorn Devakula, respected men thought most likely to assure the world that Thailand's export-dependent economy was in good hands. Human rights organisations and governments around the world have condemned the coup leaders' curbs on civil liberties although Thais have generally welcomed the coup as the best way to avoid strife.
    In the Muslim-majority south, faint hopes have been kindled following the coup by Thailand's first Muslim army chief that violence will ease in a region where 1,700 people have been killed in separatist unrest since 2004. In the days leading up to his putsch, Sonthi placed himself at direct odds with his political masters on the south, staging a peace rally and proposing talks with the as-yet-unidentified insurgent leaders. The daily cycle of shootings and bomb and arson attacks in the troubled provinces of Yala, Narathiwat d s appear to have slowed since Tuesday night's ouster of Thaksin , who was loathed in the south. Thaksin tried everything from the iron fist to the velvet glove to end the unrest, including sending more than 30,000 troops and police and "bombing" the region with millions of paper birds of peace. He also refused to apologise or discipline army officers following the death of 78 Muslims in military custody after a protest in 2004 in the village of Tak Bai. Given the anonymous nature of an insurgency whose roots go back more than a century, however, Muslim leaders said it was impossible to know whether the let-up in violence is the result of a policy shift by the militants, or just coincidence. "I hope the first thing is that they use democracy tempered with justice and without considering where the people come from. Rule with justice and be fair to all citizens," said Ramli Takiyuddin, an imam in Narathiwat. In the tourist destination of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, residents welcomed the coup although some were sympathetic to Thaksin. "I agree (with the coup). But as I am the neighbour (of Thaksin) I felt sorry for him about it," said Chiang Mai resident Somboon Pintajam.
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