THAILAND: The Thai Army holds a news conference, says former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and key political players will be released soon and were detained in the first place, to find "common ground"

Record ID: 695250

  • Title: THAILAND: The Thai Army holds a news conference, says former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and key political players will be released soon and were detained in the first place, to find "common ground"
  • Date: 24th May 2014
  • Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (MAY 24, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MEDIA CENTER INSIDE THAI ARMY CLUB SECURITY SOLDIERS STANDING IN FRONT OF MEDIA CENTER MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA AT ARMY SPOKESMEN TEAM NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English ) DEPUTY ARMY SPOKESMAN, WERACHON SUKHONPATIPAK, SAYING: "If we find that there's no significant link and no link at all to the conflict and we are able to find common ground and seek a common understanding among those (detained) persons regarding solving the situation in the country, we would release them for sure." THAI ARMY SPOKESMEN TEAM DEPUTY ARMY SPOKESMAN, WERACHON SUKHONPATIPAK, TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEPUTY ARMY SPOKESMAN, WERACHON SUKHONPATIPAK, SAYING: "We try to stay away from politics. We believe that political conflict should be solved by using political means or politcal measures. However, it didn't work. That's why we have to be here." DEPUTY ARMY SPOKESMAN, WINTHAI SUVAREE, TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEPUTY ARMY SPOKESMAN, WERACHON SUKHONPATIPAK, SAYING: "Under this martial law act, we are allowed to use all kind of cohesive measures to deal with (anti-coup) protesters. But as mentioned earlier, we use only, we enforce only some section in the law," WERACHON TALKING WINTHAI WALKING
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA83LUZ0U2CFC0LAMKEBR7KK9LN
  • Story Text: The Thai army held a news conference on Saturday (May 24) and said ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other key political players would soon be released and had been detained in order to find "common ground".
    The military detained Yingluck on Friday (May 23) when she and 154 other people, mostly political associates, were summoned to an army facility in Bangkok.
    A senior officer had told Reuters she could be held for up to a week and Thai media reported she had been taken to an army base in Saraburi province north of Bangkok, but an aide denied that.

    "If we find that there's no significant link and no link at all to the conflict and we are able to find common ground and seek a common understanding among those (detained) persons regarding solving the situation in the country, we would release them for sure," deputy army spokesman Werachin Sukhonpatipak told reporters, adding that anyone in their custody would not be held for more than seven days. He did not mention Yingluck.
    He defended the military's move to intervene and stage a coup.

    "We try to stay away from the politics, we believe that political conflicts should be solved by using political means or political measures. However, it didn't work. That's why we have to be here," he added.
    Since the coup on Thursday (May 22), non-politically affiliated people have staged protestests against the military in Bangkok and Chiang Mai province in the north, defying an order by the army banning meetings of more than five people.

    "Under this martial law act, we are allowed to use all kind of cohesive measures to deal with the protester (anti-coups). But as mentioned earlier, we use only, we enforce only some section in the law," Werachin said.
    Despite international calls for the restoration of democratic government, Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha has not promised a swift return to civilian rule, insisting there must be broad reforms and stability first.
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