Partial Transcript of Police Annoucement of Bombing Suspect Arrest

Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency

No Longer Whole, a Family Buries its Dead and Waits for Answers

City Officials Bridle at Claims of Broken CCTVs

Bangkok Bombing Dragnet Yields 142 Unrelated Arrests

Man Dropped Bag into Water Night Before Sathorn Pier Blast

Seen Often on Sathorn 10, Suspect Thought to Use Fake Turkish Passport

Leaked Police Report Tracks Lead Suspect Before, After Bombing

Police Widen Hunt for Bombing ‘Network’

Day in Photos: Expressions of Grief, Unity After Terror Attacks

Briton Dies in Bangkok Shrine Bombing

Despite Lack of Evidence, Thai Media Points Blame at Uighurs

Tourists Narrowly Escape Second Bangkok Bombing in 24 Hours

Bangkok Shrine Bombing: Police Hunt Backpack Man

Tourists Among 19 Killed by Bomb at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].

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Powerful Winds Drive Dark Clouds Over Bangkok

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1 September 2015, 17:01

Storm clouds sliced across the sky over Bangkok just before 5pm today.

BANGKOK — The Thai capital is in for a stormy evening as powerful winds swept in from the southwest just before 5pm.

A dramatic storm front sent dark clouds led by strong gusts streaming over Bangkok, with rainfall expected over 60 percent of metropolitan Bangkok with winds of up to 30kph, according to the meteorological service.

Heavier rain is expected to cover the capital Wednesday, only to fall off for a mostly dry Thursday.

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Suspect ‘Wanna’ Left Thailand Weeks Prior to Attack

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Junta Claims More Arrests Made, Urges Public to Report ‘Suspicious’ People

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1 September 2015, 15:57

Immigration record of Wanna Suansan leaving Thailand on July 1, more than six weeks before the 17 Aug. bombing of the Erawan Shrine.

BANGKOK — A woman sought in connection with the bombing of the Erawan Shrine last month left Thailand nearly more than six weeks before the attack.

According to immigration records obtained by Khaosod English, Wanna Suansan departed Thailand from Phuket International Airport on 1 July on Etihad Airways flight No. EY0431 bound for Abu Dhabi with her husband and infant child.

A warrant for Wanna's arrest was issued yesterday in connection to the 17 Aug. bombing after an apartment rented in her name was raided in Min Buri district, where a cache of bomb-making materials were found.

Her husband is believed to be a Turkish national, and this afternoon a court issued warrants for the arrest of three Turkish men wanted in connection with the attack.

When soldiers yesterday searched Wanna's family home in the southern province of Phang Nga province, a family member contacted her via the Line chat app at their request, according to a neighbor. She reportedly responded that she was in Turkey. Her family said they hadn't seen her in three months.

The neighbor, who asked to not be identified by the media, said Wanna is being used as a scapegoat.

"I want everyone from relevant [agencies] to come and meet Wanna's parents in person," she said. "They will know that how pitiable they are, as ordinary villagers, now that their daughter stands accused by society and branded as one of the perpetrators. I am afraid that my friend is now a scapegoat."

Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency

No Longer Whole, a Family Buries its Dead and Waits for Answers

City Officials Bridle at Claims of Broken CCTVs

Bangkok Bombing Dragnet Yields 142 Unrelated Arrests

Man Dropped Bag into Water Night Before Sathorn Pier Blast

Seen Often on Sathorn 10, Suspect Thought to Use Fake Turkish Passport

Leaked Police Report Tracks Lead Suspect Before, After Bombing

Police Widen Hunt for Bombing ‘Network’

Day in Photos: Expressions of Grief, Unity After Terror Attacks

Briton Dies in Bangkok Shrine Bombing

Despite Lack of Evidence, Thai Media Points Blame at Uighurs

Tourists Narrowly Escape Second Bangkok Bombing in 24 Hours

Bangkok Shrine Bombing: Police Hunt Backpack Man

Tourists Among 19 Killed by Bomb at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].

Follow Khaosod English on Facebook and Twitter for news, politics and more from Thailand.

Arrested Man 'Matches' Yellow-Shirted Bangkok Bomber

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Partial Transcript of Police Annoucement of Bombing Suspect Arrest

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1 September 2015, 15:06

A top police official this evening has said a man taken into Thai custody today near the border with Cambodia 'matches the appearance' of the so-called 'Yellow Shirt' man seen leaving a backpack at the Erawan Shrine minutes before a deadly blast there killed 20 people and injured more than 150 others.

BANGKOK — A man taken into custody in eastern Thailand today "matches the appearance" of the yellow-shirted man seen in CCTV footage leaving a backpack at the Erawan Shrine minutes before a bomb detonated there, killing 20 people.

The suspect was flown to Bangkok by helicopter at 4pm today and is being interrogated at a military facility under the junta's special authority granted under Article 44 of the interim charter, police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawuth Thawornsiri said at a news conference this evening.

"Please wait for witnesses to identify him first," Prawuth said in response to a reporter's question whether the suspect is the top suspect in the 17 Aug. shrine attack. "But his face and appearance look very much like the composite sketch."

Photograph of the suspect taken today after he was taken into the custody of Thai authorities.

Thawornsiri said the man has been communicating in English but did not confirm his nationality or name. Before he could state unequivocally the man arrested today is indeed their chief suspect in the bombing, Prawuth said they will wait for a match from witnesses and forensic evidence.

"He will be charged with illegal entry into and departure from the kingdom," he said. "Right now we don’t have his name. We don’t know his nationality. He has not been charged yet. He is being detained by the military under Article 44."

He did however express confidence the man was an associate of the only other suspect to be arrested so far, a man taken into custody Saturday in a Nong Chok district raid.

A composite sketch of the prime suspect in the shrine bombing released two days after the attack.

Despite a media report the man was arrested inside Cambodia over the weekend, Thai military officials insist the suspect was taken into custody at a checkpoint manned by soldiers and police at around 11 am near Baan Rai village, 500 meters away from Thai-Cambodian border.

“The route he was using is not an ordinary route, so soldiers detained him and asked him for details, but the man was uncooperative, so they alerted police from Aranyaprathet Police Station for further inspection.” said Maj. Gen. Srisak Poonprasit, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, aka the Eastern Army.

Srisak said the man, a foreigner, was observed behaving suspiciously, wearing a backpack, grey shirt, creme-color pants, cap and sunglasses. Police later determined he was a suspect in the Bangkok bombing case, he added, though he did not mention whether the man was indeed the so-called "yellow shirt" suspect.

Several media accounts, including one from the Bangkok Post, have cited "reliable sources" claiming the man was in fact captured inside of Cambodia and subsequently rendered to Thai authorities.

Srisak rejected that as untrue.

“I can insist that it was Thai security officers who arrested him," he said. "That checkpoint is one of the additional checkpoints that we set up after the bombing.”

Images of the man were released by the military government this afternoon. Thai authorities reportedly took the man into custody in Sa Kaeo province near the border with Cambodia.

Another photo of the suspect after being taken into custody.

In one message, Wassana said the arrest happened in Sa Kaeo province near the border with Cambodia, citing Prayuth as her direct source.

Meanwhile police spokesman Prawuth Thawornsiri, who was expected to give a public address this afternoon, has reportedly played down reports he is that man.

More Warrants

At this evening's news conference, Prawuth said the man arrested today was not among a fresh batch of arrest warrants issued this afternoon.

Those warrants were for three more male suspects and indicated their nationality as Turkish. Their names are Ali Jolan (transcribed from Thai), Ahmet Bozoglan and a third unidentified man. All three are charged with illegal possession of explosives.

Earlier this afternoon a military source released an image of a passport they said the suspect was carrying. The passport is Chinese and identified the man's birthplace as in Xinjiang province. Xinjiang province is the home of a Turkic ethnic group that some have speculated might have been involved in the attack.

Prawuth this evening denied having his passport.

"It’s just a photo that you shared on social media," he said. "We don’t have that."

A passport provided by a military source purportedly of the man arrested today. Khaosod English have censored identifying details pending confirmation.

Today's arrest comes after a series of rapid developments in an investigation that one week ago seemed to all but peter out.

The first real break was a raid Saturday in eastern Bangkok which netted a suspect and stockpile of bomb-making materials. The lead for that reportedly came from a painstaking review of telephone traffic around the shrine at the time of the attack.

Warrants for two more suspects were issued yesterday, including one for the first suspect to be identified by name – a Thai woman named Wanna Suansan. Wanna is reportedly in Turkey and denies she was involved.

Several rooms were rented in her name at a building in the Min Buri district where a man targeted by the other warrant was said to have been staying. A large trove of bomb-making materials were found there.

Prawuth said the man arrested today was believed to be a confederate of suspects identified or arrested so far.

"He is connected to the whole network," he said. "I am confident he is a major person in the network."

Two previous warrants had been issued for the yellow-shirted Erawan bombing suspect and the blue-shirted man who left a bomb in a waterway near Sathorn Pier.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, the worst such incident of its type to hit Bangkok.

Speculation from authorities has swung between opponents of the military government, domestic political strife, foreign terrorists and most recently: personal vengeance by underground criminal elements.

In recent days, the narrative coming from the official mouthpieces have sought to play down strenuously avoided mentioning Turkey by name.

However some theories paint the attack as revenge for Thailand's decision to deportat more than 100 Uighur refugees back to China in July, which provoked Turkish nationalists to storm the Thai consulate in Istanbul.

Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency

No Longer Whole, a Family Buries its Dead and Waits for Answers

City Officials Bridle at Claims of Broken CCTVs

Bangkok Bombing Dragnet Yields 142 Unrelated Arrests

Man Dropped Bag into Water Night Before Sathorn Pier Blast

Seen Often on Sathorn 10, Suspect Thought to Use Fake Turkish Passport

Leaked Police Report Tracks Lead Suspect Before, After Bombing

Police Widen Hunt for Bombing ‘Network’

Day in Photos: Expressions of Grief, Unity After Terror Attacks

Briton Dies in Bangkok Shrine Bombing

Despite Lack of Evidence, Thai Media Points Blame at Uighurs

Tourists Narrowly Escape Second Bangkok Bombing in 24 Hours

Bangkok Shrine Bombing: Police Hunt Backpack Man

Tourists Among 19 Killed by Bomb at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].

Follow Khaosod English on Facebook and Twitter for news, politics and more from Thailand.

Bangkok Bombing: 24 Officers ‘Transferred’ for Misconduct

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1 September 2015, 13:40

A soldier searches the room of an unidentified foreign national Saturday in Bangkok's Nong Chok district.

BANGKOK — Eighteen police officers in the capital and six immigration officers in the northeast of Thailand have been transferred to inactive posts for alleged wrongdoing related to the deadly bombing of the Erawan Shrine last month.

The 18 cops were transferred to inactive posts for falsely claiming they had thoroughly searched jurisdictions where bomb materials and a suspect were later discovered, while the immigration officials came from a border crossing possibly used by at least one of the bombing suspects to enter the kingdom.

The Bangkok officers were transferred for failing to follow an order from police central command to carry out searches of property and “suspicious foreigners” in the wake of the 17 Aug. attack. Responding to the order, police in Min Buri and Nong Chok districts had sent back all-clear reports, indicating no foreigners or bomb-making materials had been found.

Yet police and military on Saturday and Sunday raids discovered detonators, ball bearings, gunpowder, metal pipes, chemicals and fertilizers in apartment buildings located within those districts. They also arrested a suspect.

The 18 officers include deputy commander of Bangkok’s Division 3 command, superintendent of Min Buri police station and superintendent of Nong Chok police station. Ten senior officers of the two stations were among those ordered to report to Bangkok police headquarters and await further “investigation,” according to police.

Being reassigned to an inactive post is a common punishment for bureaucrats in Thailand.

Authorities also announced that six senior Immigration Police officers in Sa Kaeo province have also been transferred to inactive posts at the Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok.

Police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said this afternoon the transfers were ordered because the officers had neglected their duties and permitted “illegal foreign laborers” to arrive in Thailand through the Aranyaprathet checkpoint, which is just across the border from Poipet, Cambodia.

However a Thai Rath report this morning claimed a foreign man arrested Saturday in Bangkok had illegally entered Thailand by bribing Sa Kaeo immigration police with 18,000 baht. Somyot said the matter was being investigated.

A military vehicle transports a suspect arrested Saturday in Bangkok's Nong Chok district.

The suspect arrested Saturday was taken into custody in the raid of the Nong Chok apartment building, where some of the bomb-making materials were found. His name and nationality have not been released by authorities. He is currently being interrogated at an army base in Bangkok.

That interrogation has proved “greatly beneficial,” junta spokesman Col. Winthai Surawee said today, and led to the arrest of further, unspecified suspects.

No individual or group have taken credit for the shrine bombing, which killed 20 people and injured more than 150.

Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency

No Longer Whole, a Family Buries its Dead and Waits for Answers

City Officials Bridle at Claims of Broken CCTVs

Bangkok Bombing Dragnet Yields 142 Unrelated Arrests

Man Dropped Bag into Water Night Before Sathorn Pier Blast

Seen Often on Sathorn 10, Suspect Thought to Use Fake Turkish Passport

Leaked Police Report Tracks Lead Suspect Before, After Bombing

Despite Lack of Evidence, Thai Media Points Blame at Uighurs

Tourists Narrowly Escape Second Bangkok Bombing in 24 Hours

Bangkok Shrine Bombing: Police Hunt Backpack Man

Tourists Among 19 Killed by Bomb at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine

Junta Claims More Arrests Made, Urges Public to Report ‘Suspicious’ People

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1 September 2015, 12:36

Junta spokesman Col. Winthai Surawee in a televised address today called on the public to report 'suspicious' residents.

BANGKOK — Thailand's military government has urged owners of guesthouses and apartments to report any "suspicious" people today and said it has made more arrests related to last month's bombing of the Erawan Shrine.

Col. Winthai Surawee said the military interrogation of a man arrested Saturday at an apartment in eastern Bangkok had led investigators to apprehend additional suspects and called on the public to report "supicious' people to the authorities.

“To help the ongoing investigation, we ask for the cooperation of the owners of residences, guesthouses, and apartments to notify the military or police officers or call 1515 if any suspicious individual stay at your premises,” Winthai said.

Winthai did not elaborate with any details of the arrests mentioned, nor did he qualify what basis should be the basis for reporting people.

Surawee also confirmed the investigation's first named suspect, Wanna Suansan, is in “another country” and had contacted authorities.

When soldiers yesterday searched Wanna's family home in the southern province of Phang Nha province, a family member contacted her via the Line chat app at their request, according to a neighbor. She reportedly responded that she was in Turkey. Her family said they hadn't seen her in three months.

The neighbor, who asked to not be identified by the media, said Wanna is being used as a scapegoat.

"I want everyone from relevant [agencies] to come and meet Wanna's parents in person," she said. "They will know that how pitiable they are, as ordinary villagers, now that their daughter stands accused by society and branded as one of the perpetrators. I am afraid that my friend is now a scapegoat."

Security forces interview the family of suspect Wanna Suansan at their home in Phang Nga province.

Thai officials have avoided any mention of Turkey and have encouraged the media.

“We ask all media for cooperation in refraining from publicising news based on assumption or speculation without authorised information from officials,” he said. “Doing so will mislead the public, which may cause panic and anxiety and create a negative image of Thailand.”

A warrant was issued yesterday for Wanna and an unnamed foreign national. Both were linked to an apartment in the capital's Min Buri district where a raid Saturday night turned up a cache of suspected bomb-making materials.

Winthai said several rooms there were rented in Wanna’s name, and the unidentified suspect was staying in one of them.

That raid came hours after a foreign man was taken into custody in the eastern outskirts of Bangkok. Suspected bomb-making materials were also recovered from the apartment building where the man was arrested. Also found were piles of forged Turkish passports. The man had an obvious fake identifying him as Adem Karadag, but his true name and nationality remain unconfirmed.

Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency

No Longer Whole, a Family Buries its Dead and Waits for Answers

City Officials Bridle at Claims of Broken CCTVs

Bangkok Bombing Dragnet Yields 142 Unrelated Arrests

Man Dropped Bag into Water Night Before Sathorn Pier Blast

Seen Often on Sathorn 10, Suspect Thought to Use Fake Turkish Passport

Leaked Police Report Tracks Lead Suspect Before, After Bombing

Despite Lack of Evidence, Thai Media Points Blame at Uighurs

Tourists Narrowly Escape Second Bangkok Bombing in 24 Hours

Bangkok Shrine Bombing: Police Hunt Backpack Man

Tourists Among 19 Killed by Bomb at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].

Follow Khaosod English on Facebook and Twitter for news, politics and more from Thailand.

Court Dismisses Charges Against Phuketwan Journalists

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Phuket Journalists To Face Lawsuits Filed By Navy

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1 September 2015, 11:19

Alan Morison, left, and Chutima Sidasathian outside a Phuket provincial court where they were acquitted of all charges against them this morning.

PHUKET — A provincial court in Phuket acquitted two journalists on trial for a news report about human trafficking in the south of Thailand.

Chutima Sidasathian and her Australian colleague, Alan Morison, this morning were found not guilty of both a criminal defamation charge brought by the Royal Thai Navy and a count of violating the Computer Crime Act for publishing a July 2013 report about human trafficking that included a paragraph implicating unnamed navy personnel.

“I am happy that the court has done its duty perfectly,” Chutima said, applauding the court for applying the letter and spirit of the law. “It benefits the freedom of expression of Thai media, foreign media and the people. … I also believe that this case will have a positive outcome on other ongoing lawsuits on libel and Computer Crime Act charges.”

The court ruled that the text published in Phuketwan was not libelous because it was done to serve a compelling public interest and not a personal attack.

Charges under Thailand’s criminal defamation statute are notoriously difficult to defend against, as truth is not an absolute defense. Truth can only be used as a defense in matters deemed to serve a compelling public interest.

Chutima said the court recognized that the offending passage in the report was excerpted from Reuters, which the court acknowledged as a reputable international wire service.

As for the computer crimes charge, the court ruled it was a misapplication of the law, saying the report was not false, did not affect national security and did not defame the navy’s reputation, as charged.

Chutima said a representative from the Royal Thai Navy, which brought the suit against her and Morison, showed up just after the verdict was read.

“He congratulated me," she said. "I think this verdict benefits everyone.”

The navy and prosecutors can file an appeal within 30 days. Chutima said she hoped the navy would drop the matter, saying its lawsuit has already adversely affected its reputation.

The Phuketwan report that led to the charges excerpted one paragraph from a Reuters report that Chutimas had contributed to as a fixer:

“A Reuters investigation, based on interviews with people smugglers and more than two dozen survivors of boat voyages, reveals how some Thai naval security forces work systematically with smugglers to profit from the surge in fleeing Rohingya,'' it read.

The navy never filed charges against the Phuketwan journalists five months after the report was published, but never went after Reuters. The London-based news service this morning hailed the court’s decision.

“We are pleased at the court's verdict in the case today as Reuters wholeheartedly supports the principles of a free press, and the imperative of journalists across the world to publish independent and reliable news,” the statement read.

The charges had been roundly condemned by media organizations within and without Thailand, as well as human rights organizations. Last month the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights joined the call for charges to be dropped charges to be dropped because "international human rights standards uphold the right of journalists and others.”

Chutima and Morison had held fast and refused to apologize for the report – a face-saving measure that can have a favorable outcome in such defamation cases in Thailand – saying it would be an admission of wrongdoing.

Amnesty International called Phuketwan’s acquittal a “small step in the right direction.”

“The acquittal of these two journalists is a positive decision, but the fact is that they should never have had to stand trial in the first place let alone face the possibility of years in jail,” Josef Benedict, a campaign director for the group, said in a statement.

The verdict comes in a year which has seen the harrowing extent of trafficking of humans and forced servitude in Thailand exposed for the world to see.

Prodded into action by the possibility of costly sanctions, the Thai state took action earlier this year against what has long been an open secret: trafficking operations involving the kidnapping, ransom and enslavement of migrants and refugees, some of whom have ended up at sea for years on Thai fishing vessels. In May security forces discovered slaver camps near the border with Malaysia, where several mass graves were discovered containing more than 100 bodies.

Clarification: Story updated to reflect the defendents were acquitted by the court.

Correction: The original version of this story misspelled Chutima's name as Chutimas.

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French Tourist Dies From Waterfall Plunge in Southern Thailand

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31 August 2015, 19:02

A rescue operation was conducted at the Na Mueang Song Waterfall on Koh Samui today, where a French tourist died in a fall.

SURAT THANI — A French tourist died and another was seriously injured after they fell from a waterfall on Koh Samui today.

The two tourists were found on the rocks near the base of the Na Mueang Song waterfall by police officers and rescue workers, who pronounced one of the victims dead on the scene while the second was transported to hospital with broken bones.

The two tourists were identified as two French men in their early 20s. Rescue workers reportedly spent two hours navigating through tall and slippery precipices to retrieve the body of the deceased.

The surviving tourist broke bones in his leg, hip, rib cage and arms.

Police were alerted to the incident at approximately 11am this morning after Sommai Himthong, a local guide, reported hearing loud screams as he was walking near the waterfall, leading him to investigate. He told police he found five tourists who told them their friends had slipped and fallen down the waterfall, so he called police.

Police said Na Mueang Song Waterfall has a history of accidents causing injuries and deaths.

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Soldiers, Police Sweep Southern Home of Thai Bombing Suspect

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31 August 2015, 18:24

Security forces interview the family of bombing suspect Wanna Suansan today in Phang Nga province.

PHANG NGA — For three months, bombing suspect Wanna Suansan has not returned to her home in the south of Thailand, her family said today.

As a warrant was being issued in Bangkok for Wanna’s arrest in connection with the bomb attack, a combined force of police and military converged on the Thai woman’s family home and interviewed her relatives today in Phang Nga province.

At around 2pm today soldiers and policemen arrived at Wanna’s family home and conducted a search of the property for any suspicious material. No illegal items were found in the search, police said.

Her family members told police she has not been back home for three months.

According to a reporter on the scene in Phang Nga, a police officer told one of the relatives to use the Line chat application to contact Wanna and ask where she was, at which point Wanna allegedly replied that she is in Turkey.

Arrest warrants were issued this afternoon for 26-year-old Wanna Suansan, a Thai national; and an unidentified foreign man, a police sketch of which is at right. Images: Royal Thai Police

Two weeks after a powerful bomb killed 20 people at Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine, Wanna today became the first named suspect to emerge from the subsequent investigation.

A court issued arrest warrants for the 27-year-old woman as well as an unnamed foreign man on the suspicion of being involved in the attack. Previously warrants were issued for a lead suspect thought to have placed the bomb and a second man suspected of dropping an explosive device in a riverside waterway minutes after the blast.

Investigators believe both were staying in a Min Buri district apartment building where a Saturday night raid and subsequent search turned up fertilizer, gunpowder, wiring, watches, bolts and other items.

The raid came several hours after police and soldiers raided another apartment in Nong Chok district, where in addition to finding forged Turkish passports and a cache of possible bomb-making materials, an unidentified foreign man was taken into custody.

An arrest warrant was issued today for Wanna and an unnamed foreign national.

Although his passport – a likely fake, given its many irregularities – identified him as Adem Karadag, authorities have made no conclusions yet as to what his name actually is or where he’s from.

No one has taken credit for the attack which has spawned wide-ranging speculation from global jihadists and domestic terrorists to far-right Turkish ultranationalists.

Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency

No Longer Whole, a Family Buries its Dead and Waits for Answers

City Officials Bridle at Claims of Broken CCTVs

Bangkok Bombing Dragnet Yields 142 Unrelated Arrests

Man Dropped Bag into Water Night Before Sathorn Pier Blast

Seen Often on Sathorn 10, Suspect Thought to Use Fake Turkish Passport

Leaked Police Report Tracks Lead Suspect Before, After Bombing

Despite Lack of Evidence, Thai Media Points Blame at Uighurs

Tourists Narrowly Escape Second Bangkok Bombing in 24 Hours

Bangkok Shrine Bombing: Police Hunt Backpack Man

Tourists Among 19 Killed by Bomb at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine

To reach us about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at: [email protected].

Follow Khaosod English on Facebook and Twitter for news, politics and more from Thailand.

Redshirt Leader Vows to Defy Charter Campaign Ban

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31 August 2015, 17:52

Soldiers line up in Yala province to cast their votes in the 2007 constitution referendum in this 19 Aug., 2007, file photo.

BANGKOK — A top leader of the Redshirt movement announced a campaign to reject the military junta’s draft constitution will be organized if it goes to a national vote next year.

Nattawut Saikua, a leader of Redshirt umbrella organization, vowed yesterday to organize a “no” vote days after a government official said any such effort to campaign for or against the new charter would not be allowed, citing the military junta’s ban on political activity.

“Now that the government can see that many sides are not pleased by the charter draft, they may use bureaucratic power as their tools, and whoever campaigns against the charter will face many forms of state power,” said Nattawut, a leader of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship. “But the UDD isn’t worried because there will be more damage if Thailand has to live under undemocratic conditions for a long time.”

The draft charter will go to voters in early January should the junta-appointed council vote to endorse it Sunday. Should that happen, Nattawut said Redshirt leaders will swiftly hold a news conference to announce their effort to see it defeated.

Prominent politicians from Thailand’s rival factions have criticized the new constitution, which would be Thailand’s 20th, as undemocratic. It's been drafted by a body handpicked by the military junta which seized power in May 2014.

Nattawut’s criticism may surprise few, given the the political party widely supported by Redshirts was ousted in the coup.

But it’s an opinion also echoed by civilian politicians from Nattawut's archrival Democrat Party, including party chairman and former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

“The Democrat Party believes that it is best if the council rejects this constitution,” Abhisit said last week.

Those criticisms have focused on clauses designed to impose limitations on future elected governments, such as creating a military-stacked committee that can unilaterally intervene and seize control from elected officials anytime unspecified “chaos” arises in the kingdom.

Other clauses that have come under fire would allow a non-MP to become Prime Minister, abolish direct election of the Senate and delegate more power to non-elected “independent agencies” such as the Constitution Court.

Nattawut said a vote held without a free and open debate is unacceptable.

“Many dictatorship countries also organized referendums for constitutions and other matters,” he said. “Those in power use every way to convince people to pass [their agendas]. It’s like this constitution, which has been illegitimate since the beginning.”

Campaign Ban may be Softened

Responding to criticism over the ban, Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngam said the junta may ease the prohibitions on a case-by-case basis.

“The National Council for Peace and Order will deliberate on possible alleviations,” Visanu said, using the junta’s formal name.

Asked to explain his earlier assertions about prohibited “mobilization” and acceptable “expression of opinions” in the run-up to the referendum, Visanu said it depended on intentions.

“If it is merely an expression of opinion that is personal and not designed to convince other people into agreement? It can be done,” he said. “Even though a person’s words may sound convincing, that person has to be conscious not to invite other people to agree with him/her.”

But he said, election campaigns like those of a general election would not be allowed.

Open campaigning was allowed in 2007 when the previous constitution, also drafted under military supervision, was written and eventually adopted by voters.

Meanwhile, a member of the junta-appointed National Reform Council, urged the public to study the constitution draft on their own, instead of listening to the politicians who oppose it.

“Don’t be fooled by these politicians,” Sira Jenjaka said. “These people lost their political power, so it’s natural that they would only say things that benefit them. Of all previous charters, this constitution gives power to the people the most.”

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