BANGKOK — Thailand's national anti-corruption agency says it will prosecute former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and his deputies for authorizing a crackdown on Yellowshirt protesters in October 2008.

On 7 October 2008 the Redshirt-backed government ordered police to clear Yellowshirt protesters who were blocking the entrance to Parliament and calling on Somchai to resign. Two people were killed in suspicious circumstances during the operation.

Yellowshirt protesters clash with police in Bangkok on 7 Oct 2008.

Vicha Mahakhun, a spokesperson of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), said yesterday that the agency will prosecute Somchai and his deputies in the Supreme Court's Division for Holders of Political Office for alleged "abuse of power."

The NACC will take up the role as prosecutor because the Office of Attorney-General declined to take the case, Vicha said.

"The NACC has thoroughly investigated the case," Vicha said. "We are aided by a report compiled by the National Human Rights Commission, and the report concluded by the Parliament. We have a lot of [evidence]."

He added, "All this information makes the NACC very confident."

According to Vicha, the lawsuit will name Somchai, former Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, and "some more Cabinet members" at the time as defendants. 

"At this moment, we are still waiting to hear whether the court will agree to hear the case," Vicha told reporters. "As far as I know, the court has already scheduled the hearing, but I can't remember the date. If the court says so, we will start the process of preparing files for the court."

The October 2008 crackdown came after Yellowshirt demonstrators, led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), seized the Government House and occupied parts of Bangkok to pressure Somchai into stepping down. The protesters accused Somchai of acting as a "puppet" for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the de facto leader of the Redshirts who was deposed in a military coup in 2006.

The crackdown involved police officers firing tear gas at the protesters and beating them with batons. Two demonstrators were killed in an "explosion" later in the day. Police insist that they did not cause the explosion, and Redshirt activists say the victims were carrying explosives at the time of their deaths. 

Her Majesty the Queen later attended the funeral of one of the two victims on 13 October 2008 and reportedly praised her sacrifice "for the country and the monarchy." 

The NACC is frequently accused of backing the Yellowshirt faction and ruling against politicians allied to the rival Redshirt movement. The agency has been criticized for its slow progress in prosecuting the Democrat Party politicians who authorized a crackdown on Redshirt protesters in 2010 that left over 90 people dead. 

Read more:
Families of 2010 Crackdown Victims Demand Progress From NACC

For comments, or corrections to this article please contact: [email protected]

BANGKOK — The military has released a former Pheu Thai Party MP from custody after holding him incommunicado at an army camp for five days.

Ruangkrai Leekijwattana was released from the 11th Army District headquarters in Bangkok at around 9 am on Saturday.

The politician was detained by soldiers on 3 February and held at the 11th Army District camp for "attitude adjustment," according to a military officer who requested not to be named.

The officer told Khaosod that Ruengkrai was summoned by the military for a letter he sent to Patrick Murphy, the Charge d'Affaires at the United States Embassy in Bangkok.

The letter reportedly described the junta-appointed parliament’s decision to impeach former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra last month as politically-motivated. The letter also criticized Thailand’s post-coup military government, the officer said.

According to a military officer at the 1st Region Army, Ruangkrai "understood" the military's concerns and vowed to be more careful when expressing his political views.

"Because the meeting went well, the security officers did not take any legal action against Mr. Ruangkrai," the officer said.

Thailand’s military junta, which seized power from a Pheu Thai-led government on 22 May 2014, has summoned at least six Pheu Thai politicians for criticizing Yingluck’s impeachment over the past few weeks. However, Ruangkrai is the first politician to be held for more than a few hours.

Yingluck was impeached and banned from politics for five years for allegedly failing to stop corruption in her administration’s rice-pledging scheme. Her supporters have called the ruling an effort to weaken the Pheu Thai party's prospects of a winning the next national election, scheduled for 2016 at the earliest.

More than 300 politicians, activists, and academics perceived to be sympathetic to Yingluck’s government were publicly summoned and detained in military camps for up to seven days in the weeks following the coup.  The wave of summons orders wound down in July.

BANGKOK — Thammasat University students in Bangkok used an annual pre-football match parade to ridicule and criticize Thailand's military junta despite security officers' attempts to block the event.

Per tradition, Thammasat University students kick off their annual football match against Chulalongkorn University with a parade featuring commentary on contemporary politics.

Military officers initially "requested" the school cancel this year's parade in compliance with martial law and the junta’s ban on all political activities. However, students and school administrators said the parade and card stunts would go ahead as planned.

A card stunt at the 2015 Thammasat-Chulalongkorn football match that reads: "[We] want democracy. When will you give it back to us?"

In an effort to censor the parade's political elements, military and police officers showed up at the National Stadium yesterday and attempted to prevent any political floats from entering the stadium. 

Student organizers promised the security officers that the floats only focused on "social and foreign issues," such as the Thai economy and ISIS, a jihadist group that controls territory in parts of Syria and Iraq. The soldiers and police eventually conceded, and allowed the students to enter. However, many of the floats turned out to be elaborately disguised.

A float that initially appeared to praise Gen. Prayuth’s “Twelve Values” was later replaced with one bearing the word "Democracy" splattered in blood. [Photo: Prachatai]

For instance, a float that initially featured an ISIS militant was later revealed to be a mockery of junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Similarly, a banner that appeared to praise Gen. Prayuth’s “Twelve Values” was later replaced with one bearing the word "Democracy" splattered in blood.

When the "real" parade became apparent, several plain-clothed security officers forcefully seized political banners from students marching in the parade. (Watch a video here).

Other targest of criticism included Thailand's justice system, which was described as "corrupt" on one banner, the monopoly of Thai transport system, and the weekly TV program hosted by Gen. Prayuth, which was shown with a scene from Teletubbies in the background. 

A float originally disguised as an ISIS militant was later revealed to be junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha. 

One float, titled "Thailand Farm," compared the political situation in Thailand to George Orwell's Animal Farm, a novel about a group of animals who overthrow their masters on a farm and later impose a dictatorship of their own.

The parade also included a reference to the popular TV series "Game of Thrones." 

Meanwhile, the card stunts, executed by hundreds of students, lampooned Thai taxi drivers for refusing to take passengers, criticized misbehaving monks who taint the Buddhist religion, and urged a person named "Pra…Yu…" to have some manners – a possible reference to Gen. Prayuth who is known for his hostile exchanges with the press.

The final card stunt spelled out: "[We] want democracy. When will you give it back to us?"

Student activists also hung two banners (above) that read "Down with Dictatorship!" and "Long Live Democracy!" on the upper level of the stadium. The activist group Chulalongkorn Community for the People later claimed responsibility for the banners.

Vajiravit Kongkhalai, the Thammasat political science student in charge of planning the parade, told Prachatai that the event originally planned to feature many more banners, but some were seized by security officers. 

The tone of this year's parade and card stunts caught many by surprise, as previous years have reflected a more pro-establishment political stance.

The Thai military junta has not publicly commented on the incident. 

In the football game that followed the parade, Thammasat University beat Chulalongkorn by 2-0. 

For comments, or corrections to this article please contact:[email protected]

You can also find Khaosod English on Twitter and Facebook
http://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish
http://www.facebook.com/KhaosodEnglish