Thailand Politics

Yingluck Shinawatra’s Ex-Ministers take to YouTube in her Defence

Yingluck Shinawatra is due to make a final appearance in the trial on Thursday before the legislature

Ms Yingluck is due to make a final appearance in the trial on Thursday before the legislature

BANGKOK – Anti-corruption protesters around the world have wielded YouTube as a weapon to oust governments but in Thailand, it is toppled ministers who are taking to the medium to rebut negligence charges levelled against their former boss.

Senior officials in the administration felled by last year’s military coup have posted a video defending Yingluck Shinawatra, former prime minister (above), days before the junta’s puppet parliament rules on whether she should be impeached over a troubled multibillion-dollar rice subsidy scheme.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political-science professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University

The ministers launched their online defence after MPs refused to allow them to speak in Ms Yingluck’s place when she failed to turn up for a hearing on Friday, in a case that could result in criminal charges and disqualification from politics for five years. The YouTube advocacy is the latest twist in an increasingly surreal affair that has heightened fears about how “reforms” launched by the generals and their allies risk deepening the political divide in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.

“It is a circus on one hand and a power play on the other,” Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political-science professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, said of the Yingluck trial. “It’s part of an effort to stifle fair criticism and create an atmosphere of ‘whoever is not with us is against us’.”

Four senior ex-ministers from the Yingluck government, including Kittiratt Na-Ranong, finance minister, and Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan, commerce minister, took to YouTube at the weekend to defend a rice subsidy scheme that the new military-dominated government claims cost the state more than $15bn. The former ministers said the programme was not corrupt and had helped boost economic growth and farmers’ incomes in rural Thailand, the heartland of a political revolution that has for the past 14 years swept to power parties led or directed by Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications plutocrat and Ms Yingluck’s older brother.

General Prayuth Chan-ocha

Ms Yingluck is due to make a final appearance in the trial on Thursday before the legislature, packed with military officers and their backers from the traditional ruling establishment, announces its decision the next day. General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the coup leader who has since shed his fatigues for a prime ministerial suit, insisted on Monday that he was not orchestrating a guilty verdict against his predecessor.

“I have never sent any signal. Never,” he told reporters. “There has never been an order.”

But as he and his fellow generals back away from a pledge to hold national elections this year, critics charge that there is a growing gap between the military’s self-image as benevolent guarantor of stability and its pursuit of opponents amid escalating political repression.

Outside a hearing in her case this month, Ms Yingluck said it was “weird” how someone already kicked out of office by a coup could be impeached. Others have pointed to the apparently contradictory logic that allows the ex-premier and others to be tried under the authority of a military that ripped up the political system the accused are said to have violated.

Two other former legislators from Ms Yingluck’s Puea Thai party also face impeachment because of their support for a bill to make Thailand’s half-appointed upper house of parliament fully elected.

As Piriyathep K, a social media commentator, put it: “Those who successfully obliterated the previous constitution will be impeaching those who unsuccessfully tried to amend that constitution.”

The cases brought by the National Anti-Corruption Commission against Ms Yingluck and the other MPs have further raised eyebrows among sceptics because of the lack of evidence publicised so far that the accused were doing more than exercising political power — however contentiously or irresponsibly. While the country’s courts and regulatory institutions insist they are independent warriors on graft, critics say they have shown a strong pro-establishment bias in decisions to oust three Thaksin-allied prime ministers, including Ms Yingluck, in the past seven years.

Many commentators see the rice scheme as ill-conceived — both in the size of the subsidy and the way it left warehouses full of government-owned rice with no buyers — but some are questioning the legal leap to allegations of top-level complicity in wrongdoing.

“Agricultural subsidy programmes may be considered bad policy (a decision left to voters to decide),” said an internet commenter, known as Watchdog, in response to a Bangkok Post newspaper piece on Monday that criticised Ms Yingluck. “But what makes them criminal?”

The military junta declined to comment on the impeachment cases and parliament’s standing to try them. Gen Prayuth has repeatedly insisted that he seized power only with great reluctance in May, to prevent six months of sometimes violent street protests from tipping the country into deeper civil conflict.

By Michael Peel a British journalist. He has written for various publications including Granta, New Republic, New Statesman and London Review of Books. He is currently middle east correspondent of the Financial Times.

Thailand Politics

Thai Prime Minister’s Popularity Declines as Move Forward Party dominates

(CTN News) – Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin continues to make local and international visits to try to solve problems and promote Thailand, but he has failed to impress most voters, according to a Nida poll. The poll also revealed the declining popularity of Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the rise of the Move Forward Party.

According to a poll released on Sunday, only 12.85% of people supported the prime minister, down from 17.75% in the previous survey. The daughter of convicted former Prime Minister Thaksin, currently on parole, saw her popularity drop from 6% to 4.85%.

The National Institute of Development Administration conducts a quarterly survey of the public’s preferred political leaders. The last survey was released at the end of March.

According to the survey, supporters of the prime minister described Mr Srettha as a resolute decision-maker determined to address their problems. Ms Paetongtarn was complimented for her vision, leadership, knowledge, and grasp of the country’s difficulties.

This weekend, the prime minister will be in the northeast region listening to citizens’ concerns. The journey occurred only a few days after he had visited northern provinces earlier in the week.

Despite criticism, he has reduced his abroad trips, citing the need to showcase Thailand to investors and traders.

Pita Limjaroenrat, the chief advisor of the Move Forward Party, remained the top candidate for prime minister with 45.50% of the vote, up slightly from 42.75% in the previous quarter’s poll.

Pirapan Salirathavibhaga was the huge winner. The leader of the United Thai National Party saw his popularity nearly quadruple from 3.55% to 6.85%.

The sampled voters stated they appreciated Mr Pita’s political beliefs and thought he had broad knowledge. They praised Mr Pirapan’s credibility, claiming he was clean and honest.

Two other probable prime minister candidates were Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan of the Thai Sang Thai Party and Anutin Chanvirakul, leader of Bhumjaithai. However, they were less popular than others.

About 20% of voters still did not believe any candidate was qualified to lead the country, which is the same percentage as in the last survey.

Move Forward Party was the most popular party with 49.20%, up slightly from three months ago, while Pheu Thai fell around five percentage points to 16.85% from 22.10%.

The poll, issued on Sunday, surveyed 2,000 ineligible voters between June 14 and June 18.

Thailand Politics

Move Forward Party MP Jirat Thongsuwan Appeals Suspended Jail Sentence for Defamation

(CTN News) – Jirat Thongsuwan, a Move Forward Party MP, says he would appeal his one-year suspended jail sentence for defaming a former senior defense ministry official concerning the state’s procurement of bogus bomb detectors.

The Criminal Court also fined Mr Jirat 100,000 baht for falsely accusing ACM Tharet Punsri, a former Air Force chief-of-staff who later became the ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, of being the chairman and shareholder of a company that supplied the military with the infamous GT200 bomb detectors.

The Chachoengsao MP claimed a July 20, 2022, no-confidence vote against cabinet ministers in Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government. ACM Tharet was not a cabinet member.

Jirat Thongsuwan also identified ACM Tharet as a key figure in the 2006 coup headed by then-army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, which overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra.

ACM Tharet told the court that Jirat Thongsuwan’s charges were false and harmed his reputation. He denied involvement with the bomb detection company and said he was not the company’s senior chairman or shareholder.

In addition to the suspended jail term and fine, the court ordered Jirat Thongsuwan to pay $ 500,000 baht in damages to ACM Tharet and publish an apology in three newspapers for five days.

Jirat Thongsuwan later announced on his X account that he had challenged the verdict with the hashtag “An injustice is infuriating”.

The MP has also been accused of dodging required military conscription. He admitted to the accusation on May 8.

A British business promoted the GT200 as a “remote substance detector” and sold it in several countries. Between 2004 and 2009, fourteen Thai government organizations, most of which were military, were projected to spend 1.4 billion baht on the units.

Concerns about the GT200 and related gadgets arose after the National Science and Technology Development Agency discovered they lacked electronic components.

The devices were later revealed to be “divining rods”.

Thailand Politics

Thaksin Shinawatra Files 100 Million Baht Defamation Lawsuit Against Warong Dechgitvigrom

(CTN News) – Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, has launched a defamation action against Warong Dechgitvigrom, the head of the Thai Pakdee Party, accusing him of paying a bribe to be released on bail in a lese majeste case.

Thaksin’s attorney, Winyat Chartmontree, filed a lawsuit against Warong, seeking 100 million baht in damages.

Warong, a long-time Thaksin Shinawatra critic, gave a public statement and posted on social media, saying that 2 billion baht was paid to judicial officials in exchange for release on bail in the lese majeste case.

Thaksin Shinawatra Granted Release on 500,000 Baht Bond

Thaksin was granted release on a 500,000 baht bond last week and told not to leave the country without court authorization after pleading innocent to charges of defaming King Rama IX in a 2015 interview with South Korean media.

Winyat stated that, while Warong did not identify Thaksin Shinawatra by name in his speech or post, he did include a hashtag with Thaksin’s name as well as the date Thaksin must appear in court, allowing readers to connect Thaksin to the allegations.

Winyat further stated that he was investigating the fact that Warong mentioned the specific aircraft and automobiles utilized by Thaksin Shinawatra to violate the Personal Data Protection Act.

“I have requested Mr Warong to provide proof as to where he received the data. “If it turns out that it came from state officials, there will be legal consequences,” he warned.

The Criminal Court has scheduled the case’s preliminary hearing for September 30.