Subject: Thailand's Situation (May 20's news)

From: [email-masked] (Yongyuth Pahirah)
Date: 19 May 92 21:03:46 GMT

(May 20 news)
 
SUCHINDA: Blames top politician PRIME Minister Suchinda Kraprayoon yesterday
accused a leading politician of having links with organizers of violent
activities and seeking to establish a new democratic system in which the Monarch
would be a powerless figurehead.
 
 Suchinda did not name the politician but it was understood, from his reference
 to a ``military officer who later jumped into politics and became leader of a
 political party'', that he was referring to New Aspiration Party (NAP) leader
 Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh.
 
 His accusation, made in a national television appearance, was a strong
 indication that Chavalit might be arrested on charge of involvement in
 activities causing riots.
 
 A further indication came when Supreme Commander Kaset Rojananil hinted that a
 leading politician of the Opposition bloc was involved in the riots and could
 be arrested for that matter.
 
 Military troops arrested pro-democracy movement leader Chamlong Srimuang on
 Monday and placed him in custody on a charge of instigating unrest and
 violence. Arrest warrants were later issued for seven other leaders of the
 anti-Suchinda demonstrations, including NAP deputy leader Veera Musigapong and
 `slum angel' Prateep Ungsongtham Hata. Veera yesterday turned himself in to the
 Special Branch Division.
 
 Yesterday, Kaset also disclosed that an arrest warrant would be issued for
 Prasong Soonsiri, former secretary general of the National Security Council and
 a former PM's secretary general, on the same charge. He claimed the authorities
 had sufficient evidence to incriminate Prasong, who was assigned by Chamlong to
 be his personal adviser and spokesman during the anti-Suchinda protests.
 
 In his TV statement yesterday, Suchinda said pro-democracy protesters were
 unconsciously being used as ``tool'' by a group of power-seekers who also want
 to restructure the democratic system according to their ideology.
 
 A group of organized people had mingled with demonstrators to try to instigate
 violence at the peaceful demonstrations and they were well-trained saboteurs,
 he charged.
 
 As a result, the government had been forced to take action to stall their plot,
 he said.
 
 Suchinda singled out a former communist leader and a political party leader as
 the principal suspects.
 
 He said the political leader took the idea of ``democratic revolution'' by the
 mass from an ex-central committee member of the Communist Party of Thailand
 (CPT) when the political leader served in the military.
 
 The senior communist had defected from the party after a conflict with other
 members of the CPT committee and had served the authorities as an adviser on
 tactics and strategy to beat CPT, Suchinda said, apparently referring to
 Prasert Sapsunthorn. The same person later drew up a controversial charter for
 the Saha Prachathai Party, the ruling party when Thanom Prapas was prime
 minister.
 
 The other members of Saha Prachathai opposed the draft charter because it was
 the same as a communist party charter, Suchinda said.
 
 He charged the senior communist defector and the military
 officer-turned-politician had become acquainted, and the latter later took the
 former's idea of reforming the Constitutional Monarchy to lessen the powers of
 His Majesty the King.
 
 The former military leader, the premier claimed, had tried to persuade him and
 his army group to stage a coup.
 
 ``But he could not answer what would be the direction of our political
 development after the coup and therefore we refused to do it,'' he said.
 
 Chavalit has previously said he never advocated a military takeover when he
 served as supreme commander and army commander-in-chief.
 
 Suchinda succeeded Chavalit when the latter resigned from the military to
 become a deputy prime minister of former premier Chatichai Choonhavan, who was
 forced from office by Suchinda's group in a coup on Feb 23 1991.
 
 The premier also accused the former military leader of having organized a
 variety of pressure groups to serve his attempts to achieve his political goal.
 
 He said leaders of the violence-prone protests and the riots which prevailed on
 Monday night and early yesterday morning had been organized by the former
 communist leader and the politician.
 
 Suchinda said democratic reforms could be carried out through parliamentary
 process and not through violent means which had caused irreparable damage.
 
 ``I and the authorities are deeply regretful about the loss of lives and
 property during the incident,'' he said.
 
 Military troops openly fired at angry and frustrated protesters roaming
 Rajdamneon Avenue in a pre-dawn bloody crackdown early yesterday morning,
 resulting in heavy casualties. Some witnesses estimated the death tool at more
 than 100.
 
 Suchinda also said the government had succeeded in bringing the situation under
 control as of yesterday morning, and urged the people to abide by the ban on
 political gatherings under the state of emergency declared half an hour after
 midnight on Sunday.
 
 The premier's accusation came after government-controlled TV broadcast a
 videotape containing alleged confessions by two motorcyclists who said they
 were hired to burn and destroy public traffic lights and police booths.
 
 One of them said he was hired by a man called Mana who had been paid by a
 politician called Veera. The apparently bruised suspect said he did not known
 Veera's last name.
 
 Hundreds of motorcyclists roamed the capital on Tuesday night, smashing traffic
 lights and other public properties.