Suthep might not run in by-election

30/06/2009
BangkokPost.com

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said on Tuesday he might not stand for re-election in his home constituency in Surat Thani province if the Election Commission disqualifies him as an MP for holding shares in companies which have a concession from the state.


Mr Suthep said he was getting older and there were many ways he could continue his political activities without having to contest a by-election.

If he were disqualified he could continue to hold the position of deputy prime minister, which does not have to be filled by an elected MP. He had no plans to get out of politics.

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I'm innocent': Thaksin

Sat, May 16, 2009
The Nation/Asia News Network

Fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday issued a statement insisting on his innocence in light of police proceedings to indict him for lese majeste.

"Although I am living in exile abroad, I am a Thai citizen who is staunchly loyal to Their Majesties the King and Queen," Thaksin said in the statement released in Bangkok by Noppadon Pattama, his legal adviser.

He said the accusation that he had insulted the monarchy was unfair and contrary to reality.

None of his remarks had been intended to offend the monarchy, he said.

Thaksin said he fully respected the monarchy and understood it to be a most revered institution in Thailand, beloved by every Thai citizen.

A smear campaign exists to persecute him and paint him as disloyal, he said, adding that public prosecutors had thus far dropped all charges related to lese majeste.

The ousted prime minister reminded all parties concerned that national reconciliation could not be realised if injustice prevailed and said his opponents should stop trying to cement his political downfall with trumped-up charges.

He vowed to fight to prove his innocence to the full extent of the law.

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Thailand confirms first two swine flu cases

May 12, 2009

BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand on Tuesday confirmed its first two cases of swine flu in people who had travelled to Mexico, becoming the only Southeast Asian nation hit by the virus so far.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Keawparadai said the patients, both Thai nationals, had recovered and there were no signs that the A(H1N1) virus had spread.
"There are two confirmed cases of A(H1N1), both of them contracted from Mexico," Witthaya told a press conference in Bangkok.

The cases came to light after the patients returned separately from visits to Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, suffering from mild fever, but recovered after treatment with anti-viral drugs, Witthaya said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States confirmed the virus in a sample from the first patient, while a Thai laboratory confirmed the second case, he added.

Medical authorities were keeping three people who had been in contact with the first person and five people in contact with the second patient under surveillance, he added.

None had reported signs of infection, he said.

The ministry later issued a statement urging travellers returning from any foreign destination to see a doctor within seven days if they had flu-like symptoms.

Witthaya reiterated that Thailand still has a travel warning for the United States, Mexico, Canada, Britain and Spain -- the five countries with the most number of swine flu cases.

"We have advised Thais to postpone trips to those countries and also travellers who returned from them must immediately see the doctor," he said.

The cases came just days after Thailand hosted a major conference on swine flu, at which Asian nations agreed to increase their stockpiles of anti-viral medicines.

Health ministers from China, Japan, South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also urged global health chiefs to ensure fair distribution of medicine in case of a pandemic.

Thailand has previously been hit by avian influenza, with 25 human cases and 17 deaths since 2004. The last case here was in 2006.

Experts have warned that preventing swine flu from infecting patients who are sick with avian flu should be a top priority, especially in Asia, to prevent the viruses mixing and mutating into a highly pathogenic form.

The World Health Organization's death toll from the A(H1N1) virus passed 50 at the weekend. It has reported 4,694 cases worldwide, most of them involving relatively mild symptoms.

---

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Thai Supreme Commander.....

Thai Supreme Commander Songkitti Chakkrabat has no concern over Cambodia's demand for compensation: Thailand can explain -sic!-

Songkitti Chakkrabat

Songkitti: Army can safeguard leaders

13/05/2009
BangkokPost.com

Supreme Commander Songkitti Chakkrabat affirmed that the army is ready to safeguard leaders of Asian nations who will attend the Asean+6 summit in Phuket.

Gen Songkitti said the army will follow its rules in adopting security measures for the leaders. He, however, refused to go into detail, saying that it is confidential.

He continued that the army will follow the rule of law if it has to use weapons as part of security measures. He told public not to worry about it.

The supreme commander also said that he believes no Thais would try to obstruct the summit because it is a cooperation of 10 Asean nations to solve problems not related to politics.

On Cambodia's damanding Thailand to pay 75 million baht in compensation for damage caused to a market in fatal border clashes last month, Gen Songkitti said he believes Thailand can explain to Cambodia about the matter. There are committees working on it, he said, adding that he has no concerns over this.

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Thailand adds insult to injury: They destroyed a Cambodian market and now they claim it's inside their territory

Thai Foreign Ministry: April clash site is on Thai territory

BANGKOK, May 12 (TNA) – The armed clash between the Thai and Cambodian military on April 3 occurred on Thai soil, according to Tharit Charungvat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman.
The clash site is on Thai territory which was illegally occupied by Cambodian civilians, Mr. Tharit asserted. However, the Thai authorities are lenient for the sake of good relations between the two countries and for humanitarian reasons.

The ministry spokesman made the remarks following media reports that Cambodia asked Thailand to pay more than US$2 million (about Bt74 million) in compensation for damage allegedly caused by heavy weapons the Thai Army used during the border clash on April 3 near the ancient Preah Vihear (Phra Viharn) temple.

The Cambodian Foreign Ministry Monday sent a diplomatic note to Thailand, asking for the compensation. It said the gunfire destroyed 264 stands at a market in front of the Preah Vihear temple, affecting 319 Cambodian households.

The Thai foreign ministry will send a letter to Cambodia to reaffirm its stance on the issue, the spokesman said, noting that Thailand had earlier clearly asserted that the area in question belongs to Thailand.

Asked if Thailand would seek compensation from Cambodia for damage on the Thai side, Mr. Tharit said the Ministry’s Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs is looking into how to proceed with the matter.

The disputed area, which surrounds the ancient temple, has long been a source of tension between the two countries.

An international court awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962, but a 4.6-square km (1.9-square mile) parcel of land surrounding it remains the subject of territorial claims by the two neighbouring countries.

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Thai FM: Concrete response of acceptance from leaders to join ASEAN Summits expected Tuesday

BANGKOK, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya disclosed Monday it is expected Tuesday, May 12, that there will be a concrete response regarding acceptance to participate in the ASEAN Plus Three and Related Summits among leaders and ministers from concerned countries.
Earlier, there was a positive signal from the leaders of the 15 involved countries that they would join the Summits. However, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh might not be able to join the Summits as his country was in the election period.

The 14th ASEAN Summit, Plus Three, and Six Summit, and Related Summits were initially scheduled to be held on April 10-12 in a hotel in the Thai resort town of Pattaya, next to Bangkok, but on April 11 the Thai government announced the postponement of it after the Thai anti-government red-shirted protestors stormed into the venue.

This year Thailand is the rotating chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN, which consists of Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The other concerned countries include China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

Thailand's government has proposed to the other ASEAN leaders and dialogue partner leaders to host the ASEAN Summits during June13-14 in Thailand's southern province of Phuket.

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thai news today

Thanpuying denies plotting to kill Sondhi [-Someone close to the palace implicated in Sondhi's assassination attempt?]

Thanpuying Viriya Chavakul

3/05/2009
Bangkok Post

Thanpuying Viriya Chavakul has denied being the mastermind behind the attempted assassination of People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul.

Speaking to INN news yesterday, Thanpuying Viriya insisted she had no knowledge of the plot to kill Mr Sondhi. Following the assassination attempt, Mr Sondhi said a certain lady close to the palace was one party among many who had "chipped in" to have him killed. "I'm not worried. Whoever wants to implicate me, let them. The truth is the truth. I'm just a woman without a husband who is incapable of doing anything like that to Mr Sondhi," she said. "The thought [of having Mr Sondhi killed] never crossed my mind."

Thanpuying Viriya admitted she was acquainted with military top brass because of her charity work, which included visiting frontline soldiers, and she now heads a foundation under royal patronage to care for border patrol security officers.

The Sondhi murder bid has opened up speculation that the gunmen were connected to, or part of, the security forces. Bullet casings engraved with the initials of the Royal Thai Army were collected from the shooting scene on April 17.

Thanpuying Viriya said the top brass she is close to are now retired and they are not in any active positions.

"Besides, these people don't love me enough to volunteer any kind of risky service for me," she added.

Thanpuying Viriya said she was being discredited because she had "endorsed" former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's loyalty to the monarchy.

"But this is what I believe to be true [Thaksin being loyal to the monarchy]. Everyone is entitled to their opinion," she said. Thanpuying Viriya also denied Mr Sondhi's suggestion that she skimmed money from the sale of blue shirts, a fund-raising project to honour Her Majesty's birthday.

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thai news today

Thanpuying denies plotting to kill Sondhi [-Someone close to the palace implicated in Sondhi's assassination attempt?]

Thanpuying Viriya Chavakul

3/05/2009
Bangkok Post

Thanpuying Viriya Chavakul has denied being the mastermind behind the attempted assassination of People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul.

Speaking to INN news yesterday, Thanpuying Viriya insisted she had no knowledge of the plot to kill Mr Sondhi. Following the assassination attempt, Mr Sondhi said a certain lady close to the palace was one party among many who had "chipped in" to have him killed. "I'm not worried. Whoever wants to implicate me, let them. The truth is the truth. I'm just a woman without a husband who is incapable of doing anything like that to Mr Sondhi," she said. "The thought [of having Mr Sondhi killed] never crossed my mind."

Thanpuying Viriya admitted she was acquainted with military top brass because of her charity work, which included visiting frontline soldiers, and she now heads a foundation under royal patronage to care for border patrol security officers.

The Sondhi murder bid has opened up speculation that the gunmen were connected to, or part of, the security forces. Bullet casings engraved with the initials of the Royal Thai Army were collected from the shooting scene on April 17.

Thanpuying Viriya said the top brass she is close to are now retired and they are not in any active positions.

"Besides, these people don't love me enough to volunteer any kind of risky service for me," she added.

Thanpuying Viriya said she was being discredited because she had "endorsed" former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's loyalty to the monarchy.

"But this is what I believe to be true [Thaksin being loyal to the monarchy]. Everyone is entitled to their opinion," she said. Thanpuying Viriya also denied Mr Sondhi's suggestion that she skimmed money from the sale of blue shirts, a fund-raising project to honour Her Majesty's birthday.

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BBC 12/4/09

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BBC 12/4/09

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Return of Cambodian artefacts delayed

April 20, 2009
The Nation

Due to recent domestic difficulties, Thailand has postponed the repatriation of seven smuggled artefacts to Cambodia.

"The Thai Cabinet will reschedule the return on a later date," Kriengkrai Sampatchalit, director-general of the Fine Arts Department, said yesterday.
Six of the artefacts were due to be sent back with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's one-day visit to Cambodia scheduled for last Saturday.

However, after the Asean Summit with dialogue partners in Pattaya collapsed on April 11 and rioting erupted in Bangkok on the following two days, foreign trips were cancelled.

The Foreign Ministry has already informed Cambodia of the decision, Kriengkrai said.

The seven ancient relics, including the one presented to the Cambodian prime minister in a formal hand-over ceremony in Pattaya on April 10, were still under the department's supervision, he said.

"We have given them proper care," he said.

Six of the pieces are asura (demon) heads while the other one is in the form of deva (angel) head.

Although the treasures have not yet been delivered, their planned homecoming has already warmed frosty ties between the two neighbours.

"The relations between Thailand and Cambodia have been improving since April 10," he said. "Officials and agencies from the two countries are expected to agree on many forms of cooperation soon."

Cambodia intends to submit more documentation to claim 36 other historic objects seized in Thailand.

"As soon as the evidence arrives, we'll work on it," he said.

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Return of Cambodian artefacts delayed

April 20, 2009
The Nation

Due to recent domestic difficulties, Thailand has postponed the repatriation of seven smuggled artefacts to Cambodia.

"The Thai Cabinet will reschedule the return on a later date," Kriengkrai Sampatchalit, director-general of the Fine Arts Department, said yesterday.
Six of the artefacts were due to be sent back with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's one-day visit to Cambodia scheduled for last Saturday.

However, after the Asean Summit with dialogue partners in Pattaya collapsed on April 11 and rioting erupted in Bangkok on the following two days, foreign trips were cancelled.

The Foreign Ministry has already informed Cambodia of the decision, Kriengkrai said.

The seven ancient relics, including the one presented to the Cambodian prime minister in a formal hand-over ceremony in Pattaya on April 10, were still under the department's supervision, he said.

"We have given them proper care," he said.

Six of the pieces are asura (demon) heads while the other one is in the form of deva (angel) head.

Although the treasures have not yet been delivered, their planned homecoming has already warmed frosty ties between the two neighbours.

"The relations between Thailand and Cambodia have been improving since April 10," he said. "Officials and agencies from the two countries are expected to agree on many forms of cooperation soon."

Cambodia intends to submit more documentation to claim 36 other historic objects seized in Thailand.

"As soon as the evidence arrives, we'll work on it," he said.

Read More

Thailand's bloody Muslim insurgency deeply rooted

Saturday, April 18, 2009
By DENIS D. GRAY

PATTANI, Thailand (AP) — While Thai authorities are preoccupied with riots in the capital, a five-year-old Muslim uprising in the south of the country is intensifying, and Thailand's troubled government and army are at odds about how to deal with it.
The bombings, shootings and beheadings show no signs of quieting. Machine-gun mounted Humvees scour for roadside bombs, soldiers sweep through villages suspected of harboring the insurgents and helicopters clatter above an idyllic, tropical landscape over which authorities have cast a security net more dense in terms of area and population than in Iraq.

The toll has risen to more than 3,400 dead and some 5,600 injured as the shadowy rebels pursue an ill-defined agenda that sometimes seems to call for an Islamic state separate from Buddhist-dominated Thailand, but is mostly a reaction to a history of discrimination.

Last month, in a surge-style operation, 4,000 more soldiers were added to a security force of 60,000 already in the three southern provinces.

But stalked by years of failed military efforts, the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is considering less military-focused options including lifting martial law and emergency decrees in the restive provinces, and reviving councils that once allowed Muslims more say in local matters.

But Abhisit is hamstrung. His energies have been absorbed by the mass demonstrations in Bangkok that are unrelated to the insurgency, and his political future is far from assured. And to an extent, he owes his premiership to a military that doesn't want to cede such powers as holding of suspects for up to 30 days without trial.

"Even if Abhisit knows exactly what he ought to do in the south he hasn't got a lot of power over these (military) guys. To move to a political situation you need to reduce the military's dominance and demilitarize the problem to some degree. But he isn't strong enough to launch a civilian-political offensive," says Duncan McCargo, author of the recent book on the insurgency, "Tearing Apart the Land."

Critics of government policy say causes of the southern crisis are too deeply rooted to be destroyed militarily, stemming from a history of governments that distrust the Muslims and don't regard them as "real Thais."

"The way they deal with us, press down on our youth, just makes young men more anti-government. They become more violent and go into the jungle to fight," says Nomee Yapa, whose father, a village imam, died in military custody. A court ruled last December that he had been tortured to death.

The complaints, even from moderate Muslim leaders, range from search patrols barging into homes to officials sneering at them for speaking their dialect of Malay, rather than Thai.

"We can't be ourselves anymore. Anything we do is suspect — a meeting among four or five friends, or just games. They even come into Quran classes for children to take photographs," says Nomee. The schoolteacher says that virtually every young man in Ko To village has been taken into temporary custody for questioning.

The military has been under intense pressure to take whatever measures necessary to suppress the violence, which includes terror tactics like beheadings and attacks on temples widely seen as intended to drive Buddhists from the area. Queen Sirikit, wife of the constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej — who usually keeps clear of public remarks about matters of state — spoke out several times of the need for protection.

Now, the military says it is adopting less aggressive tactics.

"We are doing much more to reach the people, to get closer to them. We are trying to forge more bonds with the villagers. We use martial law power only when necessary to deal with the insurgents." said Maj. Gen. Saksin Klansnoh, the Pattani task force commander.

He estimated the insurgents numbered only 3,000-6,000 out of a population of 1.8 million, more than 70 percent of them Muslim, in the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. These border Malaysia and are about half the size of Israel or New Jersey.

Saksin said violent incidents in Pattani dropped by 40 percent from October 2008 to March 2009, and independent analysts agree that attacks subsided overall last year as the military rounded up suspects and arrested some bomb makers.

But Srisompob Jitpiromsri, who tracks the numbers at Pattani's Prince of Songkhla University, said violent incidents began to rise again this year with some 100 in March — the highest monthly figure since 2007.

Remotely detonated road side explosives, drive-by shootings and, more recently, car bombs target both Buddhist authorities and Muslims suspected of siding with the state, along with innocents of both sides. There were nine beheadings in February.

"This indicates that the military approach failed to win hearts and minds," the political scientist said. "The military can disrupt the insurgents, block their movements, but it cannot fully control the situation. The insurgents can pick and choose their targets at any time, any place."

Even a superb military — and Thailand's southern forces have been widely criticized for incompetence — would find the insurgency a formidable challenge.

Into its fifth year, the insurgency has yet to reveal either its leaders or concrete aims. It appears to operate in small, fluid cells which have little direct contact with leaders of several shadowy organizations, principally the BRN-C, or National Revolutionary Front-Coordinate. Out of either sympathy or fear, the local population rarely points out the rebels to authorities.

"Sometimes we know who the leaders are but we don't have the evidence to bring them in. We have the same problems as the Americans in Iraq — to identify the insurgents from among the majority of people who are good," said Saksin.

Although some of their leaflets are couched in the rhetoric of holy war, the insurgents don't launch suicide bombers, stage attacks outside the south or target foreigners. Their goals appear local and limited.

McCargo cautions against linking the insurgency to al-Qaida and global jihad. That could happen, he says, "but it hasn't happened until now."

Attempts at negotiations have been halfhearted at best. Some Muslims suggest foreign mediation. Others suggest a form of autonomy, noting the region was an independent sultanate until it became part of Thailand in 1902.

Srisompob sees a hope that young, upwardly mobile southerners will moderate the crisis, provided they are allowed to maintain their Islamic traditions.

Worawit Baru, a prominent Muslim senator from Pattani, says the government simply doesn't understand the region's problems.

"This part of Thailand is so very different from all the others," he says. "You cannot deny history, culture. You cannot ignore 100 years, but this they don't understand."

Read More

Thailand's bloody Muslim insurgency deeply rooted

Saturday, April 18, 2009
By DENIS D. GRAY

PATTANI, Thailand (AP) — While Thai authorities are preoccupied with riots in the capital, a five-year-old Muslim uprising in the south of the country is intensifying, and Thailand's troubled government and army are at odds about how to deal with it.
The bombings, shootings and beheadings show no signs of quieting. Machine-gun mounted Humvees scour for roadside bombs, soldiers sweep through villages suspected of harboring the insurgents and helicopters clatter above an idyllic, tropical landscape over which authorities have cast a security net more dense in terms of area and population than in Iraq.

The toll has risen to more than 3,400 dead and some 5,600 injured as the shadowy rebels pursue an ill-defined agenda that sometimes seems to call for an Islamic state separate from Buddhist-dominated Thailand, but is mostly a reaction to a history of discrimination.

Last month, in a surge-style operation, 4,000 more soldiers were added to a security force of 60,000 already in the three southern provinces.

But stalked by years of failed military efforts, the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is considering less military-focused options including lifting martial law and emergency decrees in the restive provinces, and reviving councils that once allowed Muslims more say in local matters.

But Abhisit is hamstrung. His energies have been absorbed by the mass demonstrations in Bangkok that are unrelated to the insurgency, and his political future is far from assured. And to an extent, he owes his premiership to a military that doesn't want to cede such powers as holding of suspects for up to 30 days without trial.

"Even if Abhisit knows exactly what he ought to do in the south he hasn't got a lot of power over these (military) guys. To move to a political situation you need to reduce the military's dominance and demilitarize the problem to some degree. But he isn't strong enough to launch a civilian-political offensive," says Duncan McCargo, author of the recent book on the insurgency, "Tearing Apart the Land."

Critics of government policy say causes of the southern crisis are too deeply rooted to be destroyed militarily, stemming from a history of governments that distrust the Muslims and don't regard them as "real Thais."

"The way they deal with us, press down on our youth, just makes young men more anti-government. They become more violent and go into the jungle to fight," says Nomee Yapa, whose father, a village imam, died in military custody. A court ruled last December that he had been tortured to death.

The complaints, even from moderate Muslim leaders, range from search patrols barging into homes to officials sneering at them for speaking their dialect of Malay, rather than Thai.

"We can't be ourselves anymore. Anything we do is suspect — a meeting among four or five friends, or just games. They even come into Quran classes for children to take photographs," says Nomee. The schoolteacher says that virtually every young man in Ko To village has been taken into temporary custody for questioning.

The military has been under intense pressure to take whatever measures necessary to suppress the violence, which includes terror tactics like beheadings and attacks on temples widely seen as intended to drive Buddhists from the area. Queen Sirikit, wife of the constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej — who usually keeps clear of public remarks about matters of state — spoke out several times of the need for protection.

Now, the military says it is adopting less aggressive tactics.

"We are doing much more to reach the people, to get closer to them. We are trying to forge more bonds with the villagers. We use martial law power only when necessary to deal with the insurgents." said Maj. Gen. Saksin Klansnoh, the Pattani task force commander.

He estimated the insurgents numbered only 3,000-6,000 out of a population of 1.8 million, more than 70 percent of them Muslim, in the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. These border Malaysia and are about half the size of Israel or New Jersey.

Saksin said violent incidents in Pattani dropped by 40 percent from October 2008 to March 2009, and independent analysts agree that attacks subsided overall last year as the military rounded up suspects and arrested some bomb makers.

But Srisompob Jitpiromsri, who tracks the numbers at Pattani's Prince of Songkhla University, said violent incidents began to rise again this year with some 100 in March — the highest monthly figure since 2007.

Remotely detonated road side explosives, drive-by shootings and, more recently, car bombs target both Buddhist authorities and Muslims suspected of siding with the state, along with innocents of both sides. There were nine beheadings in February.

"This indicates that the military approach failed to win hearts and minds," the political scientist said. "The military can disrupt the insurgents, block their movements, but it cannot fully control the situation. The insurgents can pick and choose their targets at any time, any place."

Even a superb military — and Thailand's southern forces have been widely criticized for incompetence — would find the insurgency a formidable challenge.

Into its fifth year, the insurgency has yet to reveal either its leaders or concrete aims. It appears to operate in small, fluid cells which have little direct contact with leaders of several shadowy organizations, principally the BRN-C, or National Revolutionary Front-Coordinate. Out of either sympathy or fear, the local population rarely points out the rebels to authorities.

"Sometimes we know who the leaders are but we don't have the evidence to bring them in. We have the same problems as the Americans in Iraq — to identify the insurgents from among the majority of people who are good," said Saksin.

Although some of their leaflets are couched in the rhetoric of holy war, the insurgents don't launch suicide bombers, stage attacks outside the south or target foreigners. Their goals appear local and limited.

McCargo cautions against linking the insurgency to al-Qaida and global jihad. That could happen, he says, "but it hasn't happened until now."

Attempts at negotiations have been halfhearted at best. Some Muslims suggest foreign mediation. Others suggest a form of autonomy, noting the region was an independent sultanate until it became part of Thailand in 1902.

Srisompob sees a hope that young, upwardly mobile southerners will moderate the crisis, provided they are allowed to maintain their Islamic traditions.

Worawit Baru, a prominent Muslim senator from Pattani, says the government simply doesn't understand the region's problems.

"This part of Thailand is so very different from all the others," he says. "You cannot deny history, culture. You cannot ignore 100 years, but this they don't understand."

Read More

[O]peratives had for the past two years funneled arms through Cambodia to Thaksin-aligned supporters...": Report

[O]peratives had for the past two years funneled arms through Cambodia to Thaksin-aligned supporters...": Report

A Thai soldier inspects the damaged vehicle of Sondhi Limthongkul, founder of the People's Alliance of Democracy (PAD), in Bangkok. The Thai activist, who led a blockade of the kingdom's main airports last year, was shot and wounded in the head Friday morning in an assassination attempt the government said was aimed at inciting fresh unrest. (Pairoj / AFP/Getty Images)

Thailand extends state of emergency

After Bangkok street violence that claimed two lives and injured up to 100, the Thai prime minister also calls for a probe of the attempted assassination of a protest leader.

April 18, 2009
By Charles McDermid and Jakkapun Kaewsangthong
Los Angeles Times (California, USA)

Reporting from Bangkok -- The prime minister of Thailand extended a state of emergency Friday and pledged to launch an investigation into the assassination attempt on a prominent protest leader that occurred here earlier in the day.

The early-morning ambush of media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, founder of the movement that toppled the previous government, could dash hopes that Thailand will return to normal soon in the wake of violent street battles Monday that left at least two dead and as many as 100 wounded.

"We will continue applying the state of emergency, but for as short a period as possible, in order to restore peace and normalcy in Bangkok and its vicinities," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a televised address.

Gunmen in a pickup truck without a license plate opened fire on Sondhi's vehicle with automatic weapons about 5 a.m. as he was heading to work to host a television program. Jinttana Damrong, 56, a food vendor, was setting up her stall when the brazen attack took place.

"I went out to prepare food as usual. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a car speed up and then they started shooting. It was like an action movie -- they kept shooting nonstop. I told my son to hide, then I ran to hide."

Maj. Gen. King Kwangvisetchaichai said the assailants first aimed to shoot out the car's tires before riddling it with as many as 100 bullets. Sondhi, who founded the protest movement known as the People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, was shot in the shoulder and had a bullet surgically removed from his skull, according to reports.

Sondhi's secretary and driver were also injured. Sondhi has been moved from Vajira Hospital to an undisclosed facility under police protection.

Police say they recovered 84 bullet casings from AK-47 and M-16 assault rifles. A dud M-79 shell was also found, according to local media.

"I have already ordered authorities to check how it is that war weapons emerged and were used in the capital," Abhisit said in his address.

Battlefield weapons were seen across downtown Bangkok on Monday as government troops dislodged red-shirted anti-government forces from sites they occupied around the capital, including their last redoubt at Government House, the office of the prime minister.

The street battles capped a week of violent protests in which the "red shirts" -- supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- stormed a key regional summit, forcing its cancellation and the airlift evacuation of several Southeast Asian leaders. About 3,000 remaining protesters surrendered to the government Tuesday morning even as some of the movement's chiefs vowed to intensify their struggle from underground.

Thaksin-aligned lawmaker Worawut Ua-apinyakul was quoted in the local press Thursday as saying that the protesters would unleash a "covert struggle."

Sondhi's PAD movement has been instrumental in toppling two Thaksin-aligned governments, most recently in late 2008 when his "yellow shirts" overran Bangkok's two international airports. One of the demands of the red shirts, in addition to the resignation of Abhisit, has been the prosecution of the ringleaders of the airport seizures. Sondhi and Thaksin are former business partners and, according to reports, onetime friends.

Thaksin, a billionaire telecom tycoon who is in hiding after being sentenced to jail on corruption charges, has given a spate of interviews in international media in recent days. He has called for a "people's revolution" to overthrow the Abhisit government and has also promised to return to Thailand.

According to a report Tuesday by analyst Shawn Crispin, "operatives had for the past two years funneled arms through Cambodia to Thaksin-aligned supporters in the country's northeastern provinces, where his grass-roots support runs strongest."

PAD has thus far remained silent in the escalating political crisis.

"As far as I know, at this time we won't move yet. The leaders have said we will move when it is the right time," said Pattama Deemee, a 48-year-old Bangkok business owner and PAD supporter. "In my opinion this is the beginning of underground activity meant to make us feel unsafe. This is a hard game for Abhisit and the Thai people. We will never know what will happen next."

McDermid and Kaewsangthong are special correspondents

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Thaksin warns of return to violence

Thaksin warns of return to violence

Wednesday April 15 2009
By Richard Spencer in Bangkok
Daily Telegraph (UK)

Thailand's former prime minister warned yesterday that violence would return to the streets of Bangkok if the authorities took a hard line against his supporters.

Thaksin Shinawatra called for the release of the protest leaders after they gave themselves up when the army moved in to surround them.

Arrest warrants have been issued for 14 more opposition leaders, including Thaksin, who went into self-imposed exile last year before a court convicted him of violating conflict of interest laws.

Speaking from Dubai, Thaksin said the Thai government should seek "reconciliation" with its opponents, who wear red shirts in contrast to the yellow tops worn by government loyalists.

"They have to talk to the leaders not just arrest them and put them into jail," he said. "Violence begets violence. If they imprison the leaders there will be more violence.

"If you think you can use power to crush people you can't expect that they will just be silent."

The last of the protesters, who had been besieging Government House for three weeks, gave up and left yesterday. They had been surrounded overnight by thousands of soldiers. Four of the leaders turned themselves in to police.

Thaksin said he had not ordered the surrender but he had told the leaders to be careful and to "worry about life" after a day of violence on Monday when protesters clashed with soldiers across Bangkok.

More than 120 people were reported injured and two were confirmed dead.

Thaksin denied that the end to the demonstrations marked a personal defeat.

"I never fought," he said, insisting that he had been offering "moral support" to the demonstrators, not directing their activities.

The claim is at odds with his explosive video addresses over the past three weeks to crowds in Bangkok, culminating in a call for a "revolution" at the weekend.

Thaksin, whose main support is among the poor, incited the crowds by alleging that a conspiracy of elite interests overthrew his government in a military coup in 2006.

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Thaksin warns of return to violence

Thaksin warns of return to violence

Wednesday April 15 2009
By Richard Spencer in Bangkok
Daily Telegraph (UK)

Thailand's former prime minister warned yesterday that violence would return to the streets of Bangkok if the authorities took a hard line against his supporters.

Thaksin Shinawatra called for the release of the protest leaders after they gave themselves up when the army moved in to surround them.

Arrest warrants have been issued for 14 more opposition leaders, including Thaksin, who went into self-imposed exile last year before a court convicted him of violating conflict of interest laws.

Speaking from Dubai, Thaksin said the Thai government should seek "reconciliation" with its opponents, who wear red shirts in contrast to the yellow tops worn by government loyalists.

"They have to talk to the leaders not just arrest them and put them into jail," he said. "Violence begets violence. If they imprison the leaders there will be more violence.

"If you think you can use power to crush people you can't expect that they will just be silent."

The last of the protesters, who had been besieging Government House for three weeks, gave up and left yesterday. They had been surrounded overnight by thousands of soldiers. Four of the leaders turned themselves in to police.

Thaksin said he had not ordered the surrender but he had told the leaders to be careful and to "worry about life" after a day of violence on Monday when protesters clashed with soldiers across Bangkok.

More than 120 people were reported injured and two were confirmed dead.

Thaksin denied that the end to the demonstrations marked a personal defeat.

"I never fought," he said, insisting that he had been offering "moral support" to the demonstrators, not directing their activities.

The claim is at odds with his explosive video addresses over the past three weeks to crowds in Bangkok, culminating in a call for a "revolution" at the weekend.

Thaksin, whose main support is among the poor, incited the crowds by alleging that a conspiracy of elite interests overthrew his government in a military coup in 2006.

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New year in thailand

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New year in thailand

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Thailand issues Thaksin warrant

Activists abandoned their positions after protests were called off to avoid further unrest [AFP]

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Al Jazeera

A Bangkok court has issued arrest warrants for Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled former prime minister, and 13 of his supporters after violent demonstrations that left two people dead and scores injured.

The anti-government "Red Shirts" called off their protests earlier on Tuesday as the military tightened its grip on the city.


"Thaksin and his allies were charged by the court for illegal assembly of more than 10 people, threatening acts of violence and breach of the peace, punishable with five years in jail," the warrant said.

Thaksin has addressed the crowd of protesters via video nearly every evening since the latest round of protests began on March 26, but denied in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera that he encouraged violence.

"I'm not instigating it I keep telling them we should do it peacefully, each day I tell them peaceful, peaceful peaceful," he said.

Thaksin was ousted as prime minister during a bloodless coup in 2006 and was convicted in absentia of violating a conflict of interest law.

He is also accused of inciting people to break the law and cause unrest, a charge punishable by seven years in prison.

Thaksin said he would only return to Thailand to face trial if a "neutral body' had carried out the investigation and he could be guaranteed a fair trial.

Positions abandoned

Early on Tuesday around 2,000 protesters who have camped out around Government House for more than two weeks had been encircled by soldiers, raising fears of a repeat of Monday's bloody clashes.

But after a meeting of representatives of both sides, protest leaders called on the demonstrators to abandon their positions and they began to move away with their arms raised.

As the protesters began to file away, a protest organiser told Al Jazeera they were not giving up their fight to force the Abhisit Vehjjajiva, the Thai prime minister, from power.

"There is no loss we're taking a step back in order to go forward," Suporn Atthawong said.

"We’ll be back at a later date.

"We have decided to call off the rally today because many brothers and sisters have been hurt and killed. We don't want everybody to suffer the same. And we will not allow more deaths."

At least two people were reported killed overnight, apparently in clashes with pro-government supporters.

More than 120 people are reported to have been injured.

Abhisit said the military had used "soft means" in handling the protests and welcomed the decision to halt the demonstrations.

"I don't consider this a victory or defeat but it's a victory for peace in society," he said in a televised speech.

"The operation under the state of emergency is not over. There are still things to do. I insist the government will not be negligent because we have to remain vigilant."

Corruption

Political tensions have simmered since 2006 when Thaksin was ousted by a military coup amid accusations of corruption and abuse of power, a year after he won re-election in a landslide.

He remains popular among Thailand's rural poor for the populist policies he introduced.

Despite being in self-imposed exile, Thaksin remains an influential force and has sent almost daily video and audio messages to Red Shirt rallies, supporting their call for the current prime minister to resign and hold fresh elections.

However, Thaksin told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he did not aiming to become prime minister again.

"I'm not really wanting to be prime minister but if the country need me if the people need me I will. Because I’m 60 in July I want to spend my life peacefully," he said.

The Red Shirts took their cue from protests last year by rival "Yellow Shirts" who took to the streets in huge demonstrations against successive pro-Thaksin governments.

Those protests culminated in the shutdown of Bangkok's two airports and court rulings ordering the dissolution of the government, paving the way for Abhisit to take power in December.

The Red Shirts took to the streets last month, accusing Abhisit of taking power illegally.

They say the Thai elite – the military, judiciary and other unelected officials – are interfering in politics, and are seeking Thaksin's rehabilitation.

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