Thailand: BBC rejects claims reporter insulted country’s king

 

• Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok
• guardian.co.uk, Monday June 2 2008
• Article history

The BBC has robustly rejected allegations filed by a Thai policeman that one of its veteran correspondents insulted the country’s revered 80-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The fresh lese-majesty complaint made by the police lieutenant-colonel, who claimed to be acting in a private capacity, accused the south-east Asia correspondent Jonathan Head of criticising the monarchy.

But in a statement the BBC said the charges, which accused Head of being part of anti-monarchy “conspiracy” involving the deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, were groundless.

Thailand’s lese-majesty laws are among the toughest in the world, carrying a prison term of up to 15 years. But because anyone can file a complaint, they are often misused for ulterior, political motives.

Last week cabinet minister Jakrapob Penkair was forced to step down after police decided to press formal charges on a complaint made by the officer, Watanasak Mungkijakandee, who filed the allegations against Head.

In April, Watanasak filed a lese-majesty complaint against Head for remarks he made while moderating a discussion “Coup, Capital and Crown” at Bangkok’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club six months ago. Police are still investigating its merit.

But Watanasak made new and more wide-ranging allegations against Head last Friday, citing that his reporting between 2006 and 2008 had “damaged and insulted the monarchy”.

In support of his complaint he submitted 11 articles from the BBC website - some not written by Head - and a picture of the correspondent shaking hands with Thaksin ahead of a 2001 interview.

The policeman maintained in his submission that this showed Head was “very close” to Thaksin, who lacked “loyalty to the royal institution”.

In fact, Head’s reporting often mentioned the corruption allegations swirling around the former prime minister ousted in the 2006 coup.

“The allegations made against Jonathan Head are completely unfounded,” said the BBC South Asia bureau editor, Paul Danahar, in statement.

“The BBC understands that the police in Thailand are required to investigate all complaints of lese-majesty and will cooperate with that investigation.

“But it is very upsetting that his work should be incorrectly presented in this way and it has caused great distress to both him and his family.”

BBC rejects Thai royal slur complaint

Mon Jun 2, 2008 9:02am IST

BANGKOK, June 2 (Reuters) - The BBC has rejected police allegations in Thailand that one of its correspondents insulted revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a charge that can result in up to 15 years in jail.

The lese majeste complaint, filed by a police lieutenant-colonel, alleges that the British broadcaster’s South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head “intentionally criticized the monarchy several times”.

It also says that Head, a British journalist with more than 12 years experience in southeast Asia, was part of an anti-monarchy “conspiracy” involving Thaksin Shinawatra, the telecoms billionaire who was ousted as Prime Minister in a 2006 coup.

Prior to the coup, Thaksin was regularly accused of having insufficient respect for the King, who is regarded as semi-divine by many of Thailand’s 65 million people.

“The allegations made against Jonathan Head are completely unfounded,” BBC Asia Bureau Editor Paul Danahar said in a statement.

“The BBC understands that the police in Thailand are required to investigate all complaints of lese majeste, and will co-operate with that investigation,” he said.

“But it is very upsetting that his work should be incorrectly presented in this way and it has caused great distress to both him and his family.”

The May 30 complaint, filed by Police Lieutenant-Colonel Watanasak Mungkijakandee, says that Head’s reporting from 2006 to 2008 “damaged and insulted the reputation of the monarchy”.

One of his specific complaints relates to the placing of a picture of Thaksin above a picture of the King on the BBC website news.bbc.co.uk, in contravention of a Thai convention that images of the monarch must always be at the top

Lese majeste complaints in Thailand can be filed by anybody, leading to their frequent abuse by feuding politicians.

The King himself made it clear in 2005 that he should not be above criticism. (Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Bill Tarrant)

 

BBC defends journalist over ’slur’

 

The British Broadcasting Corporation says complaints against one of its reporters charging that he defamed Thailand’s king are “completely unfounded”.

The statement issued by BBC Asia Bureau Editor Paul Danahar comes in response to allegations filed with Thai police claiming that correspondent Jonathan Head has committed the crime of insulting the monarchy.

The complaints, one filed in April and the second last week, have been lodged by a Thai police lieutenant colonel claiming to be acting in a personal capacity.

“The allegations made against Jonathan Head are completely unfounded,” said Mr Danahar, adding that it was upsetting that the reporter’s work had been misrepresented, and that the charges have caused distress to him and his family.

Political tensions hurting Thai economy

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By SUTIN WANNABOVORN –

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Anti-government street protests and rumors of a military coup are hurting Thailand’s economy and investors’ confidence, the finance minister said Monday as the stock market dropped 2.8 percent.

Protesters were back on the streets for an eighth day of demonstrations to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his coalition government.

On Saturday, Samak threatened to send in the police and military to clear them away, but he backed down Sunday.

The demonstrators, led by a group called the People’s Alliance for Democracy movement, charge Samak with being a puppet of toppled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and with trying to change the constitution for political gain.

“I admit that the problem of protesters during the past week has affected the economy and investor confidence,” Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee told reporters.

The benchmark SET index, which has fallen five out of the last six days, fell Monday by 2.8 percent to 810.22.

“I am explaining to them (investors) that the protests will not lead to violence or a military coup,” Surapong said, adding that the army commander told him that “no soldier wants to stage a military coup.”

The military toppled Thaksin in 2006 following months of protests by the alliance and other groups who accused Thaksin of corruption and destroying democracy in Thailand. After months of exile, Thaksin returned to Bangkok earlier this year to face corruption charges against him and his family.

Samak’s party, which won a general election last December, is widely seen as a proxy for Thaksin.

One of the protest leaders, Chamlong Srimung, said Monday that the demonstrators will not relocate from their positions near the United Nations building in Bangkok as the government has demanded.

“We are staying here until the nominee government is out of office,” Chamlong said as he supervised workers who were setting up a permanent stage for protest speeches.

The finance minister said there was no justification for the dissolving of Parliament or the resignation of the government.

Thailand’s economy has already been recently stung by high inflation, a strong baht currency and rising fuel prices. The stock market began a downward slide last week.

Tension Mounts in Thailand

June 2, 2008; Page A9

Some Fear a Threat
Of Another Coup
Amid an Impasse

By JAMES HOOKWAY

BANGKOK, Thailand — A standoff between riot police and thousands of Thais protesting what they say is the behind-the-scenes influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is entering its second week.

Reuters

Police blocked an anti-government protest on the streets of Bangkok, Saturday.

The protests, organized by a group called the People’s Alliance for Democracy, are increasing political tensions as they revive memories of large demonstrations that preceded Mr. Thaksin’s ouster in a military coup in September 2006.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej — who described himself as a proxy for Mr. Thaksin when campaigning in December’s parliamentary election — warned on television Saturday that protesters would be forcibly dispersed. But officials later said Mr. Samak had backed off his threat.

“We will not be using force as long as the protesters remain peaceful and conduct themselves within the law,” Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said.

The confrontation is unnerving investors and business leaders who fear the army could again stage a coup to resolve the impasse.

The threat of a second coup in less than two years in one of Southeast Asia’s major economies is also worrying Washington. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew into Thailand on a visit Sunday after declaring that the U.S. opposes any attempt by Thai military leaders to seize power again.

“Our position is pretty consistent. We want to see democratically elected governments and we will convey that,” Mr. Gates told reporters in Singapore before heading for Bangkok, according to Reuters.

In the past week, the number of participants in the protests has been as high as 10,000 at various points. The protesters accuse the Samak-led government of being a puppet of Mr. Thaksin and demand that it resign.

At Saturday’s gathering, many protesters wore motorcycle helmets and improvised masks to protect them from tear gas. Others chanted “We love Thailand, we love our king” in English, aware that international news organizations were covering the standoff. Periodically, loud chants of “Thaksin, get out!” broke out.

Mr. Thaksin says he has washed his hands of politics since the 2006 coup that removed him. Back home after a period of self-imposed exile, he is preparing his legal defense against a series of corruption cases filed against him and his family shortly after the coup.

Still, the populist telecommunications tycoon has been unable to shake off belief among some that he is quietly directing Mr. Samak and his government — especially as Mr. Samak openly campaigned for election by telling voters he was serving as Mr. Thaksin’s proxy.

Thai media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, who had campaigned against Mr. Thaksin before the 2006 coup, is one of the leading figures behind the People’s Alliance for Democracy. His satellite-television company has been showing extensive footage of the protests.

Tensions were further heightened last week after police recommended that a cabinet minister be prosecuted for insulting Thailand’s long-serving, 80-year-old monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Jakrapob Penkair, a minister in the prime minister’s office, resigned Friday in an effort to defuse the situation and protect the government from any suggestions that it reveres the monarchy any less than the protesters gathered on the streets of Bangkok.

Sunday, Mr. Samak accused protesters of inconveniencing the royal family by blocking important roads near Bangkok’s royal palace.

FACTBOX-Is Thailand heading for another coup?

Mon Jun 2, 2008 12:42pm

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK, June 2 (Reuters) - A tense weekend stand-off between riot police and anti-government protesters in Bangkok has rekindled fears of politicial instability in Thailand, possibly culminating in another military coup.

Many of the social forces and faces in the mix are the same as those behind the street protests that ended in the September 2006 coup by royalist elements of the military against telecommunications billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra.

However, the picture is much murkier than two years ago, with a staunchly pro-palace Prime Minister in charge of an avowedly pro-Thaksin cabinet after a December election won comfortably by Thaksin proxies despite a vigorous counter-campaign by the army.

Here are some possible scenarios, compiled by Reuters on the basis of interviews with analysts and Bangkok-based diplomats:

PROTESTS RUMBLE ON, BUT NO FLASHPOINT

- As with the 2005 anti-Thaksin rallies by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the demonstrations will rumble on for months, getting in the way of Bangkok traffic and government policy-making at a time of slowing growth and soaring inflation.

Inflammatory and contradictory statements and stances will emerge from all sides, ranging from the PAD to top generals, senior royal officials, the police, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Thaksin himself.

However, the protests, most of which involve middle-aged, middle-class Bangkok residents, will not evolve into full-scale riots or street-fighting, the normal pretext for the army to move in and seize power. 

Diplomats and analysts say the army does not have the same appetite for a coup that it did in 2006, given its failure to purge Thaksin and his brand of autocratic, pro-business rule from the political system.

In addition, it does not appear to have a ready replacement for Samak, a fire-brand royalist with a distinctly soft spot for all things military.

PROTESTS RUMBLE ON, BUT INTENSIFY DUE TO ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN

- The protests carry on for several months, but take on a different tone given the slowing economic growth expected in the second half of the year and the inflation being caused by soaring world oil prices.

Instead of being a slightly esoteric ‘royalists versus republicans’ clash, the anti-government movement starts to involve groups of urban workers such as taxi-drivers who are seriously struggling to make ends meet.

The focus of the attacks will shift to the government’s handling of the economy, and present a possibly fatal challenge, as happened in the immediate aftermath of the 1997 baht devaluation that triggered Asia’s wider financial crisis.

COALITION FALLS APART, NEW ELECTIONS

- Even though its parliamentary majority is large, the pro-Thaksin People Power Party (PPP) relies on support from five other coalition partners, who are already ratcheting up the pressure, presumably to secure more influence in government.

If they all deserted PPP, Samak and the government would be exposed to a no-confidence motion in parliament, and could fall. New elections would then ensue.

This scenario is thought unlikely, as most politicians and parties do not have enough money to contest another election after three in the last three years.

MILITARY COUP

- Top generals are saying in public that the army will not march into politics again, although after 18 successful coups in the last 75 years, it is never advisable to take them at their word.

If the pro- and anti-Thaksin protests swell in numbers and turn violent, pressure would grow on the army to put troops on the streets to back up the police — the pretext for a coup that has been used many times in the past.

However, the army appears to be more reluctant to get involved, mainly due to its failure to get rid of Thaksin after 2006 and the interim post-coup government’s shambolic handling of the economy.

The stakes are also higher than they were two years ago, with public, as well as international and investor reaction, likely to be far less forgiving at a time of far greater economic uncertainty.

However, the new, army-drafted constitution that came into effect in December 2007 gives the military huge powers to intervene under a domestic emergency security law. (Editing by Darren Schuettler and Bill Tarrant)

TIMELINE: Thailand’s long-running political crisis

Mon Jun 2, 2008 7:56am

(Reuters) - A week of protests and minor scuffles between pro- and anti-government supporters in Bangkok has raised fears that the army may storm back into Thai politics after nearly three years of instability and a coup.

Here are some milestones since the protests that sparked the putsch in September 2006:

* April 2, 2006: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra wins second term in national elections. His victory is undermined by an opposition boycott and weeks of mass street protests led by coalition group People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

* September 19: Military stages coup ten days after Thaksin heads overseas on tour. He goes into exile in London.

* October 1: Former army commander-in-chief Surayud Chulanont sworn in as interim prime minister. Thaksin steps down as Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party leader two days later.

* February 21, 2007: Somkid Jatusripitak, a former finance minister and architect of Thaksin’s pro-business policies, quits as economic adviser to interim government after six days.

* February 28: Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula quits, blaming cabinet infighting. Succeeded by Chalongphob Sussangkarn.

* March 26: Prosecutors charge Thaksin’s wife, Potjaman, her brother and secretary with tax evasion, in the first charges to emerge from an inquiry into alleged corruption under Thaksin.

* March 29: Surayud announces a general election in December. 

* May 30: Constitutional Tribunal dissolves Thai Rak Thai for breaking election laws. Bans Thaksin and 110 other leading members of the party from politics for five years.

* August 20: Voters endorse new military-drafted constitution, the 18th in 75 years of on-off democracy.

* Oct 1: Coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin steps down as army chief to become a deputy prime minister in charge of internal security.

* Dec 23: Pro-Thaksin People Power Party (PPP) falls just short of outright majority in a general election.

* Jan 8, 2008: Thaksin’s wife, Potjaman, returns to Thailand after months of exile, to fight corruption charges.

* Jan 18: Supreme Court absolves PPP of election fraud. The next day PPP declares a coalition government with five small allies, agrees to let justice take course on Thaksin charges.

* Jan 22: Military council which ousted Thaksin disbands, and promises there will be no more coups.

* Jan 28: PPP leader Samak Sundaravej elected prime minister.

* Feb 6: New cabinet, packed with Thaksin allies, sworn in by King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

* Feb 28: Thaksin flies back to Bangkok after 18-months in exile, and is greeted by thousands of supporters.

* March 10: New charges filed against Thaksin over illegal use of lottery funds. He pleads not guilty two days later.

* March 24: Six-party ruling coalition bids to amend seven-month-old constitution to stop any disbanding of parties for breaking election laws. Anti-Thaksin groups criticize move.

* April 11: Election Commission rules members of two parties in ruling coalition are guilty of vote fraud; a verdict which could lead to disbanding of their parties. Public prosecutors have 30 days to decide whether to take cases to court.

* May 25: About 20 people are injured in minor clashes between pro and anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok. A week of peaceful protests follow, led by the PAD which demands the government drop its bid to amend the constitution.

* May 30: Cabinet minister Jakrapob Penkair resigns over accusations he insulted King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in a move aimed at defusing political tensions. PAD vows to continue protests.

* May 31: In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Samak tells protesters to disperse or “the police will clear you out.” Samak later backs away from threat of force.

* June 2: Thai stock market falls two percent as investors worry about more political turbulence ahead.

Source: Reuters

Politics in Thailand returns to the streets

By Thomas Fuller

Published: June 2, 2008

BANGKOK: A week of anti-government protests have weakened the four-month-old coalition behind Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, stirred up rumors of a military coup and contributed to the downfall of a government minister who resigned last week after being accused by protesters of insulting the Thai king.

Only five months after national elections marked the end of military rule, Thai politics has once again descended into the streets.

Thousands of protesters have set up camp near the prime minister’s office, turning a major intersection in front of the United Nations offices here into a round-the-clock carnival of protest songs, fiery speeches and - because this is Thailand - vendors hawking many types of sausages, smoked squid and green mangos.

The Thai tradition of street protests has long been a symbol of a freewheeling society that is more liberal and pluralistic than the neighboring democracies of Malaysia and Cambodia, and is in stark contrast to the military dictatorship in Myanmar.

But the current protests, coming so soon after the election of a new government, highlight the country’s failure to move beyond the stalemate that has frozen politics here for more than two years.

Protesters are in the streets for many of the same reasons that they were two years ago: They want to see Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister removed in the 2006 coup who returned to the country in February as an ally of the current government, put on trial for corruption. They are defending the aging King Bhumibol Adulyadej from what they see as attacks on the institution of the monarchy. And they are distrustful of a government that received the core of its support from the  countryside.

“The government didn’t win the vote among educated people,” said Somsak Kosaisook, one of the leaders of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, which organized the demonstrations of the past week. The poor and uneducated were “trapped” into voting for the government, he  said.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University, says the current round of anti-government protests is different from those of previous years and could set a “bad precedent” for Thailand. They were not provoked by an imminent crisis and, unlike in earlier decades, the protesters were trying to bring down a democratically elected government, not military rulers.

“It’s a dangerous trend,” Thitinan said.

“I’m not a fan of the PPP,” he said of the governing party, “but you have an elected government, and you have 10,000 people taking to the streets who want to overthrow it.”

This ambivalence toward the protest is shared by others in Thailand, which is worn down by two years of political battles with no clear resolution in  sight.

Newspapers have highlighted the plight of students and commuters inconvenienced by the noise of the protest and the traffic jams that it causes.

But many also blame the government for mishandling the protests. Samak, the prime minister, threatened Saturday to clear away the demonstrators by force. He later backed down.

“The prime minister should have engaged these people from the beginning,” said Panitan Wattanayagorn, an expert on Thai politics, also at Chulalongkorn in Bangkok.

Protesters took to the streets, Panitan said, because they realized that they were not getting their way in Parliament. “The opposition party is weaker than expected. They were very unhappy about the way that politics was working without proper checks and balances.”

Protesters opposed a plan by the government to amend the Constitution and called for the resignation of Jakrapob Penkair, a minister whom they accused of insulting the king in comments to foreign correspondents last August. Jakrapob resigned, and the government backed down from its plan to amend the Constitution.

Minor parties in Samak’s governing coalition have met to discuss the future of the alliance.

“Samak has been severely weakened,” Thitinan said. “This may lead to his downfall.”

Somsak, the protest leader, says “in principle” that the demonstrations will continue until Samak steps down. On the slowest day he receives more than a million Thai baht, around $30,000, in donations from the public, so he will not have any trouble continuing the protest, he said.

His main target, he said, was Thaksin, who he believes is influencing the government from behind the scenes.

“This is the No. 1 reason people have come here to protest,” Somsak said. “Everyone wants to see him go on trial.”

Thaksin returned in February to cheering crowds of supporters. He has vowed to stay away from politics and faces charges of corruption. Yet despite his lower profile, he has retained a remarkable ability to divide the country.

Among the crowd on a recent evening, when the number of protesters swelled to several thousand, were a business school student, a retired soldier, the owner of a small electronics shop and a factory owner. They vented their animus toward Thaksin.

“This could last a year,” Somsak said.

Thai Political Beat Goes On

 

 

 

 

 

Our Correspondent   

13 April 2008

Never mind elections, the fate of Thaksin’s proxy party could be decided, yet again, by Thailand’s royalist judges and generals

Thailand’s proxy war between loyalists to deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Bangkok’s royalist elite is stirring once again, with the outcome as uncertain as ever.

Despite the fact that Thaksin’s popularity had soared to record heights in early 2005, royalist generals managed to oust him from power in a 2006 coup. After 15 months of bumbling military rule, Thaksin’s allies in the People Power Party surged back to power with a decisive win in elections last December. Yet their grip is tenuous.

Two cases that could eventually lead to the party’s dissolution will come before Thailand’s Supreme Court ‑ home turf for royalists.  While the PPP – and before that Thaksin’s now-banned Thai Rak Thai Party – have had a trump card in due to unassailable political support in the populous rural northeast, the anti-Thaksin forces have countered with judges and soldiers. If things play out as they have over the past two years, PPP’s election victories will be undermined by coups or court decisions to ban the party, which could in turn be followed by another election victory by friends and relatives of the banned Thaksin loyalists.

The PPP is attempting to break this cycle by seeking quickly to change certain clauses in the military-drafted constitution that make it very easy to dissolve political parties. This has sparked a backlash from the same elements that tried to oust Thaksin a few years ago, including the anti-Thaksin interest group People’s Alliance for Democracy, led by publisher Sondhi Limthongkul.

The options for the anti-Thaksin side also carry risks, as a coup or court decision to ban the PPP could spark social unrest. Any such move would have to be carefully calculated, and the royalists would rather hand governance over to the pro-establishment Democrat Party instead of letting the military take the reins again. The royalists hoped to do this in December’s election, but they couldn’t muster enough votes to unlock Thaksin’s grip over the electorate.

The conflict will simmer under the surface for the time being. The real power brokers ‑Thaksin and the royalists heavyweights ‑ will let the proxy power brokers — Prime Minister Samak Sundarevej and the Democrat Party — trade blows. But when push comes to shove, the big guys will call the shots.

Thaksin spent 18 months in exile but now moves freely in and out of the country. He says he’s out of politics, although he is adept at staying in the public eye.  One week he’s off to England to try and convince Brazilian star Ronaldhino to join his Manchester City Premier League football club, and the next he is back in Thailand greeting top businessmen. This week he hosted an economic forum featuring Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, chief executive of steel giant ArcelorMittal.

The PPP has also reinstated Thaksin’s populist programs, helping to firm up his rural base in the event of another unexpected election. In addition, it has realigned elements of the bureaucracy and the police force to fall under its influence. 

But getting through the courts is another story. Like the military, judges in Thailand are traditionally aligned with royalist elements, and previously they played a crucial role in setting the stage for the coup.

This week King Bhumibol Adulyadej named three more people to his 19-member Privy Council: Surayud Chulanont, a former army chief who left the Privy Council after the coup to become the military-appointed prime minister; and two former Supreme Court presidents, Charnchai Likhitjitta and Supachai Phungam. They join Santi Thakral, who was named to the advisory body in 2005, and former top judge Atthaniti Disathaamnari, who joined the council last year. This means that of the last five appointments to the council, four have been former presidents of the top court.

The moves are significant given that Thaksin was once seen to peddle his own influence over the courts, most glaringly in 2001 when the Constitutional Court acquitted him in a narrow 8-7 vote of failing to properly disclose his assets, a move that preserved his premiership. Yet ever since the king instructed judges in April 2006 to clean up the legal mess stemming from a boycotted election earlier that month, the courts have moved in lockstep with the palace, even when legal experts cried foul.

In defending the judiciary’s jump into the political arena, Charnchai said that judges must be focused on “justice” instead of the “letter of the law.”

“But most practitioners of the law tend to lose sight of that and become fixated on what they’ve been taught,” he said, according to local media.

Like judges, privy councilors are supposed to stay “above politics.” But also like judges, that’s not the case in reality. Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda, the former army chief and prime minister, was widely credited with orchestrating the coup that brought the military to power in 2006. This belief was furthered when the military appointed privy councilor Surayud as interim prime minister.

“In the past five to six years, the council has moved to a new level of overt political intervention in the context of the tensions that developed between the palace and the Thaksin government between 2001-2006,” Paul Handley, author of the highly-regarded book The King Never Smiles, wrote in an academic paper presented at a Thai Studies conference in January.

The latest appointments reveal that the rift between the palace and Thaksin’s allies remains. Handley writes that Prem has recruited judicial and national security experts to allow an “assertive Privy Council” to go toe-to-toe with the PPP-led government.

The rubber will hit the road later this year. If the PPP can’t change the laws in time, its fate will be in the hands of the Supreme Court. If the past is any prologue, that doesn’t bode well for Thaksin’s allies.

Thailand Election Commission to ask Constitution Court to disband two coalition party partners

Sat, 2008-04-12 01:19

 

Bangkok, 12 April, Asiantribune.com): Thailand’s Election Commission by majority vote on Friday resolved to ask the Constitution Court to dissolve two coalition political party partners — the Chart Thai and Mahachimathipataya parties– charging that they had committed electoral fraud in relation to the December 23, 2007 general election last year.

The five-member poll agency voted 4-1 to passed the ruling after considering the personal judgment made by EC chairman Apichart Sukhagganond, in his capacity as registrar of political parties, according to Suthipol Thaveechaikarn, EC secretary-general.

Mr. Apichart’s judgement had been taken into account hours before the assembled commissioners passed their ruling that the two coalition parties be dissolved following the disqualification of their executive candidates for their alleged involvement in rigging the December elections, according to Mr. Suthipol.

The election body will forward its decision to the Office of the Attorney General, which has 30 days to file the case in the Constitution Court.

If prosecutors refuse to take the case, the Election Commission could file the case before the court itself.

The top leaders of both parties testified before the elections’ commissioners with additional information in bids to fight for their political survival Tuesday.

Dissolution would deal a heavy blow for both the 34-year-old Chart Thai party under the helm of former prime minister Banharn Silpa-Archa and the Matchimathipataya party, led by Anongwan Thepsutin, the wife of Somsak Thepsutin, a banned executive of the dissolved Thai Rak Thai party, which was formed prior to last year’s general election.

The Chart Thai party, which won 37 seats in the election, is the second largest party in six-party coalition government led by the People Power Party, while Matchimathiptaya won seven seats.

- Asian Tribune -

Thais fight over "Thaksin, Fight" energy drink

Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:59am

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A new energy drink — “Thaksin, Fight” — has led to fisticuffs even before it goes on sale across Thailand next month, the beverage maker said on Thursday.

The drink has been a hit in taste tests with northern Thais who delivered thumping election victories for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2001 and 2005 before he was ousted in a bloodless 2006 coup.

But southerners who back the opposition Democrat Party have shunned the sweet-and-sour drink bearing Thaksin’s name, which is a literal word for south.

“A customer at a grocery store in the south punched our salesman in the face when he offered a sample to a shopkeeper,” drinkmaker Natchapol Supatta told Bangkok’s Business Radio.

“The shopowner decided not to store the drink in his fridge”.

Thailand is home to the globally-known energy drink “Red Bull”, or “Krating Daeng” in Thai, which originally catered to labourers and farmers to help them stay awake.

Natchapol said his drink had nothing to do with politics, but he just wanted to cash in on Thaksin’s popularity since his return from exile in February.

Thaksin, who is fighting graft charges, repeatedly insists his political career is over, but few Thais believe him.

The billionaire tycoon hosted an economic forum in Bangkok on Wednesday where he pledged to use his foreign business contacts to spur investment in Thailand.

Thailand: Port in the Storm?

Eased Controls, Risks
May Help Shares Buck
Broad Asian Selling

By JAMES HOOKWAY
March 4, 2008

BANGKOK, Thailand — The end of capital controls in Thailand could help make the country’s stock market one of Asia’s better performers in 2008, some equity analysts suggest.

An early indication of Thailand’s potential appeal came yesterday, when the benchmark Stock Exchange of Thailand Index fell 0.3% to 842.92 while other leading Asian markets swallowed substantial losses following Wall Street’s battering last week.

Strengthening consumer confidence following the installation of a new pro-business government allied with popular former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra now looks set to drive Thai stocks higher, analysts say. Despite the political risks still shadowing Thailand — mainly tension between the armed forces and the new civilian government elected in December’s parliamentary polls — most reckon the uncertainty that resulted from the military coup that toppled Mr. Thaksin in September 2006 has lessened.

Mr. Thaksin himself appeared sufficiently confident in the new government’s stability to return from 17 months of self-imposed exile last week to face several corruption charges filed against him following his ouster.

Analysts say banking and property stocks are well-positioned to benefit from Thailand’s nascent economic revival, pointing to accelerating credit growth and a leap in imports in January, which jumped 40% from a year earlier.

Bangkok Bank PCL, for instance, is a favorite pick of many analysts, who are counting on lending growth to increase in line with Thailand’s general economic improvement. Shares of the country’s biggest bank by assets closed up one baht at 131 baht ($4.22) yesterday. Ian Gisbourne, an equity strategist with Phatra Securities in Bangkok, says the stock could reach 167 baht over the next 12 months, up 27% from yesterday’s close.

On the property side, Phatra Securities recommends Quality Houses, which closed one baht higher at 2.50 baht a share yesterday. Mr. Gisbourne expects the stock to hit 2.74 baht over the next 12 months, up 9.6%. “It’s best to buy real assets in Thailand at this point, and that means banks and property,” he says.

Thailand’s financial markets have endured a difficult couple of years, stymied by the conflict between the country’s armed forces and conservative political establishment and Mr. Thaksin, a billionaire populist who parlayed his success in the telecommunications business to become prime minister in 2001. Since the 2006 coup, the index has increased 20%, but it lags significantly behind gains in other Asian markets.

The uncertainty prompted by Mr. Thaksin’s departure deepened in December 2006, when the central bank introduced capital controls, requiring, among other things, foreign investors to deposit 30% of the money they brought into the country with government regulators. The policy was intended to prevent speculation in the Thai currency and slow the rise of the baht against the U.S. dollar, which policy makers feared would make Thai exports too expensive compared with competitors in China and elsewhere.

The move, however, triggered the biggest daily selloff by value in the history of the Thai stock exchange on Dec. 20, 2006. The central bank quickly waived restrictions on foreign capital destined to the stock market, but the broader stigma of the misstep remained, rattling investors who were already concerned about the military’s ability to manage Thailand’s economy and compete with rivals such as China, the Philippines and Vietnam for foreign direct investment.

Friday’s central-bank announcement ending all capital controls, though widely expected, indicates that the new government is bent on changing investors’ perceptions of Thailand, says Phatra’s Mr. Gisbourne.

He expects Asia-based fund managers to increase their weighting in Thailand in relation to the rest of the region’s markets, many of which have slumped severely on the threat of a recession in the U.S. “In that context, the residual political risk in Thailand is not as big an impediment as it was last year,” Mr. Gisbourne says.

Indeed, the situation has changed so much that some local and foreign broking firms are looking at companies that have been widely ignored for months.

For example, Shin Corp., the telecommunications company that Mr. Thaksin founded and was later sold by his family to an investor group led by Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., is getting a fresh appraisal. Shin’s share price slumped sharply after the coup as investors worried that the anti-Thaksin military would try to reverse the Temasek sale. The sale had been widely criticized because it was structured to permit Mr. Thaksin’s family to avoid paying capital-gains taxes on the deal.

Now, Citigroup, among others, is recommending Shin stock as a way to get exposure to the company’s primary asset — market-leading mobile-phone company Advanced Info Service, or AIS — at a bargain price. In a research report released last week, Citigroup analysts Karen Ang and Anand Ramachandran said that at 29.50 baht a share — where it also closed yesterday — Shin was trading at a 39% discount to its net asset value. “With AIS counting for 96% of Shin Corp.’s net asset value, we see Shin as a cheaper proxy to AIS, which we believe is fairly valued,” the analysts said.

Citigroup’s 12-month target price for Shin is 39 baht, 32% above yesterday’s close. Shin’s historic high is 48.50 baht a share, reached on the day when Mr. Thaksin’s family sold their shares.

There are some risks associated with Shin, however, notably its limited liquidity. The company’s free float in the Thai market is 4% of its equity, while the minimum stock-exchange requirement is 15%. Although Shin is likely to be given additional time to meet the exchange’s requirement, it is possible that Temasek or other shareholders could choose to sell their Shin shares on the market at a discounted price in order to meet free-float minimum. Or they might opt, instead, to delist the stock.