Other key positions appointed under the royal command are as follows;

Ministry of Defence:

1. Gen Kittipong Keskowit as permanent secretary for defence
2. ACM Apisit JulMoke as deputy permanent secretary
3. Gen Witthawas Rachatanand as deputy permanent secretary
4. Adm Rapol Kamklai as deputy permanent secretary

The royal Thai armed forces:

1. Gen Thanasak Patimaprakorn as chief of staff
2. Gen Pirun Paewpolsong as deputy supreme commander
3. ACM Krit  Suwonnate as deputy supreme commander
4. Gen Sathian Permthong-in as advisory chairman

The Army:

1. Gen Thirawat Bunyapradab as deputy army chief
2. Gen Wit Thephassadin na Ayutthaya as advisory chairman
3. Lt Gen Pichet Wisaichorn as assistant army chief
4. Lt Gen Yuthasilp Doeychuen-ngam as assistant army chief
5. Lt Gen Daopong Rattanasuwon as chief of staff
6. Lt Kanit Sapitak as special advisor
7. Lt Thanongsak Apirakyothin as special advisor
8. Maj Gen Udomdej Sitabutr as commander of Army Region 1
9. Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakorn as commander of Army Region 2
10. Lt Wanthip Wongwai as commander of Army Region 3
11. Maj Gen Udomchai Thammasarorath as commander of Army Region 4

The appointments will take effect on October 1.

I wonder how soon before the ones sidelined will begin to air their disapproval in a form of a final coup.?

Alleged arms dealer to be sold to highest international bidder

BANGKOK – The Foreign Ministry announced today a halt to the extradition proceedings of alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the US. Instead, the former KGB agent and supposed inspiration for the film “Lord of War” will be extradited to the highest bidder in an attempt at fairness and transparency.

“The Russians lobbied hard to influence the original Criminal Court trial, which ended in their favor. Then the Americans lobbied hard to influence the appeals court decision, which they won. All this lobbying is hard for us to keep track of. So we think an outright auction is best,” said Sirisak Tiyaphan, director for international affairs at the Office of the Attorney General.

read more

Undoubtedly “Not the Nation”

The government has not interfered with the legal case of the Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in his “Confidence in Thailand with PM Abhisit” weekly programme on NBT on Sunday morning.

Some believe the moon is made of cheese, however 57.71% of a Suan Dusit Poll believed the case of the alleged Russian arms dealer Victor Bout is related to Thai politics which is insestiously related to the Thai legal system.

Abhisit Vejjajiva said the case of Mr Bout is now under the consideration of the court and no one knows what the ruling would be.

Mr Abhisit said he had directed the Foreign Ministry to find ways for the US and Russia to discuss the matter to create a mutual understanding, after the government was accused of intervening in this case.

So isn’t asking the Foreign Ministry to find a way for the US and Russia to discuss the matter not in some way interfering with the court and why are the extradition orders stalled?

It makes me think that Mr Bout is now a victim of Abhisit’d regime trying to protect some untouchable over the Navy’s desire for a submarine. However, Bout is no ordinary Russian, he is a friend of Putin and considered part of the Russian elite so Abhisit should be careful if visiting Pataya.

Robert Amsterdam has more.

Key Excerpt

The jails in Thailand are filling up with political prisoners, critics say, but how many political dissidents have been incarcerated since a military crackdown on an anti-government protest movement ended on May 19 remains shrouded in mystery.

One estimate by Thai human rights activists put it close to 470 political prisoners, but that is only from records documented in Bangkok’s sprawling jail north of the capital and central jails in five north-east provinces.

“We are aware of 333 people arrested for their political activity since May 19 and imprisoned in Bangkok,” says Kwanravee Wangudom, coordinator of the People’s Information Centre (PIC), an ad-hoc group of activists and academics formed in mid-July to monitor the human rights status of those detained in the crackdown. “There are 136 protesters in five jails in the north-east.”

In the rice-growing province of Udon Thani, where support for the anti- government protest movement runs deep, the central prison hold 55 protesters, 44 of who are men, reveals the PIC. Similarly, the prisons in Ubon Ratchathani hold 45 protesters with the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), and Mukdaharn hold 23, most of who are men.

All of them have been arrested under Thailand’s emergency decree, which was invoked in 23 provinces and in Bangkok as political tension rose in the wake of the anti-government street protests in the commercial heartland of the Thai capital in March. The decree, which gives authorities wide arresting powers, still remains in force in Bangkok and six provinces. What worries those like the PIC is that “the arresting has not stopped” for charges ranging from arson, carrying firearms and violating of traffic laws to violating the emergency law. “The government has still not declared the true numbers of those arrested for political activity in all the jails,” Kwanravee told IPS. “Arrests are still continuing.”

The Mirror Foundation, another local group of activists, had compiled a list of 88 red shirts who reportedly had ‘disappeared’ in the first few weeks after the crackdown. By its count, that number has since dropped to 27.

Many of the initial 88 red shirts on that list had been arrested and jailed without reports made to their families, revealing a legal loophole under the emergency law. Similarly, groups like the PIC point to other disturbing trends in the arrest of the political dissidents: “Police coerced people to confess, telling them that the punishment will be much more severe if they didn’t confess. Some said they were tortured to admit to the crimes.”

“To be locked up in prison is very stressful,” a 40-year-old male red shirt dissident jailed in a provincial prison has confessed to PIC. “We have to share our days with those convicted for drugs, smuggling and murder.”

“This is against international standards of justice and law about the arresting process and the nature of detention,” says Sunai Phasuk, the Thai researcher for Human Rights Watch, the New York-based global rights lobby. “There is only one standard in due process in law; you cannot have double standards.”

“The government has not revealed how the emergency decree has been enforced and how it has infringed on basic rights,” he told IPS. “This is the crux of the erosion of democracy and human rights in Thailand.”

There are also many people very afraid of the Abhisit regime that they are forced to live in exile. Thailand is not a free country any more.

Freedom of speech, expression and the rights to chose a government in a democratic way was taken away from the people by a British educated man, and Thailand is becoming less attractive to many foreigners: the latest immigration laws for the expatriate community has wiped the smile of many faces, and one has to ask how this will affect foreign investment in country blindly heading backwards, whilst it’s main competitor, Vietnam is moving forward with a clear eye on the future.

The Phnom Penh Post.

“I would like to request to have an international conference on the Thai-Cambodian border issue,” Hun Sen said, and added that the country would seek a “multilateral solution” by appealing to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United Nations and the signatories of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords.

“The issue is very hot. It may cause bloodshed,” he said.

The prime minister repeated warnings that any attempt to use military force to settle the dispute would be welcomed “not by shaking hands, but by military operations”.

“Cambodia is poor and weak, but I can say that even an ant will keep an elephant from sleeping,” he said.

The Nation

Thailand wants Cambodian people removed from “over-lapping” areas claimed by both countries near Preah Vihear Temple on the border as their presence was contrary to a bilateral memorandum of understanding signed in 2000, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.

“The problem took place because Cambodia intruded into Thai territory so we have the right to protect our sovereignty, but we will act in a peaceful way in accordance with the UN principle,” the PM said.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said he would push for a meeting of the boundary committee as soon as possible.

The Parliament would next week read three agreed records of the last JBC meeting in a bid to enable the committee to conduct a further meeting, he said.

The map bellow shows the border in 1954 and the border today as claimed by Thailand. Access from Thailand to the website that hosts this map known as the “Seceret Map” is blocked (khmerization.blogspot.com).

The apparent intrusion seems to be by Thailand into Cambodian territory and NOT as claimed by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that Cambodia has intruded into Thai territory.

For further information on the dispute please visit Preah Vihear Temple and the Thai’s Misunderstanding of the World Court Judgment of 15 June 1962.

Related links

Unesco

PreahVihear.com

Bangkok Post

To use nationalism as a tool to maintain power shows just how desperate and yellow Abhisit is in clinging to his position as PM. The Yellows, known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have considerable influence over him and appear to be totally immune from any prosecution for any crime.

Not a single PAD leader has been charged for the seizure of Government House or the hijacking of Thailand’s international airports in 2008.

‘Yellow Shirt’ protesters cheer Thai PM

(AFP)

Thailand’s Prime Minister addressed “Yellow Shirt” protesters Saturday at a rally held in defiance of emergency rules banning political gatherings.

Police said around 2,500 demonstrators — many wearing yellow and waving national flags — gathered at a sports stadium in Bangkok, after protesters agreed a change in venue to avoid confrontation with the authorities.

Crowds cheered Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who spoke to placate demonstrators’ concerns over a territorial row with Cambodia.

Political meetings of more than five people are prohibited under a state of emergency imposed in Bangkok in April during mass anti-government protests.

The group has demanded that Thailand tear up the memorandum of understanding, eject Cambodian citizens from the disputed 4.6 square kilometre (1.8 square mile) area, and try to regain control of the ancient Preah Vihear temple.

Abhisit demurred when pressed on plans for military action over the land row, but insisted Thailand would stand its ground on the issue.

“We will not accept actions which violate our territory,” he added.

The Yellow Shirts, who are backed by the Bangkok-based elite and pledge their allegiance to the monarchy, are a force to be reckoned with in Thailand’s colour-coded political landscape.

Their 2006 rallies helped trigger a coup that unseated fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, hero of the mostly poor, working class “Red Shirts”, whose protests in Bangkok this year culminated in deadly clashes with troops.

Red Shirts have complained of double standards in the way authorities treat their movement.

Many Red leaders are in prison after their rally — during which about 90 people died and nearly 1,900 were injured — but there has been little action against Yellows over a 2008 airport siege that left thousands stranded.

The Young Turks

The “Yellow Shirts” under Chamlong Srimuang are pushing their evil nationalistic agenda under the pretext of protecting Thailand and the monarchy. This is not the first time Chamlong has played this game. In 1976 the anti communist Young Turks supported the military coup against the elected government of Seni Pramoj and were responsible for the brutal massacre of student demonstrators gathered at Thammasat University claiming the students were communists and against the monarchy.

Chamlong Srimuang is again using nationalistic strategy over the Preah Vihear temple.

However, this time his action is increasing tension in the relations between Thailand and Cambodia and this could lead to a serious military conflict between the two counties.

Bangkok Post

Abhisit and PAD to join together for TV show

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will debate civil groups rallying against the government’s handling of Preah Vihear temple in a special television programme today.

Mr Abhisit said the network of Thai Patriots, led by People’s Alliance for  Democracy co-leader Chamlong  Srimuang, has been invited to the three-hour programme to be broadcast on Channel 11 this morning.

They will debate the Preah Vihear issue and the controversial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on border demarcation with Cambodia signed by a previous government in 2000.

The invitation was extended when Mr Abhisit was addressing thousands of members of the network at the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Din Daeng yesterday.

Mr Abhisit also said the government would revoke the MoU as requested by the network if it would benefit the  country.

He also pledged to take action against any encroachment by Cambodian people in the disputed territory around the temple.

“The Foreign Ministry and the armed forces are coordinating how to approach the matter,” he said.

Led by network member Veera Somkwamkid,  about 100 protesters first gathered outside Government House  yesterday  despite being banned by the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES).

They later moved to outside the 1st Army Region headquarters on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue after negotiating with police.

Bangkok Post

“The Thais Love Nation’s demand remains unchanged. We want the government to revoke the MOU and other documents that can cause damage to Thailand and the prime minister must take action against the Cambodian people and troops who are within the Thai territory,” Mr Chaiwat said.

It appears that Thailand under the government Abhisit Vejjajiva are more influenced by mob rule and not by democratic process where such decisions would be resolved in an elected house. The very idea that the government is talking of engaging the military and go to war over a Temple that does not belong to Thailand shows how weak the government is to bow to a minority of nationalistic fools with a very evil past.

Thailand: placing the crisis in perspective

Pierre Rousset

The Yellow Shirts. The “yellows” originally brought together all those who opposed, for various and sometimes contradictory reasons, Prime Minister Thaksin. They benefitted from the support of the media and governments following the coup of 2006. They were thus able to occupy with impunity the two international and domestic airports in Bangkok at the end of November 2008, which led to much more chaos than the much decried occupation of the commercial neighbourhood of Rajaprasong by the “reds”.

………..In essence the Yellow Shirts today support the monarchy and fight for a restricted suffrage. Thus, defending these “ultra” positions they threatened to go back into the street to prevent the Abhisit government from negotiating with the Red Shirts for early elections.

NGOs and associations. Numerous Thai NGOs participated in the demonstrations of 2005 and 2006 which led to the fall of Thaksin and hailed the coup of September 19, 2006. More militant movements mobilised against the putsch in the name of democracy, reflecting very significant divisions among NGOs…………More

This is an interesting article by a “leftish” Pierre Rousset and worth a thorough read.

And there is this Abhisit’s Territorial Rite one has to consider if Abhisit degree from Oxford is really genuine. But could the temple issue be  just one tiny part of this dispute or is there more?

See the VDO

Abhisit tells the so called “Civil Society” group commonly known as the PAD that the move to gather at Dindaeng’s Thai-Japanese Stadium is OK.

MCOT reports that the PAD movement on Friday announced it would join a planned gathering of a network of civil groups at Government House on Saturday. They claim their action is designed to seek clarifications from the government over the nationalistic dispute regarding the ancient Preah Vihear temple that the rest of the world sees as obviously belonging to Cambodia.

The dispute is purely created to provoke nationalistic headlines and stir fear in the people. However, the double standards are so obvious by this government that protest of the “Red Shirt” at Ratchaprasong which also breached the same rules of the State of Emergency ended in a government approved massacre, while the PAD demonstrations are accepted with smiles.

Bangkok Post

CRES to train public in bomb recognition

The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation will train a cross-section of the public on how recognise a bomb if they see a suspicious object, Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.

The CRES spokesman said the idea was raised during Friday’s meeting of the centre chaired by army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda.

The was agreed the CRES would launch a project to train Bangkok municipal inspectors, garbage collectors, junk dealers,  motorcycle taxi drivers, community leaders, passenger van drivers, security companies,and people from private organisations on how to recognise bombs or explosives.

This project would also be expanded to other provinces, where police and military personnel would be in charge  of the training, Col Sansern said.

Col Sansern said the CRES also took for consideration a rumour that bombs would be laid to destroy bridges across the Chao Phraya river.

The meeting concluded that it would not be easy to destroy a bridge, so there was no need for panic.

A CRES source said intelligence units had warned of possible violentce durinjg August  – possibly in the form of motorcycle bombs, especially while the red-shirts organise concerts in various provinces.

“The red=shirts are coming back, both on the surface and underground,” the source said.

The source said several old soldiers affiliated with the red-shirts have been under watch.  Security for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had been tightened.

Fear of course is the most effective weapon of every right-wing or fascist regime including the regime of Abhisit Vejjajiva. Please take a look at Robert Amsterdam on a “Strategy of Tension” in Bangkok

On a lighter note this VDO is an example of the extremely high tech military trained Thai bomb squad.

]]> http://gjbkk.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/thailand-to-train-public-in-bomb-recognition/feed/ 1 gjbkk http://gjbkk.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/sister-of-italian-photographer-killed-at-rajprasong-at-the-fcct/ http://gjbkk.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/sister-of-italian-photographer-killed-at-rajprasong-at-the-fcct/#comments Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:55:21 +0000 gjbkk http://gjbkk.wordpress.com/?p=2334 ]]> Fabio Polenghi press conference FCCT Thailand can also be seen here

Please support Isabella Polenghi and join his memorial group on facebook ‘Memoria di Fabio Polenghi’. Please don’t let people forget about what happened.

My sincerest sympathy to her and the family.

Kasit claims in the Nation that some academics from some superpower nations have vested interest in the the Hindu temple of Preah Vihear in Cambodia, while, Abhisit is acting like a spoilt child threatening to withdraw Thai membership of UNESCO.

The Nation

Temple plan ‘unacceptable’

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday considered options to retaliate against Unesco if the World Heritage Committee approved the controversial Preah Vihear temple management plan although the United Nations agency has guaranteed that the Hindu temple’s inscription has nothing to do with the disputed border areas with Cambodia.

Among the options suggested by ministers was for Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, who will be at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brazil, to stage a walkout, and withdraw Thailand’s membership from the Unesco committee.

Abhisit blamed the Unesco committee for listing Preah Vihear, which had created conflict between the two neighbouring countries. “If Unesco accepts the plan, it will create a wide rift between the people of the two countries,” he was quoted by a source as saying at the Cabinet meeting.

The issue of the world heritage designation for Preah Vihear heated up after the pro-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protested in front of the Unesco regional office in Bangkok on Tuesday over its fear of losing territory.

Abhisit took the PAD line and instructed Suwit to lobby for a delay of the Preah Vihear management plan until the border dispute with Cambodia could be settled……

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Preah Vihear had already been designated as a World Heritage Site. “Whatever Thailand is doing, this cannot be changed,” he was quoted as saying by The Phnom Penh Post.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said at the Cabinet meeting yesterday that international organisations had been unfair to Thailand and not transparent. Such practice created conflicts among countries. Academics from some superpower nations have personal interests in the World Heritage designation, he said.

However, Kasit said the option of withdrawing Thai membership from the Unesco committee was not an easy one, and would take time. The idea of withdrawal was discussed widely, since it might affect Thailand’s cultural and natural properties included on the world heritage list.

At the end of the Cabinet meeting, Abhisit concluded that Thailand would not accept the Preah Vihear management plan and the government would review its membership of the Unesco committee. He said Suwit would make the decision on whether he should walk out of the Brazil meeting to protest against the decision of the World Heritage Committee.

Kasit has been told to write to Unesco about Thailand’s disapproval of the Preah Vihear management plan.

I am surprised that the two clowns Abhisit and Kasit have not come out with the excuse that UNESCO has been paid off by Thaksin.