Justifying the Thai coup

BANGKOK — Apparently affected by criticisms that it has not made significant progress in pushing the country back on the path of democracy, the ruling military council in Thailand has come out with a white paper to explain the key events and reasons for the September 19 coup that ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The Nation reported today the release of the 35-page document by the Council for National Security (CNS) that details the Thaksin government’s corruption scandals, abuse of power and conflicts of interest which it claims are the key motives for the bloodless coup.

The paper titled “Facts about the Reform of Thai Politics on September 19, 2006” is seen as an effort of the council to make its case against the former prime minister known to the Thai people. This comes in the face of the recent reminder from former premiers about the need to justify to the people the military’s seizure of power. Even its own allies has rebuked the CNS for what observers say is an apparent preoccupation with naming its people to the boards of state enterprises rather than running after Thaksin and his associates.

In the said paper, Thaksin is being made to account for the following charges:

Corruption/conflict of interest

• Conversion of concessions on mobile phone business to excise tax system
• Creation of satellite business (Shin Satellite) to gain promotion from the Board of Investment
• Corruption at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport and the purchase of CTX bomb detection scanners
• Corruption in the construction of railway airport link
• Lack of transparency in the privatization of state enterprises
• Interference in the media

Abuse of power

• Appointment of family, relatives, close aides to high-ranking government positions
• Use of state budget for projects to promote government popularity without seeking approval from the House
• Abuse of power by negotiating for loans with foreign countries for own personal benefit (e.g. four billion baht loan from the Export-Import Bank of Thailand to Burma)
• Abuse of power by instructing state agencies — National Counter Corruption Commission, Anti-Money Laundering Office, and Revenue Department — to investigate assets of government opponents

Infringement on leadership ethics and moral integrity

• Selling of satellite concession and television station to a foreign country
• Tax evasion from the sale of stocks among family members

Interference in the political checks-and-balances system

• Exerting control over the Senate in the appointment of key people to independent agencies checking the government
• Interfering with the appointments of members of the Election Commission, Constitution Court, National Counter Corruption Commission, and Auditor-General’s Office

Policy flaws that led to human rights killings

• Extrajudicial killing of drug suspects
• Policy mismanagement and abuse of power in solving violence in Southern Thailand

Created rift, destroyed public unity and instigated confrontation

• Blocked information that checked the government and the prime minister
• Created confrontation between anti and pro government supporters

The military document started with a portrayal of the tortuous path of Thai democracy. As The Nation reported, it condemned, without naming names, “the democracy at face value that the Thaksin government adopted, and which led to unprecedented polarization, destruction of the system of checks and balances among independent institutions and divide-and-rule tactics that risked creating violence.”

The paper argued that the democratic machinery had already broken down, leaving Thai society with no other option but for the military to stage a coup.

There are however indications that the initial positive response to the coup from the public is beginning to wane. A leading Thai social critic, Sulak Sivaraska, sees the regime change as having only led to a change of political players in power, and not an advancement of democracy for Thailand.

“”There is no sign that we’re achieving a democratic society and what we have achieve is a mere change of characters,” Sulak said, who is advocating for the adoption of more traditional notions of an egalitarian and democratic society based on Buddhist philosophy as practiced by the Sangha community of monks.