Prasong Soonsiri is a Thai

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 politician, and former Royal Thai Air Force

Royal Thai Air Force

The Royal Thai Air Force or RTAF is the air force of the Kingdom of Thailand. Since its establishment in 1913, as one of the earliest air forces of Asia, the Royal Thai Air Force had engaged in many major and minor battles. During the Vietnam war era, the air force has been developed with USAF-aid...

 squadron leader

Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...

, Thai Foreign Minister, and head of the Thai National Security Council. Prasong has been a long-time critic of Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....

 since Thaksin's entry into politics in 1994. Thaksin joined the Palang Dharma Party in late 1994 under the invitation of Chamlong Srimuang

Chamlong Srimuang

Major General Chamlong Srimuang is a controversial Thai activist and former politician. A former general, he was a leader of the "Young Turks" military clique, founded and led the Phalang Dharma party, served for six years as governor of Bangkok, led the anti-military uprising of May 1992, and...

, who had just reclaimed the position of party leader from Boonchu Rojanastien

Boonchu Rojanastien

Boonchu Rojanastien was a Thai-Chinese banker. Touted as Thailand's first "economics tsar", he served in the government of Kukrit Pramoj in 1975 and 1976...

. In a subsequent purge of Boonchu-affiliated PDP Cabinet ministers, Thaksin was appointed Foreign Minister, replacing Prasong Soonsiri.

Prasong was a central figure in the 19 September 2006 Thai military coup that overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....

's elected government. Prason had developed plans for a military coup as early as July 2006. A palace insider and favorite of King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...

, Prasong was later appointed by the junta to the National Legislative Assembly.