Surayud Chulanont
Encyclopedia
General Surayud Chulanont ' onMouseout='HidePop("60725")' href="/topics/Royal_Thai_General_System_of_Transcription">RTGS
: Surayut Chulanon)(born 28 August 1943) is a Thai
political figure. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand
and head of Thailand's Interim Government between 2006 and 2008. He was a former Thai
military officer, Army Commander, Supreme Commander, and currently Privy Councilor
to King Bhumibol Adulyadej
.
Surayud came from a military family, but Surayud's father defected from the Royal Thai Army to the Communist Party of Thailand
when Surayud was a young boy. Surayud joined the Thai Army and rose to power as a close aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda
. He commanded troops during Bloody May, the violent 1992 crackdown on anti-government protestors, but he denied giving his men the order to shoot protesters. He was promoted to Army Commander during the government of Chuan Leekpai
and was promoted to Supreme Commander in 2003, under the government of Thaksin Shinawatra
. Upon retirement from the Army, King Bhumibol Adulyadej
appointed Surayud to his Privy Council of personal advisors. Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda played a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of Army Commander.
General Sonthi overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup on 19 September 2006 and afterwards implored Surayud to be the head of interim government. Surayud's government was a controversial one. There was a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption during his government. Surayud's Deputy Finance Minister, Sommai Pasee, was sentenced to jail for abuse of power. Surayud raised the military budget by 35% and was accused of economic mismanagement, rampant human rights abuses, and flip-flopping
on numerous policies. Article 19
ranked Thailand as falling behind Cambodia
and Indonesia
in terms of freedom of expression. Thailand's economic growth rate slowed to the lowest level in five years and was ranked the lowest in the region. However, Surayud was praised for apologizing for atrocities committed by the Thai military fighting the South Thailand insurgency
, although the apology was accompanied by a sharp escalation in violence. He has been accused of forest reserve encroachment (a charge that was not investigated since the statute of limitations
had run out by 2 years) and illegally acquiring train carriages for display in his forest home. He is married to Chitravadi Santhadwet Chulanont and has three sons, Captain Non,
Khao, and Nam.
ancestry. His maternal grandfather was Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram
(Din Tharab), a royalist leader during the failed Boworadej Rebellion. Surayud's father was Lt. Colonel Phayom Chulanont
, a Royal Thai Army military officer who, as "Comrade Too Khamtan" , became a member of the Central Committee Communist Party of Thailand
and Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army of Thailand.
Surayud completed his early education at Saint Gabriel's College
and Suankularb Wittayalai School
in Bangkok. He graduated from the inaugural class of Armed Forces Preparatory Academy.
As a boy, Surayud's father
left his family to go underground to join the Communists
. Phayom explained his defection by citing corruption in the army and its inability to defend the powerless. His father's defection to the Communists had a large impact on Surayud. Surayud's son, Non, noted that, "My father always told me that we must help each other redeem the tarnished family name of Chulanont so that Thais can look up to it."
Surayud entered the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy
(CRMA) and graduated from Class 12.
Surayud was conferred honorary Doctor of Philosophy degrees in:
1. Communication Arts in 1995 by Wongchavalidkul University, Thailand.
2. Liberal Arts (Rural Planning and Development) in 2000 by Maejo University, Thailand.
3. Liberal Arts (Political Science) in 2004 by Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
4. Engineering in April 2007 by Tokai University
, Japan.
5. Social Development in December 2008 by Huachiew University, Thailand.
Surayud currently serves as chancellors of the council of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang
(KMITL), Thailand, and Phetchaburi Rajabhat University.
(CPT) while his father was a leader of the CPT. From 1972 to 1978, he was an instructor at the Special Warfare School. He was a close aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda
when Prem was appointed Army Commander and later Prime Minister of Thailand
. Surayud was appointed Commander of the Special Warfare Command in 1992, where he was the commanding officer of Sonthi Boonratklin.
During Bloody May, the violent crackdown 1992 on anti-government protestors, Surayud's men were seen at areas nearby the Royal Hotel, where protesters were seen being searched for weapons and later dragged into the hotel. He later claimed that he never gave orders for his soldiers to shoot. According to a later interview, "It convinced me that the army should never be involved in politics." Days later he told a national television audience that he deplored the loss of life and that he had not given any orders to shoot. In 1994, he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Army Region.
Surayud was promoted to Army Commander in late 1998. At the time, his promotion was controversial, as Surayud had been politically "shelved" at a staff position . To matarialize his vision of a politics-free army, Surayud appointed several of his classmates from Class 12 of the CRMA to key lucrative positions. Among these were Lt Gen Sompong Maivichit, who he made head of Army controlled Channel 5 television station, replacing Gen Pang Malakul na Ayudhya, and Lt Gen Boonrod Somtap, who he promoted to a key subordinate position to replace Gen Charn Boonprasert. He also ended a policy of deporting Burmese refugees, especially ethnic Karens
, back to Burma. "He's been a friend to us," said Pastor Robert Htway of the Karen Refugee Committee. Under his term, Thai soldiers took part in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, assisting UN-PKF efforts in East Timor
.
To stop drug and drug cartels into Thailand, Surayud, in March 2002, ordered one of Thailand's largest military operations in recent times, when Thai troops moved deep into Myanmar
territory to destroy drug labs and military bases controlled by the United Wa State
Army.
In 2003, after over 4 years as Army Commander, Surayud was promoted to the position of Supreme Commander, a loftier but less influential post, during the government of Thaksin Shinawatra
. He was replaced as Army Commander by Somthad Attanan. His promotion was rumored to be the result of a conflict with the Prime Minister, possibly over foreign policy towards Myanmar and the crack down on drugs.
appointed Surayud to his Privy Council
of personal advisors. Several months later he asked the King for permission to ordain as a monk for a brief period at a forest temple in Northeastern Thailand. Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda
had been perceived to have a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of Army Commander.
Facing an escalating insurgency in the south of Thailand
, Surayud urged the media to paint a more positive picture of the violence. "Truthful words that may not be beneficial nor do any good to the public should be avoided," noted Surayud to the Press Council of Thailand. He was contradicted by Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang, who noted that he couldn't think of any news about the conflict in the South that could or should not be reported by the media.
In response to numerous claims made by anti-Thaksin activist Sondhi Limthongkul
that his People's Alliance for Democracy
was "fighting for the King", Surayud resonded by saying that "Recent references to the monarchy were inappropriate. The institution should not be involved in politics. Political disputes should be solved in a political way."
In January 2008, not long after Surayud ended his term as Prime Minister, he was again reappointed to King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Privy Council.
Protection Foundation.
However, after becoming Premier in 2006, he was accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon Ratchasima
province. He vowed to resign and return the land (which he did not deny owning) if found guilty.
In February 2010 after demonstrations by the "Red Shirts" at Khao Yaithiang Mountain, Surayud, who by then had alreasdy left politics, returned the land to the Royal Forestry Department when it was found that the land is indeed located within forest reserve land under the Ministry's decades old code. The plot of land is now under Royal Forestry Department's care. However, up until now no legal action has been taken by Thai authorities against him or other landowners of similar case around the country. Some opposition pressed him to resign from his post as Privy Councillor only as to understand later that Surayud "had no ill intention" and that it was highly unappropriate to ask for resignation of the post on such unresonable ground.
at 4 pm that day to nominate Surayud's name to the monarch. "Security and social unity" were cited by Sonthi as the key reasons for appointing Surayud.
Surayud announced that as Premier, he would "Focus on self-sufficiency, more than focusing on the GDP numbers. I will focus on the happiness of the people, more than the GDP." He also claimed that he would be "Friendly to every party, trying to receive information from every side and meeting people as much as possible. I will lead a government based on justice."
Due to influences from junta and those behind the scene, the policies and positions of several ministers in Surayud's Cabinet changed very frequently, sometimes on a daily basis. Notable flip-flops included Thailand's refusal to share avian flu samples with the WHO, capital controls against foreign investment, shareholding limits for foreign investors in telecommunications firms, the identity of bombers in the 2006 New Year's Eve bombings, and the role of the Malaysian government in mediating the South Thailand insurgency.
While he was Prime Minister, Surayud's wife, Colonel Khunying Chitrawadee, was awarded the Dame Grand Commander (Second Class) of the Most Illustrious Order of Chulachomklao feudal decoration, allowing her to use the prefix Than Phu Ying.
The 2006 Bangkok New Year's Eve bombings caused Surayud's popularity to drop to 48.5% according to Assumption University's polling arm - and just 11% said they had "full confidence" the government can handle the crisis.
The 2007 Chinese New Year Bombings, which saw 38 bombing attacks, 26 cases of arson, and seven ambushes within a single day, caused Surayud's popularity to drop even further. 53.7% of respondents living in Bangkok and other major cities in felt the government and the CNS could not put an end to problems in the country. Only 24.6% thought that the situation would improve in 6 months.
By 24 February 2007, his popularity among Bangkokians had further dropped to 34.8%, although he was still more popular than Thaksin Shinawatra, whom 28.8% of Bangkokians favored.
By 4 March 2007, only 31.3% of people in Bangkok supported the government's political stance. This fell dramatically to 12.5% by 26 March 2007. Notably the main reason behind the drop was that people wanted to see quick changes in state policies and that actions and jugdements for the ousted former Prime Minister were not forthcoming soon enough.
The US government decided to continue holding "Cobra Gold" joint military exercises with the Thai government. Immediately after the coup, Washington had halted all military cooperation with, and aid to, the junta. US law forbade assistance to governments of a country where an elected leader has been deposed in a coup.
In early May 2007, activists from the Assembly of Isaan People met with junta chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin in order to appeal for him to remove Surayud Chulanont. Sonthi personally met the anti-Surayud activists within Army Headquarters and promised he would consider their request. This was the first time that Sonthi personally met people calling for the removal of Surayud. Sonthi later claimed that he was "tricked" into meeting the activists.
Surayud launched a weekly talk show called "Poed Baan Phitsanulok" ("Opening Up Baan Pitsanulok"; Baan Pitsanulok is the informal name for government house) so as to share views and progress of interim government's aim (towards peaceful, internationally recognized general election). The show aired on state-run Channel 11 every Saturday between 8.30 am and 9.15 am. Calling the weekly radio show that was hosted by Thaksin Shinawatra when he was Premier "propaganda", he denied any similarity between the two shows.
The military junta's popularity continued to decline. By late June 2007, an ABAC Poll found that only 13.6% supported the government, with 69.8 of respondents disappointed with the political situation.
The government's popularity continued to decline into July, when survey respondents in Bangkok and outlying areas gave the government an average score of 4.32 out of 10. The average score had been 4.53 in March 2007 and 5.27 in January 2007. Fewer than 15% of respondents in the survey felt that the nation's overall situation had improved during the government's nine-month tenure, while 31.6% said the situation remained unchanged and the majority, 34.9% said it had worsened.
authorized the junta to appoint a 2,000 person National Assembly which would select members to become candidates for a Constitution Drafting Assembly. From the onset of his appointment as Premier, Surayud Chulanont was urged by academics to override the junta's control of the constitution drafting process. Somchai Siripreechakul, Dean of Law at Chiang Mai University
, urged Surayud to call a general election as soon as possible and hand the task of drafting a charter to an elected parliament. Banjerd Singkhaneti of Thammasat University
noted of the constitution drafting process, "I think it will be a mess and the next constitution will be just that."
After the coup, the military junta had originally promised to draft a permanent charter within eight months and to hold elections in October 2007. However, Prime Minister's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan later announced that elections might not occur until one year and five months.
After a constitutional referendum on August 19, Surayud promised that elections would “definitely” be held in late December.
, President of the King's Privy Council
, played a significant role in picking the members of Surayud's Cabinet. It was, however, Surayud who made the final decision. General Boonrawd Somtas, a former CDRMA classmate and longtime friend of Surayud, was appointed Defense Minister. former Interior Permanent Secretary Aree Wong-araya was appointed Interior Minister, former Energy Policy and Planning Office director Piyasvasti Amranand became Energy Minister, central bank governor Pridiyathorn Devakula became Finance Minister, and Bangkok Bank Chairman Kosit Panpiemras
became Industry Minister. Michael Nelson of Chulalongkorn University
noted that the Cabinet was dominated by bureaucrats and that "It's very strongly guided by military ideas combined with some technocrats, some people in economic areas and some former bureaucrats."
Perhaps a mood decision was the dupety Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn, who later resigned on 28 February 2007. His resignation shocked the political world as well as the business community. He cited reasons for resignation included,
Pridiyathorn was replaced by Chalongphob Sussangkarn
, an academic who led the Thailand Development Research Institute
. Chalongphob had previously criticized the junta's capital controls policy.
alone was incapable of handling future traffic volume and that the airport was unsafe. The decision met with strong opposition from Airports of Thailand
, the Civil Aviation Department, the Board of Airline Representatives in Thailand (BAR), the International Air Transport Association
(IATA), the Thai Airways International
labor union, and many domestic and international airlines, including Thai Airways
and the Star Alliance
. 60 airlines threatened to halt flights to Thailand if they were forced to move back to Don Muang airport.
A two-week investigation led by Tortrakul Yomnak, a chief engineer for Airports of Thailand
and prominent supporter of the anti-Thaksin movement, found that the runway was safe, and that cracks could be repaired in as little as a few hours. At the beginning of the investigation, Tortrakul had warned that the airport might need to be closed for three years. However, Admiral Bannawit Keng-rien, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's airport committee, urged Surayud to close down Suvarnabhumi. Surayud's decision to reopen Don Muang was based on his personal advisors, without waiting for the Ministry of Transport or Airports of Thailand to finish their studies.
A completed study by the AoT
showed that the cost of fixing 60 identified problems at the airport would be less than 1% of the total airline cost and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years. Dr. Narupol Chaiyut, a member of a committee overseeing service problems at the new airport, estimated that 70% of the problems would be fixed within 2007.
Surayud and AoT Chairman General Saprang Kalayanamitr
refused to authorize urgent repairs on the airport tarmac, despite warnings from engineers. Karun Chandrarangsu, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand (and a close relative to Srisuk Chandrarangsu, who was a former AOT board member, which was implicated in several corruption allegations, such as CTX and King Power scandals, and now being investigated) noted, "Suvarnabhumi is like a patient in a coma who continues to suffer from severe bleeding. Stopping the blood flow now is more urgent and important than debating what caused the injury." The Engineering Institute of Thailand sent a formal warning to AoT in November 2006 about the urgent need to drain water from beneath the tarmac, and that immediate action should be taken. "The AOT did nothing about the problem," Suebsak Promboon of the EIT noted. "The situation might not have become this bad if the water had been drained then." Suebsak Promboon, a senior foundation engineer and a member of the Tortrakul Yomnak-led airport tarmac inspection panel, accused the AOT of refusing to take any actions to solve the problems at the airport.
several times against returning to Thailand, calling his return "a threat". During a November 2006 trip to China for the ASEAN-China Summit, Surayud refused to meet Thaksin, who was also in China at the time. Surayud later denied Thaksin the opportunity to return to Thailand to contest in eventual elections, and said that the appropriate time for him to return would be "after a year," when a newly elected government was already in place.
Thaksin's diplomatic passport was revoked by the Foreign Ministry on 31 December 2006 after the government claimed he had engaged in political activities while in exile. Thai embassies were ordered not to facilitate his travels. Traditionally, all former prime ministers and foreign ministers of Thailand were permitted to hold on to their diplomatic passports for life.
Thaksin later publicly announced that he was quitting politics. Surayud's Defense Minister later announced that the junta would refuse Thaksin's reconciliation offer, claiming that Thailand was being threatened by "ill-intentioned people" and capitalism.
Surayud's government completely purged all senior military officers perceived as loyal to the Thaksin government, replacing them with officers trusted by the new regime.
In April 2007, during an interview where reporters asked Surayud what he would say to Thaksin if he could meet him in person, Surayud responded, "I would say please don't ever come back."
Surayud also authorized the removal of police chief Kowit Wattana
from his position in early February 2007. Kowit had also been police chief under the ousted government of Thaksin Shinawatra
.
In March, junta leader Sonthi asked Surayud to declare emergency rule in Bangkok in response to the protests by the founders of People's Television
. In an interview, Sonthi noted that the protests, attended by approximately 1,500-3,000 people, had so far been peaceful but that he was afraid the movement could lead to "mutiny and chaos in the country." CNS Spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd asked, "What will we do if the numbers of protesters go beyond 100,000? It will greatly damage the country's image." Emergency powers allowed the government to ban public gatherings, impose curfews and censor local news reports.
On 3 April 2007, Surayud approved a 15% pay rise (on top of an earlier 15% pay rise) for members of the CNS, as a "special reward" for their "honesty, tolerance and dedication on weekdays and weekends."
Despite this, relations between Surayud and the CNS deteriorated. Rumours swirled in mid-April 2007 that the CNS would overthrow the government. However, in a meeting with the CNS President, Surayud declared, "Don't ever think of launching another coup. If you utter only one word, then I am ready to resign."
province. When Surayud was Commander of the 2nd Army Region, he was sold the plot of land for 50,000 baht. He later transferred ownership of the plot to his wife. Surayud vowed to resign and return the land (which he did not deny owning) if found guilty. He was defended by Interior Minister Aree Wongarya, who claimed, "Gen Surayud purchased the land from someone else so the question has to be posed to the first owner whether the land is reserved."
National Human Rights Commissioner and Thaksin symphatizer Jaran Ditthapichai noted, "I cannot agree to have someone call himself a man of morality and sufficiency if he built a fancy house in a forest reserve."
However, the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) refused to investigate the land encroachment charges, claiming that the statute of limitations on the case had run out. NCCC member Klanarong Chantik noted that Surayud retired from military service in 2003 whereas the charges were made 4 years after his retirement, and that the NCCC could not legally investigate an officer for alleged wrongdoing beyond two years after retirement.
In February 2010 after demonstrations by the "Red Shirts" at Khao Yaithiang Mountain, Surayud returned the land to the Royal Forestry Department,without any removals of structures or plants, weeks before a formal notice from the department was issued. The plot of land is now under the care of the Royal Forestry Department after Surayud moved out. However, up until now no legal action has been taken by Thai authorities against Surayud or other landowners of similar type all over Thailand.
. Surayud claimed that he had more than 4 compartments, but they were all in his residence in Bangkok and were all models driven by household class electrity of 220V.
However, Thai-language newspaper Khaosod published a photo on the front page of its 26 December 2006 edition which showed a building resembling a railway carriage near Surayud's resort home. The National Counter Corruption Committee was petitioned to scrutinise the land at Surayud's retreat residence, but refused to take action (see above). Before the end of his tenure as Prime Minister, Surayud invited dozens of reporters from various fields to visit and have a lunch at his disputed Kho Yaithiang home, where they realized that what seemed to be train carriages were only a resort building of his friend nearby viewed from a particular angle.
While Surayud was frequently accused of corruption, many in the business community believed otherwise. A poll conducted in January 2007 found that 66% of business people thought that local corruption would increase, with only 10.5% thinking that it would decrease. However, only about 14% believed that leading figures in Surayud's administration were corrupt.
of Thailand:
Royal Thai General System of Transcription
The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand...
: Surayut Chulanon)(born 28 August 1943) 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...
political figure. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand
Prime Minister of Thailand
The Prime Minister of Thailand is the head of government of Thailand. The Prime Minister is also the chairman of the Cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed since the Revolution of 1932, when the country became a constitutional monarchy....
and head of Thailand's Interim Government between 2006 and 2008. He was a former 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...
military officer, Army Commander, Supreme Commander, and currently Privy Councilor
Privy Council (Thailand)
The Privy Council of Thailand is a body of appointed advisors to the Monarch of Thailand: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. The Council, as the Constitution of Thailand stipulates, must be composed of no more than eighteen members...
to King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
.
Surayud came from a military family, but Surayud's father defected from the Royal Thai Army to the Communist Party of Thailand
Communist Party of Thailand
The Communist Party of Thailand - CPT was a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Thailand, active from 1942 until the 1990s. Initially known as Communist Party of Siam the party was founded officially on the 1st of December 1942, although communist activism in the country began as early...
when Surayud was a young boy. Surayud joined the Thai Army and rose to power as a close aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda
Prem Tinsulanonda
General Prem Tinsulanonda is a retired Thai military officer who served as Prime Minister of Thailand from March 3, 1980 to August 4, 1988. He now serves as the Head of the Privy Council of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej....
. He commanded troops during Bloody May, the violent 1992 crackdown on anti-government protestors, but he denied giving his men the order to shoot protesters. He was promoted to Army Commander during the government of Chuan Leekpai
Chuan Leekpai
Chuan Leekpai was the Prime Minister of Thailand from September 20, 1992 to May 19, 1995 and again from November 9, 1997 to February 9, 2001. A third-generation Thai Chinese, Chuan was born in Trang province in a grass-roofed house. The walls of his family's house were woven from strips of...
and was promoted to Supreme Commander in 2003, under the government 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....
. Upon retirement from the Army, King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
appointed Surayud to his Privy Council of personal advisors. Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda played a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of Army Commander.
General Sonthi overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup on 19 September 2006 and afterwards implored Surayud to be the head of interim government. Surayud's government was a controversial one. There was a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption during his government. Surayud's Deputy Finance Minister, Sommai Pasee, was sentenced to jail for abuse of power. Surayud raised the military budget by 35% and was accused of economic mismanagement, rampant human rights abuses, and flip-flopping
Flip-flop (politics)
A "flip-flop" , U-turn , or backflip is a sudden real or apparent change of policy or opinion by a public official, sometimes while trying to claim that both positions are consistent with each other...
on numerous policies. Article 19
ARTICLE 19
ARTICLE 19 is a London-based human rights organisation with a specific mandate and focus on the defence and promotion of freedom of expression and freedom of information worldwide...
ranked Thailand as falling behind Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in terms of freedom of expression. Thailand's economic growth rate slowed to the lowest level in five years and was ranked the lowest in the region. However, Surayud was praised for apologizing for atrocities committed by the Thai military fighting the South Thailand insurgency
South Thailand insurgency
An ethnic separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand, predominantly in the Malay Pattani region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Violence has increasingly spilling over into other provinces...
, although the apology was accompanied by a sharp escalation in violence. He has been accused of forest reserve encroachment (a charge that was not investigated since the statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
had run out by 2 years) and illegally acquiring train carriages for display in his forest home. He is married to Chitravadi Santhadwet Chulanont and has three sons, Captain Non,
Khao, and Nam.
Family and education
Surayud came from a long line of military leaders, and was reported to have some ChineseThai Chinese
The Thai Chinese are an overseas Chinese community who live in Thailand. Thailand is home to the largest, oldest, most prominent, and most integrated overseas Chinese community in the world with a population of approximately 9.5 million people...
ancestry. His maternal grandfather was Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram
Sri Sitthi Songkhram
Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram was a Siamese career Army officer. He became Chief of Staff of the First Army under the absolute monarchy, and was Chief of Operations of the Army briefly during the post-1932 constitutional monarchy...
(Din Tharab), a royalist leader during the failed Boworadej Rebellion. Surayud's father was Lt. Colonel Phayom Chulanont
Phayom Chulanont
Lieutenant Colonel Phayom Chulanont was a Thai military officer, politician, leader of the Communist Party of Thailand, and father of former Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont....
, a Royal Thai Army military officer who, as "Comrade Too Khamtan" , became a member of the Central Committee Communist Party of Thailand
Communist Party of Thailand
The Communist Party of Thailand - CPT was a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Thailand, active from 1942 until the 1990s. Initially known as Communist Party of Siam the party was founded officially on the 1st of December 1942, although communist activism in the country began as early...
and Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army of Thailand.
Surayud completed his early education at Saint Gabriel's College
Saint Gabriel's College
Saint Gabriel's College is a private Catholic school located in Bangkok, Thailand. The school was founded by the Brothers of Saint Gabriel in 1920 and is regarded as one of the leading schools in Thailand....
and Suankularb Wittayalai School
Suankularb Wittayalai School
Suankularb Wittayalai School is an all-boys secondary school for grades 7th through 12th in Thailand. Founded by King Chulalongkorn in 1882, Suankularb is the oldest public secondary school in the country...
in Bangkok. He graduated from the inaugural class of Armed Forces Preparatory Academy.
As a boy, Surayud's father
Phayom Chulanont
Lieutenant Colonel Phayom Chulanont was a Thai military officer, politician, leader of the Communist Party of Thailand, and father of former Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont....
left his family to go underground to join the Communists
Communist Party of Thailand
The Communist Party of Thailand - CPT was a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Thailand, active from 1942 until the 1990s. Initially known as Communist Party of Siam the party was founded officially on the 1st of December 1942, although communist activism in the country began as early...
. Phayom explained his defection by citing corruption in the army and its inability to defend the powerless. His father's defection to the Communists had a large impact on Surayud. Surayud's son, Non, noted that, "My father always told me that we must help each other redeem the tarnished family name of Chulanont so that Thais can look up to it."
Surayud entered the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy
Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy
Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy or CRMA is the military academy of Royal Thai Army. Established in 1887 it has graduated the vast majority of Thailand's military leaders and many of them become Thai Prime Ministers.-History:...
(CRMA) and graduated from Class 12.
Surayud was conferred honorary Doctor of Philosophy degrees in:
1. Communication Arts in 1995 by Wongchavalidkul University, Thailand.
2. Liberal Arts (Rural Planning and Development) in 2000 by Maejo University, Thailand.
3. Liberal Arts (Political Science) in 2004 by Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
4. Engineering in April 2007 by Tokai University
Tokai University
is a private university in Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1943 by Shigeyoshi Matsumae, who had formerly been the engineering president of the Ministry of Communications...
, Japan.
5. Social Development in December 2008 by Huachiew University, Thailand.
Surayud currently serves as chancellors of the council of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang
King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang
King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang is a leading research and educational institution and one of Thailand's leading universities. It is in the city of Bangkok, Thailand...
(KMITL), Thailand, and Phetchaburi Rajabhat University.
Military career
Early in his army career, Surayud served in several Army divisions including a light artillery unit and a paratrooper unit. He conducted operations against the Communist Party of ThailandCommunist Party of Thailand
The Communist Party of Thailand - CPT was a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Thailand, active from 1942 until the 1990s. Initially known as Communist Party of Siam the party was founded officially on the 1st of December 1942, although communist activism in the country began as early...
(CPT) while his father was a leader of the CPT. From 1972 to 1978, he was an instructor at the Special Warfare School. He was a close aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda
Prem Tinsulanonda
General Prem Tinsulanonda is a retired Thai military officer who served as Prime Minister of Thailand from March 3, 1980 to August 4, 1988. He now serves as the Head of the Privy Council of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej....
when Prem was appointed Army Commander and later Prime Minister of Thailand
Prime Minister of Thailand
The Prime Minister of Thailand is the head of government of Thailand. The Prime Minister is also the chairman of the Cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed since the Revolution of 1932, when the country became a constitutional monarchy....
. Surayud was appointed Commander of the Special Warfare Command in 1992, where he was the commanding officer of Sonthi Boonratklin.
During Bloody May, the violent crackdown 1992 on anti-government protestors, Surayud's men were seen at areas nearby the Royal Hotel, where protesters were seen being searched for weapons and later dragged into the hotel. He later claimed that he never gave orders for his soldiers to shoot. According to a later interview, "It convinced me that the army should never be involved in politics." Days later he told a national television audience that he deplored the loss of life and that he had not given any orders to shoot. In 1994, he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Army Region.
Surayud was promoted to Army Commander in late 1998. At the time, his promotion was controversial, as Surayud had been politically "shelved" at a staff position . To matarialize his vision of a politics-free army, Surayud appointed several of his classmates from Class 12 of the CRMA to key lucrative positions. Among these were Lt Gen Sompong Maivichit, who he made head of Army controlled Channel 5 television station, replacing Gen Pang Malakul na Ayudhya, and Lt Gen Boonrod Somtap, who he promoted to a key subordinate position to replace Gen Charn Boonprasert. He also ended a policy of deporting Burmese refugees, especially ethnic Karens
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
, back to Burma. "He's been a friend to us," said Pastor Robert Htway of the Karen Refugee Committee. Under his term, Thai soldiers took part in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, assisting UN-PKF efforts in East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
.
To stop drug and drug cartels into Thailand, Surayud, in March 2002, ordered one of Thailand's largest military operations in recent times, when Thai troops moved deep into Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
territory to destroy drug labs and military bases controlled by the United Wa State
Wa State
Wa State is an unrecognised state in Myanmar and is currently subsumed under the official Wa Special Region 2 of the Northern Shan State. The administrative capital is Pangkham . The name Wa derives from an ethnic group, who speaks a language in the Austroasiatic family of languages...
Army.
In 2003, after over 4 years as Army Commander, Surayud was promoted to the position of Supreme Commander, a loftier but less influential post, during the government 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....
. He was replaced as Army Commander by Somthad Attanan. His promotion was rumored to be the result of a conflict with the Prime Minister, possibly over foreign policy towards Myanmar and the crack down on drugs.
Privy Councilor
On 14 November 2003, King Bhumibol AdulyadejBhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
appointed Surayud to his Privy Council
Privy Council (Thailand)
The Privy Council of Thailand is a body of appointed advisors to the Monarch of Thailand: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. The Council, as the Constitution of Thailand stipulates, must be composed of no more than eighteen members...
of personal advisors. Several months later he asked the King for permission to ordain as a monk for a brief period at a forest temple in Northeastern Thailand. Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda
Prem Tinsulanonda
General Prem Tinsulanonda is a retired Thai military officer who served as Prime Minister of Thailand from March 3, 1980 to August 4, 1988. He now serves as the Head of the Privy Council of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej....
had been perceived to have a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of Army Commander.
Facing an escalating insurgency in the south of Thailand
South Thailand insurgency
An ethnic separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand, predominantly in the Malay Pattani region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Violence has increasingly spilling over into other provinces...
, Surayud urged the media to paint a more positive picture of the violence. "Truthful words that may not be beneficial nor do any good to the public should be avoided," noted Surayud to the Press Council of Thailand. He was contradicted by Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang, who noted that he couldn't think of any news about the conflict in the South that could or should not be reported by the media.
In response to numerous claims made by anti-Thaksin activist Sondhi Limthongkul
Sondhi Limthongkul
Sondhi Limthongkul is a Thai media mogul and leader of the right-wing People's Alliance for Democracy . He was elected for leader of the New Politics Party ....
that his People's Alliance for Democracy
People's Alliance for Democracy
The People's Alliance for Democracy also called the National Liberation Alliance - กลุ่มพันธมิตรกู้ชาติ, Thai Patriots Network or the Yellow Shirts - เสื้อเหลือง - was originally a coalition of protesters against Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand. Its leaders include...
was "fighting for the King", Surayud resonded by saying that "Recent references to the monarchy were inappropriate. The institution should not be involved in politics. Political disputes should be solved in a political way."
In January 2008, not long after Surayud ended his term as Prime Minister, he was again reappointed to King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Privy Council.
Environmentalist
Surayud was chairman of the Khao Yai National ParkKhao Yai National Park
Khao Yai National Park is a national park in Thailand.-Description:Khao Yai National Park is situated in the Sankamphaeng Mountain Range, the southern prolongation of the Dong Phaya Yen Mountains, at the southwestern boundary of the Khorat Plateau....
Protection Foundation.
However, after becoming Premier in 2006, he was accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon Ratchasima
Nakhon Ratchasima
Nakhon Ratchasima or is a city in the north-east of Thailand and gateway to Isan. It is the capital of the Nakhon Ratchasima Province and Nakhon Ratchasima district...
province. He vowed to resign and return the land (which he did not deny owning) if found guilty.
In February 2010 after demonstrations by the "Red Shirts" at Khao Yaithiang Mountain, Surayud, who by then had alreasdy left politics, returned the land to the Royal Forestry Department when it was found that the land is indeed located within forest reserve land under the Ministry's decades old code. The plot of land is now under Royal Forestry Department's care. However, up until now no legal action has been taken by Thai authorities against him or other landowners of similar case around the country. Some opposition pressed him to resign from his post as Privy Councillor only as to understand later that Surayud "had no ill intention" and that it was highly unappropriate to ask for resignation of the post on such unresonable ground.
Prime Minister of Thailand
Surayud was already considered a strong candidate for appointment as civilian prime minister premiership immediately after General Sonthi overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed Surayud's appointment to the Premiership was confirmed by junta leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin on the morning of Sunday 1 October 2006. After a couple imploring asks for Surayud to take the temporaly primiership, Sonthi had a formal audience with King Bhumibol AdulyadejBhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
at 4 pm that day to nominate Surayud's name to the monarch. "Security and social unity" were cited by Sonthi as the key reasons for appointing Surayud.
Surayud announced that as Premier, he would "Focus on self-sufficiency, more than focusing on the GDP numbers. I will focus on the happiness of the people, more than the GDP." He also claimed that he would be "Friendly to every party, trying to receive information from every side and meeting people as much as possible. I will lead a government based on justice."
Due to influences from junta and those behind the scene, the policies and positions of several ministers in Surayud's Cabinet changed very frequently, sometimes on a daily basis. Notable flip-flops included Thailand's refusal to share avian flu samples with the WHO, capital controls against foreign investment, shareholding limits for foreign investors in telecommunications firms, the identity of bombers in the 2006 New Year's Eve bombings, and the role of the Malaysian government in mediating the South Thailand insurgency.
While he was Prime Minister, Surayud's wife, Colonel Khunying Chitrawadee, was awarded the Dame Grand Commander (Second Class) of the Most Illustrious Order of Chulachomklao feudal decoration, allowing her to use the prefix Than Phu Ying.
Popularity
The Surayud government's initial nation-wide approval rating in October 2006 stood at 60%, with 8% disapproving. By early November, this fell to 55% approving and 15% disapproving. For comparison, a nation-wide poll in July 2006 found that 49% of respondents would have voted for Thaksin Shinawatra in the cancelled October elections.The 2006 Bangkok New Year's Eve bombings caused Surayud's popularity to drop to 48.5% according to Assumption University's polling arm - and just 11% said they had "full confidence" the government can handle the crisis.
The 2007 Chinese New Year Bombings, which saw 38 bombing attacks, 26 cases of arson, and seven ambushes within a single day, caused Surayud's popularity to drop even further. 53.7% of respondents living in Bangkok and other major cities in felt the government and the CNS could not put an end to problems in the country. Only 24.6% thought that the situation would improve in 6 months.
By 24 February 2007, his popularity among Bangkokians had further dropped to 34.8%, although he was still more popular than Thaksin Shinawatra, whom 28.8% of Bangkokians favored.
By 4 March 2007, only 31.3% of people in Bangkok supported the government's political stance. This fell dramatically to 12.5% by 26 March 2007. Notably the main reason behind the drop was that people wanted to see quick changes in state policies and that actions and jugdements for the ousted former Prime Minister were not forthcoming soon enough.
The US government decided to continue holding "Cobra Gold" joint military exercises with the Thai government. Immediately after the coup, Washington had halted all military cooperation with, and aid to, the junta. US law forbade assistance to governments of a country where an elected leader has been deposed in a coup.
In early May 2007, activists from the Assembly of Isaan People met with junta chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin in order to appeal for him to remove Surayud Chulanont. Sonthi personally met the anti-Surayud activists within Army Headquarters and promised he would consider their request. This was the first time that Sonthi personally met people calling for the removal of Surayud. Sonthi later claimed that he was "tricked" into meeting the activists.
Surayud launched a weekly talk show called "Poed Baan Phitsanulok" ("Opening Up Baan Pitsanulok"; Baan Pitsanulok is the informal name for government house) so as to share views and progress of interim government's aim (towards peaceful, internationally recognized general election). The show aired on state-run Channel 11 every Saturday between 8.30 am and 9.15 am. Calling the weekly radio show that was hosted by Thaksin Shinawatra when he was Premier "propaganda", he denied any similarity between the two shows.
The military junta's popularity continued to decline. By late June 2007, an ABAC Poll found that only 13.6% supported the government, with 69.8 of respondents disappointed with the political situation.
The government's popularity continued to decline into July, when survey respondents in Bangkok and outlying areas gave the government an average score of 4.32 out of 10. The average score had been 4.53 in March 2007 and 5.27 in January 2007. Fewer than 15% of respondents in the survey felt that the nation's overall situation had improved during the government's nine-month tenure, while 31.6% said the situation remained unchanged and the majority, 34.9% said it had worsened.
Drafting of a permanent constitution and elections
The junta's 2006 Interim Constitution2006 Interim Constitution of Thailand
The 2006 Interim Charter of Thailand was drafted by the Council for Democratic Reform after it seized power from the government of Thaksin Shinawatra in the 2006 Thailand coup...
authorized the junta to appoint a 2,000 person National Assembly which would select members to become candidates for a Constitution Drafting Assembly. From the onset of his appointment as Premier, Surayud Chulanont was urged by academics to override the junta's control of the constitution drafting process. Somchai Siripreechakul, Dean of Law at Chiang Mai University
Chiang Mai University
Chiang Mai University is a public research university in northern Thailand founded in 1964 with a strong emphasis on engineering, science, and agriculture. Its instructional mission includes undergraduate, graduate, professional and continuing education offered through resident instruction...
, urged Surayud to call a general election as soon as possible and hand the task of drafting a charter to an elected parliament. Banjerd Singkhaneti of Thammasat University
Thammasat University
Thammasat University , or in brief TU , is Thailand's second oldest university. Officially established on 27 June 1934, the university was originally named by founder Pridi Banomyong, University of Moral Science and Politics , reflecting the political fervor of the time...
noted of the constitution drafting process, "I think it will be a mess and the next constitution will be just that."
After the coup, the military junta had originally promised to draft a permanent charter within eight months and to hold elections in October 2007. However, Prime Minister's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan later announced that elections might not occur until one year and five months.
After a constitutional referendum on August 19, Surayud promised that elections would “definitely” be held in late December.
Cabinet appointments
Some believed that Prem TinsulanondaPrem Tinsulanonda
General Prem Tinsulanonda is a retired Thai military officer who served as Prime Minister of Thailand from March 3, 1980 to August 4, 1988. He now serves as the Head of the Privy Council of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej....
, President of the King's Privy Council
Privy Council (Thailand)
The Privy Council of Thailand is a body of appointed advisors to the Monarch of Thailand: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. The Council, as the Constitution of Thailand stipulates, must be composed of no more than eighteen members...
, played a significant role in picking the members of Surayud's Cabinet. It was, however, Surayud who made the final decision. General Boonrawd Somtas, a former CDRMA classmate and longtime friend of Surayud, was appointed Defense Minister. former Interior Permanent Secretary Aree Wong-araya was appointed Interior Minister, former Energy Policy and Planning Office director Piyasvasti Amranand became Energy Minister, central bank governor Pridiyathorn Devakula became Finance Minister, and Bangkok Bank Chairman Kosit Panpiemras
Kosit Panpiemras
Kosit Panpiemras is the Executive Chairman of Bangkok Bank, a leading Thai commercial bank. Following the 2006 Thailand coup, he was appointed advisor to the military junta.-References:...
became Industry Minister. Michael Nelson of Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University
Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and is the country's highest ranked university. It now has nineteen faculties and institutes. Regarded as the best and most selective university in Thailand, it consistently attracts top students from around the country...
noted that the Cabinet was dominated by bureaucrats and that "It's very strongly guided by military ideas combined with some technocrats, some people in economic areas and some former bureaucrats."
Perhaps a mood decision was the dupety Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn, who later resigned on 28 February 2007. His resignation shocked the political world as well as the business community. He cited reasons for resignation included,
- Surayud's decision to appoint Pridiyathorn's rival, former Thaksin-government Finance Minister Somkid JatusripitakSomkid JatusripitakSomkid Jatusripitak , Chinese: 曾汉光, Thai politician, is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of Thailand. He was a leader and cofounder of the populist Thai Rak Thai party. His wife, Anurachanee Jatusripitak, teaches at Chulalongkorn University...
, as a self-sufficiency economy special envoy. Somkid resigned from his position after less than a week. - Prime Minister's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan's alleged preference to certain private media interests. Several analysts speculated that he was referring to the preferential treatment the junta gave to leading anti-Thaksin critic Sondhi LimthongkulSondhi LimthongkulSondhi Limthongkul is a Thai media mogul and leader of the right-wing People's Alliance for Democracy . He was elected for leader of the New Politics Party ....
, who was also a long-time critic of Pridiyathorn.
Pridiyathorn was replaced by Chalongphob Sussangkarn
Chalongphob Sussangkarn
Chalongphob Sussangkarn was the President of the Thailand Development Research Institute and later served as Minister of Finance in Surayud Chulanont's military junta. An ethnic Chinese of Hainanese origin, He replaced Pridiyathorn Devakula after Pridiyathorn abrubtly resigned...
, an academic who led the Thailand Development Research Institute
Thailand Development Research Institute
The Thailand Development Research Institute is a non-profit non-government Thai policy think tank focused social and economic development issues...
. Chalongphob had previously criticized the junta's capital controls policy.
Telecommunications
- The planned merger of state-telecom companies TOTTOT (Thailand)TOT Public Company Limited is a Thai state-owned telecommunications company. Originally established in 1954 and corporatized in 2002, TOT used to be known as the Telephone Organization of Thailand and TOT Corporation Public Company Limited. TOT's main line of business is fixed line telephony,...
and CATCAT TelecomCAT Telecom Public Company Limited is the state-owned company that runs Thailand’s international telecommunications infrastructure, including its international gateways, satellite, and submarine cable networks connections. As of February 2008, it had 5,562 employees.-Services:Until recently, CAT...
. - The cancellation of plans to list TOTTOT (Thailand)TOT Public Company Limited is a Thai state-owned telecommunications company. Originally established in 1954 and corporatized in 2002, TOT used to be known as the Telephone Organization of Thailand and TOT Corporation Public Company Limited. TOT's main line of business is fixed line telephony,...
, CATCAT TelecomCAT Telecom Public Company Limited is the state-owned company that runs Thailand’s international telecommunications infrastructure, including its international gateways, satellite, and submarine cable networks connections. As of February 2008, it had 5,562 employees.-Services:Until recently, CAT...
, and Thai Post on the Stock Exchange of ThailandStock Exchange of ThailandThe Stock Exchange of Thailand is the national stock exchange of Thailand. It is located in Bangkok. As of 31 December 2007, the Stock Exchange of Thailand had 541 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $280 billion. The indices of the stock exchange are SET Index, SET50 Index...
. - The cancellation of the Thaksin government's telecom excise tax policy. The Thaksin government imposed an excise tax on privately offered fixed and cellular services, and then allowed telecom companies to deduct the amount they paid in excise tax from concession fees they had to pay to state concession owners TOT or CAT Telecom. The total amount paid by the private telecom firms did not change. The Surayud government's excise tax cancellation meant that TOTTOT (Thailand)TOT Public Company Limited is a Thai state-owned telecommunications company. Originally established in 1954 and corporatized in 2002, TOT used to be known as the Telephone Organization of Thailand and TOT Corporation Public Company Limited. TOT's main line of business is fixed line telephony,...
and CATCAT TelecomCAT Telecom Public Company Limited is the state-owned company that runs Thailand’s international telecommunications infrastructure, including its international gateways, satellite, and submarine cable networks connections. As of February 2008, it had 5,562 employees.-Services:Until recently, CAT...
would receive their full concession payments. However, TOT and CAT were then forced to increase their dividends to the Ministry of Finance to account for their increased income. - Changing the publicly-listed state-enterprise media company MCOTMCOTMCOT Public Company Limited )) is a Thai media conglomerate. Its origins date back to the creation in 1955 of Thailand's first television broadcaster, The Thai Television Company Limited. In 1977, this company was reconstituted as a state enterprise, the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand...
's policy from focusing on monetary benefits to social benefits. MCOT's stock prices dropped 5.13% to an 11-month low as a result. - Surayud reversed policies many times regarding the fate of the iTVITV (Thailand)iTV was a television station in Thailand, owned by ITV Public Company Limited , a unit of Shin Corporation. Thailand's first UHF channel, the station was started in 1995 when the company was granted a 30-year concession by the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office to...
TV station. Surayud first announced that it intended to take over the station and promised that the station would not be taken off the air no matter what happened regarding its concession controversy. However, in early March 2007, PM's Office Minister Dhipawadee Meksawan announced that the station would be taken off the air on midnight on 6 March 2007, following the Cabinet's revocation of iTV's concession. Surayud apologized for not keeping his word. Then on 7 March 2007, Surayud reversed his decision yet again and ordered that iTV continue broadcasting after the deadline had passed.
Culture
- The planned ban against all forms of advertising for alcoholic beverages.
- The banning of all "sexually-arousing dances" (locally called "coyote dances") during the Loy Kratong festival.
- From March 2007 onwards, encouraging that all Thai citizens dress in yellow every day until December 31, 2007, in order to display loyalty King Bhumibol and celebrate his 80th birthday.
- Urging Chulalongkorn UniversityChulalongkorn UniversityChulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand and is the country's highest ranked university. It now has nineteen faculties and institutes. Regarded as the best and most selective university in Thailand, it consistently attracts top students from around the country...
to take action against its fourth-year psychology student Pemmika Veerachatraksit, for having broken university discipline by having an affair with another person's husband. The Culture Ministry claimed that as a student, being accused of having an adulterous affair should be taken as guilt. The student was sued for 27 million baht by Alisa Thomthitchong for allegedly having an affair with her husband, Dr Prakitpao Thomthitchong.
Public health
- Making the 30-baht universal healthcare program completely free. The Budget Bureau criticized the move. The government later cut the universal healthcare program budget by over 3.8 billion baht, providing a subsidy of just 1,899 baht per head, compared to the previously proposed figure of 2,089 baht. The number of eligible people was cut from 48 million to 46 million people. Funding for the program was diverted from the government's road-accident victims' protection fund.
- License the production and sale of patented HIV and heart disease drugs without the permission of the foreign patent owners. Lack of public health budget was cited as the reasons for breaking the patents. "It has stunned our industry," said the President of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PReMA). The Minister of Public Health claimed that pharmaceutical industry was reaping "colossal" profits. Under World Trade Organization rules, a government is allowed to break patents under after declaring a "national emergency." Breaking the patents of AbbottAbbott LaboratoriesAbbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....
's HIV treatment Kaletra and Sanofi-AventisSanofi-AventisSanofi S.A. is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, the world's fourth-largest by prescription sales. Sanofi engages in the research and development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products for sale principally in the prescription market, but the...
' blood clot drug Plavix was estimated to save Thailand US$24 million a year. Abbott LaboratoriesAbbott LaboratoriesAbbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....
said it would stop launching new medicines in Thailand in protest at the junta's move to override international drug patents. "Thailand has chosen to break patents on numerous medicines, ignoring the patent system. As such, we've elected not to introduce new medicines there," an Abbott spokesperson told reporters. The seven withdrawn drugs include the new version of Kaletra, an antibioticAntibioticAn antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
, a painkiller and medicines to fight blood clots, arthritisArthritisArthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....
, kidney disease and high blood pressure. - The junta joined IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in a boycottBoycottA boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
on sharing its H5N1H5N1Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species...
avian influenza virus samples with vaccine developers and the international health community. Surayud's Public Health Minister told reporters that "Drugmakers rarely help us. They only gave us a small amount of vaccine, just like a donation." Thailand had 25 H5N1 cases and 17 deaths since 2003, ranking it the fourth hardest hit country by the avian flu. Indonesia stopped sharing its H5N1 samples with the WHOWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
at the end of 2006 since the strains were being used to develop vaccines that the country couldn't afford. - Thailand's representative to the World Health Organisation (also special advisor to the public health minister), Dr Suwit Wibulpolprasert said that during an executive board meeting of the WHO in January, Dr Suwit, declared that if an influenza pandemic were to hit Thailand, he would advise the government to hold Western tourists hostage until those countries gave Thailand the necessary vaccines. The US government has lodged a formal protest letter and requested an apology. US Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt wrote that Dr Suwit's comments "appear to contravene the spirit and provisions of the revised International Health Regulations."
- Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
and the Thai AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
Treatment Action Group claimed that the Surayud junta failed to provide safe treatment for drug users infected with HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, and did not effectively promote harm reduction techniques to stop the spread of the virus.
Energy
- The indefinite delayal of the previous government's policy of converting all octaneOctaneOctane is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula C8H18, and the condensed structural formula CH36CH3. Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the amount and location of branching in the carbon chain...
95 gasolineGasolineGasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
sales to gasohol. - The cancellation of state electricity company EGATÉgatÉgat is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.-References:*...
's guaranteed 50% share in all new power plant construction. - The prevention of EGAT from participating in bidding for new electricity plants under the Independent Power Producer (IPP) program.
- The cancellation of plans to import hydroelectric power and natural gas from MyanmarMyanmarBurma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
. - The development of a US$6 billion nuclear power plantNuclear power plantA nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
. The 4,000 megawatt plant would be Thailand's first. The government announced that it would start a large public relations program, starting with kindergarten children, of "educating" the public about how nuclear power was unavoidable.
Security and the southern insurrection
- An increase in military spending by 35% in 2007, compared to 2006. The budget for 2008 totalled 140 billion baht, 24% higher than 2007 and representing 8.6% of the total 2008 budget. Since 1999, military spending had remained stagnant at approximately $2 billion in 2000 dollars. In addition, Surayud received an extra request for an additional 17.6 billion baht to fund counter-insurgency efforts in the far South over the next four years on top of an additional 456-million-baht secret military budget.
- Issuing a formal apology regarding the Tak Bai incident. The day after he issued his apology, 46 violent incidents were recorded, compared with a daily average of 9 in the previous month. Violence continued to escalate throughout 2006 and 2007.
- Revealing for the first time to the public that the insurgencySouth Thailand insurgencyAn ethnic separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand, predominantly in the Malay Pattani region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Violence has increasingly spilling over into other provinces...
was being finance by a network of restaurants and stalls selling Tom Yam Kung in Malaysia. Surayud claimed that the Tom Yam Kung network collected money from local businessmen through blackmail and demands for protection fees and channelled the sum to the separatists. Malaysian Deputy Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow described the revelation as "absolutely baseless," and "very imaginative." - Surayud's Cabinet gave the staff of the Internal Security Operations CommandInternal Security Operations CommandThe Internal Security Operations Command is a unit of the Thai military devoted to national security issues. It was responsible for suppression of leftist groups during the 1970s and 1980s during which it was implicated in numerous atrocities against activists and civilians. The modern ISOC was...
a 84.3 million baht "reward". The ISOC had originally requested the reward in 2003, but was turned down by the Thaksin government. - Appointing Seripisut TemiyavetSeripisut TemiyavetPolice General Seripisut Temiyavet was Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police between February 2007 and April 2008. Appointed Police Commissioner of Thailand by a military junta, replacing Kowit Wattana, the Police Commissioner under deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra...
as Police Commissioner General, replacing Kowit Watana. Kowit was transferred to a civilian post soon after arresting several military personnel for alleged involvement in the 2006 Bangkok New Year's Eve bombings. Kowit protested his transfer, and the Central Administrative Court later an injunctionInjunctionAn injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
to protect him from the transfer until it reached a final ruling on the matter. - Allowing the Malaysian government to help mediate in the South Thailand insurgencySouth Thailand insurgencyAn ethnic separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand, predominantly in the Malay Pattani region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Violence has increasingly spilling over into other provinces...
, contradicting a statement by Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram made just 2 days before.
Education
- The cancellation of Thailand's participation in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program. The project has been criticized as unrealistic for an impoverished country like Thailand.
- The cancellation of plans to install personal computers and broadbandBroadbandThe term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
internet connections in every public and secondary school in Thailand. - Forcing 430 prestigious schools across the country to accept half of their students from the local neighborhood. All other schools would be required to accept all applicants; if applicants exceeded seats, a random draw would choose which applicants would be accepted.
- The continuation of the Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin ShinawatraThaksin 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....
government's "One District, One Scholarship" program under the name "Scholarships for Community Development". The maximum annual income for eligible recipients' families was rased from 100,000 baht to 150,000 baht. - The proposed cancellation of the guarantee of 12 years of free education in the next constitution of Thailand2007 Constitution of ThailandA Permanent Constitution for the Kingdom of Thailand was drafted by a committee established by the military junta that abrogated the previous 1997 Constitution. On August 19, 2007, a referendum was held in which 59.3% of the voters voted in favor of the constitution...
.
Economy and agriculture
- A budget deficit of 147 billion Baht for fiscal year 2007. This was the first budget deficit since 2003. Fiscal deficits were also expected for 2008. The Deficit expanded to 168 billion baht in 2008. The junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly passed the budget unanimously. The deficit would be funded by domestic borrowing.
- Capital controls in an attempt to reverse a massive appreciation of the Thai Baht. The moves caused a crash in the Thai stock market, with a one-day loss of 820 billion baht (approx. US$22 billion) in market value. The move resulted in harsh criticism both within Thailand and abroad. "My definition of what's going on is 'Welcome to amateur hour,'" said Donald Gimbel, fund manager for Carret & Co. Korn ChatikavanijKorn ChatikavanijKorn Chatikavanij is a Thai Democrat Party politician and former investment banker. He was Finance Minister under Abhisit Vejjajiva.-Early life:...
of the Democrat party noted a policy reversal, "That can't repair the damage that was caused in one historic day." The Export-Import Bank of Thailand also criticized the capital controls. - Elimination of subsidies for rice farmers. The price of rice, set at 30% above market prices during the deposed Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin ShinawatraThaksin 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....
government, was dramatically lowered. It was claimed that the high price of rice seriously affected farmers and caused social burdens. - The cancellation of the Million Cows project. Under the project, the government lent five million cows to one million farming families. The families were allowed to sell milk and calves for profit. The program was highly popular among politicians.
- The rebranding of Thaksin Shinawatra's "SML" village development scheme as the "sufficiency village development scheme." Villagers wishing to draw down funds under the scheme were now required to draft projects based on the King's self-sufficient economy principles. The self-sufficiency scheme was given a budget of 10 billion baht.
- The cancellation of the Assets Capitalisation Bureau, the administrator of the Thaksin-government's asset capitalization program. The program allowed people owning assets not accepted by banks as collateral (e.g., machinery, intellectual property rights, or land rental rights) to capitalizeCapitalizationCapitalization is writing a word with its first letter as a majuscule and the remaining letters in minuscules . This of course only applies to those writing systems which have a case distinction...
those assets and get loans. According to the government, the abolition of the Assets Capitalisation Bureau was based on its policy not to encourage people to go into debt. Critics claimed the program was cancelled due to its association with the deposed premier. - In order to punish Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin ShinawatraThaksin 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....
for his sale of Shin Corp to a Singaporean company, Surayud altered regulations concerning foreign ownership of companies. This impacted the legality of thousands of local subsidiaries of foreign companies operating in Thailand. However, Finance Minister Pridiyathorn noted that, "If they (foreign investors) had seen the details (of the foreign investment law), I am sure that they would be happy." Brokers and analysts criticized the move as a political intervention that hurt the economy. The governments of the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, and European Union protested the move. - Reversing the Thaksin government's "dual track" economic policy and relying too heavily on exports. Deputy Prime Minister Kosit Panpiemras admitted that the Surayud government was not doing enough to stimulate domestic consumption to drive economic growth.
- The approval of debt-relief measures for farmers. This prompted Northeastern farmer leaders from cancelling a planned protests in Bangkok.
- Surayud appointed Thaksin-government Finance Minister Somkid JatusripitakSomkid JatusripitakSomkid Jatusripitak , Chinese: 曾汉光, Thai politician, is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of Thailand. He was a leader and cofounder of the populist Thai Rak Thai party. His wife, Anurachanee Jatusripitak, teaches at Chulalongkorn University...
to head of a government committee charged with promoting King Bhumibol's self-sufficient economy policy to a foreign audience. The appointment provoked great controversy, as critics claimed that the populist economics czar had no role promoting a key principle of the Surayud-government's economic policy. Somkid appointment was supported by General Saprang Kalyanamitr, a powerful member of the junta, and Sondhi LimthongkulSondhi LimthongkulSondhi Limthongkul is a Thai media mogul and leader of the right-wing People's Alliance for Democracy . He was elected for leader of the New Politics Party ....
of the People's Alliance for DemocracyPeople's Alliance for DemocracyThe People's Alliance for Democracy also called the National Liberation Alliance - กลุ่มพันธมิตรกู้ชาติ, Thai Patriots Network or the Yellow Shirts - เสื้อเหลือง - was originally a coalition of protesters against Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand. Its leaders include...
, a long-time colleague of Somkid's. Somkid later decided to resign from the committee, which was then dissolved. Somkid's long-time rival, Finance Minister Pridiyathorn DevakulaPridiyathorn DevakulaMom Rajawongse Pridiyathorn Devakula served as Minister of Finance in Thailand's interim civilian government. Before being named to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, Pridiyathorn had served as Governor of the Bank of Thailand since 2001...
, denied any role in Somkid's resignation. - The junta, blaming the Thaksin government's lending to the grassroots sector for creating off-balance sheet government debts, cut off rural lending. However, it soon faced an economic slowdown, and decided to increase rural lending in order to revive the economy.
- Surayud's Cabinet approved a draft bill that would ban the privatization of several state enterprises, including the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the Metropolitan Water Works Authority (MWWA), the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly, and the Government Lottery Office.
- After the coup, Surayud announced that all free trade agreement negotiation and drafting be immediately stopped. However, in February 2007, it gave the go-ahead for the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership AgreementJapan-Thailand Economic Partnership AgreementThe Japan–Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement is a free-trade agreement between Thailand and Japan. The agreement was a deal that would eliminate tariffs on more than 90 per cent of bilateral trade within 10 years...
(JTEPA). The policy U-turn was criticized by many, including Saneh Chamarik of the National Human Rights Commission, Kraisak Choonhavan, GreenpeaceGreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
Southeast Asia, FTA Watch. The Surayud government was charged with policy corruption. The JTEPAJapan-Thailand Economic Partnership AgreementThe Japan–Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement is a free-trade agreement between Thailand and Japan. The agreement was a deal that would eliminate tariffs on more than 90 per cent of bilateral trade within 10 years...
was finally signed on April 3, 2007 in TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Protests against the FTA were held at the Japanese embassy in Bangkok. - Surayud declared that all mobile phone contracts with the government were illegal. The concessions would be renegotiated within a few months, before the military junta was scheduled to hold elections.
- Surayud approved a draft retail business law which gave the Interior Ministry power to curb the expansion of large retailers through its city planning and building codes. The move is part of a set of measures proposed by the Commerce Ministry to halt the rapid expansion of giant retailers, which interest groups blamed for causing the demise of thousands of "mom and pop" stores. However, the president of Thai Retailers Association said that the new retail law would "damage the sentiment and confidence" in the Thai economy, which could cause a domino effect on employment, manufacturing and public spending. "The Cabinet has stepped back to allow 'old traders' in many areas to continue to monopolise the market instead of creating more choices for the consumer," he said.
- Surayud's economic policies failed to stem a slowdown of the economy. In the last quarter of 2006, the economy expanded 3.9%, a drop from the 4.7% recorded before the coup. Applications to build new factories and other facilities dropped 24% in 2006. In February 2007, Thai consumer confidenceConsumer confidenceConsumer confidence is an economic indicator which measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation. How confident people feel about stability of their incomes determines their spending activity and therefore serves as...
fell to the lowest point in 5 years. Consumer confidence continued its decline in March. Private sector non-bank foreign debt rose for the first time in 6 years. Thailand's competitiveness dropped to among the worst in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Switzerland-based Institute for Management Development.
Suvarnabhumi Airport
Surayud ordered the reopening Don Muang Airport for domestic and international flights. This decision came after allegations that the newly opened Suvarnabhumi AirportSuvarnabhumi Airport
Suvarnabhumi Airport , also known as Bangkok International Airport, is an international airport serving Bangkok, Thailand. It was officially opened for limited domestic flight service on 15 September 2006, and opened for most domestic and all international commercial flights on 28 September...
alone was incapable of handling future traffic volume and that the airport was unsafe. The decision met with strong opposition from Airports of Thailand
Airports of Thailand
Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited is a large Thai public company, which handles several national airports. Its headquarters are in Don Mueang District, Bangkok....
, the Civil Aviation Department, the Board of Airline Representatives in Thailand (BAR), the International Air Transport Association
International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...
(IATA), the Thai Airways International
Thai Airways International
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited is the national flag carrier and largest airline of Thailand. Formed in 1988, the airline's headquarters are located in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, and operates out of Suvarnabhumi Airport. Thai is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Thai is a...
labor union, and many domestic and international airlines, including Thai Airways
Thai Airways International
Thai Airways International Public Company Limited is the national flag carrier and largest airline of Thailand. Formed in 1988, the airline's headquarters are located in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, and operates out of Suvarnabhumi Airport. Thai is a founding member of the Star Alliance. Thai is a...
and the Star Alliance
Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany . The alliance was founded in 1997 by five of the world's leading airlines: Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International and United Airlines...
. 60 airlines threatened to halt flights to Thailand if they were forced to move back to Don Muang airport.
A two-week investigation led by Tortrakul Yomnak, a chief engineer for Airports of Thailand
Airports of Thailand
Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited is a large Thai public company, which handles several national airports. Its headquarters are in Don Mueang District, Bangkok....
and prominent supporter of the anti-Thaksin movement, found that the runway was safe, and that cracks could be repaired in as little as a few hours. At the beginning of the investigation, Tortrakul had warned that the airport might need to be closed for three years. However, Admiral Bannawit Keng-rien, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's airport committee, urged Surayud to close down Suvarnabhumi. Surayud's decision to reopen Don Muang was based on his personal advisors, without waiting for the Ministry of Transport or Airports of Thailand to finish their studies.
A completed study by the AoT
Airports of Thailand
Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited is a large Thai public company, which handles several national airports. Its headquarters are in Don Mueang District, Bangkok....
showed that the cost of fixing 60 identified problems at the airport would be less than 1% of the total airline cost and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years. Dr. Narupol Chaiyut, a member of a committee overseeing service problems at the new airport, estimated that 70% of the problems would be fixed within 2007.
Surayud and AoT Chairman General Saprang Kalayanamitr
Saprang Kalayanamitr
General Saprang Kalayanamitr is a retired officer of the Royal Thai Army, Assistant Secretary-General of the Council for National Security, Commander of the junta's 14,000-man anti-protest force, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Airports of Thailand , and also Chairman of the Boards of TOT...
refused to authorize urgent repairs on the airport tarmac, despite warnings from engineers. Karun Chandrarangsu, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand (and a close relative to Srisuk Chandrarangsu, who was a former AOT board member, which was implicated in several corruption allegations, such as CTX and King Power scandals, and now being investigated) noted, "Suvarnabhumi is like a patient in a coma who continues to suffer from severe bleeding. Stopping the blood flow now is more urgent and important than debating what caused the injury." The Engineering Institute of Thailand sent a formal warning to AoT in November 2006 about the urgent need to drain water from beneath the tarmac, and that immediate action should be taken. "The AOT did nothing about the problem," Suebsak Promboon of the EIT noted. "The situation might not have become this bad if the water had been drained then." Suebsak Promboon, a senior foundation engineer and a member of the Tortrakul Yomnak-led airport tarmac inspection panel, accused the AOT of refusing to take any actions to solve the problems at the airport.
Human rights
- Censorship of broadcast televisionCensorship in ThailandFreedom of speech in Thailand was guaranteed in the articles 39, 40, 41 in the 1997 Constitution.According to those articles, censorship may be imposed to preserve national security, maintain public order, preserve the rights of others, protect public morals, and prevent criticism of the royal...
. Troops were dispatched to all television stations on the night of the coup and remain there as of late December 2006. An interview with the late Nuamthong PhaiwanNuamthong PhaiwanNuamthong Phaiwan was a Bangkok, Thailand taxi-driver who drove his taxi into a tank in protest after the military coup of 2006. He was later found hanging from a pedestrian footbridge. Officials found a suicide note and later ruled his death a suicide...
broadcast by television channel iTVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
came to an abrupt end after the Director of Army-owned Royal Thai Army Radio and Television called the station to warn them against the broadcast. Additional troops were dispatched to "keep order" at the station. Broadcast media were to stop airing news about former Prime Minister Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin ShinawatraThaksin 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....
and his associates. Military control over broadcast television was tighter than at any time in the past 15 years. - Censorship of community radioCommunity radioCommunity radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
. Thousands of community radio stations were shut down after the coup. Community radio operators were only allowed to rebroadcast if they reported in the "spirit of national unity." The junta retained the authority to shut down any station at any time. - Massive censorship of the internetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Pre-coup, the government blocked 2,475 websites, while as of January 2007, the government blocked 13,435 websites - an increase of a shade under 443%. In addition, the popular Midnight University web board was shut down for what the government claimed were posts offensive to the monarchy. Numerous anti-coup, anti-junta, and pro-Thaksin websites were blocked. - Strict execution of the CNS's ban against all political activities.
- The establishment of a 14,000-strong special operations force with a mandate to control anti-junta protests. The 556 million baht fund allocation came from a request by the Council for National Security. The rapid deployment force began operations on 1 December 2006. Surayud refused to explain why his Cabinet approved funding of the force after it had already started, which was contrary to PM's Office directives. Government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp promised that the force would be dissolved in 30 September 2007, along with the CNS. The funds would be diverted from the Defense Ministry and Police Office, but if those two agencies lacked funding, they would be diverted from the government's reserve fund for emergency situations. Yongyuth revealed that no Cabinet members questioned the use of the fund. General Saprang Kallayanamit, assistant Secretary-General of the CNS, was appointed Commander of the force.
- Arresting and impeding anti-coup/anti-junta protestors. Several arrests occurred in the immediate aftermath of the coup. In 15 March 2007, five political activists were arrested in Sanam Luang and their stage demolished. The government also violently cracked down on protestors at the house of Prem TinsulanondaPrem TinsulanondaGeneral Prem Tinsulanonda is a retired Thai military officer who served as Prime Minister of Thailand from March 3, 1980 to August 4, 1988. He now serves as the Head of the Privy Council of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej....
, and arrested several protestors, including an interim National Human Rights Commissioner and former chief justice of the Criminal Court. Afterwards, Surayud, along with his entire Cabinet, went to Prem's house to apologize to him for "apologise for failing to take good care of him." Surayud accused the protestors of trying to "bring down the highest institution of the country." - Surayud defended the detention of Chiang Mai protestor Sombat Boonngarm-anong (head of the Midnight University) after he criticized the junta and the Surayud government in public. Sombat was not allowed to make any phone calls during his detention and was only allowed to receive a phone call from former Chiang Rai Senator Tuanjai Deethet. He also said the military did not allow him to drink anything during his detention. Sombat claimed that the director of Phitsanulok Military Intelligence told him he had committed a crime against the state by disseminating one-sided information to the public and was liable for the death penalty under Article 116 of the Criminal Code.
- Censorship and manipulation of the media. The government cancelled the most popular program on state-owned broadcaster's MCOT's Modernine TV, Khui Khui Khao. The anti-Thaksin movement claimed the program's host, prominent political commentator Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda, was a supporter of the overthrown premier. A daily slot was given for anti-Thaksin crusader Sondhi LimthongkulSondhi LimthongkulSondhi Limthongkul is a Thai media mogul and leader of the right-wing People's Alliance for Democracy . He was elected for leader of the New Politics Party ....
's "Yam Fao Paen Din", a show that media reformers called a junta "propaganda tool." Lese majeste charges against Sondhi filed prior to the coup were dropped, admittedly for no legal reason. Seri Wongmontha and Boonyod Sukthintai, both prominent members of the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for DemocracyPeople's Alliance for DemocracyThe People's Alliance for Democracy also called the National Liberation Alliance - กลุ่มพันธมิตรกู้ชาติ, Thai Patriots Network or the Yellow Shirts - เสื้อเหลือง - was originally a coalition of protesters against Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand. Its leaders include...
, were given program slots.
- Censoring nationalized television station TITVITV (Thailand)iTV was a television station in Thailand, owned by ITV Public Company Limited , a unit of Shin Corporation. Thailand's first UHF channel, the station was started in 1995 when the company was granted a 30-year concession by the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office to...
. TITV was ordered not to produce any news reports that ran counter to government policies. Government officials attended all news briefing to make sure no news content conflicted with the junta's interests. - Forbidding motorcycle taxi drivers in Bangkok and adjacent provinces from participating in anti-coup/anti-junta rallies. Thousands of members of the Assembly of the Poor (AOP) were also prevented by military and government officials from boarding buses from their home provinces to stage demonstrations in Bangkok. Authorities cited the lack of paper permit required under martial law (still in effect in more than 30 provinces at the time of the planned protests).
- Surayud's ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom claimed that criticising the president of the Privy CouncilPrivy Council (Thailand)The Privy Council of Thailand is a body of appointed advisors to the Monarch of Thailand: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. The Council, as the Constitution of Thailand stipulates, must be composed of no more than eighteen members...
was a threat to national security, justifying the shutdown of any websites containing critical material. - The Surayud government pushed through a cyber crime law that criminalized any attempt to get around government internet censors to access any of the tens of thousands of sites censored for supposedly moral or political purposes. The law also made it a serious crime for service providers to withhold IP addressIP addressAn Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
es from government requests. - The approval of a law that would imprison anyone found guilty of forwarding a pornographic e-mail for up to three years.
- The shutdown of a radio station that broadcast a call-in from deposed Premier Thaksin. Thaksin made what was his first post-coup statement on Thai broadcast media on 16 May 2007 when he called in to Bangkok's 87.75FM and 92.75FM community radio stations. The next day, officials from the junta, the government's Public Relations Department (PRD), and the Internal Security Operations CommandInternal Security Operations CommandThe Internal Security Operations Command is a unit of the Thai military devoted to national security issues. It was responsible for suppression of leftist groups during the 1970s and 1980s during which it was implicated in numerous atrocities against activists and civilians. The modern ISOC was...
inspected the community radio station. The station then went off the air. - The arrest of anti-junta White Dove 2000 protestors in Chiang Mai in May 2007. The protestors claimed that they had sought permission from the Deputy Governor and the Third Army Region Commander to use the demonstration site. Military officials claimed that the protestors had documents and CDs with content that was deemed likely to instigate political conflict.
- The establishment of a 700,000 strong network of junta supporters to prevent anti-junta demonstrators from allegedly inciting violence. "The idea is to take out as many as possible prospective demonstrators. In a public rally with less than 50,000 participants, there will be no problem," said the head of the ISOC.
- The repeal of junta restrictions against organizing protests on 9 November 2006. However, martial law has been lifted in most of the country.
- Censorship of Somtow Sucharitkul's opera Ayodhya. It was thought that the on-stage death of the demon-king, Thotsakan, would constitute a bad omen. Somtow, a harsh critic of the deposed Prime Minister Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin ShinawatraThaksin 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....
, criticized the move but agreed to modify the scene. - January 15, 2007: The military government has censored the interview of Thaksin Shinawatra on CNN in Thailand.
Other
- The granting of unprecedented salaries for the leaders of the military junta.
- Expanding Bangkok's mass transit rail network by 5 new routes, using the same amount as budgeted by the deposed Thaksin government.
- On Friday 18 May 2007, Surayud claimed that if the country were politically peaceful, generations elections under a new constitution could be held earlier than 16 or 23 December. On Saturday 19 May 2007, he claimed he had misspoken, and said it would be impossible to hold general elections before mid-December. He noted that he had just realized that earlier elections would conflict with preparations for King Bhumibol's 80th birthday celebrations in 5 December.
- Submitting draft legislation that would force children from age one to apply for and carry identification cards to the legislature. Failure to apply for the card would carry a 500 baht fine while not producing the card to officials would be punishable by a 200 baht fine.
Thaksin Shinawatra
Surayud warned deposed Premier Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin 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....
several times against returning to Thailand, calling his return "a threat". During a November 2006 trip to China for the ASEAN-China Summit, Surayud refused to meet Thaksin, who was also in China at the time. Surayud later denied Thaksin the opportunity to return to Thailand to contest in eventual elections, and said that the appropriate time for him to return would be "after a year," when a newly elected government was already in place.
Thaksin's diplomatic passport was revoked by the Foreign Ministry on 31 December 2006 after the government claimed he had engaged in political activities while in exile. Thai embassies were ordered not to facilitate his travels. Traditionally, all former prime ministers and foreign ministers of Thailand were permitted to hold on to their diplomatic passports for life.
Thaksin later publicly announced that he was quitting politics. Surayud's Defense Minister later announced that the junta would refuse Thaksin's reconciliation offer, claiming that Thailand was being threatened by "ill-intentioned people" and capitalism.
Surayud's government completely purged all senior military officers perceived as loyal to the Thaksin government, replacing them with officers trusted by the new regime.
In April 2007, during an interview where reporters asked Surayud what he would say to Thaksin if he could meet him in person, Surayud responded, "I would say please don't ever come back."
Council for National Security
The Surayud government allowed the Council for National Security to interfere with many government responsibilities, including the transfer of civil servants. The CNS was allowed to control a nation-wide reshuffle of the civil service in April 2007 in order to weed out officials "clinging" to the deposed "Thaksin-regime".Surayud also authorized the removal of police chief Kowit Wattana
Kowit Wattana
Kowit Wattana is a Thai Police General and politician. From 2004 to 2007 he was the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police. In 2008, he was Minister of the Interior, and since 2011 he has been Deputy Prime Minister under Yingluck Shinawatra...
from his position in early February 2007. Kowit had also been police chief under the ousted government 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....
.
In March, junta leader Sonthi asked Surayud to declare emergency rule in Bangkok in response to the protests by the founders of People's Television
People's Television
People's Television was a Thai satellite television station. It was established by former executives of the Thai Rak Thai party after the 2006 Thailand military coup overthrew the Thai Rak Thai-led government. It launched despite warnings from the Council for National Security, the military...
. In an interview, Sonthi noted that the protests, attended by approximately 1,500-3,000 people, had so far been peaceful but that he was afraid the movement could lead to "mutiny and chaos in the country." CNS Spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd asked, "What will we do if the numbers of protesters go beyond 100,000? It will greatly damage the country's image." Emergency powers allowed the government to ban public gatherings, impose curfews and censor local news reports.
On 3 April 2007, Surayud approved a 15% pay rise (on top of an earlier 15% pay rise) for members of the CNS, as a "special reward" for their "honesty, tolerance and dedication on weekdays and weekends."
Despite this, relations between Surayud and the CNS deteriorated. Rumours swirled in mid-April 2007 that the CNS would overthrow the government. However, in a meeting with the CNS President, Surayud declared, "Don't ever think of launching another coup. If you utter only one word, then I am ready to resign."
Criticism
Besides being heavily criticized for gaining power through the 2006 coup and his subsequent actions as Premier, Surayud has been accused of forest encroachment and corruption.Forest encroachment
Surayud was accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest reserve land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon RatchasimaNakhon Ratchasima
Nakhon Ratchasima or is a city in the north-east of Thailand and gateway to Isan. It is the capital of the Nakhon Ratchasima Province and Nakhon Ratchasima district...
province. When Surayud was Commander of the 2nd Army Region, he was sold the plot of land for 50,000 baht. He later transferred ownership of the plot to his wife. Surayud vowed to resign and return the land (which he did not deny owning) if found guilty. He was defended by Interior Minister Aree Wongarya, who claimed, "Gen Surayud purchased the land from someone else so the question has to be posed to the first owner whether the land is reserved."
National Human Rights Commissioner and Thaksin symphatizer Jaran Ditthapichai noted, "I cannot agree to have someone call himself a man of morality and sufficiency if he built a fancy house in a forest reserve."
However, the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) refused to investigate the land encroachment charges, claiming that the statute of limitations on the case had run out. NCCC member Klanarong Chantik noted that Surayud retired from military service in 2003 whereas the charges were made 4 years after his retirement, and that the NCCC could not legally investigate an officer for alleged wrongdoing beyond two years after retirement.
In February 2010 after demonstrations by the "Red Shirts" at Khao Yaithiang Mountain, Surayud returned the land to the Royal Forestry Department,without any removals of structures or plants, weeks before a formal notice from the department was issued. The plot of land is now under the care of the Royal Forestry Department after Surayud moved out. However, up until now no legal action has been taken by Thai authorities against Surayud or other landowners of similar type all over Thailand.
Corruption
Surayud, an avid collector of model trains, was accused of illegally acquiring four train compartments for his resort home in Kho Yaithiang mountain, Nakhon RatchasimaNakhon Ratchasima
Nakhon Ratchasima or is a city in the north-east of Thailand and gateway to Isan. It is the capital of the Nakhon Ratchasima Province and Nakhon Ratchasima district...
. Surayud claimed that he had more than 4 compartments, but they were all in his residence in Bangkok and were all models driven by household class electrity of 220V.
However, Thai-language newspaper Khaosod published a photo on the front page of its 26 December 2006 edition which showed a building resembling a railway carriage near Surayud's resort home. The National Counter Corruption Committee was petitioned to scrutinise the land at Surayud's retreat residence, but refused to take action (see above). Before the end of his tenure as Prime Minister, Surayud invited dozens of reporters from various fields to visit and have a lunch at his disputed Kho Yaithiang home, where they realized that what seemed to be train carriages were only a resort building of his friend nearby viewed from a particular angle.
While Surayud was frequently accused of corruption, many in the business community believed otherwise. A poll conducted in January 2007 found that 66% of business people thought that local corruption would increase, with only 10.5% thinking that it would decrease. However, only about 14% believed that leading figures in Surayud's administration were corrupt.
Royal decorations
Surayud has received the following royal decorations in the Honours SystemThai Honours Order of Precedence
State decorations awarded by Thailand take the form of orders and medals. This page lists them by order of precedence.-Royal decorations:# Knight and Dame of the Most Auspicious Order of the Rajamitrabhorn...
of Thailand:
- 1974 -
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Freemen Safeguarding Medal (First Class) - 1990 -
Rama Medal of the Honourable Order of RamaOrder of RamaThe Honourable Order of Rama was established on 22 July 1918 The Honourable Order of Rama (เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ อันมีศักดิ์ รามาธิบดี - krêuang râat ìt-sà-rí-yaa-pon an mee sàk raa-maa típ-dee) was established on 22 July 1918 The Honourable Order of Rama (เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ อันมีศักดิ์... - 1992 -
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Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand - 1995 -
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Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White ElephantOrder of the White ElephantThe Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant is the most awarded order of Thailand. It was established in 1861 by King Rama IV of the Kingdom of Siam.The Order consists of eight classes:... - 1996 -
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Grand Companion (Third Class, higher grade) of the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom KlaoOrder of Chula Chom KlaoThe Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao was established in 16 November 1873 by King Rama V of The Kingdom of Siam to commemorate the 90th Jubilee of the Chakri Dynasty, and bears his Name...
Further reading
- Janes Defence Weekly, Interview with Gen Surayud Chulanont, 3 November 1999
- TIME Magazine, Asian heroes: Surayud Chulanont, 2003
- BBC News, Profile: Surayud Chulanont, 1 October 2006
- The Nation, Editorial questioning Surayud's judgement in reopening Don Muang Airport, 9 February 2007